Gareth's POV

"...Shit, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear he was Presley's long lost brother or something…" Theresa marveled as the mutt I'd brought in from outside the gates wolfed down some more food scraps I'd gathered into a bowl for him.

"...or some distant great-great offspring, at least." I joked, pouring some water into the bowl next to it for him.

"Something like that." She chuckled. "..He have a name yet?"

I shrugged. "...Didn't even have a collar when I found him."

He turned briefly to look up at me, as if he knew we were talking about him.

I chuckled a little at the gesture and gave him a little scratch behind the ears before brushing a finger around his neck area. "...he did have a bit of a mark right around here, like something had pulled at him by there though."

"...maybe one of those breakaway collars then…." she suggested, smiling as he made his way over to give her his little sniff over before letting her do the same.

"Hey, Buddy."

The little tail wag he gave before trodding back over to his water dish seemed to indicate that she had passed his little inspection.

"Sadie's gonna flip, if she ever gets back to see him"

"She hasn't been gone that long yet." I chuckled at the thought. "...She said she'd be back today, and she's been out longer before."

"I guess." She chuckled back, looking up from the dog as she glanced over to where the mystery bat Sadie'd paraded in here so proudly with still laid across the dining table. "...so, what do you suppose Deanna wanted to talk to her about?"

Before I could toss out any of my own suggestions, or even think much of it for that matter, however, the dog perked up rather abruptly from his dishes.

Now on seemingly high alert, his ears perked up as he scurried off to make a beeline for the front door.

Theresa and I both exchanged suspicious looks with each other as I got up to follow him and see for myself.

When I got there, I pulled back the blinds so that we both could see better.

Even with the window shut as it was, the faint and somewhat muffled sound of someone whistling as a man in a black leather jacket carried himself particularly smug and proudly as he made his way up to said door.

I grabbed the dog, gently, up and away from the door as I started to connect the dots and turned back around.

Theresa, now considerably concerned, shot up to her own feet as I took Alex, who'd been watching the dog from his spot near his toys, quickly by the hand.

"Gareth- "

"Get that thing out of here. Hide it somewhere, I don't care where!" I interrupted, pointing to the bat on the table. "..take Alex with you!"

"Gareth- "

"I'll explain later." I urged, glancing behind me as the man outside started up the walkway. "..just go."

She sighed, taking Alex's hand herself as she urged him to follow her.

"I wanna play wif the doggy!" Alex whined, still following closely as Theresa moved to grab the bat out of sight.

"The doggy will still be here later." She promised, scooping him up gently on her way out. "...but first we're gonna play a different game, alright?"

He just nodded reluctantly, looking back as he waved at me and the still concerned mutt by my side.

The dog, who'd previously been relatively calm up until now, bolted for the door when the man took a couple hard knocks to it with the side of his fist. Barking his head off, as he went.

Well, this is off to a great start.

I sighed as I rushed over to the door to pull him away so I could open it.

The man….presumably Negan, just about bursted his way in, whistling as he went and stopping only when the dog ran up and continued barking at him.

His grin, however, never left his face as he just seemed to take even more amusement out of the interaction.

"Ohh ho hooooo!" He chuckled loudly, kneeling down to the dog's level. "Yooou are just adorable! Oh, Sadie neglected to tell me she had herself a guard dog!" He chuckled again as his offer to pet him was met by a good, firm bite to his hand.

"Ooh! And a feisty one too! Just like his master!"

"Right...well his master wouldn't know." I chuckled, increasingly more amused by the dog's immediate disdain for the guy. "...I only just brought him in this morning, hoping to surprise her when she gets back."

"I bet she'll love that." He declared, striding his way around the room as he appeared to be exploring the place. "...you a friend of hers or something…?

"Gareth." I finished for him, as he trailed off.

"Gareth!" He repeated abruptly, as if it had only escaped him just then.

"You a friend of hers', Gareth? Or what?"

"...or what" I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest as I watched him finish his rounds around the room, stopping only once he seemed to piece together what I meant by that.

"You?" He chuckled in somewhat disbelief as he walked back over to me. "...are you seriously telling me you get to hit that?" He chuckled even more heartily at the thought of that, only growing more visibly amused by my clear unamusement.

"Damn…." He chuckled again, seemingly to himself. "...a girl who swings both ways…...I could get into that!"

"Right…such a shame that you won't." I scoffed. "Why are you here, again?"

"Oh, relax Gareth! I'm just screwin with you." He chuckled more heartily in his amusement. "My God you people need a sense of humor!"

"Yeah, that's what the problem is." I scoffed again.

