𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 ▷ 𝑵𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏

• Southern Courtship ; 19 •

(18+)

Neither of us broke the gut-wrenching silence while Negan drove. My head spun in circles just thinking of everything that had happened. It was only moments ago that he had considered putting a bullet between my eyes; only a short while ago that my family could've died all because of me.

My selfishness is what could've gotten them killed.

The thought alone, of what Negan could've done to them made my heart race. I wasn't sure what he was going to do to me now, but I could only imagine. Everything had happened so quickly, that I was still running it over in my head.

I took a quick glance at him. His dominate hand was placed on 12 of the steering wheel, gripping it so tightly that I had to cross my legs to suppress my fear. A permanent scowl was etched into his stoic face, which could easily earn the award for most intense RBF. I could practically feel the anger rolling off of him in waves.

With this being said, I refused to look him in the eyes, so instead, mine settled rather comfortably on the passing scenery of my passenger window. His were focused on the road - barely acknowledging me aside from commanding me to get in the car when we had pulled out - the rest of his army in tow. They were transporting the materials he had taken from my people, which included all of their mattresses. For me, this was nothing but a hefty helping of heartache.

"Boys, go on back to the factory. I need to take care of a few things first," Negan's deep voice parting the thick silence made me lift my head towards him, his eyes steady on the road. "As a matter of fact, the mattresses..."

"Yeah?" Simon said attentively. Negan gave me a quick glance as the emotions contorted my face.

"Burn em."

My heart sank to the pit of my stomach as a million thoughts ran through my mind.

Was I the thing he planned on taking care of? Did he lure me out here just to kill me? That's it? Even after confessing for the first time that I truly and utterly loved him, he'd still do that to me? Was he seriously going to burn those perfectly good mattresses?

That managed to piss me off more than anything else. Knowing he took away my families comfort and just had no real regard for anyone else. He was treading on thin ice - I could only see this ending badly, and my people weren't going to go down without a damn fight.

"Yes sir," I could hear the snide in Simon's disgustingly pleasant voice. He would love nothing more than to see me pounded into the ground by Lucille. Ever since I met him, he'd hated me for stealing away Negan's attention. He wanted to be the big man, and little old me was capable of ruining that for him. The prick.

After Simon pulled off from behind us, the rest of the trucks and cars followed, honking when they passed. It made me queasy, just thinking about what my future held as Negan turned on a forked road.

Even through my worry and concern, my voice belted from my quivering lips, "S-So what now? You fucking kill me in the middle of nowhere? Are you hoping it'll make you feel like more of a man? Make you look good to all those people you claim to be leading down the path of righteousness? Huh?" I asked, tears now streaming down my face. He didn't say a word.

"Fucking answer me, you bastard!" I screamed, finally, body fully facing him now, and my hands clenched into tight fists. The tears streaming down my face blurred my vision, but I refused to take my eyes off of him.

Negan slammed on the brakes, stopped the truck and put it into park. I gasped for air, fear invading my entire body as I clutched the seatbelt across my chest. He didn't say anything for a very long time, and that made my skin crawl. Once he finally lifted his eyes to me, brows knitted together in furry, I knew I was the cause of that expression.