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"So, " Negan started and Rick was quickly realizing that perhaps going out on a run with the man that had only recently stopped terrorizing Alexandria had been a bad idea.
There were multiple reasons for this, of course.
However much Negan seemed alright now, Rick still felt worry gnawing at his insides whenever someone stepped out of line even slightly despite the man"s more lenient behaviour.
There was also this new deal of theirs which had only been put in place about three months ago in which instead of the Saviours" taking half of their shit- the communities would be trading goods back and forth, helping each other.
(Believe it or not, Negan can apparently cooperate when he wants to.)
But the most prominent reason as of now was that Negan seemed hell-bent on making them the best of friends which Rick wasn"t too keen on.
Sure, he"d been more than willing to let go of their past of Negan coming into Alexandria and everyone having to be on their damn best behaviour in fear of getting their brain bashed in and instead both communities working together, but every now and again Rick looked at Negan and saw the wicked smile he"d had when making an example of Abraham and Glenn.
Rick wanted to make things better between the two of them- lord knows that Negan seemed to be trying his darndest to- but he couldn"t seem to get passed that initial fear of seeing Negan as someone more than a power hungry, manipulative killer.
Almost as if seeing the man underneath all of that would scare Rick more than what he"d known him to be.
"Rick? Anyone in there?" Negan"s voice broke Rick"s current train of thought and it was somewhat good of him as they were slowly approaching a line of buildings- buildings they were there to search and clear out because that"s what they were there to do.
Him and Negan had paired up to go out on a supply run, one that was considerably further away from Alexandria and the Sanctuary than normal but in these winter months, it was getting harder and harder to find something valuable in the places that many people had clearly searched in multiple times before.
"Yeah." Rick confirmed, "Yeah I"m here, my bad."
The look on Negan"s face suggested that Rick had missed whatever the other had been saying before he"d asked that question.
And of course, Negan being Negan, the man would most definitely tease him over it or make some sort of comment on how-
"I was asking if you noticed how bad those clouds were getting, Rick." Negan said with this weird expression that Rick couldn"t quite make out.
Huh. Strange.
"Hadn"t noticed those, no." Rick settled on saying insetad of questioning Negan if everything was okay with him because he could"ve sworn that he"d never heard the man not take an opportunity to mock him.
Perhaps that had changed ever since they"d made peace with the Saviours.
"We"d better make quick work of these buildings then, Rick, wouldn"t wanna stick around and find out what mother nature"s gonna come up with this time." Negan said and snorted, looking back at Rick momentarily.
"Tell me, d"you have snow back where you came from?"
And there it was again.
Those little questions clearly hinting at Negan wanting to know more about Rick than he already did, and while Rick didn"t mind them, so to speak, they were strange coming from the man that had quite literally beat two of Rick"s men to death with a bat that he"d then made Rick carry around Alexandria.
"Ocassionally." Rick answered, "Never snowed more than once a year back in Georgia and even then, it"d normally melt by the end of the day."
Negan made a low whistling sound that still made Rick"s stomach churn in the most horrible way although he was certain that the man didn"t do it to evoke a reaction out of him.
"Well I hope you"re prepared to deal with some heavier shit than what you"re used to if we don"t make it back before it starts."
There was a light air of teasing to Negan"s voice and Rick wished he could continue it, but just like before- he couldn"t bring himself to add anything snarky and so the moment passed them by and Rick could"ve sworn that Negan looked the slightest bit dejected as he walked forward and carefully opened the door of the closest building to them.
Rick swallowed down the guilt that clawed at his throat and followed in behind Negan, keeping his hand on the holster of his gun just in case while his other hand clutched at the hunting knife.
"Well would you look at this shit." Negan"s voice comes from a room further into the building which Rick could tell now was a library.
The windows had been too fogged up to see from the outside but Rick now noticed that it didn"t seem to be in too bad a condition.
