Blake smiled to herself as she walked down the long gloomy hallway that led down towards the library and makeshift gymnasium.

It had been less than a week since she'd met Negan.

Annoyingly irritating Negan.

The man who somehow, in this enormous place, kept bumping into her…'accidentally'.

Blake smirked to herself, almost rolling her eyes as she turned the corner, thinking on him.

What made her so special, huh?

Surely there had been and still were plenty of other woman in his life he could give his attention to.

So why her?

But before Balke could take more than a few steps down this gloomy hallway, a sudden quiet voice from behind her called her name.

"I-Its Blake right?"

Blake swung suddenly around, her heart thudding in her chest.

Each and every time she had been cornered down one of the long corridors in the Sanctuary by someone, it had not ended well for her.

But to her surprise, she saw two women standing behind her, both in short black dresses and black high heels.

She recognised both of them immediately.

One being Tanya, the woman who had walked her back to her room, after Blake had thrown up in Negan's bathroom on one of her first night's here.

She had long dark bangs and was now holding her arms around herself, shifting her weight from foot to foot a little nervously.

The second was Frankie, taller than Tanya, with long red hair and skinny arms.

But Blake certainly recognised her too. As the woman who she had seen leaving David's room, several long days ago now.

Blake gulped, gazing at the pair of them tentatively.

"I'm Tanya and this is Frankie," offered the dark-haired woman, after Blake didn't respond.

And the caramel-blonde Blake just looked back at them, full of apprehension of uncertainess.

These were the same women who had blanked her out of the balcony. The women she had tried to say hi to, who had just fallen silent and began to whisper behind their hands, making her feel like a teenager again.

But that was then. And as she well knew, a lot could happen in a few days.

Look at her and Negan now…

Suddenly Frankie took a step forwards, glancing back at Tanya, as if both women were trying to pluck up the courage to say something to Blake, but trying to find the right words to do so.

"W-We just wanted to say h-how brave you were," said Frankie peering up at Blake. "I mean, I couldn't have done what you did."

"No me neither," said Tanya, nodding feverously and stepping forwards too.

Blake blinked, her eyes flickering down to the floor for a second. "It was…" she uttered, trailing off and taking a deep breath of air. " …all I did was grab a stupid stick…."

But Frankie and Tanya looked at each other a little sadly, before staring back at Blake.

"No, we meant how brave you were for putting up with him for so long," said Frankie in a voice filled with honesty. "Having him push you around like that…treat you so badly…hurt you. You did the right thing."

Tanya at her side nodded. "Yeah, h-he sounded like an abusive jackass. You were right to do what you did."

Blake felt a frown-line shift between her brows.

Everyone she had spoken to so far, had expressed their apologies and sympathy for David's demise, but it was only these women (and Negan of course) that had told her she'd done the right thing.

"Thanks," said Blake cocking her head to the side, feeling a little taken aback.

Blake had felt so, so lonely since coming here, and even Negan, as much time as he spent with her, was only one person she had any contact with on a daily basis. So right now, it felt good to have two women the same age as Blake, seemingly on her side.

Frankie, worried at her lip for a long moment, staring back at Blake reddening slightly as she spoke.

"I never slept with him y'know," she blurted out, shaking her head. "David. I know it might have looked like that, but I didn't, I was told to just give him a massage, to spend some time with him…see what he knew."

She cupped her hands in front of herself nervously, giving a half smile.

"He told me all about how awful his life was before getting here," Frankie continued. "As if we all hadn't been through the same shit, y'know?"

Blake's lips twitched up, returning the half-smile.

She was glad she wasn't the only woman here who had seen how much of a douchebag David had actually been.

Tanya, fiddled with her dark hair, currently tied up in a bun, looking at Blake.

"Hey," she said in a quiet kind of voice. "Y-You uh…..you want to come hang out with us?"

Blake parted her lips. Not really ever expecting…well, that.

Frankie nodded enthusiastically at her side.

"We know how shitty this place can be when you first get here," she added. "A-And we have chocolate if that helps?"

Blake hesitated for a long moment a little unsurely.

