Chapter Text
There was nothing that could make you feel quite as lonely as Christmas music would during the holiday season when you had no one special to share it with. It was the first year during the holidays in a long time that Y/N had been single and without a significant other. Christmas used to be special for her. It was something that her family really got into and when she lived back home, she went all out for it too. Unfortunately, she moved out of her hometown for better opportunities with work. Living in a small town meant that there was less room for growth and with her career she just wanted to branch out further. Right now she was just a teacher, but she was hoping by living closer to the city it would give her more opportunities to work on her writing. Being locked up in a small town was hard enough to get any attention at all. Here she would be able to try to get her novels noticed while also getting to work at the high school. Even working at the school was harder in her hometown. There were less kids to help and it didn’t leave for many opportunities to be able to teach.
The only problem with moving? Her longtime boyfriend that she had since high school didn’t want to follow. He liked where he was. They promised that they would last even when people told them relentlessly that long distance relationships would never work, but they swore to beat the odds. Sadly, they didn’t. Originally, they would talk every day. Multiple times a day. Then it started to become less frequent. Only a few times a week. And eventually her ex had told her that he couldn’t keep up with it anymore because it just wasn’t working out. So now, here she was. Alone for the holidays. Sure, she had made friends, but it didn’t quite compare. Holidays just felt more meaningful when you were in love with someone.
“Please stop,” Y/N groaned lowering her head to the tabletop in the teacher’s lounge of the high school that she worked at. One of her best friend’s that she worked with had been singing away at the Christmas tunes that someone had playing over the radio. “Can we listen to another kind of music for a while? Christmas music all day long is just really getting on my last nerve.”
“You need to really work on that Christmas spirit,” Princess frowned, looking over her shoulder at her friend who leisurely lifted her head to stare out at her. Princess had a candy cane between her lips while she was pouring herself some coffee. “I know just the thing that will make you feel better.”
“You probably don’t,” Y/N grumbled when her friend moved around the table that she was seated at to drop a container of something before her. Arching her eyebrow, Y/N looked up at the amused features of Princess when she pulled the candy cane from her lips. “What is this?”
“I made these for my class and had some leftover so I figured I would share them with the rest of the staff,” Princess took a seat across from Y/N when she pulled the lid off to find herself looking at Christmas themed sugar cookies. Frowning, Y/N lifted her head and let out a grunt when she pushed the container forward. “Come on Y/N, this is the most magical time of the year. Get into it! Turn that frown upside down! You’re too cute to be a scrooge.”
“I’m not a scrooge, I just have a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit right now,” Y/N noted seeing the dramatic smile that Princess gave before reaching for one of her sugar cookies that was an oversized snowman that was decorated with icing and everything. Pulling the candy cane from between her lips with a popping sound, Princess set the mint treat down on a napkin before gazing over her cookies. “Your students have to love your enthusiasm and they are lucky to have you. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you angry. You’re always so positive and optimistic. It would make sense that you’re a big Christmas fan.”
“Well, thank you. I like to pride myself on my optimism. You know what my life was like when I was younger. I want to give my students an open area to feel comfortable. To feel relaxed. In my room I want it to be a stress-free zone. The more at ease a student is, the more likely they are going to feel open to letting their inner artist come out,” Princess took a big bite of her cookie and hummed when she noticed the door being pulled open. With a wicked smirk, she wiggled her eyebrows and nodded back making Y/N look over her shoulder. “It’s your boy.”
“Please don’t call him that,” she cringed seeing the gym teacher moving in behind them. It made her cheeks flush over when Princess called him that. Negan was someone that she pretty quickly got along with and they were good friends. There was one thing that made things uncomfortable though. Negan had a gigantic crush on her and he let her know it. Which meant relentlessly she found themselves in the middle of flirting with one another and that led to him asking her out. Her answer was always no. She liked being his friend and although he was rather attractive, her heart was still set on her ex. When Negan spotted the two of them in the lounge, a rather large smile expanded over his handsome features drawing attention to his dimples that accentuated his radiant features. Immediately he was drawn to them when he saw the two of them and took a seat beside Y/N. “Hey Negan.”
“Good afternoon beautiful,” Negan winked making her smirk and shake her head before looking down at her phone that was resting on the tabletop. Well, that was one positive about being around Negan. His compliments always made her feel good. That was something he was good at. “How are my two favorite women doing today?”
“Lemme tell you Negan, you are one charming son of a bitch, but I know you’re only here for Y/N,” Princess commented taking a big bite of her cookie making Negan chuckle, his face scrunching up in amusement. “I would love to have someone as gorgeous as yourself in love with me like you are her. Your smile just radiates when you see her. I want someone to light up for me like you do her.”
“You have someone who lights up like that and his name is Mercer,” Y/N reminded her friend of her boyfriend making Princess giggle when she nodded thinking about her boyfriend. “Your boyfriend is head over heels in love with you.”
“But I’d love to have someone at work crushing on me like he does you,” Princess pointed out at Negan making his jaw flex and some color flushed into his face when Princess brought to attention his feelings for Y/N. With a loud swallow, he lowered his head and she reached across the table to curl her finger in underneath Negan’s chin. “Look at these big puppy dog eyes Y/N. How could you look at those hazel beauties and turn him down Y/N?”
“Negan knows I love him,” Y/N reached out to palm in over the side of his face making his eyelids get heavy with lust with just the warmth of her touching him. Teasing her fingertips through his short salt and pepper colored beard, she could hear his breathing getting louder when she slid in closer to him. Reaching beyond him, she grabbed one of Princess’ cookies making his breath get caught in his throat when she pulled back. Maybe it was mean of her to lead Negan on a bit knowing how he felt about her. But truthfully? It didn’t bother her much. Negan was known for being a bit of a womanizer. He was good looking and everyone knew it. And he really didn’t turn away the attention that he was given. So screwing with him knowing how he felt about her? It really wasn’t that big of a deal for her. Taking the cookie between her lips, she smirked and heard him let out a huff. “We’re just really good friends.”
