"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 room – which looked identical to Dwight's from earlier – 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 us while Lucille still rested on his shoulder, mocking me. Dwight patiently and quietly sat back beside the closed door, his back to the wall. I stood 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 came down to me and Negan...

"Tess, Tess, Tess," he sang out my name over and over again. "I love that name. Tess... It sounds like you're making a statement by just saying it."

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for the point of why I am 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 is 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 out, taking a moment to fully examine me. I growled under my breath, and this is when he slammed Lucille down on the table next to him. I nearly jumped in the upstairs' room, which made Negan laugh aloud. "I brought you in here for a reason."

"Finally," I breathed 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 is too complicated to figure out. It would take a whole lot of shit to figure him out, on top of another lifetime.

"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 ol' happy family."

"You have got to be kidding me." I was appalled. What the hell was he thinking? "You killed my friends. Just a week ago. Do you not remember that?"

"Yeah, so?" He simply spat out, nonchalant, and shrugged 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 is 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 it somewhat 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 am presenting it to you. Take a chance, sweetheart. Join me and no more of your friends will have to die."

"Wait," I paused, blinking a few times in disbelief. I haven't even processed what he just said. "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 anymore. Not at my hands, at least. Not because of... Lucille."

I leaned my head to the side and tried to study his face to the best of my ability. However, I did not know just how to know if he was serious for sure. So, I asked again, "What... What did you mean by that?" I paused and something suddenly hit me. "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 probably would have 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 the small room. "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 whispered, not even caring for his reaction.

"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 do it. You can't do anything unless your friends are alive. Right? 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... Please shut up."

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

I remained quiet, but seething. My fists laid beside my sides, becoming red and numb from restraining myself from knocking his damn lid off once and for all.

"You better decide and you better decide quick, Tess," Negan screamed in my ear. "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 pulled my right hand back and slapped him right across the face. It was so strong that he stung my hand, so I could only imagine how it felt to Negan. I mean, his face was red. He had angered me so bad that it made me want to hurt him. 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 within a split second. He was now angry. "Get her the hell out of here!" he yelled right in my face, but demanded this for Dwight. "Now — before I splatter her blood all over this perfectly clean room!"

"C'mon, let's go," Dwight hissed in my ear, shoving me straight into the hallway. I stood out there for a full minute just as Dwight returned into the room and said to Negan, "Of course she's gonna fight you, man, but look in her eyes... You broke her."

Dwight quickly returned to me in the hallway 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, holding my breath. I seen the look on his face. Bitter and cold. As he shut the door behind me without another word, I realized something.

Dwight was broken, too.