It was just after seven by the time Blake, having changed out of her gardening clothes, instead now wearing a plaid button down shirt and a pair of clean black jeans, stopped outside the large looming doors to the wives quarters, up on the third floor.

It had been a long time since she had been up here, not since Mia had been around, so it wasn't surprising that memories of the small child being in this room with her, made her feel a little nervous about being here.

Despite how happy she was right now, there was certainly a loss lingering at her mind. An empty space where she felt there needed to be….well, just something.

She was certain that the alcohol that the wives had promised her would help.

But Blake steadied herself now, giving a sigh and wiping down her hands on the sides of her jeans, before she promptly knocked on the wood-panelled door with a gentle 'rat-a-tat-tat'.

From behind the panel she heard a brief shuffle of footsteps, before the door was suddenly tugged open by the dark-haired Tanya (dressed of course, in a knee-length black lbd) who gave a bright smile as she spotted the caramel-blonde woman instantly.

"Blake!" she said her face brightening, as she called back over her shoulder, opening the door wide for Blake to step through. "Everyone, Blake's here!"

At once Blake gazed around the large push room, to see all four of the other wives milling about, all turning to her and smiling.

"Yay, now we can start our fun," said Michelle, who had the smoothest-looking black skin and long hair flowing down her back, padding over toward the large makeshift bar in the far corner of the room, where six dusty old wine glasses already sat.

They had obviously been awaiting her arrival.

Blake rubbed her lips together, sliding her hands down into the back pockets of her jeans, feeling more than a little self-conscious now, as all eyes came to rest on her.

"It's really good to see you," said Tanya, shutting the door gently closed and hurrying over to Blake's side, her hand finding the crook of Blake's elbow. "We were saying how much we missed you….so thanks for coming."

From their seats on the couch, Layla, Frankie and Amber all nodded in unison.

"Yeah, I mean, being made to chill out with Eugene is ok….but that's about the extent of the people who actually want to hang out with us," said Frankie wrinkling her nose slightly as she spoke, her tone matter-of-fact, just as Layla cut-in, rolling her eyes.

"And I'm pretty sure that's only because he likes to get a good look at our tits.." she murmured, as Frankie nodded, raisng her eyebrows in agreement.

Blake softened at this.

She hadn't thought of perhaps how few people would want to actually get involved with the wives….hang out with them on a daily basis.

They were of course, off-limits to all the men, so the male contingency here would probably rather steer well clear, rather than face Negan's wrath. And the women….well….it would, of course, be easy for other women to judge these girls for their choices.

But before Blake could dwell on this sorry fact much longer, Michelle suddenly spoke from across the room, plucking down several bottles from a shelf.

"Right, I have four bottles of red wine, some tequila…."

At this, Frankie made a face.

"….some vodka…but it looks a bit cloudy….and two beers…" Michelle listed, as she read the peeling labels on each bottle, placing the down on the bar.

"Oooh ooh, beer for me!" Layla, shouted with enthusiasm, lifting her arm, still seated as Michelle promptly passed her one of the green bottles. "Oooh, European! Nice."

"Blake, what do you want?" asked Tanya, pulling her over towards the bar.

Blake glanced at the bottles a little unsurely.

God, why did she feel just as nervous now as when she had first come here?

"Wine is fine for me," she murmured easily, as Michelle nodded and began wrestling with uncorking the three bottles.

"Ugh, god, I miss screw-tops," murmured the black woman in dismay, as Layla scoffed.

"And I miss my vibrator," she said in a simpering voice. "But you don't see me complaining about it."

But Frankie rolled her eyes getting to her feet and going to help Michelle with the cork. "Lay, you complain about it every single day!"

From the couch, Amber gave a laugh, staring at her friends. The blonde woman was sat now, hugging at a cushion, looking as meek and as timid as she always did.

Blake wondered what had happened to make her this way….so quiet and so sad. Was it Negan? Or something or somebody else?

But she caught Blake's eye suddenly, patting the sofa cushion beside her for Blake to take a seat.

Blake immediately complied, as Tanya leant in towards them.

