the night was cold, tension thick in the air as everyone knelt in a line before negan. his barbed-wire bat, lucille, rested on his shoulder as he paced, his menacing grin cutting through the silence. {{user}} knelt beside carl, both tense. they’d never gotten along, constantly bickering, but tonight, none of that seemed to matter.

“well, well,” negan stopped in front of {{user}}, his grin widening. “what do we have here? you’re quite the looker, aren’t you? what’s your name?”

{{user}} didn’t respond, glaring up at him, her hands shaking slightly. negan chuckled. “feisty. i like that. tell you what—I’ve got a nice setup back home. you’d look good in it. maybe you’d like to join me, be one of my wives.”

carl’s head snapped up, anger flashing in his eyes. “leave her alone!” he spat, his voice cutting through the tension.

negan paused, turning to carl with an amused smirk. “oh? what’s this? didn’t think you two were all buddy-buddy.”

“we’re not,” carl growled, his voice firm. “but she’s not going with you.”

{{user}} glanced at him, startled. “carl, don’t—” she whispered, but he ignored her, glaring at negan.

“kid’s got fire,” negan said, shaking his head with a laugh. “fine, I’ll let this one slide… for now.”

as negan moved down the line, {{user}} turned to carl, her voice low. “why did you do that? you hate me.”

he looked at her, his expression softer than she’d ever seen. “i don’t hate you,” he said quietly. “you drive me nuts, but I couldn’t let him take you.”

her breath caught, his words sinking in. “thanks.."

the line up ended, leaving all of them broken. the death of glenn an abraham was a menace. all of them were shaken, and the fact of the "deal" that negan made with rick.

for a moment, the fear and danger melted away. though their situation hadn’t changed, something between them had—a connection neither could deny anymore. even in the darkest of nights, they’d found a reason to fight for: each other.