For my sister | Negan |

9 - Kids these days

'What?' I ask a little dazed. 'No, there has to be some sort of misunderstanding. Ella would never-'

'There's very little to misunderstand about two teenagers trying to fucking mow you down with a machine gun, honey', he interrupts me. 'Kids these days, right?'

I take a step forward to hold on to a chair and keep my balance. What on earth is he talking about? This can't be true. But when Carl and her walk out of the kitchen again together, carrying plates and cutlery, I can tell by the way she's avoiding my eye that Negan isn't lying.

'Glad you joined us, doc', Negan says, pulling back a chair at the head of the table to take a seat. 'Now we just gotta wait for your dad, Carl.'

What on earth is going on? Why is he making dinner if Carl and Ella just tried to kill him? Is this some sort of trick? Is he messing with all of us before he kills them? If they really tried to kill him, I'm sure he won't let that slide. I remember how he reacted when I hid the meds from him and when Ella grabbed them from his hand and when I slapped him.

But while he got furious then, now he seems... cheerful. And I'm not sure I like that any better. Because I've no idea where this is going.

'Can I talk to you?' I ask him quickly, making him halt halfway of sitting down. I have to make sure he doesn't hurt Ella. I can't believe how foolish she's been and I'm furious at her. Does she want to get us all killed? But it doesn't matter now. I just have to fix this.

Negan looks up at me and grins.

'Sure, doc. Rick's nowhere to be seen yet, anyway. To the kitchen?'

I nod and follow him to the other room. Ella looks up at me in passing and I throw her a murderous glance.

Stay here', I mouth at her silently.

If we make it through this dinner alive, I might kill her myself for being so incredibly stupid.

Once inside the kitchen, Negan closes the door, shutting us in together. Then he takes a few steps back and crosses his arms as he looks at me expectantly.

'What do you want to talk about?' he asks me.

'I just', I stumble. Honestly, I don't really know what to say. I just want him to not kill Ella for this. This entire act of making spaghetti is making me more nervous than if he'd walked up to our house with a gun to her head.

'It's... She didn't know what she was doing, she's just a stupid kid... Please don't hurt her, I'll... I'll keep her in line, this will never happen again.'

Negan raises his eyebrow and the corner of his mouth pulls up into an amused smile.

'I feel like our conversations are just the same thing on repeat', he says, moving a little closer. 'You or your sister pulls some stupid shit, I tell you not to do it again, you promise me it won't happen anymore, but then we end up right back where we started.'

'I know', I say, dropping my gaze to the floor... 'I'm so sorry, I-'

'You remember what I told you and your sis after she tried to take those meds from me?' he asks, interrupting me.

'Yes', I answer meekly.

'What did I say?' he asks tauntingly.

'You said, uh', I say nervously. 'To take your seriously.'

'Yes, I did', he says, raising my chin with his finger to make me look at him. 'And do you think that girl takes me seriously? Jumping on one of my trucks, trying to fucking shoot me?'

'I didn't know', I say desperately, feeling the first tears fall down my cheek. 'If I had known what they were going to do, I would have stopped her.'

'Oh, Christina', he says soothingly, wiping my tears away with his gloved hand. My heart is in my throat when he moves closer again. 'Pretty Christina. Don't cry, sweetheart, we'll figure it out.'