It was dark by the time the trucks finally pulled up into the illuminated Sanctuary lots, just over an hour and a half later.

Negan, slumped against the passenger side window, not having said a word to anyone since Alexandria, gave a hard gulp as he dragged a gloved hand down his tired and lined face.

He had been lost back there, for a moment.

So sucked into the idea of revenge…

Of payback.

His walls had come up again and every little bit of anger and rage he had been holding inside since the loss of Lucille had come flooding out of him.

He hadn't always been hard. Once upon a time he had fallen in love, gotten married, done all that soppy shit. But years of bitterness, of not getting promotions, or having to watch Pete next-door get that new company car, while Negan was stuck with his beaten up old pickup, well, all that had gotten to him.

And then after years of hoping and talking about having kids….being told by the doctors that, for him and Lucille, that would never happen...that bitterness had become something more. And Negan had taken advantage of his wonderful wife's good nature, screwed around on her, stayed out late drinking, becoming an all-round asshole.

He had been far from the ideal husband. Not knowing how good he had it until everything around him crumbled.

It was then, after the loss of his wife, that Negan had put up walls, looked out for no one but himself under the pretence of 'saving people'.

That had been until Blake had showed up in his life, breaking down every barrier he had built up around himself.

She had been hurt and bruised and broken, and had survived it all. And for a moment he had seen a strength and compassion in her that he had once seen in Lucille.

It was hard to compare the two women now, but Negan knew that it was likely that if the pair of them had ever met, they would get on like a damn house on fire.

Blake was his everything these days. And Negan clung to the idea of her, even when she wasn't around him. Her warmth, her love. Something Negan hadn't experienced for a long, long time.

She had given him his heart back.

Found him, when he had been so, so lost….

...just as she had just a few hours ago...over that radio.

She had brought him back. Saved him from the blood and brutality.

Even if only for a moment.

The truck he was riding in, driven by a silent Dwight, pulled slowly to a halt, and Negan now heard the blonde man at his side switch off the engine and pause, as he waited obediently for his next orders.

But Negan wasn't in the mood to give any.

For it was likely they all could see the emotions he had gone through today, the fear, the anger, the rage...

Did they understand? Negan certainly hoped so.

"You did good today, Dwight," Negan murmured grasping up Lucille from the seat next to him with a stiff sigh. "Make sure you an' the boys take the night off, hell, you've earned it."

Dwight at once gave a grateful nod in reply, as Negan shoved open the truck door, hopping out, his boots landing on the dusty asphalt below.

He felt tired, his throat feeling hoarse as he swung Lucille up onto his shoulder, taking a few long-legged strides towards the wide metal doors that led into the cool interior of the dimly lit factory.

It was quiet in here away from the noise of engines and wheels against gravel, and as the door swung back, shutting all that out, Negan was left with a stark silence he didn't know quite what to do with.

But that silence only lasted what felt like a pinprick of a moment, when a sudden voice came out of the shadows.

"Hey."

It was soft and warm and he recognised it at once, barely even flinching as he turned to face the person who had spoken, watching as she stepped out of the shadows.

She looked smaller now that she did before, just the way she held herself, with long blonde hair thrown over one shoulder, draped in long grey button down sweater and jeans.

She was a vision to him.

So real and so fucking gorgeous.

He merely parted his lips, lowered Lucille and turned to Blake as she stepped out of the shadows towards him.

She tilted her head to the side, giving him a tiny, questioning look.

"Is everything-" she asked slowly, searching his face for the answer before he had even had the chance to speak.

But Negan took a step towards her and reached for her hand, clutching it tightly in his.

She felt warm and comforting to him, like a shot of brandy on a cold night. And Negan stared into her eyes.

"Hell, I'm fuckin' sorry, Peaches…" he said, in a voice huskier than normal in the darkness of the hallway. "I shouldn'ta-"

"It's ok," Blake said quickly, lifting her other hand to his stubbly cheek. "You were angry. I understand why you would be.."

She gave her head a small shake.

"I'm just glad that you're home," she finished simply, leaning forwards and pressing her lips gently to his.

She tasted like honey to him...sweet and pure and Negan felt his heart swell , clinging onto the fact that she was still here….she was still alive.

After a moment or two they pulled away, and Blake left her eyes closed for a moment, sucking down onto her bottom lip as if savouring his taste.

