A Hard Lesson to Learn

Chapter 29

When he opened his eyes again the morning sun was slipping through the bars of the windows of the cell. His head was pounding and the urge to run to the bucket in the corner was prevalent, but Negan stayed flat on his bed. After his adventure the day before, he was sure that Rick would cement the door shut so he could never get out again. Each passing minute seemed to take hours to pass.

Negan let his mind wander to the day before. He thought about everything that could have happened at Kali's house. He knew that things between the two of them would never go anywhere, but deep down he wanted to tell Kali everything that he felt during that kiss and everything he's felt for a long time.

He thought someone called his name but decided that it was just his imagination. His mind drifted back to Kali. She had been through so much because of him. He hated himself for it knowing that she deserved better than him, but also thankful for all the time they had together.

He was lost in thought until the face of the former sheriff's deputy entered his vision as he leaned over the man. "You're not dead, are you?"

Negan laughed shifting his focus to Rick was standing over him. "Much to your disappointment, no. Sorry but a couple of bottles of alcohol aren't going to get me out of your damn head Grimes."

Rick stepped back as Negan sat up on the cot. His long legs stretching over the edge of the bed and coming meeting the cold cement floor. "Who said you were in my head?"

"Oh, I can tell Rick. Even when you try to hide it, I can see that you're thinking about what to do with me down here."

"Most of the time you're the furthest thought from my mind," Rick said walking away from the man and towards the cell bars. He turned back towards Negan with his back now against the metal bars.

"Oh, I am hurt. I thought we had something going here," he chuckled. "Anyways, it would clear the air if you just told me what you were going to do so I can get some more sleep to clear up this headache that's pounding the shit out of my head."

Negan's tired eyes met the famous Grimes glare. "What do you think I should do," Rick asked from his place across the cell.

Was this supposed to be a rhetorical question? Was this a type of game the Rick liked to play? "Excuse me," Negan said after a moment.

"I want you to tell me why you didn't make a run for it? You had a chance. You could have been a couple of hours away before we even realized you were gone, but you stayed here. You chose to stay here. So why did you choose to stay here?"

Negan stayed quiet for a while. Why did he decide to stay here? As Rick said, he could have been a good distance away, but instead, once he saw Kali in her house, he couldn't make himself leave. "Why does it matter? You caught me. I'm back, now everyone can go about their day worry-free."

In a flash, Rick was across the cell. He grabbed the front of Negan's blue button-up shirt and pulled the man to his feet. His yell echoed throughout the cell as he slammed Negan into the cement wall. "We shouldn't have to worry about you anymore," Rick seethed at the man.

The other man's sudden anger caught Negan off guard. He didn't have a chance to react as Rick slammed him against the cement wall. "What are you going to do Rick? Huh? Kill me after all this time? That would ruin your promise for the future and damn sure set a bad example for your children."

Rick pushed the man against the wall harder. "You don't get to talk about my kids. You don't get to think about my kids. You'll live down here until you die."

A smirk appeared on Negan's face. "Yeah. I doubt that."

Rick furrowed his brows and tilted his head looking at the man who he had pinned against the wall. He pushed away from Negan. "One day there will be a reason that you want me out there. There will be someone come along who that does something worse than I could have ever imagined," Negan said calmly still against the wall. "You'll want to keep me locked down here, but you won't be able to. You're going to want me to save the day and I'll be more than willing to help. But until that day comes, you can still pretend you hate me and that this isn't some type of fairytale. I'll be here and I'll be waiting."