Sorry it's a long one...hope you enjoy.

Blake paced around the room, walking first from the bed, and then to the table, and then back again.

What had just happened?

These past couple of days had just been a whirlwind to say the least.

This time yesterday she hadn't even met the leader the Saviours yet, and now he had given her…well, all this! A room….no, a place of her own….

But it couldn't be that easy, right? There had to be sort of catch. She knew better than to trust him…this Negan…all tall and dark and handsome as he was…

Blake shook herself…

What was she doing? The man was a monster. Of course he was. He'd killed Glen and Abraham, Spencer and Olivia. He was a madman. Drunk on power.

She gave a sigh rubbing her tired face with her hand and slumping down onto the edge of the bed.

Blake had already used the bathroom, a separate washroom for ladies at the end of the corridor, and washed her face, freshening herself up slightly. She had not looked good. Her long caramel hair felt a little tangly and her skin looked dirty (most likely from sleeping on a dusty cell floor last night).

A red haired man and another man with shaven dark hair stood in the corridor holding guns, watching her as she passed, but didn't utter a word. She guessed they had been told to stand watch by Negan. But at least in the bathrooms she could be alone…

The toilets themselves were separated off into blocks with separate shower cubicles that had all been empty when she had popped in.

Blake had come back and shut herself in here again. In her room.

All of this being a little overwhelming for her, as she sat here alone, with her thoughts…

At least it was better than sitting in a cell, she thought to herself. But here she was away from David….away from the people she knew back in Alexandria…..away from everything she held dear….although most of those things were long gone now anyway.

Blake gave a sigh, raising her eyes to see a flock of birds drifting past her window in the far distance.

She had already stood at the window and checked the view, which was just of that same old fencing, surrounding by hordes of the chained-up dead. But Blake had discovered, that from back here on her bed, it looked like she could be anywhere….where none of this had happened…where everything was back to normal and right again.

This was, in fact, the first time in the long years since all this had begun, that she had felt this way. Felt like she could just drift away and forget about everything.

Despite this place being what looked like an abandoned factory, the air seemed clean in here, and smelled good. Better than out there at least….

Never would she get used to the smell of the never ending rotting dead.

She picked up a book from beside her. A random title she had picked from the shelf to distract herself for a moment.

Moby Dick.

She remembered starting reading this book as a teen but being far too interested in boys to keep up with finishing it. Perhaps she could pick up where she left off, those fourteen or so, long years ago.

Blake gulped, flipping the pages over in her hands, but not wanting to stop anywhere particular. And so she just kept flipping.

She wondered what at this second, David was doing. It had been an hour or so since she had seen him.

Was Frankie back with him now? In his room? Giving him another massage?

Blake could only presume that Frankie was one of Negan's wives. The way she was clothed in a skimpy black dress and long dangly earrings, was far from what regular people wore around here.

Blake shook her head to herself, slamming the book closed, her hands tensing around the spine.

She didn't know what she was more irritated with right now. The fact that David might be having sex with that….woman. Or the fact that Negan could just help himself to as many wives as he wanted…

Blake got to her feet, letting out a huff and moving over to her closet, tugging it open abruptly.

But she gaped slightly, taking a look at what was inside, not quite expecting to see….well, this…

Here were neatly folded and hung piles of what looked like brand now clean clothes, some of them even still having the tags on.

There were loose white blouses very similar (but a lot cleaner) than the one she currently had on. Five or six pair of dark jeans and pants. Underwear or every sort of description. Sneakers, boots that she could probably squeeze into, and fresh towels. And to her utter surprise, every piece of clothing seemed to be in her size, give or take a couple of things.

How was this even possible?

She pulled at a cute navy jacket, feeling the softness of the sleeve and running her fingers down the material, as her eyes flickered towards the door.

Was this Negan's doing?

Surely it couldn't be….

Why would he do all this for her?

