"Those burgers smell amazing, Lizzie" Negan laughed, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I rolled my eyes, "I slaved away until they met perfection" I returned.
His strong hand on my shoulder made butterflies turn in my stomach, which was only made worse by him lightly squeezing my shoulder.
I focused on putting the burgers onto a plate, instead of him touching me.
Negan was tall, well built, dark hair. He was extremely smart and funny. He was the epitome of handsome and we all knew it.
He knew it.
He was kind and gentle, but definitely cocky.
He knew exactly what he wanted and didn't stop until he got it.
But the little moment was interrupted by her.
Lucille.
"Yes, Elizabeth. You have always been our little culinary genius" Lucille cooed.
I hated that about her. She would always talk to me like a child.
The woman was beautiful and elegant, the picture of perfection.
Which is why she went well with Negan.
But at times she just rubbed me the wrong way.
Even so, we were all great friends.
"Let's eat up then" Negan laughed, moving his hand from my shoulder to wrap his arm around his wife.
My heart sank slightly, but I shook it off.
I brought the burgers over to the table, setting them down in the middle of all the extra bits we had prepared.
This was the last good time I had with Negan, before things became so confusing.
Lucille became sick after that, and as hard as I tried, they pushed us away.
I wanted to be there for them, but Negan wanted nothing more to do with us.
I understood he wanted all the time he could get with her, even though I hated losing that time.
But all of that was a tiny blimp compared to what happened weeks later, when the world fell.
I jolted awake.
The loud tap on the door rang out three times, that's what woke me.
Then he spoke,
"Little Lizzie, you still there?" Negan called out.
His tone made my stomach knot up.
What the hell was wrong with him?
I rubbed at my face as I sat up, my legs hanging off the side of the small cot.
"Yeah, I'm here" I replied.
The door slowly came open and Negan leaned against the door frame, that bat draped over his shoulder.
He tilted his head, smirking at me.
"God Damn, you haven't changed a bit, have ya?" He questioned, watching me closely.
I stood, crossing my arms.
"No. But you have.. What the hell is going on here?" I pushed.
But he ignored me.
He pushed off the door frame, "Come on, we'll talk in my room" he motioned for me to follow him.
I walked out
I followed him down the long hall and to a stairwell.
We went up a bit before reaching another long hallway, this one having rooms on each side, scattered down.
He led me to the last room at the end of the hall.
"Welcome to my humble abode" he laughed as he opened to door.
I stepped in.
The room was large and well decorated.
There were couches off to the left, they looked comfy.
A glass coffee table was between them, with a few books setting on it.
Beyond the couches were three large windows, with dark grey curtains hiding the outside.
To the left was a bed.
It was large, a fluffy, dark grey comforter was placed neatly on it.
Pillows stacked up.
This room made you immediately forget the hell that was going on outside.
It seemed so untouched.
Negan moved past me to sit on the couch.
"Come, sit" he pointed to the couch across from him with the bat.
I hesitated for a moment before sitting down.
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
This was his tactic, I'd seen it a few times before.
He knew that silence, especially in tense situations, would bring anything out.
But I didn't budge. I just sat, staring at him.
He let out a groan, but smiled.
"So 'lizzle', you stole from me. That's a capital crime here" he smirked, though his tone was serious.
I scoffed, "The laws of this world died out a long time ago." I returned.
He shifted where he sat, swinging the bat around in front of him.
"My rules haven't died out. I take them seriously" he looked over the bat as he spoke.
"Your rules?" I questioned, crossing my arms.
He laughed. "Well, yeah. My Sanctuary, my rules"
Sanctuary?
I tilted my head, "I don't understand what's going on here.."
Negan pointed the bat at me, hovering it inches in front of my face.
"I can tell. But doll, you'll come to understand. This little place, it's mine. These people, are mine. Everything is mine and now.."
He lowered the bat, giving me a sick smile. "You're mine too"
I shook my head, but before I could say anything, he continued.
