Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Twilight or TWD. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Robert Kirkman. I do own the original characters created for this storyline. Please support the official release.

Writer's Notes: Enjoy!

[One Week Later]

The whole week was stressful for Bella. She argued with Rick every day and it felt like they were just arguing about the same things. Negan and Michonne went back to DC to touch base with the Savior's and to get word to the Hilltop about the cow. T Dogg's blood did save Beth. No one understood it. It was a miracle that T Dogg was able to save Beth, but Heath was not as fortunate, and he got the fevers and the sweats and so before he could suffer too much longer, he asked Bella to put him out and she did. It pained her to lose another person of Alexandria and she wanted to be better prepared for something like this again. Others died at the hands of the wolves, and even though the ground was cold, the snow was melted and it was the first sign that spring was on it's way in. Graves were dug and people were laid to rest. Spencer was taking everything hard. He lost his father and his mother to the wolves attacks. But he found comfort in friendships with Bella and everyone else. Dwight was still missing, so Bella and Jasper decided to take a look at the surrounding area, to see if they saw any traces of Dwight.

Daryl and Glenn went along with them, not wanting to chance them being ambushed by the wolves with just the two of them.

Rick was drunk before it got dark out. He was grumbling about Bella leaving the town to go search for one of Negan's men. She was constantly choosing Negan over him, and it just pissed him off. He heard Aya's little coos from upstairs, and so he stumbled up the stairs. He saw her sitting up in her crib playing with a stuffed rabbit that Carl had helped sew for her. Carol was always teaching the kids how to make things with their hands.

"Look at you princess." Rick slurred as he smiled at his small daughter. He reeked of alcohol and he wasn't too steady on his feet.

Carl heard his dad's voice coming from Aya's room, so he intercepted, going into the room and picked up Aya before his dad could pick her up. He didn't trust that his dad wouldn't drop her or hurt her. "Hey dad. Why don't you go take a shower or um…a nap?"

"I don't want to." Rick slurred and reached for Aya but Carl stepped back. "Carl, give me Aya. I just want to bring her downstairs. She needs food."

"No, she already ate. She's playing." Carl said and turned to shield Aya a little.

"Carl, give me your fucking sister now." He cussed at Carl.

Jake heard Rick raise his voice from up the stairs. His foot was feeling a lot better, but he was slower than normal. He got up the stairs to see Carl backing away from Rick. "Whoa, hey Rick. Let's slow down."

"Fuck you." Rick turned on Jake and then he hauled off and punched Jake.

Jake didn't fall over, but he pushed Rick back.

Aya started crying and Carl was trying to calm her down because she was scared to see Rick be so aggressive. Carl backed towards the door with her, trying to leave, but Rick stumbled into his path and so Carl moved back quickly so he wouldn't crash into him and Aya.

Jessie heard yelling from next door and so she rushed over and up the stairs to see Jake and Rick fighting. Jake was the bigger guy, muscle wise, but hurting his foot recently, made his movement a little slow, so he couldn't fight as good as he normally could.

Jake pushed Rick back and slammed him against the wall so Jessie could get to the children. "You need to calm down Rick. I don't want to hurt you."

"They're my children, I'll fucking do what I want!" Rick yelled at Jake, but Jake strongarmed him, keeping him against the wall.

"Come on kids." Jessie said soothingly, and Carl went to Jessie and she got him and Carl down the stairs and out the door. She saw Tyrese as she left the house. "Ty, Rick is drunk again and he's fighting Jake." She said quickly. Aya was still crying and Carl was trying to calm her down by bouncing her and saying shhh softly in her ear.

Tyrese didn't hesitate, he ran inside the house and up the stairs and pulled the two men apart. Rick tried to punch Tyrese, but Tyrese ducked under the swing and tackled Rick to the ground. "Calm down man. Listen to yourself. You scared your children!" He tried to reason.

"Get the fuck off of me or I will kill you." Rick growled.

