Blake had slept badly, tossing and turning all night…..unable to get David's words out of her head.

The names he had called her….there was obviously a reason for these. Maybe she was as useless as he suggested. And maybe she did look as shit as he accused her of looking.

Blake was blonde and tall, and as far as the male of the species went, she had never had any trouble finding guys. She had long legs and round hips and her breasts were average size.

She had of course, back in the 'real' world, always supplemented these things with tight jeans, high heels, push up bras.

She had loved make-up and was never seen out without at least two coats of mascara and some lip-gloss…but those days were now gone…

Perhaps she had let herself go slightly…perhaps she wasn't as pretty as she once was…perhaps David was right….the way Negan's wives went around with perfectly polished red-painted fingernails, short black dresses and high heels….they were of course more attractive than her…

But she had never realised just how bad she must look….if that was the kind of things what her own fiancé labelled her as being….

Blake had woken fairly early…just as the sun was coming up…

And being unable to drift off again she had dragged herself up and headed into the shower…spending about thirty minutes bathing under the cool water…cleaning every inch of her….cleansing herself of David's horrible words.

But every time she realised how much he hurt her…Blake felt guilty…so ashamed of herself for thinking these things.

He only criticised her because he loved her. Because he was trying to keep her safe.

That was the only reason…right?

Blake had hurried back to her room and gotten dressed in a fresh pair of indigo jeans, her brown boots and a pale blue blouse, which she tucked neatly into her pants.

She missed carrying a gun or knife and found, that as she slipped a large brown belt around her waist, it felt empty without the addition of a weapon.

She again pondered on Negan's wives….on whether any of them had needed to carry a gun….if all they did was lounge around painting their toenails and reading old magazines?

But she cursed herself.

These women were probably hurting as much as she was…as scared as she was…and whether they had ever carried a gun wasn't important…it was whether they now felt safe, that was.

It hadn't been long after that, that Blake, bored of her room had wandered the corridors, heading down towards the main dining area….hoping to once again catch a glimpse of David….try to reason with him….to apologise…

She had seen a couple of faces she recognised along the way down the winding hallways.…a couple of them men who usually surrounded Negan, carrying guns…before she found herself once again in the large communal dining room.

Blake stared up at the far end of the room, expecting to see the usual large pots full of food…but today it was just a single female Saviour stood behind a table, dishing out small bags of crackers and pieces of watermelon to the small line of people.

Blake not really being fussed with eating…her stomach still doing backflips at the thought of her run in with David….instead turned, making to head back out into the small courtyard she had ventured into yesterday.

But before she could do so, she heard a sharp whistle from across the far side of the room…drawing her attention immediately.

She turned her heard towards the sound….her eyes falling on the tall and imposing figure of Negan…just standing there…Dwight at his side…staring over at her…his face fixed and unreadable.

Blake gave a sudden gulp, her breath catching slightly and her heart dropping.

Fuck.

Did he know?

Had Eugene told him?

Her heart pounded, going a hundred miles an hour.

But the feeling only lasted for a brief moment, as a smile suddenly crept across Negan's long features as he began to stroll towards her, swinging his barbed-wire covered baseball bat from his hand as he went.

"Well hey there, hot stuff," growled Negan, his tongue poking out from between his line of straight white teeth. "Don' you look just finger-lickin' fuckin' good this mornin'?"

Blake pursed her lips, catching her breath slightly, and approached him too, crossing the room towards him , folding her arms across herself a little defensively.

Negan looked her up and down, sucking on his lip and arching his back, taking her in.

"That supposed to be some sort of compliment?" she swiped, shooting him a bemused frown and coming to stop just a foot or two away from the tall, dark-haired Saviour.

But that space between them was obviously far too much for Negan, who took an extra step towards her, until he was a mere breath away from Blake, gazing down into her eyes.

At his closeness, Blake felt her breath momentarily catch in her throat…but this was for a completely different reason than before.

From here, she could see every laughter line that littered his face….smell his musky scent…that seemed to make her heart race just that little bit faster…

But she tutted, shifting her gaze from his.

"You mind invading my personal space just a little bit more?" she muttered in a sarcastic tone, pressing her hand to his leather-clad chest suddenly and giving him a gentle shove away from her.

But that only seemed to excite Negan more.

The tall, intimidating man bounced on the balls of his feet, giving a happy chuckle, staring down at her through dark eyelashes.