"Shall I put some music on?" she said making finger guns with her hands, looking slightly dorky, as Blake smiled warmly.

"What do you have?" she asked, as Tanya bounced over towards a pile of CD's sat next to a battered-old boom-box on a large side-table just a few feet away from them.

"Um, well, we've got 'Driving hits of the 90s', Styx, Aerosmith.." she read, flipping through the CDs one by one. "Ooh!"

She suddenly held one up to show them.

"Destiny's Child!"

Frankie nodded, as Layla 'whooped' sarcastically, passing a glass of wine each over to Blake and Amber as she took a swig of her own beer.

Tanya hurriedly stuck the cd into the player and started the music, as Michelle and Frankie took a seat on one side of Blake, holding their wine glasses up towards her.

"Cheers, girls…" Michelle uttered. "And cheers to Blake for coming here to see us."

"Yeah we don't get to do this very often….you think we would…but every day just blends in the next cooped up in here, y'know?" said Frankie explaining to Blake.

Blake nodded at this.

"When was the last time you all went outside the fences?" she asked in a quiet voice.

But all the women looked to Amber, as Tanya took a seat beside Layla, picking up her own glass of red wine.

"I was the last one who came here," uttered the meek blonde girl, not making eye contact with anyone. "…w-with my boyfriend…..my...uh….well, he's my ex now….Mark…a-and my Mom. That was probably just over a year ago now…"

Blake nodded, her own eyes falling to the floor.

"And so… after you've arrived here….what? None of you have been out there since?" she asked, looking a little confused. But it was Frankie who spoke up next.

"Why would we? We're not like you Blake, we don't know anyone else outside these walls….and we've all been out there, you've seen what it's like, its horrible," she said shaking her head.

Blake understood, of course she did. For this world was a bleak and terrible place.

But here these women were safe.

She took a long sip of her wine, as Beyonce sprung into a cheery chorus from the boom-box behind her.

"So what are your people like? Where you came from? You knew Daryl too right?" asked Layla titling her head to the side and letting her long brown hair fall over her tanned shoulders.

Blake had forgotten that these women had met Daryl after his stint here at the Sanctuary.

"I…uhh…" she began trying to search for the appropriate words. "They're fine…"

But it stung Bale to even think of the people she had left behind now, after what had happened back there at Alexandria.

"Rick, the leader there…" she continued, shaking her head. "He's kinda different to Negan, but it's not better there….well, it wasn't for me anyway."

Blake's eyes dropped to her lap, remembering her days and nights spent hiding from David, from his fists and his constant hurtful words.

"I'm sorry," said Layla , shaking her head. "I forgot about your fiancé…like we said before, it's a good thing he's gone. No one deserves to treated like that."

The women all gave a murmur of agreement around Blake now.

But the caramel-blonde woman just gave a short sigh.

"I know Negan is far from perfect…" she said toying with the stem of her wine glass now. "But when you compare him to David..."

She let a difficult gulp trail down her throat now…as painful memories flooded her mind.

"I felt like I couldn't breathe when he was around me…like any moment he was going to hurt me, or say something that crushed me just that little bit more. B-But Negan…from the first day I got here, he just…he helped me become my old self again…the way I was before the world went to shit…"

She looked up, her eyes meeting with the women surrounding her.

"Look, I know it must sound crazy," she said tilting her head gently to the side. "But this place….with Negan…it feels like more of a home that any place I've ever been before."

And that was the truth, Blake knew that now.

At her side Frankie placed her hand to Blake's, giving it a small squeeze.

"When you came here, we all thought you'd hate us. Because, hey, everyone else does around here…." she said bluntly, drawing Blake's green eyes up to hers. "But you didn't. And we knew it was because you'd been through the same crap that we had, and so you weren't judging us for it, like everyone else was. So whatever you chose to do here. Whoever you choose to be with. We're not going to judge you either."

And Blake looked around to see all of the women around her nodding back earnestly.

She felt like she could cry, almost overwhelmed by the support of the wives.

For friendship…true friendship and loyalty, well, it was a rare thing in this world.