But she didn't want to dwell on this, as her stomach let out a low grumble. It was almost six and Blake certainly wanted to find something to eat very soon.

She hurriedly tugged down a white long sleeved t-shirt from the hanger, as well as a pair of tight-fitting back jeans, a clean white bra, matching panties and clean socks.

There were laundry facilities at Alexandria, which had been massive step up of course, from what Blake had had to endure through the year or so before they had arrived at the camp….but having brand new fresh, clean clothes like this, was utter luxury.

Placing them in a neat pile on the bed, and removing her boots and filthy clothes, she snatched up a towel, wrapping it around her body and headed out of door and out into the long corridor.

The two men with guns were now gone and so Blake headed straight into the shower room, and manoeuvred into a cubicle, turning on the faucet.

She waited a few moments but the lukewarm water never seemed to heat up, but that was still ok by Blake. The temperature of the showers in Alexandria were similar, and she had certainly got used to shivering while she showered, over the last six months.

It was better than nothing. It was always better than nothing.

In a matter of minutes she was out once again, feeling as fresh and as clean as she could do these days.

And as she turned off the taps she stared down at the painful black and blue bruises that had now bloomed across her forearm, where David's fingers had been...

She looked sad, feeling her mouth dry as tears begin to prick at her eyes.

This wasn't his fault….she kept telling herself….he was under stress…under pressure. And if anyone was to blame it was her. All she needed to do what he asked, and he would be happy.

But were those her thoughts? Or were those David's….hammered into her head…

You beat a dog enough times, it starts to think that it's the one that's done wrong….

She shook herself, leaving the shower room clutching her towel tightly around herself and making her way down the corridor.

But she was barely, two strides down, when she felt a sudden hand grasp her upper-arm tightly.

For a moment she thought that it was David…

But as she swung around her eyes met with the red headed man from earlier who had been standing guard, carrying a gun. His guard-mate obviously gone.

He was broad and squat with barely any neck, and yet his eyes, right-now, gleamed with something dangerous.

"Hey there, pretty thing," he uttered with a hushed southern twang. "What you doin' scurrying about, drippin' wet like that?"

He bit his lip, his beady eyes looking her up and down greedily.

Blake tried to tug herself away from him, but the man's hold on her was tight.

She gave a frightened gulp.

"I-I'm going back to my room," she murmured, trying to pull herself away yet again, but to no avail.

The man cocked his head at her.

"Why in such a hurry?" he said licking at his lips. "My room is just down the hallway. How about we go back there instead? Have some fun?"

But Blake shook her head, tugging herself backwards desperately. "No," she said, gritting her teeth.

She knew exactly what he was after, and there was no way he was going to get it.

"Oh come on, baby," said the guy, sudden reaching out his other hand to grab her towel…to pull it off of her. "You know you want it-"

But suddenly, before Blake could scream or shout or utter another word, a long, familiar looking baseball-bat, covered in barbed wire, appeared in front of the man's greedy-looking face.

"The lady said no," came Negan's wholly-recognisable voice, as he stepped around the bulky man.

The red-haired man immediately let go of Blake, raising his hands to the sky in defeat.

"I'm sorry, Sir," he uttered with what was almost a whimper, his pudgy eyes widening, looking at Negan.

But the leader of the Saviours merely gave him a lingering look, his face deadly serious, before turning to Dwight, who had appeared behind him.

"Dwighty-boy," he muttered, suddenly grasping the man by the collar and shoving him roughly towards Dwight. "Take this fucking piece of shit here outside and feed him to those dead pricks."

"No, p-please, don't-" began the man in a desperate, pleading voce, but Negan had already turned away from him, his attention now on Blake.

Behind the tall-dark haired man, Blake noticed Dwight and another Saviour, drag the man away, through the double doors at the end of the corridor, as he let out a muffled cry.

Blake gave a sudden gulp, staring up at Negan, feeling all of a sudden, very self-conscious.