"Well, my oh my, aren't you a snappy lil' thing today," he commented flashing her his set of white teeth. "Not a mornin' person, huh?"

Blake pursed her lips, shooting him a look, but didn't answer…even when Negan leaned into her once again.

"Don' worry, 'cause neither am I," he muttered in a husky tone. "Maybe someday we can do each other a favour and keep each other up all night, and then sleep all day instead….get over all this pent up crankiness we've obviously both been feelin'."

Blake narrowed her eyes at him, gazing up into his long face as he continued.

"Although I am not adverse to a bit of mornin' fun-time, if you catch my drift…"

He waggled his eyebrows at her, which only caused Blake to give him another sighing shove away from her.

"What do you want, Negan?" she murmured in a unimpressed voice, removing her hand from his taut chest.

But the tall dark-haired Saviour just chuckled once again, staring down at her.

Right now Blake felt like he was seeing right through to her soul. His dark, chocolate eyes full of something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Negan shrugged his curved shoulders easily.

"I just wondered if you wanted to take a walk with me, Doll-face," he said eyeing her. "Unless you have anything better you think we could be doing?"

Yet again, he stared at her goadingly, leaning in towards her once more, but this time, he reached his hand up….brushing a loose strand of caramel hair back over Blake's shoulder neatly.

At this, Blake didn't flinch…but she did instead shoot the Saviour a dark scowl….which he, of course, instantly caught.

He backed up suddenly, grinning and raising his hands in defeat.

"Alright, alright, I get it, Peaches," he murmured, laughing. "Personal space, an' all that jazz."

Blake shook her head.

"We walking then or what?" she said, just a little snappily. Unamused by his irritating manner this morning, and giving him a gesturing nod.

Negan's lips curved up into another sudden grin.

"Well yes, Ma'am," he said with an admiring smirk before falling into step with her, leading her across the large room…Dwight following behind them meekly.

It was odd that in Negan's presence this morning, Blake found herself slightly relived to be with him. Despite how dangerous he was deemed to be, he had a way of making her feel oddly at ease….more than David did lately anyway.

A moment or two passed of comfortable silence, before Negan spoke again, leading her through a wide door and outside into a large, grey lot Blake hadn't been out in before.

The sky this morning was drizzly and grey, and Blake looked up, grimacing, as raindrop's fell down the back of her collar uncomfortably.

Out here were two or three trucks, currently being loaded up by several burly Saviours, barely any of whom did Blake recognise, bar Dwight, and the tall moustachioed man Simon.

"So a little birdy tells me you're good with a knife," said Negan after a second, suddenly stopping and turning to face Blake, lifting Lucille up and onto his shoulder casually.

Blake looked up at him, coming to a halt herself, and gazing around the lot.

"I'm here aren't I?" she said shaking her head and pursing her lips.

Blake would never consider herself 'good' with a knife, but she could handle herself as well as she needed to out there. And that was always important.

Negan ran his tongue over his white teeth for a moment before dragging his free hand down his long, bearded chin and letting out a faux-sigh.

"Well if I was to give you 'said'-knife," he muttered, his eyes lingering on her. "You gonna promise me you're not gonna slice me in two? Coz I don' think Lucille would appreciate that very much."

He readjusted his grip on his large and imposing baseball bat across his shoulder, raising his eyebrows intimidatingly.

But this only caused Blake to tilt her head, shooting him a frown. "Why would you give me a knife?" she said in a bemused tone, wrinkling her nose.

But Negan just smiled at her.

"Well how the fuck else are you gonna kill those dead fucks out on our run?" he said arching his back as he spoke, before shouting for Dwight, who immediately came running.

Blake stared up at this man….

He was so confusing to her….

"Run?" she said frowning.

Was he seriously letting her leave this place?

Negan held out his hand in Dwight's direction, and Blake could only watch, as the blonde man passed his leader a large knife in a brown-leather pouch.

"So, Doll-face" said Negan, turning back to her once again, his face looking slightly unreadable, his chocolate eyes locking with hers. "You think I can trust you?"

And with that, he held the knife out towards her.

Blake gave a sudden gulp, her gaze fixed on his.

Would she kill him?

Could she kill him?

She wasn't sure anymore…

Almost every instinct she had, told her to run…to get out of there….kill and Negan and get as far away as she could…

But there was one tiny part of her that didn't want to leave his side…not ever.

But Blake shook herself.

