Blake stared in horror at the man before her, the man from a life she had thought was long gone.

He was now a mere ghost from her past, a speck of memory, familiar and yet so foreign.

Brandon was stood before her, blue eyes searching her face, oh-so hopefully awaiting an answer to the question of his brother's whereabouts.

But Blake right now was floundering like a fish, mouth hanging slightly agape, still in shock.

For although Brandon had always been tall and blonde with piercing blue eyes just like his brother, he had always been slightly stockier than David, and was always seen with a large amount of facial hair.

But now, looking like he had lost a significant amount of weight in the last few years since the world had gone to shit, and now clean shaven too, Brandon bore a frightening resemblance to his abusive younger brother.

"B-Brandon," Blake managed to stutter out, as Brandon lifted his hand to the blonde's upper arm.

"I am so glad to see that you made it, Blakey," he said, the corners of his eyes wrinkling slightly as he smiled down at her, in that moment looking so very much like her deceased fiancé. The man Blake had murdered.

Blake felt her heart begin to race inside her chest, as flashes on those horrible moments where David had hit her, yelled at her, inflicted bruises upon her skin, appeared in her mind eye.

"A-And David, is he-"

But before Brandon could finish, Blake had shaken her head and taken a sudden step backwards, flinching away from his touch.

"I-I'm so sorry, I-I-I've got to go…" she just about managed to squeak out, hands trembling, looking like the epitome of a rabbit trapped in the headlights.

And as quick as a flash, knowing that everyone in the room was staring at her, Blake fled, with Brandon calling after her as she went.

The sound of his voice calling her name echoed after her in her ears as she hurried back across the Sanctuary back up the expansive staircases, finally reaching her and Negan's room just a few short minutes later.

Bursting through the door and shutting it closed quickly behind her, finally here, hidden away from Brandon and the ghost of her ex, Blake was able to breathe again.

She let out a shuddering breath of air, hanging her head for a second before sudden voice spoke behind her.

"Everythin' alright, Darlin'?"

Blake almost jumped out of her skin, turning and blinking several times, shaking herself, to see Negan sat there, a look of concern etched over his dark and handsome features.

He was lounging there now, on the bed beside a sleeping Mia, his back propped up against the headboard, t-shirt back on and large bare feet crossed one over the other. Obviously having somehow, by some miracle, managed to get the antsy toddler back into bed and to sleep.

It was then that Blake finally remembered what she had gone downstairs to fetch in the first place.

"I uh…I forgot Mia's milk…" uttered Blake in a distant sounding voice.

Negan pushed himself from the bed and got to his feet, strolling over towards her. And in a second Blake felt his fingers on her chin, tilting her face so that her gaze finally met with his.

"Somethin' happen down there, Doll-face?"

His dark eyes searched hers for an answer, but Blake right now didn't want to give one. She didn't want to admit that the brother of her ex-fiancé, the man she had murdered, was now stood just downstairs. After all this time, here. Just when Blake felt like her life was finally getting back on track. When her old life, a life before Negan, was just a faded memory to her.

But now here it was, her past coming back to blind her, to haunt her with the stark reality of it all. No longer black and white, but colour now. As clear as anything.

"No….I just…" Blake tore her eyes away from Negan's, and moved over to the bed. "...I got distracted talking to Tanya is all."

But it was obvious from his silence and the way he stared after her, jaw set, that Negan did not believe her.

Blake didn't dare look at him now. She would tell him tomorrow. When she had had a moment to think things over.

Bending over a sleeping Mia and brushing a tuft of hair back from her sticky cheek, Blake pressed a gentle kiss to the toddler's forehead, before standing up straight again and heading into the bathroom.

But she had only just made it to the door, when she felt Negan's strong hand on the crook of her elbow, guiding her firmly into the bathroom, out of earshot of the snoozing little girl.

Inside, he turned her around to face him, his face a picture of pure concern, a frown sitting between his thick brows and his eyes wide and sad looking.

