Much to my surprise, Negan agreed to the sit down with Derek.

He hadn't liked my idea at first, but after I explained that Greenbrier was struggling because of what his Saviors had done to push them back, he seemed pleased knowing Derek was losing. After making him promise to back off Greenbrier until the meeting and having him radio his men in front of me to order they stop their assault, I thought things would finally be okay. If I could get them together without guns, they'd have to come up with a solution, and I had a couple suggestions.

Negan spent the night, just as he said he would. I wanted to talk to him about the meeting coming up with Derek, but he was more focused on…other things.

"Negan!" I half giggled, half groaned as he rubbed his face against the crook of my neck. We hadn't even made it to my bed before he had pressed me up against my closed door and began running his hands along my curves. I felt him smile against my skin as he started to pull my shirt up.

"I'm trying to talk to you!" I said with a laugh. "I want to make sure everything goes okay with Derek…" Negan had managed to pull my shirt over my head, but froze for a second at the mention of his current enemy.

"Fuck, even King Mallrat's name is a boner killer." Placing a hand on my back, he pulled me against him and I discovered his comment was far from the truth. "Good thing you make me hard as steel."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine, but I didn't reciprocate. At the realization I wasn't returning his affection, he let out a sigh and took a half step back to study me.

"It's a week away, Elle. We have plenty of time to figure all this shit out." He gave me a reassuring smile, and for some reason it was all I needed.

He was right. The Saviors weren't harassing Greenbrier, and I had bought both communities a week of peace. I could present my ideas during the meeting, and we would come up with a solution that would make both parties happy.

Returning his smile, I nodded in agreement. There was no sense worrying about any of that right now.

"In the meantime…" His grin grew wider and he placed his hands on my hips, guiding me back towards him. I stepped forward wrapping my arms around his neck and gazed into his eyes. "I wanna spend some quality time with my school friend."

I chuckled and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just friend?" I asked teasingly.

Negan's faced transformed from playful to serious as he regarded me with lust-blown eyes. Next thing I knew, his hand gently tilted my head up and his lips pressed against mine. The kiss lasted a few seconds and when we broke apart, he still had that profound look on his face.

"No… she's so much more than that."

My heart was beating so loud I could hear it in my ears and I felt my cheeks heat up. I could never get sick of hearing him say how much he cared for me. He made me feel special, something I'd never had before. I felt like a giddy teenager with a crush.

And it made me need him more than ever.

Pulling him back in for another kiss, I laced my fingers with his and led him over to my bed—a place we'd been spending a lot of time in recent weeks. But in that moment, things felt different. I wasn't hiding him from Derek anymore. I wasn't lying to my friends. I wasn't cleaning gunshot wounds or losing sleep.

Negan was right. We didn't need to worry about Greenbrier right then.

I could finally, truly let my guard down.

And so I did.

One week later, it was the day of the meeting. After discussing it with the other Doveporters, we decided that the cafeteria would be the perfect place for both men to sit down. I would stand at the head of the table, and Negan and Derek would be opposite of each other. It would make separating them easy in case things turned ugly—and with their egos, it was a likely scenario.

Negan arrived first, and I frowned when I opened our dented gate to see multiple pickup trucks waiting to pull in. I hadn't said they couldn't bring their men, and now was realizing that I probably should have specified.

Of course Negan was going to bring his army with him.

There had to be at least fifty men, and as they stepped out of their trucks, my frown grew as I noticed they were all armed.

"I said no weapons!" I said, turning to Negan with a pained expression. He stepped up to me slinging his bat over his shoulder and showing his pearly white teeth in a wide smile. He was wearing his leather jacket and red scarf neatly tucked around his neck.

"Calm the hell down! We'll hand over all weapons once we're inside." He smirked at me and was calm. "It's plan B."

"You don't need a plan B," I argued.

He shrugged me off and then nodded for his men to go into the school. I narrowed my eyes at him.

He just had to make this difficult.

Following his men inside, I took the lead and escorted them to the principal's office.

"We'll keep them here," I said sternly; it wasn't a suggestion. I hated that he brought weapons with, and I needed all the Saviors to be unarmed before Derek arrived. "No weapons allowed in the cafeteria."

Each Savior gave up their weapon and all the guns were set into the far corner of the office. Eric came over by the office's door and helped me pat down each man before letting them back out into the hallway. They all glared at Eric as he slid his hands along their bodies, but some of them gave me suggestive smiles as I checked for guns.

