Blake held dented can of beer at arm's length as she pulled back the ring-pull, avoiding the spray of white beery-foam that spurted from the top.
"Ugh," she grimaced, wringing out her free hand, as Negan at her side, gave a chuckle, his bearded mouth half-full of pizza.
"I'm guessin' you ain't much of a beer drinker huh, Peaches?" asked Negan, running his tongue over his lips a little smugly, as he eyed her.
But Blake merely tossed a simpering look in his direction.
"Hmmm, I always preferred wine….or cocktails…." she muttered, taking a brief sip of the stale beer, grimacing a she did so. "But I'm guessing Simon isn't gonna knock me up a Sex on the Beach tonight, now is he?"
But she should have guessed the smug look that soon plastered its way across Negan's features, at her words.
"Well, I mean, I'm sure if you asked him nice enough Darlin', he'd give it fucking good try," bit back the dark-haired Saviour, causing Blake to scoff and roll her eyes.
She pursed her lips, looking out at the dark sky ahead, feeling Negan's gaze upon the side of her face, as he soon spoke again.
"Y'know I can just imagine you….in a nice dress…sixteen dollar cocktail in one hand and cell phone in the other…at a bar…" said the dark haired man, biting down onto his lip and staring at her. "….and I'm guessin' you wouldn't even notice that every guy in that place had his eyes on you all night, either…"
But Blake gave a smile, blushing slightly and shaking her head, as her eyes fell to her lap.
"That never happened…" she murmured softly.
But Negan blinked slowly, lifting his own, already opened, can of beer and taking a long swig, before pulling it from his lips and gesturing her way, with the white can.
"Oh, Doll', I can almost fuckin' guarantee you it did," he uttered in reply, his voice low and growling. "An' I'm probably right in guessin' none of them had the balls to come and talk to you too either. City boys have all the talk, but they ain't got shit when it comes to flirting with women."
Blake smirked, staring up at Negan now, quirking an eyebrow up towards him bemusedly.
"So would you have had the balls to come up and flirt with me then?" she asked in a goading voce, cocking her blonde head to the side.
And Negan, for a moment, gave a slight amused frown, parting his lips.
"Oh, Sweetheart, I'd have been inside you up against the bathroom door at least four times before midnight," he growled devilishly, before turning away from her, and lifting the beer can to his lips once more.
But Blake narrowed her eyes, scoffing, despite a needy warmth suddenly flooding her entire body.
"Oh yeah, what makes you so certain I'd have fallen for your…charms…that quickly? Hmmm?" she asked, raising a slender eyebrow skyward.
But Negan let out a sharp hiss as he gulped down another sip of beer, before dropping the can to his lap.
"Because I know you too fuckin' well, Darlin'," he said in a breezy voice. "And back in the real world, you'd have fallen for me in a heartbeat."
Blake grinned widely, resting her elbow on the arm of the chair, and propping up her chin against her palm, amusedly.
"Oh really?" she snarked back a in sarcastic tone. "And I'd have been…what? Your bit on the side?"
She remembered that Negan had told her he was once married and that he had screwed around a fair few times.
But almost immediately at her words, a gulp drifted its way down Negan's tanned and bearded throat, and his smile fell from his face.
He looked almost remorseful now….his eyes flickering back and forth between his knees….as he dragged a hand over his chin.
"I guess we'll never fuckin' know…" he said, looking a little distant for a brief moment, before taking another long and drawn-out swig of beer.
Blake watched him as he drank. Wondering just what Negan had been like back then…back in the real world.
Had he been as cruel and as villainous as he had seemed when Blake had first met him? Or had he been softer back then…before the apocalypse had struck, and life as they had known it had become ashes before their very eyes?
A long moment of silence clung to the air, thick and cloud-like, like incense….making Blake's thoughts become distant and misted.
She desperately tried to think of something to say now…understanding completely that she had perhaps overstepped the mark somewhat with her last comment.
Negan had only spoken of his wife once before with utter hurt in his voice, and so, her words now, making him obviously think back to painful time in his life, were most likely as cruel as someone bringing up Blake's miscarriages to her.
"Sorry…" she uttered out, a frown line hovering between her brows.
Blake's words were quiet and humble, and caused Negan to give a blink, staring out ahead of them, licking at his lips with his tongue.
"You ain't got any fuckin' reason to be sorry, Doll-face," he stated, running a hand all the way down his tired features. "An' for the fuckin' record…a gal like you…you'd have been too fuckin' good to have just been my 'bit on the fuckin' side'."
Blake smiled softly, chewing on her lip with her teeth as she stared over at the dark-haired Saviour.