“Damn,” Princess rumbled seeing the look in Negan’s eyes when he surveyed Y/N over. Princess held the container out for Negan to take one of the cookies. Thinking things over, he grabbed a few of them before plopping one into his mouth. “See, I should be your favorite.”
“You both are my favorite. I’m not lying about that Princess. If I wasn’t afraid your boyfriend would use me as a toothpick, I would most certainly have heart eyes every time I saw you,” Negan assured her with a wink making Y/N snicker when Princess’ face turned a bright shade of red. Princess started waving her hand to fan herself making Negan smile brightly before taking another bite of one of his cookies. “You will always be one of my favorites.”
“Kiss up,” Y/N playfully reached out to smack her hand in over the center of Negan’s chest making him grunt before chuckling under his breath.
“You know, now that Princess brought it up…we do have that staff party tonight for Christmas,” Negan brought up the party that she had already long forgotten about since it was Friday and all she could really think about was finally getting a break for a while. “Since you’re going and I’m going…I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go together or some shit. It’s going to be at a public bar. People wouldn’t care.”
Negan was caressing over the back of his neck, a bit of nervousness in his tone since he knew the outcome that often came from him asking her out, “I just mean it wouldn’t hurt to say that the two of us went to the party together.”
“I’m not going to have sex with you Negan,” she swore making Negan’s lips part, his Adam’s apple bouncing in his throat before a half-smirk pressed in over his handsome features. “I told you, I just want the two of us to be friends.”
“I’m not asking you to have sex with me, but the fact that you brought up sex makes me think that maybe you are the one thinking about sex,” Negan suggested, pointing his finger out at her circling it around a bit making her throat go dry when she felt a surge of embarrassment flood her veins. “I just genuinely want to go out with you on one single date Y/N. I think if you got to know me, you might actually like me. I swear while I’m a good lay, I’m also not that bad of a guy. I’m a good cook...I was taught to dance as a child. I’m a pretty good catch Y/N. Even if you just want to have sex with me.”
The sound of Princess choking was heard making Y/N shoot her a glare when Negan flashed another arrogant smile, “Even if it was only sex you wanted from me, I’m fairly certain I would turn it down because I like you. A lot.”
“Turn down the charm a few notches there buddy,” she reached out to pat him on the knee making Negan’s expressive eyes look down and she immediately pulled her hand away. Probably not the best of places to be touching when they were talking about sex. “We’re both going to be at the party Negan. What does it matter if we are going together or not?”
“Come on. It’s Christmas, give me a shot,” Negan stood up from his chair and headed over toward the lounging chair that was at the corner of the room. Kicking his feet up, he folded his arms in front of his chest and shrugged. “You might actually find yourself liking me.”
“I’m still stuck on all of the sex talk,” Princess rambled making Negan snort when she stood from her seat and took a seat on the edge of the table. “Y/N, I know that this is none of my business, but you’re alone for the holidays…Negan is alone. Why not forget your ex for just a little while? Have some fun with Negan…”
“You know he is sitting right there,” she pointed toward Negan who was eating one of the cookies that he had snagged from Princess.
“I like what she’s saying,” Negan snapped his fingers in the direction of Princess who shrugged. It didn’t seem to bother him that Princess was being his biggest cheerleader right now. “You think I’m good looking, right? So what’s the big deal?”
“You know you’re good looking,” she corrected him making Negan’s eyebrows bounce up before nodding. “Negan, you are one of the most charming, good-looking people I’ve ever met…”
“Then why won’t you go out on a date with me?” Negan tossed his hands up in the air after finishing his last cookie, still having a mouthful while he spoke. “You’re single. I’m single. You like spending time with me. I like spending time with you. You’re attracted to me. I’m attracted to you. Everything lines up. I’m actually a pretty fun guy and I think you would end up enjoying the time you spend with me.”
“You just don’t come off like the serious relationship kind of guy and that’s really what I’m looking for,” she explained with a long sigh making Negan frown when he put his feet down and he sat forward in the seat he was in. “Plus, I still believe that maybe when I go back to my hometown over break…I can fix things with my ex. Maybe when we talk…”
“First of all, he broke up with you and he doesn’t really deserve you,” Princess added her input making Y/N frown with her friend’s words. It may have not been for the best with her to be totally open about things with Princess, but she never lied to her best friend. Princess knew everything and she really wasn’t wrong. It was her ex that had dumped her through a text. Not even a phone call. It was a text.
“Plus, how do you know what kind of guy I am? You barely know me,” Negan pointed out, clearing his throat when he rubbed his hands in over his thighs. “I know everything about you because I listen to you. But what do you really know about me?”
“What’s there to know? You’re Negan,” she waved her hand in the air making his jaw clench and his eyebrows bounce up. “You’re charming. You’re a flirt. You’re the life of the party. Everyone likes you and anyone who doesn’t, it’s because they are usually a tight ass. You’re good looking. Everyone wants to get close to you.”
“Everyone, but you,” Negan bit down on his bottom lip and stood up from where he was seated and feigned a big smile. “So come on. How about the two of us go to the party tonight and try it as like a kind of a date between the two of us? Maybe you can actually learn some things about me. About my personal life. I think you might actually like getting to know me.”
