NICK'S POV:

The was something about the way my days had ended up that made me laugh, even though nothing was particularly funny. Not anymore. My sister was missing and it was my fault. My mom was off with Strand and Taqa the last I heard.

Every one we tried to save at the ranch died. Everyone except Troy. In the beginning, I didn't think I'd ever save him for any reason big or small but when it came down to it, I couldn't let him die. So much shit had gone down between us during our month or so of living there. I knew he wanted me dead at one point. I wanted him dead at one point. Whenever that changed, I wasn't sure.

All I knew was that we apparently had each other's back. As crazy as he was and as damaged as I felt we could bare each other's company. Who would've thought?

For some reason, he agreed to help me find Alicia. So when we were directed to El Matadero for a lead I was glad for his company. I never minded being alone. Being on drugs involved a lot of self-reflection over the years and it wasn't until the apocalypse that I realized that people weren't the enemy. It was the war inside me that cursed me.

Troy scanned the crowd while I got a shot of Tequila at the bar. "Are you sure you want to do that right now?" He inquired.

I handed the bartender a bargaining chip, then looked at him. "It's my party, I can cry if I want to." I took the shot.

He rolled his blue eyes, then turned his attention back to the party before us. "Aren't you supposed to be the one concerned about your sister? Why aren't you cracking heads around here?"

A sigh left me. I leaned into his space. "Look around us, Troy. This is a club. We're in uncharted lands. I can't get away with ass-kicking in here," I eyed him. "Especially not with a handsome gringo."

He turned his gaze onto me, his arms folded across his broad chest. He was a few inches taller than me, something I found comforting for an unknown reason.

I stared out into the sea of people.

We had to get familiar with the people here before we broke some eggs, that's just how it worked now. Any other way and we'd go down because we were outnumbered and out-weaponed by a long shot.

"So our plan is to do what exactly?" He asked pointedly.

A beautiful woman with wide hips and long flowing hair danced my way. She reached out a hand to grab mine, a big smile on her face.

"We have a little fun." I gave him a smile before I let her lead me away only because I trusted that Alicia could hold her own wherever she was and I needed to continue letting loose when I spent months refraining from my true nature.

The thumping of what I recognized as an EDM artist Rezz made us work our bodies to the beat. "Lucifer" was one of the female producer's more famous songs. Having the chance to let go of my inhibitions for a few minutes reassured me why it was a hit. There was so much pain, hurt, anger, and loss behind us. No matter which way we turned it was right there for someone else to be put into one of those categories.

The woman twirled and twisted with conviction. Her brown eyes held heavy suggestion in them.

I leaned in the distance it took to reach her ear as we continued to dance. "How is this not attracting the infected?"

She grinned, then put her hands on both sides of my face so she could press her lips to my ear. "The place is installed with soundproof panels in every room. Now don't worry about it." Her tongue flicked out along the edge of my ear. "Just dance."

I laughed. "Alright." My hands went to her hips as we moved closer together.

The song descended into the bridge, everyone quickened their movements as necessary. My heart raced out of my chest in a good way.

She placed something in her mouth, then held her tongue out to display the white pill.

"You're a lot of fun, aren't you?" I grinned, then leaned down to maneuver the pill into my mouth with a kiss that went from fun and flirty to heated and hot. Not because I had an overt attraction to her but because it was the first real contact I'd had with anyone since Luciana left.

One moment I kissed this stranger then the next I was pulled away into the less populated area by the wall by Troy.

"What the hell man?" I yanked my arm away.

He stared down at me with agitated blue eyes. "If you're done making out with that tramp then can we get back to the mission at hand?"

I wasn't insulted by his choice of adjective for the unknown woman but his passion was showing and it was intense. That was his only mode.

The pill worked into my system slowly.

There was no point in being angry with Troy, it only got me nowhere in the past. I had to talk to him like a human being one on one or he wouldn't understand.

My hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed. I moved closer to his space to be heard easier. "Relax, it's only one night. One dance with one girl that doesn't mean anything." I didn't need to bring up the girl but I felt obligated to.

He huffed. "I don't care about the girl, Nick. You're wasting my time."

"You sure?" My eyes narrowed. "Cuz you seem a little jealous." I teased.

His wrapped hand pushed mine off his shoulder. He gave me a dismissive look. "Bite me." He headed for the bar.

I watched him walk away, the need to follow pulled me toward him.