"Thanks," she said in a mere whisper, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke, truly grateful to them.

But Frankie gave her hand another squeeze.

"Like Amber said earlier, when you're here, things aren't as bad for us," uttered the red-head smiling gently.

On the couch across from Blake, Tanya gave a nod in agreement.

"Oh, god you have no idea, what it was like when you weren't around…when you left….like, his mood swings were crazy!" she said looking slightly distraught at just the memory.

"Yeah, I have no idea what you do to him, but you know he's pretty much infatuated with you, right?" Layla chipped in, taking a sip of her beer. "I mean he's like some big puppy-dog when he's with you."

"A-And when he thought you and Steve were together," continued Tanya hurriedly, but trailed off, suddenly looking slightly guilty.

Blake remembered then how Negan had called Tanya up to his quarters to see him, the memory stringing at her painfully.

"We didn't do anything," said Tanya suddenly, reading her thoughts, her eyes sad and honest and full of worry, staring at Bake almost pleadingly now. "I swear. He just made me sit there and read a magazine. He was just trying to make you jealous."

But Blake nodded, her eyes dropping now to her wine glass.

"Yeah, I figured," she lied, but still unable to stop that bitter feeling of utter jealousy coursing through her veins.

This was harder than she thought. Sitting here knowing that each one of these women had been with Negan intimately on many, many occasions.

But the wives sitting around Blake obviously picked up on the fact that this was all upsetting her, exchanging solemn glances with one another.

"Blake, seriously," said Layla, leaning forward, her eyes wide and truthful. "Since you came on the scene, he's not been with any of us. He worships you. That's obvious for anyone to see."

Michelle nodded too.

"Yeah, this place has changed since you've been here, Blake," she said smiling gently. "You've made this place better and you've made him better. And that's good."

Blake worried at her lips for a short moment before nodding.

"Thanks," she murmured in soft voice, feeling slightly better now at their words.

"But actually…while we're on the subject of that asshole," Tanya said, almost immediately wincing at her own words. "Sorry…"

But Blake merely smirked and gave a wave of her hand, gesturing for Tanya to carry on as she took a small sip of wine.

"…well there was kinda something we wanted to ask you…" continued the dark-haired woman.

"Tan, not now…." Frankie said a little scoldingly, but Blake gazed between the women curiously.

"What is it?" she asked with interest.

But Tanya looked a little embarrassed, smoothing down the front of her black dress.

"Well," she said giving a nervous gulp. "We were kind of wondering…and you don't have to, of course…."

The wives all shook their heads, all of them inching forward in their seats eagerly.

"We were wondering whether you might be able to talk to Negan," said Tanya, taking a shallow breath in. "A-And maybe ask him if….well, if he might let us…..wear pants."

Blake blinked.

Huh?

"W-Wear pants?" she asked, sounding a little confused, as Frankie, to her right, nodded hurriedly.

"Yeah, well we're kinda stuck wearing these all day…" she said tugging at her dress, obviously being careful with her words. "A-And it's Fall now…and this place can get kinda drafty in winter-"

"Of course!" said Blake almost instantly, frowning slightly, unable to believe that something she took for granted in her day-to-day life was such an important issue for these women. "I'll get Simon to bring some up to you tomorrow or something…there are loads down in the marketplace. Or I probably have some in my closet that'll fit you. And sweaters and t-shirts too."

"Oh, really?" said Frankie, sounding ecstatic at something as simple as jeans. "Are you serious? Because that would be amazing!"

And before Blake could say another word, Amber at her side gave her a huge squeeze around the middle, causing Blake herself to redden slightly at this grand gesture.

Right now, whether Negan agreed or not, she was determined to get these woman into proper clothes, and not some stupid old dresses.

And if he had problem with that he could blame her for it.

"I mean, if you want to, we can go to my room right and now and try some stuff on…." she offered, giving the woman a smile. "Like I said, I've got a closet full of stuff...all new…some of it doesn't really suit me anyway…"

That was the truth. On being given her room here at the Sanctuary, Negan had provide her with an entire wardrobe full of brand new clothes, most of them with the tags still on. And Blake, having survived with almost nothing for all those many months out on the road, didn't want for anything much these days.

