Closer (Negan X OC)

Chapter 27

"Baby, you're a goddamn siren!" Negan exclaimed, his booming voice echoing into the night.

After our extended hugging session, I had told him I wanted to show him something. I had driven us out to my favorite lookout spot, the city shining bright below us, the soft glow of the moon providing enough light for us to see each other clearly. We were sitting on the hood of my car, close but not touching, talking about what had just transpired on the stage. Or more like Negan was gushing about how amazing I was, the pride in his mate apparent in his voice.

I laughed freely at his words. "Negan, seriously that was—"

He held a finger up to silence me. "Don't you fucking dare say that was nothin'. Because that...you up there crooning like that, that was a work of art."

I hummed, but didn't say anything. While I knew that I could sing, I never liked to boast about it. I had always felt so inadequate compared to other artists. My eyes drifted away from Negan and down to the city and I began to reminisce about this place and why it was so special to me.

"I would come out here almost every night, you know," I said aloud. "I would get done with a set or two at The Hideaway and come out here to think. To try and figure out the world and my place in it," I paused. "And I would come out here to...turn. You want to know what my favorite part of it was?" I asked, turning back to Negan, who was engrossed in my story.

"What was that, baby?" He asked.

"Running. See, ever since I was a kid, there has been something wrong with my lungs. I remember being in first grade and dreading any activity that involved running because I couldn't breathe. And although I had this desire to run, to push myself and see what I was capable of, the breathing never got easier. Even after I started singing. I thought since I could control my breath, the way it rose and fell as I sang and hit high notes that it would get easier. But it didn't. So when I turned for the first time, as scared and confused as I was, I started to run through the canyon down there. Running from what I had become, the life I had lived. And imagine my surprise when I realize that for the first time in my life I can not only run, but I can breathe," I chuckled and smiled at Negan before continuing. "It was the best feeling in the world, my body and lungs working in unison for the first time in my life. There was so much clarity in it, such purity being in that form and being free. So I kept coming out here. I kept running because I wanted to know what it felt like to be able to breathe. I wanted to know what it felt like to be free of the constraints that had kept me immobile my entire life."

"When did you stop?" Negan asked, his voice low.

I sighed, not wanting to answer, but choosing to be honest with him. Because at this point, I realized that I was all in.

I looked at Negan for a moment and took him in. He had leaned back on the hood, his arm propping him up. His position showed the subtle curves and muscles of his form, his jacket slightly unzipped and his shirt raised, giving the smallest glimpse of his abdomen in a way that made my mouth water. His hair was slightly messed up, his dark hair tousled in the most perfect way. He wasn't smiling at me now, but his expression was laced with something that I can only describe as concern. Concern for me.

In the soft glow of the moonlight, he was devastatingly handsome. I had never seen anyone so beautiful in both wolf and human form. For a second, the notion that he was my mate and was meant for me drifted through my mind. This man, this body was meant to work in sync with mine, to yield to me, to learn every scar and every curve of my body. To claim, to touch, to fuck, to possess so completely to the point where I wouldn't know where Negan ended and I began. He was mine.

Which is why it was such a shame that I may lose him this very minute.

I took a breath and locked my eyes with his. This was it. The big moment, the admission that threatened to destroy whatever connection existed between us.

He broke the silence. "When did you stop turning, baby?"

"When I killed my mother."