“I like knowing you the way we are now,” she responded clearly upsetting him when she turned him down again. “Negan, if I didn’t still have feelings for my ex, I would definitely consider dating you. You’re amazing and I really like you, but…”
“I get it,” he dismissed her excuses that she would likely come up with again because he had already heard them all and he’d heard them multiple times. It was doing a number to his ego at this point. He should have taken the hint and let his crush die down, but he couldn’t help the way he actually felt about Y/N. “It would just be nice if the two of us got to hang out beyond a work setting. I think it would be really nice to be able to take you out to dinner. Do something that you like. Just to let you know how wonderful and special you really are.”
“Remind me that I have Mercer, please,” Princess reached back to smack at the table since she was in complete awe of the things that Negan was saying to Y/N. “Y/N, you’re crazy. He’s…he’s incredible and it’s taking everything inside of me not to launch myself at him.”
“Feel free,” Negan joked with her, giving her a wink before his laughter filled the air when Princess hopped down from the table and into his arms. Keeping a good grasp on her, Negan could see the way that Y/N was entertained when he spun Princess in his arms once. The way his deep, raspy laugh filled the air brought happiness and joy to the room. Hearing the two people she cared for the most here giggling like they were just made her happy. “At least you’re good for my ego.”
“Baby, you’re good for your own ego,” Princess responded, reaching up to squeeze at his jawline when Negan set her down to her feet. It made Negan grin, the wrinkles in his face adding to the chiseled masculine look. “Your face is beautiful Boo. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”
“As is your face, Princess. I would go into more detail, but I’m not eager to get ripped apart by your boyfriend,” Negan palmed down in over the side of Princess’ face making her swoon a bit before heading back to her seat. Negan went back to the chair at the corner of the room and sighed. “So I guess we will all just see each other later then at the party?”
“You have detention tonight with the kids, don’t you?” Princess confirmed looking back at Y/N who groaned out when she thought about that. It hadn’t even crossed her mind, but all of the teachers had to switch up every so often in order to do that. “So you’ll have to go home and get ready immediately before going.”
“I don’t want to do that,” she grumbled to herself, lifting her head to see that Negan was staring out at her with his big eyes. When she sat up straight, she could see that Negan immediately shook his head. “Negan, please? I promise I will do you a favor if you take over detention for me tonight. You know the kids like you better anyways.”
“Y/N, no…” Negan immediately threw his hands up and denied her of that. Getting up from her seat, she moved across the room toward him. Clearing his throat, Negan looked up at her with his long eyelashes fluttering. “I do detention so much as it is and I was looking forward to the party tonight and…”
His words came to a halt when she lowered down onto his lap. Hooking her arm around his shoulders, she stroked down over the side of Negan’s face drawing his eyes to her lips. The warmth of his breath lingered over hers, the flexing of his jaw muscle felt underneath her fingertips with her so close to him. Drawing her thumb out over his bottom lip, she hooked her eyes with his and leaned in closer to him, “Please?”
“I just…” Negan stammered, his eyebrows furrowing when he leaned forward just enough to nudge her nose with his. Was this cruel of her? Yeah, but she was working with what she had in order to make things work in the way that she wanted. Hooking her free hand into Negan’s thick, dark hair made him grunt when she heard Princess let out something that sounded like a squeal behind her. “Yeah, I guess I could do that for you.”
“Thank you, Negan,” she leaned in to press a lingering kiss against his cheek. When she stood from his lap, it made him huff loudly and he shifted uneasily in the chair that he was seated in. Negan’s face was flushed and it made her smile. It was now just hitting him that he had been played and easily at that. With the kind of guy that Negan was, she never actually pictured herself being the kind of person that could turn him into mush in just the palm of her hand. Maybe it felt good to know that she could get the teacher that everyone crushed on both students and teachers alike crushing on her. It was an ego booster for sure and if she wasn’t still hooked on her ex, she would have been twitterpated with him too.
“Shit,” Negan grunted lowering his head and leaning forward to palm in over the sides of his face with how easily she had just persuaded him into taking her detentions with the students after school.
“That was cruel Boo,” Princess pointed out when Y/N moved to sit next to her on the edge of the table. Negan sat there for a moment before letting out a loud exhale. Getting up slowly, he pointed his fingers at the container that Princess had, she immediately handed the whole thing over to him. “I have a feeling you will need these more than anyone else right now.”
“Thanks Princess,” Negan gave a final wink before heading out of the teacher’s lounge leaving both Princess and Y/N alone together. Princess dramatically turned to stare out at Y/N who shrugged her shoulders.
“What?”
“You know what!” Princess shook her head and stood from the table. “You have that man wrapped around your finger and that was mean. That man deserves at least a dance with you tonight because you knew what you were doing.”
“I just really did not want to do detention tonight,” she blew off the tension that Princess was flooding in over her. “Hell, you know the kids like Negan more than they do me. Knowing him, he will just let them out early so they can get home for the holiday break.”
“Still, that was cold,” Princess repeated what she had said earlier and looked down at her watch to see the time. “You know when it was your birthday and you were still with your boyfriend, Negan was the person bringing you flowers for your birthday. Not your boyfriend.”
“That was very sweet and I’m not lying to you Princess if I didn’t love Daryl so much, I would be very interested in Negan. My heart just belonged to someone else first,” she tried to reason with her friend knowing that it was hard to explain. Negan was one of her favorite people and she considered him to be one of her close friends, but beyond that she just couldn’t see herself being with anyone else other than Daryl. “Daryl has just been my heart for so long that it’s hard to think of anyone else.”
“Whatever works best for you Boo,” Princess couldn’t deny Y/N of her feelings, but it was clear that she didn’t agree with her choices. “I have to get back to class, but Mercer and I will pick you up before the party. Just make sure that you are ready.”
Giving a nod, Y/N sat back down in her seat and thought about everything that just took place. Princess wasn’t wrong. Negan was exceedingly good to her and did very nice things for her, but there were still a lot of things that lingered in her mind. Did he only want her because she was the one person that was telling him no? Why did Negan like her so much? And why couldn’t she like Negan back like he did her? All she knew was that she had high hopes to rekindle her romance with her ex this holiday break and she just wasn’t interested in Negan like that.
