A Beautiful Read

a beautiful read

Hiii!

Could you write me something sweet with Cross?

He had so little screentime in the last trailer and i fear for my favorite angry crispy twig.

You rock! Bye!

Interrupted

Crosshair X F!Reader

word count: 2.1k

Crosshair tries to talk to you but no matter what he does, he always gets interrupted. So what happens when you go talk to him first?

warnings: none, fluff, slightly insecure reader and Crosshair. Not proofread. Female reader. Sorry for the wait @kaitou2417, enjoy 😊

Masterlist

Crosshair had been eyeing you from a distance, observing you as you sat outside the Marauder with your head buried in a datapad. Meanwhile, he was leaning against one of the many trees of Endor, nervously tapping his foot as he tried to muster up the courage to approach you.

Despite living in close quarters on the Marauder for the last few months, he had never truly spoken to you beyond a passing remark or two. He had overheard you talking about a book series that you were entranced by and figured that could be a possible way to start a conversation. But for some reason, he just couldn't seem to get his nerves under control.

He had never had trouble talking to women before, but something about you was different. Maybe it was because you didn't hit on him like many others did, which he found refreshing and even a bit attractive. You were sweet and innocent. Maybe even too sweet for a man like him.

He sighs to himself, running a hand over his face in aggravation as the negative thoughts of talking himself out of it kept springing to his mind.

"Screw it," he thought, taking a deep breath and straightening his posture as he made his way towards you after psyching himself up.

Just as you caught a glimpse of him from the corner of your eye, Tech stepped in front of you, blocking Crosshair from view. "I need your assistance," Tech said, holding a pair of tools in his hands.

You suppress a small jolt of shock at his sudden presence and you even tried to hide the crestfallen look on your face.

"O-oh, really? Me? Now?" you tried not to sound flustered, but the disappointment was evident in your voice as you tried to look over Tech's shoulder.

"Is there something else you'd rather be doing than helping me get this ship running at full capacity?" Tech asked, giving you a quizzical look.

Crosshair had vanished, and your heart sank.

You had been hoping for a chance to talk to him, but now that opportunity seemed lost. You had always been so scared to approach him first in case he didn’t like your company; so when you saw him approach, a lot of things ran through your mind. Did he want to talk to you? Did you accidentally steal one of his cloths that he uses to clean his weapons with?

Did he change his mind? Did he have something else to do? You wondered as you took one of the tools from Tech and tried to mask your disappointment.

"No, sorry, I thought I saw something," you mumbled, picking up your datapad too and following Tech towards the ship.

When back on the Marauder, traveling through hyperspace, you’re sandwiched between Echo and Wrecker who were both bickering about whose turn it is to clean up.

You’re rolling your eyes shy the situation but your head almost explodes when you suddenly lock eyes on the Marksman. He is standing in the hallway, a few feet away from you with his arms crossed over his chest.

The look on his face was unreadable, although you knew that you were on his mind.

As you look back at him, you smile. Softly. Admittedly, he hated your smile because it annoyed him. Though, not in the sense where he hated it. He adored it. A lot. Often occupying his thoughts late at night and early in the morning.

Crosshair knew this would be a good chance to pull you for a chat so he psyches himself up, knowing you would probably be grateful for a respite from Echo and Wrecker's never-ending bickering.

Just as he uncrosses his arms and rolls back his shoulders, as if to relieve the tension that was building, Hunter suddenly appears in front of him. "Have you filled out your reports for today, Crosshair?" he asks.

Crosshair feels his jaw tighten as you look away, hiding your disappointment. Why does this keep happening? Is the universe conspiring to keep the two of you apart?

"Not yet," Crosshair snarls, making Hunter, the sergeant, raise his eyebrows at his attitude.

"Something bothering you, brother?"

He sighs internally, trying to hide the fact that he was bothering him but said nothing.

“No,” he mutters before storming off.

You watch him leave and as Hunter turns to face you, it heats up as he raises a brow. Did he know something you didn’t? Maker, he could probably sense how you felt about him which made you wonder if Crosshair could ever feel the same?

