Blake walked slowly down the long hallway.
It had taken her no longer than five minutes to make it up here to the top floor, following the instructions given to her by Eugene.
The sky was dark now and Blake couldn't help but glance out of the large factory windows as she passed by them. Each one tolling her fate like a bell.
She knew that she was trapped right now. If she didn't do what David had promised, he would be so angry with her….and well, she loved him, she had always loved him. And maybe she could make things right. But it terrified her to think just what David had likely asked of her…..much more than just information on Rick and his group.
Blake turned the corner, heading into a long corridor… gloomy, and without windows, but identical to the last….
But in this one, a soft distant music seemed to drift slowly down towards her, and she had a fair idea where it was coming from…..
The end of the hallway was shrouded in a soft warm light coming from and open door up on the left, and Blake couldn't help but give a gulp as she slowly approached it.
She knew exactly who to expect inside.
But she held her head high….all her tears already having already been spilt this evening…
She could do this…..for David.
….she would think of something….a way out of all this for both of them…
She hovered slightly near to the doorway before tentatively peering around the large wooden door.
The classic rock music playing from a scratchy record player was louder now, but her attention was not really on that. Instead it was on the soft carpet, she could just about make out around the door and the large shadow that had just fallen across it.
Blake looked up just in time to see the door tugged open fully, and the recognisable, grinning figure of Negan standing there…looking just as smug as he usually did, still in that same old leather jacket.
Blake felt her heart began to pound a drumbeat in her chest, but her eyes found his chocolate ones, and she brought herself up to her full height.
But Negan just stared back at her lazily, Lucille hanging limply from his right hand, his left used to lean up against the door cockily.
"Well goddamn, Peaches," he started, peering down at her with delight in his gaze. "You took your sweet-ass fucking time. I swear I coulda' grown even more of this fucking shit in the time it's taken you to get up here."
He brought his hand across to his scratchy beard, before giving her a wide smirk, looking her up and down.
"I got lost," Blake uttered, giving him a shallow frown and a neat shrug, glancing away for a moment. "Maybe you should have come and fetched me yourself, instead of sending your flunkies after me…..again!"
Negan made a face, peering down at her looking impressed.
"That another way of you sayin' you want me an' only me, Doll?" he said taking a step forwards and leering over her, his face leaning into hers.
But Blake folded her arms across her chest defensively, pursing her lips.
"In your dreams," she uttered bluntly, shaking her head, but her eyes never left his.
But this only caused Negan's grin to widen.
He gave a short chuckle, arching his back as he did so.
"Oh, do not even doubt for a second," he said suddenly leaning his mouth close to her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "...that you ain't in my dreams full-fucking-time, buttercup."
Blake shot him a scowl as he withdrew his face from hers and pushed himself from the door.
His long, leather-clad arm, suddenly snaked its way around her shoulder and he gave her a small tug forwards, heading inside the room.
These were Negan's quarters. That was obvious not only from the instructions Eugene had given her and Negan's own presence here.…but this place was all so…..him.
From the soft drifting classic rock being played, to the large bottle of whiskey sitting on the small coffee table in the centre of the room, surrounded by two large leather sofas.
Blake could just make out a second door, slightly ajar across the room, that revealed Negan's bed, large and looming, even in the darkened room.
Blake gave a gulp at this…..wishing to god she knew exactly what Negan wanted from her tonight. What had David promised him?
She turned her head as Negan's hand slipped lower, finding its place at the small of her back. beckoning her forwards towards a second door that she hadn't noticed at first, over on their right.
"Oh I gotta show you this," said the tall, dark haired man in a husky voice, sounding excitable.
He opened the small green door and tugged on an almost invisible pull light, suddenly illuminating what had to be the biggest bathroom Blake had ever seen.
It was huge all white and pristine with small white tiles lining the entirety of the walls. Along the back of the room was a large floor to ceiling shower and beside it two wash-stations with a humongous mirror that stretched along the far right hand wall. It had a toilet and even a small white bath rug…but it was what was sat in the centre of the room that made Blake's mouth drop open.
"You have a bathtub?" she breathed taking a small step towards it, glistening white and round in the middle of the room. It had large chrome taps and a chain plug.
It had been a long time since Blake had seen a bathtub. All those years on the road with, sometimes, not even water to wash in, she had dreamed of the warm and bubbly baths she had taken when she was a kid….just relaxing there for hours…without a care in the world.
At her side Negan licked his lips, suddenly bashing Lucille gently against the edge of the tub.
"A beauty ain't she? he said, giving a sigh and turning back to Blake. "You know if you ever need someone to scrub your back-"
"Hmmm, sounds tempting-" she said in a scathing tone, rolling her eyes, turning around on the spot and strolling back into Negan's living room.