Tyrese sighed and slammed his fist into Rick's face, knocking him out cold. He sighed as he sat back onto the floor. He looked up at Jake. "You okay? Looks like he got you good."

"Just a busted lip. Let's get him in bed." He said with a sigh.

Bella returned to Alexandria, Negan with her. They met right at the outskirts of DC. He had did a canvas of the area for Dwight and came up empty. Another one of his guys, Brent, was hurt from falling off the roof of one of the smaller buildings, and so Negan decided that it was probably better to go to Alexandria with him anyways to get him better medical help. They were pretty sure he broke his leg.

"Jazz get him settled in the clinic. Doc will help you reset that. I want to check on the kids first." Bella said and then looked at Negan. "He'll be okay. Sorry he fell off the roof like that."

"Well, he was trying to get over to yall. He saw the walkers starting to box in, but…he doesn't know you like I do, so he thought…you know." Negan said with a smile.

Bella smiled. "Yeah, well, you live and learn." She said and then nodded to Daryl. "I'll be ready to go out in the morning on a hunt. Go get cleaned up, eat something." She said and he saluted her and walked away.

Negan smiled. "Are you sure you're not the one in charge here?"

Bella laughed. "No. No, Rick is…um…he's supposed to be the leader." She said and looked towards her house and saw Jessie coming over, and the look on her face made Bella's smile fall. "What happened?"

"Rick got drunk. He got in a fight with Jake. Jake was protecting Aya and Carl. I have them at my house now. Tyrese was able to subdue Rick. He's passed out now." Jessie relayed.

"What?" Bella started rushing towards the houses. Negan was right behind her. She walked inside Jessie's house and called out for Carl. "Carl!"

"Mom!" Carl ran to Bella and threw his arms around her. They were the same height now, but he was still so tiny to her.

Bella hugged him tight and then leaned back to frame his face. "What happened? Are you hurt? Did your dad hit you?"

"No. He tried to pick up Aya, but he was really really drunk. I was afraid he would hurt her. If Jake didn't come in, I think he would have tried to take her from me." He felt tears rush the surface.

Bella hugged him again. "Oh son." She murmured and then kissed the side of his head. "Okay. We'll…we'll stay here with Jessie for the time being. I don't want you to be alone with him."

"He's dangerous." Carl murmured, his blue eyes were scared.

Negan heard Aya's soft cries and so he moved into the living room where she was in a playpen whining. He instantly reached down and picked her up. "Hey, it's okay babygirl. You're okay." He soothed. Aya quieted down and then lay her head on Negan's shoulder.

Bella watched Negan and how he was with Aya and now gentle and how easy it was for Aya to trust him. She felt anger well up inside her. Rick had scared the children. They were innocent. She looked at Carl. "Stay here with your sister. I'm going to go check on your dad." She said and left the house and walked down the stairs. She saw Spencer when she left the house. "Hey I-"

"Stay in the main house. Jessie said that maybe something is going on with you and Rick…the children's safety is the most important thing. Stay in the main house. I don't stay in there and mom and dad would want you to stay there." Spencer interrupted her.

Bella studied him and nodded. "If you're sure?"

"Positive. Maybe the triplets should stay with Maggie and Glenn full time in their new house." Spencer suggested.

Bella nodded, agreeing. "Yeah. That's probably best. I'm sorry…for the trouble. I know that Deanna-"

"She would want for you to be safe." Spencer said. "Rick…he's…he is um."

"He's drinking a lot." Bella said. "I need to hide all the liquor. Lock it up somewhere so he doesn't get his hands on it. Maybe then I can…get through to him."

Spencer nodded. "I'll talk to Olivia and Denise. See if we can get that moved." He said and then he walked away.

Bella sighed and ran her hands over her face before she walked inside the house and upstairs to find Rick awake and taking another drink. She took it from him and slammed it on the nightstand.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Rick slurred.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Bella yelled at him. "You scared Carl and Aya. You punched Jake?"

