A/N: Thanks to WildMomo24 for reviewing. I was half awake for most of writing this. /dies

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or the characters/world therein.

30 Day Challenge 5: Kissing

College kids were notorious for being promiscuous- all the movies were very clear on that. All of them. If there was a character old enough to be in college, they were either sleeping with someone, trying to sleep with someone, or someone was trying to sleep with them and the two would hook up by the end of the film. Zoey was well aware that she was the token college kid, but she wasn't sure if she was alright with that fact. She wasn't very active before the world ended, and walking corpses didn't make things less awkward for her. Of the three choices, she definitely fell under door number three- except for that getting together at the end of the movie part. Then again, her movie wasn't anywhere near over. Hopefully.

Having someone around who was interested in her wasn't exactly new for the brunette- she had been hit on a few times at the couple of parties and few classes that she had gone to- and it wasn't exactly bad- especially because it was Francis looking at her and she had grown very fond of the biker. The thing that made it weird was the fact that she had never been good in those situations. Zoey was awkward; the type who still blushed when someone brought up the subject. She could get to first base, but fumbled the ball before getting anywhere near the green.

If they hadn't found a place to hold up in, if they still spent their nights running for the next safe room- the next, hopefully, open evac center- she wouldn't have to worry about that. The big 'S' was the last thing on everyone's mind when they had not dying to worry about. Even if it was one Francis' mind, he never brought it up before. Wishing they could go back to those days with the fear and danger for the sake of her own awkwardness was horrible, but Zoey sometimes wished for the good old days anyway.

After their day- having a date during the apocalypse in and of itself was weird, but it was adorable and Zoey had been so happy- Francis brought it up. He didn't really bring it up with words so much as his hands moved from being around her to slowly going up her back, moving her shirt with them as the went. It wasn't unwelcome, not really, but Zoey hadn't been expecting it and didn't know how to react, so she did the totally mature college kid thing. She freaked out, left, and had been avoiding Francis ever since.

She didn't think that she was in any danger of Francis doing anything she didn't want. She wasn't afraid that the biker would force himself on her or anything. Francis wasn't that kind of man. Sure, he had tattoos and he laughed about things that reminded him of bar fights and he was a bald biker who had probably been in a gang at some point- the kind of man she couldn't really have brought home to meet the folks in the pre-zombie days- but that didn't make him a rapist and Zoey knew it. Her reason for not being around him wasn't fear. She was embarrassed. How could she spend time with him and hang out and look him in the eye after ditching him like that? It made her feel childish and awful.

That was the last thing she wanted to feel like, especially in areas that concerned the older man who had gained her trust and who she felt things- serious things- for. Zoey liked to think that she had been handling the changes to the world really well and that she had grown up as a person from the start of it all up until meeting the other three and them deciding to settle down and build a new life. She wasn't the same kid who huddled in the dark and watched horror movies alone, not wanting to go to class because she didn't want to deal with having to talk to other people. She didn't complain about stupid things like who was dating who or what happened in whatever television series she was watching at the time.

Zoey did things like remurder the undead. She patched up Bill, even when the war vet insisted that he was fine and didn't need it. She pushed hunters off Louis when he got pounced. She had head-shot contests with Francis, for crying out loud! She was the bad-ass chick in the movie, not the super girly one that cried all the time and couldn't stand the sight of her own blood. What kind of bad-ass got scare and ran away whenever someone got too close? She hated it, but it was just how she was. Childish. It was childish to be so freaked out about that kind of thing. There was no reason for it.

The thought of Francis looking at her and thinking she was just a stupid kid because she ran off was the worst. It was hard to stomach. They had been through so much together. She had feelings for him and he had feelings for her. It would have been great if she could have gotten over being weird and just went all the way with him. He was a great guy. He was better than a great guy. He probably thought she was so immature.

"Too bad the last woman left on this crazy planet is you," Zoey muttered to herself one day, about two weeks after the incident. "Just had to be some childish kid who can't do the grown-up dance." She rolled over on her cot in the cell she had been using as a room, hugging her arms around herself and dwelling on the situation the same she had been doing since it happened, "I'm sure Francis is just thrilled about that. I'm not the leading woman. I'm the obligatory girl who can't handle anything more than a kiss. Great!"

Unfortunately for her, someone happened to be walking by, and they happened to over hear her talking to herself. Francis stopped walking and turned to face the cell. He leaned his back against the railing opposite the bars that stood between him and Zoey and shook his head, "Really?"

The sound of the biker's deep voice made the brunette jump. Slowly, as though it were the most horrible thing she would see in this movie, she rolled back over to look at the man who had spoken to her, "...hey, Francis..." Sitting up, she gave a small wave and weak smile, "How long have you been creeping around?"

"Creeping around?" The tattooed man laughed and ran a hand through his non-existent hair, "Long enough to hear you go on about being a girl." He laughed again, either not noticing or ignoring the glare it earned him from the college student, "For a girl, you're one Hell of a shot, by the way." Though he never lost his smile, something in his eyes got a touch more serious when he asked, "Do you really think I hate you now because you don't do 'the grown-up dance'?"

Brown eyes softened slightly; still glaring, but it wasn't as heated as it had been, "Why wouldn't you be? You make a move and I freak out and run away. It wouldn't be the first time some guy got all pissed off because I didn't sleep with him."

Francis didn't seem the least bit bothered by the look he was receiving as he answered, "You know, I've met a lot of women who do the grown-up dance all the time. They wouldn't have been half as good as you in this crap. You, Zoey, have my back. You Louis' back. Hell, you even have Bill's back; even when he's being an old pain in the ass. And, trust me, you're the hottest one here by far. If you don't want to have sex, fine. I'll wait."

"What?" Zoey blinked at her companion, not having expected that from him, "You'll wait?"

"Hell yeah," the tattooed man grinned and flexed, "Look at me, I'm the second hottest one here! If you don't want to tap this, I'll wait. After all, you can't say no forever. I'm a catch.""

The brunette got off her bed and walked to the cell door, looking Francis up and down with a teasing smile, "Are you now?"

Francis slid the cell open with a familiarity that none of the other survivors had had when they first arrived. It probably had something to do with Francis having more experience with prisons than the others. He didn't walk in the cell, not wanting to freak the woman out again, "I'd go so far as to say I'm the best lookin' man alive, and until you're ready for this, I can settle for just kissing."

"Oh, you think I want to kiss you now, huh?" Zoey laughed, stepping out of the cell to stand just in front of the taller man with a playfully defiant look.

Shrugging, Francis replied, "Why the hell wouldn't you, I've been pretty damn charming, if I do say so myself." His grin was a more compelling argument than his words. He looked good scowling, but he looked damn good whenever he grinned.

Zoey didn't say anything. She stepped closer, leaned in, wrapped her arms around her fellow survivor's neck, and kissed him. It was more forward than she had ever been, initiating the kiss instead of following her partner's lead, but it was also as far as she could bring herself to go. Francis didn't pull away or try to make it more than that. He rested his hands on her hips and returned the kiss, letting Zoey decide how deep or passionate it would be. He was true to his word, not pressing the subject or urging her to do more, instead he would let the college woman decide what she was alright with doing and focused more on enjoying what he was being given instead of what he wasn't.