2p!AmericaxReader: I Will Protect You

Chapter Five

“Hey _________________.” Al whispered and you looked up at him.

“Yeah?” You asked.

“I just want you to know I’ve got your back okay? You don’t need to worry, I’ll protect you.” He said, his crimson eyes staring into your own (e/c) ones. You felt a little surprised but comforted to have someone looking out for you. You smiled at him.

“Thanks Al, I’ve got your back too.” You say and he nods, his eyes returning to the street in front of you. Even with Al’s comforting words the feeling of unease never left the back of your mind.

~*~

You and Al crept along the darkened streets of New York City, sticking closely to the shadows in order to remain undetected. Groans of the dead filled the air and pushed your senses into overdrive. Already only a few minutes into your trek to the church in Queens you’d encountered a few close calls with the moaning  corpses that roamed the streets, Al accidently kicking a discarded beer can had resulted in a quick retreat from the area and the two of you having to stray from your original path. You’d been forced to run for several blocks until you were at least sort of in the clear but even then it was still exceedingly dangerous.

“______________!” Al hissed, causing you to break from your thoughts and you noticed Al was several feet in front of you. “Hurry up!”

You nodded mutely and quickened your pace, catching up with him quickly. Al had been on high alert the whole way, you were pretty sure you’d never seen him this serious since the first hunt the two of you had gone on. It had been like this just him and you since Matt had gotten sick and Payton had stayed behind to take care of him.

“______________!” Al growled from in front of you and you jumped your (e/c) eyes swiveling to meet his bright crimson ones. “You’re slowing down again.”

“S-sorry.” You murmured blushing lightly and looking bashfully at the ground. Al rolled his eyes and, hiking his rifle further up on his shoulder, he grabbed your hand and started walking again. Your blush deepened and you looked up at him but he wasn’t looking at you, though you swore there was the slightest blush on his cheeks.

“Yeah, whatever.” He muttered pulling you through the streets. The sun had started going down in the distance, your time to get to the church slowly ticking away. Normally, from where the four of you had been living, it would take around forty-five minutes to reach the church but with the zombies flooding the streets it would take an hour to an hour and a half to reach it sometimes more depending on how careful you were.

A loud crash shattered you from your thoughts and Al cursed quietly. It was eerily silent for a moment before the noise from before increased tenfold. The groans and cries from the corpses echoed off the buildings, increasing to an almost deafening level. You winced as the throng of corpses surged towards you and Al their dead eyes filled with hunger.

“RUN!” Al shouted dragging you towards an alley way but more filled it. Another curse from Al you’d been completely cut off.

“Damn it!” Al snarled ripping the rifle off his back, flipping off the safety and firing into the crowd. You were stunned momentarily before you did the same. You lifted the rifle to your shoulder aiming it at the advancing hoard and, flicking the safety off, fired wildly at the incoming corpses.

“Aim for the head!” Al shrieked over the loud pops of gunfire. You rolled your eyes as you stopped momentarily, reloading the rifle and simultaneously throwing daggers into the crowd. Al always yelled to aim for the head, like he thought you’d forgotten how to kill the damn things. It felt like you’d been shooting for forever, but would have only been a few seconds, before Al grabbed your arm and started to haul you through the alley, his rifle slung back over his shoulder and ripping at things with his bat and throwing knives with amazing skill. You momentarily froze, your finger poised on the trigger as you watched him as he fought. Sweat glistened on his tanned skin and a small amount of blood from the recently turned covered him, though it blended easily on his dark bomber jacket. His bright red eyes were so focused and a deadly gleam shown in them. He couldn’t have looked any sexier, you thought. As though he could feel your gaze his eyes slid to yours, wild crimson meeting amazed (e/c).

“What are you waiting for?! Shoot, damn it!” He yelled to you and you went wide eyed as you snapped out of your thoughts and turned to the moaning mass behind you and continued to fire at them, only stopping to reload. You and Al burst on the other side and tore through the streets. You replaced your rifle back over your shoulder as you ran; throwing knives at the zombies that attempted to get close to you and Al.

Al, after running six city blocks, skidded suddenly to a halt causing you to ram into his back. You blinked dazedly and stepped away from the red-haired American. It was quiet on this street only a few straggling corpses dotted the streets you counted them silently, coming up with fifteen of them though that didn’t mean there weren’t more in the vicinity. You panted slightly from the run but Al didn’t seem even slightly short of breath.

“Wh-where are we?” You panted, looking around for a street sign. Al shrugged.

