It had turned out to be a gloomy grey day. And even by the late afternoon, the sun had never quite managed to break through the thick clouds that hung overhead like a blanket. A bleak humidity clung to the air, letting everyone know that rain was certainly on the way.
It was weather like this that reminded Blake of times out there in the road, hiding in closed-in wooded areas, huddled together for warmth, never quite feeling dry for long weeks on end.
It had been a tough existence, surviving like that, but Blake had done it. She had made it through the worst of those times.
And yet almost a year later, here she was, with a roof over her head, at the Sanctuary.
In a place she now called home.
For it did feel like far more of a home than Alexandria ever had been for her.
Sure, this looming factory compound could come off a little bleak and sterile at times....but it was safe, and dry, and here, Blake had a purpose. Far more than as she had done when she had lived in her house back in the suburbs with David and Rick and Tara and the others.
There she had just ben David's fiancé.
But here she was much more than that.
Negan had slipped a crown onto her head here before she even realised it...building her up, instead of knocking her down as David always had.
She felt happy now. Ok, she would never have a perfect life....she wouldn't have a family or have people around her all singing Christmas carols around a piano.... But she could still enjoy what she had here. For as long as she had it.
Blake licked her lips smiling to herself now, as she lifted her water bottle to her lips.
This morning had been a whirlwind of events...but one she did not regret.
Steve's demise was as much on his own head, as on hers or Negan's. After all, it had been his choice to come back here. She had let him go, and yet the idiot had been stupid enough to have come back. To try to kill Negan and her...after all she had done for him.
So she did not have any regrets about him dying, or about the events that had taken place directly after.
She had needed Negan, oh-so much, and Blake was done with pussy-footing around and not getting what she wanted in this crappy world.
And feeling the dark-haired Saviours lips on hers....his calloused hands sliding down her bare skin...that had been exactly what she had desired, for so so long.
She couldn't deny that sex between them was incredibly good.
There was a spark there.
A bond she had not felt with any guy she had even been with. And the pair of them knew exactly what to do to get each other there, easing over the edge oh-so well.
It had been hot, intimate and very much needed.
And as long as she realised that this should be just about sex, it would all be ok.
Her and Negan....well, Blake knew how she felt about him.
But she would keep a level head and keep this as just a casual thing.
This way, they both would get what they wanted...and the issue of Negan's wives, or Blake becoming one of them, didn't ever need to be brought up.
Now Blake gulped down the water gratefully before pulling the water bottle from her lips once again, leaning across the metal barrier before her and wiping the back of her hand across her mouth.
Blake having worked for the last few hours in the gardens down in the lot just around the corner, and was mid-way through taking a break, just heading inside to use the bathroom for a moment, when she had stopped in her tracks, up here on the balcony the overlooked the Sanctuary fences surrounding he large compound.
It was up here that Negan had brought Blake out onto the first day she had been here, the second day too, where he had given her lemonade and no-end of snarky remarks.
But today it was something else that had drawn the caramel-blonde woman's eye, just as her hand had reached the door, causing her to move over and lean up against the railing, watching, as Dwight, Danny and a grey sweater-wearing, lower ranked Saviour, had hauled the snarling and snapping, newly turned figure of Steve, over to the looming fences, where many other walkers were chained and welded.
It was hard to believe, looking at his white eyes and greying sagging skin, that just a few hours ago, the man she had known from Alexandria, had been alive and pointing a gun at her skull.
But after what he had said...his cruel chosen words about David...about her......Blake had nothing now, but contempt for the dead man.
And so, lifting her chin, she merely blinked, showing no emotion for the ghost of the man that may have been her friend.
Yes, perhaps she was ruthless. And Blake could just imagine what people like Rick or Michonne or even her friend Tara would say if they found out...
But she was long past caring. For they had all shown their true colours back there...shown that they cared very little about what she had gone through....thinking only of themselves, and never considering that there were other people going through shit in this world, not just themselves.
Steve had been tall and broad chested, but even so, it didn't take the three Saviour's long to secure him to a metal post about ten feet from the chain link fence, where he bared his teeth and tried to grab for them hauntingly.
But Blake barely even bristled at the sight of him there...a living-dead person....
She wanted him there now as a reminder of the person she once was...and the person she needed to be from now on. For Blake had proved to herself that she was stronger than David...or Steve... or the Wolves...or indeed, any person who had tried to take her on.
She was a queen...and, she had the might of, not only Negan behind her, but all the Saviours too.
