When Bailey Smith looked back on her past with her father, she saw a distant, careless man with little to no plans for his future. Or, her's for that matter.
She recalled being embarrassed in school because he was her gym teacher. He had longer hair back then and a whistle around his neck. When lunchtime rolled around, she ignored he was even there and ate her lunch in the bathroom so he couldn't find her.
She always tried to walk home, though he caught up to her just outside the gas station a block away. He picked her up in his old car and they went home. He never really tried to bond with her on those rides- they usually just turned the radio on and ignored that they were stuck in the same space for twenty minutes a day.
The truth is, that Bailey knew about Negan's affair with Janine for a long time.
Janine grew up with Negan and Lucille. They went to school together. Janine was even the maid of honor in their wedding just a year after high school graduation.
But, Bailey couldn't bear the thought of causing drama. She knew that a lot of children of divorce had harder lives. She knew that Lucille would struggle as a single mom. But, she also knew that Negan had rights to the house and if a custody battle came to light, she'd be sent off to live with her deadbeat dad.
Negan knew that Bailey knew about Janine. Neither told Lucille for the sake of keeping peace.
Bailey wondered if her life would've been better had she told her mother about the affair. Maybe when Lucille was diagnosed with cancer, someone would've been able to take better care of her.
Maybe when the world fell apart, Bailey wouldn't have become a prisoner in her own 'home' of the Sanctuary.
Negan tried to change after the diagnosis. But, Bailey couldn't shove away the sixteen years of him being a shitty father just because Lucille was sick. If Lucille never had cancer, Negan wouldn't have changed. He would've stayed the same destructive, tempered piece of shit he always was.
He felt guilt for Lucille getting cancer and he made himself out to be the victim when his wife was the one dying.
Bailey felt guilt that she didn't inform her mother earlier and made the poor woman suffer years of marriage with a disgusting pig like her father.
Bailey hated Negan. She hated herself. And since Negan's blood was running through her veins, she hated herself even more.
Lucas Rhee, on the other hand, hated Negan the second they met eyes.
He didn't have much prior knowledge of Negan. He just knew that Negan was a dictator with numbers that could wipe he and his family out within hours.
Lucas held on to Maggie as Negan spoke, waving a bat covered in barbed wire lethargically and nonchalantly.
"I don't wanna kill you people. Just wanna make that clear from the get-go," Negan continued. "I want you to work for me. And you can't do that if you're fucking dead, now can you?"
Lucas rolled his eyes. If Negan didn't want to kill them, they wouldn't be in this situation. If Negan didn't want to kill people, he wouldn't be the head of a bloodthirsty group with so many numbers.
"You killed my people.. A whole shitload of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that? Well, for that, you gotta fucking pay."
Lucas stretched his neck and looked up at Negan. Negan smiled down at him and the sight made Lucas feel two inches tall.
"So, now.." Negan said, not looking away from Lucas. "I am gonna beat the whole fuck-fucking-fuckitty-fuck outta one of you."
Lucas' eyes were already set into a hard glare. Negan spun the bat toward Lucas' face, grinning when the only thing Lucas did was blink. He didn't jump much, but he still reacted.
"Tell me, son," Negan said, now talking straight to Lucas. "Ain't she a beaut?"
Lucas could feel Rick tense beside him. He took the cue to stay silent.
"This is Lucille. And she is.. awesome. Not as beautiful as the original.. and not even close to the successor.. But, she's just fucking great in her own special way," Negan continued.
Lucas tilted his head a little. He didn't want to seem weak. He didn't want to seem like some pushover.
Negan chuckled and brought the bat back up to his shoulder. "All this.. All this just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor."
He walked back up and down the line. He looked each and every person in the eyes. He even took a moment to talk one-on-one with Carl, though it didn't last long because Carl stayed silent.
Negan eventually trailed back to where Lucas was. Lucas kept his jaw tight and eyes firm as Negan stared down at him. He waited for the older man to push him more. Test him. He could take it.
Negan's eyes trail down Lucas' chest, arms, and the interlinking of limbs between he and Maggie.
"Jesus.. You look shitty," Negan told Maggie.
Maggie poked her tongue in her cheek and avoided his eyes. She was trying to stay strong. Unbothered. But, Lucas could tell the pain was getting worse.
Negan locked eyes with Lucas. He needed information out of the group. And judging by how Lucas was carrying Maggie and refused to let her go now, clearly there was a bond between them.
"I should just put you outta your misery right now-"
For a split second, Negan was caught off guard. Rather than getting just Lucas' reaction, he got one out of another man further down the line- Glenn.
Glenn jumped from his spot at the very end of the line, though he was tackled by Dwight. Lucas jumped to his feet and stood eye-to-eye with Negan, putting Maggie between them.
"Stop it!" Maggie cried as Dwight punched Glenn.
Negan poked the tip of Lucille to Lucas' stomach, his free hand holding Saviors off from grabbing the younger man.
"You gonna make a move, son?" Negan asked as Dwight pointed a crossbow in Glenn's face.
"Lu!" Maggie begged, tugging at Lucas' pant leg.
"Get him back in line," Negan said, waving Glenn off.
Glenn cried and begged the whole way back. Once he was in place again, he screamed in frustration.
"Don't.. Please, don't," Glenn begged Negan- both for his wife and brother.
Lucas didn't waver in strength. He kept his shoulders back and eyes hard. Maggie was still behind him. Glenn was left alone.
Rick whispered Lucas' name as well. Lucas never looked away from Negan's eyes. Though the man was older than him, Lucas was roughly the same height, maybe even taller if Negan didn't have on such bulky boots.
Negan smiled more. He liked this guy. He was still a kid in Negan's eyes- probably the same age or so as Bailey. He could almost see a hint of Bailey in this boy. The defiance. The anger. That same look that his own daughter held to him.. hatred.
"Lucas," Glenn choked out.
Slowly, Lucas backed away from Negan. He watched the younger man as he listened to Glenn. Clearly, they were family.
A piece of Negan felt.. jealous? How come someone else could still talk someone like that down from rage?
He didn't have that control over Bailey. Yet, Glenn had that over Lucas? What was so different? How come Glenn was listened to while Negan got ignored?
𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--
it's the fact that bailey and lucas are already hella intertwined and mentioned together despite they never met for me
it's the soulmate agenda for me