She heard him give a laugh as he followed her easily, as she span back around to face him.
Right now her heart was pounding more than ever before and she felt helpless and angry…angry at what was happening to her right now.
She took in a breath and stared at Negan firmly, knowing she had to say something. "Look, whatever you want from me tonight…whatever David's promised you…" she wavered slightly as she spoke, but tried as hard as she could to compose herself under Negan's gaze.
At David's name, Negan's eyes darkened slightly and the smile had slipped from his features.
But Blake was angry right now. Angry at Negan's attitude.
She didn't blame David. She blamed Negan…thinking he could take what he wanted…just like that.
"…I'm not gonna give it to you….we clear?" she finished, shifting her weight from foot to foot nervously.
But Negan merely stared back at her, his dark-brown eyes never leaving her face.
"And what exactly is it you think I want from you, hmmm?" he said taking a step towards her slowly.
Blake gave a gulp but didn't answer him.
It wasn't a second later that Negan had closed the gap between them, coming to stand just a breath away from her, his mouth now pressed into a grim line.
Blake could feel her heart racing, hear it thudding away inside her ribcage.
She knew Lucille was still in Negan's hand but all she could see right now was the dark-haired man himself…looming over her….his face just an inch away from hers.
Blake was petrified. She knew what he was capable of doing to her right now.
Negan lifted a sudden hand to her face, his tanned fingers brushing her cheek…
...but Blake almost immediately flinched away before she could stop herself, tugging herself suddenly away from him, breathing hard.
At this, Negan gave an immediate scowl.
"Don't you dare get scared of me," he said in a low dangerous voice, suddenly pointing a finger at her, and lifting his chin, surveying her. "You are a badass fucking queen who doesn't take any shit from anyone, least of all me. So don't you dare disappoint me now, buttercup."
Blake gave a gulp, staring back at Negan, who took a step towards her once again, before suddenly shoving past her bumping his shoulder against hers.
He stalked over towards a small kitchenette that stood at the far end of the room. It looked barely used and Blake knew how unlikely it was that Negan would bother making his own meals when he had people to do that for him. But he did reach into a cabinet and pull down two small glass tumblers with a chink.
"Now let's talk about somethin'," he said suddenly walking over to the sofas, setting the two glasses down onto the coffee table, picking up the bottle of whiskey and unscrewing the top. "Sit."
Negan nodded to the squish leather couch nearest to him.
Blake hovered for a long moment, before giving a gulp and moving over to the couch and taking a seat.
She brushed down the knees of her jeans and watched as Negan poured three big glugs of whiskey into each of the glasses before screwing the lid back onto the bottle and handing her one of the short tumblers.
Blake did not drink whiskey. In fact she hadn't drunk any alcohol in years….not since all this had started. It had never been high on her list of priorities of things to scavenge for, her focus mainly being on a food and medical supplies.
She took the tumbler from Negan's grasp, lowering her gaze as she felt his eyes one hers once more.
"Let's talk about David," he said starkly, suddenly sucking on his teeth and taking a seat opposite her, spreading his legs out cockily and placing his baseball bat beside him.
At this, Blake glanced up towards the dark-haired Saviour nervously.
"See, I've got this theory…" he continued, taking a drawn-out sip of whiskey and making a face as he glugged it down. "…that maybe you and ol' Davey boy are not the happy-fucking-couple you make out."
Blake stared back at Negan hard, before bringing the whiskey to her own lips and taking a drink.
The brown alcohol burned as it slipped down her throat and Blake couldn't help but cough, letting out a splutter and placing the back of her hand to her mouth.
Negan chuckled as he watched her, but this only made Blake irritated.
"We are," she uttered bluntly, taking another swig of the whiskey, this time finishing half the glass.
"Whoah now, Doll-face," Negan said, tugging on his bottom lip with his teeth. "You might wanna slow down a little."
Blake gave a scowl.
Who the hell was Negan to tell her anything?
"Me and David," she said baring her teeth at Negan. "We're fine."
But Negan gave a shake of his head. "You wanna remind me again how you got those bruises…" he said goadingly.
But this only caused to boil Blake's blood even further.
"I told you," she muttered through gritted teeth. "I fell."
But Negan shifted to the edge of his seat, lowering his chin, gazing at her, before letting out a long sigh and running a hand down his face.
"You see, Peaches," he uttered in a quiet tone. "That soft spot I got for you does not stretch to your fi-an-ce. And if for one moment I think that he ain't treatin' you how a queen should be treated, then he is gonna be a whole world of fuckin' trouble. You understand me?"
Negan was certainly not stupid, Blake knew that. From the way his chocolate eyes roved across her delicate features, and from the way his tone seemed wholly full of concern.