——————————

You stir awake as the first light of dawn creeps in, casting a soft glow over the sleeping forms of your shipmates. You sit up and rub the sleep from your eyes, only to pause when you hear the soft clanging of metal coming from the center of the ship. With everyone else still fast asleep, you are quick to notice that it was Crosshair who was awake. This had to be the perfect chance to talk to him.

Quickly, you stand and straighten out your nightwear and throw on a jacket, knowing the ship can get pretty chilly when it's running on low power. You run your fingers through your disheveled hair that often resembles a nest when you wake up, trying to smooth it down, before silently making your way towards the source of the noise.

Unsurprisingly, you find Crosshair leaning against a console, lost in thought as he blows the steam from his cup of caf. You hesitate for a moment, trying to decide how to approach him. You pondered what to say first: hello, sup, hey… but nothing seemed right. This was silly really. How could you not know how to talk to him?

Though before you can say anything, he looks up and catches your eye.

You take a deep breath and point towards the caf machine, teasing him with a husky morning voice. "You not going to make me one?"

"Sure," he says, setting down his own cup and starting to pour you one. But as he works, he can't help but feel a twinge of nervousness.

He pretty sure knew how you liked it but as you were watching him, he low-key started to panic. Was it milk first then water? The other way? Did you have sugar or honey? Neither? Either?

"Teaspoon of honey, please," you tell him with an amused smile, noticing his confusion.

"I knew that," he says gruffly, fixing up the drink for you and sliding it over to you.

You both make your way to the cockpit and sit in silence, sipping your drinks. Crosshair taps his fingers nervously against the rim of his cup, until he finally musters the courage to ask, "Is your drink nice?"

"Nah," you say with a coy smile, tilting your head to look at him.

He frowns in confusion. "Really?"

You giggle softly. "You forgot to add the caf."

Crosshair blushes with embarrassment but doesn't apologize, instead falling into silence once again. You try to fill the awkwardness with a question. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

"Not in particular," he says, not meaning to sound cruel or uninterested. He knows he's not the best at talking to people, even when it comes to someone as beautiful as you. He feels guilty as he watches you slump back in your seat with a soft sigh.

"Is there," he starts, feeling nervous, "something you want to talk about?

“Not in particular.” You reply but as you both look at each other, you both find yourselves smiling. He had such a nice smile, it was a shame he hid it most of the time.

"I couldn't help but notice that you tried to come talk to me yesterday," you said, trying to sound nonchalant, but with a hint of curiosity in your voice. You couldn't shake off the feeling that you had imagined it all.

Crosshair's grin faded a bit and he nodded. "Uh, I wanted to ask you about the book you've been reading," he said, looking a bit sheepish. You couldn't help but find it endearing that he was at a loss for words, especially since he was usually so confident. But, you’re so surprised by his statement.

You spun around in your chair to face him, your eyes wide with surprise. "Really?" you asked, intrigued.

"Yeah," he said, his eyes lighting up a bit. "It sounded interesting."

Before you knew it, you were telling him all about the book, going into great detail and using your hands to animate your words. Crosshair sat back, sipping his coffee and listening with rapt attention. He didn't say much, but he could tell that he was thoroughly enjoying hearing you talk about something you were passionate about.

After a few minutes, you suddenly stopped, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, am I rambling too much?" you asked, biting your lip.

Crosshair shook his head, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. "No, I like listening to beautiful girls talk," he said, his eyes meeting yours with a warm gaze.

You felt a blush rise to your cheeks as you realized what he had just said. "Did you just call me beautiful?" you asked, unable to hide the smile spreading across your face.

Crosshair's eyes widened, and for a moment, he looked like he was about to take it back. But then, he squared his shoulders and said, "Yes, because you are."

You’re stunned but elated at the same time. Obviously you were harboring unsaid feelings for the man, always finding him attractive despite the lack of conversation. You didn’t want to jump ahead and assume he likes you back because maybe, he was just being nice. Or teasing.

“You don’t mean it.” You say abashed, finding it hard to look at him as you play with the hem of your jacket.

He tilts his head to the side. “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know,” you mumble. “Nobody has ever called me that and we don’t particularly speak often so…”

“So because of that you assume I don’t think you’re attractive?” He leans forward on his chair, arms resting over his knees as he tries to get you to look at him.