One Savior I had never seen before leaned in to speak to me as I ran my hands over his chest.

"Hey, hotstuff." He winked, and I ignored his comment. Patting down his sides he bit his lip suggestively and spoke a bit louder, "I'd love to see what else those hands can do."

Before I could respond, I felt someone's presence suddenly appear next to me. Negan had overheard the Savior's comment and had strolled over.

"Is there a fucking problem, Brandon?" He asked in a sarcastic voice, wrapping an arm around my hip. I side-eyed him and then looked back to the Savior named Brandon whose creepy grin had disappeared and was replaced with a fearful look.

"N-no, sir!" Brandon stuttered and shook his head; his eyes were wide in terror. Negan held up Lucille with his arm that wasn't wrapped around me and pointed the barbed wire tip right at Brandon's face until it was practically touching his nose.

Brandon turned white and I would have sworn I saw him gulp. He looked from the bat to me. I simply smiled apologetically at him and shrugged.

Once Negan let Brandon join the others, he pulled me aside while Eric continued to pat down his men.

"Is this really fucking necessary?" he asked, furrowing his brows.

"Yes. I told you not to bring weapons and you brought a friggen arsenal." I wasn't going to let him talk me out of this.

"Well have someone else finish up the grope-session."

Confused at first, I pursed my lips and then slowly started to smirk.

"Negan… are you jealous?" I asked in a soft voice. His face scrunched at the word and before he could argue against it, I stepped closer to him. "I don't know why you would be. I still need to pat you down too…"

Placing my hands on his sides, I slowly guided them up and then down, keeping eye contact with him. It was much more sensual compared to the way I had touched his men. My fingers glided along his body—a body I knew well. His hardened look dissolved and was replaced with one of arousal. I knew everyone was watching, but I wanted to make our situation damn clear.

Knowing I couldn't let things go too far, I dropped my hands from his body and gave him a knowing smile. Negan's full attention was on me, and I turned to head back over to the office. Before I could go back to checking for guns, Negan placed a hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

"You missed a spot," he growled from behind me in a low voice while his lips brushed up against my ear. I blushed at the idea of spending more quality time with him.

"I'll handle it later," I whispered, looking back at him. He responded by gently biting my earlobe. Then, he headed down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

"Hold up!" I called out to him. He stopped and turned to face me. "Hand her here," I ordered with a stern look and outstretched hand.

Negan's lightheartedness evaporated instantly and he frowned at me. His grip on his bat tightened protectively. I tilted my head to the side and my lips were set in a firm line.

"You need to trust me, Negan." I walked across the hallway to where he was standing and ignored the eyes watching us. There was no way I could let him take Lucille into the meeting.

He studied me for a few seconds and hesitated. I half expected him to call everything off, but then he held the handle upwards, offering it to me.

"Thank you," I said to him, staring down at the sharp barbed wire winding around the bat. Taking it carefully into my hands, a sudden shiver ran through me as I realized the last time I touched this bat was when I used it to bash Adam's head in.

Ignoring the chills, I carried Lucille into the office and set her down gently on the principal's chair. Sure it was just a chunk of wood, but to Negan, it was so much more. After all, he had named it after his wife for a reason.

Eric finished patting down most of the Saviors and then I recognized a familiar face enter into the office and set an assault rifle in the corner with the other weapons.

"Simon," I greeted him with a nod.

"Elle." Simon grinned at me and then went to exit the room. Eric approached him, prepared to check for any hidden weapons when Simon raised his hands up to stop him.

"How about you go play grab-ass with your baby mama instead?" He grinned wide at Eric and then stepped past him, not allowing himself to be searched. Eric gave me a wary look, but I waved him off. Simon knew how important this meeting was, and I knew he wouldn't try to ruin this.

We had just finished checking the remaining Saviors and hadn't found any weapons when Ryan came through the front doors and rushed towards me.

"They're here," he said, gasping for breath. "Derek is here."

I glanced up at Negan who had been leaning against the wall to find he was looking directly at me. His face was mostly expressionless, but he almost seemed unsure. Not quite worried, but seeing uncertainty on his face made me even more nervous than I already was. Both men were counting on me for this to go smoothly, and it felt like the weight of the world was now sitting on my shoulders.

