Sunny Days

Chapter 17

Her eyelids fought to stay closed. Her temples throbbed. She was dead  or at the very least dying. She would open her eyes and, hopefully, see  the pearly gates instead of fire and brimstone. Cracking her eyes, she  saw the other side of the bed, empty. Gingerly rolling over, she saw the  chandelier in her room she shared with Negan. Not heaven or hell, well  definitely not heaven...just Earth.

Sunny recalled drinking, having fun the night before, but the cotton  mouth and churning stomach didn't seem an equal punishment for a card  game and some booze. Never again would she let that devil tempt her with  a good time. At least not a drunken good time.

She dragged her body in a sitting position, pulling her legs  momentarily to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees. She glanced  at the night stand and saw a glass of water and two little white pills.  Not caring about wasting medications, she popped the pills in her mouth  and swallowed them as she gulped down the water. Guilt would be  tomorrow Sunny's problem.

Sighing, she knew she needed to make it to the bathroom before Negan  burst through the door and splash some water on her face...cold water.  Maybe even a cold shower. She dragged herself from her bed and moved  with all the grace of a rotting walker to the bathroom. Crossing the  threshold, she recalled leaning over the toilet last night, Negan  holding her hair and rubbing her back as she vomited. She lost the card  game and tossed her cookies. She was never going to hear the end of  this.

A few minutes later, feeling a bit cleaner and her mind a bit  clearer, she opened the door to the bathroom and groaned. Negan sat at  the table, his chair turned to face the door. His long legs stretched in  front of him crossed at the ankles, his chin resting on his fist while a  Cheshire cat grin spread across his punchable face.

"How's my pukey princess this morning?" he asked.

Sunny glared and growled as she cut a wide path around her husband,  but not wide enough. His hands snatched her hips and pulled her down on  top of his lap. "Don't cut those eyes at me. It's not my fucking fault  you suck at cards and drinking." His fingers worked their way up her  sides playing her ribs like a keyboard until she squealed.

"I don't suck at cards." She laughed, trying to squirm out of his  grasp. "You suck at dealing. It's your fault I lost." She swatted at his  chest, out of breath. "Let—me—go!"

Negan's grip on her loosened, and she found herself lurching towards  the floor, preparing to hit the hard surface. Strong arms wrapped around  her once more and pulled her close. His voice rumbled against her ear,  "See what happens if I fucking let you go?"

Snuggling into his chest, she breathed the scent of his cologne and  sighed. "Maybe you shouldn't manhandle me...then you wouldn't almost drop  me."

His chest vibrated as he chuckled. "You like it when I manhandle you."

"Not before breakfast I don't and definitely not hungover. You're  lucky I didn't puke on you." She pushed away from him and stood  straightening out her tank top and boy shorts.

He slapped her ass and pointed to the chair across from him. "Have a  seat, baby doll. You need to get something on your fucking stomach. I  only brought you toast and fruit. Bread they bake here is fucking dense  as rocks but it'll help settle bubble gut."

Sunny sat and took a swig of some tea sweetened with honey grateful  to have something with flavor and caffeine. Lifting her apple to her  lips, she bit the sweet flesh and contemplated her next words. "I could  teach them how to bake, you know?"

"I thought we discussed you having a job?" he replied, his tone laced with warning.

She shrugged, trying to keep the conversation light. "Not a job. Just  a lesson. But I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually. It's mostly  trial and error anyways." She could feel Negan's eyes on her as she took  a bite of toast smeared with peanut butter. It really was dense. They  probably either didn't active the yeast properly. Or maybe they were  working the dough too hard. It really was just a matter of practice.