“You look very nice tonight Y/N,” Mercer called out from the booth they were sat at where the holiday party was taking place at a local popular bar. It was charming hearing Princess’ boyfriend say a compliment like that to her, but she knew it was an obligation almost for him to do so since Princess was also someone who was full of compliments for people and Mercer just overall was a very polite person. “I like your dress.”
“That’s because I helped her pick it out,” Princess reached out to poke her fingers at Y/N’s side looking at the black dress that was clinging to her body. “We wanted to emphasize some of her better traits. Like those beautiful breasts!”
“Princess!” Y/N felt her face getting flushed when her friend went so candid into talking about things. That was one thing about Princess that she loved. She wasn’t afraid to be outspoken about things, but it always did make things interesting and slightly embarrassing at the same time.
“I’m just saying. Don’t you think her boobs look really fantastic in the dress,” Princess suggested, holding her hand out toward Y/N making Mercer shake his head and chuckle at his girlfriend’s antics. “Baby, come on. You have to back me up here.”
“I think she looks beautiful tonight baby,” Mercer commented with a wink knowing that he wouldn’t go to the depths that Princess would in order to compliment Y/N, but he could admit that she looked nice because he was a gentleman. “Are you out to look for someone’s attention?”
“Not really, no. Your girlfriend was just eager to have me dress up,” she looked down at herself knowing that she would have likely just kept her work clothes on. There was no one she was looking to impress. In fact she just felt rather cold. This felt like a stupid idea getting this dressed up for really nothing.
“Holy shit,” Princess breathed out when Y/N looked to her friend to see that Princess was staring out at the door to the place. When her eyes connected with what Princess was looking at, she saw Negan standing at the entrance. He was wearing a three-piece black suit that was tailored nicely to his slender body. His hair was slicked back and his hands were in his pockets while he looked around the place. When their eyes connected, Negan gave her a small nod and smirked. Damn, she understood why Princess reacted the way she did. Negan sure did clean up nicely. Not that he didn’t look good normally, but to see him dressed up was not something she was used to. There seemed to be a sense of sadness in his features when he gave her a wink and headed off toward the crowd of his friends that he was close to. Almost immediately she could see a few of the women that worked with them flirting with Negan and he was flirting back. “I think you made a mistake tonight because look at him.”
“I’m looking at him and he looks amazing, but he’s not going to be lacking in the attention that you think he deserves,” Y/N emphasized, looking back at Princess with a simple shrug. “There are so many women that give Negan attention, he will be just fine tonight.”
“Ah, that dude has got it bad for you,” Mercer stammered making both Princess and Y/N look back at him with confusion in their eyes. “Yeah, we’ve talked at a few of these parties that you guys go to and I’ve never heard someone talk so positively about someone they aren’t even dating. He thinks the world of you and he lets everyone know it. It’s not like creepy either, he just really is your biggest cheerleader. I know you’re writing a book and he’s always commenting on how talented you are. I thought the two of you were dating the first time I met him. Even the way he looks at you…”
“And this is why I love you,” Princess affirmed lifting up enough to meet Mercer in a kiss that drew a pleased sound from his lips. “He’s a romantic at heart just like me.”
“Is this something that everyone knows?” Y/N knew that Negan liked her, but at the same time she didn’t realize how much. “I knew that Negan liked me, but it seems like you all know more about it than I actually do.”
“You’re the only one that is absolutely blind to his affections for you,” Princess declared with a dramatic bob of her head. “I’m just saying a small fling wouldn’t hurt you. He’s hot, he likes you…”
“Princess,” Y/N couldn’t help but laugh at how hard Princess was trying to play matchmaker with her and Negan. “Just give me time to go home and see my ex. I was hoping to rekindle things with him. Starting something with Negan would make it really hard for me to do that.”
“My gosh, you stress me out with this. I need a drink,” Princess alerted both Mercer and Y/N from where she was seated between them. It made Y/N roll her eyes, but not in an angry way. It just tickled her that her friend was so persistent at trying to get her to go out with Negan. “You need to let me out to go get us some drinks.”
“I’ll go with you,” she announced following Princess up toward the bar while Princess enthusiastically ordered them a round of drinks. Waiting for Princess to finish, Y/N let out a grunt when she felt someone running into her. “I am so sorry…”
“No, it was my fault…” a familiar voice drew her attention when she looked behind her to see a pair of blue eyes that she had become so very accustomed to throughout her life. Surprise filled her body when she saw that it was Daryl standing behind her dressed in what was possibly the nicest suit she had ever seen him in. Dressing up wasn’t always his favorite thing to do so just seeing him like that had her wondering if she was dreaming or this was in fact real. “Oh wow, hey.”
“Daryl?” she muttered his name seeing the uncomfortable body language that he displayed when he saw that it was her that he had run into. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think I would see you again until I went back to town in a few days. You hate the city.”
“I do,” Daryl let out a hesitant breath, reaching up to brush his fingers through his hair before shifting on his feet.
“Who is this?” Princess turned toward the two of them and her eyes were curious with the way that Y/N looked before the stranger.
“This is Daryl,” Y/N answered with a loud swallow making Princess gasp and set her drink down on top of the bar top.
“The Daryl?” Princess exclaimed, pushing forward to reach for Daryl’s hand to introduce herself enthusiastically. Probably too much with how she was shaking Daryl’s hand repetitively. “Man, I have heard so much about you! It’s nice to put a face to the name! You’re not what I pictured, I can tell you that. But I’ve really heard so much!”
