"You made me breakfast?"
Judith looked over her shoulder while turning off the stove. She offered one of her favorite people in the world a sweet smile. "Yeah! RJ helped, too."
Daryl stretched his arms before ruffling the head of the young boy already munching on his scrambled eggs. "Is that right?" He pulled up a chair and watched under his long hair as Judith slid his plate towards him. "You know, I'm the one that's suppose to be taking care of you - not the other way around."
Judith shook her head and placed her breakfast down next to him. She poked at the soft yellow eggs for a moment before speaking. "You've been doing too much, Daryl! I just wanted to do something nice for you. You deserve it."
Daryl munched on his food, studying the young girl's face. There was more that she wanted to say. "Have you and your mom talked lately?"
Judith tried to control the widening of her eyes, hoping he wouldn't detect her lie. "Yes."
"Really," Daryl chewed, keeping a steady gaze. "Been months since I last heard her voice."
The Grimes daughter chuckled nervously while patting the walkie she kept close to her hip. "Really! She's doing great. They have a lot of bad weather where Virgil's family lives, so she's just waiting for it to clear up before coming back!"
"Hmph," Daryl nodded. She knew something that he didn't, but decided he didn't want to argue. Five months was too long for Michonne to be gone with no contact. If Judith was lying, which she most certainly was, Michonne was either in trouble or a secret was being kept from him. "Did you have a chance to meet that girl Eugene brought back?"
"His girlfriend?"
"The other one."
"Oh, yeah!" Judith beamed, remembering their encounter yesterday. "She's funny and nice. I like her pink jacket."
"I like her hair!" RJ chimed in.
Daryl smiled at them both. "Yeah, she's alright. We're 'pose to be meeting with those people that Stephanie girl is from sometime this week."
"Is that a good thing?" Judith asked, honestly and innocently.
"I'd like to think so."
The three finished their breakfast in comfortable silence. RJ was the first to finish. He quickly washed his dishes, gave Daryl a hug, and ran upstairs to change out of his pajamas. Judith cleared her throat to get Daryl to look at her.
"What?" His eyes had narrowed, knowing nothing good could from that look she was giving him. Those serious big ol' puppy dog eyes. "Go on, spit it out."
"Can I go visit Negan today?" Judith ignored the grimace. "I still haven't given him Father Gabriel's present!"
Daryl glanced down at his empty plate at the mention of the preacher's name. His death still felt way too fresh. "Judith-"
"You know he wanted him to have it."
"He tell you that himself?"
Judith pouted in silence, inching closer and closer to him until she was resting his small chin on his shoulder. "Pleeeeeaaaaaaseee. If you say no, you know I'm just going to go by myself and I remember how much you hated that last time."
"Fine," Daryl huffed and gently grabbed her by the head to push her away. He hated that he couldn't say no to her. "He's probably running low on food, anyway."
The young girl was about to cheer in excitement, but Daryl started to give her a noogie she couldn't escape from. RJ came running down the stairs in his red plaid shirt and jeans, and jumped onto Daryl's back. The three fell onto the kitchen floor, laughing together.
"Fuck me."
Negan's back crackled and pop as he slowly raised himself up from the floor.
He was, in fact, getting too old for this shit.
He glanced in the direction of his bed, remembering last night. His new friend wasn't there. The bed was also made neatly, with care.
Maybe she wanted to leave before someone caught her here.
Negan shrugged. That was better for him, anyway. He didn't need any of those nosey asses questioning him about something he still wasn't entirely sure happened. He rose to his feet and made that short walk to the bathroom door.
"OH MY GOD, GOOD MORNING!"
Negan took three steps back with his dark eyes wide. There she was, coming out of the bathroom. "Hey, bubblegum. It's too early to be this damn loud."
"Ooh," she winced sincerely. "I'm sorry. I was just excited you were able to get off that floor by yourself."
The former Savior twisted both sides of his back until he felt loosened up. He peered over the small woman's shoulder to see his toothbrush laying on the sick instead of in its holder. He felt his eyes begin to twitch.