Why would these women want to know her? Want to invite her into their lives?

But knowing that she needed all the friends she could get right now, Blake bit at her lip for a long second before giving a slow nod.

"Uh…sure…that would be nice," she replied.

And with that, she followed Frankie and Tanya as they turned on their heels, down the long and winding corridor.

It was a long few minutes before they climbed a long winding staircase that led up towards a large set of rooms, Blake had not frequented before.

"We're just in here," said Tanya, pushing open a large set of double doors and ushering Blake into a wide room, with a large bay window on one side and several large squishy couches and day-beds in the middle of the space. In the far corner of the room was wooden drinks bar, the place probably having once been an office of sorts.

Here, in this expansive room, three more women lounged around, one reading a magazine, and the other pair talking and painting their nails at the same time.

The three other women, all wearing skimpy black dresses, all looked up as Blake walked in, in her dark pants, sneakers and long white blouse.

Frankie soon came to stop near to Blake's shoulder.

"That's Layla over there," she said pointing to a youngish girl with a long mass of blonde hair who was sat reading a magazine, alone, reclining against a couch cushion as she did so. "Then we've got Michelle and Layla."

Frankie pointed to the other two women who were sat talking together, who looked up at Blake, immediately hushing their conversation, looking a little startled by her appearance in this space.

Michelle was petite, with carefully curled hair and smooth black skin, whereas Layla had a tan complexion, with straight black hair that fell to her lower back.

Blake nodded a little unsurely at the three women, as Tanya moved hurriedly around her, heading over towards the bar, picking up a huge carafe of red wine and pulling out six glasses eagerly.

"So what were you before?" said Frankie suddenly, as the pair of them waked over to join Tanya.

Blake looked up at her. "Before?" she asked, a little confused.

Tanya nodded. "Like what did you do for a job?" she said pouring an ample amount of wine into each of the glasses. "I just worked behind a bar, but Frankie here, was a masseuse, Amber was in college, Layla worked in an coffee shop, and Michelle, well, she worked with people's feet."

The trio swung around as Michelle from across the room, gave a sudden huff, rolling her eyes.

"I was a podiatrist," she rectified, giving a mock-scowl. "Why do you have to make it sound so weird!"

A couple of the girls laughed, as Blake gave a small smile.

She hadn't been asked about her past life in a long, long time. In this world, what you used to be before the States had gone to hell, didn't really seem to matter. It was instead, all about what you had made yourself into here.

Tanya and Frankie looked up at Blake.

"I….uh…I worked in an office….doing admin…it wasn't anything special.." she uttered as Tanya handed her a glass of wine and the two women ushered her over to the couches in the centre of the room.

Blake took a seat near to Layla and Michelle, as Layla gave a melodramatic sigh.

"Oh I used to loooove flirting with the office girls in high heels and tight skirts who came to pick up their coffee in the mornings," she said with a far-away, dreamy look in her eyes. "Some of them…phew!"

Layla gave a wolf-whistle of appreciation, as Blake cocked an eye at her.

"You're-?" she asked suddenly, but Layla cut across her smiling.

"I'm bi," she explained, looking at Blake with kind eyes. "….and you must be the girl we have to thank for getting us off 'fucking duty' for the past couple of weeks. Blake, right?"

Blake frowned, looking at all the women a little confused, as the blonde-haired Amber finally joined them on the sofas, coming to sit down on the other side of Blake barefoot, tucking her legs beneath her.

"Negan hasn't been interested in us since you got here," Tanya explained after a second or two. "The last one of us that was called up to see him, was me, on that night that I walked you back to your room. He told me not to bother coming back, and ever since, he hasn't come to call on us. Any of us."

The women surrounding Blake all nodded enthusiastically.

"So you've done us a favour," Tanya finished, giving Blake a smile.

There was a brief murmur of agreement amongst the women.

"And I hear you're holding out on him too," said Michelle leaning forwards and wrinkling her nose at Blake, beaming. She gave a short whistle. "Man, this must be the longest he's gone without any, since we moved into here."

The wives all nodded, as Blake gave a gulp.

She didn't understand.

