Negan walked into the house and glanced over at Alexandra who sat in the living room under a pale light with a book.
"House smells funny," he pointed out, looking around.
Alexandra grinned. "I swear you and Sarah are related," she gave a tiny laugh, "They're incense... from Kismet."
"Oh Jesus," he laughed and plopped down on the couch beside her, "Hippie dust."
"Stop. I think those two are just... great. For lack of a better word."
Negan smiled and allowed her to kiss him once.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
"Good." He nodded, "I know I say shit like this a lot but this should be easy as fuck. It's just the fuckin' dead ones."
Alexandra nodded. "I'm glad." She looked at him, "Why didn't you let Sarah go? Not that I want her out there in that mess with you but she's usually your handy little sidekick."
"Yeah." Negan scratched the back of his head, "I don't want to see the kid get hurt, she's been through a lot of shit... and I figured you could use the help with the kids if we're out there for a few days." He leaned back on the couch and crossed one foot over the other, "She didn't even give me shit back. Makes me feel bad."
"So you want her to give you shit?" Alexandra asked with a laugh.
"I didn't think I'd say this but... yeah." He laughed with her for a moment and then draped an arm around the back of the couch where she sat. "The guys are all out having a few beers and they made French fries from the potatoes. Think it's too late to bring her out there and talk to her?"
"Too late?" She snickered, "I don't think midnight is too late for Sarah."
Negan raised his eyebrows. "Good point."
"No beer for her though."
"Course not." He winked and kissed her on the cheek before standing up and heading up the stairs. When he got to Sarah's room he gave a knock and it only took a few seconds for her to fling open the door.
"Hi." She smiled at him.
"Hi." Negan pressed his eyebrows together, "You going to sleep?"
Sarah shook her head and folded her arms over her chest. "No... why?"
"Come out to the center of town with me. Guys grilled up some fries and Anne made some of this cheese sauce shit to throw on top of 'em."
"I'm not mad at you," she told him with a laugh. "About the whole mission thing."
"I know," Negan waved a hand, "Get your shoes on and let's go."
Sarah nodded, "Alright." She looked at him for a moment, "Did Alex talk to you?"
"About what?"
"Anything..."
"Did you do something-"
"No," Sarah cut him off right away, "Forget it." She grinned and headed to her closet to grab a pair of beat up, white Adidas sneakers before joining him in the hallway.
"Where'd you get those sneaks?" he asked as she struggled to put them on as she tried to walk at the same time.
"Oh... they were Eric's old ones. I liked them so he gave them to me."
Negan laughed as they headed downstairs. "What a sucker."
"I'm his queen bee."
He laughed again and Alexandra began to chuckle upon hearing the tail end of the conversation. "Have fun," she said, lifting her eyes from the book as they wandered outside.
"Be back in a bit." Negan shut the door behind them and hurried over to where the initial meeting took place. A small fire was going and a handful of people still lingered eating and drinking.
"Smells fucking delicious," Sarah said as they approached, "I've been so hungry since talking to Alex about chocolate cake... fries will do though."
"I'm glad we can fuckin' accommodate your cravings." He smiled and shook his head but reached for a few small helpings of fries and grabbed a beer for himself and a soda.
Sarah followed him to a picnic table that was away from everybody else and watched as he struggled to get himself seated on top of it. "Are you going to be okay going out there?" she asked, climbing up with ease to sit beside him.
Negan popped a fry into his mouth and twisted the beer open before looking at her. "You know who the fuck I am right?"
Sarah eat a small handful of fries and began to talk before the bite was complete. "Yes," she admitted, "But you're not fuckin' Superman."
He sighed and took a long sip from the bottle of beer. "Yeah... I know."
"I mean you just struggled to get up onto the picnic table. I know your back is more fucked up than you lead on and your limp-"
"I got it," Negan cut her off and looked at her with annoyed stare.
"Hear me out?" she asked.
"Go ahead."
"As kind of your daughter... who cares about you... what would happen if the walkers were surrounding you guys and you had to climb up onto something?"