The pair of them remained in silence for a long long few seconds before Blake finally looked up to him once more, easing her hand away from his, before placing both her palms onto his leather-clad shoulders.

"Let's go to bed," she said gently, Negan suddenly realising he wanted nothing more than that too tonight. To hold her, to have her close. "It's late and I've had a pretty rough day."

She reached up and ruffled her blonde hair with her fingers a little tiredly, before giving a sleepy-sounding purr.

Negan slid his arm around her spine as she turned into his arms, and began to walk at her side.

But Blake quickly gave a sharp wince, prising Negan's fingers from her waist.

"Ouch, not quite healed," she muttered as Negan growled an instant apology to her.

But she brushed him off easily.

"It's fine," she said gently. "Carson changed my dressing an hour ago and said I should be good until morning. He said give it a week or so and it should start to look a lot better."

Negan cocked an eye down at her as his tanned hand hovered at the small of her back as they began to walk down the hallway, lieutenants starting to fill the corridor behind them.

"You takin' anything?" Negan asked curiously.

"For the pain?" Blake answered. "Yhhmmmm. Nothing too strong though."

She rubbed at her stomach, gesturing to the baby inside her.

"But he said the pain should die down in a day or two anyway, I might just feel a little sore for a while," she shrugged.

"Hmmmm, I should fuckin' think so. Hell, you've taken a damn bullet to the side, Darlin'," Negan murmured incredulously. "I known men bigger than you who'd be rollin' around on the damn floor at much less."

But Blake waved him away again with a laugh. "No they wouldn't Negan," she scolded, shaking her head and smirking. "It's not too bad anyway. It was just a scratch."

But both of them knew full well it was much, much more than that.

Negan stared at her, the hint of a calm smile lingering over his own bearded lips.

They turned the corner and began to head up the long metal staircase. Blake took it slow, wincing a little and holding onto the railing as she climbed.

They two of them didn't say anything for a minute or two, Negan, however, watching her every movement carefully, as though she were made of glass.

Blake stopped halfway up to catch her breath, placing a hand to her belly.

"Ugh, god, between this thing..." she pointed to the covered-up wound at her side. "...and the bump I'm gonna get soon, its think it's going to start averaging me about twenty minutes to get up these stairs every day."

Negan gave a chuckle, rubbing his gloved hand over his mouth, before she started to climb again.

"Beansprout asleep?" the Saviour asked after a lengthy moment of silence.

He had barely even comprehended just how frightened the damn kid must have been earlier, and again, guilt crept over him as he realised just how foolish he had been to leave when he did, right when his whole family had needed him most.

"She's up with Tanya and Michelle," Blake said conversationally. "She's gonna stay there tonight. Frankie's just gone down to see if she can get any more of that kiddie flu medicine for her. She's seems like she's got her sniffle back."

Negan tutted. The kid had only just got over one bout of cold, but after the day she had had, it wasn't surprising she would seem a bit under the weather again.

The pair made it up to the long hallway that housed their room eventually.

"So…" murmured Blake looking up to him quickly as a light flickered above their heads in the gloomy corridor. "What happened?...back there...a-at Alexandria?"

It sounded like Blake had been holding this question off for a while now.

But Negan gave a short sigh, lowering his chocolate eyes to the ground.

"No one died, Peaches…" he huffed in a sorry-sounding voice.

But Blake suddenly clutched at his free hand again, giving it a tight squeeze, causing him to look up at her quickly.

"I know...I know…" she whispered gently.. "I just….."

She wavered for a short moment before letting out her own sigh, blinking hard. "What's done is done. And yeah, I want the person responsible to pay for what they did...what they could have done….but today…...it isn't the right time to be punishing a entire community. We need them on our side. And some of them…"

Bake paused giving a frown.

"...some of them are good people. Assholes sometimes, but good people. And I don't think any of them were capable of doing something like that."

Negan gave his own frown at this.

He wasn't so trusting of those fucking Alexandrians, but he was too tired to argue with Blake now, watching her wince a little, clutching a hand to the space just below her breasts.

"Everythin' alright?" he asked suddenly, his eyes grazing over her pained face.

But Blake just grimaced a little, waving him away.

"Ugh, I think it's just heartburn," she said a little stiffly as Negan gave the door ahead of them a sharp shove open and they made their way into their shared living areas.

It was warm in here and the bed on the far side of the expansive room looked more than inviting now.

It had been a long day for both of them.