She hid her bruised forearm down by her side, keeping it out of sight.

"Sorry 'bout that. Some of my men tend to get a bit carried away on occasion. But I just need you to know that that is something I do not stand for here." said Negan, his eyes drifting down her barely-covered body, until Blake shot him a warning scowl.

At this, he immediately raised his own hands, much like the other red-haired man had, just mere moments ago.

"Alright, easy, Peaches," he chuckled, holding out his arm for her to take. "Allow me to offer my apologies, and escort you back to your room."

Blake did not take his arm, but she murmured a huffy "fine", which caused Negan to give a charmed grin and follow her, as she padded back down the empty hallway.

She shoved open the door to her room and went inside, half expecting Negan to stay shut outside it.

But to her utter annoyance, he instead, followed her in, shutting the door behind himself…with him on the inside…

Blake rolled her eyes and crossed the room over to her bed, before turning back to him and folding her arms over her chest.

"I need to get dressed," she said firmly, staring directly into his dark, chocolate eyes.

But Negan just smiled lazily and took another step further into the room.

He waved a hand, bouncing on his heels delightedly.

"Go ahead," he gestured, before he folded his own arms suddenly across his own leather-clad chest, mirroring Blake's stance.

At this, she gave another huff.

God, he was so irritating!

"There is no way I'm changing with you stood there watching," she said with a dark frown.

But Negan just raised his eyebrows easily. "Baby, I just saved you from that utter piece of shit out there, and you won't even thank me by giving me a strip tease? I'm hurt!"

Blake knew that any second he could use that bat in his hand on her. But at the moment it didn't look like he was going to. In fact, he looked like he was having far too much fun for that.

She scowled, suddenly marching right up to him.

"Just because you've given me this room and tried to-"

She waved a hand in the air trying to find the word.

"-charm me," she continued, suddenly jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "That does not mean I'm your property. I have not agreed to become one of your wives, Negan!"

Blake stopped, breathing hard, and taking a sudden step back, realising what she had just done.

Oh she would pay for that, she was sure of it….she wondered what Negan had done to the last person to speak to him that way.

The tall dark-haired, bearded man stared at her long and hard for a drawn-out moment, his face unreadable….

Before finally, a small laugh escaped his lips.

"You are just my favourite, you know that?" he said in a playful voice, shaking his head at her. "I mean, shit, doll face, I've known you, what?…Not even a day…And you already have me wrapped around your little finger."

Blake stared at him.

Was he being serious?

He certainly seemed like he was…especially when he rolled his eyes dramatically and turned around suddenly, facing the door.

"Fiiiiine. But I can't promise I won't peek though," he said in a cocky tone, causing Blake to eye him suspiciously.

Wait was he really turning away to allow her to change in privacy?

It shouldn't have been a great ask, she would admit, but coming from this man, she knew that it probably was much more than he would have done for most of the people here.

Blake stood still watching him for a long moment, making sure he couldn't see her, before hurriedly snatching up her bra and panties from the bed and pulling them hastily on.

She lifted her eyes to Negan once again.

"So what, were you checking up on me or something?" she said after a second or two, sweeping her slightly damp caramel-hair back across her shoulders and picking up a pair of brand-new black jeans from the bed.

Negan gave a chuckle. "Well for your sake, doll-face, isn't it a good thing I did?" he uttered mildly, still facing the doorway.

Blake bent down and pulled the pants up her thighs, jumping slightly to do up the button at the top of her zipper.

"I'm not going to thank you," she said giving an irritable frown. "He was one of your men. If you'd have just let me and David go-"

But Negan gave a loud tut, cutting across her sharply.

"David, David, David," he said in a mocking voice, shaking his head. "Baby, don't you realise that he was the one who wanted to be here. We didn't drag him here kicking and fucking screamin'."

With that, Negan glanced at her over his shoulder teasingly for a moment, before turning his whole body around to face her. He immediately arched his back as he did so and shot her wide grin, looking her up and down in approval.