And for a moment, quiet fell over the pair of them again, before Blake glanced down at the last few slices of pizza still sitting on the plate in-between them.
"So…" she murmured after a few long, drawn-out second had passed. "…how many points is pizza and beer gonna cost me?"
And with that, the caramel-blonde woman picked up a slice, taking a big bite, eyeing Negan as she did so.
It took him a moment or two to glance her way, but when he did, he gave a wide grin, showing off his line of perfect white teeth.
"Oh well this is on me tonight, Peaches," uttered the dark-haired man in a deep voice. "But date number two…well, that one can be on you."
Blake smirked, raising both eyebrows and tilting her head to the side.
"I'm not sure 'friends' go on dates…" she murmured tauntingly.
But Negan merely smiled back at her fondly, taking another sip of his beer.
"Hell, darlin'" he growled. "I think 'friends', can do whatever they fuckin' want in this screwed-up fuckin' world."
Blake nodded, taking a sip from her own can of beer. It tasted flat and she was certain she had definitely tasted better things in her life. But alcohol was still alcohol and so she drank it easily down.
A brief moment later she pulled the can from her lips, and stared upwards once more, looking at the stars now dusted across the sky above her head, before reaching her hand suddenly to the back of her neck as a twinge shot across her shoulder blades.
"Ouch," Blake winced, making a face, as she set the beer can down beside her and rubbed at her sore neck. "As beautiful as those stars are, I don't think I'm gonna be able to stare at them much longer."
Negan gazed over at her.
"Wait until you get to my age, Sweetheart," he scoffed. "Everything hurts then. Hell ,I can't even fuckin' stand up these days without pullin' somethin'."
Blake grinned at his words, shooting him a look.
That obviously did not stop him bashing people's brain's in however….
"Oh yeah I forgot how much of an old man you are…." she teased, as her hand slid over the nape of her neck, sliding her long caramel hair over one shoulder. "You'll be swapping Lucille for a walking cane soon enough."
She poked her tongue out between her teeth, waiting for a reaction, and she certainly got one, as Negan tutted, rolling his eyes back at her.
"Well this 'old man's still got enough fuckin' life left in him, Doll-face," he bit back.
And Blake smiled, a heat suddenly growing inside her once again.
"Oh, I'm well aware of that. I know just how well you can keep up with me, Negan, " she uttered in a low, delicious voice, before turning away from the dark-haired man, but knowing full-well that his eyes were very much on her right now.
God, she needed to stop this.
They were friends now…
Just friends…
Negan ran his tongue over his teeth hungrily, as Blake pursed her lips together, kneading her sore shoulder blades with her fingers.
But it wasn't a moment later that with another tut escaping Negan's mouth, he had reached down on his other side and picked up a large tartan blanket, before easing himself suddenly to his feet.
Had he really brought a blanket up here?
Blake, resting her free elbow to the arm of the chair and placing her fingers to her lips, eyed him with curiosity. Watching, as Negan unfolded the blanket, before placing it out onto the floor before them neatly.
Blake gave a bemused frown at this.
Had he planned this all along? A night on a blanket under the stars.
But Negan turned back to her now, smugly, and pointed a finger in her direction, arching his back slightly as he spoke.
"That gonna stop you complaining now, Peaches?" he uttered in a simpering voice, gazing at her incredulously.
But Blake just raised both eyebrows staring up at the dark-haired man before dropping her hand from her neck.
He was such a mystery to her sometimes despite how open with her he was.
And so, Blake slowly, before she had time to second-guess herself, had got easily to her feet, and stepping over towards the dark-haired man...came to stand just a foot or-so, away from him.
"Maybe," she replied in a voice than was just a little above a taunting whisper. "But are you sure you're gonna be able to get down there….Grandpa?"
In truth there was only about fifteen years between the two of them, but Blake would continue her teasing nonetheless.
Negan now gave a heavy, goading sigh, nodding his head and letting out an uneasy hiss.
"Well I mean, I ain't necessarily the expert you are, on getting down on my knees, Darlin'," he growled, taking a heavy booted step into Blake now, closing the entirely of the gap between them, pressing his leather-clad and t-shirt covered body, almost flush with hers without even touching her.
Blake felt her panties flood with a creamy wetness, and her heart began to pound at the close proximity between them…but she held off…
She would play this game they enjoyed. But that didn't mean anything had to happen between them…right?
They were just…friends. That was all.
Just friends.
It was Blake's turn to give a teasing sigh now, however, as she dragged her eyes hurriedly away from his and strolled past him, bumping his broad, leather-draped shoulder with hers as she did so.