“Probably not the best of things,” Daryl pointed out with a tip of his head making Princess chuckle. All she ever did was talk good about Daryl, so there was no way that Princess would even acknowledge that she would say something bad about him.
“Nothing but good my friend. This one here thinks the world of you,” Princess guaranteed Daryl with a firm nod, gazing to Y/N who looked confused. It was nice that even though Princess had spent so much time trying to hook her up with Negan that Princess was still being so polite and complimentary about Y/N’s ex-boyfriend. Then again, she knew how much Daryl meant to Y/N. “What are you doing here? You’re a bit out of your hometown, aren’t you? Did Y/N invite you?”
“I had no idea that Y/N would be here. I mean, I knew she lived in the city, but…” Daryl cleared his throat looking between the two women before him and he bit at his bottom lip. “Uhm, I was here for my girlfriend. She was getting an award for the work she did. She’s a journalist and she did this story that drew a lot of attention about a local politician. I’m here to support her. Her name is Connie.”
Hearing that immediately made Y/N’s heart skip a beat. Lowering her stare down toward the ground she could feel her heart breaking. Those words shattered her immediately because she had always felt like whatever had happened between the two of them could be healed if she came home. Hope was what fueled her when it came to Daryl so hearing that he was dating someone else absolutely destroyed her, but she was trying to hide it. Princess could pick up on how she was feeling and there was a supportive hand that was placed over her shoulders from her friend. From the corner of her eye she could see that Daryl was eyeing her over carefully. In fact he was fixated on her almost trying to encapsulate her emotions.
“That’s…that’s awesome,” Y/N finally spoke up trying to hide her feelings in this lie. It seemed like relief flooded through Daryl’s veins when he explained why he was there. “Did they bring her up from the town?”
“No, she works out here,” Daryl was honest, his eyebrows bouncing up when there was an emotion he couldn’t read behind her eyes. “I come out here as often as I can to be with her. When she has the chance, she comes out to our hometown to see me. We’re making it work.”
“That’s just great,” she took her time to say each word wondering if she had fallen asleep and this was just some kind of cruel nightmare that she was having. Daryl was going above and beyond for a new girlfriend of his? Doing the things that he had broken up with her for because he wasn’t capable of doing it when they were together. “So she’s a journalist, huh? You’re into writers.”
“Well, I mean she’s a real writer,” Daryl corrected Y/N making Princess gasp, but Y/N tensed up knowing that Princess wanted to make a comment. That was really offensive, but it didn’t seem like Daryl thought much about it. “I suppose that response means that you are still writing as a hobby, which is great to hear Y/N. I’m glad you still have that dream to get noticed one day.”
“You know there are multiple versions of a writer,” Princess pushed forward to make her presence known after she could tell that Daryl’s comment actually hurt her friend. “Your girlfriend is a journalist. Which is a person who writes for newspapers, magazines, websites. That kind of thing. What Y/N is here is a novelist. What she writes is fiction. See, they both are writers, but they write for different things.”
“Right…” Daryl’s eyes narrowed finding himself uneasy with how aggressive Princess was coming off toward him. “I guess I just mean Connie gets paid for it. It’s a real job for her. One that is actually her career. Whereas with Y/N, that’s really not the case.”
“Listen here…” Princess prepared herself for a battle, but Y/N hushed her knowing that it would just end with the two of them going multiple rounds with each other. Daryl and Princess were not the same kind of person and she knew that it would only lead to an argument that neither one of them would win. “Y/N?”
“You…I just…” Y/N felt dumbfounded after hearing all of that come out of the person that she believed to once love her more than anyone ever had. It felt like her throat was swelling up and she didn’t know what to say. There was a lump in her throat that she wasn’t quite able to swallow down. Daryl refused to go to the city to visit her. He always told her that he hated it. It made him uncomfortable. Nothing about the city was appealing to him. Hell, that was his biggest reason for splitting up with her. He didn’t like the long-distance relationship between them. So to hear that he was doing it for someone that he had only met in such a short time broke her up on the inside. There were so many questions she had, but she knew if she asked them, she would look absolutely pathetic. “That’s wonderful to hear. I’m happy for you.”
“Yeah?” Daryl showed doubt in his eyes with his right eyebrow arching up. He didn’t believe her. There was no way she was selling it all that well since her heart was so set on the two of them getting back together. “I didn’t know how you would handle it. So I’m glad to hear you say that. So you’re coming home, right? You’ll be able to meet her for the holidays. I will be bringing her with me so the family can meet her.”
“Yeah, of course,” she cleared her throat feeling like the world was spinning around her. The oxygen felt like it was being pulled from her lungs while Princess continued to show her support while caressing up and over her back.
“You’re coming alone, right?” Daryl confirmed making Princess scoff silently behind Y/N. Princess took it almost as a diss. Assuming that Y/N wouldn’t have anyone that was special for her. “There’s no boyfriend for you, right?”
“Actually…” Y/N watched someone step between her and Daryl at the bar. With the familiar deep, raspy voice before her she realized that it was Negan ordering a drink for himself. Bracing her hand on the bar, Negan turned to look at her and offered up a small smirk.
“You okay?” Negan could sense that something was wrong with her when she boldly moved forward. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Negan stepped back enough, but she reached out confidently to grab a firm hold of his suit jacket. Tugging him down just enough, she claimed Negan’s lips in a heated kiss. It shocked Negan at first, but he didn’t pull away from it which she was thankful for. What was a sudden judgement call became almost passionate while Negan’s lips caressed over hers again and again. When they parted, she almost forgot in that moment why she had kissed Negan to begin with. His breath was warm against her lips, his hands settling in over her hips when she let out a shuddering breath. The taste of the gum that he had been chewing had been lingering on his lips leaving her with an icy chill.
