a/n this is a birthday present for the rose of hedylogos. if, for some preposterous, unlikely reason, you haven't read her stories, go do that right now (and by now i mean after you're done reading this story lol). they are life. they are death. they will blow you away.

nuke awaits!

•••

Taking down Carver for good?

Chaos.

Walking gut-covered through a wave of lurkers?

Chaos.

Sarah running like a maniac after the death of her father?

Chaos.

As is logical, it was a case of mere chaos that led Nick to an abandoned trailer park, along with his fellow survivors, Luke and Sarah.

He was currently trying to use the sounds of Sarah's no-volume-limit screams and groaning undead corpses to cancel each other out.

But all that did was feed to his ongoing headache.

So instead, he decided to focus on his visual surroundings.

Nick's eyes always widened at the sight of his best friend. He wished he didn't feel this force of attraction every time he saw Luke, but it was like swimming in an undertow or standing a large mass of quick sand; there was nothing he could do about it, except reluctantly be pulled under.

Nick was positive that Luke didn't feel the same way about him. The two guys had been pals since elementary school, and from the very beginning, Nick developed an unwelcome crush. And Luke? Well he was always the first to do everything; first one to take a girl on a date, first one to plant a kiss, first one to lose his virginity.

Nick had eventually followed in the footsteps of his best friend, but that didn't mean he actually cared for the girls he hooked up with or took out to dinner. It was all a game of temporary relief, a game he continued playing to this very day.

He watched as Luke paced back and forth, his hands strewn over his head in worry. Being stuck in here for hours already, neither of them knew a way out of this. With lurkers pounding on the door, and Sarah in her distraught state, they could only hope for some sort of miracle to occur.

"Hey man, we need to figure something out before more lurkers clue in and we're stuck in here forever," Nick said.

Luke slowed his pace. "Yeah, I know. I'm trying to think here." There was a faint glisten of perspiration high on his forehead.

"Well hurry up."

Nick turned on his heels and entered the room in which Sarah's hopeless wails rang out. She was curled into a ball, hair stuck to her tear-stained cheeks. Carlos spent all this time protecting her from the world, but little did he know, it would eventually make things worse for the girl.

There was a window where Nick could clearly see all the traffic outside. Lurkers were pouring in by the minute. Those things were pretty dumb for the most part, but if there was one thing Nick could give them credit for, that was their ability to adjust.

Take a situation where you see people running from something, you don't know what, but they're running seemingly for their lives. The most logical thing there is for you to do is run with them. Well lurkers had that same state of awareness; if there's a whole bunch of them gathered, pounding on a single door, chances are there's a meal waiting on the other side. Bring on the air horn.

Pretty soon the trailer would be surrounded by hundreds of bloodthirsty corpses. Nick knew he had to do something to ensure that they'd escape before it came to that. Perhaps he could escape through the window while there was still a clearing. From there, he could book it until he found some familiar faces and assemble a rescue team. It was risky, but worth a shot.

"Luke, get over here!" he called.

The other man quickly turned on his heels and walked over to Nick. "You think of something?" he asked.

"Yeah, but you might not like it."

"Okay..." He scratched at the back of his head. "What is it?"

Sarah was no longer crying at this point. She had slowly receded to childlike sobs.

"I'm gonna go for it."

Luke bit his lip. Nick tried desperately to look him in the eye.

"I'm gonna make a run for it while you stay here with Sarah. I'll find others who can help with her, maybe Clementine since they're pretty good friends."

"Don't bring Clem into this," Luke argued, although he knew Nick was right.

"We have to! Unless you want to leave her behind." He lowered his voice at the last part and sent a questioning glance in Sarah's direction.

"How 'bout I go instead? You can stay here and look out for Sarah."

He wasn't allowing that. After all these years of Luke having his ass, Nick wanted to give him something in return. Even if that meant putting his life on the line.

"No, I have to do this myself," Nick stated, brushing past Luke for the hatchet he'd left on the kitchen counter.

Luke followed. "And what if something goes wrong out there? You really think this is going to protect you?" He had swept in and grabbed the hatchet before Nick could.

"Give it to me," Nick demanded.

"No."

"Give it to me."

"No."

"Give. It. To. Me."

"Dammit Nick, I keep losing more and more people everyday. I don't know if I can afford to lose anyone else. Let alone you. You're the only person I have left who actually..."

Nick looked at him, his blue eyes shining from underneath the hood of his hat. "Actually what?" he asked, but Luke just stared at him, an overcome expression on his face.

And at this moment, Nick couldn't hold back his desire any longer. If he was going to die today, or any day at all, there was one thing he wanted to do before that happened. One thing he needed to do.

Mustering all his courage, Nick pressed his lips to Luke's, soft yet firm. He kissed him for a moment, savoring this strange yet wonderful feeling he's never had prior to this day. Then, before he pulled away, and before Luke could stop him from leaving, Nick snatched the hatchet out of his hand.

Luke didn't say anything as Nick ran to the next room and lifted the window. All he could do was stand there, and try to process what just happened. Nick wasn't so sure what to make of the kiss either, but it felt good that he finally had the audacity to go for it.

With that, he climbed out of the window, just as Luke finally snapped out of his thoughts and came running to stop him.

"Who actually matters!" he shouted.

But Nick was already out of sight.

As is logical, it was a case of mere chaos that gave Nick the courage to risk his life for the boy he loved since the very beginning.

•••

a/n hope you liked it, amigo! and anyone else who stopped by! it wasn't that great, but i tried for batman's sake. thanks for being such a marvellous person. happy birthday!

peeeace

(and also, thanks to you and lena and the rest of the batman squad, i have a super cool new outro)

-POISON IVY OUT