𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 || 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬

Troy Otto x reader

Tears filled my eyes and I was overcome with a rush of regret - for the things I did and left unsaid.

I had always loved Troy, I suppose. Ever since we first met on the ranch. My parents had moved out here from New Jersey, always having intended on living a "country life" as they said. It took a virus outbreak and a global economic collapse to get it but here we were. As sour as my tone probably sounds, I didn't hate it forever, though. I missed the sights and sounds of city life from before but at the same time, getting to know Troy Otto quickly became the highlight of living here.

He didn't treat me like a child like my parents were prone to doing and he didn't treat me like a piece of meat in cut-off shorts like the rest of the guys around here. Troy treated me like his equal, like everything I had to say was important. He'd take me on military excursions with him, despite his father's misgivings about bringing me along. And on the way there and back, we'd talk and laugh about everything under the sun. It was a wonderful feeling, just being together like that.

And somehow along the way, there was a part of me that fell head-over-heels in love with Troy Otto. I refused to tell him, though, thinking I wasn't good enough for him. Well...I still thought that. There were plenty of beautiful girls all over the ranch, vying for his attention, hoping to obtain the eligible "Otto heir". But suddenly, all of that faded away - everything was about to change.

Troy had still been at odds with the new group of Walker's that had joined ours. I can't say I was a huge fan of them either after everything that had transpired but all the same, we were on the same side now. But Troy...didn't seem to agree. He, along with Nick, got into a gunfight with the group, effectively killing some of them. It put the truce on shaky ground which led to Madison and Jake to exile Troy.

When I found out, it felt like someone had stabbed a butcher knife right in my heart. The entire idea of living here without Troy was...impossible to imagine. He was the only reason I even stuck around. Yet I couldn't leave my parents nor would I want to. But...how could I live without the man that I loved? I should have told him before now.

My eyes flicked up at the click of the lock as the door swung open, my hands in my lap. Baby blue eyes connected to mine and I breathed a slight sigh of relief to see him until it was replaced by a wave of anxiety. I had to tell him before it was too late. But exactly what would he say?

Troy said nothing, only walked over to the bed where I was perched and took a seat beside me. His arm slipped around my much smaller frame, pulling my body into the warmth of his side. A sigh welled up in my throat and my eyes fluttered shut, savoring this moment as if it was the last one I'd have with him...which in a way, I suppose it was.

"If I'd known what would happen-" he began, his voice soft in the stillness but I shook my head, cutting him off abruptly.

"-you'd have still done it." I finished his sentence for him, correcting the words of an apology that surely otherwise would have slipped from his mouth.

Troy shot me a wry smile, his blue eyes connecting to mine, "You always did know me so well,"

The moment seemed to stretch interminably before I quickly broke it, glancing down at my hands. Nervously, I picked at a piece of string dangling from the hem of my shorts. It was now or never, do or die.

Clearing my throat as anxiety threatened to overwhelm me, I decided to bite the bullet.

"Troy...there's something I've been meaning to-"

He cut me off abruptly then, shaking his head as he took my hands in his, "Me first. I...I should never have involved you in my world. I never should have let our friendship go as far as it has,"

My eyes widened, feeling my heart sink at his words as he continued on.

"If I hadn't...you'd be spared the pain of all this. You'd be spared from your association with me. And let's be honest, the whole ranch is casting suspicion on you, too, now that news of my exile has spread like wildfire,"

There was a bitter edge to his voice that I recognized, one that would slowly slip into his tone as he discussed his father's continual wrongdoings. My heart ached for him in ways I could never express. Gently, I reached up a hand to caress his cheek.

"You know I don't care about that. You're my best friend, Troy. And no matter what anyone around here says, I know the real you. I know your intentions - if maybe misguided - were good. You're just...impulsive,"

This last I said with a wry smile and Troy laughed, shaking his head at me as he pulled me into his chest in a tight embrace. My eyes fluttered shut as I breathed in the scent of him. But to my utmost surprise and happiness, it was not I who made the first move between the two of us...but Troy.

Ever so slowly, he tipped my chin up to connect to his blue-eyed gaze and I felt all the breath in my lungs evaporate. Did time slow down? Or was it only the erratic beating of my heart, the insistence of my brain that I needed to imprint this memory forever?

His lips collided into my own then and I melted into it, my hands moving to gently wrap around the nape of his neck so as to pull him even closer. Troy's hands found my waist, moving to rest on my thighs as he held me in the warmth of his embrace.

And somehow, someway, even though I knew what this exile could entail, the possibilities that could ensue...I knew I would be reunited with Troy Otto.

It was our destiny.