Just a few simple items would do her just fine. And anything else she wanted she would just get from the marketplace anyway.

"Really?" asked Tanya, raising an eyebrow at Blake. "Because that would be so good!"

The women all around nodded, once more, in agreement, as Blake gave a fiendish grin.

"Then let's go…" she said draining her glass and getting to her feet, pulling Frankie up with her.

Michelle gave an exited squeal.

"Ok, but I'm bringing the wine bottles!" she cried, tottering over to the makeshift bar and grabbing the three uncorked bottles and handing them out amongst the women, Blake taking one and taking a long sip, before passing it to Frankie, who slipped her hand into Blake's.

God, was this what it was like to have friends? It had been long that Blake had almost forgotten!

The red-head took a long swig, before coughing and wiping at her mouth, making a face.

"Ugh, red wine is NOT my favourite," she said making a face, as Blake laughed and the pair headed over towards the door to the wives quarters, followed closely by Amber.

It was quiet out in the long dark hallway now, but the corridor was soon filled with life, as the women, with Tanya kicking off her heels just outside their door and Layla threading her arm around Michelle's shoulders, screeched loudly as they walked, arm in arm, chatting loudly with excitement filling the air.

It was of course, obvious to anyone, that these women, including Blake herself were not big drinkers….and they definitely weren't privy to being out this late unescorted.

And they had barely made it to the stairs leading down to the second floor, when Layla and Michelle turned back to Blake, brandishing their bottle of wine between them.

"Blake!" Michelle cried loudly, her voice echoing through the hallways. "Come on, you can help us escape! We can run away...like right now!"

"What? In three-inch heels?!" said Frankie dismissively, giving a laugh and taking another long sip from the bottle of wine in her hand.

But Michelle waved her hand at Frankie before staggering over to Blake and grabbing her free hand pulling her forward.

"Yes, Blake'll take care of us, she knows her shit!" Michelle shrieked, as the rest of the girls began to descend the metal staircase precariously.

"Yes, but I'm not killing any of those dead things," Amber cut in sounding a little worried, giving a shudder.

But this only caused Michelle to give an enormous roll of her eyes, grasping hold of the handrail and heading off down the steps behind the young blonde girl.

"Hmmm, I don't think I'd survive out there very long anymore either…even WITH Blake's help," Layla uttered matter-of-factly. "I've been cooped up in here wearing this crap for too long."

And with that she tugged at the hem of her short black dress.

But Blake just cocked her head to the side, as she followed the women down the stairs, Frankie still holding tightly onto her other hand.

"Well don't worry," she said, her cheeks feeling a little flushed and her words ever so slightly slurred. "I have soooo many outfits you girls can help yourself to."

At this, Frankie, at Blake's side, gave her hand a tight squeeze, pressing herself close to her.

"Can you just move in with us, please?" she asked in a slightly pleading voice, as a murmur of agreement came from the surrounding women.

"Jeez, Frank, don't make us sound too needy or anything!" Layla said in sarcastic voice, that made Blake smirk.

"Well, I'm just saying…" Frankie whined, taking another sip from the wine bottle before offering it to Blake. "Maybe if she was in charge of this place instead of Negan then it would be so good for all of us…"

But Amber turned, shooting the red-head a worried sort-of look.

"Shush, Frank!" she warned. "If someone hears you talking like that…..well, you know what they did to Mark….a-and Dwight too! They'll do the same to us y'know!"

Blake paled suddenly, glancing up at the blonde girl.

So had Amber boyfriend suffered the same fate as Dwight had?

Had Negan done that?

In Blake's slightly inebriated state, that idea was indeed a little hard to swallow…

To think that Negan could have done that to anyone…

Of course, she knew how brutish and cruel he could be…but hearing that, so stark, was an odd thing to take in.

A hard lump appeared in her throat, and so, taking Amber's lead, she changed the subject hurriedly, thinking it was probably for the best.

