The Devil Dances With the Scorned

Sherry didn't really want to make her way down the stairs and have to interact with people. She hadn't been the most popular member before and she knew all too well what the others felt toward the wives. Something between malice and indifference depending on who you spoke to. As a wife, you didn't have to work me you pretty much got to do whatever you wanted. Within reason, of course. Nothing that would betray Negan in any sort of way.

Sighing when she decided it was late enough, Sherry climbed out of bed and donned the dress that was meant solely for wives. A little black, cocktail dress. She slipped her feet into her shoes before heading down to the cafeteria.

Sherry kept her attention focused forward, trying to ignore the whispers and stares as she gathered her food. She didn't so much as look around, simply taking the first seat that she got to so that she wouldn't feel like she was taking the walk of shame.

Negan had been sitting as his table, going to town on his on his breakfast. He hadn’t really realized just how hungry he was. The past few days had been exceptional stressful for the man, so of course he had worked up an appetite. He raised his head for a brief moment, scanning the scenes around him. He noticed Sherry walking by. She seemed to be trying to ignore everyone around her, her head down as she walked timidly through the cafeteria. Negan had no clue why she did that. She was a beautiful woman, and now a wife, she should be holding herself as such.

Negan reached out and gently grasped her forearm. “Morning, doll.” He grinned at her. He nodded to the seat across from him. “Take a seat, eat your breakfast. Tell me how you slept.”

Negan didn’t really know what he was doing, asking her to sit with him and such. But any excuse to be near her, he was going to utilize.

Sherry's eyes widened as a hand wrapped around her arm, her eyes darting over to the culprit. Her features softened immediately when she realized who had grabbed her. She had been fully expecting that it was someone else but really, that had been a silly thought. No one would dare to touch her now that she was Negan's wife.

Sitting opposite of Negan, Sherry was surprised at just how comfortable she felt. For all intents and purposes, Sherry felt like she shouldn't have been so comfortable but Negan did offer some sort of protection from the horrors of the world. Both inside of these walls and not.

"A bit uneasy," Sherry started quietly. She shrugged her shoulders, taking a bite of her food before she looked up to Negan. "It takes a bit for me to be able to sleep somewhere I'm not used to is all," she explained, not wanting Negan to worry over something so simple. Clearing her throat, Sherry looked up to him. "Uh, what about you? Did you sleep well?"

Negan raised his eyebrow as he watched her sit. Negan was sure she had to be aware of the eyes that were on them. It wasn’t often that Negan invited a wife to eat lunch with him in the cafeteria, normally it would have been in the privacy of his own room—or their room. But, as Negan previously thought, he was going to use any excuse to be near the girl.

Negan knew that he was going to have to use extra effort to figure Sherry out. She was a damn smart woman, and he was sure that she was using that against him. Sherry was a team player, she was going to do what she had to do in order to benefit her own situation—or get away. Negan wasn’t stupid, he knew Sherry didn’t want this; he was going to make her want this.

“Slept alright,” He shrugged, the corners of his lips dipping down briefly. “Coulda slept better after some extracurricular activities…”

Crossing her ankles, Negan bent them as she leaned forward against the table. She ate, careful to keep her attention focused forward despite wanting to turn away. Negan was an intense man, there was no denying that. Her stomach flipped at his comment, her brows pulling together as she opened her mouth to reply. She shut it before she could, trying to figure out what was the right thing to say here. Not only did she not want to upset Negan, she also knew that there were ears listening. Should she sidestep, it would also be of no good.

"I'm sorry," Sherry finally found herself saying. She was surprised by the sudden realization that Negan had likely not slept with any of his wives the night before. She frowned, tilting her head to the side as she watched him, her fork hovering over her plate of food. "Hopefully you can sleep better tonight."

Sherry shifted around, reaching for her water. "I was hoping to grab a book or two from the library today. Been awhile since I had the chance to read," Sherry said, hoping that her attempt at small talk could steer the conversation in a safer direction that what it had been heading in.

Negan smirked as he watched her squirm slightly underneath his gaze. He liked when he had that effect on women, especially when the squirming was uncomfortable. Either Sherry was really fucking good at hiding her uncomfortableness, or she wasn’t. And that was a good sign for Negan.

His interest was piqued when she started talking about books. Negan knew that she as smart, but he didn’t know that she liked to read. What else didn’t he know? He furrowed his brows as he looked down at his food, taking a couple more bites as he started to form his next response. Negan wasn’t one to normally think about what he was going to say… But this was different.