His words make you halt and so you just shrug awkwardly, still blushing. “Why… why are you wanting to speak to me? Really?”

He is conflicted about whether to be truthful or to play it off, but with the others asleep and no interruptions to disturb the moment, he decides to be honest.

He stands up, offering you his hand, "You're smart, I think you can figure it out." His voice is soft, and the scent of his morning caf fills the air as he brings your hand to his lips and teases them with a light graze.

“You like me?” You rasp, your breath being sucked out of your lungs

“Have done for a while, but you can probably tell I’m bad at this.” He mumbled, not feeling all too confident in his approach. He really didn’t want to mess this up.

Your heart is almost bursting out of your chest at his confession, feeling like you should pinch yourself to know it wasn’t a dream. “Crosshair… I feel the same. I too am pretty bad at this.” You laugh softly and there’s a small smile that forms on his lips, a rare and beautiful sight.

"Looks like we'll have to help each other then, huh?" He tilts his head, and you can swear that he's glancing at your lips, reminding you of all the times you've gazed at him from a distance, wanting nothing more than to kiss him.

“Oh yeah?” You whisper, definitely not wanting the others to wake up and interrupt this moment, “How would you like me to help you?”

“With a kiss.” He says bluntly but of course, only if you wanted to.

There isn’t a moment of hesitation on your part as you lean up and plant a soft kiss to his lips that were invitingly warm as was the feeling of his hands landing to your waist.

He sighs into you, embracing this soft and sweet moment with you.

His lips are soft and gently, like a summer breeze that dances on your skin, and you find yourself responding in kind, your own hands sliding up his tall, slender yet muscular chest. It's a kiss filled with pent up longing and unsaid affection, and you feel like you could stay in this moment forever.

Eventually, the kiss slowly comes to an end and you pull away, catching your breath. You both share a shy smile, not quite sure what to say, but knowing that this was just the beginning of something amazing.

Masterlist

Tags: @nunanuggets @andyoufollowyourheart @littlefeatherr @kaitou2417 7 @eyecandyeoz @captxin-rex @cwarssimp @jesseeka @ashotofspotchka @oohyesplease @megafrost4 @theroguesully @equalityforcats @mustluvecho @misogirl828 @ladykatakuri i @jambolska-grozdova @chxpsi @arctrooper69 @padawancat97 @rain-on-kamino @either-madness-or-brilliance @staycalmandhugaclone @ko-neko-san @echos-girlfriend @fiveshelmet @dangraccoon @tech-aficionado @grizabellasolo @therealnekomari @autumnleaves1991-blog @tech-depression-inventory @brynhildrmimi @greaser-wolf @tinyreadersmur @agenteliix @rintheemolion @kaminocasey @hotpinkplastoid @cosmic-persephone @imalovernotahater @swiftiexstarwarssimp @the-good-shittt @whore4rex @photogirl894 @s1st3r @taskfork-archive @by-the-primes

Chapter Fifteen , Streigler Struggle

“Were you the one who barricaded the alley?” Rick asked once Matten Streigler showed up.

“Somebody did, I guess when the city got overrun.” Glenn replied.

“Whoever did it was thinking, not many freaks would get through,” Matten cut in.

“Back at the tank, why’d you stick your necks out for me?” Rick asked.

“Matt just thought we should because we could.” Glenn said, “Me? Call it foolish naïve hope? Just hoping one day, someone will do the same for me. Guess we’re even bigger dumbasses than you.”

After Glenn, Matten merely bypassed the ladder altogether and jumped straight down, “SHIT MAN! WATCH IT!” Glenn snapped.

“We’re back!” Glenn spoke into his walkie talkie, “Got another guest, plus four geeks in the alley!”

The trio stopped at the end of the stairwell as three walkers took notice of them. Suddenly, a door swung open and two men wearing riot gear brandishing baseball bats ran out and beat two of the walkers while a third who wore white full body armor with fresh teal accents shot at the third walker with a gun model Rick did not recognize.

As soon as the walkers were down, everyone ran across the alleyway into the building.

Rick barely had enough time to react when a blonde woman grabbed him and shove him into a crate.

“Son of a bitch!” Andrea growled as she took her gun out and aimed it at Rick, “I’m gonna kill you.” She hissed.