She worked hard here, in the gardens, providing for these people as much as the generals did, going out on runs, or pick-ups. She was liked by the folks around her....the people she saw every day...
They had her back...as much as they had Negan's.
But while they revered him because of fear and rules...they revered Blake because she was fair and kind...and because she was probably the only person around here these days, to give the dark-haired leader a piece of her mind and encourage him to come around to her way of thinking.
She was a good influence on him. That could certainly be said. And as far as Blake was concerned, Negan quite enjoyed having her around.
Well, if this morning was anything to go by anyway.
Blake licked at her lips now, thinking of the time spent there in Negan's bedroom this morning, as she turned on her heel and headed inside.
She had been so wrapped up in him, barely able to breathe....with such powerful emotions swirling around inside her as they had kissed, fucked....stared into the other's eyes.
That had not been like the fun and dirty sex they enjoyed before... this time it had been different....a need encompassing them both.....bringing them both to the edge they had needed to get to, for so so long.
Blake walked now, down the lengthy hallway, passing couple of mousy-haired female Saviours about Blake's own age, as she did so.
They both nodded at her politely, offering her gentle smiles, before walking quietly off.
Everyone knew Negan here, of course they did...but now it was getting to the point where most people knew Blake too. Even people she had never even met before.
The caramel-blonde woman turned the corner, shoving open the door to a set of washrooms at the very end of the corridor.
A yellow light flickered on above her head as she entered the stark room, strolling into a dingy cubicle. And in a minute she was out of there again, washing her hands in the sink, as her green eyes flickered up into the grimy mirror above the basin.
She looked good today, dressed in a tight black t-shirt tucked into tight black jeans, and her long caramel-hair tied up into a neat ponytail.
Working outside these past couple of weeks, Blake had acquired a nice tan over her temples and cheekbones which made her eyes look far brighter than they once were.
She remembered back to just how sallow and washed-out her features had been when she had first arrived here at the Sanctuary with David.
It had been like her fiancé had drained all the colour from her face himself....sucking the very life from her veins.
Blake seemed like a wholly different person now. Confident and, dare she think it, happy too."
And that really did show...in everything, from her complexion, to the way she held herself...walking down the Sanctuary hallways with purpose.
But a bemused frown suddenly slipped its way between her brows as she thought on this.
God....was she turning into Negan?
She stared at her reflection.
Would she soon be swaggering around the place, carrying a stupid baseball bat in her hand and calling everyone 'Doll'?
She shook her head, smirking now, as she switched off the faucet, drying her hands on the sides of her pants, before tugging open the door once again and heading back out into the hallway.
It was quiet around here now, that late afternoon time where most people were either heading down to the canteen for dinner, or still hard at work somewhere.
So it was really no surprise that, barely taking a single step around the sharp corner, Blake jumped almost out of her skin, as she bumped straight into the tall, and cocky form of-
"Negan..." said Blake a little irritably, as she wobbled slightly, trying to keep a hold of her balance. "God, you want to watch where you're going?!"
There he was, as arrogant-looking as ever, today being no exception in THAT department, standing there, close to her, in a grey t-shirt ( with his leather jacket slung over the top), grey pants, and Lucille in his hand, with the biggest smug-grin plastered across his features.
But he gazed down at her now, his dark eyebrows reaching his hairline.
"Me watch where I'm goin', Sweetheart?" he scoffed, lifting the barbed wire covered-bat in his hand and nudging her delicately in the chest with it. "You're the one that came stridin' around that corner on a fuckin' mission. What is it? You got some pumpkins that urgently need pickin', Doll-face?""
Blake scowled at him, taking a step back away from Negan, and Lucille, and folded her arms across herself defensively, raising her own eyebrows.
"Fuck you," she bit back playfully, eyeing him accusingly. "You'll be eating your words when you're getting your five fruits and vegetables a day because of me!"
But Negan agave his own scoff in retaliation. Leaning back on his heels and gesturing to her with Lucille once again.
"Pfft, I'll have you fuckin' know I was doin' ok scavenging shit from other people before you came along, and wanted to make the place into a goddamn free-for all farmyard," he uttered, staring down at her and digging at his back molars with his tongue. "I mean, hell, give it a couple of months and you'll have my people wearing straw fuckin' hats and singin' cum-ba-ya'round a goddamn campfire."
Blake rolled her eyes, tutting and shooting the dark-haired man a scathing look.