"Ryan, take Negan and the rest of the Saviors into the dining hall. I'll go get the Greenbriers." I headed towards the exit and tried to ignore Negan's eyes watching me go. He was taking a risk trusting me, and we both knew it.

I went to the gate and opened it to find multiple cars parked outside the yard. All the Greenbriers had lined up behind Derek and Charlotte who were both standing before me. They had brought about thirty of their people—not as many as Negan, but enough to make a similar statement.

Right away I noticed they hadn't brought any weapons and smiled in relief.

They had trusted me.

The siblings looked the same as usual; Derek had on his regular military jacket and slacks, and Charlotte was wearing a blue muscle tank top with jeans—apparel that would be hard to hide weapons inside.

Before we could greet each other, they both looked past me and at the Savior trucks parked inside the school yard. Uneasiness settled on their faces and then Derek moved to step past the gate.

"Let's get this over with," he muttered, moving by me and heading towards the school entrance.

"Wait!" I called out, turning to go after Derek and reached out to place an arm on his shoulder making him tense up. I stepped around and stood in front of him, blocking his way to the school. "I have to make sure you're not armed."

Derek's eyes locked onto me and didn't even blink.

"What happened to trusting each other?" He frowned and looked at me as if he was confused. I stared at him and noticed the assault rifle that usually accompanied him to Doveport was gone and his gunbelt was also missing. "You said no weapons, so we didn't bring any."

I carefully studied each of his men, noting none of them were wearing baggy clothing and wouldn't be able to hide guns—not well anyway. They could still sneak in knives or other sharp objects. I asked Derek to trust me, and now he was asking me to do the same.

But that was thing thing—I didn't trust Derek.

So I turned to look at Charlotte. I could see she was apprehensive, but she made full eye contact with me.

"We didn't bring any weapons, Elle," she insisted. "We left all our guns and melee weapons back at the mall because that's what you asked of us."

I nodded and felt a bit more confident once Charlotte confirmed it. She wanted the fighting to end, just like me, and I knew she wouldn't allow anything to put that in jeopardy.

Glancing back at their men one last time, I decided pat downs would be unnecessary. They had trusted me, so I needed to show a little trust too. The Saviors could be sneaky, but Derek and Charlotte were my friends.

"Come on then," I said, heading towards the school.

They followed me through the front doors and down the hall. Once we reached the cafeteria, I saw Negan was seated at the far end of one of the long tables in the middle of the room. His hands were placed in front of him and an amused grin was plastered on his face. His men stood behind him, and they all scowled at Derek's men as they entered in with me.

Simon stood to Negan's side at the end of the table, and all of the Doveporters had gathered behind him by the far wall. Amy, Eric, Vivienne and Ryan all turned their heads to watch us enter. Their anxiety was almost palpable, but as Derek and his people made their way up to the table, Amy and Charlotte shared brief, nervous smiles.

Going to stand next to Simon at the end of the table, I gestured to the open bench seat straight across from Negan for Derek to sit down. As he approached, I noticed his brows were bent in a hard glare. Negan's smile widened as Derek finally sat down, and Charlotte came to stand next to me.

With both men seated before me, we could finally begin. My plan to get these men together was a success. Now I just needed them to work out a deal.

Derek's eyes finally left Negan's and trailed down his body as if searching for something. I realized he was looking for the bullet wound, but wouldn't be able to see it beneath Negan's leather jacket.

"See something you fuckin' like, Mallrat?" Negan teased.

Ignoring Negan's remark, Derek addressed me while still staring coldly at Negan. "So how's this going to go?"

Looking away from Derek, I set my sights on Negan.

"You need to leave Greenbrier alone," I stated simply. It made the most sense to propose this first, even if it was a long shot. Negan didn't even look up at me as he continued to smile smugly at Derek.

"I own them now. I can do whatever the fuck I want with them."

Derek's lip curled into a snarl. "I should have finished you off when I had the chance," he growled, becoming irate.

Negan's grin grew wider and his eyes beamed. He was enjoying this way too much, and I sensed things were about to get out of hand. Turning to Derek, I made another suggestion.

"We can work out a deal that will make everyone happy. If you'll agree to work for the Saviors, Doveport can go back to giving supplies to Greenbrier again." It wasn't ideal, but I hoped that Derek would hear me out. Unfortunately, I immediately knew Derek didn't like what I had to say. He continued to glare and slowly turned to look up at me.

"He killed my men!" Derek practically shouted it and I flinched.