"Did you use my toothbrush?"
She winced again. It wasn't the most polite thing to do, but she thought he was going to stay sleeping for a much longer time. She was going to pick up a fresh one from inside the town. She needed fresh breath before doing all that, too. They didn't have toothbrushes on their journey to Alexandria.
"Yes, but-"
"God damn it..."
She punched him playfully on his chest. "Hey, man, I got you. If it makes it any better, I made breakfast!" She gestured behind him to the small table. Sliced apples and bread.
"Well, shit, Princess. You never told me you were a chef in your previous life!"
Not catching the sarcasm, the woman grinned so wide her eyes squinted. "You gonna eat it, or what?"
Negan pinched the bridge of his nose. Although having company was a nice change of pace, he forgot how awful morning people were. "Can you at least let me take my morning piss first?"
Princess nodded and moved out of the way. "Say no more."
She waited until she heard the door lock behind her before she sat back down in the bed with a sigh. With one leg crossed over another, she looked around the cabin. Negan had a tiny rack where he had a very limited set of clothes. It was all solid, dark colored shirts and dark pants. One pair of boots. A leather jacket. Princess shrugged her shoulders.
Some people completely lacked style.
This cabin was very small, but very cozy. But very isolated and lonely. It made her thoughts wonder to what he said about being a bad guy before.
"Negan?"
At least she waited until the sound stopped.
"Yeah?"
"I think after last night we can trust each other a little bit... What did you do to end up here?" Princess looked down at her dirty boots. She'd definitely need a shower soon. "You seem like a great guy. I dunno why you're not with your other friends."
Negan hesitated before opening the door. What a sweetheart Daryl was not to warn her about him. "You really don't know anything about me? About my name?"
Princess met his eyes when he finally opened the door. She had genuine confused look on her face. "Am I suppose to?" Her expression suddenly turned into excitement as she jumped to her feet. "Oh my god, wait. Are you a celebrity or something?"
There was something about that big smile that he wanted to knock down, even for a second. He got as close as he could to, glaring down at her with cold eyes. "What would you do if I told you I killed people?"
The young woman searched his eyes, that smile never leaving her. "We've all done our fair share of that."
"Yeah, but-"
"Yo," she brought a finger to his lip and then removed it when he growled. "My whole life before this dead shit happened, my step dad beat the shit out of me and my mom would just sit there and let it happen. I seen what evil is. You, you aren't that. At all. You gonna eat that bomb ass meal now or what?"
A slow smile had began to grow on Negan, wondering if the poor girl had killed that son of a bitch. This Princess was a lot tougher than she appeared. "Shall we take it outside?"
The two were sitting on some broken down lawn chairs, soaking in the morning sun. Princess kept going on and on about a boyfriend she had that liked to wear leather jackets, while Negan kept munching on apple slices.
He closed his eyes and leaned back into the chair, head pointed to the sky. The sun felt amazing. He was able to relax for once, just as long as he gave his companion an 'uh-huh' or a 'yeah'.
"Oh look!" Princess suddenly exclaimed. "Your friends are coming!"
Negan opened one eye, not removing himself from his relaxed position. He almost revealed a full smile at the sight of Judith, but seeing Daryl's broodiness ruined that for him. The basket the young girl was almost as big as she was.
"Hi Negan!" she beamed, and tried to look over the basket at him. "We brought you some goodies."
Fuck it.
Negan held his arms wide open, inviting little Grimes over for a welcoming hug. She gave it to him, much to Daryl's chagrin.
"Thanks, kid! Any chance you put some liquor in there?"
It was hard to enjoy Judith's giggle with Daryl sending daggers in his direction. He glanced up at him from his chair. "Someone shit in your eggs this morning, Daryl?"
Ignoring him, the long haired man looked directly at Princess. He talked loud enough so that Negan could hear. "You shoulda found somewhere else to stay. This guy is no good."