What did any of this really have to do with her?

What had she done to spur Negan on so much?

"He obviously likes you," said Frankie taking a sip of her wine, and using the glass to gesture towards Blake. "The only other person he's showed even the slightest bit of attention to, was Sherry, and even then, you could tell he was only doing that to wind up Dwight."

There was another murmur of excitable agreement from the women, just as Blake felt a sudden hand touch hers.

It was Amber, who, with frightened trembling lips, and wide eyes, looked up at Blake.

"Just be careful," she said in a shaky voce, just a little louder than a whisper. "You have no idea what he's capable of."

Amber looked visibility upset, as she carefully retracted her hand from Blake's, looking instead down into her lap.

But Blake was already fully aware of what Negan was capable of. Wasn't she?

Ok, he seemed to have taken a shine to her, but she would not, and could not, forget, just what pain and torment he had inflicted on her's and Rick's group.

But she remained silent, instead taking a sip of her wine…feeling the vinegary, heady alcohol slip easily down her throat.

It was late afternoon and probably too early for Blake to be drinking like this. But it would be rude to say no. Especially when all of the wives surrounding her were obviously used to day-drinking like this.

The wives right now, all seemed to be looking at her expectantly, almost as if they were excited about having her here.

Everyone was silent for a long few moments as Tanya got up to refill Blake's glass, almost to the brim, before sitting down once again.

"Shall we play a game?" she offered, raising her eyebrows easily, as she handed the wine glass back to Blake.

"Ugh, if it's your stupid version of charades again, then I'm out," said Michelle rolling her eyes, causing Frankie to grin.

"No," said Tanya pursing her lips. "I was thinking a drinking game. Maybe 'I've never'?"

Blake looked at the dark-haired woman a little tentatively.

"So," began Tanya, pre-empting Blake's question. "One of us says something like...um…I dunno….'I've never been Negan's favourite'….now you, Blake, you take a drink if you have. So….drink."

Blake smiled gently, taking a small sip of her wine and rolling her eyes.

"Now Michelle, you go next," urged Tanya, nodding at the woman beside her.

"Uhhh…I've never hooked up with my teacher in high school," she said darting a look fiendishly at Layla beside her, who immediately shot her a look in return, grabbing a cushion and bashing her with it.

"Oh my god," said Layla, with a laugh. "That was one time! God, I am never confiding in you again!"

All the women, including Blake laughed.

It was nice to sit here with these women having fun and forgetting the world outside. Even if it was just for a while.

Next it was Layla's turn.

"I've never," she began, looking over towards the windows for a second, thinking. "…killed one of those dead shits."

Both Blake, Tanya, and Michelle lifted their wine glasses to their lips and took a deep sip.

Blake could feel the liquid making her feel nice and warm and fuzzy, as she crossed her legs, brushing down her dark pants.

Michelle raised an eyebrow over towards the women who hadn't taken a drink and tutted.

"How the fuck did you girls even survive this long?" she said shaking her head. But none of them answered her.

It was Frankie's turn next.

"I've never," she said tilting her head back and forth pondering what she was going to say. "I've never….seen Dirty Dancing."

All the other women, Blake too, took a long drink, as Tanya hopped up and brought over the bottle of red wine, filling up women's glass individually, before sitting once again.

"How have you never seen Dirty Dancing?" she commented to Frankie, as the red-head shrugged.

"I've just never really been into chick-flicks," she said giving an airy wave of her hand.

There was a long pause, where the women all looked at the nervy-looking Amber at Blake's side.

"Amber?" Tanya offered gently. "Your turn."

Amber indeed looked a little scared for a long moment. "Um…." she began, looking down into her lap. "I've never….had a baby."

At this, the entire room fell suddenly eerily silent, with even Blake herself giving a gulp.

For both she and all these women knew just how many people had been lost after the outbreak….many, many children included.

Michelle alone was the only one to take a drink for that one, as everyone else looked solemnly down….just remembering…..

It was a very, very long moment before Michelle was the one to give a small cough and look at Blake.

"Blake, it's your turn."

The caramel-blonde woman looked up, suddenly parting her lips gently.