She had seen just what he had down to the red-haired man who had tried to force himself on her…so she couldn't bear to imagine what he would do to David…the man who had given her oh-so-many bruises over this last six months.
Blake gave a nod, lowering her gaze to her glass once again and bringing it to her lips and tossing the liquid back, draining her glass.
Negan paused for a moment before his face broke into a small bemused smile.
He grabbed the bottle of whiskey, unscrewed the cap and leant forwards filling her glass a quarter of the way full again.
Blake could already feel the alcohol going to her head, stopping her brain from thinking as fast as usual.
"As long as we're clear," said Negan, shifting back and taking another swig of his drink as Blake mirrored him doing the same.
The brown liquor spilled down her throat easily now.
Negan sucked at his teeth harshly and dropped his own glass to his lap once more, eyeing her.
"So," he said after a long moment or two. "How was running into Dr Smarty-Pants earlier?"
She knew that he obviously meant Eugene but Blake was not rising to his mocking.
"Fine," she shrugged, trying to act as nonplussed as possible and taking another long gulp of alcohol.
It was certainly having a strong effect on her, making her feel slightly woozy now. Part of her knew she needed to slow down, but another part of her liked the feeling of serene fuzziness. Taking her mind off the harsh reality of her current existence. "I didn't really know him that well back in Alexandria."
Negan frowned. "No?" he said licking his lips. "Well he certainly seemed to know you. Said that you attended a lot of community meetings…AND that you went out scavenging for Rick a few times. I mean shit, Buttercup, if I didn't know better I'd say that you were an integral part of that little band of pricks."
Blake frowned. "You're such a charmer, you know that?" she muttered in a sarcastic tone, throwing back more of her drink. "I was never integral. We were only there six months-"
"Six months is a hell of long fuckin' time in this world, Peaches," Negan mused, causing Blake to purse her lips and finish off the last of the whiskey from her glass.
She made a face as she placed the tumbler down on the table, and placed a hand to her mouth, her eyes not really able to focus well anymore.
But even despite this, she knew that Negan's eyes were still on her, his lips curbed up into a grin.
"Y'know, you are full of surprises," Negan said titling his head at her. "The offer is still there if you ever wanted to be one of my wives. I do like a woman who knows how to handle their drink."
But almost instantly, at his words, Blake rolled her eyes, pointing a finger at him. "I don't think you realise just how many things are wrong with that sentence."
She shook her head. He was so full of himself. So cocky…. and this only served to annoy her more in her inebriated state.
"ONE of your wives…" she continued bitterly, suddenly getting to her feet. "I mean, have you even heard yourself."
She had had enough of Negan's games, but even so, on her feet she felt far more unsteady than she had done sitting down.
She knew she had drunk that whiskey too fast, but right now she didn't care. She only had one thing on her mind and that was to tell the stupid, arrogant man in front of her, a few home truths.
"I mean, do any of those women actually want to be with you?" she snapped angrily, cocking her head to the side, and trying her best to focus on him.
But Negan didn't get up, he merely stayed sitting legs splayed, staring at her through narrowed eyes.
"Watch your fucking tone with me, baby-doll," he uttered in a low warning voice, his free hand suddenly drifting over to Lucille.
But Blake was almost passed caring.
She snarled at him.
"Or what? You think trapping me here like this is going to make me want to be with you….be one of your wives? Because it's not…" she said angrily, pouting at him. Her head was spinning and a vast wave of nausea suddenly rose up within her. "I-I'm not like them…."
She desperately wanted that to be true. She wanted to prove that she was stronger than that but every fibre in her body right now told her that she wasn't. David's words tolled starkly through her head. She was useless and she had only ever let him down.
Blake felt herself beginning to tremble. She wasn't sure if this was the alcohol's doing, or something else completely.
She felt so small right now. Why was it only men that were able to make her feel like this? Men who seemed to have this horrible hold over her, like that was their right.
But Blake didn't even have time to take an unsteady step backwards as Negan suddenly got to his feet and moved over to her.
His cholate eyes stared suddenly deeply into hers and he bared his teeth.
"You're not like them," Negan suddenly murmured in a low voice, his lips a mere breath from her own. "Like I said, doll-face. The difference between them and you, is that you are a queen. And whether you're with me…with David...or with any fuckin' guy you want, you're still gonna' be that queen."
Blake stared up at Negan standing there, his face serious and his eyes locked with hers…right now she felt short of breath, her heart thudding inside her chest all of a sudden…
…was this the whiskey? Or was this something else…
But Blake didn't not have time to dwell on this much longer, as suddenly, the wave of nausea hit her once again…but stronger this time.
A lot stronger.
Her eyes widened suddenly and she paced a hand to her mouth…
This was indeed the whiskey…
She suddenly shoved past Negan and ran over to the large white tiled bathroom and over toward the toilet. She pulled the seat up and only just made it in time, before suddenly coughing and vomiting up at least a quart of whiskey.