"Peaches, Darlin', we really doin' this again? You keepin' shit from me?" he said with a shake of his head. "Look I know somethin' happened, You're as white as a goddamn sheet, and shit, Doll, I can see you're fucking shaking like a leaf."

With that, Negan reached for Blake's still trembling hands, grasping them tightly in his own.

Before she could stop them, Blake's eyes welled with tears.

Fuck. How was he able to read her so well?

"Peaches…" he sighed imploringly, swiping a tear, that dared to trickle down her cheek, away with his thumb.

Blake took a breath steadying herself, giving Negan's hands a squeeze back.

"Downstairs…Simon and Gavin…t-they just came back from their run-" Blake began.

But Negan scowled suddenly.

"I swear, if that stupid moustache-wearin' son of a bitch said anythin' to you, he is gonna feel the full weight of my fuckin'-"

"No, Negan," said Blake, freeing one of her hands from his and pressing it flat against his heart soothingly. "Simon didn't do anything."

Chewing on her lip, she wavered for a moment before continuing.

"Simon and Gavin, they brought a group back and…well…one of them…"

Blake dropped her eyes momentarily, before staring up at Negan again.

"One of them is David's brother."

For a moment or two, Negan didn't react. So much so, that Blake wasn't sure whether to repeat herself.

She was just about to open her mouth to explain further when Negan spoke.

"An', let me guess, this guy was askin' after ol' Davey boy? All concerned about his fuckin' whereabouts."

Blake swallowed hard and nodded.

As always, Negan had hit the nail on the head.

"An' I'm guessin' you haven't told him what happened?"

Blake let out a shaky breath.

"That he beat seven fuckin' bells outta you, pushed you down a flight of fuckin' stairs, made you feel like shit each and every fuckin' day?" Negan continued.

A tearful Blake shook her head shamefully once more.

"I didn't know how to tell him-" she started, but Negan cut across her.

"You shouldn' fuckin' have to, Sweetheart. That son of a bitch should've fuckin' known what a piece of shit his damn brother was," said the dark-haired man sounding angry, his tongue reaching his back molars in a look of pure annoyance.

He was silent for a very brief second or two before he lifted his hand to cup Blake's cheek.

"Leave it to me, Darlin'," he said in a soothing voice. "By mornin' he'll be gone an' you'll never have to see that motherfucker again."

But at his words, Blake paled, frowning suddenly and giving a hurried shake of her head.

"No please don't," she said in desperation. "I need to tell him myself. I need to tell him what happened. I-I have to. David was his brother-"

Negan gave a sorry frown, gazing at her.

"Fuck that shit, Peaches," he said imploringly. "You don't owe this guy anythin'. An' after what that asshole did to you-"

Negan shook his head again, unable to finish his sentence.

Blake knew why of course. With the Saviour obviously unable to comprehend just how anyone would be able to do something like that to the woman stood before him. The woman he loved

"Please…" pleaded Blake. "Brandon at least has the right to know what David did. You're right. I don't owe him anything. But I owe myself it."

Blake sighed heavily.

"What David did to me, I thought I'd let it go, thought I'd moved on…but it's still there, when I close my eyes, when I think that everything's ok…"

She pursed her lips, gazing up at the dark-haired man before her.

"I just…I need to tell him, Negan."

Blake held her breath, waiting for Negan's reaction, but he was still. And it was only after a few short seconds that he let out a hard sigh of his own and pulled her to him, wrapping his strong arms around her.

"I know you do, Peaches," he said in a low voice, almost humming the words into her hair, as she tucked her head beneath his bearded chin. "Tomorrow though, alright? Shit, I can see that tonight you ain't in the right fuckin'' headspace tonight to be doin' anythin'."

It warmed Blake to know that despite Negan's initial anger at Blake's depressive incident after the loss of their child, he now understood what triggers had caused her to slip into that painful state of mind. Reluctant to let anything that hurt her, set all that off again.

Blake let out a sigh, pulling back from him and wiping at her own tear strewn cheeks.

"Yeah," she nodded, feeling her stomach lurch at just the thought of telling Brandon just who had been the cause of his brother's death. "Tomorrow."