Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead 2 or its characters. I only own my OCs.

A/N: Hi, guys! We're back again with a new chapter! Chapter twenty is now complete and I've started work on chapter twenty-one, so now that I have finished work until next Tuesday (for the most part), I'll have a lot more time to get more writing done and maybe even get this story completed. Anyway, I hope you guys are continuing to enjoy the story and thanks for the support so far!

Shin Maxwell: Thanks so much! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

~ Not So Forsaken ~

Chapter Fifteen -

After what must've been ten minutes of debating in the darkness of the maintenance room, everyone was starting to get irritated because they weren't sure what to do about the situation beneath them, which included the humongous horde of infected wandering around in the Tunnel of Love below.

"Coach, why don't you and Ellis just blast them apart with your shotguns?" Julia suggested, rubbing her forehead with her thumb, index finger and middle finger, "I mean, they cause the most widespread damage, and it's not like we're running out of ammo for you guys."

"Exactly. Just shoot at them from up here, head down when there's a gap and we'll follow you both." Rochelle said, sounding as irritated as Julia, "There isn't really much else we can do."

"Alright, alright..." Coach murmured, also rather annoyed, "Just be sure to cover our asses."

Coach and Ellis stepped towards the hole in the floor, shotguns aimed at the wandering infected underneath before opening fire at them. Bodies started to collapse within seconds, dropping like flies as round after round was fired into them from Ellis and Coach's shotguns. A sizeable gap was made in the crowd very quickly, but with visibility being so poor from where they were standing, they still didn't know quite how full the tunnel below was and there was only one way to find out. Coach dropped down first, followed by Ellis, who stumbled as he landed which surprised nobody.

"Ladies first." Nick muttered, gesturing for Julia and Rochelle to lead the way.

Rochelle headed down first, landing quite safely in the water. The sounds of gunfire filled Nick and Julia's ears, thankfully breaking the deafening silence that they'd suddenly found themselves in. Julia jumped down next, landing a little shakily and brushing her hair behind her ear before readying her rifle to go and help out. She heard Nick following behind her but didn't turn to look at him. Instead, she found herself now in a quiet ride tunnel with Coach, Rochelle and Ellis now standing around a huge pile of bodies.

"Come on, slowpokes!" Ellis laughed, "We need to keep movin'."

Julia heard Nick grumble under his breath but tried to ignore it as she set off walking to catch up with the others. She wasn't going to give him the opportunity to try and talk his way out of what he'd done to her, reeling her in like that after everything they'd told each other and then rejecting her like the very thought of her was disgusting to him. Why he'd even bothered to kiss her in the first place, she didn't know, and part of her wished he hadn't. It had awoken feelings in her that she didn't think existed for him and she was angry because of it.

They soon came to a hole in the wall, which revealed a storage room and a shutter leading back to the outside world. The five survivors made a mad dash for that shutter. Being cooped up in the Tunnel of Love with the uncomfortable atmosphere that was building between them was getting on everyone's nerves. Coach, Ellis and Rochelle had no idea what had happened and why Julia and Nick's seemingly improved relationship had diminished again, but Julia's coldness towards the conman and Nick's clear inability to so much as look at her was making everyone feel awkward.

Upon stepping out from under the shutter, they found themselves staring up at their next obstacle. A huge wooden roller coaster. Everyone apart from Ellis felt frustrated. Nothing seemed simple anymore. Every attempt at getting from point A to point B involved taking the most stupid routes which had all kinds of silly obstacles to get over, or under, or through, or around, and the five survivors were getting a bit sick of it.

"It's The Screamin' Oak!" Ellis cried, reaching out and taking Julia by the wrist, "Come on, Jules! We gotta ride this!"

"Ellis, I'm not riding this ride when it hasn't even been tested!" Julia protested in a high pitched voice, "Please, just... Let's see how we get around this without getting ourselves mangled to death in some horrid Final Destination-esque accident."

Ellis shrunk back a little from the angry, reddened face of the young woman, who seemed to be experiencing extreme feelings of irritation at this point, probably from her lack of sleep and the fact that Nick had clearly done something else to upset her, despite him asking Nick to not be like that with her anymore. He decided to just head towards the fencing surrounding the coaster with Coach and Nick to try and find a way in, while Rochelle hung back with Julia.

"Are you okay, honey?" She asked quietly, placing a gentle hand on the redhead's back.

"I'm sorry. I'm just tired, and..."

