Quinn and Negan, the Commonwealth

My heart was pumping in my ears and in my throat anxiously as the soldiers led us through the gates. Negan looked around amazed. Clearly, he was impressed that this place was stuck in the past. The Commonwealth was huge and there were so many soldiers I couldn't even count. They led us strictly into a building where they were supposed to record Alexandrians. I squeezed Negan's hand, I didn't want to go in that room alone.

"For faster data recording, we allow this time for families to go in together," announced Hornsby. And with that, he stopped overseeing the process and left. I let out a small, relieved sigh. I can go in with Negan.

"You can come in," stated a guy in a suit very seriously, addressing Gabriel and Rosita. They stepped through the door which they closed behind them. Eugene waited for them outside. I quietly called him.

"Psst, Eugene!" I said and he came to me.

"Hm?" he hummed questioningly.

"What happens in there?" I asked as stress started to build up inside of me.

"Well, they were a bit frightening at first but we convinced them that you are all good people, you are families with kids, so they won't be so strict this time, but… they ask a bunch of questions about a lot of things."

"Okay," I said frowning my eyebrows concerned. "But what questions?"

"Your name, your previous job, your parents' jobs, your zip code, they asked if I consider myself an honest person and so on," Eugene listed.

"Zip code? What the hell is that for? I can't even remember," I admitted getting scared.

"It's okay, it's not important," Eugene said smiling. "Just answer honestly and everything will be fine."

"Okay," I said letting out a sigh. After some time, Gabriel and Rosita came outside and Carol and Daryl were called in with the kids. Eugene smiled at me once again to hearten me, then left and joined Rosita and Gabriel.

"We will be fine," said Negan quietly.

"You think so?" I asked unsurely, I was just as stressed as before talking to Eugene. "I feel like I'm going for an exam or a job interview."

Negan squeezed my hand gently, to reassure me. We left Alexandria in the afternoon and we got here by the time it was dark. When Carol and Daryl came out Carol flashed a heartening smile at me. I slightly returned the smile, but I was too anxious. Eugene said they sped up the process because of our numbers. But we were sitting there for one or two hours anyway. There were waves of stress tormenting me. Once I felt calm then I felt stressed again. Then calm again, then stressed again. We were the last ones they called in. My heart wanted to jump out of my throat when they finally let us in. There was a woman and a man taking notes. There were two soldiers in the room as well. I glanced at them as I walked inside, Negan closing the door behind us. Quiet.

"Have a seat," said the woman strictly. We exchanged glances with Negan and sat down in front of them.

"Names?" asked the woman glancing at us, then back at her paper.

"Negan Smith," Negan answered. I panicked.

"Quinn… Smith," I said. I saw in my peripheral sight that Negan glanced at me and tried to suppress his smile.

"Are you married?" asked the woman.

"Yes," Negan said this time. I felt so relieved and yet still so stressed.

"Did you get married before or after the fall?" she asked.

"After, but Father Gabriel wed us, he was an official priest before the fall, so the marriage is official," Negan stated without hesitation, lying so easily. The man was taking notes crazily.

"Job of your parents?" asked the woman. My parents… I got distracted from Negan. I haven't even thought about my parents for a very long time… I never found them after the fall.

"Father was a high school principal, mother was a math teacher," Negan replied. I frowned my eyebrows hearing new information about him.

"My father was a mechanic and my mother was a hairdresser," I answered the question too.

"What did you do for a living before the fall?" asked the woman getting really bored.

"I was a gym teacher," Negan answered.

"I was a secretary," I answered.

Then the woman continued asking us if we were vaccinated and if we ever got arrested and so on. Negan lied about being arrested… He was arrested because he punched a guy in a bar, but he said he has never been arrested. I understood him. He wanted a new life. A fresh start. And it didn't matter at all at this point. I was just nodding silently. By the time we finished and left the room Hornsby returned and addressed us all.

"I believe everyone's data was recorded, so allow me to show you your new homes," he said smiling the same way he always does like he practiced it in front of a mirror. He stepped outside with soldiers around him and some soldiers following us. They escorted us to a building, we got there quickly. I was looking around taken aback at this Community. It looked so clean compared to all the other communities I lived in. "Here we are," stated Hornsby, facing us once again, smiling. "This house is completely empty. This will be the Alexandrian block from now on. You will be given keys to your flats in a minute. We are so happy to have you here. Please, settle down and rest. The Commonwealth will help you with food and clothes, whatever you may need for three days, then you must start working. In those three days, you will receive your letters about where you will find your assigned jobs. Thank you for your attention! Have a good night!" he ended his speech still smiling and left us there on the street. The housekeeper handed every family two keys with a number on them. Negan took ours while I exchanged glances with Carol, she looked serious and strict, but completely calm.

"You can occupy your flats now. The numbers are on the keys. Good night!" said the housekeeper and left. There was a moment of confusion and buzz. This building was attached to another and was six storeys high.

