"What're ya doing up here alone?" the voice came from behind her, the metal door swung open with an echoing creak. The blonde didn't move. She sat with her knees to her chest on the open roof, just watching the grassy yard below. He stepped closer, his steps were heavy and bounced off the concrete area around them. "I know it's hard…" he scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly. He didn't know what to say to her. He wanted to console her, he wanted to help, but in this world, that kind of sympathy and caring was a hard thing to express in this world. For her, he could be caring, but it was something he tended to keep buried deep, away from anyone else in this world.

"Just leave me alone," she uttered, her face slumping so her cheek rested her knee, eyes facing away from him. She didn't want to talk to him, or anyone really.

"I've tried that," he stated plainly. He had kept a watchful eye on her for the last couple of days, Simon helping him with the task of making sure she was keeping herself out of danger. He knelt beside her, the flesh of his knee poking out from the tear in his black jeans. She turned to face him, he could see the sorrow in her once bright blue orbs. They had faded to a much paler version of their former selves. "Now, you've been up here for the last 12 hours, doing nothing—all the while wasting away to nothin', he glanced at her side, she didn't appear much thinner, but he knew that going a day without a meal couldn't help anything in a place where food is so scarce. "You haven't eaten in three days."

"I don't care. It doesn't matter anyway." He rested a hand on her upper arm and took a seat on the cement beside her.

"Ellie," his voice was low as he considered his next words. He needed to help her, but he didn't know how. He felt like she was his responsibility now.

"Just go away. Please." She implored, looking down at the ground, noting the many cracks and scuffs.

"Why do you want to leave so bad, huh?" he asked, watching her eyes water. Ellie finally met his chocolate eyes, tears beginning to run down her lightly sun kissed and freckled cheeks.

"Negan…I—I'm not your responsibility," she stated, chin quivering as she spoke.

"Hate to break it to you, but you kinda are," he smiled softly, wrapping an arm around her. Inside, she felt like she should be mad at him, like she should hold him accountable. But she knew in this world, it wasn't his fault, so much could go on in that world out there and she trusted Negan to much to think what he told her could be anything but the truth.

"How's that?" she questioned, leaning closer to him. She hated to admit it, but the human contact was something she had missed in the previous days.

"C'mon, you knew Leo even better than I did. He wouldn't have had it any other way," he shrugged, casually. "And you're the last person I know from before," he added, looking down for a moment.

Ellie knew Negan from the old world, they lived next door to one another, they were pretty good friends before all of this and now, now they were family. The closest to family that either of them had left.

"I was thinking about going on a hunt today…" she trailed off. She could clear her mind and be alone, the woods seemed like the perfect shelter for her distress.

"No."

"No?" she pulled away from him, a fire returning to her blue eyes. "You're telling me I can't go out to hunt and get food for those people downstairs.

"You haven't eaten in days, Ellie. You're not going anywhere." He stood from the ground. "C'mon, let's get you some food and you can leave in the morning."

She started to argue, but she knew that there was no use. He offered a hand to pull her from the ground, she accepted it and he pulled her to her feet.

That evening, Ellie found herself alone in her room, the one she had once shared with the love of her life, replying the gruesome events of the last couple days.

She had just returned from a hunt, brining back a couple of rabbits and a goose. Nothing special. She walked up to the Sanctuary, noticing the red Sedan that had left the day before had returned. She felt her heart speed up as she happily quickened her pace. Leo had left in that car, that meant he was back. She scanned the surrounding people, looking for his blonde hair to stand out in the crowd.

She hadn't seen him and the butterflies were no longer fluttering with glee, they were attacking each other and she felt sick. She found a tall dark haired man she recognized well, and made her way over to him. Negan saw her and his grim face seemed to only get grimmer.

"Where is he?" she questioned. He rested a hand on her shoulder and she jerked away. "Where. Is. He?" she questioned again. Her voice only getting louder and her face angrier.

"C'mon, let's go on a walk," he murmured.

The butterflies inside her stomach were on full attack mode, she felt like she was going to be sick. She knew what Negan was going to tell her. She just needed to hear it. For it to be confirmed in her mind so that she knew it was true.

Ellie followed Negan back towards her room and he turned to face her, sighing audibly. "I'm so sorry," were the first words to leave his lips. Due to their past, Ellie saw a different side to Negan than the rest of the saviors did. He was often much softer and much kinder with her. They had the history to allow that sort of genuine interaction.

"Tell me," she said. Her jaw clenched, holding back the emotions as best she could.

"He…He's gone, Ellie. I tried. I tried so hard," Ellie's eyes glanced down to the rest of Negan's attire, it was covered in blood—blood that clearly did not belong to the dead. It was fresh, not dark and rotting.

"What happened?" she demanded. She refused to allow herself to feel it until she had the details behind everything, until she knew how and why her husband was dead.

"We were trapped. Dead surrounding us, they were breaking the windows. The roof was the only way out. Leo forced me up first—gave me a boost. I pulled myself up and reached down to him, dead had him surrounded and I pulled him up…he had bites all over him, Ellie. Bled all over me, I did what had to be done…"

The tears she had been holding back, finally fell down her cheeks. She didn't know what to do now, she didn't want to do anything. She wished she had gone on the run with Negan, she wished that she was the one who did not return to the sanctuary. She had no idea how she could live on without her husband, the man who had saved her from her past.

AN: What did you think? Let me know! This is my first story on here so be gentle! Thank you so much for reading! I do not own TWD, only my characters!