He'd ordered a shot that he hadn't touched yet as he leaned forward on his elbows.

My throat cleared. "If you're taking that stick out of your ass that's a good start."

He raised the shot.

I didn't know what propelled me to do so but I grabbed it from him and downed it myself.

"You should probably make up your mind about me," He looked down at me with an amused smirk. "I'm starting to get whiplash."

I laughed as I sat down the glass. "You told me you didn't drink earlier, didn't want to be the cause of it now." I turned so my back was against the bar.

"What makes you think you have that kind of sway over me?"

My eyes found his again.

The air seemed to vanish between us.

His face started to dance.

"Woah," I reached forward to poke at the melting flesh.

He grabbed my hand and my heart pounded in my chest. "You're tripping?"

I broke out into a laugh. "Perfect timing, right?"

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" He brought my arm around his shoulders, then lead us through the throng of survivors, his hand hot against my waist.

I wasn't quite sure how we ended up at a table outside eating tacos, but he sat across from at a picnic table under the stars.

"Where'd these come from?" I held up a taco that danced in the moonlight.

"Just eat," He said impatiently.

My stomach had grown accustomed to the emptiness, but with the sight of the tortilla and meat in front of me, I felt compelled to chow down.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked out of nowhere.

"Hmm?"

I swallowed the bite of taco. "Why are you helping me?" I leaned forward on my elbows. My eyes on him. "Why are you here with me?"

He stared at me for awhile before he answered, "I don't have anyone left. No one person that doesn't believe I'm a rat bastard from Hell. I only have you."

"If it means anything I still think you're a rat bastard from Hell." I offered a semblance of a smile.

He gave a small laugh. "Finish that plate and then we'll talk."

The more I ate and drank what little water we had between us, the more clear-headed I became. I wasn't sure what the beautiful stranger gave me but it didn't seem to last long. Maybe it was too cut down to amount to anything.

Once I tried, I saw Troy clearly. The haziness faded into the background. Everything else faded into the background.

He watched me with half interest, half worry. "You're more trouble than you're worth, Clark."

A smile tugged at my lips. "You'd make a good wife someday."

His face turned a tinge pink as he gave me a look, then grunted. "You about done?" He stood. "We should rest if-"

I grabbed his arm. "We can rest when we're dead." I rose. "Let's go for a walk." I hadn't expected him to agree so easily but found I was pleased when he did.

We strolled through the hustle and bustle of the contained community.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I'd never be used to the starry nights that others got to witness all the time for free.

"If you would've made it to the ranch before the Infection I think you would've loved it." He proposed.

I looked at him with a half grin. "Probably wouldn't fair with Jeremiah well, but I could've made it work." I eyed him.

There was this thing between us, this bond, that I hadn't yet found a definition for. Friends? Not quite. Enemies? Not quite. Acquaintances? A bit more than that. There wasn't anything simple about our relationship. Simple wasn't even in Troy's vocabulary. He was a thousand and one puzzle pieces to a thousand and one different puzzles. I think I liked that about him because he kept me guessing.

His eyes swept over my face before he looked ahead with a clearing of his throat. "Ever wonder if you did one thing different where you would've ended up?"

"All the time," I admitted. "What do you debate about?"

He let out a wry laugh. "Everything and nothing."

My eyes went to his face. "Do you regret not spending more time with Jake and your dad?"

"I don't think it would've changed anything, honestly. We were all so different to not clash. Eventually..." His eyes got far away. "Eventually we would've killed each other anyway." Sadness, maybe remorse rang in his voice.

He'd been through a lot since I arrived at the ranch. At any given time I thought he was a sociopath, but there had always been something to make me protest otherwise. Maybe it had been how we always teetered back and forth on the edge of hating each other and working together, how he ran to Jeremiah when he saw him shot dead, or how he jumped in front of a hunting knife for me.

"You don't really believe that, Troy." I said.

He kept his gaze forward. "No, I do. I was always too different from them, you know that feeling better than anyone." He glanced at me.

A group of kids were playing soccer ahead of us.

We grinned at them.

"Do you think we could ever go back to those days?" He asked.

My arm brushed against his. "Would you want to?"

He shook his head. He slid his hands into his front jean pockets. "I was no good there. Lacked a purpose."

"And what's your purpose now?"

He brought an arm around my shoulders.

"To open your eyes to my world."