“This is my boyfriend Negan,” she noticed the way that Daryl was staring out at the two of them together. Princess let out a squealing sound behind the two of them when Daryl let out an uncomfortable breath. “Negan, this is my ex, Daryl.”
“Oh. Oh!” Negan almost immediately picked up on what she was doing and he loosely hooked his arm around her shoulders to draw her closer to him. He didn’t know the details, but he could tell that she was using him for whatever it was that she wanted in relation to Daryl. “It’s nice to finally meet you man. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Wow,” Daryl piped in extending his hand out to meet Negan’s in a firm shake when Negan curled his arm tightly around Y/N to bring her closer to him. Leaning in, Negan pressed a kiss against Y/N’s temple and felt her hand settling in over his chest. “I was just asking Y/N if she was going to be bringing someone with her to our hometown for the holidays. Now I’m assuming she is with you. It’s great. I have my girlfriend and she has you.”
Hearing that made everything get put into acknowledgement for Negan and it made sense. Even Negan knew how much she had been fond of her ex-boyfriend so for her to hear that he was dating someone else had to crush her. While he didn’t like being used, he got it and he cared enough about Y/N to do this for her.
“Yeah, of course I’ll be coming with her,” Negan slurred with a wink surprising her with his words. “I can’t wait actually. Y/N has told me a lot about her hometown and I’m eager to see all the festivities that you do out there.”
“So, it’s just the two of you?” Daryl confirmed and Y/N went to nod before Negan shook his head surprising her.
“Well the two of us and my daughter,” Negan explained making Y/N turn her head to stare out at Negan perplexed. Never in all the time that she had known Negan had she ever heard anything about Negan having a child. “My six-year-old daughter will be accompanying us. Along with our dog.”
“Our dog?” she repeated what he had just said making her wonder what the hell she had just gotten herself into.
“Yeah, Tucker,” Negan waved his hand about in the air before shrugging his shoulders. “Actually my daughter would kick my butt for telling you she was six. She’s six and three quarters. Apparently, that means something big to her because it’s almost seven. Her name is Zoe. And our dog is a golden retriever. You’ll get to meet the whole crew.”
“Wow, you’re dating someone with a kid? That’s…that’s big. I didn’t know that you even wanted a dog or to have kids. You were always so focused on work that…” Daryl seemed surprised to hear that she was dating someone that had a child and he shifted on his feet. “It will be nice to meet your daughter Negan. I think she’s gonna love what we do out in our hometown. They take Christmas very seriously.”
“She is going to love it,” Negan winked moving in to press another kiss against Y/N’s temple. Everything around her felt like it was spinning further and it was hot. Exceedingly hot. Which in comparison to the cool chill she was feeling before this whole encounter made it almost feel like a flu of sorts. Y/N was silent. Hell, Negan wasn’t wrong when he told her that she barely knew him. “You okay baby?”
“Oh, yeah…” she knew that Negan must have realized that she was locking herself up inside of her mind and he was doing his hardest to sell this for her since that’s what she was clearly going for. A breath caught in her throat when his rough fingertips swept in over the side of her face. It drew her eyes to his when he lowered down in closer to her. With the warmth of his breath over hers, she felt her lips part before his lips collided with hers. It was gentle at first with his lips attempting to calm her into getting used to him. Lifting her hand, she curled her fingers around the back of his neck when she gradually started to kiss him back. Even with Daryl before them, she could feel herself sinking further in against him while he kissed her. Damn it, why did he have to be so good at kissing? With her lips slightly parted it allowed Negan’s tongue to brush between her lips to flick faintly against hers making her whimper. With an uncomfortable clearing of his throat, Daryl made his presence known again which honestly for a moment she had almost forgotten about in that kiss. As they parted, Negan smirked and looked to Daryl with an amused expression. “I’m sorry…”
“It’s okay. You two clearly like each other. I’m going to get going, I have to find Connie,” Daryl announced stepping back and away from them. “I will see all of you soon. Have a good night.”
“You too,” Negan waved watching Daryl start to walk away. Daryl’s eyes were occasionally gazing back and Negan slid his hand in over her hip drawing her to him. Pressing her back toward the bar, Negan curled his fingers around the side of her neck, his thumb caressing over her jawline when he whispered. “Kiss me because it’s working in making him jealous.”
Listening to his suggestion, she tipped up on her toes and met Negan in another kiss. This one was a bit more confident as they both eagerly kissed one another. Kissing Negan wasn’t all that hard while his talented caress of his lips over hers continued. Palming up over his back, toward his shoulders and to the back of his neck led her to curl her fingers into his dark hair. Returning the previous gesture that he did earlier when his lips parted, she brushed her tongue against his and heard him grunt. With the vibration against her mouth, she found herself falling in closer to his chest. With each passing second, the kiss grew further in desperation and want. It drew her heart to race, her core to heat up and chills were running down her spine.
“He’s gone,” Princess announced attempting to get the two of them to stop kissing. When that didn’t seem to work, Princess tapped her hand against the top of the bar and made Negan pull back slightly. Peppering small kisses over her bottom lip to finalize the moment left Y/N breathless. Her eyes closed for a moment while she gathered herself. When her eyes did open, she saw Negan dragging his thumb over his bottom lip and it made her pant. “Watching that whole thing play out in front of me was wild, y’know?”
“Wild,” Y/N repeated what Princess had said still feeling her body on fire after that kiss that Negan left her with. Princess was staring out at Y/N noticing the way that she was flushed over after that kiss with Negan. It took a few for her to actually gather herself before Y/N was able to draw together any kind of coherent sentences. “I guess we should probably talk about what just happened.”
“You think?” Princess choked making Negan smirk when he gazed over at her with his bright, hazel eyes. “We should take this shit to the table because I think we’re going to be here for a while.”
