World Full of Surprises.

Negan smirked right back at Charlie, knowing that two could play at that game. It wasn’t really a difficult thing to say that they were exclusive, because they were kind of the only people around—for the most part. “Well, sweetheart, I guess if you want me to do that I can. Because you know you’ll just be in my bed regardless.”

Negan let out a low chuckle as he saw the look on the couples faces. Lighten the fuck up, he wanted to say. They were experiencing the apocalypse so he wasn’t about to start watching his mouth for other people.

Negan heard a rustling in the brush, his hand flew out to grab Charlie by the arm. It seemed to only be one walker, so he motioned with his head over towards it. He leaned in close to her ear. “Should we let one of them prove themselves?” He said in a low voice, a small smirk appearing on his face. “Need to make sure they can fend. We will intervene if need be.”

Charlie smirked to herself as she gave a roll of her eyes, shaking her head at Negan's answer. She reached over and gave his shoulder a half hearted shove. "And what if I happen upon someone with a better dick than you? That's going to be hard in the shitty times but I mean... can I really pass up that opportunity? With the way the world is going..." she trailed off as Negan reached for her arm. She looked up quickly, her eyes scanning the outlying trees until they came to a rest on a walker who appeared through the brush.

A quick nod of agreement was all that it took for Charlie to shove her knife back into the sheath where it belonged. She glanced toward Dwight and Sherry, "Well?"

Charlie tilted her head to the side, watching as Sherry stepped forward with a crow bar in hand. She was surprised as she watched the other woman kill the walker. Sherry hesitated and stumbled a bit but nothing that Charlie hadn't done a time or two in the beginning so she thought nothing of it.

Leaning into Negan's chest, she grinned as she looked up to him. "Well?" She asked quietly, figuring that the decision would ultimately be up to Negan. It didn't actually affect her one way or another, besides if Negan hated them and life became miserable... Charlie wouldn't be too happy either.

Negan smiled as he watched Sherry go after the walker. He paused for a moment, his eyes flicking towards Dwight. Why hadn’t her husband gone instead of her? Did he not want to keep her protected or were the roles reversed in their marriage? He shook his head, deciding that that shouldn’t be a focused on that. At least Sherry was willing to fend for herself and the group if need be. He made a mental note of this, deciding that it would be Dwight’s turn to show up next.

Negan nodded as Sherry made he way back over to them, reaching out to pat her on the back for a brief moment, causing a smile to spread on her face. “Good,” he said with a smirk. “Glad to see you got a pair of balls.” Negan threw Charlie an amused look, who just rolled her eyes at his vulgarity. He was sure she should have been accustomed to it by now.

“Alright,” he said with a deep sigh. “Let’s keep moving. I’d like to find somewhere to lay my head tonight before the damn sun goes down.”

After what seemed to be a few hours, it looked like they were clearing to the back of a housing track just off the road. He looked over at Charlie, his eyebrows raised as he gave her a shrug. “Let’s go check it out. Dwight, you have the next walker that comes our way, okay?”

Dwight seemed to be more on edge than the rest of them, even as time wore on and there were no signs of walkers anywhere. Charlie gave a roll of her eyes a few times over, not really bothering to try and hide it when the man grew spooked. At least Sherry seemed to be a bit more confident about herself since killing the walker and that was a mild relief. At least she knew she could count on Sherry if things got a little rough and Negan and her needed some help.

Charlie shrugged her shoulders when Negan spoke, following after him without a second thought. She looped her arm through his as they neared the house, only to move her arm away when they grew close enough that they could hear the groans of a walker inside. She looked toward Dwight and was mildly surprised when he stepped forward to fiddle with the door.

Soon Dwight was through the door and shoving a walker down, jamming a knife into its skull. He cleared his throat as he let the creature slump to the floor. "So... uh, what now?"

Negan’s bicep flex involuntarily as Charlie looped her arm through his. He turned to her, an ever so slightly smile present on his lips.

Negan let out a small acknowledgement of approval as he watched Dwight take the walker out, only with slightly less effort than his wife had. He kept checking off little tests that he had come up with in the back of his mind. “We just need to look around and scout everything out.” As they all wandered through the house, he kept a look out for anything that they could possible scavenge or use.

Negan let out a sigh of relief when he realized that there was more than one bedroom in the house. That meant he got to sleep in a bed that night, and possible sneak a few minutes in with Charlie. It had been something he looked forward to… It was a distraction to keep the reality of what was going on out of his mind. Plus, he wouldn’t admit that in the pit of his stomach there were small feelings for the girl.