Could she kill him if the opportunity reared its head? She could try…for Rick…for Spencer….for Olivia, for Glen, and for Abraham…she would try….she had to try.

Blake slowly nodded, taking the blade from Negan's grasp.

Perhaps with Negan gone…all this would get easier….

Maybe she and David could leave…be together properly again….maybe they could go back to how it was long ago….before the hurtful comments and the bruises.

But she was torn as she stared up at the brown-eyed Saviour.

Did she actually want to kill him?

Negan finally pulled his dark-eyes away from hers and moved over to a nearby truck, just as two of his men (Dwight included) piled into the open back.

Negan pulled open the door to the cab and held it open.

"You're car-poolin' with me, Buttercup," he said lifting his chin and gesturing up towards the passenger's seat.

But Blake gave a bemused smirk, taking a step towards him.

Of course she would be riding shotgun to Negan. Why should have even doubted that for second? Even now with her ability to stab him at any second, the leader of the Saviours still had no fear…

And that, to her, was what made him what he was…..this indescribable, powerful man who had led his people so far to undeniable heights.

Blake chewed on her lip for the slightest of seconds before eyeing him carefully.

But Negan just gazed back at her lazily.

"You gonna make me wait all day, Doll?" he asked her cocking his head back in her direction smirking. "Don't make me ask twice."

The smirk was a gesture which Blake soon returned, rolling her eyes, before hopping straight up into the cab, placing one foot on the high pedestal leading up there.

She almost for a second expected him to grab her ass as she slid by him, but he obviously refrained. Which she was, of course, grateful for.

But that didn't stop her from shooting him a look as she took a seat and he shut the door on her gently, giving her a chuckle in return and dragging his hand down over his long face, sighing to himself.

Balke placed her knife carefully down beside her and gazed about.

Inside the truck, the cab itself was old and shabby and smelled of stale cigarette smoke….but Blake had smelled worse in this brave, new world….and this only served as a reminder as the truck her uncle used to drive when Blake was just a kid…all tan interior with ripped leather seats. It almost made her smile.

It was no more than a minute later, that Negan joined her, hoping up into the driver's seat of the truck with long legged strides.

He flashed her another grin as Blake leant against the passenger window with her elbow, running her fingers through her caramel blonde hair looking back at him.

He was just so strange to her…so, so different from David….and yet why did Blake's stomach seem to do an automatic backflip every time he looked at her…..or made a smart comment….or in fact did anything in her vicinity.

But Blake chocked this down to nerves. Or course she was nervous of this guy who spent his entire life intimidating others by carrying around a baseball bat he used to bludgeon innocent people to death with.

"So where are we going?" she said, as Negan switched on the engine.

The truck manged to tick over twice before finally bursting into life.

The dark-haired Saviour patted the wheel and tossed Lucille down onto the seat in between them.

"A couple of my men found a store about thirty miles north of here, with what they think could contain a nice little haul. So I just thought we could go out and take a look," Negan uttered as he stepped on the gas slowly and drove the truck from the lot and over towards the now-open gate at the far end of the fence. "Stretch our legs a bit."

Blake worried at her lips with her teeth, looking over at him.

"So why invite me?" she said tilting her head slightly. "You wouldn't let me come with you yesterday."

But Negan just smiled. "Well today is a brand new day, Doll-face," he uttered in a husky tone

But that didn't reveal Negan's MO to Blake.

Why exactly had he changed his mind? She didn't doubt he had something up his sleeve.

She narrowed her eyes in his direction, thinking for a moment.

"So do you invite your wives on runs too?" she asked a little scathingly as they exited the looming back gates of The Sanctuary. "Or am I supposed to feel special?"

But Negan didn't looked back at her, he merely gave a hearty laugh, his eyes on the road ahead.

"You gettin' jealous, Peaches?" he said in a bemused tone. "Because like I said, there is always an open spot for you, if you've changed you mind."

But Blake scoffed, staring out of the window beside her, feeling her face suddenly reddening- for no apparent reason.

"Well, I have David…so…." she murmured in a forced tone, trailing off and giving another pained gulp.

And she was right. She did have David. He was everything to her.

But even so….after last night, it pained her to even utter his name.

"Oh that's right," Negan scoffed. "David, David, David..."

Blake paled suddenly, for Negan's tone had become almost cold at the mention of her fiancé.

She prayed that Eugene had kept his word.