"Okay, don't have high expectations, this is the cheapest apartment, so not the best, but better than nothing," said Eugene slightly raising his voice, while Yumiko ran outside to greet Magna, Connie, and Kelly. We all headed inside. My eyes met with Daryl's. He seemed calm too, but also alert. Negan handed me one of the keys, it had the number 4 on it. So we were on the second floor, and every floor had two apartments. Carol and Daryl stopped with the kids on our floor too.

"Are we neighbors?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah. I asked for it," stated Carol like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I never even thought about it, I was so anxious and stressed out. I stepped to her and just hugged her tightly.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"It's okay, honey. I knew you would feel better if we were right next door," she said while Daryl opened the door. He stepped inside first, to check the apartment.

I smiled at Carol as we backed away, then she entered with the kids, while Negan opened our door as well. We stepped inside. Negan turned on the light and it worked.

"There's electricity," he stated. "I wonder if we have to pay for it."

"Don't even remind me," I said referring to the world before the fall and the constant struggle with money. He went on to the kitchen and turned on the sink. There was water.

"No way," I said taken aback. Then we proceeded on checking out everything. There was a tiny fridge which was loaded with some fresh food, they must have placed them there while we were processed. There were two bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom. After we checked everything Negan turned around to face me.

"So… Quinn Smith?" he asked with that impish smile, approaching me. I was still stressed but seeing his smile made me smile too.

"Sorry… I panicked. I thought if we weren't married they would separate us," I explained. "I got scared."

"Mm-hmm…" he said disbelievingly. "Should I take it as a proposal?" he asked as he slipped his hands on my waist.

"I just didn't want to get separated from you. I didn't think about it," I said feeling my face going red once again, avoiding eye contact. But Negan didn't allow me to look anywhere else. He put his fingers under my chin and made me look at him, then he started to lean close really, really slowly.

"Do you want to be my wife?" he asked in such a seductive voice my knee started to tremble, butterflies in my stomach. How did he have this effect on me? I couldn't even answer for a second. I believed in moments like this when he put this bad-boy image on, he was like the way he was before. But then he always turned back into the good guy I fell in love with. But this time, he didn't drop this bad-boy attitude for a couple of minutes, making me go crazy about him, taking my breath away. Then I was surprised to see him getting embarrassed, smiling, and finally dropping the act. He backed away a little bit without kissing me, with that kind and heart-warming smile, chuckling softly.

"How can you have this effect on me?" I asked avoiding eye contact, breathing a little bit heavily, but trying hard to disguise it.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have teased you when you were so scared a couple of minutes ago," he apologized taking a step back.

"It's okay," I said but I still felt his impact on me. Especially in my pants.

"Alright. We'll discuss it another time," he said now back to his usual self, smiling kindly. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving," he stated, changing the topic quickly. He headed to the kitchen and got lost in the fridge. I let out a huge sigh without a sound. This day was a bit much. And what Negan just did here a second ago, asking me that question in that voice… It will be stuck in my head for a very long time. I followed him to the kitchen and we ate bread and eggs with some vegetables. He didn't mention again how I lied we were married. After dinner, we went to shower, but separately. I still felt embarrassed. I just couldn't get that question out of my head. The way he said it with that voice… It was such a turn-on. After I showered quickly I put on my pajama then I joined him in the bedroom. He was checking out the wardrobe.

"No skeletons, no rats, no nothing. Seems to be clean," he concluded.

"Did you check under the bed?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah. Under the blankets, under everything. It's fine," he said as he lie down. I sat on the bed, but I didn't lie down. "So… you're sitting there till morning?" he asked.

"I couldn't sleep anyway," I smiled at him. "I can't sleep in new places."

He was wearing a black T-shirt and grey sweatpants, lying there with his hands behind his head. How could he look so hot when he didn't even do anything, just exist? I turned my eyes away and started examining my hair.

"I should ask Carol to cut my hair. It's getting very long."

"I can't say anything about that. I love you anyway. Do as you like it," he said. "I don't know if there's fashion in the Commonwealth," he added jokingly. I chuckled.

"I don't care about fashion. Never did. I would cut it just to make it more comfortable and easier to handle," I explained.

"Are you asking for permission or what?" he asked lost.

"No, I'm just babbling nonsense, because I'm anxious. Sorry," I said still not looking at him. He sat up and scooped next to me.

"Hey," he said gently as he took my hands stopping me from fidgeting with the end of my hair. "I'm here. Carol's here. Dixon's here. Eugene's here. Don't worry. You can relax. We have three days to do nothing. I know change is hard, but you'll quickly get used to it," he said trying to comfort me. I let out a sigh.

"I'll try to calm down. I'm trying…" I said as I turned my eyes away once again. He came even closer and sat right next to me. He looked at me playfully and caressed my cheek.

"Hey," he said gently. I looked at his beautiful eyes. "I'm right here. You don't have to worry," I nodded understandingly. "Come on," he said and he gently pulled me to lie down. He covered me with the blanket and embraced me. I cuddled him, burying my face into his neck. I felt safe with him. Soon I fell asleep while he was gently caressing my cheek.

…

Author's notes: Listen to "Innocence" by Avril Lavigne.

Thank You for reading! ❤