God, he really did wind her up sometimes, but even despite this, this was kinda getting her blood pumping in her veins, making Blake feel warm again...
Fuck, she wanted him. Her eyes meeting with his own arrogant chocolate orbs, as he surveyed her in return.
But the caramel-blonde woman tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth, before giving a drawn-out sigh, shifting her weight over onto one hip.
"Was there something you wanted?" she said tutting and frowning up at him, but somehow unable to help the smirk that drifted across her mouth.
But Negan, keeping his eyebrows up in his hairline, merely gave a chuckle.
"Well, I mean, shit, Peaches," he said in a simpering tone. "I think you were the one to run into me, not the other way around."
But Blake wasn't taking that.
As if she would go searching for him around the hallways of this place. That was far more of a Negan thing to do.
Although, perhaps they were more alike than she first had thought.
"Ugh, well some of us actually have things they should be getting back to, so-" Blake murmured, dragging her eyes away from Negan's, and making to push past him....
.... but before she could do so, Negan's free hand suddenly gripped her waist, spinning her back around to face him, almost a little roughly now....
And before she could ever uttered a word of protest, the dark-haired man had manoeuvred her back against the way behind her, pressing his tall and firm body up against hers.
Blake immediately feel a flush creep its way across her cheeks, as she lifted a hand to Negan's taut chest, her fingers curling around the fabric of his grey t-shirt.
"What's the rush, Darlin'?" Negan suddenly murmured in a low voice, his chocolate eyes almost twinkling now in the gloom of the corridor.
Blake grinned, her other hand coming to rest on Negan's leather clad shoulder, tensing around the thick material, as her eyes once again drifted away from his. Instead coming to rest on the garment in question..
"You know, I think this jacket suited me, better that it suits you," she said in a delicious voice, titling her head to the slide slightly now.
She could feel a heat forming inside her abdomen, soaking her panties, with sheer longing for the man pressed up against her now.
His hold on her waist was possessive and the growl that soon escaped his lips about as animalistic and as hungry as Blake had ever heard.
"Hmmm," Negan mused, licking at his lips, his bearded mouth hovering dangerously close to hers. "See I've got a bit of a short fuckin' memory, Sweetheart. So maybe you're gonna have to try it on again for me. Preferably with nothin' on underneath it."
Blake felt a gulp trail its way down her throat at his words, as she pushed herself against him now, feeling him push back.
And she could only give another smile, as she trailed her tongue over her own bottom lip, wetting it slightly, seeing his eyes catch the movement, before pulling him even closer to her, tugging at his t-shirt.
"Oh, most definitely," she purred, unable to stop herself anymore, as she closed her eyes, feeling their lips meet gently...
He tasted good, like salt and whiskey....and the pair of them slowly found their rhythm, kissing almost languidly at each other's mouths to begin with. Enjoying every lazy moment, as their lips parted and met again, and again, making the most deliciously-wet sounds.
Negan had now pinned Blake firmly to the wall, as her hands grazed over his broad and angular shoulders, remembering just how it had felt this morning, bouncing up and down on his lap, her fingernails dragging across his tanned skin, as he made her moan out, orgasming onto his cock.
But that thought was a precarious one now, as Blake felt her panties getting wetter and wetter, as Negan's free hand drifted down from her waist, finding her thigh, as Blake equally read his mind, hitching her leg up and allowing him to press his groin into hers.
She could feel his tight erection straining against his jeans and Blake couldn't help herself, as she slid her hands down, as his tongue entered her mouth, making for his belt-buckle.
Fuck, she wanted him inside her, just like this morning, as Negan now grunted into her mouth, giving a single hard thrust against her pelvis urgently.
Blake's chest was rising and falling hard now, as her fingers found his belt, undoing the thread of leather, the chinking metal buckle echoing loudly in the wide empty corridor.
God, she wanted him to fuck her, the sound alone driving her crazy, as they kissed again desperately at each other's mouths.
Up against the wall in one of the Sanctuary corridors- ok, granted, it wasn't the classiest place Blake could ever say she'd had sex...but right now, she could barely control herself, the pair of them unable to keep their hands, or mouths, off of one another...
They continued to kiss, their lips parting for just a moment, as their eyes met, both of them breathing hard, as Blake's fingers grazed down, undoing the button on the dark-haired Saviour's jeans, before finding his zipper, as their lips met again hungrily, kissing at one another as though each of them had been starved for weeks.
