Author's Note: Hey everyone! Things are finally picking up in this story! I am so sorry I haven't been updating as regularly as I used to, but I hope to get back into the swing of things. I miss writing, and most of all, I miss you guys! So, I hope you enjoy this chapter. We've got a few surprise guests in this one….

The following week after the conferences, you were on campus and waiting for your next class to begin. Sitting in the cafeteria with your lunch and books on the table, you noticed Mark approaching you. You shifted uncomfortably and tried to gather your things as quickly as possible.

Then, a woman slid into the seat across from you and smiled sinisterly.

"Um, hello…" You mumbled, scrambling to put your books into your backpack.

"You seem like you're in a rush," she grinned.

"I am. I've got class soon and—"

Mark sat next to the mysterious woman, kissing her cheek and draping his arm around the back of her chair. You looked at the both of them confused, ceasing your movements.

"What's going on?"

Mark chuckled, "Oh, baby… You didn't think anyone would find out, did you?"

"What?" You asked.

The woman giggled, snuggling against Mark. "I caught you."

"Caught me doing what?"

"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what she means," Mark replied.

"You know what? I'm just going to leave." After gathering your things into your backpack, you stood from your chair and slid it on. Grabbing your sandwich from the table, you felt Mark grab your wrist in a tight grip as he tugged you down roughly so that you were eye to eye.

"Fucking your Coach? I would've never pegged you as that type of woman," he snarled.

You widened your eyes, tightened your jaw, and pulled away from his tight hold. "You don't know a damn thing."

"I do… I heard everything last week during your conference. Gotta say though… Hearing that man talk dirty does get a woman very hot," the woman giggled, who then shot Mark an apologetic look.

"You both are crazy. I'm leaving."

Mark stood and grasped your wrist again, digging his fingertips into your skin. "You mean nothing to him. You're just a piece of pussy that even he will get tired of. I cheated on you because you couldn't satisfy me… Pretty sure he's already in that same boat."

You felt tears cloud your eyes and instantly, you pulled your hand away from his grasp to connect with his cheek. You were breathing heavily and you were visibly upset, but he looked even angrier. You had never seen Mark this frustrated before.

"You're going to regret doing that," Mark threatened.

"Maybe… But right now, I don't regret a damn thing."

"Wait, wait… You're saying that asshole knows and he threatened you because of it?!" Taylor roared, pacing back and forth in the living room.

You were seated on the couch with your knees hugged close to your chest. This was exactly what you were afraid of. You should have been more careful with Negan. It should have been a one-time thing, but now, you couldn't even imagine living a life without him. You were falling for him and that could not only cost you your position on the team, but it could cost Negan his job.

"Hello? What are you thinking about?" Taylor asked, sitting at the edge of the coffee table in front of you.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen, Taylor…"

"I know you didn't, but you can't let Mark walk all over you. We're adults. You consented to Negan. I don't think there's some sort of rule that prohibits professors from dating students… I mean, you both could have met on the damn street if anything!"

You sighed, "I know that… But I can't put that on Negan. This job means everything to him."

"You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking. Mark has been in control of your life for the past five years! It's time to stand up to him, and that dumb bitch he was with," she advised. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid of losing Negan!"

Taylor bit her lower lip and leaned forward to take your hands into her own. Slowly, you looked into her eyes and felt the tears trickle.

"I'm falling in love with him, Taylor…"

"Then you fight for him," she replied instantly. "You fight for him because listen, he's fucking falling in love with you too."

"There's no way…"

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" She asked.

"No…"

"Exactly."

You grunted and looked down at your hands, feeling Taylor squeeze them reassuringly. "I don't know what to do…"

"You stand up to Mark. You stand up to that girl. Fight for what's yours. You deserve to be happy… Don't let Mark take that from you again," she sighed.

"What if I—"

"Can't?" Taylor interrupted.

"Yeah… What if I can't do it?"

"Trust me… There's a fighter in there somewhere. Unleash the beast, baby," Taylor laughed.

"Okay… I'll try," you replied.

Taylor shook her head, "No. You will."

Smiling, you released her hands to wrap your arms around her in a tight hug. "Thank you for always being here for me."

You were lying on your bed, staring up at the ceiling after Taylor had left for work. She was right. You needed to stand up to Mark; you couldn't allow him to walk all over you again. You were falling in love with Negan and you didn't want Mark or some other girl to take that away from you.

As you were deep in thought, your phone began to buzz on your nightstand. Reaching for it, you noticed his name immediately. It made you smile, but then you remembered that your secret relationship was not a secret anymore.

After much deliberation, you decided to answer it. Hearing his voice from the other end of phone almost made your nagging thoughts disappear. Almost.

"Doll," he spoke.