And in a moment, she had dropped down onto the blanket, before lying lazily back horizontally against it, without another word.
She could feel the concrete rooftop, hard beneath her spine….but the view of the sky above them was much more easy to take in from down here.
It truly was beautiful.
And it wasn't even a second later that she heard Negan ease himself down beside her with a stiff groan, plonking the four cans of beer that were left, down onto his other side, before placing both his hands behind his head.
Blake smiled to herself now, before her eyes flickered across to the man beside her, his long body stretched out across the blanket, boots crossed, one over the other.
He looked perhaps more relaxed now than Blake had ever seen him, his chocolate eyes fixed on the sky above.
"Peaches, now I know how goddamn gorgeous I am, but I ain't the view you should be fuckin' concentrating on here," he murmured out without even looking at her, a smug grin inching its way over his lips.
Blake rolled her eyes, gazing back upwards once more.
"You're so annoying," she muttered out.
But Negan gave a sighing chuckle now, shifting himself slightly against the ground.
"Still not the worst thing you've fucking called me lately, Sweetheart," he chimed, causing Blake to let out a small appreciative laugh.
"True," she said gently, biting down onto her bottom lip, just as a cool breeze fluttered over the silent rooftop.
Blake gave a small involuntary shiver at this, bracing herself, before she suddenly untied the plaid shirt at her waist, before sitting up and tugging out from underneath her butt, as Negan quirked an dark eye in her direction.
"You know if you're cold, I am always up for a cuddle, Peaches," he uttered in a low, goading voice, causing Blake to glance at him over her shoulder, smirking.
"Hmm, sounds tempting, but I think I'll survive," she tutted, unfolding the crumpled shirt before tugging the red flannel material over her shoulders.
But Negan gave a short sigh.
"Suit yourself," he merely groaned, closing his eyes easily, as Blake gazed over at him, smiling bemusedly.
In the warm flickering light of the kerosene lamp, Negan's face looked more lined and tired now than it had ever done before.
Was this just a lack of sleep? Or had their argument and not speaking over this past couple of weeks got to him, just as it had gotten to her?
Blake wasn't sure right now, as she wavered momentarily…
Considering carefully what she was about to do.
But, letting out a smile and tugging her lips between her teeth , Blake slowly took a deep breath….
…before sighing….
….and before either she, nor Negan, could say another word, the caramel-blonde woman had shifted herself slightly closer to the dark-haired Saviour…before gently easing herself down onto the blanket once more.
But this time she was close enough to Negan for him to feel her presence beside him, causing him to let out a small chuckle and open a single chocolate eye, peering down at her.
"Oh so youdo want a fuckin' cuddle, Doll-face?" he commented, suddenly lowering his arm around her shoulders and tugging her gently into him.
Blake smiled to herself now, as she closed her eyes, feeling his warmth and that musky smell of his, wash over her completely…..before turning her body slightly into his, and resting her head on his shoulder.
"This isn't a cuddle," she murmured, curling her fingers around Negan's t-shirt-covered side gently. "This is just friends keeping warm."
Again she heard Negan let out a small approving laugh, stifling a short yawn as he did so.
"That what the kids are calling it these days, hmmmm?" he uttered in a low voice, Blake hearing smallest of contented groans leaving his throat.
But she just nodded into his shoulder, feeling oh-so comfortable right now.
"Yhhhmmmm," she said slowly, as a warm breeze trickled over the pair of them laying there in the silence of the otherwise empty rooftop. "Get with the times…old man."
Negan once more let out a soft appreciative chuckle…a small growl slowly leaving his throat. But he didn't reply…
And it took Blake a second or two, surprised at not hearing a snarky reply from the dark-haired Saviour's mouth, to open her eyes and gaze up and over at the dark-haired man beside her…..
….only to find that Negan was, in fact, sound asleep….
…looking more peaceful and contented now that Blake had ever seen him.
And so, giving a small smile to herself, pressing her body further into him now….Blake closed her own eyes once more….
….blocking out the faintest golden lamplight behind them….as well as the sheet of stars above their heads….
….before she too, drifted off into a warm, comfortable sleep...
Ahhhh fluff and filler….hope that was ok?
Thanks to CLTex, LULO, FriendsWithTheMonster, Hmc09, guest, rissbenzo, Hannah, alliesmiley2 and Son's Angel for commenting on the last chapter.
Sorry I'm having to split my chapters up a little. I'm still not 100% so have some medication that will *fingers crossed* do the trick and help me get better, September has really not been my month…and to be fair the months before that were not much better either! Nevermind.
If you can find a moment to leave review I can't tell you how much I'd appreciate it. But if not, have a lovely weekend anyway. :)