"Hey, girls? We can get through here!" Coach called to them, putting the uncomfortable conversation to an end.

"Come on. We'd better go." Julia muttered, setting off towards the waiting men ahead of them.

Coach headed over a fallen piece of the chainlink fence with Ellis and Rochelle in tow, leaving the producer to look back worriedly over her shoulder as Julia and Nick were the ones left behind. They set off together, walking side by side but with Julia not looking at Nick, who was studying her face for any signs of what might be going through her head.

"Julia...?"

"Please, don't." She whispered harshly, "Just don't."

They moved over the fallen fence in silence, with Nick keeping his gaze trained in front of him this time, rather than on her. He felt so frustrated. Part of him was terrified to allow himself to get close to her, but the other part of him wanted to make amends for what happened and to try making another move. Part of him wanted that sensitive side of her to take care of him and he wanted to protect her and take care of her, and make her forget that asshole who'd broken her so badly... But, now that he'd done what he'd done? It might be impossible to repair the damage he'd caused.

"What the hell is goin' on with those two?" Coach asked, crossing his arms as he leant against the coaster station wall, "They've been actin' weird around each other since we left the safe room."

Before anyone had a chance to speculate, Julia and Nick could be seen approaching, both of them reloading their weapons and paying very little attention to the other's presence. Coach explained what he and the others had planned to do, which was to open the gate to the coaster station and run the track to get to the other side of the enormous wooden structure. Now, this plan would've been fine with the others, if not for the fact that opening said gate would start the coaster and potentially set off alarms that had been installed for safety reasons. So, the conclusion that Julia and Nick quickly came to was that again, they'd have to fight off a rather large horde of zombies since the noise would probably attract anything within a quarter-mile radius.

"Nothing's ever easy, is it?" Nick deadpanned, rubbing the back of his neck, "So, how are we doin' this?"

"Just watch each other's backs, keep your eyes open for special infected, and run as fast as you can. If you see someone fallin' behind, you wait up for them." Coach said, "That applies to us all. Ellis is goin' first, I want Rochelle and Julia next, and you after. I'll run at the back."

"Oh, great. We're gonna be slowing down for you every ten seconds." Nick muttered, trying to ignore the harsh glare he received from the others, "Okay. Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

Ellis hit the button on the power box next to Coach, bouncing excitedly on the spot despite the fact that the alarm had already started to blare. The unfortunately familiar screaming of a horde could be heard over the obnoxious alarm, and as the gate opened, dozens of infected came pouring from all over the place, scaling the fences to get in at the five survivors.

"Move, now!" Nick yelled, ushering Coach in front of him, "I'll cover the back! Go!"

Thankfully, the first hill seemed to be the steepest and the worst. It took a lot of the group's energy to get up there, and everyone was trying to encourage Coach to really put his back into it considering the fact that he was finding it the hardest to get to the top due to his knee injury. Ellis could be heard at the front whooping about how he was going to fly down the hills while Coach finally stumbled, collapsing to his knees with exhaustion at the top. Nick moved to cover him while Julia turned around to get him on his feet again.

"Coach, the end of this ride has a huge chocolate cake waiting for you! With a side order of pizza!" She yelled, grunting as she struggled to get him on his feet, "Nick, help me!"

"Cover us!" Nick replied, moving to put Coach's arm around his neck and get him to his feet, "Come on, Coach! We'll look at your knee as soon as we can!"

Julia was shooting the horde following them as Nick and Coach got moving again, trying to get some painkillers for the older man while trying to support him at the same time. Rochelle and Ellis, who were now halfway towards the next hill, found themselves suddenly stopping as they realised their friends weren't behind them. They spotted the three of them emerging from the tunnel and carefully but quickly moving towards them.

Zombies were scaling as much of the track as they could now, and the five survivors found themselves suddenly overwhelmed as they caught up with each other. Coach insisted that he was okay to keep going, and while the group knew his painkillers couldn't possibly have kicked in that quickly, they chose to let him lead, using his pace as a guide for the rest of them so that no-one fell behind again. The coaster car could be heard rumbling along the tracks ahead of them, and as they passed the station where the ride came to an end, they knew that they didn't have that far to go.

"SMOKER!" Rochelle screamed, pointing to the tunnel ahead.

Julia stopped dead in her tracks, knelt down and aimed at the Smoker without hesitation, opening fire on it before it had the chance to snare anyone. Her reaction had been so quick that it had surprised everyone, even herself since she didn't ever think she could react and kill an oncoming threat that quickly. Ellis was shooting at the infected approaching from behind to cover her, while Coach and Nick were aimed in front, now taking out zombies that were approaching from the tunnel they were about to head into.

