My Safe Space

thirteen

"negan!" she screamed desperately over the loud sound of teeth snapping in her ear as the walker had a strong grip of her hair in its hand. she struggled against its hold to keep from it biting into her neck.

annabelle fiddled with her fingers restlessly as she sat on her bed after the day she just had. the memory of what happened wouldn't leave her head, every time she closed her eyes she could see the decayed mouth of the walker snapping toward her face. she could smell the corpses. negan took good care of her when they left the mall though she'd asked for space a little after they'd gotten back to the sanctuary.

it was now 3 am and it didn't seem like sleep was in the near future though she was extremely hungry and dehydrated. she'd declined dinner with negan when they got back but was now regretting it.

she stood to her feet and slipped on a thin robe over her shorts and tank top along with her slippers. she walked out of her room and slowly made her way downstairs. though she knew negan would be angry with her if he found out. he'd requested that she doesn't leave her room alone after dark, which she understood but she really needed to eat.

she walked by the workers half where they were all sleeping, toward the kitchen. she dug around, finding an apple and a water. "late night snack?"

annabelle jumped, turning around to see one of negans men stood in the doorway. though she was confident that his men knew better than to hurt or take advantage of her, she was still extremely nervous being around them without negan.

"uh, yeah." she gave a small smile as she wrapped her robe tighter around her body.

"must be nice to be negans toy, i mean you can just come to the kitchen and grab what you want when you want." the man chuckled. "but we have to fight for and risk our lives to eat."

she uncomfortably rubbed her arm before the woman walked closer. she hesitantly held out the apple for him. he softly laughed and grabbed the apple, his hand purposely wrapping around her own as he did. she uncomfortably shifted backwards only for her back to his the metal counter. she clutched her robe closed as the man stared at her with the nastiest glare in his eyes.

"annabelle," a voice boomed, making the man in front of her jump. "what are you doing down here?"

she took a breath of relief when she saw dwight in the doorway. he walked over, his eyes not leaving the man who was leaned over her. "and what the fuck do you think you're doing? get the fuck back to bed."

"come on, no need to be like that. wasn't what it looked like." the man chuckled.

annabelle uncomfortably shifted farther behind dwight, resting a hand on his back. dwight moved his arm and rested his hand on his gun as she glared at the man. "get back to bed, tim. or should i go get negan? would you prefer him finding out about you harassing his girl?"

"alright, alright dwight." the man grumbled and turned back around.

but not before dwight stopped him. "give the girl her apple back."

the man turned and tossed the apple over before he walked out of the kitchen. she sighed in relief, her hand still rested on his back until he turned to face her. he gave her a sympathetic look. "you okay?"

"y-yeah." she struggled.

"what are you doing? negan told you not to leave your room after dark, for this reason. you're lucky i came down to get a snack." dwight scolded.

"i was hungry.. i didn't eat earlier." she sighed.

dwight chuckled. "so you're gonna fill yourself up on an apple? sit down, i'll make you something."

annabelle smiled and sat up on the counter. she sat with her legs crossed as she watched dwight pull out some eggs and bread. they talked about countless things as dwight cooked them a late night breakfast. it was nice having someone to talk too, though she shared everything with negan it was nice having a friend. "there we go."

anna smiled as dwight turned around with two plates in his hands. she moved off the counter and took a seat on the floor instead where dwight joined her. the two sat beside each other as they began to enjoy the meal. "heard what happened today."

"must have been terrifying," dwight said as he watched her take another bite. when she glanced over she could see the pity in his eyes.

"it had all happened so quick.. one minute we were shopping around like things were normal again. then the next thing i knew it- it had a grip on me. it was trying to eat me." her lip quivered as she found the tears that stung at her eyes.

dwight rubbed her back. "i know it's scary, but that's why you need to start staying here. you don't need to try and prove yourself anna."

"i know.. i don't know why i insisted on going." she sighed before she took another bite. "i just really don't know what to do when negans gone, ya'know? he doesn't want me leaving the room when he's gone and i have nothing to do."

"i'll make you a deal, i'll keep you company when negan leaves if you stop putting yourself in danger." dwight offered.

"deal." she smiled. the two continued to talk as they enjoyed their meal. their conversation consisted of their favorite movies and activities before the world went to shit. they spent another hour on the floor just talking before they decided it was time to go back to their rooms and get some rest.

dwight took her hand and helped her stand, putting their plates in the sink. he walked at her side back through the workers common room and back up the stairs. she'd decided she wanted to go to negans room for the night, knowing his presence always made her feel better, to feel safe.

"look, for now on if you need to go down there for anything after dark come and get me, okay? i don't sleep much either, i'll make you a 3 am breakfast whenever you need." dwight smiled.

she laughed, "watch what you say, cause i'll take you up on that. you're a good cook."

"what can i say, it's a passion." he grinned.

the two reached negans door where the two shared their good nights. when dwight turned to leave she quickly grabbed his arm to stop him. dwight turned back to her when he was quickly embraced. he chuckled and hugged her back, placing a soft kiss into her hair. she whispered, "thank you."

"no need to thank me, i've always got your back." he whispered back. "go get some rest annie."

the two separated and she quietly entered negans room. she walked toward the bed where she saw negan leaned over to his nightstand with his hand on his gun. when their eyes met he sighed and relaxed his hand from the gun before resting back in bed with a soft chuckle. "what's wrong princess?"

"i can't sleep," she admitted. like last time, negan motioned her over and she crawled into bed. "i know i said i needed space but i was wrong."

once her head was rested on his chest he immediately clutched her close, holding her head and brushing his hand through her hair. "i'm sorry i let it happen.."

she lifted her head to look up at him. "it wasn't your fault. i shouldn't have gone, i-.. i shouldn't have froze." she admitted.

"i'm not going to let anything happen to you." he whispered as he clutched her closer.

"i feel so safe with you." she whispered.

"i'm glad, i'll kill anything or anyone who comes close to taking you from me." he whispered into her hair before placing a long kiss.