“What kind of books are you looking for?” He questioned. “Didn’t know you liked to read, fuckin’ nerd,” he teased with a grin on his face. “I can get someone to help you if you wanted.”

"Huh?" Sherry asked, raising a brow as she looked up to Negan. She frowned slightly, confused by his interest in her comment. As much as she had been hopeful that he would at least feign interest, she certainly hadn't actually expected any of it. Negan wasn't into sugarcoating interests, if he didn't care, he would make you well aware of it and likely leave it at that. "Well, mostly fantasy books. I mean, last I really read were teen books but still."

"No. I just.. I dunno, I guess I miss it? It's a normal thing to do and I can't remember the last time that I had a chance to actually read something," Sherry answered, smoothing down the skirt of her dress. She leaned away from the table, suddenly wondering if the her choice of topic had been the wrong one.

"Oh, you don't have to. I don't want to bother anyone and besides,I'm sure there's more important things that they can do, right?" Sherry asked, biting down on her bottom lip. "Maybe you could. I mean, if you have a few minutes," she offered, figuring that a few minutes to themselves couldn't hurt.

Negan smiled at her, his eyebrow quirking at her choice of a solution. Negan? Helping her? Catching her alone in the library where no one usually was? Well fuck yeah, he would. He nodded in agreement, turning his attention back down towards his food. He still had half a plate left and he wasn’t about to waste it. He noticed that Sherry hadn’t finished her lunch yet. “Yeah, let’s just finish this food and then I’ll take your pretty ass over to the library. I’m a little smarter then I look so I should be able to help you out.”

After finishing his food, Negan raised his arms over his head and stretched. He was more than eager to steal another chance alone with Sherry; time to lay the big guns out on her and see how she could handle him. He grabbed his plate and stood up, motioning with his head for her to get up.

“Let’s get a move on,” he said. “Let’s go get you those books.”

"You're probably one of the smartest people I've ever met," Sherry commented with a shrug of her shoulders. She honestly hadn't even meant it to help inflate his ego, it was honestly just the complete truth. While Negan may have appeared a little less than smart, Sherry had learned first hand that Negan was likely smarter than everyone in the Sanctuary.

Sherry moved to her feet, plate in hand, and following Negan over to hand her plate in. As they left the cafeteria, she couldn't help but begin to feel like a school girl going on a first date. It really was the first date she had gone on in years, because dates were the last concern on anyones' mind when the world went to shit.

Stepping into the library, Sherry glanced over to where a member would normally be sitting. When she realized there was no one else in the room, Sherry couldn't help but blush as she turned around to face Negan. She cleared her throat, eyes dropping. "You don't, uh, you don't have to stick around if you don't want. I know you're always so busy and there's a lot of people looking for your guidance and it's silly to ask for it just on books, right?" Sherry didn't stop to breathe until she finished, dragging in a deep breath. "I'm just being stupid, I'm sorry."

As Negan and Sherry walked in complete silence to the library, Negan felt oddly comfortable. It was pretty unusual for the man not to have anything to say, hell, Negan always had something to say. But the change was good. He wasn’t having to instruct anyone or beat anyone’s ass, or teach any lessons. All he had was to focus on the task at hand: Sherry.

When the entered the library, Negan caught her looking around for someone else. He raised his eyebrow in amusement as she started rambling off all the little reasons why he didn’t need to be there. Was she really that nervous? Instead of answering her, Negan reached out and placed a hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the section where he knew she would find the books that she was looking for.

Negan stood behind her as she observed the wall of books in front of her. He leaned in close, his lips grazing her ear slightly. “Ain’t this where all the fun happens?” Negan placed a hand gingerly on her hip, relishing in the feeling of her soft flesh beneath his hand. If only those damn clothes weren’t in the god-damned way….

Sherry found herself getting lost in the books in front of her. She was thankful for the get away, reaching and pulling a few books down. She would read what they were about and put most of them back. Settling on one, Sherry was just reaching for another when Negan's presence loomed closer to her. She let out a quiet gasp, her eyes widening as a chill ran down her spine.

"Uh huh," Sherry answered on instinct alone, reaching forward to set the book down that she had been holding. "I-" she paused, her tongue darting out to wet her bottom lip. She surprised herself when she leaned into Negan's touch, goosebumps raising on her skin. "I guess."

Reaching back, Sherry set a hand on Negan's wrist. She urged his hand further around, his fingers brushing against the skin just below the edge of her dress. Sherry wasn't so sure that she was ready to jump head first into things but she thought maybe it would be better if she just ripped it off like a bandaid.