“Dunno the exact name of the street but what I do know is that there’s a safe place around here.” He said his eyes glancing around the area, trying to remember. During the battle and retreat time had seemed to speed up, the sun was dripping down the horizon, the sunset reflecting on the broken windows. Oddly a single ray of it seemed to be concentrated on Al his eyes becoming brighter, almost as if they were glowing; his hair gleamed like red fire and the dying rays of sun highlighted his tanned skin. He looked like a god. An amazingly sexy god. You blushed at that lost thought and tore your eyes away from him to look at your hands when you found he was still gripping your own. You had forgotten he’d grabbed your hand when the two of you had run from the horde. You couldn’t help but think how your hands fit together perfectly.

Al started walking and effectively knocked you from your thoughts as he dragged you along with him. His deep crimson eyes were locked on something and you followed his gaze to one of those so tall who-knows-how-many-stories apartment complexes. It obviously was high class before the end of life as you knew it with floor to ceiling two-way windows, at least you assumed they were two-way, and the high class looks about the place, even now after the end there seemed to be a formal air about the building. Al poked at a small speaker system and almost immediately it buzzed to life.

“Who’s there?” A cheery heavily British accented voice sang. Al groaned.

“It’s me Oliver.” He sighed, tensing slightly. You eyed him confusedly, who was Oliver?

“Oh Alfred! How good of you to stop by, dear! Though I do wish you would have given me some warning you were coming! It’s an absolute mess in here!” The voice, Oliver, rattled
from the other side.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever just do me a favor and let me in.” Al growled and it was silent for a moment before the speaker buzzed and the door unlocked. Al threw open the door and dragged you inside, slamming it closed behind him, as he took to the stairs.

“Who’s Oliver?” You asked curiously, tilting your head innocently to the side. Al seemed almost reluctant to answer.

“An old… acquaintance of mine.” He muttered selecting his words carefully. He really hadn’t wanted you to have to meet Oliver, but desperate times call for desperate measures, he supposed. You nodded and continued following Al up the steps. The two of you went up the stairs, Al taking them two at a time and you being drug behind struggling to keep up, before coming to a stop in front of a door. The dim light which hung from the bottom of the flights above you flickered ominously and the brass floor number thirteen glittered. Al pushed the door open and allowed you inside before following after you.

You were in a living room if you were correct, which you were sure you were. It was all pastel colors and thrown haphazardly together though it was like it was planned to look like that. Organized chaos, each piece complimenting each other while at the same time not. Plush yellow rugs littered the pristine white carpet; the walls were a soft pink with a blue ceiling. The furniture was a mixture of white, pink, blue, and yellow. Through an open doorway, which you assumed led to the kitchen, the scent of cupcakes filled the air. Your mouth watered at the delicious smell and you took a step towards it.

“Alfred!” The voice from the speaker yelled as he tore into the room. So this was Oliver. He had light strawberry blonde hair that was rather messy, bright almost neon blue eyes that you could swear had small bits of pink in them, and bushy eyebrows. He, like the room, was a bit randomly put together with a light pink button-up shirt, a purple vest thrown over it, light brown slacks, black shoes, and a neon blue bowtie. You blinked in surprise at him, moving a tad closer to Al, you weren’t exactly sure what to make of this multicolored man. Al rolled his eyes, though he seemed to be suppressing a smirk as you moved closer to him.

“How many times do I have to tell you, it’s Al damn it not Alfred.” He growled and Oliver frowned.

“You shouldn’t use that type of language.” His eyes shifted to you momentarily, widening a fraction. “Especially not in front of such a pretty young lady.”

You blushed at the compliment and let your eyes shift downwards. Al frowned.

“So who’s this pretty poppet Al? She wasn’t with you the last time you visited.” Oliver questioned and Al’s eyes narrowed the slightest fraction and he subtly pulled you closer to him. Oliver’s bright eyes landed on you and Al’s still intertwined hands and his eyes widened. “Dare I say; are you trying to court her?”

You blushed brighter at the sudden question and even more as Al scowled and remained silent. Oliver looked at him dumbfounded before he broke into a massive grin.

“Oh my goodness you are! Oh how sweet! I never would have thought I’d see the day!” He squealed. In a moment he was in front of you pulling you from Al over to a couch and sitting you down before plopping down next to you.

“So what’s your name, poppet?” He asked leaning forward slightly and you blinked in surprise at his curious tone and wide smile.

“Um _______________. _______________ _______________.” You  replied, your eyes flicking over to Al who stalked over to stand beside you.

“How long have you known my dear Alfie?” He asked and you shrugged, slowly becoming a bit more comfortable with him.

