sweet caroline | n.

ix. sweet kisses.

sweet caroline. chapter nine.
SUMMARY ; surprisingly, caroline is the one to make the first move.

❝ i don't wanna mess this thing up
i don't wanna push too far
just a shot in the dark that you just might
be the one i've been waiting for
my whole life❝
——

THAT NIGHT was just as bad as the previous one, the temperature was dropping quicker by the minute. caroline remembered negan's promise to come back into her tent to sleep like he did before, and basically protect her from getting frostbite, but she wasn't sure if he remembered, or had even meant it, she didn't want to get her hopes up so she spent the next couple hours until the sun went down telling herself he wasn't going to do that, only so if she ended up being wrong it would leave her with a grateful feeling instead of a horrible disappointed one.

caroline's nose felt like it was practically about to fall off from how cold it was, her teeth were beginning to shatter together, her body started to shiver, and enough goosebumps rose up her arms and legs to cover them, she was in a no different physical state than she was the night before. she kept herself positioned siting up with her arms wrapped around her legs she had brought up to her chest, squeezing them as tight as she could to try to keep herself as warm as possible.

caroline's ears perked up when she heard someone toggle with the zipper to her tent— she guessed it was frozen in place— before it started to unzip and the opening fell forward, revealing the man who made a promise to her. caroline watched him close the tent back up before he turned to her, offering the girl a soft, half smile, caroline couldn't find the energy to return the gesture. she kept her head titled back to meet his eye contact, clueless to the exhausted expression on her face.

negan couldn't help but reach one arm down to cup her cheek with his hand, the inside of his palm felt cold against her skin but it was comforting to caroline considering how fast this made her cheeks heat up. the blonde couldn't help the urge to lean into his touch, her head tilting in the slightest as her eyes squeezed shut, her lips tightly pursing together, almost like she was mentally scolding herself for it.

noticing this, negan frowned. "you're allowed to like it when i touch you," he mumbles to the girl, speaking in a tone that's soft and comforting, he sounds reassuring to the blonde. caroline couldn't help but shake her head, her eyes refusing to open in fear of her emotions spilling out when she met his eye contact. since the previous night when he first touched her, caroline constantly felt like she was an overfilled cup just waiting for someone to tap it and watch it spill over. negan gave her this overwhelming sense of comfort and safety, something she's never had, a feeling she's never felt, and to say she didn't know how to deal with it would be an understatement.

"yes you are. it's normal for you to like it," negan tried again, the pad of his thumb stroking over her cheekbone, ghosting over her temple to stop right at her hairline, simply rubbing over that spot to try to get the girl to relax, and to rid of the anxious expression on her face. caroline let her shoulders fall, a heavy sigh escaping her mouth, she could see her breath appear in front of her due to how cold it was.

"can you lay with me?" caroline's quiet voice whispered, her eyes fluttering open in the tiniest bit to stare up at him through her wet eyelashes. negan brushed the palm of his hand over the top of her head, smoothing down her messy hair, before he lowered himself to the ground to lay next to the blonde, opening his arms to embrace the girl as soon as she buried her face into his chest, rubbing her cold nose against the soft fabric of his shirt. negan busied his hands by rubbing them over her arms, back and her legs where he could reach to try and create some warmth. caroline shivered when a gust of wind blew by and negan squeezed her tighter.