"I hate this ride!" Julia cried in a panic.

"It's normally much better than this when there ain't zombies climbin' all over it!" Ellis yelled, grabbing her hand and getting her onto her feet, "Come on!"

When they finally got to the coaster station, Rochelle rushed to the controls and stopped the coaster from running and shut the damn alarm off. Coach waited behind for her while Nick and Ellis ran ahead with Julia, who told them that there was a safe house in the next building. They were about five seconds away from the door when a female Boomer emerged, sending everyone backtracking to get out of her way as she waddled towards them. Ellis fired his shotgun at her, causing her to explode, and her lower body to start rolling towards the safe room door. As the other zombies approached, Nick hauled up the Boomer's lower half by the legs with great strength, probably due to the adrenaline that was pumping through him, and threw it at the oncoming horde and yelled out tauntingly to them.

"Chew on her instead, you fuckers!" He yelled, waiting until Coach and Rochelle managed to get inside before pulling the safe room door shut.

He used all his strength to hold it in place while Rochelle, Julia and Ellis tried to help barricade it with some benches and crates that were sitting nearby. This was clearly the ride's exit, and it looked as though some of the railings that should've been in the centre of the space mapping the way out had been removed, probably to utilise this room as a safe house for survivors. Someone had obviously been here before them, judging by the three large bales of hay which had sleeping bags sitting atop them that had been lined up against one of the far walls. A palette of water was sitting nearby along with a box of rations, both of which had been opened, and a small pile of ammo sat on a bench nearby, along with an abandoned, but dented golf club.

Coach eased himself down onto one of the crates that had clearly been used as a way to climb up onto the hay bales and started to massage his knee while Rochelle and Julia rushed to get everyone some water and food. Ellis was looking out of the door that was the exit to the safe room, spying some restrooms up ahead which the group could use if they needed the bathroom. Julia did need the bathroom. She'd been dying to pee for a while, so as she announced that she was going to use the restroom, she was mortified to hear Coach order Nick to go with her.

"Ya don't have to go into the restroom with her, but at least wait outside. I'd rather us all make that kinda trip with a chaperone."

Nick and Julia shared a look of horror and resignation. They'd been avoiding talking about their little encounter in the Tunnel of Love and now, they were probably going to have to talk about it. Ellis promised to keep a look out for them coming back and he opened the door for them, ushered them out, and closed it behind them again, locking it as he did so. The first few moments of the journey were silent, but as they reached the restrooms, Nick couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"Jules, listen..."

"No, you listen." Julia said angrily, whirling on him with surprising bravery and anger in her eyes, voice and body language, "I don't know what kind of sick game you're playing with me, but you'd better stop it. I've already been messed around enough without you doing it too."

Aware of the fact that Ellis could see them from the safe room, as Julia stormed into the dark restroom and searched for a light switch, Nick followed, determined to set the record straight with her. He was getting sick of this sudden attitude she seemed to have with him.

"I'm not playing any fucking game with you." He snapped, spotting the light switch nearby and flicking it on for her, the bright light causing them both to suddenly shield their eyes, "I know the way I handled what happened back in the Tunnel of Love was pretty bad, okay? I know it was bad."

"Bad?" Julia asked with wide eyes, "You acted like kissing me was gonna give you some kind of disease!"

She wasn't yelling but her voice was coming out in a sharp, high pitched whisper, her facial expressions acting as more than enough of an indicator of how she was feeling. Nick's tongue moved around the inside of his closed mouth which was a clear sign of aggression, and Julia couldn't help but step away from him as panic began to settle in her chest at the sight of it. Any hint of aggression from another person was enough to get her so anxious that she could barely breathe.

"I was freaking out, okay?!"

The response wasn't what she'd expected, and it came out quietly but it was full of whatever mix of emotions he was feeling. Obviously, they didn't want to be too loud in case there were any infected nearby, and Nick thought he was doing pretty well to not fly off the handle right now. Julia watched him, her eyes now wide with shock and her lips parted as she let out a shaky breath, clearly not wanting to be too close to him.

"Before the world went to shit, I was totally fine! I was on my own, getting whatever money I wanted, going where I wanted, sleeping with who the fuck I wanted with no responsibilities, no-one to worry about but me!" Nick said angrily, running his hand through his hair, "I knew where I was, what I was doing and I knew who I was! It was great! Then, this shit happened and you four showed up!"