Rick merely put his hands up to show he didn’t want any trouble.

“Hey, Andrea, chill gal.” Matten tried. “Yeah, ease up.” Jacqui threw in.

“Ease up?” Andrea gaped, “you’re kidding me, we’re dead because of this stupid asshole.”

Then the man in full body armor approached Andrea as he removed his helmet, “Put. The gun. DOWN.”

“Or pull the trigger?” Matten shrugged.

Andrea soon relented, “we’re dead, all of us. Because of you.” She spoke.

“I don’t understand.” Rick said and Morales grabbed his arm.

“Look we came into the city to scavenge supplies.” He said, “you know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving. You know what the key to surviving is? Sneaking in and out. TIPTOEING.”

“Yeah, not shooting up the streets like some trigger-happy commando going berserk on a battalion of clankers.” Matten cut in, also pissed, “Every freak for miles around heard you poppin off shots.”

“You just rang the dinner bell” Andrea spoke

“Got the picture now?” Morales asked.

Before all of them was the shop windows, all full of walkers trying to get in. One even picked up a rock and was smashing it against the glass.

The group retreated further into the building as the glass began to break.

Well. Lord help us now. Rick thought.

☣<<<Interlude>>> ☣

“It’s late they should’ve been back by now.” Amy snapped.

“They should’ve been back two days ago.” Crosshair growled.

“Worrying won’t make it better.” Dale spoke and both Crosshair and Amy huffed.

Crosshair then went to sit next to Lovi, like a few seats away from her still.

“What are you doing?” Lovi snapped.

Crosshair didn’t even look at her, “You know what I’m doing.” He spoke.

“Yeah, so stop.” Lovi hissed as she glared at him.

“I won’t” Crosshair said as he shook his head. Lovi looked at him, anger visible on her face, “I won’t.” he repeated, looking Lovi in the eye this time. Lovi stood up and left, leaving Crosshair alone on the log.

The buzz of static caught Shane’s attention as well as everyone else’s. Dale climbed up to the top of the RV and reached for the receiver.

Whatever words were exchanged were no longer what concerned Crosshair, it was the strange knot in his stomach telling him something wasn’t right.

Shane and Amy arguing caught Crosshair’s attention. Apparently Shane was being an ass again and Amy was having none of it. He wanted to leave her sister there. Leaving brothers behind was wrong, Crosshair knew that personally so he felt compelled to help the poor girl.

“She’s trapped she’s gone.” Shane said to Amy, “so we just have to deal with that. There’s nothing we can do.”

Crosshair was on his feet in an instant, walking towards Shane and Amy, well aware of the eyes on the back of his head.

“She’s her sister, you son of a bitch.” Crosshair growled at Shane.

Shane and Amy looked at Crosshair, the former in anger at his defiance, the latter somewhat thankful to him for agreeing with her.

“’s there something ya wanna say ta me man?” Shane taunted the sniper.

“You start down that path of not even trying” Crosshair began, “you wouldn’t even bat an eye to someone begging for help? You’ll start leaving people for dead, in your group, and out of it.”

With that Crosshair walked past the former cop and ushered Amy towards the forest.

“Thanks,” Amy whispered to Crosshair.

“don’t mention it and look out, I think Lori’s gonna scoop you up soon.” Crosshair joked as he nudged Amy’s arm and sure enough…

“Amy!” Lori’s voice came from behind them.

“Oh my god…” Amy ran her hands down her face.

“Good luck.” Crosshair called softly as he branched away.

“Congratulations, you’re officially an asshole too.” Amy quipped and Crosshair laughed, “too late, I already was” the sniper threw back

He could already hear the two women arguing as he walked away towards Lovi’s car. Maybe he could do something and bring everyone home…

☣<<<Interlude>>> ☣

“Listen I know it sounds crazy, but I need you to do this.” Crosshair whispered to Amy in the back of the RV.

“You’re gonna get yourself killed.” Dale pressed while Amy put a hand to her head, “Cross, he’s right, this is too dangerous.” Amy spoke.

“It’ll only be my life on the line.” Crosshair assured.

“That’s hardly reassuring, son.” Dale looked at him.

“Cross, please, this is stupid.” Amy pleaded.

