Recovery

Hi all! I know, a non-Walking Dead story! Imagine that. Please beware this is a smutty one-shot. I have not read the book, only just seen the movie so details may be off. I found the relationship between Liesel and Max a very intriguing one. For me, I saw a spark there and that sent my mind right into the world of fan fiction. So here I am at 4:30am, plagued by this story idea that won't get the hell out of my head! Hope you enjoy it!

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The day had been beautiful, one of those days that people gave every excuse they could to get outside. The sun had been shining bright with white, fluffy clouds floating lazily through the sky. It was pleasantly warm but not hot, not oppressive like the temperatures would get in the coming summer months.

Liesel Meminger had been reveling in the splendor of the day during her lunch break when she decided that tonight was the night. It hadn't taken much thought, more like the resolution had just popped into her head. It felt right and made her smile. She had mulled over the details carefully as she munched on her lunch and then as she worked the rest of her shift at the tailor shop.

The weather had even put her boss, Alex Steiner, in a happy mood. It had been two years since the war ended. Nobody could say that the country had fully recovered, not with it split down the middle between the Soviets and the West. Yet, a peace had seemed to come over their small town of Molching, life returning to a more normal pace. However, Alex remained melancholy and withdrawn most of the time. It was understandable considering he'd survived the horrors in battle only to come home to the deaths of his entire family.

Liesel hadn't needed to be told twice when Alex had given her a smile and told her to go enjoy the rest of the sunshine an hour before closing. She'd given him a quick peek on the cheek and rushed out of the store. It hadn't taken her long to get to the little room she rented to put on the right clothing and try to get her mess of curly hair to behave.

Now she sat on the worn sofa in Max's apartment, trying to read her book. The space around her was so much like Max. There were stacks of books and an old typewriter on the table. It usually comforted her even when he wasn't there. She had a feeling that he realized this and it was one reason he gave her a key. She hoped it wasn't his only reason.

At the moment, she was nervous and having difficulty concentrating on her reading. But she had steeled herself into not backing down. Not this time. She knew without a doubt that she was deeply and utterly in love with Max Vandenburg. And she was fairly sure that he loved her too. Not just in a brotherly way either.

She'd kissed him a few times before and twice he'd kissed her back. There had been passion there, untapped and held back but she'd felt it before he'd pushed her away. He always had the same excuse, that he was too old for her. He'd press her to find a boy her own age to love and give up on his own damaged self.

Unfortunately, the only boy her own age she had ever had any interest in was gone. Rudy's memory most of the time was a pleasure for her. Thinking about the days when they would play ball or race or run through the woods were some of the happiest she'd had. However, there were times when his memory was a burden instead. A burden laced with survivor's guilt that she, an orphan twice over, survived when he didn't.

No, Rudy was dead and buried but Max was alive and right in front of her. Liesel wasn't stupid enough to think that Max did not carry scars, both internal and external, from the war. His mother's ghost haunted him, feeling like he'd abandoned her to save his own life. He also refused to talk about the time he'd spent in the concentration camps. She'd seen pictures and heard stories of the horrors the Nazis had visited upon their Jewish prisoners. It broke her heart to know that this gentle man had been subjected to that.

He endured nightmares. Not that she had ever been in his bed to know for sure but she could see the signs. After he'd come home from the camps, his eyes would have circles under them that were so deep they looked like bruises. He put all his energy into his job at the bank but he would be absolutely exhausted when he'd come home. Two year later, it had lessened but Liesel knew the nightmares still came no matter how he tried to hide it.

Liesel jumped right out of her thoughts as she heard his key turning in the door. She put the book on the chipped coffee table and stood up, trying to smooth any wrinkles out of her dress. Max came through the door and smiled cheerfully when he spotted her. It was a perfectly normal occurrence that she was there when he got home from work. Only she felt abnormal at the moment.

"Hello," he said warmly as he laid his bag down on the kitchen table. She drank him in as he washed his hands and splashed a little water on his face. He was tall and muscular, the effects of his starvation in the camps long gone. His dark hair was shorter than it had been when he'd been in hiding with them and there was only the tiniest hint of stubble along his jaw now. But it was his generous smile that made her melt.

"Hi," she responded, almost a little shy. He didn't seem to notice as he grabbed an apple and started munching on it. He offered her one with a gesture but she shook her head no. Her fingers twined in the fabric of her dress as she considered how she was going to go about this plan of hers.

Max plopped down on the sofa next to her, crunching on his apple. He grabbed the book she'd put down and examined it. "Is it good?" he asked around a mouthful of fruit.

Liesel laughed at his muffled words, breaking some of the tension inside her. "I've only just started it. I'll have to let you know how it turns out."

Nodding, he set the book back down and finished his apple. The trashcan was across the room divide in the kitchen but that didn't stop Max from trying to throw the core. Of course it missed, bouncing off the side of the can and sliding across the floor. Liesel giggled as Max groaned, heaving himself off the sofa to dispose of it properly.

As he rinsed his hands off, Liesel knew that this was the moment to move. She got off the sofa and stopped him as he was coming back to the living room. Her eyes met his and the lighthearted moment turned serious. She took a deep cleansing breath and then kissed him.

He didn't kiss her back, just gently pushed away from her. "Liesel, don't. You know I'm too old for you." The same excuse as always.

He tried to turn away from her but she wrapped her fingers about his arm. "Seven years is nothing when love is concerned," she told him with resolution. She tried to kiss him again but he backed up, almost to the threshold of his bedroom.

"I'm not good enough for you. I'm damaged," he said. He looked like he was going to cry and it made her want to cry with him for even thinking that.