Most of the homes (they were usually cabins) that they stumbled upon had gas stoves and Charlie considered that a big luxury. It meant that she could attempt to cook up a decent meal with whatever they had scavenged lately. The house was cleared in no time at all since there seemed to be no walkers around.

Lifting her bag onto the small circular table, Charlie began to rummage through it, producing some food before she turned toward the other couple with a raised brow. It seemed to be rather clear what she wanted because Dwight stepped forward and offered his bag which resulted in her grumbling a thank you.

Charlie turned to the group after a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. "I can make a decent chilli, I just don't have meat so it'd have to be a meatless chili. But. It'll be enough to feed us all and," Charlie paused, flashing a smirk in Negan's direction. "I'm sure we could all use the energy since we should be able to make more progress tomorrow."

Negan couldn’t help but toss a small smirk in Charlie’s direction. He sat down at the small sofa, producing a map from his back pocket. He opened it up and spread it out on the wooden coffee able. He looked over where they were and started planning decent route that they were able to cover by night fall the next day. Negan’s main goal was to get them somewhere they would be able to utilize, but it was proving to be a little harder than he deemed necessary.

Once he had everything mapped out, he looked around the house from his seat on the sofa. All of the window’s seemed to be up high. “Think we should bother boarding anything up?” he asked, mainly to Charlie as he pointed towards the windows.

“They seem to be up pretty high,” Sherry commented in a small and feeble voice. It was obvious the women seemed a little put off by Negan’s abrasiveness. “But, I mean, If you think that we should I wouldn’t have a problem helping you.”

When no one seemed to argue her plan for supper, Charlie went to work chopping up the few tomatoes she had managed to find from Dwight's bag. She was curious where they had happened upon such a fresh vegetable but decided it didn't matter in the long run. She was rather excited to have something fresh to eat as opposed to the canned goods that they would normally share if they couldn't find somewhere to stay for the night.

"Huh?" Charlie asked, her brows pulling together in confusion when she looked to Negan. She had been so focused on the work she was doing that she hadn't been paying any attention to him and thus, hadn't heart anything he said.

Sherry's words were enough to tell her what Negan had said and she glanced around for a moment before motioning to the other woman. "She's right, I think. There's no back door though so we may have a bit of clearing to do in the morning when we leave. But. Nothing we can't handle, I don't think."

Charlie cleared her throat as she stepped away from the stove, the pot needing time to cook before she could finish up their meal. "So, what's your story? Where are you from?"

Negan continued to study the map once more, double checking what he had done. After it was deemed that they weren’t going to need to board up any windows, he turned his attention back towards moving forward. He was a little annoyed, however, that Charlie hadn’t been listening to him. Shouldn’t he have heard him over Sherry? He narrowed his eyes at the map, deciding that the silly frustration wasn’t worth it—this time.

Dwight was the first to speak up in response to Charlie’s comment. “We, uh, we’re from Virginia.” He mumbled. His eyes wouldn’t meet Negan’s, but they flicked towards Charlie’s. “We heard that there is refuge in D.C. Hadn’t quite made it there…”

“I don’t think there is going to be anything there anyways,” Sherry mumbled as she looked down towards her hands. She twisted her fingers, “We really appreciate you both being so, uh, kind and… Allowing us to tag along, ya know.”

"Making it to DC isn't worth the fight," Charlie cut in right after Sherry finished speaking. She gave a shake of her head as she sighed, reaching to run a hand through her hair. "I mean, if they have a cure, the cure will make its way down to us in no time. It's better to sit it out and wait if you can find a place to hole up. That way you can defend yourself and that will be that," she explained with a shrug of her shoulders. She glanced toward Negan with a small frown.

"Besides if you make it all the way there, what happens if there's nothing? Then you're fucked, in a populated city with mostly walkers. You'd be as good as dead," Charlie muttered as she plopped down onto Negan's lap. She would have opted for beside him but Sherry was sitting on the couch with Dwight leaning against the other arm of the chair and she wasn't so sure that it would be okay to sit beside her. If they were uncomfortable, that wasn't going to do anything more than breed distrust within the group and that was the very last thing they needed.

"I was a little ways away from Atlanta, going to school to become a nurse and I was in my final year. So anything that you need medically, you come to me and I'll sure as shit deal with it. That doesn't mean coming to me with every little ache or pain though."