"Well ol' Davey-boy might be your knight in shinin' fuckin' armour, Doll," he remarked, his long fingers sliding their way down the steering wheel as he turned the corner. "But don' think I haven't noticed you ain't wearing a pretty little engagement ring on your finger, as a fuckin' queen like you should be."

At this, Blake almost instantly gulped, her eyes moving down to her own hands suddenly.

It had been four long years since David had proposed to Blake.

He had gone to Blake's Mom to ask permission…and her Mom, unbeknownst to Balke had given him Blake's Grandma's ring to use, passed down from her own Mom long ago. And when he had got down on one knee at dinner in the nice part of town one raining night in April, Blake had been over the moon the moment she had clapped eyes on it. Recognising it instantly.

It had fitted her perfectly and Blake had never felt so utterly loved.

But times had been hard for David…and one day, not long after they had gotten engaged, David had offered to get the ring cleaned for Blake while she was at work…but when she had come home later that night, he had told her he had instead pawned the ring to get some cash for a bachelor party he needed to go to in Cancun…..

But of course, he had insisted he would get it back for her, he had promised….as soon as the cheque from his new sculptural piece came through he would buy it back from the pawn shop…no harm done.….

….but that day….that day never seemed to come…..with excuse after excuse later….

And by the time the world had gone to hell…Blake knew that the ring was probably long gone…

She gulped as she thought about it…her other hand reaching for her ring finger gently.

"I uh…I lost it," she lied…feeling hurt and defensive about the subject.

It was not something Blake liked to dwell over…and even now, she felt herself getting irritable at Negan's incessant nosiness.

"What about your wives, huh?" she said in a hurt tone. "You give all of them diamonds?"

But Negan didn't reply.

In fact, he didn't say another word for a good ten minutes, as the rain began to beat down onto the windscreen...heavy and unrelenting…

The sky had darkened and even through the rain, Blake could see black storm clouds forming overhead.

But after years out there…out in the open with little to no shelter…Blake didn't mind a bit of rain.

She remembered back to the times when she would complain to Laura, her colleague, about having to walk from the bus stop to

the office-building in the rain, in case her high heels got ruined.

Right now she would long for far-off worries such as that…and how silly and trivial they all now seemed.

Life was just not the same any more. She wasn't the same person.

None of them were.

"You enjoy your pizza last night?" asked Negan suddenly after ten long minutes had passed, breaking Blake from her thoughts.

Blake looked over at him, shaking herself, before staring down into her lap.

"Yeah…" she lied, brushing imaginary fluff from her pants. "…it was great."

She had, in fact, only managed a bite or two before David's outburst had sent the whole thing flying across the room and onto the wall and floor.

Blake had been forced to bin most of it, crying on the floor in heap, cleaning the wall as best as she could through her tears.

But Negan seemed satisfied enough with this answer.

But she had in fact never known him to be so quiet.

The silence however, was not an uncomfortable one….which relieved Blake immensely.

Although the silence did give her more time to dwell on David and what had happened…the painful thought alone, making her nervous.

"Well like I said," muttered Negan glancing her way for a slight second. "Whatever you want…you can have, buttercup. You're a queen. And royalty like you deserves whatever she wants…whenever she fuckin' wants it."

This monologue of Negan's, only served to make Blake gulp….and looked over at Negan sadly. Wishing she could tell him exactly what happened. Just wanting someone to talk to.

But Blake didn't get a chance, for with that, Negan leant across and pushed a small cassette into a black tape player in the centre of the truck's console, before Blake could utter a reply.

Suddenly an upbeat song started playing over the stereo. A happy tune that Blake had never heard before. With lyrics talking about an 'easy street'.

Negan turned up the volume, looking over at her and revealing his line of straight, white teeth in a smile.

"My favourite song," he commented with a wide grin, before turning back to the road.

Blake stared at him for a long moment…long after he had looked away, frowning…

….before finally, before she could stop herself letting out a small laugh….and shaking her head…..before finally turning back to the rainy track ahead of them…

…her fingers drumming along the beat of the song, against the leather-clad knife at her side...

Thanks to elljayde, Keward2592, Shadowlover1222, bhanna, JudithMosalii, FriendsWithTheMonster, angelskull16, Ello, Guest, XMidniteangel15X and whereshadowplays for reviewing.

Sorry, that was a bit of a filler chapter. But there's more coming soon, if you want it?

Please review! :)