He put his weapon down on the sinks nearby, leaning against the wall and running his hands over his face for a moment, trying to swallow down the heavy feeling in his chest, not to mention the lump of emotion that he was trying to fight from working its way into his throat. He was not going to lose it. He hadn't cried since he'd lost his mother and he sure as hell wasn't going to start again now. No fucking way.

"I now have four people who depend on me, and who I have to depend on too." His voice seemed to have taken on a sadder tone rather than the angry tone it had earlier, "Coach, Rochelle, Ellis... I could leave those guys and within a couple of days, I'd feel fine about it... But you? I don't know if I could leave you behind and be okay with it. I don't fucking know who I am anymore."

The silence that followed was deafening, but Julia knew that she had to do or say something. His personality was changing and his morals were too; they could all see that happening to him and it must've been confusing as hell for him, but what he'd just expressed to her were feelings that he had for her. She was the only one who he'd truly miss if he left and she was the only one he'd feel bad for if he left her behind. Those words meant more to her than he knew.

Easing her way forward, Julia gingerly set her own gun down against the nearby wall while being careful to keep quiet. Nick's head was turned away from her, his mouth drawn into a tight line and his arms crossed over his chest as though trying to hide himself from her. She reached out with one of those beautifully dainty hands, placing it carefully against his right arm as she then moved to step in front of him.

"Nick..."

He still didn't look at her. He was too busy trying to keep his emotions in check. He was not going to lose his shit in front of her. He hated not really being able to grasp what he was feeling. It was almost like Julia made him want to be... He didn't really know... Better? Was that the right word? She made him want to kick his old lifestyle in the ass and maybe try and be the adult he should be. Maybe if the world got back to some state of normality, he could try dating her properly; take her out to some place for food and then maybe going out for drinks or take her for a simple walk in the park. Maybe she'd appreciate that more than him throwing himself at her in a Tunnel of Love while a Witch was walking by.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, biting her lip anxiously, "I was just a little upset... When you kissed me, I didn't... I've never been kissed like that before, and I guess... I liked it... And then when you pushed me away, I didn't really know how to take it. I felt embarrassed and used..."

Nick finally moved his gaze to hers. She was blushing again. He could understand her feeling that way. He'd made this move on her in highly inappropriate circumstances and then shoved her away like it had been a mistake. She was still so young, and for all he knew, her ex had been her only boyfriend. She wouldn't have known what to make of that, and she wasn't a mind reader. She didn't know how he was feeling.

"You liked it, huh?" He quirked his eyebrow and smirked at her mischievously.

"I did." Julia replied, smiling shyly, "I... I think I like you, so... Of course I liked it."

"I think I might like you too." He replied, taking a deep breath, "It's just... This shit's hard for me. I don't usually feel things like this when I'm with a woman. I sleep with women and then leave them in the morning. I don't get attached..."

"That's okay." She promised with a bright smile, her brown eyes now sparkling with what Nick thought might actually be pure joy, "Just... I don't know where we go from here."

Nick knew. He knew perfectly well. They liked each other. They'd just said as much. Even though they barely knew one another there was obviously something between them, and their instincts were clearly guiding them to each other. He figured that Coach might have some comments to make about them getting distracted with each other or about the fact that it'd be harder for the other to concentrate if one of them got hurt, but Nick could easily deal with that. He just didn't know how good he'd be for her.

"I do." He whispered to her, moving one hand up to cup the back of her head while his other hand drew her closer, being mindful of her bruises.

He then leant closer to her as her fingers curled into his jacket, and kissed her again. All doubt he'd been feeling up to that point seemed to leave him as she returned his kiss, one of her hands moving towards the back of his neck, elegant fingers threading into his dark hair. Oh, God, it felt so good. She was holding him so closely and with a tenderness he'd never really experienced before. He could feel the way that she was trembling in his hold, so small, so fragile and so nervous about this, almost as though she was frightened he might change his mind.

They broke apart, their eyes still closed and their hands still on each other. Nick's heart was pounding so hard in his chest, his pulse racing as blood coursed through his veins as though it had been electrified. He remembered the last time he felt like this; his first kiss with a girl he'd wanted to be with for six months. Her name completely escaped him now, because all he could think of was Julia. And it didn't feel so bad that she was all his brain could concentrate on.

"I don't wanna label this if that's something you're not comfortable to do." Julia whispered as they broke their kiss, bringing him out of his thoughts, "But, I do want you. And I do like you. I have issues to work through too and this won't be easy for me either."