Her mind had, of course, immediately gone blank. After the last question she didn't want to say anything to emotionally important.

She looked down into her wine glass swilling it in her hand, as inspiration struck.

"I've never…." she began in a slow voice, pulling at her bottom lip with her teeth before giving a smile. "…drunk wine quite as bad as this."

The wives all laughed, breaking through the oh-so-awkward tension that had filled the room.

Layla was the only one to drink, commenting out loud as the women all looked at her. "My roommate in college made it under her bed during the first semester," she said grimacing. "It tasted like ass."

Blake and the wives all cracked up in peels of laugher, even Amber, whose smile seemed to warm her otherwise shy and sad-looking face.

Blake knew herself that she hadn't laughed this much in a long time, feeling so at ease.

Obviously the wine was helping, but even so, it was nice to be around women the same age as she was….it reminding her so much of the friends she used to hang out with back in the real-world, before David, before the apocalypse, before everything.

"Ok, ok," said Tanya finally, once the laughter had died down slightly. "My turn."

The women all looked over at her, as she fiddled with one of her gold hoop earrings.

"I've never been married," she said a little triumphantly, as all the women lifted their glasses a little before frowning at one another.

Tanya rolled her eyes.

"I meant before now. One that counted," she finished.

Just a couple of the women drank at this, as Blake looked on, not moving her own glass from her lap.

She could really see and hear how much these woman resented Negan…but at the same time, all of them, bar Amber, seemed pretty happy.

Although Blake wondered how happy they had been back when they were on a rota to have sex with the dark-haired Saviour each night.

Blake gave a small, internal gulp, as her eyes flickered down to her lap...feeling, for the first time in a long time, something tug at the back of her stomach.

Wait, was she jealous?

Jealous that these woman had slept with Negan? Surely not.

Blake hurriedly pushed these thoughts aside, as Michelle spoke next.

"I've never…" said the black woman, grinning. "…had Negan bring me pizza."

All the women now turned to Blake, eyebrows raised and smiling.

But Blake pursed her lips and threw them each a bemused look.

"How did you even hear about that?!" she said smirking and shaking her head, taking a long, deep sip of wine

But Michelle's grin seemed to deepen.

"Sweetie, everyone heard," she said bluntly. "And you still think the Asshole doesn't like you?"

Blake gave a small frown, looking away dismissively.

"Whatever," she replied, as the women all gave a chuckle.

"She's right," said Layla, at Michelle's side. "There's not many people he's allowed this much freedom to. He's got a thing for you , that's obvious. Wait, wait, I've got one-"

And with that Layla shifted forwards in her seat looking at Blake.

"I've never used Lucille," she added finally, titling her head to the side as she spoke.

Blake suddenly looked up at her, her heart thudding rapidly inside her ribcage for a long moment, before dissipating again.

Silence immediately fell over the group. All of their eyes on her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" said Layla, seeing the look upon Blake's face, before trailing off, looking awkward.

And it was a long moment or two, before Blake lifted the wine to her lips, drained her glass, and then opened her mouth to speak…

"It's fine," she said staring up at all the oppressed women surrounding her. "My fiancé…..he was a prick, and he treated me like shit….and, well, in the end…..he got exactly what he deserved."

The women were all quiet for a long excruciating moment, pondering what Blake had just said, before Frankie let out a loud- "Amen!", lifting her glass up in a toast.

All the women followed suit, as Blake peered up at them.

Every single one of them one her side.

Every single one of them glad for her.

Glad she had survived.

And with that, Blake let out a gentle, relived sort of smile.

"Amen," she whispered quietly to herself…

…as Tanya moved over to refill her glass once again…

More soon…..part two if you want more?

Thanks to Xmidniteangel15X, FriendsWithTheMonster, shaywilliams4151, Hmc09, ducktapelover, Dollfacex94, whereshadowplays, PokemonTrainerDecember and srosal1 for reviewing.

Was that ok? Sorry that Negan wasn't in it, but I enjoyed writing Blake with the wives. Hope it was alright to read? I'd love to hear your feedback.

Please review! :)