“A few months now.” You answered, completely unaware of Al’s eyes on you. Oliver noticed though.

“Really, moving a little fast aren’t you?” He questioned and you blushed again.

“Al and I aren’t dating, we’re just friends.” You said quietly not noticing Al’s tiny flinch and Oliver’s plotting looking.

“Oh really?” Oliver spoke and you nodded and suddenly he was up and dancing away.

“Well I’m sure you both are exhausted!” Oliver said and for the first time that day you really noticed the fatigue, you’d been ignoring it up until that point. Your legs ached from running and your shoulders slumped a bit. Oliver looked at you, sympathy in his
bright eyes.

“Al how about you take her to our guest room?” Oliver suggested and Al nodded, grabbing your hand and pulling you down the hall. You followed him mutely. It was a little awkward between the both of you from Oliver’s questioning and claims. Al stopped in front of a room and, pushing the door open, led you inside. The room was a dark red unlike the rest of the house with black sheets and a dark wood bed. The floors were white but there were a few odd stains that looked a bit like blood on them.

“There are a few old shirts in the dresser over there, top left drawer. They’re some of my old ones and should fit you.” He said before turning on his heel and walking out and quietly closing the door behind him. The second he was gone you let out a deep sigh. Everything had gone terribly today and you were so behind! Matt and Payton were probably worried sick! Well at least Payton would be Matt would probably just be indifferent like always. You sighed again before trudging over to the dresser and digging out one of the shirts it wasn’t very long on you, only reaching your mid-thigh, but you didn’t really care.

You stepped into the attached bathroom and laid the shirt on the counter and flipped on the hot water in the shower. Giving it a moment to heat up you shed out of your clothes and stepped under the warm torrent, immediately relaxing you.

You emerged a few minutes later and quickly dried yourself off, slipping on your shirt and underwear, and stepping into the room. You jumped when you saw Al sprawled out on the bed in only a pair of loose sweat pants.

“A-Al?” You questioned and he glanced up at you with one lazy red eye.

“Yeah?” He responded.

“Why are you in here? Aren’t you sleeping in another room?” You asked and Al shook his head.

“Nope there’s only one guest room and this is it. Problem?” He asked letting his eye slide shut again at your silent shake of the head. It was silent for a moment before Al sat up his eyes open.

“Oh and I wanted to say sorry for Oliver.” He said rolling his eyes and scowling at the name. You waved it off.

“Whatever it’s no big deal.” You said though your heart said otherwise. Something in your eyes must’ve given away your true feelings since a slow smirk formed on Al’s lips.

“You sure bout that babe?” He teased and you blushed but glared defiantly at him.

“Positive.” You replied crossing your arms over your chest and looking away. You heard Al chuckle and suddenly he was in front of you, his warm hands on your upper arms.

“You see,” He whispered huskily, his warm breath tickling your ear and causing a shudder to run through your being. “I know you’re lying, doll.”

Your eyes widened and your blush increased before you plastered on a glare. “And what would make you say that?”

“Because I heard you talking to Payton.” He laughed smirking arrogantly. You blushed madly but didn’t let your glare falter.

“How do you know I wasn’t lying?” You countered and Al moved so his face was in front of yours, his deep crimson eyes full of lust and another emotion you couldn’t determine.

“Because I know you wouldn’t do that.” He answered not missing a beat as he moved closer to you. Your resolve was slipping as his lips hovered just above yours, he seemed to be waiting for you to close the gap. A smirk formed on your lips.

“You don’t know that I wouldn’t do that.” You stated and Al rolled his eyes.

“Of course I do.” He said and it was your turn to roll your eyes.

“And how do you know?” You asked

“Because don’t you think that if you really didn’t like me you would have shoved me away from you the second I got this close?” He stated and you fell silent. You couldn’t really find an answer for that and Al smirked victoriously. You glared but managed to surprise him, and yourself, by grabbing his shoulders and yanking him down to you letting your lips meet his. Al immediately joined in the kiss curling his arms around your waist and pulling you close to him. Your arms wrapped around his neck as he forced his tongue into your mouth, exploring every bit of his new territory before you forced his and your own into his mouth and explored his. You loved this kiss. As cliché as it sounds you could swear there were fireworks between the two of you, and your lips fit together perfectly like two puzzle pieces coming together to form the perfect picture.
You pulled away first, panting from lack of air and locked eyes with Al who smirked.

“Told ya you liked me.” He chuckled and you rolled your eyes.

“Shut up and kiss me.” You growled and he was more than happy to comply