"You killed some of mine too, motherfucker," Negan piped in. His smile faded and he met Derek's glare with one of his own. Placing both my hands on the table, I leaned towards them both, hoping to get their attention.

"Doveport can be the middleman. Greenbrier can bring supplies to the school and the Saviors can pick them up here." It wasn't a flawless plan, but it was one I had thought about a lot in the last week and figured it would be the more agreeable for both men. Negan could continue to get supplies, and Derek wouldn't have to see him.

Glancing at both their faces, my heart sank when I saw they were both unimpressed with my idea.

"Why are you defending him?!" Derek demanded, turning his attention back on me.

"I'm not!" I said, staring at him startled. I was trying to be neutral in this and come up with a beneficial solution for both parties, but Derek seemed to think I was favoring Negan. "I don't agree with Negan's ways, but we have to meet him halfway here."

Negan seemed to get irritated at my words and that I wasn't defending him, but I was being honest. I hated how he bullied these communities into submitting to him, and he knew it. He quickly glanced up at me and then scrunched his face at Derek.

"I'm sick of playing these stupid fucking games. You Mallrats have had one hell of a time rebelling, but this all ends here." He pointed at Derek as he spoke sternly. "You swinging your dick around is only going to get more of your people killed. You follow my rules and do as you're told, and no more Mallrats have to die."

"No. We'll never work for you," Derek hissed. "We're not your fucking property!"

Negan scoffed and turned to look at me, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Sorry Elle, but this meeting is a waste of fucking time. I'd love to be able to see from King Mallrat's point of view, but I can't quite shove my head that far up my ass."

I went to speak, to try and tell Negan to just shut his mouth for a few seconds when Derek pushed up to stand from the table. Staring up at him in shock, I watched as in a quick instant he removed a pistol from inside his army jacket and aimed it right at Negan's head.

Negan didn't even blink.

"DEREK!" Charlotte shouted her brother's name.

"Derek… Please… Put the gun down…" I begged. I didn't dare move to reach out to him and kept my eyes trained on the small gun in his hand.

"I knew this wasn't going to work out. I know you tried Elle, but he doesn't want to work out a deal. He wants to own us, and we won't be owned." Derek spoke calmly, as if he knew he had won.

"Drop the gun, Derek!" Charlotte pleaded, taking a step towards her brother.

"I'm not letting him get away again," Derek declared.

The next thing I knew, Derek's body fell forward onto the table and my entire body tensed as a loud bang echoed throughout the cafeteria. Negan jumped up from his seat, and I realized he had kicked Derek from underneath the table. Derek had fired the gun, but Negan's swift kick had caused the gun to go off in a different direction.

Glancing around frantically, my eyes widened as I noticed Charlotte was no longer standing at my left and had fallen onto the floor. Vivienne and Amy were already with her. Derek had accidentally shot his sister, but he was so hyperfocused on Negan that he hadn't even realized.

Negan rushed away from the table and headed for the hallway. Aiming the gun at him, Derek fired a few more shots that missed as Negan disappeared beyond the wall.

Chaos erupted as the Greenbriers and the Saviors began physically fighting. They punched and kicked one another; some of them were shouting. Derek got up from where he had fallen and then sprinted down the hall after Negan. I started to go after them when I felt a hand grab my shoulder and stop me in my tracks.

"Elle!" a voice hollered over the loud noise, and I spun around to find Simon was holding something out towards me.

A gun.

Frowning at him and staring up with frantic eyes, he went to go join the fight and called out to me, "Use it!"

I stared down at the small pistol in my hand and then headed towards the principal's office. I didn't have time to think about how both men had betrayed my trust, how my meeting had failed, or that Charlotte was bleeding out in the other room. I had to stop Derek from killing Negan, or—depending on if Negan made it to the office in time—Negan from killing Derek.

As I came to the office, I skidded to a halt when I saw the sight before me. Negan was standing inside the room with all the weapons around him, but he wasn't moving. His back was facing me and behind him Derek was holding the gun to his head, preparing to shoot.

"STOP!" I screamed, holding up Simon's little pistol to aim it at Derek. Taking a half step to face me, Derek frowned at the sight of me armed.

"Derek, please. Put the gun down," I begged.

Derek shook his head slowly, as if disappointed.

"I should have known you'd be soft on him," he said and then faced Negan again. "Sorry, Elle. This fucker's time is up."

