❝ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ, ᴄᴀʀʟ. ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ꜱᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀꜱ.❞
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𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 Carl Grimes and Madi Walsh had been best friends for most of their lives. That is, until Rick Grimes killed Madi's father, Shane, and the young girl ran away. It wasn't until year...
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As Alexandria, The Kingdom and Hilltop gathered together, preparing for battle and hoping for a win; The Saviors were enjoying what most people would consider luxuries nowadays, and hoping that their leader would guide them into a place of safety.
Meanwhile, Negan was searching for Madi after finding that her bedroom was empty. He'd walked through seemingly every hall by the time that he found the girl outside of Dwight's room. She was seated on the cold, tile floor; leant up against the wall across from the cell.
He sighed softly as a subtle, content pout spread across his lips. His eyes softened at the sight of her; the way that she looked so peaceful as she slept, her feautures relaxed instead of their usual furrowed, unhappy state.
For a moment, he just appreciated her presence, happy to see her resting. But, after about a minute, he realized that he had to wake her. Maybe, before meeting Rick and his people, Negan would've been able to let her sleep.
Yet, they were quite literally on their way into war, and he knew that he had to interrupt her calm slumber. And so, inhaling a deep, sad breath, Negan approached the girl before kneeling, squatting down beside her.
The powerful man softly shook her by the shoulders. "Madi." He murmured quietly, repeating her name a few times in an attempt to awaken the young girl.
The third time that he addressed her, Madi shot up into a sitting position, her chest heaving, quickly rising and falling. Often, when someone woke her, the girl got up with a hurry. It was likely because she was used to being on edge, even after living with The Saviors for so long.
Negan frowned slightly, each of his large hands taking ahold of her face, securing around her round, flushed cheeks. "Hey, kiddo." He huffed out, allowing her to calm down at the sight of his familiar, aged feautures.
Madi slowed her panted breathing, a furrowed grimace etching across her face as she uncomfortably sat up further, propping her body up onto her hands. "Negan?" She exhaled, groggy.
"I'm assuming you went in there and talked to Dwight?" The man questioned her. When Madi's lips curled into a small, proud smirk, he knew the answer to his question as he sighed softly, "Was talking to him really worth sleeping on the cold, hard floor?" He wondered.
Madi stretched out her tight limbs, her joints audibly popping as she cracked her back and neck. Negan, on the other hand, rose from his place beside her, extending an arm toward her.
The girl accepted his offered hand and allowed him to pull her up onto her feet. "Look, I get it-- I understand why you had to talk to him. But, there are rules. You can't just flirt your way past the guard and do whatever the hell you want, darlin'." Negan scolded her.
Madi confusedly scrunched her nose before shaking her head and dismissing his words. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry." She huffed, looking down at the shoes that she somehow managed to fall asleep in.
After dusting her clothes off, Madi had started walking away. "Hey, where the hell are you going?" Negan called after her, causing her to stop in her steps.
She turned on her heel, facing him. He could already sense that something was wrong with her; just by the blank look on her face. But, she shot him a small smile and shrugged her shoulders, "I've gotta go change out of these clothes."
Negan nodded, sighing to himself as she hurriedly walked off. After a moment of thinking and taking a bit to breath, the man followed after the teen girl.
When he finally reached the top floor, where their rooms were located, Madi had just stepped out of her bedroom. The girl's back was turned to him, and she held Negan's leather jacket, her free hand still placed upon her doorknob.
When she did actually spot him, her eyes widened in surprise, though she didn't flinch from the shock of his seemingly sudden appearance. "Here's your jacket. Thank you for letting me borrow it, I probably would've froze down there." Madi spoke with a shrug as she handed the article of clothing back to him.
"Is everything okay, kiddo?" Negan asked, taking notice of the way that the girl failed to meet his eyes as she boredly frowned.
Madi nodded her head in response as she peered down at her heavy combat boots. Her obvious dismay caused Negan to huff, "I can tell that something's weighin' on you."
"It's nothing." The girl replied, waving him off. But, her lack of denial meant that there was indeed something. So, Negan continued, "Dwight say something? Maybe, about Carl?" He wondered.
Madi cocked an eyebrow at the correct assumption, unsure of how he figured it out. Of course, he just knew that Dwight would use the boy as an attempt to make Madi weaker; that most people would try and use his death to manipulate her.
"It's just.." Madi trailed off, huffing out a sharp breath before she gathered her composure, "The people here never really cared about him. I mean sure, after he came here, they were angry. But, after that? They always wrote him off. Yet, now that he's.." Again she words faded away as she attempted to speak of the boy's death, "Now that he's gone, they won't stop talking about him."
Negan frowned, his eyes softening as he leaned into the air behind him, caught off guard. Thoughtfully thinking over his next words to her before deciding, "They're just trying to get to you, and they're using him to do it. Don't let them."
Madi chewed on her lip, absorbing his suggestion before nodding her head in agreement. After all, he was right. She let Dwight's words get to her before, and she refused to do the same now as she inhaled a deep breath, rebuilding her composure and lifting the subtle frown from her lips.