Negan grinned as he allowed his arms to wrap around her waist. He pulled her back against his chest slightly, as he finally allowed his lips to connect with the skin just below her ear. His fingertips toyed with the fabric of her dress. For a moment, he wanted to take a fistful of it and just pull it off her. But he had to play this shit smart if he was going to reel Sherry in.

“Lots of different things you can do in a library,” Negan mumbled, placing another kiss to her neck. He turned her around in his arms, pushing her backwards into the bookshelf, causing a few of the books to shift around. His hands were gripping the shelves on either side of her head.

Negan leaned in and allowed himself to place his lips against hers, a little forcefully, but not enough so to make it seem as though he was just trying to stake his claim. He pulled back and smiled at her, his head tilted as he watched her beneath him, seemingly flushed. “I’ll let you get back to picking out your books, doll.”

The romance in her previous marriage had dwindled - Sherry couldn't remember the last time she had felt butterflies like this. Maybe it was wrong to, she knew it was wrong. She didn't want to feel them yet Negan left her no choice. She would have been willing to bet outside of a world like this, that Negan would have been a charming man able to sweep any girl off her feet. Anyone he chose.

Sherry let out the quietest whine as Negan pulled away from her, her bottom lip jutting out. When she realized what she was doing, Sherry straightened as closed her mouth, her cheeks ringing a deeper red.

"Books? Right, books," Sherry managed , giving a nod of her head. She took a step forward so that she would be able to turn around but this only brought her even closer to his chest. Clearing her throat, Sherry looked up to Negan. "Um, I need to turn around," she stated, her eyes widening slightly. She was sure she looked foolish in his eyes. "Please."

Negan’s chest rumbled with a chuckle as he allowed the petite girl to slip out of his arms. He wasn’t clueless to the way that she was acting. Negan took a few steps back and crossed his arms as he observed the way she as picking out books. Each action was methodically drawn out. He took note of the way her fingers skillfully treaded the spines of each book, silently wondering what else she would be able to do with those fingers.

“Having fun?” Negan murmured, noting that she was mesmerized by all of the literature in front of her. It wasn’t something he saw very often. Most of the wives wanted new clothes, or things for their hair, or old tabloid magazines to reminisce about all the famous fuckers they wanted to sack before the world turned to shit. Negan couldn’t say or think it enough, but God, how he loved the fact that Sherry was so different.

Sherry forced back the feeling of wanting to lean back into Negan's chest. She knew that there was no real room for the sort of intimacy that she would want from a relationship. Negan was not a one woman sort of man, he was a man who had desires that needed far more than she would ever be able to offer. She would have to come to terms with the fact that she would be alone, she would never be in love the way she had been before. Not again. Not far as long as Negan was in her life.

"I honestly didn't even think this many books still existed," Sherry admitted quietly, biting down on her lip. She had thumbed through the books, coming up with three that she knew she would want to read in the next few weeks. Clearing her throat as she turned around, Sherry offered a shy smile as she looked up to Negan. "Do you guys get a lot of books on the, uh, runs?"

Negan could tell Sherry was trying to rush through her small escapade of picking out books. His presence still bothered her and got under her skin—he would have to fix that. He crossed his arms as he leaned against the door frame, studying her for a moment after she got done speaking. He took note of the way she held the books, the were tucked tightly beneath her arms, she was holding them close to her chest. These were important to her.

Negan needed to know what was important to her for two reasons. The first reason being that he wanted her to have access to things of importance in order to make her feel more comfortable here at the sanctuary as a wife. And the second reason, well the second reason was far different. If she ever did anything to cross him, he knew where to hit her right where it would hurt the most.

“Sometimes we pick shit up like books or magazines or coloring books,” He listed off, still staring at her. “Gives people shit to do in order to waste some fuckin’ time in between killin’ the dead and living.”

Sherry couldn't decide how she felt about Negan's admission of how they came across all of the literature at the Sanctuary. She was sure that some of it had to come from when they raided other colonies but she didn't want to broach that subject. It wasn't her place to now and it likely never would be. But at the same time, it surprised her because she wouldn't have thought of Negan as a man who cared about such a thing.

"What do you do to... waste time?" Sherry knew the comment would come across as flirtatious but so far, Negan had been more respectful of her space than she would have originally thought so she thought the comment was safe enough to make.

Grinning as she tilted her head to the side, Sherry raised an eyebrow. "Well, mister? You can't always be about killing the edge and toying with your wives, right? What makes you tick when you're alone?" Maybe it was a subject she shouldn't have broached so quickly but she found herself relaxing even more the longer that she spent time with Negan. And as long as she played the part he wanted from her, Sherry was hopeful that her life would at least be halfway decent.