The Ruins Part 2 (Sequel to The Ruins)

Epilogue

Mal's mind twisted the gash across Negan's throat into something truly horrific. Denise had always been the one to clean and re-wrap it until the stitches came out, so for a week, whenever she looked at the bandages necklacing Negan's throat, Mal could only picture the bloody slash that had been there before.

There were nightmares, some nights, where the slash went too deep, where everything was red and wet and the blood sprayed and Mal woke up, sweating and shaking, clinging to Negan and grasping for his pulse to assure herself that he was still alive.

When the stitches came out, it wasn't pretty, but it was better than Mal had been picturing. No ragged wound, just a thick, angry-but-healing red scar across the front of Negan's throat. She caught Negan rubbing at it and frowning one evening with the handheld mirror.

"Ugly fucking thing, isn't it?" he muttered. "Fucking jackass. At least he didn't wreck my pretty face though, huh baby? You would've dumped me for sure then."

Mal thought she caught the slightest hint of insecurity underneath Negan's joking, and drew the man into her arms, pressing her hips into the countertop drawer. "Don't be stupid, Negan." She kissed the scar, a feather-light brush of lips, and felt the way Negan's breathing hitched when she did so. "If it bothers you, you can wear you're scarf. You can wear it with that fucking jacket in the middle of summer. How's that sound?" She teased.

Negan's face was buried in Mal's hair to hide his grin. "Sounds fucking perfect, baby."

That night, when Mal wrapped herself around Negan, she paid special attention to his neck, kissing and sucking the way she'd wanted to before, drinking in the way Negan squirmed under her, heated moans escaping his lips.

Negan didn't mind the marks that he found there the next morning. Mal caught him smiling in the mirror, and wearing them proudly when he went off to come to Sanctuary, back home.

-:-:-:-:-

After saying a farewell to the bounty hunters helping the Saviors, saying their goodbyes as companions and friends Mal was finally coming back home. She held Negan's hand the whole ride as the gates of Sanctuary open up, and everything Mal ever wanted and loved with Negan she doubts herself and lets go his hand.

The Saviors at the main entrance greeted him in excitement, congratulating and thankfully he's still kicking. Then what Mal thought was a perfect life for her to find someone has broken her up, when Negan's wives come around him and basically touched him all over, Amber kisses his cheek. They're showing off, those whores. Mal's inner thoughts were dark, wanting to kill those girls, however, she knew it would come to this. She doubted so much but was so blind to see it through.

The nervous thoughts still occupy her mind, though. She wonders weakly if Negan just wants sex and doesn't love her like Ellie; the man is incredibly sexual, plain and simple, and the thought of Negan only using her has been on her mind often since the very beginning. It's not like she's got much going for him. She's a barely-making-it to adulthood; and on top of all that, she finds herself only average in terms of appearance, especially when she's standing next to Negan.

The thought makes her feel sick, suddenly, so sick that she quickly dismisses herself and all but runs up the stairs.

She almost slams the door to her bedroom shut and sinks to the floor. She takes a few deep breaths. Fuck - not now, she thinks desperately, distress and pain rising in her chest. Her thoughts are running wild; Negan's already cutting her off, losing interest, just playing with her. Slowly she crawls into her bed and wraps herself in sheets.

She falls into an uneasy sleep with tears on her eyelashes, and when she wakes, the door opens. She lifts her head blearily, brows furrowing.

"Oh, shit," She hears Negan say, "sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Are you okay?"