Irresistible Danger

The Confrontation

**Author's Note: Thank you SO much for all of the views, ratings, and comments!!! I appreciate all of you so so much, and it always makes my day to see feedback. With that being said, this chapter gets pretty angsty, so buckle your seat belts :D**

You had no idea how long you stood there in the garden, staring off at the slowly darkening sky. It must not have been too long, since there was still enough light to see clearly, although everything was tinted a soft pinkish-gold. Your mind had gone from whirling a thousand miles an hour to just grinding to a halt, as if unable to stand the flurry of thoughts any longer. Instead, you now felt empty, your mind a big blank slate of uncertainty. Gusts of the cooler evening air blew tendrils of hair loose from your bun as you stood between the rows of tomatoes and onions and watched the sun set.

That was how he found you.

You didn't hear him enter the gardens, and he didn't announce himself. However, you suddenly felt the hair on the back of your neck stand up, and you just knew. Not turning around, you continued to stare out past the fences at the horizon, the sun already mostly hidden by the tree line. A solid minute of silence came and went, and your anxiety rose with each passing second. Unable to continue the standoff for any longer, you took a deep breath, in an attempt to garner some courage, and slowly turned around.

He stood there between the rows of growing plants and ripening vegetables, and he looked so beautiful silhouetted in the softening daylight, that it caused a pang to erupt in your chest. In another dimension, one where the last hour hadn't occurred, you might have run up and thrown your arms around him. Might have even begged him to finish what he had started in the forest that morning.

But the last hour had happened...and that changed everything.

Now, you felt frozen in place, unwilling to move physically closer to him. You felt a spark of anger burn in your gut at the realization that you were actually afraid of him now. It didn't help that the lighting glinted off him in a way that made it difficult to clearly read his eyes from this distance. What would you find there, if you could see them? Did you want to know?

Negan finally broke the silence by saying, "I take it from your hasty fucking exit, and lack of applause, that you didn't enjoy the show."

It wasn't a question, and his tone was a bit flat, which made it hard to tell if he was attempting to make a joke, or was annoyed. Not in the mood for games, you shook your head from side to side and quietly responded, "No, I didn't."

"Well, that's a fucking shame, seeing as how I was pretty proud of my performance," Negan proclaimed, twirling Lucille over his shoulder and taking a few steps closer.

Unable to help it, you instinctually jumped back a step, as if you had been shocked. Negan abruptly stopped his own forward movement, brows furrowing in displeasure. "The fuck's wrong with you?" He chuckled before adding, "I meant to make everyone wanna piss their pants in there, but fuck, you'd swear I actually offed the pathetic bastard. Which, thinking back on it, maybe I should've. Fucking waste of space."

You were almost relieved to feel the anger in your stomach start to burn hotter, overpowering the fear. Anger was an emotion you could grasp onto, could wrap around you like a protective cloak. Lifting your chin and meeting his gaze, you dryly responded, "I'm surprised you didn't. I bet you would've enjoyed killing him even more than you did disfiguring him for life."

Narrowing his eyes, Negan's voice lost any trace of humor as he growled, "The fuck you accusing me of, doll? You think I like when people fuck up around here?"

Anger further fueling your courage, you snapped, "No, but you sure don't seem to mind fucking them up in front of everyone in retaliation."

Negan took another step closer, and you were proud that this time you didn't retreat. "Damn fucking right I retaliated. Only way to keep everyone the fuck in line is to lay down the law. Which means that if someone breaks one of my fucking rules, then they have to pay the fucking consequences. You got a problem with how I handle things around here? Well, too fucking bad."