"Jake needs to mind his fucking business." Rick wasn't sure why he punched Jake, but he was sure he had a reason for it.

Bella shook her head. "You're a drunk. You need to get your shit together."

"I need to get my shit together?" Rick stood, wobbling. He bucked up against Bella. "Fuck you. You're a whore. Fucking Negan whenever you want. Running away from promises." He slurred.

Bella wanted to say she was shocked by his words, but she had to hear these words over and over again, all week. "I told you to trust me."

"I can't trust you."

"Then why am I still here? Still trying to fix this…fix us?" Bella shook her head. "You're not even going to try?"

"Fuck you…you cunt."

Negan heard how Rick spoke to Bella and it shot anger through him. He had come over to make sure Bella was okay. Jake had said that Rick got really violent when drunk like this and he didn't want Bella to get hurt, but he stopped at the bottom of the stairs, shocked to hear Rick's words.

"Okay, that's enough." Bella said curtly. "I'm not going to talk to you when you're like this. You need to quit drinking. I'm leaving with the kids. We're not staying in this house anymore with you."

"The fuck you are." Rick yelled.

"Rick, I am protecting our children. Do not make me hurt you." Bella warned.

Rick grabbed her arm hard. "You aren't going to fucking take my kids away from me."

"I am removing them from danger. You are dangerous Rick."

"Fuck you." Rick spewed again.

Bella glared. "You can talk to me however you want. But you will not talk to our children this way. You will not put your hands on the kids. Keep drinking and see how far I leave." She warned. "Now let go of me or I will break your hand."

Bella growled and he tried to pull her against him, but Bella fought him, sweeping his feet from underneath him and got him on the ground. "You either stop drinking and listen to reason, or you will suffer." She said and pushed up, walking away, leaving him on the ground. She walked down the stairs, seeing Negan, and the anger in his eyes as he stared up towards Rick's direction. "Not now." She murmured lowly, and grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the house with her. "I'm handling it. Leave it alone." She warned and then she walked back to Jessie's going inside to get things ready to go stay at the main house that used to belong to Deanna and Reg.

Carl struggled with the staff he was carving. He had been working on it for a month now and there was some detailing to do. He thought Bella would like it since she hiked more often and was outside the wall. A staff would be beneficial for her. So he wanted to make one. He remembered how to use the knife for carve but it wasn't looking too great and he was worried he would just mess it up more, so he sat, exasperated with his lack of skill on the front porch of the house that him, Bella, and aya were staying in. Since his dad was acting so violent lately and drinking, living with Bella and his sister in the first house was the best and safest move for them. He loved his dad, but hated how he got when he drank. When he would drink before the apocalypse happened, he remembered how badly his parents had argued and fought. He looked up at the sky. The sun was falling in the sky and the dim orange glow in the sky was his favorite part of the day.

Negan walked out of the house, Jasper and Bella behind him. He ssmiled when he saw Carl. "Hey bud, what cha working on?" He asked as Bella and Jasper only smiled and walked towards the clinic.

"Oh just a staff. It's not going well." Carl admitted.

"Nah. Looks great." Negan reassured and then he sat next to Carl. "Want me to show you some pointers?"

Carl smiled at Negan. "Yeah if you're not too busy?"

"Not busy at all." Negan said and motioned for the knife and the staff and Carl handed them to Negan. Negan took the knife and held it, his thumb on the back of the blade and he angled the staff differently and he put the blade to the wood and started carving.

Carl was in awe at how easy Negan made it look. "Whoa. So cool."

Negan smiled at Carl and paused. "The key is to feel the wood and let the wood tell you what you should do. Don't force it. Keep your knife firm like this so you don't cut yourself. It's important to be safe too." He said and handed Carl the knife and Carl held it the way Negan showed him.