"You know, on any other day, Lucille here would love to have beat the holy living shit out of ya, but we aren't feeling it today"
My eyes widened as he spoke.
"Lucille?" I repeated.
His smile wavered for a moment before he went back to smirking at me.
"Yep. She's my pretty girl" he tilted his head back, pulling the bat across his lap.
"Anyway, I feel like your skills could be put to good use for me. So that's why you're gonna stay here."
Negan stood up, stepping over to the door.
"Simon can show you back to your cell. Sorry, sweet cheeks, but you don't get a room until ya earn one"
His tone was too casual.
I stood up and walked over to him, closing in the distance.
"Negan, what happened to you? To Lucille?" But as I asked, I could see that struck a nerve.
His jaw clenched and his hand went to grip my shoulder, hard.
"Nothing happened to me. You need to forget what you think you know about me or you're gonna get yourself killed around here"
He threatened, ignoring the subject about his wife.
His tone was harsh and it made me jump.
I pulled away, out of his grasp.
His serious look and tone faded away when he began laughing.
He leaned back, "God Damn I wish you could have seen your face there!"
I felt tears stinging in my eyes, but I wasn't going to let him see me cry.
I looked away from him and opened the door.
The tall man with grey hair was standing there.
That must have been Simon.
He smirked at me as well, mirroring Negans attitude.
"Come on, buttercup. That's get you back to your cell" he laughed as he grabbed my arm, towing me down the hall.
I struggled to keep up with him as we made our way back down the stairs.
My feet felt heavy, like my boots were full of concrete.
I couldn't process what all was going on.
We finally reached the room I had been in before.
Simon opened it for me and pushed me in.
"Don't look so tough now" he laughed as I backed up in the cell.
"I'll be back for you first thing in the morning and we can go over the rules and what you'll be doing here"
Simon gave me a wink before closing up my door.
I backed up more and my legs hit the cot, making me sit down on it.
I let my head fall into my hands.
All of this was too much to process and I felt dizzy trying to think about it all.
The world I once knew, the man I once knew, was all dead and gone.
This world, it was different.
Maybe Negan was right, maybe I needed to forget anything I thought I knew.
I moved to lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of the dark room.
I tried my best to sleep.
After a while, I began to drift off.
But I just started to dream about him again.
"Elizabeth!" Negans voice broke my concentration, making me smear paint over my canvas.
"Fucking.." I huffed out, tossing my paint brush aside.
I walked over to the door of my bedroom and opened it.
Negan was leaning casually against the door frame, smiling brightly at me with a box in his hand.
"Happy Birthday!" he cooed, pushing his way into my room.
"I thought we weren't doing this.." I groaned, closing my door behind him.
I lived with Negan and his wife and Lucinda, who was Lucille's sister.
Lucinda was the first I met, at college.
We were great friends.
She's the one who introduced me to Lucille and Negan.
We were a tight group from then on.
"Oh come on, you'd kill me if I didn't do it" he laughed, offering me the box.
I rolled my eyes at him and took it from his hands.
The box was a pale blue with a matching blue bow wrapped around it.
I carefully pulled the ribbon loose, setting it aside.
I set the box down on my desk, pulling the lid off of it.
Inside the box was a sketchpad, a new set of paint brushes and other drawing things.
I smiled brightly, looking over to Negan who had now moved beside me.
"I thought you needed some new brushes. You've been holding on to these for God know's how long"
He laughed, gesturing to where I had just been painting.
"Thank you, this really means a lot to me" I looked down.
"Oh don't mention it, Elizabeth" He drew out my name to tease me.
But when I looked back up to Negan, he was different.
He looked like the Negan I knew now, with the bat over his shoulder.
He tilted his head, raising the bat, "No, really, don't mention it" he threatened as he swung the bat towards me.
I woke with a start, sitting up as I struggled to catch my breath.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and sat forward, placing my head in my hands once again.
Maybe forgetting and moving on wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.
R & R is always appreciated! I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I do! I'm so excited for it!