It was hard to stand up on her legs steady. It surprised her how much Negan’s kiss affected her. There was something special to be said about how that man could kiss. In fact, she was in awe of it. When she headed back to the table, Negan braced his hand in over the small of her back and she allowed it. Part of her wanted to be touched by Negan and she didn’t understand it after she had just been crushed by Daryl.
“So…” Princess stared out at both Y/N and Negan after that whole thing just went down. “What the hell is going on from here because what just happened was insane.”
“I assume what’s going on from here is that I’m going to join Y/N to her hometown in order to try and draw the attention of Daryl if I’m not incorrect,” Negan tapped his hands on top of the table, his jaw flexing when he gazed her over. “Is that the whole plan we just came up with?”
“I’m sorry, but what did I just miss?” Mercer was confused. He had seen everything from afar as well which means he had no storyline to back it up with what just happened. “I thought it was a happy moment for the two of you watching you making out at the bar, but now I’m confused.”
“Long story short Babe, the guy that was up there was Y/N’s ex. He’s here because he has a girlfriend. It crushed Y/N and he made a smart remark about her not being with anyone and Negan showed up. Cue to her kissing this man pretending he was her boyfriend and Negan caught onto what she was doing. They created this elaborate story about how they were going to be going to her town together for Christmas to make her ex jealous and now you’re all caught up,” Princess pat Mercer on the back hearing him inhale sharply. His face scrunched up and he visibly wasn’t a fan of the plan that was just laid out in front of them. “Good talk Boo.”
“First of all, why would you do that for me?” she pushed still finding herself having goosebumps over her arms from the kisses that they shared moments earlier. The taste of him still lingered and she found herself lost in the emotions that it made her feel. “And how did I never know that you had a daughter? You never talk about her.”
“Yes, I do,” Negan declared with a grunt, his nose wrinkling when she suggested his daughter was a secret. “I talk about Zoe all the time. Almost every day. Do you really have that little interest in me that you didn’t even realize I had a daughter?”
“I swear you’ve never talked about her,” she defended herself placing her hand over the center of her chest and she looked toward Princess. There was no way that she could have blocked out that much of an important detail.
“He talks about her all the time,” Princess agreed with Negan seeing Negan wave his hand about in the air before pointing at Princess. “I have to agree with Negan here babe. He’s one of our best friends, how were you not paying attention to the fact that he has a daughter? A daughter that he loves very much and shows off to everyone?”
“I’m so sorry Negan,” she apologized feeling her chest aching knowing that she had blocked out so much that Negan talked about because she was likely self-centered and focused on herself. With her saying sorry, she saw that Negan’s eyes seemed upset when he lowered his stare to look at his hands that were laid out on the tabletop. “I know that since Daryl broke up with me, I’ve kind of been locked inside my own head. I should have been paying attention, I feel like an asshole.”
“I think you need to do a little better than that,” Princess piped in and Y/N shot her a glare making Princess immediately throw her hands up in the air in a defensive position.
“It’s okay, I’ve kind of learned from this whole encounter that I would never be your type anyways because I’m a widower with a kid, a dog and that’s just not your thing according to your ex,” Negan recalled what Daryl had noted about Y/N when he had learned about Negan’s daughter. “I’m a single dad and if that turns you off, then I don’t see a problem in helping you try to win back your boyfriend for the holiday season. Zoe and I don’t really have a lot of family, so it might be nice to be around people for Christmas. My daughter is the most important thing in my life, so I will have to run it by her first to see if she’s okay with it, but I’m sure she will be.”
“I don’t have a problem with you being a single father Negan. I’m sorry I blocked all of this out. I probably just thought that you were talking about a date or something and I just closed things out of my mind,” she couldn’t find an acceptable reason for her to genuinely ignore so much about Negan that was obviously such a big part of who he was. Negan’s face scrunched up. It was a horrible excuse for her and she knew it. She just came off like a horrible asshole at this point and felt like she didn’t deserve any of this. “Are you sure you want to do this Negan? I mean at the end of the day, I don’t deserve your help. I’m a horrible friend.”
“I’d do anything for you,” Negan responded, dragging his tongue out over his bottom lip. With his long eyelashes fluttering, she felt her heart skip a beat and wondered how she had turn off so many emotions when it came to Negan. Her eyes fell to the necklace that he wore where she could see the wedding ring that was resting against the center of his chest. She had known about Negan having a wife, but now that she knew he was a widower and single father she genuinely felt bad that she had been so eager to write his conversations off as unimportant. It embarrassed Negan when he told her what he did, but he simply swallowed down and shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t like the look it left you with when you were sad. I hate to see you like that.”
“I don’t like this idea,” Mercer whispered to Princess and it was loud enough for Y/N to hear, but not Negan. “He’s in love with her and this isn’t a good idea.”
“Let it play out baby,” Princess tried to hush him, but Mercer was right. This was wrong. She had used Negan before and it was wrong then, but this was especially wrong.
“I can’t ask you to do this Negan,” she extended her hand out to press her fingers in over his making his eyebrows bounce up just at the touch. “It’s cruel. You’re too good to me as it is. I should just own up to it being a lie and be who I am at home. I’ll get over it.”
“Listen, I know it sounds pathetic, but Christmas time is pretty lonely for Zoe and me. It’s been two years since Lucille passed and I am doing my best with Zoe, but I know that she should be surrounded by people that are happy. I’m genuinely depressed during this time and I think it would be good for her to do things for Christmas instead of being stuck with me,” Negan confessed making a lump grow larger in Y/N’s throat. Glancing back, she could see that Princess’s eyes were glazed over with a dampness when Negan was being so brutally honest with her. “You get to have someone help you try to win back the love of your life and I get to let my daughter experience a Christmas where she can be happy where we aren’t both lonely.”
