Negan and Blake had narrowly made it out of there.

Even with Lucille working overtime, and Blake using the large hunting knife in her hand to the best of her skilled abilities, the pair had almost been caught out a couple of times on their exit out of the narrow, fitting-room hallway.

It seemed as though every walker from the abandoned little row of stores must have followed them in here, and it took both adults more time than they would have liked to fight their way back into the shop floor of the department store, leaving a large pile of bodies behind them from the dead they had struck down and defeated.

Blake gave a breathless laugh, her body pumped with adrenaline as she dodged out of the way of a biter as it lunged, snapping its jaws at her.

"Not exactly the shopping spree you promised me…" she murmured out in a teasing voice, as Negan beside her took out the walker with a grunt, his face fixed into a hard scowl as he did so.

"Well shit, Darlin', I still think this is the best damn date we've had in a while," Negan growled back, flashing the blonde a dazzling grin.

Blake would have rolled her eyes at his comment, if it wasn't for the sight of three or so more rotters, obviously having heard the commotion inside the building, making their way through the broken front window of the store towards them, gnashing their jaws hungrily as they went.

"Come on," Blake muttered, tugging at Negan's sleeve and leading them towards the rear of the store.

There had to be another way out of here that didn't involve battling yet another load of the dead.

Negan stuck close to her, keeping quiet, but still retaining that same old swagger he seemed to exude from every pore.

She could feel his gloved hand on the small of her back now as they headed toward a small door just behind a long set of cash registers, Blake chancing a glance over her shoulder as she did so.

"You think there's many more of them?" she said, sounding perhaps a little worried.

This was supposed to have been a quick stop off at this place, and yet here they were, heading deeper into this godforsaken store looking for a safer exit. One that wasn't going to get them bitten with any hope.

"Don' look like a herd…." Negan growled out, darkly. "...not yet, anyway."

He gave the door ahead of them a shove open, taking a step back and waiting cautiously for any emerging walkers.

But the room the door led into seemed thankfully, empty, allowing the pair to head inside a small darkened hallway, easing the door shut behind them.

"I hope there a way out back here or else we've just cornered ourselves…" Blake mumbled, chewing on her lip distractedly, as they pushed forwards, her green eyes searching around the small space, filled with nothing but a couple of broken chairs and a filing cabinet turned onto its side.

But Negan just eased out a relaxed sigh.

"It'll be fine, Peaches. Hell this damn store has gotta have a back entrance for deliveries an' shit like that, they all do," he said falling into step with her now as she peered around the door at the end of the short hallway.

The next room was a far larger space, probably once upon a time being a stock room. But now the big room, filled with metal shelves of varying heights, had very little in it, save for a few empty boxes strewn about.

"Shit, are you really tellin' me that a goddamn store as big as this motherfucker has nothin' left in it?" said the tall Saviour sounding a little put out, his boot colliding with an empty and torn cardboard box, giving it a frustrated kick.

But Blake looked his way, raising a slender eyebrow in his direction bemusedly.

"What did you expect?" she said lightly. "Stuff was in short supply back when I was out there on the road. But now…"

She paused, picking up a single green and black sneaker from the shelf beside her.

"...well, I guess we aren't the only ones out for a shopping spree these days."

She tossed the shoe back down onto the shelf with a clatter and let out a sigh, which Negan obviously caught, looking her way quickly and running a hand down his bearded chin.

"Shit, Darlin', I'm sorry," he said in a voice sounding full of frustration. "I guess I jus' fuckin' thought that stoppin' here would be good fuckin' idea. Holdin' hands, shoppin' for lingerie, fuckin' up against the fittin' room stalls-"

Blake eye-rolled but smiled nonetheless.

"You're a real catch you know that?" she said walking slowly past him now, over to a door to their left, playfully bumping him with her hip as she went.

She reached out and tried the handle, only to find it locked.

But before the blonde could move, she felt a lean body press up against hers from behind.

"I mean, we can always carry on where we left off, Peaches," came Negan's husky voice into her ear, causing her to shudder, a sudden warmth flooding her veins.

But Blake turned and looked up at him smirking.

"You already almost got me bit by a walker once today, Negan," she purred, poking him in the chest with her finger. "There's no way you're getting me in a compromising position again."

She gave him a playful shove and sauntered passed him over to the other side of the shelves that divided up the room.

She heard him chuckle and predictably follow, his heavy boots hitting the ground as he went.

"Oh Peaches, you can pretend you don' like livin' life on the edge all you want," he chuckled, his voice deep and growling now. "But I know the real you, the gal who didn' think twice about fuckin' me on Ol' Gregory's desk up at the Hilltop where anyone could've seen us."

Blake shot him a smirking look over her shoulder, wrinkling her nose, but didn't reply, merely turning back silently to peer down into a stack of, what she had presumed were, just empty boxes in the corner of the dusty and disused room.