"Y'know, I could've been living up with you girls this whole time, if I'd accepted Negan's offer of becoming one of his wives," she said, lowering her own eyes to the ground, before taking another long drink of wine, before wiping at her mouth delicately, as the group of them reached the very bottom of the staircase, coming out onto Blake's floor.

But Tanya turned her head to look at the caramel-blonde woman.

"I'm glad that you didn't though," she said shaking her head. "Look at you now. You've practically got the run of this place. And Negan likes you too much to do anything to stop that now."

Blake felt the top of her cheeks turning slightly pink, knowing that what Tanya said was true.

She stumbled slightly, taking another sip of wine, feeling the room-temperature red alcohol slide easily down her throat, before pulling the bottle from her lips, brandishing it aloft a little tipsily.

"He calls me a queen, you know that?" she said lifting her chin and giving a slightly-arrogant smirk.

And Frankie, bumping Blake with her hip, gave a goading 'ooooOOooohh' in unison with a couple of the others, causing Blake to burst into laughter.

"Well it's better than some of the things that David used to call me anyway," she murmured quietly, shaking her head in bemused honesty as they reached the door to her room.

Michelle at once bounced on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands together, as the girls all swayed on the spot, all seeming more than a little dunk right now.

And it was Blake that stepped forwards, giving her door a brief shove open and beckoning for all the girls to follow her.

"Come on," she said with a grin, pulling Frankie along behind her, as the women all squealed in excitement and headed inside.

Thirty long minutes later and all six of them were currently squeezed into Blake's bigger than average room, all in varying stages of undress, screaming and yelling with laugher and giggles….red wine spilling all over Blake's brown carpeted floor.

Not that she cared of course. Blake hadn't had this much fun in a long time, all of this reminding her of drunken nights out she had spent with her girlfriends in college and the short time after that…getting far too drunk on cheap alcohol at home, before heading out to bars, teetering on high heels, wearing dressed that barely reached their asses and hugging each other after getting emotional in club bathrooms over a lost tube of lipstick.

Blake had been through enough shit lately, to know that she deserved a night like this….where she could let her hair down…without any consequences…and without the dark-haired Saviour here either.

Not that she wasn't forward to seeing him of course…her tipsy thoughts drifting to him and all the bad, bad things he could do to her tonight.

The caramel-blonde woman, who wasn't even in her own clothes anymore, instead was currently shucking the silky black dress she had worn for Negan last night, back onto her shoulder's tying it up at the waist and flaunting it for the surrounding women, who all sat and stood draped over Blake's bed and chairs.

"What do you think?" she purred, wrinkling her nose, trying to look seductive as she twirled around on the spot, gaining a few admiring 'whoooop' s from the wives. "I wore it last night."

"Oh yeah?" said Layla, arching an eyebrow poignantly, grinning. "And I'm guessing Negan liked it? Because, Blake, I know that we're friends and everything, but in that dress, even I'd fuck you."

Frankie and Tanya screeched at Layla's words, as the dark haired, bi woman just shrugged drunkenly and stared back at them. "What? I would!"

Blake gave a giggle, picking up the wine bottle from the table and giving it a shake, hearing just a few last drops of alcohol sloshing around in the bottom, before pulling a face.

"We're out too," said Amber who was reclining on her side on Blake's bed, lifting up her own empty bottle.

"There's some down in the stores downstairs….the men's private stash…" said Layla after a second or two, gazing around at everyone smirking devilishly.

"Let's go then," said Blake, slurring her words slightly, as she padded towards the door, almost toppling over on the way, as Frankie laughed behind her getting to her feet.

Maybe it was the alcohol talking…making her feel almost invincible tonight…or maybe it was the fact that both she and the wives had been right. Negan had elevated her to this status here in the Sanctuary. So it would be stupid of her not to take advantage of that…..right?

"What? Now?" Frankie asked with a grin, smoothing down the light blue jeans that Blake had given to her to wear, but almost bowling into Blake as she did so.

But the caramel-blonde woman just wrinkled her nose, smiling as she caught a hold of Frankie before the two of them toppled over.

"Yep….now," said Blake bit down on her lip and beckoning for the wives to all follow her. "Come on."

