<Negan?>
<Kat?>
Negan's muscles collapsed under his weight and the amazement making him fall to the ground. Kat ran to help him get up, in disbelief at what she was seeing.
<I... I thought you were dead...> she managed to say with a broken voice.
<Not yet> he replied, trying to look hard as usual.
After raising him, she had brought him to the bed, which was closer than the couch.
Both were trembling: him for the effort, she in amazement.
After helping him lie down, she had looked at him and moved away from the bed.
<You can't be alive>
<What?>
<I saw you dying: I found you covered in blood in the woods, you have been paralyzed in that sofa for God only knows how long and...> the voice was breaking.
<It takes a lot more to kill me honey, you should know that> Negan answered with a smile.
The way he looked at her and spoke to her made a strange effect: she had believed him dead and finding him there all at once, alive and well, had totally disrupted her. The way he had just called her honey... She was not ready, and maybe she wouldn't have been anymore.
<How can you still be alive?> She was asking more to herself than to him actually.
<Well, I happen to be quite a badass and I have a very good nurse...> Negan said as if he knew everything that had happened after he had fainted.
<No, no...> Kat was raving now. She needed air, fresh air. She shook her head looking at him and after turning around, she ran out the door, leaving him puzzled.
Once outside she had taken a breath of cold air that had filled her lungs, and a tear had made its way into her face.
This changed everything: Negan was not supposed to be alive, not now that the attack on the Sanctuary was so close.
Kat nervously ran her hands through her hair, walking in front of the door. She clenched her fists until hands become white and kicked a stone awayas fast as a bullet.
She had to think quickly about how to reorganize the plan now that, willingly or not, even Negan was part of it.
<Fuck> Kat growled in a low voice as she tried to think.
Then suddenly an idea flashed through her mind: since she had acted as if Negan had died, she would have continued to do so, so it would have remained the same... Or so she believed.
Kat sighed loudly, shaking off some of the anguish that had assaulted her, went back to the house and went to wash her face with cold water.
<Hey!> Negan shouted at her, seeing her pass <Kat!> But she ignored him and went on.
Negan was not the man that liked asking, he hated doing it, just as he did not like to thank. But this time Kat had saved his life, even though he did not quite know how.
After seeing her goes over, he had called her again, managing to stop her this time.
<Kat, come on, sit down for a moment> he said to her, signing her to sit next to him.
The girl looked at him with anguished eyes.
<Baby, what's wrong with you?> He asked, genuinely worried, having seen her gloomy.
<I... I do not know Negan. I thought you were dead instea ...> the girl was a bit dazed <and do not call me baby> she added.
<That's my girl, here's why I like you! Not whimpering like a child> Negan answered with a mischievous smile.
<What the fuck do you want to know what I went through while you were doing the sleeping beauty on my sofa?> Kat snapped up getting out of bed <Every time you come here and judge me and what I do as if you knew everything>
<Hey hey calm down! I was kidding Kat... Actually I wanted...> Negan was hesitating.
<You wanted what...?>
<I wanted to thank you for what you did for me. Even if I do not know what you've done since you do not want to tell me> he confessed, looking down.
Kat was stunned for a few seconds: she was surprised to hear him thank her and realized she had been a bit harsh with him, after all it was a strange situation for both of them.
She returned to sit in bed and without looking at him began to speak.
<I know it will not be easy for me or for you now that things are... Complicated, but we'll have to work it out. Do you want to know what happened to you? Allright. I found you in the woods one night, covered with blood at the foot of a tree, but I do not know how or who has reduced you like that. I could not leave you there to die and so I brought you home, I cleaned you up, medicated and cured you. Until today>
<You could have left me there> Negan said seriously, looking at her.
<What are you saying? No, I could not leave you there to die alone like a dog> Kat answered, looking at him incredulously. She thought he would have been grateful she had saved him.
<Then you still care about me, despite everything> he continued without stopping to stare at her.
The girl remained silent and her heart tightened in a cold steel grip. She still cared about him: despite his actions, his words, despite him. Despite Rick.
She would never have admitted it but it was the truth, naked and raw.
Kat, to divert attention, brought the Saviors into play.
<Your men do not care about you, you know?>
<What do you mean?>
<Well, your right-hand man, Simon, has set you up well: not only did he not come looking for you, but he also turned your own men against you, taking your place... And your wives>
<And how do you know that?>
<I returned to the Sanctuary>
<Why?>
<Because I wanted to, that's why>.
Negan was clearly angry to hear this and if he could, he would have gone looking for Simon immediately, but for now he was almost stuck in bed. He expected something like this from his right-hand.
Then he went back to thinking about why Kat had returned to the Sanctuary and did not drink the story she had just told him: if she came back there was certainly a reason, but which one?
<Why did you find me at night? What were you doing outside in the dark?> Asked Negan suspiciously.
Kat did not expect this question but realized that Negan was suspecting something.
<I went hunting and I had gone far away from home not realizing that the darkness was falling>
Negan said nothing but immediately understood that she was lying to him. He had the ability to sniff a lie away a mile, no matter how good the liar was.
Kat looked at him intently and after seeing his face darken, she got out of bed and left.
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Hey guys, I know these chapters are super super late but I tried to make it up to you publishing two of them in a row!
So, back to the story, I just wanted to let you know that I'm truly happy you guys are enjoing this story (even you silent readers). Leave a star & a comment to let me know what you think and see you next chapter