"I've seen the world through your eyes and it's pretty dark, Troy."

He stared at me.

I cracked a grin so he knew I didn't feel any particular way about it.

One of the kids knocked into me on his way to join the game. As a result, I fell a little into Troy.

He braced me with a hand a warm, firm hand on my side. "If you wanted to fall into my arms all you had to do was ask, kid."

The kids gawked at us and whispered obscenities like "Mariposa".

I reddened but I didn't think it was too noticeable until Troy laughed. He probably understood what they were saying as well as I did.

His hand fell away from my side and left a coldness that was surprising considering we were south of the border.

"You think you'll run into Luciana down here?"

His interest surprised me, but I had thought about it.

What would I say to her? What would she have to say for herself? Would I be okay with picking up where we left off if she wanted that?

I saw that he could read all of that on my face so averted my gaze elsewhere. "Luciana isn't my priority right now." It was as honest as I could get and I didn't know much beyond that when it came to her.

"Just focused on your family then?" He voiced.

"And maybe a little debauchery with you from time to time."

We looked at each other and smiled.

I coughed into my hand so I could away from his blue eyes in the darkness. "If I didn't say it before, thank you."

"For what?" He dodged a group of ten going in the opposite direction, his body pressed against mine.

"For going along with this plan. You could've gone with my mom and Strand but you didn't."

He tilted his head back a bit to watch the stars. "You and I have more fun, don't we?"

My mouth turned up at the side into a cautious grin. "We have something."

He gave a grin that stayed on his classically handsome face.

We had never been off-put by touching each other. Most hetero guys were weird about that I got the feeling Troy wasn't very straight. It was okay because my sexuality wasn't as linear as it once was. At the end of the day, if the apocalypse taught me anything it was all of your preconceived notions needed to be rethought upon. Before I had a few brushes with men but never enough for me to reconsider who I was attracted to.

Troy made me reconsider who I was attracted to.

He corrected himself once the herd of people passed us.

My eyes lingered on his face a bit longer before I looked away.

Things wined down as we headed back to our assigned room. El Matadero had this seedy, slumdog vibe that probably wasn't good for me but I liked it nonetheless. The rooms were filled with prostitutes having a fun time with someone while junkies reached their high in a corner of their choosing. It was far and few in between that someone was actually sleeping. It was hard to ignore the moans of pleasure. Hell, none of these rooms had doors on them so everything you did was for the world to see.

Troy went to covers laid out for us to sleep on. He sat with his back against the wall, one of his legs propped up as he stared into space.

I was more than a little hot so I shed my shirt. I didn't have much in the way of abs, but there was something there. Who really gave a shit about physical looks anymore?

I felt Troy's eyes on me as I undid the button on my pants. My brow rose at him teasingly. "I'll make sure to save you a dance tomorrow night, Troy."

He blushed and looked away with a half irritated laugh. "If you can pull yourself away from your pill pusher."

"So you were jealous," I headed toward him.

"Don't flatter yourself, Nick." He laid down on his back.

I laid down beside him in nothing but my boxers, a smug grin on my face. "You were jealous." I rested an arm across my forehead.

His head turned to me. "I'm just trying to look out for my only friend. You getting distracted isn't in our best right now. No women on this trip."

My arm went behind my head. "Trust me, I'm flexible."

His gaze burned a hole in the side of my face briefly before he turned on his side.

The sexual noises bounced off the walls a while longer while I willed my erection away. At the ranch, I knew that there was something going on there, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Now, it was kind of in my face. It was a tension that we both recognized yet said nothing about. I wondered how long it would go unsaid in this live at every moment, die at any second world we now lived in? I still hadn't gotten any intel on Alicia but tomorrow was another day.

A/N: So this was a result of my just finishing FTWD yesterday. I was picking up on Trick vibes but I wasn't totally on board until the "You stayed because you love me" scene. I've rewatched their scenes and holy shit do they have chemistry! The main reason I didn't see them as romantic at first was because I was holding out for Ofelia and Nick cuz they had a few moments at the ranch but once she was bite I was like I can get behind Trick. This is also kinda weird for me considering my first fic was an Allisaac fic (Allison and Isaac from Teen Wolf) but I find it funny. I'm not sure how long this will be considering I don't have time to update my other fifty fics haha but I do want to make them a priority. Anyway, please leave your thoughts, comments, and suggestions :D