BLOODLINES [twd]

{6}

When Bailey Smith looked back on her past with her father, she saw a distant, careless man with little to no plans for his future. Or, her's for that matter.

She recalled being embarrassed in school because he was her gym teacher. He had longer hair back then and a whistle around his neck. When lunchtime rolled around, she ignored he was even there and ate her lunch in the bathroom so he couldn't find her.

She always tried to walk home, though he caught up to her just outside the gas station a block away. He picked her up in his old car and they went home. He never really tried to bond with her on those rides- they usually just turned the radio on and ignored that they were stuck in the same space for twenty minutes a day.

The truth is, that Bailey knew about Negan's affair with Janine for a long time.

Janine grew up with Negan and Lucille. They went to school together. Janine was even the maid of honor in their wedding just a year after high school graduation.

But, Bailey couldn't bear the thought of causing drama. She knew that a lot of children of divorce had harder lives. She knew that Lucille would struggle as a single mom. But, she also knew that Negan had rights to the house and if a custody battle came to light, she'd be sent off to live with her deadbeat dad.

Negan knew that Bailey knew about Janine. Neither told Lucille for the sake of keeping peace.

Bailey wondered if her life would've been better had she told her mother about the affair. Maybe when Lucille was diagnosed with cancer, someone would've been able to take better care of her.

Maybe when the world fell apart, Bailey wouldn't have become a prisoner in her own 'home' of the Sanctuary.

Negan tried to change after the diagnosis. But, Bailey couldn't shove away the sixteen years of him being a shitty father just because Lucille was sick. If Lucille never had cancer, Negan wouldn't have changed. He would've stayed the same destructive, tempered piece of shit he always was.

He felt guilt for Lucille getting cancer and he made himself out to be the victim when his wife was the one dying.

Bailey felt guilt that she didn't inform her mother earlier and made the poor woman suffer years of marriage with a disgusting pig like her father.

Bailey hated Negan. She hated herself. And since Negan's blood was running through her veins, she hated herself even more.

Lucas Rhee, on the other hand, hated Negan the second they met eyes.

He didn't have much prior knowledge of Negan. He just knew that Negan was a dictator with numbers that could wipe he and his family out within hours.

Lucas held on to Maggie as Negan spoke, waving a bat covered in barbed wire lethargically and nonchalantly.

"I don't wanna kill you people. Just wanna make that clear from the get-go," Negan continued. "I want you to work for me. And you can't do that if you're fucking dead, now can you?"

Lucas rolled his eyes. If Negan didn't want to kill them, they wouldn't be in this situation. If Negan didn't want to kill people, he wouldn't be the head of a bloodthirsty group with so many numbers.

"You killed my people.. A whole shitload of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that? Well, for that, you gotta fucking pay."

Lucas stretched his neck and looked up at Negan. Negan smiled down at him and the sight made Lucas feel two inches tall.

"So, now.." Negan said, not looking away from Lucas. "I am gonna beat the whole fuck-fucking-fuckitty-fuck outta one of you."

Lucas' eyes were already set into a hard glare. Negan spun the bat toward Lucas' face, grinning when the only thing Lucas did was blink. He didn't jump much, but he still reacted.