"I know." Nick answered her, opening his eyes to look at her, "We'll try, though, right?"

She took his hands in her own, squeezing them as she leant closer to him, kissing him tenderly again, this time on his cheek, which she had to lean up to do because of their height difference. Nick couldn't help but find that kind of cute.

"Yeah." Julia smiled at him warmly, "We'll try. We can keep this between us for now, if you'd prefer."

"I'd like that." Nick admitted, releasing her hands before offering her a rather sexy smirk, "So did you really need to pee or...?"

"Yes, I did." Julia said, rolling her eyes playfully, "I'll be as quick as I can. The others will be wondering where we got to."

"I'll be outside the door." Nick told her, picking up his sniper rifle from the sinks before heading outside, leaning against the outer wall.

He could hear her humming on the inside of the restroom, probably to try and cover up the sound of her peeing but it made him smile to himself nonetheless. He knew she didn't think any less of him for blurting out his feelings like some lovesick teenaged boy, and he also knew that the butterflies he had in his stomach were very real. But it was okay. He could do this, and so could she. It'd be hard for both of them given their individual issues, but for the first time, he felt pretty confident that they could make something work. The only problem now was going to be keeping it a secret from the others until they felt ready to tell them.

He heard the sound of flushing and then the water running inside the restroom. Julia emerged about a minute later with her gun, her face still coated with that rather adorable blush. They decided on the way back across to the safe room that they would be civil with each other and nothing over the top initially. They wanted to show the signs of their improved relationship slowly and they were going to avoid any kind of romantic or intimate contact with each other while the others were in earshot or in view of them. They wanted to take things at their own paces.

Upon seeing their return, Ellis quickly ushered them into the safe room, where Rochelle was applying some deep heat gel to Coach's knee. The new couple set their weapons down on the floor, accepting the food and water that Ellis handed to them before approaching their other teammates.

"You doing okay, Coach?" Nick asked, clearing his throat as he opened up his spaghetti and meat sauce Meal Ready-to-Eat.

"Oh, I'll be fine. Just gotta rest it for a few hours." Coach replied with a cheerful smile as Rochelle rolled down his pant leg again, "Thanks, Ro."

Rochelle washed her hands with a bottle of water before grabbing her food, and the five survivors sat down to eat together. The plan was for everyone to get a few hours of sleep, without anybody sitting up on watch, so they were going to barricade the other door to give themselves a bit of extra protection before settling on the hay bales nearby to sleep. Julia and Rochelle were given the sleeping bags to use, which they were grateful for. Jackets weren't particularly comfortable to sleep in.

Once their meals were finished, the group started moving onto the hay bales to find their own sleeping spots. Coach was asleep in very little time. Rochelle seemed to be a little more restless, but when Ellis offered her his arm as a pillow, she gratefully accepted it and they both settled quickly into sleep as well, leaving Nick and Julia awake. Julia, who had taken off her jacket to use as a pillow, was now trying to get warm. Like Rochelle, she hadn't wanted to use her sleeping bag because it had looked rather gross, so it had been abandoned on the floor, which had led to her trying her best to keep warm.

She looked across at Rochelle and Ellis only to find that already, they were curled up together, clearly to share a little body heat. The temperature had started to drop a little, but it was that kind of uncomfortable temperature that felt just a little too cold to walk around sleeveless. Julia's long-sleeved top didn't seem to be enough to keep her quite warm enough. She heard the sound of Nick moving behind her, and was suddenly met with the warmth of his body against her back, his arm carefully draping around her waist.

"Cold?" He whispered in her ear, moving her copper coloured hair out of the way to place a rather sensual kiss on the back of her neck before returning his arm back to lazily hang over her body.

"A little." She whispered back, closing her eyes at the contact before carefully reaching to briefly squeeze his hand, "Let's try to sleep."

Nick settled beside her, moving his hand out of her grasp and carefully resting it against her abdomen, his thumb carefully stroking soothing lines against the fabric of her shirt. He was trying not to hurt her since he knew her body was injured, but the fact that he was holding her was enough, for her at least.

With both of them finally feeling at peace for the first time in years, Nick and Julia listened to the steady sounds of their comrades' breathing, and slowly fell asleep.

~ To Be Continued ~

A/N No.2: A get-together in a restroom! Talk about keeping it classy! I hope that was enjoyable enough for you guy, regardless of its setting, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thanks for reading so far!