"Hey, Negan."

"What time are you heading to practice tonight? I was thinking we can meet up beforehand," he chuckled.

You cleared your throat. On any other day, you would have immediately agreed, but right now, you were hesitant. You tried to keep in mind about what Taylor had mentioned, but once again, Mark won. He terrified you, and in return, you had to start distancing yourself from Negan. You wouldn't forgive yourself if Negan lost his job because of you.

"Oh, um, I'm a bit tired from all my classes today. I'll see you at practice though."

Negan sighed, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't they be?" You answered immediately.

"Did that asshole see you again?" Negan grunted. "You'd tell me if he did, right?"

You shut your eyes. "I would tell you, Negan, but he didn't… I'm just really tired," you lied.

"All right then, doll. We'll have to postpone our bit of fun for after practice. Get some rest."

"Thanks, Negan. I'll see you later." You hung up the phone while Negan was midsentence and immediately flung your phone across the room. Luckily, it landed on the carpeted floor without hitting anything directly.

You were torn.

How could you fight for someone who had so much on the line?

You were dreading practice. You pulled into the parking lot and sat in your car for what felt like hours. Negan's motorcycle was in clear view, taunting you of the decision that you needed to make.

With a heavy sigh, you grabbed your duffle bag and climbed out of your car. Draping it over your shoulder, you began to walk towards the gym. Though, you slowly came to a stop when you noticed the same woman from earlier. She was grinning, and you knew it was now or never.

It was time to decide.

"What are you doing here?" You asked, approaching her carefully.

"I wanted to see you," she smiled.

"You don't know a goddamn thing."

"Oh, I do. Mark's told me—"

"Mark is a manipulative, selfish asshole," you interrupted.

"He's my boyfriend," she glared.

"And he's probably cheating on you right now."

"He's at work," she defended.

"Oh. Is that what he's calling it now?" You laughed. "How original."

"Shut up. This isn't about Mark. This is about you."

"No! This is about Mark's stupid jealousy and anger because I didn't want to take him back! He didn't tell you that, did he? He came to see me during practice, asked for my forgiveness and to take him back. Were you two together then? Did he put you up to spying on me?" You questioned. You were becoming angrier and angrier by the second.

"You're the one who slept with your Coach!" She exclaimed.

"And he's ten times the man Mark will ever be!"

Suddenly, she lunged at you and made you drop your duffle bag to the ground. You could feel the tugging of your hair and the punches that were being thrown your way, but with your anger and frustration at an all-time high, you did something you never thought you would ever do.

You hit back. You were fighting back.

"Everyone will know what you did!" She yelled. You managed to land a punch across her face, hearing her yelp in pain.

You couldn't stop. She had backed herself into a wall and you continued to hit. However, before you could even continue, a set of strong hands pulled you away. You were breathing heavily and your hands were still clenched into fists with blood trickling down to the concrete.

"What the hell is going on here?!" You looked up and cleared your throat. It wasn't only Negan that was staring at you, but it was also Rick Grimes, professor of criminal justice.

"She attacked me!" The woman yelled, clutching her face in pain.

"She's lying," you replied monotonously. "I fought back. She threw the first punch."

"This is absolutely childish! We are all adults here," Rick began. He turned to you and tilted his head, staring into your eyes. "You're suspended from playing any games until further notice."

"What?! You can't do that! You have no right!" You exclaimed. "I swear! She hit first!"

"But you hit back," he sighed.

"You know what? Fine. I'm leaving."

"Doll, hey," Negan called. "Get back here."

"I'm fine, Coach," you answered, grabbing your bag from the ground and walking back towards your car.

"We've got to talk," Rick told Negan. "After practice?"

Negan tightened his jaw, "What the fuck ever, Grimes."

After practice, Negan walked into Rick's office. He was surprised to see Simon and Shane sitting in the room as well. Shutting the door behind him, he watched Simon hand him a drink before taking a seat.

"Heard one of your players got into a fight," Simon commented.

"Well, you heard right. She's fucking suspended, thanks to Rick the Prick. She's our secret weapon," Negan argued.

"She fought another student, Negan. On school grounds. She had to be punished," Rick said. "I'm sorry, but it's policy. It's the rules."

Shane looked over at Negan and arched a brow. "Why are you so bent out of shape? You've got a good team regardless."

"I'm not. She's just a good fucking player," Negan defended.

"You're not telling us something, Negan," Rick pried. "What is it?"

Negan looked to Simon. He didn't know if he wanted to tell the truth. He was falling in love with one of his players and Negan didn't know if it was worth the risk of losing his job. As he was thinking about ways to get out of this predicament, he imagined your face and immediately knew what he had to do.

Negan wasn't a man who had second chances with love, and he messed up the first time. He wasn't going to mess it up again.