Negan couldn’t help but laugh out loud when Charlie mentioned a cure. There wasn’t a fucking cure. Negan had decided months ago that his approach was going to be glass half full. Prepare for the worse and know that it is coming. Survival was the only thing on his mind. Rebuilding his life was right up there with that as well. “There aint a damn cure,” he mumbled. “If there was a fuckin’ cure it would have been found by now. Either that or the ones who found it are fucked.”

Negan wrapped his arms loosely around Charlie’s waist as she sat in his lap. A small smirk played at his lips. He cleared throat and nodded his head. “By medical we mean life threatening. No ‘I got a headache,’ bullshit. We don’t have as many supplies as we would like to have, so we need to be as conservative as we can with them.”

The smells that were coming from the kitchen had been fluttering to his nose for the past few moments. He prodded Charlie’s side with his finger, whispering lowly in her ear. “Dinner isn’t going to finish itself,” he laughed when she turned around and gave him a stern look. “What?” he questioned, knowing full and well what he had done. “Need any help?”

Charlie's body seemed to relax as Negan's arms wrapped around her waist. She settled her head against his shoulder, only to roll her eyes at his words. "I think I just said that, Negan," Charlie muttered under her breath, her hand rubbing heavy circles into his chest in an attempt to get him to relax. Her eyes slipped shut and she further relaxed, just enjoying the fact that there was supper cooking on the stove and that they weren't alone - they almost had a normal night and that was enough to lull her into a false sense of hope. At least for a few moments before Negan was prodding her in the side.

Her eyes narrowed as she leaned up to glare at him. "You're fully capable of finishing it, aren't you?" She replied, cocking an eyebrow as she tilted her head to the side. "Unless you aren't capable of scooping chili into some fucking bowls."

Charlie smirked as she rolled her hips into his just once before she stood, her hips swaying as she made her way back into the kitchen. She pulled bowls from the cupboard and rinsed them out before scooping chili into each one. She filled them as much as possible, pleasantly surprised when there was just a little bit left over. They'd be able to have a small meal in the morning.

She reappeared with a bowl on each arm and one in each hand. She offered one to each of them before settling on the floor by Negan's feet so she could eat comfortably.

Before Charlie could get too far away from him, Negan’s hand shot out with a flash and attached to her wrist. He pulled her to him, beckoning her head down towards him. “You don’t wanna play that game with me, sweetheart. I know what you are trying to do.” He said in a low voice before he released her and watched her with appreciative eyes as she made her way to the kitchen. The one thing he loved about Charlie walking away from him was watching the act of her doing so. She knew exactly how to move her body in a way that would shake the man to his core.

When she reappeared, Negan smiled and gratefully took the bowl from her, muttering a small thank you. He listened to the trio talk amongst themselves. Negan wasn’t able to focus on much more than the food that he was ingesting and the primal instinct to throw Charlie over his shoulder and take her back to the bedroom for teasing him the way she did.

After he had finished his bowl, he leaned back into the couch, appreciating the fullness of his stomach. In the back of his mind he wondered how long they would be able to keep doing this for. He wanted to make sure that they were always fed at least—because that way they could keep[ continuing on.

"Maybe I do want to play that game?" Charlie replied, a small grin tugging at her lips before she turned to head into the kitchen. She knew exactly how to play with Negan, she knew what made him tick. Maybe not the Negan from before the apocalypse but the Negan she knew now and the Negan that... no. She wasn't going down that path, not yet. The world had gone to shit, she couldn't afford to have such emotions. It wasn't fair to either of them.

When Charlie finished her bowl, she set it on the table and shifted around before she set her head down on Negan's thigh. She was quiet for a long moment as her eyes slipped shut. "There's enough chili left over that we'll each be able to have a little bit for breakfast. Probably not enough to get full but it's more than enough, I think."

Charlie looked up after a moment, a small grin appearing on her lips as she danced a pair of fingers up Negan's thigh. "I think I'm going to retire for the night. It's probably best to get as much rest as we can."

Negan nodded his head in agreement to her words, sleep sounding more than lovely at the moment. But in the back of his mind he knew they wouldn’t be going to sleep just yet. He mentally cursed, knowing that they would have to be a little quiet since they now had others with him… If it was up to Negan, he wouldn’t care either way—but he knew Charlie and knew that she would want to be respectful towards the other couple in the house.