But his smile was not reciprocated.

Blake merely scowled at him, still in just her bra and jeans.

"Ugh, do you mind?!" she snapped at him angrily.

But Negan's grin almost instantly turned into something different right before Blake's very eyes, a dark frown passing suddenly over his long face.

Right now he looked like the Negan she had heard about…in horrific tales….uttered in mere whispers through Alexandria.…

Had she finally gone too far with her insolence?

Blake gave a gulp, her eyes widening slightly as Negan quickly closed the gap between them, striding forwards intimidatingly before she could say another word.

"I-…uh…" she stuttered, backing up slightly, as he tossed his baseball bat unceremoniously down onto the bed, and reached for her arm, grasping her wrist and pulling it towards him.

Blake's heart thudded in her chest as the tall, dark-haired leader frowned, his chocolate eyes roving over the now dark purple bruises that lingered at her forearm.

Fuck.

"Did one of my men do this to you?" Negan uttered in a dangerously low growl, his calloused thumb running over the swollen bruises. They were painful and sore, even to his careful touch.

Blake gave another gulp, her heart pounding inside her ribcage. His close proximity to her nearly-naked chest, long forgotten about.

There was no way she wanted Negan to find out that it was David who did this to her. She was just so ashamed…so hurt…

But at the same time, there was no way she wanted anyone else to take the blame for this. She had seen what Negan was willing to do.

She hurriedly shook her head.

"It's nothing," she breathed, attempting to pull her wrist from Negan's grasp, but he held on tight, his brown eyes flickering up to her face.

She had never seen him so serious…

So angry…

His jaw was clenched and his gaze was steely. And right now, Blake was scared… not for her own safety, but for someone else's.

"The fuck that's nothing," Negan uttered in a loud, furious tone.

But Blake managed to finally tug herself from his grip, turning, picking up her white long sleeved shirt and pulling it hurriedly over her head.

She avoided his eye, rolling her sleeves down quickly over the bruise, hiding it from Negan's sight.

"I must have fallen on it…." she lied, picking up the pair of white socks from the bed, busying herself with unrolling them, unable to look at Negan. "…back in the cell when they first pushed me in there….i-it was probably my own fault."

She chanced a glance at up the man at her side finally, to find his eyes fixed on hers.

It was obvious he didn't believe her. But there was no way she was going to tell him the truth.

Blake felt herself redden slightly beneath his stare.

Was it right that she was protecting her fiancé like this…? She knew what she would say to someone if she saw bruises like this on their arm.

But why did Negan care so much anyway? She didn't even know him.

Blake desperately wanted to change the subject.

"So….dinner's at six?" she said pursing her lips slightly and perching on the end of the bed, moving away from Negan, to put on her socks.

He was still looking at her, his gaze hard and fixed, when he finally seemed to shake himself, running his tongue over his straight white teeth, looking ever so slightly irritated.

He didn't answer her.

"I haven't eaten anything since the day before yesterday," she said giving a small sigh and getting to her feet, stepping into her beige boots as she did so.

She looked up at Negan once again, who gazed at her for what felt like the longest of moments, before he gave a nod.

He certainly seemed unconvinced by her lie, but gratefully didn't linger on the subject any longer.

"In that case," Negan murmured, raising an eyebrow, his face breaking into a small palatable grin once again, becoming much more like the cocky Negan she had now become accustomed to. "…let this Beast escort his Beauty down to dinner."

He held out an arm for her to take heroically, snatching up Lucille from the bed.

But Blake merely gave a smirk, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

She didn't take his arm, but all the same, walked over to the door, with Negan following close behind. A wide smile plastered across the tall man's features.

Thank you so much to FriendsWithTheMonster, Shan1994, Shadowlover1222 and happyandiknowit for reviewing.

I hope I'm doing ok so far.

Please review! :)