Princess pointed at Negan, then looked at him and Daryl with bewilderment. "You guys got a problem with each other or something?"
"Oh, Princess," Negan chuckled darkly and stood up. He ignored Judith's pleading eyes as he got close enough to Daryl to wrap one arm around his shoulders. "This is my right hand man. We go waaaay back. Ain't that right, Daryl?"
That cocky grin of his only boiled Daryl's blood more. Judith hated when they started arguing. She looked down at her old boots sadly as Daryl shoved him away. He ignored Negan and looked directly at Princess.
"I'd find a new friend if I were you."
"Aw come on now, Daryl," Negan placed a rough hand on his shoulder and looked directly into his eyes. There was a hint of danger in his voice, as if trying to provoke Daryl to do something stupid. "Princess is a big girl. She can make her own decisions."
The two grown men had a stare down for what felt like an eternity. Princess waved her hands up and got out of the chair. "I can feel the bad vibes all over, man. You guys need to chill out and have a beer or something. Ya'll got a bar in Alexandria? They did at the Commonwealth place. There was no bad vibes there, just weird uniforms and-... Wait, before having a drink, I really need a shower. And some clothes."
The two gave each other one last look before Negan was the first to break away with a smirk. He was going to open his mouth but Judith's voice came first.
"Daryl, why don't you take Princess to get cleaned up and I'll stay here with Negan?" Before Daryl could deny her, she put those pleading eyes back. Her voice was almost a whisper. "To give him the gift. You promised..."
As much as Daryl hated Negan, he did tell the former savior that he still trusted him and he didn't want to see Judith sad. If anything, she'd sneak out and see him anyway. Just like she did every single time.
The cross bow expert grumbled under his breath before giving Judith a warning with his finger. "One hour. That's all you're getting."
With that sweet smile, she hugged Daryl tightly and then looked at Princess. "There's this really nice lady who cleans clothes! She can get your jacket all nice and pretty."
"Thanks, girl!" Princess fist bumped her before nudging Daryl. "I like her. She your daughter?"
Daryl looked down at the young girl, whose smile was beginning to falter. He rubbed her head, hoping to keep her spirits high. There was definitely something going on. "I'll be back in exactly one hour, little ass-kicker."
Judith waited until Princess and Daryl were no longer in ear shot. She took something from inside her jacket and handed it shyly to Negan. "Father Gabriel wanted you to have this."
Negan's smirk had disappeared at the mention of name, remembering what had happened at the tower. He scratched the back of his neck and looked off to the side. "Gabe, huh? What is it?"
"You gotta open it!"
The savior sighed and turned his attention to the outstretched hand. The present was wrapped in a rag with yarn. He slowly unwrapped it to reveal golden texts on a silky black cover...
"You've gotta be shittin' me," he muttered, and then a little louder said, "Judith, I can't take this."
"Why?" Her thin brows narrowed as if she were truly offended. "He wanted you to have it!"
Negan looked down at the bible in his hands. He didn't believe half the stuff in it, but decided to humor Judith. Something about her today was off. "Alright, kid. I'll keep it on my nightstand just in case the holy ghost decides to visit me."
"Thank you."
Her voice was quiet, meek. She began to rub her arm up and down while looking at the wild grass blowing lightly in the wind. There had been something burning on the tip of her tongue waiting to come out for long.
"Miss Grimes, would you like to have seat?"
Judith jumped, not realizing that Negan had brought the chair Princess was sitting in closer to her. She nodded quickly, and sat down. She glanced over at her older friend, who was scavenging through his basket to look at the items Alexandria had provided him. Father Gabriel's bible was placed haphazardly on the ground beneath them, turned to a page she couldn't make out.
"Negan?"
The graying man looked over at her, noticing that she was crying. Feeling guilty for no apparent reason other than the fact he's never seen her cry, Negan quickly dropped his supplies to the ground and moved his chair closer to hers.
"What's wrong, kid?"
Judith gulped, deciding that Negan would be the only person who would keep her long kept secret. "It's about my dad."