She panted, feeling woozy as she collapsed to her knees.
Blake felt her eyes fill with water as she gagged again, heaving over the bowl.
She felt like such an idiot. So embarrassed that this is what it had come to…trying to drown her sorrows by downing more whiskey that she had cared to enjoy in her entire life.
She let out a sob, as she hung her head over the toilet bowl…before puking yet again.
But to her surprise, a second later, she felt a sudden hand on the back of her head.
Her watery eyes drifted down to see Negan's boots standing to her side and a moment later she heard his soothing voice, let out a brief 'shhhhh', as a second sob escaped her lips.
"I told you, you should have taken it easy on that whiskey," Blake heard him mutter as her stomach convulsed yet again and more bile spilled from her mouth before she could stop herself.
She felt her face burning red, wondering whether that was a side effect of the alcohol or the sheer embarrassment she was feeling right now. It had been a long time since she had been this drunk, so it was hard to remember.
"You know I don't think there's many people that I would let puke in my personal bathroom, so you count yourself lucky, Doll," she said Negan with a hearty sigh, holding back her long caramel hair. "Like I said, it's a fuckin' good job I got that soft spot for you, now isn't it?"
Blake breathed hard, as tears fell from her eyes.
And she barely took an notice of the way Negan's fingers drifted over the back of her neck…where David's hands had dug into her skin just a couple of hours before.
Blake gave a sniff, her stomach settling slightly, but she still felt like crap, her head woozy.
But she didn't manage to say anything in reply, even as there came a second set of footsteps from behind them.
"Tanya, baby, is it that time already?" came Negan's sudden sickly-sweet tone.
Blake feeling so ashamed of herself right now gazed over her shoulder to see a short woman with dark-hair and thick bangs wearing a short black dress standing in the doorway.
Blake wiped at her mouth, giving a small sniff.
She saw Negan look suddenly between the two women, his hand still resting comfortingly on the back of Blake's head.
"Tanya," said Negan after a second or two. "Would you be a doll and take Blake here back to her room."
Tanya looked up at Negan a little unsure for second before giving a hurried nod.
She crossed the room over towards Blake, but as she did so, Negan caught her arm, stopping her in her tracks.
"Oh and don't bother coming back here tonight. I know it's your night an' all, but after all this excitement I'm fuckin' beat," he finished, letting go of her arm.
For a moment Tanya looked relived before she suddenly grasped Blake beneath the shoulder and pulled her to her feet.
Blake managed to stand up herself, a little shakily, looking down at herself. She had luckily not managed to puke all over her pristine white top which she was grateful for, but still hung her head ashamedly.
Negan could easily punish her for that…and Blake didn't care to think about what David would do if he heard that she had almost jeopardised their future here.
Right now she didn't know who she was more scared of.
But as she shuffled across the room, propped up by Tanya she chanced a final glance at Negan who was chuckling to himself watching her with those same old dark, calculating eyes.
He didn't say another word to her but just watched as she left the bathroom, and then Negan's quarters entirely, heading into the silent corridor away from the music, away from the warmth…away from something that Blake could not quite put her finger on.
It took only five minutes for Tanya to walk Blake back down the stairs and down the lengthy hallway and back to her room in silence.
"This one's yours right?" she said a little coldly, as they approached what looked like Blake's door, although with her fuzzy vision she couldn't be sure.
But Blake suddenly turned to Tanya and gave a frown, trying her hardest to focus on the young dark-haired woman.
"Why did you do it?" she asked suddenly. "Why become one of his wives?"
At this, Tanya let go of Blake and rounded on her.
"You don't know what I went through out there," she said scowling. "You don't know what choices I had to make….what I had to do."
But Blake shook her head, her green eyes searching Tanya's features.
"But surely there was another way…" she muttered.
But Tanya rolled her eyes, giving a shallow laugh.
"That's easy for you to say," she muttered bitterly. "The way he looks at you…like he respects you. He doesn't look at any of us like that. For us there wasn't another way."
And with that, Tanya turned on her heel, leaving Blake in the empty corridor all alone.
She stood there for a long moment before blinking her eyes shut, her head spinning. She hurriedly grasped for the door handle letting herself inside.
Her room was how it had been hours earlier….the drapes still open….
But now there were no birds outside now. Only darkness….never ending and black.
And so with that Blake threw a hand across her tired face and collapsed onto the bed, fully clothed.
And within a second or two…she found herself drifting off into a well-needed dreamless sleep….away from thoughts of Negan, of his wives…or indeed David…
Thanks so much to FriendsWithTheMonster, elljayde, JudithMosalii and b hanna for recviewing.
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