Negan stood up as Charlie disappeared towards the back. He gathered the bowls that they had used and took them to the kitchen. He was stalling for some reason and he wasn’t quite sure. “You two get some sleep,” he said as he made his way back into the living room. “We will probably be up before dawn, that we can get a fuckin’ move on first thing in the morning.”

With another nod of his head he turned away and began to make his way towards the bedroom. He pushed the door open, shooting Charlie a small smile whenever he saw her. “Hey there,” he said gruffly. He closed the door behind him with his foot, his hands reaching down to the hem of his shirt. He pulled it up and over his head. “Ready for bed?”

Charlie had already shred her pants and jacket by the time that Negan finally stepped through the threshold of the bedroom. She tilted her head to the side as she watched him him undress, a small grin appearing on her lips as he pulled his shirt over his head. She whistled lowly, wiggling her eyebrows. "Come on, take it off," she murmured, shuffling down the mattress so that she was laying down.

She reached for him and the moment her fingers wrapped around his wrist, she began to tug him toward her. "Took you long enough," she said quietly, shuffling over to allow more room for him. Letting out a soft sigh, she shimmied to his side and pressed herself against him.

"Is Negan getting a little shy on me?" Charlie teased as she propped her head on her hand, rubbing his chest gently. "I certainly hope not. It's the damn apocalypse!"

Negan reached out, gripping the back of Charlie’s neck gently. He pulled her face close to his, his lips barely brushing against hers. “Of fucking course not. Why would you think that?” He voiced out gruffly, his lips finally pressing against hers. The grip he had on the back of her neck tightened ever so slightly as he gently suckled on her bottom lip.

Negan moved his hand from her neck, letting it trail its way down her body. He allowed his hand to settle on her hip, his fingertips digging gently into her skin. He pulled her body close to him, his lips going to work on the sensitive skin on her neck. He listened to her softly moan for a moment, the sound playing like music to his ears. He grinned against her neck. Negan loved knowing that he could affect her that way… Especially since he hadn’t been able to do this to someone in so long.

He kissed his way back up to her lips and then pulled away from her completely. He raised an eyebrow at her as his fingertips applied more pressure to her waist, “Did you think it was funny to play that game with me in front of those damn newbies?”

Charlie had had a few flings in the past, none of which that really mattered. She had been more focused on school than forming any sort of relationship so she hadn't really figured out what she was into but since she had been with Negan, she had learned quite a bit. He was rougher both around the edges and in most of the things that he did in his life. That carried into the bedroom and there was nothing that Negan did inside one that she didn't enjoy. And that, it drove her wild. It made her feel addicted to Negan because he cared for her. Maybe not in the traditional sense but he was her only companion and there was no denying that you would get close to someone if they were the only person you had.

Shuddering under Negan, Charlie couldn't help but smirk with the way his hands teased her body. Her smirk only fell when Negan started to pull away from her. She let out a small whimper as she looked up to him, jutting out her bottom lip.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Charlie answered, shrugging her shoulders. "No games here, mister."

Negan ran his hand up her side. When he got to her hair, his tangled his fist into her lock, pulling her back in for another kiss. This time it was more rushed, more impatient. He pulled her closer to him, pressing her body against his. No matter how annoying it may be at times, Negan loved it when she played naive. It only gave him more leverage on her. He used the hand that was in her hair to pull her head back, exposing her neck to him once more. He attacked the skin with several kisses and a few small nips. He trailed his beard up her skin as he made his way to her lips once more—knowing just how much the woman loved it.

Pressing his lips to hers once more, Negan smirked. In a low, husk voice he murmured to her. “I guess if we aren’t playing games we should just go right to sleep, hmm?”

Negan took her bottom lip in his mouth once more, this time biting down on the succulent skin. “Which would be a damn shame cuz I really wanted to play some games…”

A small, surprised yelp sounded from Charlie's lips as her head was jerked backward. She grinned to herself, her eyes flicking shut as he pulled her ever closer. She arched her back, pressing her chest to his. "Negan..." she breathed, only to let out a whine as he pulled away from her. Her eyes narrowed a bit as he spoke.

"Games? I don't have any clue what you're talking about. I just wanted to fuck but if you want to play games, go right ahead," Charlie answered with a shrug. She was suddenly grinning as she looked up to him. "I don't want to ruin your fun, mister. That's the last thing I want here."

Charlie trailed a hand down Negan's chest, her nails scraping against his skin until she reached his belt. She kept eye contact with him as she slipped the end of it from the belt loops. "Go on. Go... go play a game, mister."