“You were the one who wanted to get your sister.” Crosshair snapped.

“yes. My sister. Why are you going?” Amy asked, “aside from Dale, everyone here was cruel to you. Even that lady you came here with. Why are you risking your life for them?”

“Because I know what it’s like to be left behind.” Crosshair said, looking at the map strewn on the table, “That’s not something anyone should go through…”

Silence fell across the trio until Amy leaned over and hugged Crosshair.

Immediately the clone’s eyes went wide. How does one handle this again?? Looking up at Dale with pleading eyes that must’ve looked hilarious on him because the elderly man chuckled pretty hard.

Crosshair huffed and tried hugging Amy back, although he was unsure of where to put his hands. He settled for resting them around her shoulders.

“Thank you.” Amy said as she pulled away, “Too bad you’re not in charge and Shane is. You seem to know what you’re doing better.”

Crosshair chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind for the election.”

The trio chuckled again when suddenly, a distant siren reached their ears.

The sounds of shuffling on the RV roof told them that the current lookout had heard it too.

The trio rushed out of the RV, Dale and Crosshair both running for the ladder as the siren drew closer.

“Talk to me Dale!” Shane called out.

“Can’t tell yet.” The elderly man replied.

“Is it them? Are they back?!” Amy asked.

“I’ll be damned…” Dale grumbled, “What is it?” Crosshair asked, “Stolen car I’ll bet.” Dale replied just loud enough so everyone could hear.

A sleek red car pulled into the camp, it’s alarm screaming bloody murder. Crosshair trained his rifle on it just in case. When he saw Glenn in the driver’s seat he then trained his aim on the passenger seat. Wait… holy damn. That’s a reg.

Said reg stepped out of the car. He had hair the length of Hunter’s with blonde frosted tips set in small braids tied back in a ponytail.

“Holy crap, turn that damn thing off!” Dale shouted

“I don’t know how!!” Glenn shouted back.

Almost immediately the car alarm was mingled with several people yelling as Glenn popped the hood of the car and told Amy her sister was fine and Shane turned off the car alarm.

Once the alarm was off everyone turned to the newcomer.

“Who the hell are you?” Shane asked

“Who the hell are you??” the reg parroted reaching behind his back.

“HEY, HEY! HANDS IN THE AIR!” Shane shouted.

“That’s Matten Streigler, we ran into him two days ago…” Glenn introduced, “Matt can you PLEASE calm down?”

The reg chuckled and shook his head, “Not when this asshole thinks he can boss me round.” The reg whipped out a dc-17 and aimed it right at Shane.

“DROP THE BLASTER, REG!” Crosshair snapped and everyone looked at him.

“Oh,” Matten said as he looked at Crosshair, “You one of those defective clones aren’t ya??”

“I’m defective enough to kill you, scug, drop the karking blaster!” Crosshair growled

“Excuse me, do you two know each other?” Lori asked as Matten kept his blaster trained on Shane.

“Not personally Ma’am” Matten leered

“Kriffin reg,” Crosshair growled as he switched his blaster to stun.

“What’s that defect?” Matten spat at Crosshair when suddenly, a firewood wielding Amy came up and brought a log down on the back of Matten’s head, dropping the reg like a sack of potatoes.

The camp stood dumbstruck, staring at Amy who shrugged before growling at an unconscious Matten Streigler, “His name is Crosshair, asshole.”

Crosshair shared a look with Dale before smirking and jumping down from the RV.

Amy immediately went to turn her crossfire back on Glenn, “Andrea’s okay? Why isn’t she with you?” Amy spoke.

“It’s okay,” Glenn announced “everyone’s okay, well… Merle not so much.”

Crosshair snapped up at that.

Goddammit.

“You crazy driving this wailin’ bastard around” Shane scolded, “You trying to draw every walker for miles?!”

“I think we’re okay” Dale said

“You call bein’ stupid okay?” Shane snapped

“Well the alarm was echoing all over these hills, hard to pin point the source.” Dale corrected.

Shane stood up and glared at the man, “I’m not arguing, I’m just saying.” Dale said to the cop before looking to Glenn, “It wouldn’t hurt you to think things through more carefully next time would it?”