The sound of a gun firing went off in the room and my hand began to shake as I watched Derek fall to the ground. The pistol I had just fired was still held out in front of me and aimed down.

I had shot him in the leg.

Falling to the ground and screaming out in pain, the pistol fell out of Derek's hand as he grasped at his wounded leg. Kicking his gun towards the far wall where there weren't any Savior guns, I stared down at the man I had just shot in shock just as Negan began to make his way around the desk and to the chair. Glancing over at him and seeing Lucille resting in his grasp, I stepped into his way before he could approach Derek and set Simon's gun down on top of the big desk.

"No. You need to radio Carson," I instructed, placing my hands on his chest to keep him away from Derek who was behind me and crawling towards the far wall. My shot didn't have to be fatal, and Derek's life could be saved if we hurried.

"Get out of my way, Elle," Negan said through clenched teeth.

"No! You both broke the rules! Simon brought a gun too! You didn't trust me!" I shoved him back a bit and felt tears well up in my eyes. I had thought my plan was perfect, but had made a mistake not patting down Derek.

"Move!" Negan commanded in a booming voice.

"No!" I screeched. "I won't let you kill him!"

As he faced Derek, I used every bit of strength I had to get him to look at me.

"Negan, please! Derek is my friend!" My voice was hysterical, and I could see the look on his face. He was beyond angry. His brows scrunched as he went to finally address me, but then he looked back over at Derek.

Glancing over too, everything went into slow motion.

Derek was sitting up against the wall with his gun back in his hand and he was aiming it—not at Negan, but at me.

The next thing I knew, Negan went to step in front of me and a loud shot rang out before he could completely block me.

I expected to feel pain from the bullet flare up somewhere on my body, but it never came. Glancing down at myself to make sure I hadn't been shot, I looked up to see Derek's body was slumped against the floor with blood pooling out from his chest.

Negan had picked up Simon's gun from the desk and shot him again, but Derek's eyes were still open and his chest was rising and falling heavily. The hostile look on his face made my stomach churn.

"You stupid bitch," Derek wheezed. Unable to speak, I just regarded him with wide, terror-filled eyes feeling completely helpless.

"What are you, his whore?" He spat blood as he hurled the insult at me.

I moved around Negan to slowly approach Derek. The gun he'd been holding had fallen away from him. As I bent down to pick up his pistol, he scowled at me.

Negan placed Simon's gun down on top of the desk again and he gripped Lucille in both hands. Stepping in his way, I stared up at him with tears falling down my face. Negan had a murderous look as he looked past me and down at Derek.

I didn't know what to say to stop him. Perhaps I would have been able to convince him before, but now Derek had tried to kill me and because of it, Negan's eyes were filled with scorn and pure hatred.

The moment Derek threatened me, it was truly over.

Now there was no going back.

"You don't need to see this." Negan's voice was void of any emotion as he spoke to me.

I had tried to be neutral, but had ultimately failed. I had betrayed Derek, and that was all he would ever see.

I became his enemy the moment I shot him.

No… I became his enemy long before we even met…

Because Negan had been here first.

Hanging my head down, I stood unmoving for a few seconds, prolonging the inevitable. My jaw quivered and I couldn't look back up at Negan. I didn't want to see him this way—I didn't want to see that blood lust in his eyes.

I knew what was about to happen.

Stepping out of his way, I quickly exited the office and pulled the door closed behind me. Hearing the latch click, my breathing picked up as I stared at the wall across from me and then closed my eyes.

Negan was right—I didn't need to see it, but I would force myself to listen. Bracing for it, I pressed my back to the wall.

I winced as a loud crack sounded out from the room. I could hear it clear as a bell.

Then another.

And another.

Again and again.

As Negan beat Derek's skull in, I slid down to the floor and began to sob into my hands. Even though I was no longer in the room and witnessing his death, I could imagine the sight. I remembered what Adam's mangled head looked like at my feet when I had beaten him to death.

Now my former friend had just met a similar fate.

Derek had trusted me. Sure he had betrayed me by bringing a gun to the meeting, but I betrayed him first.

I lied to him from day one about Negan.

I was the reason he was dead.

My heart ached with every loud crack as bat met bone over and over. Guilt clawed its way inside me as I forced myself to listen to the sinister symphony.

Ultimately, Negan was the one killing him…

But I might as well have been wielding the bat.