He watched with wide eyes as she took a step back and slipped out of her dress. She hadn't been wearing anything underneath in anticipation for this moment. There she stood, naked and open to him. The look on his face was one of fear but she could also see something else underneath that: want.

"Liesel, no…"

"I want you, Max. Only you, not some other boy my own age. I'm damaged too, you know that. But maybe together, we can make a whole person," she expressed.

She stepped towards him and he backed away, almost frantic. Step by step, they entered his bedroom until his back was pressed against the far wall. His eyes never left her and he seemed so much like a frightened wild animal. Liesel knew she needed to move slowly so as not to scare him off.

Leaning up slowly, she kissed him sweetly on the mouth. He was frozen, not responding. She backed off a little and saw that he was shaking. His dark eyes were stormy with fear but also possibly lust. She needed another tactic.

Ever so tenderly, she took his hand in hers and raised it to her lips. She kissed each fingertip and then pulled up his sleeve, kissing the inside of his wrist. Her lips fluttered just past the small numbers that had been branded into the skin of his forearm. He hated those numbers; she'd seen him scratching at them and always keeping them covered. Those numbers were meant to dehumanize him but she was not going to let that happen.

"Touch me," she whispered, knowing that he wouldn't on his own. Taking his pliant hand, she placed it on her hip, half expecting his to snatch it away. But he didn't, his warm fingers actually pressing slightly into her skin.

Growing bolder, she went up on her toes and kissed him again, this time a little fuller on his lips. He breathed in through his nose and his lips moved a little against hers. Without breaking the connection, she pressed the length of her body again his. Now she knew with absolute certainty that he wanted her too. His arousal was evident.

He moaned into her mouth, the hand on her hip slipping around to the small of her back. There was no more shaking. His lips began to move, deepening the kiss. She opened her mouth for him, granting him access. As his tongue slid across hers, exploring the depths of her mouth, she knew there was no going back now for either of them.

Liesel realized that she was still the only one naked. Her fingers went to his belt, fumbling with it. Max's hands quickly helped her, pulling the leather strip out of the loop holes in one swift motion. As his mouth covered hers once again, she found herself laying on his bed without even remembering moving in the direction. She felt drunk on his kisses, time becoming jumpy as her complete focus remained on him.

He was pushing his shirt off his shoulders when she unbuttoned his pants and slid her hand down inside. Her fingers wrapped around the length of him and he whimpered. Breaking the kiss, he looked down at her, gripping her wrist lightly to still it inside his pants.

"Liesel…" he said her name, his voice pleading for understanding. And she did understand. She was going too fast for him. With a reassuring smile, her hand withdrew. Quickly he slid out of his pants and he was as glorious to her as he had been in all her many fantasies of him. Some of those fantasies had gone back to when she was young and he was a mysterious figure hiding under the stairs. She hadn't understood then the stirrings of teenage hormones that had drawn her to him. While she was at the end of her teenage years now, those feelings had only grown stronger.

His mouth attacked her flesh. His tongue was in her ear then his teeth were scraping across her jaw. He was sucking her neck and then kissing her pert breasts. His hands were roaming down her sides, over her thighs to her knees and then back up again. It was like once the flood gates opened and his passion was released, he couldn't get enough of her.

She could feel the heat pooling in her center. Even though she was inexperienced, she'd read some books that talked about this. Plus, she did know from a difficult talk with Mama where babies came from. Her fingers laced in his hair as he kissed her abdomen.

"Max, please."

He looked up at her then moved forward, kissing her mouth again. His body settled between her legs and she could feel his arousal against her. It made her heart pound faster.

Gazing down at her, he paused. "Liesel, I haven't…"

She put a silencing finger to his lips. "Neither have I. But I trust you."

He gave her a thin-lipped smile and kissed her cheek. She felt his hips moving forward, felt him entering her. Desperately, she tried not to make any sounds, clamping her teeth shut. Nevertheless, a gasp slipped out. She couldn't help it; he was large. There was pain that came with the heat as she engulfed him.

The gasp caused him to pause and look at her with concern. "I'm hurting you," he said with a frown and tried to move away.

"No!" she cried, wrapping her legs around his waist to stop him. "I just need to get used to you is all," she said through gritted teeth. With all her muscle strength, she pushed him further in. He waited patiently, kissing her neck as she adjusted. "Now, slow," she directed him.

Max moved his hips slowly, pushing in a little further each time. The pain was subsiding, replaced with a delicious kind of tension starting to build inside her. She didn't really understand what was happening but she didn't want it to stop. In fact, it wasn't enough.

"Faster, Max," she told him, her voice breathless.

He complied, his thrusts more rhythmic than before as he found a good pace. The tension inside her responded, winding her tighter and tighter. Max was pushing harder against her and the feel of his hip bones striking against hers was perfect. His breathing was coming in great bouts of warm air across the flushed skin of her neck and chest.

Liesel cried out unexpectedly as the tension inside her reached its peak and all her nerve-endings were set on fire. Colors seemed to explode in front of her eyes and all her muscles were clenching spastically. The pleasure of it was magnificent and as she came down from the crest of the wave of sensation, she discovered that Max was right there with her. He practically growled into her ear as his body tensed up. Then he went right over the edge.

He collapsed down next to her and she turned on her side so that her back was pressed right against his chest. His arm snaked around her waist protectively, drawing her closer. He kissed her shoulder sweetly.

"Aww, Liesel," he sighed happily. "You've completely conquered me."

"No, my love," she answered. "I've completed you, as you've completed me. We'll always have scars but we can recover from them together."

That night, there were no nightmares for either of them. Just blissfully peaceful sleep in each other's arms.