Too Good to be Bad | Negan |

30 - Merry fucking Christmas

That evening, when we're alone in our room, Alex tells me him and Max talked about my proposal. If I'm sure I'm absolutely okay with it, they would like to share a room. They think the best thing to do would be for me and Max to switch. He will join Alex here and I will have his room to myself. I understand, Alex wants to stay close to his niece and nephew of course. But the truth is that the thought of moving into Max's room alone scares me. Not only will I have to get used to sleeping alone, it's also in another part of the factory, further away from my friends. Except for Kieran. He got his own room when they let him out of the cell and it's in the same hallway as Max's room. My room, I should start to say.

But I don't tell Alex that I'm afraid. I smile and tell him I'm happy for him. Which I am. Finding love has never been easy, but in this world, it's a fucking miracle. Max makes him very happy, it's a joy to see. So we decide to tell everyone in the morning and use our day off to move our stuff around.

'Big step', Kieran says as we share the news over breakfast. 'You sure you're ready to share a room with this maniac, Max? If I remember correctly, he snores like a freaking sea lion.'

Alex throws an empty drink box in his direction, but he does it with a smile on his face.

'Oh, I think I can handle it', Max says, pulling Alex toward him to press a kiss on his cheek. Alex smiles, a little embarrassed since he's not exactly a star in public displays of affection, and catches my eye. Despite my fears I'm once again happy about my decision. The way he's glowing makes it all worth it.

'Guess you and me will be neighbours then, won't we Lara?' Kieran says, winking at me.

'Yeah, I guess we will', I answer, feeling a little flutter in my stomach.

'Good, if I get bored, I'll sneak over to yours and we'll have a little party. It's been no fun to be so far away from you all.'

'You think we all have secret parties together every night?' Priya asks, rocking baby Karishma in her arms. 'I'm up every night these days and I haven't seen much of it.'

'We make sure to scatter when we hear the baby crying', I joke.

'Well, great friends you are.'

I smile as I look down at the baby in her arms. Priya stayed in the doctor's office for another two days for observation after she gave birth, but both her and the baby are doing very well, so she moved back into her room. Negan actually decided to give Katarina a few weeks off as well so she can help Priya get used to motherhood. Nik and Katarina had a son, but he was back home in Russia when they got stuck here. Although she obviously loves to take care of the baby, I think I can sometimes see the shadow of a memory clouding her eyes when she looks at her.

'I'm sorry', I hear, getting pulled out of my thoughts. 'Is that an actual baby?'

Sherry, Dwight and Tina have appeared behind Priya and Sherry is looking over Priya's shoulder with wonder in her eyes.

'Yes, her name is Karishma', Priya answers proudly, turning in her seat a little so they can take a closer look.

'Oh my', says Dwight. 'Haven't seen a baby in a long time. How old is she?'

'She was born last Tuesday', Priya tells him. 'Five days old today.'

The newcomers join us at the table and like I told them, my friends are all excited to get to know them. I guess it feels nice to be able to welcome these people into this place that now feels like home to us. It had been a while since we felt at home anywhere. We get so lost in our conversations, we all stay at the breakfast table until the room has pretty much cleared and the cleaning shift starts to send annoyed looks in our direction because they want to clean our table.