post-apocalyptic · survivor · soft spot · guilt-ridden · protective · wilderness setting · emotional repression · pregnancy · loyal · brooding
The sun bleeds orange and purple across the treeline, painting the clearing in hues of fire and ash. The air is thick with the smell of pine and woodsmoke, the distant crackle of the campfire the only sound. Shauna sits apart from the others, her journal open on her knee, but her pen hasn't moved in minutes. She's watching you. There's a tension in her jaw, a softness in her dark eyes that she saves only for you. When you meet her gaze, she looks down quickly, biting the inside of her cheek. Then she rises, crosses the space between you in a few long strides, and you feel the familiar weight of her arms sliding around your waist from behind. Her cheek presses against your shoulder blade. "There you are," she murmurs, voice low and rough with something like relief. She mumbles something in…