He just opted to ignore my comment this time as he continued on.

"I just thought I'd stop by, pay her a visit, make sure she's takin good care of my girl."

He can't be referring to what I THINK he is. "...your girl?"

"Lucille!" He boasted, his smug grin growing even more widely across his face. "Oh I know Sadie must've told you all about her!"

"Briefly." I admitted. "...I'm not really the prying type though."

"Mmmm." He glanced around as he started back around the room. "Where'd you say she was again?"

"You didn't ask." I pointed out. "...I only said she'll be back today."

"...Fine…." He finally agreed, seeming to….surprisingly accept that he wasn't getting anymore out of me. "...I'll wait then."

I nodded, chuckling a little under my breath as I looked down to see that the dog was somehow even less amused than I was.

Negan then looked down, himself, at him. "Would that be okay with you?" He chuckled.

The dog just remained in place by my side, holding his glare at him.

"Yeah, well, beggers can't be choosers." He chuckled at the dog's reaction before turning to look back up at me.

"Well…?" He boasted. "...whaaat about you? You gonna give me the grand tour, Gareth?"

"Be my guest." I scoffed, indicating for him to go ahead of me and show himself around.

"...Don't mind if I do, then." He chuckled, starting off down the hall.

I hung back, only slightly, following him from a short distance in the likely event he decided to try his luck…..and my patience….in Alex's room.

Sure enough, after he'd paraded himself all throughout just about every other room of the upstairs...rifling through drawers, skimming through Sadie's music collection, he finally parked himself right in front of Alex's bedroom where I finally made a point to stand just ahead of him.

"Somethin you don't want me to see in there, Gareth?" He chuckled. "Ohh come onnn…." Increasingly more insistent, now, as he lowered his voice to a whisper. "I won't tell Sadie if you won't!"

"More like somethin you don't need to see." I urged.

"How bout I just decide that for myself then?" His tone significantly more agitated now, as he practically shoved me aside, only for me to still end up between him and Theresa, who was holding Alex in one hand and aiming a gun at Negan with the other when he just about sprang the door open.

He just shook his head, putting his hands up as he sighed...somehow considerably amused by the new confrontation. "You serious?"

No response from her, or Alex for that matter, who just clung more tightly to her.

"Is this really how you people make first impressions around here?" He chuckled, turning his eyes over to Alex now. "Oh come on now, I won't bite!"

Suddenly, and before anyone could really say anything else, Sadie...who'd somehow managed to slip in the house unheard til now, amongst all the commotion...wasted no time in making her presence known by jerking her knife to the back of his neck as she gripped the back of his jacket collar in a death hold.

"You so much as even think of touching one little strand of hair on my kid's head, I will gut you so deep, that the bloodstains your corpse will leave behind will be more than enough to put the prom scene from Carrie to shame!" She snapped, briefly looking up and over to me as she shot a smirk to the clear enjoyment I was taking from her entrance.

God, I love her.

"Hi, Honey!"

"Hi." I chuckled. "Have a good trip?"

"Very good. Even got myself a new ride." She sneered that last part as she looked back to Negan. "...you don't mind, of course, do you?"

Negan just stood frozen in place as he seemed to slowly connect the dots to what she was referring to.

"That's what I thought." She smirked, stepping forward so that she was still close enough to him to keep her knife on him as she gestured for Theresa to hand Alex to her. "Thanks, T. I'll take him now."

Alex, still clearly leery of the strange man in his room, lit up significantly more as Sadie took him into her own arms and immediately reached his little arm around her.

She smiled back at him, only briefly taking her eyes off of Negan.

"Thaaat's my boy." She cooed as she attempted to comfort him. "Deanna still wanting to talk to me?" She asked, directed at me this time.

"Yeah, she should still be in her office." I recalled. "...told her I'd send you over there whenever you got back."

"...so you will then." She agreed, slowly taking her knife away from his neck, kissing me briefly before returning her full attention back to him. "You got another visitor, by the way." She pointed her thumb back toward the door. "...that guy...Spencer, I think it was, is outside, wanted to talk to you. Said I'd pass the message along if I felt like it."

"...and so you have." Negan boasted, somewhat mocking my earlier comment. "If you'll excuse me then."

"Nothing would give me greater pleasure." She scoffed, gently bouncing Alex in her arm as she watched him make his way back downstairs.

"...so you've had a day then." She remarked, as soon as the door shut behind him.

"Yeah, you can say that again." I chuckled. "...I'll tell you all about it when you get back from Deanna's."

"It's a date, then." She agreed, smiling as she kissed me again before she left.