𝐵𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒 | 𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛

"Hi, Autumn." Aaron smiled. He squeezed her hand and drew her close, hugging her.

Once they released each other, he led her across the wide porch and unlocked the door, flipping on the light. Autumn waved at Matt and Avery, trailing behind Aaron. It's been two weeks since Autumn last saw Negan. The doctors at Alexandria restitched him and patched him up well. She's been avoiding Negan ever since what happened. Her mind was so foggy that she started a friendship with Aaron and his friends, they weren't as bad as she thought.

Daryl and she haven't talked since the incident either. He avoided her at all costs. Autumn has been staying with Aaron lately, keeping away from the house Negan lived in. She needed time to relax and think, Aaron helped her through it like no one else did. She saw Judith a few times a week, but never with Daryl like usual. He would usually just drop her off and walk away.

"Need a drink, anything?" Aaron asked, opening the fridge. A glance out the window revealed that the snow had piled up to four or five inches.

"Water please," Autumn asked, glancing away from the window. She leaned away from him, against the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen.

Aaron retrieved the water from the refrigerator and placed it on the counter next to her.

"Anything new today?" He asked, leaning against the counter next to her.

She shook her head and sighed.

"Negan's living in my house and Daryl's avoiding the shit out of me, nothing new." Autumn groaned, taking a sip of the cold water. He laughed shortly as he crammed his hands into his pockets.

"Well, you gotta cut him some slack. He quite literally found the girl he loves on his least favorite person's lap." Aaron shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess so," She paused, "It wasn't my fault though." Once again she sighed deeply. She turned to see him gazing at her again

He nodded and lapsed into silence. Avery and Matt were cuddling on the couch, while Aaron and Autumn talked in the kitchen. It was a lazy Wednesday night. The silence lasted for about a minute.

"You have to talk to Negan soon." Aaron pushed off the counter and threw away Autumn's empty bottle. "Same goes for Daryl, he's your best friend."

"I think I might as well stop by Daryl's and apologize." She eyed his lean frame. "Then... maybe talk to Negan."

Autumn paced back and forth across the room, deep in thought.

"Well," He started, "It's not entirely a bad idea." He paused, obviously struck by another thought. "Although he's most definitely going to ignore you and Negan's probably rotting away in your house just waiting for you to show up."

She groaned, dreading the idea. Autumn had the most expressive face Aaron had ever seen. Her mind told her to hide from Daryl and never talk to him again, while her heart told her otherwise.

After dressing and freshening up, she found him in the kitchen wolfing down a sandwich. The woman laughed softly.

"I was upstairs for fifteen minutes and I come downstairs to you scoffing down a sandwich."  Autumn giggled and he glanced over his shoulder at her.

"I was hungry," He pouted, "I skipped breakfast."

He watched her intently for a few moments longer and then turned his attention to his food. Autumn rolled her eyes and moved toward the front door.

"Let me know what happens please."

Autumn shot him a thumbs up and walked off. Stepping out quickly, she shut the door. Once Autumn arrived at the house, she began wondering if he was home. Snow covered her hair, and her skin was cold. As soon as she made it onto his porch, she looked through his window to find half the lights shut off. Confused, she knocked on the door, half nervous-half concerned. A minute went by with no response and she grew worried. She decided to knock again only to be met with silence again.