"I'm seeing her," Negan said, downing the entire drink and slamming the glass on Rick's desk. "We fucked, and now I'm falling in love with her."

Simon sipped casually on his drink, looking from Negan to Rick. Shane didn't seem all that surprised, and he didn't really have a problem with it. They were consenting adults anyway.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Did I fucking stutter? The student you suspended? My player? Yeah, she's mine."

"Negan, you can't do that," Rick replied, tightening his jaw. "Do you know how much trouble you could get into? How much trouble she could get into?"

"Yeah, it crossed my mind, but here we fucking are. I'm not ending the relationship I have with her and if I'm going to get fired for it, then so be it," Negan said.

"She's one of your players!" Rick exclaimed.

"She's an adult!" Negan argued. "We are two consenting adults!"

"Do you think the Dean will accept that answer? Negan, of all the crazy things you've done, this is by far the craziest."

"You don't know a fucking thing about me, Rick. We may have had a couple of drinks here and there, but you do not know me," Negan glared. He stood from his seat and ran a hand over his beard.

"You will get fired if anyone finds out," Rick warned.

"Yeah? Well, that's a risk I'm willing to fucking take. Are we done here?"

"She's still suspended, Negan," Rick said.

"Won't stop me from seeing her outside of practice, Rick."

"You're playing a dangerous game," Rick commented.

"I guess I'll keep fucking playing then. Good night," Negan tightened his jaw and nodded towards Simon and Shane. He sent Rick one last glare before turning on his heel and leaving the man's office.

Negan knew that Rick had a point. What he was doing with you was dangerous, but Negan wanted to be selfish. He wanted you, needed you. He wasn't going to let the school keep you away from him.

Once Negan hopped onto his bike, he slid on his helmet and started the engine with a loud roar. He pulled out of the parking lot and made his way towards your apartment. He needed to make sure you were all right after how upset you were. Negan didn't know what had happened, but he was determined to find out.

You were lying on the couch with your hands wrapped up from the fight you had gotten into. Tears had dried along your cheeks and now, you just felt empty and helpless. Fighting that woman proved to you that you were willing to fight for Negan, but when Rick showed up, it was another sign of how dangerously close you were to getting caught.

You were broken out of your reverie when you heard a knock at the door. You knew who it was and yet, you still stood from the couch to answer it. Slowly opening the door, you felt tears begin to pool at your eyes at the sight of Negan.

"Hey…" He whispered. "Can I come in?"

You nodded, opening the door even further and allowing him inside. "I'm sorry for—"

Negan shook his head and turned around to look at you. Once you shut the door behind you, he pulled you into a tight hug where he buried his face against you. You had never seen this side of Negan before and that just made your heart break even further.

"Negan…"

"It isn't your fault, baby."

"We have to talk…"

Suddenly, Negan pulled away. He looked into your eyes and noticed the unshed tears. He knew what was coming. "No…"

"That woman… She knows about us. Mark knows about us. I can't—I would never forgive myself if you lose your job because of me," you said.

"You can't make that goddamn decision for me," Negan argued. "I told Rick. He knows."

"What?"

"Whatever this is between us… I want it. I want you. I don't fucking care about the consequences just as long as I have you, doll…" Negan said softly. He stepped forward and reached for your hands, running his thumbs gently across the wrapping.

"We can't do this anymore." Your voice broke and tears finally began to trickle down your cheeks. "I don't want to do this, but we can't—We're going to get caught."

"Doll…"

"This is me putting you first, Negan. I care about you… I always will, but I do not want to be the reason why you get fired," you reasoned.

"So, that's it? We're fucking done? That's all it took?" Negan tightened his jaw and released your hands. "You cower with fear just because some fucking girl knows about us?"

"Professor Grimes knows too!"

"I wouldn't have fucking told him if I didn't trust him, doll. I may not get along with the prick, but I trust him," Negan replied.

"Negan, please, just… Respect my decision."

He scoffed, gripping his helmet. Negan glared, his eyes darkening. "You know what? Fine. Whatever. You were just another piece of ass to me anyway."

Suddenly, you felt all the frustrations hit you. Mark was right. Negan didn't care about you the way you did about him. Lifting your hand, you slapped Negan across the cheek with the utmost strength you could muster at the moment. A breakdown was on the horizon and you wanted to deal with it alone.

"Get out," you mumbled. "Please…"

Negan was at a loss. He wanted to apologize and convince you that he was worth the risk, but he was too angry. So instead, he nodded and walked to the door. Swinging it open, he stepped out and turned to look at you once more.

"Just because you are suspended doesn't mean you miss practice. I'll see your ass tomorrow night, and be prepared to work your fucking ass off. Good night."