"What do you want, Negan?" I sighed loudly, rolling my eyes to make it obvious that I was not in the mood.

He had guided me into some little bedroom — that looked identical to Dwight's — and, as Dwight followed us inside, he shut the door to secure our privacy. Negan was all the way inside, currently having his back turned on me while Lucille rested on his shoulder, mocking me. Dwight patiently and quietly sat back beside the closed door, his back to the wall. I sat there in the middle of them, basically.

Negan spun around on his heel and, in the same swing, he quickly stuck Lucille right in front of my nose. She and I were nose-to-nose and, if she was human, we'll be sharing a very intense stare-down. However, it all comes down to me and Negan...

"Tess, Tess, Tess," he sang out my name while he smiled from ear to ear. "I love that name. Tess. It sounds like you're making a statement by just saying your name."

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for the point of why I'm in here for. I had no idea, after all. I don't even think that Negan knows, for that matter.

He finally lowered Lucille and that's when I seen his smug grin once again. He stepped forward and sighed. "Oh, Tess. How I love the way you look at me," he dryly chuckled, taking a moment to examine me. I growled under my breath and that's when he slammed Lucille down on the table next to him. I nearly jumped in the upstairs' room, which made Negan chuckle. "I brought you in here for a reason."

"Finally," I squeaked out with a heavy sigh. "What is it?"

He seemed to dance around the room, which sort of scared me, to be honest. He was the weirdest character of any book. Then, he proposed: "I want you to be apart of my crew."

"Excuse me?" I choked out — literally.

I pulled my eyebrows in together, trying to figure him out. Though, that would never happen because he's too complicated to figure out. It would take a whole lot of shit to figure him out.

"You heard me," Negan continued, sneaking a peek of me over his shoulder. "I want you to be on my team. You could be just like us, Tess. Could you imagine that? You, me, and Dwight — a big old happy family."

"You've got to be kidding me." I was appalled. What the hell? "You killed my best friend. Just a week ago. Do you not remember that? Do you not remember killing my other friend, too?"

"Yeah, so?" He simply spat out, shrugging his shoulders. What the fuck?

"Yeah, so?" I mocked back in complete disbelief. Now, I was angry. Pissed. Livid. "Negan, you single-handily murdered my two friends, then kidnapped me and Daryl! What makes you even think that I would ever join you in a million years?!"

That's when Negan slid around on his heels and faced me straight-on. He was no longer smiling and having a good time. He was deadly serious and that's what scared me the most.

He squinted his eyes and threatened: "You will follow me, Tess. You will follow me to the ends of this Earth, if that is what I want you to do. I am giving you an opportunity here, Tess. You should take this while I'm presenting it to you. Take a chance, Tess. Join me and no more of your friends will die."

"Wait," I paused, blinking a few times in disbelief. What did he just say? "What?"

"That's right," he agreed and smiled again, showing off all his teeth. He turned away to trace the lining of the bedsheets, dramatically. "You join me, Tess, and none of your friends have to die."

I leaned my head to the side and tried to study his face to the best of my ability. However, I didn't know how to know if he was serious for sure. So, I asked again: "What— What did you mean by that? Why am I so important to you?"

With a sickening grin, he simply replied: "I seen the way that you reacted from the start. You sat there beside your best friend and you cried, even when there was nothing to cry about yet. If you had stayed over there by him, you would've jumped in front of him, so that he could be here now instead of you. You're not strong like he once was... Are you?"

I remained silent, glancing away, but he demanded eye contact. So, then, he began to pace around. "That's right. He was and, now, you're ashamed," he tauntingly whispered as I let the words linger around me a little too long. I was uncomfortable and on the verge of tears while I allowed him to make me remember Glenn. "You're ashamed because you couldn't save him..."

"Shut up," I demanded, not even caring for his reaction to it.

"You couldn't save the ginger, either," he continued to taunt me, now circling me like I was his prey. "Could you? Nah, you couldn't. You can't do anything unless your friends are alive. So, join me and they will live. This room, Tess, could be all yours. The power that people like Dwight, here, represses, you could have, too. You could have it all... But are you strong enough yet, Tess? Are you?"

"Negan," came my warning tone as I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth. "Shut up. Just... Just shut up."

"Where's your buddy, Glenn, at now?" His sudden words sent chills up and down my spine, which me shiver. I hated Negan. I want him dead! Yet, he continued: "Your best friend, Tess! Where is he? Where is he?!"

Just like what happened before, I stomped my foot and exclaimed: "That isn't Glenn!"

"You better decide and you better decide quick, Tess," Negan screamed in my ear, which made me cringe really hard. "Because, if you wanna live for now on, you're gonna have to fight for it! You're going to have to admit that you ... are ... NEGAN!"

Before I knew what I was doing, I took back my right hand and slapped him right across the face. It was so strong that he stung my hand, so I have no earthly idea how it left Negan. I mean, his face was red, but still. He had angered me so much that it made me want to hurt her. If I could, I would kill him right here and now.

Negan faced me and smiled at first, but then, it all drained from his face in a split second. He was now angry. "Get her out of here!" he yelled right in my face, but demanded this notion to Dwight. "Now before I splatter her blood all over this perfectly clean room!"

"C'mon, let's go," Dwight hissed in my ear, pushing me into the hallway. I sat out there for a full minute as I heard Dwight say to Negan: "Of course she's gonna fight you, but look in her eyes... You broke her."

He returned in the hallway with me and took ahold of my arm, dragging me down the hallway back to my cold, isolated, and dark cell. He opened the door and pushed me inside where I fell on my hands and knees.

I glanced over my shoulder and held my breath. I seen the look on his face. Bitter and cold. As he shut the door behind me, I realized something.

Dwight was broken, too.

• Wow. This, uh... This didn't turn out EXACTLY how I would have liked, buttttttttttt... It happened, so please try to enjoy it! Because... (drumroll, please 👏🏻) 🥁🥁🥁 ... You will all hate Tess next chapter! Yayayayayayay!!! Good Luck 😏 All the love .xx •