“Sorry,” Glenn apologized. “I got a cool car…”

Shane was in the process of tying up Matten when a large truck soon came up.

His enhanced eyesight enabled Crosshair to recognize Morales in the passenger seat while a man he didn’t recognize sat in the driver’s seat, but what stopped him mid-breath, was the man, the REG between the passenger’s and driver’s seats.

No way…

He’s…

Alive…

Andrea was the first to exit the truck. She ran straight to her sister, who ran to her and pulled Amy into a hug. The reunion was hearty, bringing a smile to even Crosshair’s face. Jacqui showed up next followed by T-Dog. Then came Morales, whose children ran right into his arms.

Crosshair could hear Morales talking about how they’d escaped being trapped. Then someone who appeared to be some law enforcement officer stepped out of the truck.

Crosshair noticed how Shane and the new guy seemed to freeze when they saw each other.

“DAD!”

Crosshair turned to see Carl and Lori running towards the man and then he understood. This was Carl’s father and Lori’s husband. This- oh. Shane’s in for it now.

Then… the white clone armor with teal accents. It looked like the armor was stolen from a purge trooper and was given a new paint job. The teal paint barely masked the faded and chipped magenta patterns.

The trooper’s helmet moved with his head, panning the camp.

Crosshair was sure Shane was watching the man, as well as analyzing Crosshair’s reaction to him where his reaction to Matten was hostile, his reaction to this trooper was docile.

The trooper’s scanning stopped when his sights landed on Crosshair. Crosshair tensed when the trooper advanced on him suddenly.

“Hey, hey, hey-” Shane tried to intervene when he realized the way the trooper was advancing was nowhere near a happy reunion but the trooper just shoved him away.

Crosshair braced himself for an attack as he began to step backwards, “Howzer wait, I can explain-” Crosshair didn’t get to finish.

Captain Howzer hauled off and socked Crosshair across the jaw, making the latter stumble and fall.

Crosshair swore he heard Lori or Amy scream at Howzer, but when he looked up, he saw Lovi.

“If you touch him one more fucking time I will kill you” she growled.

Howzer ripped his helmet off and to Crosshair’s horror, his right eye was burned blind. It’s almost looked like Wrecker’s scar. “Do you even realize who you’re defending?!” He shouted to the camp.

“Yes, we realize who we’re defending and you just hauled off and punched one of our own so you watch it.” Dale snapped as he stood next to Lovi who glared at Howzer like some post-apocalyptic warrior goddess in Crosshair’s eyes.

“Do you really?” Howzer challenged

“Do we realize that we’re defending a man who’d imprisoned many people? Yes we do.” Dale challenged back “That he tried to kill his own family? Yes we do. Do we have reason to believe him?-” “No we don’t” Shane cut in, “YES. WE. DO.” Dale ignored the cop’s butt in, “He’s one of us ‘Howzer’, you watch it or we’ll drop you like your friend.”

“Matten’s not my friend.” Howzer spat, “and neither is he.” He spoke, gesturing to Crosshair. Crosshair looked away as Howzer turned and left for the tree line.

“you alright?”

Crosshair looked up to see the new guy holding out a hand to him.

“uhm… yeah…” Crosshair said as he took his hand.

The man then helped him up, “Rick” the said simply. “Crosshair.” Crosshair replied. “I know that wasn’t you fault” Rick said, “he was pretty tense and hostile when I first met him”

“Pretty tense when we first met him two days ago.” T-Dog cut in.

“It is my fault.” Crosshair said.

“Sorry?” Rick asked with a raised brow.

“He had him arrested, he told us” Jim said.

“I wasn’t thinking straight then.” Crosshair spoke. “I thought I was right, but… I wasn’t. I hadn’t been right for a long time.”

“We all have our ups and downs.” Rick said, “give him some time, maybe he’ll come around”

Crosshair huffed. If only it were that easy.

(I'm gonna minimize the amount of nav links I'm putting in. From now on, I'm just gonna put the table of contents link into my stories.)

Tumblr

CAPTIVE

table of contents: Chapter One : Know Nobody Chapter Two : Atlanta Chapter Three : The Urban Home Chapter Four : Flu Chapter Five : Cou

@antisocial-mariposa