And so, dropping Lucille down onto a side-table near to the door, he strolled over to the bed and sat down on the end of it, feeling exhausted.

But he stared up as Blake, smiling a little and looking like a goddamn beauty queen, padded towards him, one hand pressed to her belly.

Fuck she was gorgeous, and looked almost proud of the bump that was barely there now- but would be sure to get much bigger in the coming months.

"So…." groaned Negan tiredly, placing his hands to her hips as she came to stand in between her legs, placing one hand to his shoulder. "...you had any thoughts on whether you think we're gettin' a damn mini me, or a mini you, yet?"

The blonde woman smirked and rolled her eyes. A gesture that brought a grin to Negan's own lips.

"Hmmm," she said considering the question for a moment, running her hand over her the black tshirt, that covered her abdomen, lovingly. "Well you'd better hope its a boy, because if its a girl, you're gonna be outnumbered, Daddy."

Negan let a chuckle escape his bearded lips as he looked up at her now in awe, before lowering his eyes, his gaze landing on her tummy.

Fuck.

Negan knew he needed to count himself lucky.

Today could have gone a lot differently for all of them.

Yet here he was, sat here with the woman he loved in front of him.

He let out a long contented sigh.

"Y'know, with your looks, and my damn attitude, our kid's gonna be a force to be reckoned with, Sweetheart."

And from just above him, Blake gave a sigh, moving her hand up and stroking back Negan's dark hair.

"I think you're right," she purred, as Negan smiled up at her.

She eyed him for a moment, staring down at him with a warm look in the gentle, yellow lamplight that filled the room.

"You look as tired as I feel," she said letting out a yawn and easing herself from his grasp. "I'm gonna brush my teeth and then I think we should both get some sleep."

Negan let out another sigh, nodding his dark head, watching as she headed across the room and made her way into the bathroom, the stark light flickering on at once and pouring onto the bedroom carpet as she let the door ajar.

"I think I'm gonna take a shower before hittin' the hay," said Negan easing his leather jacket stiffly from his shoulders as he remained there, sat on the edge of their king-sized bed.

From inside the bathroom he could hear the sound of a running tap. And Blake's face appeared around the door after a second or two, a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.

She pulled the object from her lips, brandishing it at him and wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah, I was gonna say, you don't smell all that great, baby," she teased, earning herself a grey pillow tossed in her direction, missing her by feet, which caused her to giggle, sticking the toothbrush back into her mouth, her head disappearing around the door once again.

Jesus Christ, only she could be able to bring out such a range of emotions in him in one day.

She really was his fucking everything.

The missing piece to his existence.

Negan gave a sigh, the sound of the running tap drowning out the noise of his boots hitting the floor one-by-one as he peeled them off.

He dragged a hand over his bearded face, a long puff of air easing out between his lips, as he screwed his eyes shut.

"Shit, I might just forgo the damn shower," he called into her. "Before I fall asleep standin'."

He gave a heavy yawn, awaiting her reply.

But there came none.

Negan rolled his eyes.

"I said, I might just forgo the damn shower," he repeated, a little louder this time.

But again there came nothing but the sound of the tap continuing to run.

Negan gave a frown, getting to his feet with a stiff groan and heading over towards the open bathroom door with the full intention of telling Blake off for wastin' his damn supply of clean water.

"Jeez, Peaches, I-" he began, running a hand through his hair with a frown, as he shoved open the door that was halfway open, his eyes searching the room lazily.

But the dark-haired Saviour stopped short, all colour suddenly draining from his face, as his eyes landed on the figure of Blake…

...lying there, in a crumpled heap on the floor…..

….an ever-increasing puddle of crimson blood pooling beneath her.

So this fanfiction was never meant to be a fairytale. This a story about what could be a real woman, in real life. This was about a woman abused, who got stronger, who made it out. And just because this is a world where zombies exist, that doesn't mean that real horrible things can't happen. Women and men go through things every day that change them for the better, or for the worse, and often there are happy endings, and often there aren't. But bear with me on this. Trust in me. Trust in Blake, and trust in Negan.

More coming soon.

Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter: Brookeworm3, Jam86, masquerade04, Cassia320, Guest, Kara315, LJH, Nicole, AsToldByNi, CLTex, Guest, Daryl's lady, StarklyRamie, BlueBloodsSVUOrder, MJ, kagomesdance, Green and Scarlett.