"You got it son." Negan said with a wide smile as he watched Carl mimick what he had just done. He lay a hand on Carl's head and ruffled his hair some. "Your mom is going to love it." He said with a wink.

Carl looked up at Negan, wonder on his face. "How did you know…"

"I know a lot of things." Negan said, his perfect smile still on his face.

"You're stealing my wife and now my son." Rick slurred. He saw Negan and Carl and heard Negan call him 'son' and it pissed him off.

Negan stood and put a hand up, showing he wasn't violent. "Listen Rick. That's not what is happening. I was just-"

"I'm not blind. Bella is running around with you, probably fucking you while-"

"Hey come on, watch your mouth, your kid is right here man." Negan said, his brows knitting together.

Rick growled at him. "Fuck you. Why don't you leave already? Everything was fine before you show up." He spat.

"I'm here for trading on my people's behalf. Bella saved one of my men, I'm just here to repay her."

"By fucking her." Rick slurred.

Negan sighed. "Dude. Mouth." He warned again.

"Stay away from my family. Bella is my wife and Carl is my son." He raised his voice. "Don't touch them and don't look at them. I will fucking kill you."

"That's uncalled for." Negan said shaking his head. "I think you need to go back home and sleep off the alcohol man." He reasoned.

Rick wasn't reasonable. He hauled off and shoved at Negan, cussing at him more.

Bella and Jasper heard the commotion outside and so they ran over to see Rick hitting at Negan and Negan was just trying to defend himself and not hurt Rick in front of Carl. Bella rushed over and put herself between them and Rick clocked her, busting her nose. She immediately started bleeding, blood gushing out fast.

Carl was on his feet now and he shoved his dad back. "Leave her alone! Just stop!" He yelled.

Rick turned on Carl and staggered forward to hit Carl back but Negan put himself in front of Carl now.

Jasper went to Bella to check on her nose, tilting her head back and definitely seeing that it was broken.

Rick swung on Negan, but this time Negan got him in a chokehold and it didn't take long for Rick to pass out. Negan let him down to the ground gently before he turned and looked at Carl, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" He asked, his dark eyes full of concern.

Carl was crying but he nodded and motioned to Bella.

Negan understood and he focused on Bella now, turning to look at her. "Bella."

Maggie, Beth, and Jessie ran across to them with Glenn and Jake close behind. "Bella!" Maggie called out, seeing all the blood and not sure what exactly happened.

"Jessie, can you please check on Aya." She said her voice all choked up. Jessie immediately went inside the house to check on Aya. Analise was inside so she wasn't alone, but Bella's mother instincts was to always check on the children.

Maggie and Beth went to Carl. "Hey why don't you come with us. Carol is baking some cookies. Let Jasper fix your mom up okay?" Carl sniffed and nodded, going with Maggie and Beth back towards the other house.

Glenn and Jake sighed, both were angry with Rick and his behavior. This wasn't the first time Bella was hurt in an altercation like this before, but they hefted Rick and carried him off.

"I have to reset your nose. Come on." Jasper said gently and he helped her towards the clinic, Negan following with.

"Maybe I should leave for a while." Negan said, worried about Bella.

"That won't change anything." Jasper said as he cleaned up Bella's nose, finally getting the bleeding to slow down. "Rick drinks everyday so he'll find a new reason to yell at her." It was clear from Jasper's tone that he was really angry with Rick.

"It's not that bad." Bella said, her voice emotional.

Negan shook his head. "Bells, if he is hurting you…I can't stand by and watch that. I love you. You know how I feel about him and about the situation, but if me being here is making it worse…I just want you to be safe. I need you to be safe." He breathed.

Jasper's honey eyes stared into Bella's. "Leave Rick officially. You moved out because of the kids. It's time for you to put yourself first."

Bella closed her eyes. She knew that Jasper was right. "I can't just leave him. We live in the same community together. We have Aya and the Carl. I wouldn't be able to do that to him."