“Damn,” Mercer blurt out making all of them jump at how loud he was actually being. “If you don’t go with her, I’m taking you in for Christmas because you’re breaking my heart here man.”
“Are you sure?” she confirmed with Negan who nodded once, clearing his throat when he was visibly emotional over what he just admitted to her. “I mean yeah, I guess I would love to bring you home with me Negan. I just, my family is weird. I have to tell you that ahead of time and they get a bit extreme on the holidays. They also have no chill. They will get up in your business and not be afraid to do so.”
“Look at who you are talking too,” Negan flashed her a smile knowing that he was a very wild and out there person himself. Hooking his fingers with hers, Negan noticed the way she looked down at their hands together and he sighed. “I don’t know the meaning of personal space and I’m pretty fucking open. So I think I’ll be okay.”
It felt nice to have that warmth of his fingers linked with hers, but she hated that her mind was still so focused on Daryl. Hearing the laughter surrounding them, she almost forgot that they were at a party and she shook off the feeling that she had, “I think we need to probably sit down and talk. Where I actually listen and talk to you about life.”
“Would certainly help if you were going to pretend to be my girlfriend,” Negan noted with a bounce of his eyebrows and a smirk that drew her attention to his gorgeous dimples. “Plus, I think you need to meet Zoe and Tucker. I can set up a day where the four of us get to know one another before you have to leave.”
“I’d like that,” she knew that she never really pictured herself being around children, especially not this early, but since Negan was willing to go out on a limb for her, she was going to do her best to accommodate him and his daughter. When the music got loud and she saw some people out on the dance floor together, she nodded toward the direction of the group. “Do you want to dance with me Negan?”
“Uh, yeah,” Negan bobbed his head about standing from the table and reached out for her hand. “I’d love to.”
Accepting his hand, she allowed him to help her up from the table before they headed out toward the dance floor together. Carefully, Negan set his hand at her hip while his other hand grabbed a hold of hers. The close contact between the two of them when they came together made a breath catch in her throat when Negan pressed his forehead to hers. In that moment the smell of his cologne surrounded her making her hum in approval. God, he smelled good.
“So you were trained to dance as a kid, huh?” she brought up something he had said to her earlier in the day making him nod his head and smile.
“My mother thought it would be a useful talent to have,” Negan answered her while they moved together in unison. This was something Daryl would have never been caught dead doing. Dancing with her. It embarrassed him so they often just sat out with things. “I can’t say it’s really helped other than woo a few women in my life, but I have the talent for it.”
“That’s actually charming,” she spoke up while enjoying the warmth of his breath over hers. They were so close that it made her heart rate quicken again. Parting her lips, she lowered her head and pressed it against the center of his chest to try to avoid wanting to kiss him again. That was both a good decision and a poor one because the scent of him got stronger the closer he was to her. And his head lowered to rest his jaw in over the top of her head. This was actually very sweet and it was making her swoon more than it should have. “Tell me about Zoe.”
“Well, she’s beautiful. The perfect blend of me and her mother which means she spunky, full of attitude, but she’s also the sweetest thing in the world. The love I get from her is the purest form of love that I’ve ever felt in my entire life. She’s my shadow. A mini me if you want to compare. We watch football games together, we have princess parties…she’s really good at painting my nails,” Negan rambled on making Y/N burst out in laughter and lift her head to look up at him. “Oh yeah, I rock pink nails quite often. She loves to do both the feet and the hands. We have the most killer tea parties.”
“Please tell me you have pictures,” she begged making Negan snicker and nod. “I need to see those.”
“You got it,” Negan insisted while they continued to dance together. “She’s got a lot of energy and a lot of heart. She’s only six, but she’s so mature for her age. Sometimes I think she is the one taking care of me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
“That’s beautiful Negan,” she felt herself getting emotional. Negan seemed like a great father, but she was upset that this was someone she considered a good friend and she never acknowledged that he was a father. It made her think about all of the other things that she may have missed out on with him because of how she was. It made her angry with herself because how could she do that to someone she actually cared about? “Zoe sounds amazing.”
“She is. You’re gonna like her,” Negan claimed with a happy smile, his eyes hooking with hers. “She’s a lot of fun. Full of personality. And I think she will really like you. You have a lot of her mother’s qualities. I think you two will hit it off pretty good.”
Hearing that made everything sink in. She reminded him of his late wife. That both hurt and made her feel bad. There were parts of her that reminded Negan of his wife that passed away. Yet here she was treating him like shit this whole time. Cussing to herself, she lowered her head, but Negan pulled his hand from hers to curl it in underneath her chin.
“I have been such a shitty person to you Negan. I am so sorry,” she apologized again hating to find out the way that she had been. Negan’s head tipped to the side while she spoke making her throat go dry. “I thought you were one way and you’re…you’re not.”
“Ah, I’m a complicated fucking case,” Negan maintained with a wink, stroking over the side of her face with his rough fingertips. “But I think you’ll figure me out soon enough.”
“I hope so,” she noticed that in the distance Daryl was at the corner of the room watching them together. A chill flooded her body knowing that Daryl seemed to have an interest in seeing her with Negan dancing. Feigning that she didn’t see him, she simply lowered her head to the center of Negan’s chest again and heard a loud breath leave Negan’s lips. “I’m actually kind of looking forward to this whole thing.”
“Me too,” Negan nuzzled his nose in against the top of her head making her feel guilty. They were both apparently getting something out of this, but what was making her look forward to this whole exchange was definitely not the same reason it was for Negan. It was clear that Negan made Daryl jealous which made her happy to know. Negan was a very good looking, charming guy and it would be easy to grab the attention of others around them. But deep down she knew that he still liked her and this was going to be both the easiest and the hardest thing she had ever done. Hopefully at the end of this, the two of them still could be good friends.