But the blonde frowned, stopping suddenly, retracting her hand from the cardboard, her eyes blinking rapidly as she caught sight of what was inside.

Negan looked at her, a frown line appearing between his dark brows quickly.

"Everythin' alright, Darlin'?" he asked.

But Blake didn't look up, keeping her eyes fixed on the contents of the box instead, a hard lump appearing in her throat.

"Peaches?" Negan tried once more, causing Blake to snap herself from her trance and blink again, looking up at him, swallowing the lump away.

What was wrong with her?

She was better than this.

What was done was done, and nothing could change that now.

But dwelling on it….stigmatising it….when she was getting so much better, when she was moving on…

She took in a deep breath and fixed a soft, if not slightly sad smile, to her face.

"It's just some baby clothes," she said in a quiet voice, reaching in and lifting out a teeny pair of white baby booties with fluffy bottoms in just the softest material. "Brand new…"

Her fingers stroked across the soft fabric, as she parted her lips, mourning what could have been, even if it was just for a second.

But she felt Negan almost at once at her side, his calloused fingers on her chin, lifting her eyes to his.

"Peaches, I-" he began with a shake of his head, his dark eyes full of sadness.

But Blake just smiled at him softly.

"It's ok," she said quickly, cutting across him. "They're just clothes…"

Her eyes drifted back down to the item in her hand, before she dropped it delicately back into the box, letting out a small sigh.

"We should take them back with us though," Blake said pressing the cardboard lid gently closed, around the tiny white items. "In case someone else…"

But she trailed off unable to finish her sentence.

She knew taking this back with them...well, it was the right thing to do.

For it would only be a matter of time before another of the woman at the Sanctuary fell pregnant. And that could only be a good thing.

Right?

She looked up at Negan and smiled again, turning her body to face him and lifting her hand to his bearded cheek as his brown eyes searched hers.

"Knew we'd find something on our shopping spree," she teased, her thumb gently grazing the old scar that lingered just under Negan's right eye.

But for once Negan didn't say a word, merely staring at her for a long moment, as though she was the oddest thing in the world to him, before leaning forwards and pressing his lips to her temples.

Blake closed her eyes ,savouring the feeling, before Negan finally pulled away and let out a short huff, lifting his hand and scratching at the back of his neck.

"Guess we'd better find a fuckin' way outta here then," he mused, gazing over to a door just over to their right that neither of them had yet tried.

Blake, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, bent down and picked up the box at her feet.

"You ok to manage that," Doll-face?" Negan asked, cocking a concerned eye at her.

But Blake just tutted, pursing her pink lips.

"It's light as a feather, Negan," she scolded lightly. "Quit fussing."

The corners of Negan's lips twitched up in amusement at her sassy response, but he turned away anyway, back towards the door, raising Lucille with one hand, before slowly turning the handle with the other.

This door opened easily, opening out onto the rear of the store- a vacant parking lot with one one burned out car at the far end of it, near to the broken chain link fence.

"C'mon," Negan said peering out and gesturing with his head for Blake to follow. "Coast looks clear."

And so follow Blake did, carrying the large box in her arms whilst Negan kept a watch for any walkers that may be laying in wait.

They hurriedly circled around the building, finding only one of the dead in their path around, which the dark-haired man quickly took care of with a silent swing from Lucille.

"Well at least this entire trip wasn't a complete bust," sighed Blake, squinting against the sun and nodding down towards the box in her hands, as they finally arrived back at their truck.

A short and pointless run out to an abandoned department store had not exactly been what Blake had been expecting when she had mentioned a road trip, but at least they hadn't come back empty handed.

But Negan, taking the box from her grasp, merely grinned at her.

"Who says our road trip is over, Peaches?" he mused. "Hell, I'd say it's only jus' gettin' started."

Blake hovered there for a moment frowning at him bemusedly as he shoved the box onto the rear of the cab before hauling the door open wide for her to hop up inside again.

"Oh really?" she asked, not budging, instead folding her arms over herself and eyeing him.

"Yep," he replied with a grin, angling an eyebrow at her, leaning prompt back against heis long legs. "Cause' I am fully aware that the longer this road trip lasts, the more likely I am of gettin' a blow job up in that front seat-"

Blake rolled her eyes, smirking. "In your dreams," she commented in an amused voice, cutting over him quickly.

But Negan just continued to grin, running his tongue over his lips almost yearningly as he stared back at her.

"Oh, Baby, you always are," he growled, his rough hand colliding with Blake's jean clad ass and giving it a hard squeeze, as she sidled past him, tutting and hopped up into the cab of the truck…

...allowing a smiling Negan to close the door behind her with a small snap.

Sorry it's taken me a while to update. More to come soon though.

Thanks to CLTex, werdan, MegShinkley, Elle Flanders, BlueBloodsSVUOrder, kagomesdance, Great, ressie thumramn86, Mimoo123 and Guest for reviewing.