And with that, the five women all let out delighted, excited, tipsy shrieks ,before getting properly dressed and following Blake swiftly out of the door….

…on the hunt to find more alcohol before the night was out.

"Fuck, I fold," said Negan, lifting his glass of whisky to his lips as he threw down his cards onto the table before him, giving a grinning sigh.

But Simon, who was sat in a chair opposite him around the table, beside Arat, Dwight and a couple of Negan's other men, more than half way through a couple of solid hours of poker, shot the dark-haired Saviour a bemused look, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

"Now, excuse me for talkin' out of turn here, Boss," said Simon in a goading voice, his voice polite, but full of sarcasm - a trait which Negan very much appreciated in his right-hand man. "But you've lost every single game tonight, and yet somehow you're still in a good fucking mood!"

Negan drained his glass, his fifth of the night, before setting it down onto the table and refilling it from the bottle of Jack that sat just to his right, smirking now.

But Simon eyed him carefully, before dropping his eye to the set of cards in his hand.

"Wouldn't have something to do with the gal I caught you in bed with last night, would it, Boss?" Simon murmured fiendishly as Negan filled his glass with a quart of whisky, before bringing it to his lips once again.

A grin slipped over his long, tanned and bearded features, as he gave a satisfied hiss, before setting down his glass once again.

"May-fuckin'-be, Si," he said giving a nod, and toying with his abandoned playing cards. "Although I really don' fuckin see what it's got to do with any of you boys."

A couple of men almost immediately looked away, avoiding Negan's eye at once, but Simon, who know Negan too well, merely smiled back, giving a shrug.

"It's just good ta' see you happy, Boss," he said, and from the look on his face, of course expecting the reaction he finally got from Negan. The dark-haired Saviour almost immediately raising both his eyebrows and rolling his chocolate eyes at his friend.

"Careful, Si," he said in a mock-voice of warning. "Don't want you goin' soft on me…"

And his right-hand man could only laugh back, pushing a couple of high-quality cigars towards the ever growing pile in the centre of the table.

"Right, I call-" he uttered.

But before he could say even another word….there came a sudden loud shrieking from the corridor…followed by peals of laughter and the sound of several pairs of hurried footsteps clack-clack-claking along the long hallway outside the door to the dimly lit rec room.

At once, Simon and Arat, being the good soldiers they were, snatched up their hand-guns, gazing up towards the source of the noise.

But the sound soon dissipated, as Negan gave a frown, sucking at his teeth and scraping back his chair with a harsh growl, getting slowly to his feet.

And it was only when standing, did the dark-haired Saviour realise just how inebriated he fucking was….having had more to drink tonight, that he had in a good while, probably having had more than half a bottle of whisky to himself in fact.

He narrowed his eyes, languidly grasping up Lucille who was propped up against his chair.

If there was trouble, Negan would see to it. With fucking glee too!

But just at that very moment, another loud laugh came from just outside the door.

"Ahhhaha…wait!" came a sudden voice, a very fucking familiar voice. "I can't carry three bottles!"

There was sudden sound of heels echoing through the hallway, as another voice joined the first.

"Here, come on."

And with that, after another tipsy-sounding bout of giggles, the sound of hurried footsteps disappeared once again off down the corridor.

But Negan had recognised that voice…

Fuck….she really knew how to drive him fucking crazy, didn't she?

He gave a sigh now, lifting a hand to his face and dragging his long fingers down his chin, as he gazed up towards the ceiling, shaking his head.

"Sir?" questioned Arat, sliding back her own chair and gazing at him questioningly.

But Negan waved his free hand at her, before grinning down at the ground, giving a long whining laugh, as he strode toward the door eagerly.

"Don't worry," he said grinning widely and showing off his line of straight white teeth. "I'll fuckin' take care of this one…"

Sorry I hope the fillers are ok? I just quite enjoyed Blake and Negan interacting with other people for once.

Thanks to Frog, Hannah, Guest, kaylee00, angelvoice15, CLTex, Hmc09, guest12354, Jam86, Guest, Guest and Ashleyziur for commenting.

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