"Kid," Negan looked back at her again, "It's not just physical shit out there, it's mental. You have to plan and know what the fuck you're doing, it's half the battle. A bad plan will get you killed, Superman or not. A good plan and using your fuckin' brain will go a long way."
Sarah nodded. "Okay... you got me." She tapped her soda can against his beer, "But even good plans fail sometimes."
"That's right." He reached onto her plate and grabbed a fry, purposely making a face as if to say 'what are you going to do about it?'
Sarah laughed lightly and shook her head before stealing his and doing the same. "So what if the good plans goes awry?" she asked, tossing another fry into her mouth.
Negan ran a hand through his hair. "I don't have much of answer for that shit kid."
"You and Alexandra both... she couldn't answer any of my hypotheticals tonight either."
"You're getting old enough to realize that sometimes even adults don't know everything about everything."
"Sucks." Sarah grinned and looked down as Negan passed her the beer bottle. She smiled, "For real?"
"If you want."
She laughed again and looked around before grabbing the bottle and taking a long swig before sighing and handing it back to him. Negan laughed when she made a face and he continued to drink it himself.
"That... kinda sucks," she admitted with a laugh.
"Good." Negan chuckled, "Stick to the soda."
"Did you do that on purpose?"
He shook his head and continued to eat his fries, "Nah. My dad used to sneak me sips of his beer when I was a teenager. If my mom found out she'd yell at him." Negan chuckled thinking of the memory for a moment and shook his head before taking another sip. "Funny shit."
Sarah lightly slapped a hand down on his shoulder. "Be careful out there tomorrow."
Negan laughed. "What the fuck's gotten into my little warrior?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just know Alex was really sad last time... so was I. The kids are too young but Lucy missed you." Sarah laughed. "She thought you were out looking for goats for the farm."
Negan chuckled. "Alex is good at a lot of things but she's a terrible fuckin' liar."
The two of them shared a light laugh and he sighed again.
Sarah snatched the beer from his hand and took another sip before making a face again. "Nope, just... nope."
Negan laughed and put an arm around her for a half hug and then let her go. "You're a funny fuckin' kid. Thanks for not breaking my balls about leaving you behind in all this."
"Just don't get yourself killed." Sarah sipped her soda this time. "You want more kids?"
Negan turned to look at her. "Talk about a fuckin' subject change."
"Just making conversation."
"Two kids and you is like having ten already." He laughed and continued snacking on the fries.
"Ehh what's one more?" Sarah asked casually, taking one of his fries again.
Negan smacked her hand away from his plate making her laugh. "Did Alex say she wants more kids or some shit?"
"No," Sarah said right away. "I'm just trying to think of other things besides the mission tomorrow."
"You want to talk about kids over a fuckin' battle with the walkers?" He asked, "Was there an alien invasion I wasn't fuckin' aware of and they took over you brain or some shit?"
Sarah laughed and then shrugged. "Just getting older I guess."
"Don't rush that shit... please."
Sarah leaned a head on his shoulder taking him off guard. "Thanks," she said.
"For what?"
"For taking me in like your own kid. I'd probably be dead without you and Alex." She swallowed hard. "I thought you were dead when we couldn't find you after Carl shot you. I heard that damn song on one of the mixed CDs I have that was playing in the car yesterday."
"Oh yeah?"
She took in a deep breath through her nose. "Yeah. I cried. I hate to cry."
Negan finally loosened up and put an arm around her. "Well... you know you're like a daughter to me kid. Don't get me all sentimental the night before a big fuckin' mission." He gave a laugh and Sarah straightened back up, drying her eyes from the one or two tears that dropped when she briefly relived their near death experience.
"Chin up little soldier," Negan said, nudging her. He dumped the rest of his fries onto her plate and placed the bottle down to fold his hands together in front of him.
"I'm going too soft." Sarah shook her head and laughed. "Kick some fuckin' walker ass tomorrow."
He laughed and patted her on the back. "That's the Sarah I know."
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