𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 7 ~ Negan Takes Us Home

My daughter wasn't in my arms long after that before she was being taken away from me by one of Negan's wives. He sauntered over to me after that, propelling me out the door quickly as I tried to glance behind to catch one last glimpse of my child. But it was too late - she was already nestled back in the crib, Negan's wife standing over her. It made my jaw clench to see. A growl emitted from my throat and Negan sent me an amused look as he led me back through the maze of hallways in his domain. He'd already taken the gun from my back and held it now in his hand like a toy.

"So you and your little boyfriend sneaked into my house. That ain't cool. It just ain't cool, Dixon," Negan tsked, shaking his head as we walked, "You see, you two are welcome anytime. But next time, run it by me first, okay, sweetheart?"

I scoffed, rolling my eyes as we turned a corner. Fresh sunlight hit me square in the eyes and I squinted at the sudden brightness before adjusting to it. He pushed me towards the truck and I stumbled once before catching myself. Grumbling, I wrenched the door open before climbing up into the front seat. Carl was already positioned in the middle, his shaggy brown hair falling over his face and his Sheriff's hat nowhere to be seen. He looked distraught.

Something must have gone wrong.

"Carl?" I asked softly, gently taking his chin in my hand so that he was forced to meet my eyes.

A tiny involuntary gasp left my lips and I regretted it immediately as his face fell. The bandage had been taken off, leaving his empty eye socket exposed. Skin had grown back like cobwebs over the void where his eyeball should be. A mixture of embarrassment and shame radiated off him as he just shrugged out of my grip.

"Oh, Carl..." I whispered but he wouldn't look at me.

Sighing, I leaned back against the seat just as Negan opened the driver's door and hopped in. The truck started up after that and we took off down the road. It was a several minute drive to Alexandria but when we finally arrived, Carl still wasn't talkign to me. I felt terrible for my reaction. It wasn't that it disgusted me - I had just been taken by surprise. Scarring, an injury - neither of those things changed the way I felt about him.

It never could. Finally, we made it back home and the gate slid open for us. Negan revved the engine as we zoomed inside before he turned the truck off. Carl and I followed him back to the house, trekking alongside each other in silence. I shot a side glance to my boyfriend but he avoided my eyes once more. A very confused Olivia opened the door and let us all inside.

"Great, great, great, great, great, great! Where's Rick?" Negan chirped happily, waving around Lucille.

"Uh, I - I'm just-" the woman tried to stutter out.

"Don't care. Where's Rick?"

"Um, out scavenging for you,"

"Cool. I'll wait," Negan said simply, grinning.

"Um he went out pretty far. They might not be back today. We're running really low on everything. We're practically starving here," Olivia tried to explain to him and I could tell she was hiding something.

Negan's eyes widened a fraction, "Starving? You? By "practically," you mean "not really","

I clenched my jaw, grounding my teeth together as Olivia began to cry, turning away so Negan couldn't see her tears. I tried to hold back my anger but being a Dixon, that had never really been possible for me.

"How dare you! You're nothing but a big bully!" I exploded, poking him in the chest as I stepped up the towering man.

"Really? You people seriously don't have a sense of humor," Negan said with a slight chuckle, clearly amused.

"Excuse me. What's your name again?" he sighed, turning to the woman.

"Olivia," she replid between gritted teeth, her back still turned to him.

"Right. Olivia. I am sorry for having been so rude to you just now," he apologized.

I didn't really buy it though. Since when was Negan sorry for anything he'd done?!

"...And it looks like I'm gonna be here for a while, awaiting your fearless leader's return," he continued, his eyes flicking to me as he sauntered closer, "And if you'd like, I think it would be enjoyable to kiss you senseless. I mean, if, you know, you're agreeable to it,"

Without hesitation, I heaved back and slapped him sharply across his face. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he shook his head slightly before facing me, my lips pursed in anger.

"I am about 50% more into you now. Just sayin'," he whispered into my ear, making me shiver.

But before I could push him away, I felt fingers enclose around my wrist and I was being pulled into someone's side. Glancing up into a familiar ice-blue orb, I smiled.

Negan just shrugged in response, " All right, well, I'm just gonna put my feet up and wait for my stuff to get here. Olivia, would you be a lamb and make us a little lemonade? All right, kids! Take me on the grand tour."

And with those final words, Carl and I begrudgingly took Negan on a "tour". We both tried to keep him away from Judith but of course, he ended up finding her. Settling down on the porch, I sat down on the porch railing across from Carl, Negan, and Judith. Negan was currently balancing the baby on his lap, cooing at her. It was sickening to watch, to say the least.

"Oh, this little girl is precious... A lot like yours in that respect, Angel," Negan smirked, trying to rile me up but I didn't take the bait, instead choosing to ignore him.

"Oh, I like it here. Mm-hmm. I might just have to stay here," he continued and I shot a warning glance towards Carl, "You know, I was thinking about what you said earlier, Carl. Maybe it is stupid keeping you and your dad alive,"

He moved Judith to face him then and I saw Carl's hand twitch at the gesture.

"I mean, why am I trying so hard? Maybe I should just bury you both down in one of those flower beds. Huh? And then I could just settle into the suburbs. What do you think about that?"

He placed a kiss on Judith's head then and I felt my heart race at the prospect of losing any of the Grimes'. If he dared to kill any of them - even Judith - it would be the end of that man.