But suddenly, before Blake could make a move to pull down Negan's pants zipper, their came a sudden loud and carrying squeak from over on their right. And Blake, her eyes snapping open, tugged her lips hurriedly away from Negan's...
She turned her head, suddenly spotting the two mousy-haired women she had passed earlier, on their way back down the corridor now, with a small tray of food clutched between them, their eyes blown wide in shock and surprise.
Blake felt her face instantly flush bright red as her eyes met directly with the pair of them, looking as startled as she was, to to see Negan and her in such a compromising position in one of the inconspicuous first-floor hallways of the winding Sanctuary.
Blake, her cheeks now burning, feeling wholly embarrassed, gave the dark-haired Saviour a hard shove away from her now, as he too, gazed around over his shoulder eyeing the two girls, his mouth curving up into a wide grin.
He looked back at Blake fiendishly, before staring the women's way once more, raising his eyes brows in a devilish fashion.
"Enjoyin' the fuckin' show ladies?" he uttered goadingly, his tongue poking out from between his wide, white set of teeth in a smug-fashion.
The two girls hurriedly shook their heads, suddenly looking down at the floor reverently, almost shaking with fear and embarrassment, as Negan turned on his heel, approaching the pair of them intimidatingly, his free hand re-threading his belt as he did so.
"Oh, do not start actin' all shy on me now," Negan teased, arching his back as he spoke, coming to stop just a foot or two from the pair of them. "I mean, you are more than welcome to carry on and watch the rest...cause' I have a feelin' me an' Peaches over there, are in for one hell of a fuckin' session."
Behind him, Blake let out a hearty scoff, shaking her head, as Negan's glanced at her over his leather-clad shoulder, running his tongue over his teeth happily.
"Or," he said finally turning back to the two women, a little more kindly. "You can just run along and eat your-"
He paused momentarily, giving a small bemused-looking frown as he eyed the food growing cold on the tray before him.
"-what the hell is that anyway?"
But Blake gave a sigh, pursing her lips.
"It's chicken pot pie tonight," she muttered tiredly, folding her arms over her chest.
"Right, right," said Negan with a faux-serious nod. "OR you can go and enjoy your chicken pot pie someplace else."
The two girls nodded hurriedly, murmuring a not-really-needed thank you, as they slid quietly by Negan, hurrying off down the corridor as fast as their legs could carry them, disappearing off, around the corner and out of sight, before Negan could, indeed, corner them again.
The dark-haired Saviour ran a hand down his bearded face, giving a long and heavy sigh of his own, before turning back to Blake, with an eyebrow cocked.
"Shit, that wasn't like no chicken pot-pie I've ever fuckin' seen," he said in a simpering voice, strolling casually over towards her. "Hell, remind me to check with Seven-foot Pete exactly what the fuck he's playin' at servin' shit like that to paying fuckin customers."
But Blake, leaning up against the wall behind her, gave a tut, ignoring the dark-haired leader's comment as he approached her once more, coming to stop just a mere breath away from her and pressing his free hand flat against the wall one side of her head.
He licked at his lips darkly.
"Now, where the hell were we, Peaches," he murmured in a growling voice, as he leaned in towards her once more, his lips almost grazing hers.
But Blake, no longer in the mood after their embarrassing interruption, pressed a sudden hand to Negan's t-shirt-clad chest, giving him the tiniest shove away and holding him at arm's length.
"Ugh, well I was heading back to the gardens," she said with a long, teasing sigh, sliding herself out of Negan's grasp. "And you were doing-"
She paused, stepping around him, further into the corridor, as Negan, with a frown between his brows, eased himself back onto the heels of his boots eyeing her a little irritably.
"-well, whatever it is you do around here," she finished dismissively, waving a taunting hand in the Saviour's direction, knowing just how much that would annoy him.
But that was only as much as the had annoyed her just now with his comments to those two girls.
God, how the hell was he ever going to able to live that down?
But she was grateful at least that they hadn't been interrupted just a minute or two later, before things had gotten perhaps even more hot and heavy...
Negan scowled at her, shifting around, turning his entire body to face her now.
"You seriously fuckin' ditchin' me twice in one day, Darlin'?" he said in an incredulous voice, pointing at her with the end of Lucille.
But Blake just paced away, swaying her hips as she did so.
"Yhhhmm," she said biting down on her bottom lip and calling back at him over her shoulder. "But y'know, if you're lucky, I might just run into you again later..."
And Blake didn't need to turn back to know that Negan was grinning after her now...
...for his unprecedented silence, on this occasion, really did say it all.