"Carl loves you. He already lives with you and Aya in the main house. He's not going to hate you for protecting yourself. He caused you to miscarry again and he just broke your nose and lets not forget the bruises I see…that everyone sees."

Negan grabbed her hand and rolled her sleeve up. He thought it was strange she was wearing long sleeves when spring was finally here. "Bella…no…no you cannot slide backwards. You are too strong of a woman to let anyone abuse you like this. Everything you worked hard for to escape Edwards grip on you…I can't let you do this to yourself again…Baby please." His eyes were pleading.

Jasper waitiend for that moment to reset her nose and Bella hissed out in pain but he was finished now with her nose.

Bella teared up. Her eyes was already starting to blacken on one side. "Negan…"

"I won't let you fall. You have to trust that. You have to trust me to help take care of you. You know I will." He murmured.

Jasper looked at his watch. "I'm going to go check in with Glenn. Talk to him about tomorrow's run. You two…need some privacy. The clinic is empty." He said and then slapped Negan on the back before he left them both there.

"Look at me." Negan said softly, his hand coming up to gently tilt her face up to look at him. "I love you…please listen to me." He murmured and leaned down, his lips brushing hers. It was the first time he kissed her since that day in DC. When the love of his life stumbled back into his life in a world he thought was too far gone to save, but she has waltzed back in and he suddenly saw things differently. There was redemption in everything and so he changed gears to use the Saviors to help rather than defeat.

The kiss was a simple kiss, but it became more as Bella let his tongue slide against hers. It was clear she was struggling…struggling to make the right decision. Being with Negan made her feel safe and strong and she knew that it was the right choice to make. Her arms moved up his chest to around his neck as his hands pulled her closer. The kissing intensified and he was moving with her up the stairs to the bedroom. He lay her on the bed gently before he pulled his shirt off. She managed to get hers off and they were both naked before long and he was in bed with her. His hands were gentle on her skin and the memory of their love flashing before both of them. Bella moaned as he stroked her body. She hadn't been with Rick in the last two months because of everything so her body needed a release. She gasped as Negan's hard cock entered her. She loved this feeling, loved him… He thrust inside her slow and deep, lacing his hands with hers as he pushed her towards her climax. She arched against him as she came, shuddering at the same time. Negan thrust faster and faster, hitting her special spot inside and she came undone again. He felt his cock swell so tight and full before he pushed his hips against hers, burying himself deep inside her and he came. His semen hit her in her special spot and she oozed around him, moaning, she felt his cock throb and twitch inside and she felt so satisfied now and so loved. So safe…They lay together in silence for a while before he pulled out of her and rolled to the side and pulled her into his arms. "Baby I love you. Forever. You were always it for me. I don't want no one else…please don't' run away…not again."

Bella felt her heart hurt. Her chest was heavy. She got up and looked down at him. It would be easy to forget everything with Rick, but she felt guilt. She wasn't married technically, but she made that promise to Rick and now she felt like she was the bad person here. She got up, getting her pants and pulled them on. She had a panicked feeling now.

Negan frowned and sat on the bed, pulling his own pants on. "Bells, talk to me. I-"

"I can't do this. Negan…I'm Rick's wife…or promised to him. I can't believe I did this." She murmured and ran a hand over her hair. Her face was hurting, a reminder that Rick had broke her nose but that didn't matter.

Negan stood up, going to her and putting his hands on her shoulders to stop her. "This is my fault. I should have…I kissed you, this is on me. You-"

"I kissed you back." Bella said her voice strained. "I didn't stop this…I could…I could always get past Rick's paranoia because I know I didn't do anything but now…I can't deny it because now I've violated that promise."

"He broke his promise to you. He has hurt you Bella. He tried to hurt Carl." Negan shook his head. "Don't make yourself the bad guy here because you're not. You are not the villain."

Bella shook her head. "I can't do this right now." She murmured and walked way and went downstairs and out of the clinic. She had to clear her head.