The front desk was a bit of a mess, paper scattered both on it and on the floor, the swivel chairs knocked to the floor alongside the computers, but other than that the books on the shelves seemed to have collected dust from how long they"d been left there.
"Rick!" Negan called out and Rick immediately willed him to either be quieter or just completely stop talking- the latter would be preferable. "You have got to see this shit, man!"
Rick sighed for a moment, questioning why he"d been chosen to go with Negan for this run- probably because any one else would do absolutely anything else just to not have to be alone with Negan for a few hours- before following the sound of Negan"s voice.
This found him in a small storage cupboard a bit further into the library, behind the curved shelves with books piled onto them, behind the multiple round desks.
It looked like a mini kitchen of sorts and Negan turned around when Rick walked in, the biggest grin on his face that seemed completely out of the ordinary- at least for Rick- and in his hands was a large bottle of Jack Daniels that gave the man one too many ideas if the look on his face was anything to go by.
"Ooh man, it"s been too damn long since I laid my eyes on an alcoholic beverage that didn"t suck ass. Even longer since I"ve had one." Negan practically purred and Rick was strangely entranced by the way his lips curled up into that big, genuine, grin and he found himself wanting to see it more often which was a disturbing thought by itself.
"We have to clear out this place, remember?" Rick asked and actually huffed at Negan"s over-dramatic little pout that was cleaerly just for show. "Maybe after we get back we can open it up and enjoy some good ol" whiskey."
Rick almost regretted the offer that had passed his lips a bit too easily to his liking but then Negan"s eyes sparked with something akin to real excitement and he couldn"t bring himself to cover it up or dismiss it.
"Looks like we better get to it." Negan was already making his way to the set of stairs just outside of the small storage room, giving Rick a little wink. "I don"t know "bout you but when we get back I plan on getting absolutely wasted on this good shit."
Negan punctuated his words with a small hip thrust that made Rick shake his head, hold back a full on chuckle at the mental image that came with Negan getting more than a bit tipsy.
The implication that Rick would be there drinking alongside him.
And however much Rick had been set on making that a reality, Negan"s when turned into an if when they"d cleared the bottom and first floor of the library, seeing the snow pouring down from behind the fogged up windows- appearing to get more vigorous with every passing second and when they"d finally finished collecting the useful things that they"d found in that building, they could barely see outside what with the snow storm going on.
"Aw hell, " Negan was saying, practically having to wrestle the front door of the library shut after having opened it in hopes of seeing just how bad everything was outside- determine whether or not they had any chances of getting back.
They didn"t.
Not today at least.
"Reckon we have more of a chance of gettin" back if we stay here for the night than try our luck out there."
Rick nodded. "Then it"s settled, we"re stayin" here until the storm eases, least up until mornin". Then we move."
Unlikely as it seemed, Negan could take an order like no problem. Rick had asked him to see if they"d taken anything with them to start a fire and the man had gotten right to it, producing a small lighter out of his backpack before starting to gather up some of the papers that had been left out on the front desk, muttering something about there having to be a damn fireplace here, the place looking as fancy as it did.
In the meantime, Rick occupied himself in making sure all of the entrances and exits were blocked in some way so that nothing could get in and soon enough, he could hear the faint crackling of fire.
"Knew this damn place had one! Get yourslef over here, Ricky boy, we"ve got ourselves a nice-ass fire goin"." Negan"s voice called from futher in the library. And sure enough, when Rick dragged their bags over to where the latter was, the room was starting to be lit up by the flames clinging onto the torn pieces of paper than Negan had thrown in.
"I locked this place up a bit, made sure it"s secure." Rick said as he laid out their bags next to them, squinting at the bunched up bags of something laying next to Negan.
"While you were taking your sweet time doing that I found some sleeping bags we could rest on for tonight instead of on the floor like animals." And Rick appreciated the gesture, thought that it was better to the alternative option, of course he did- but there was a retort stuck in his throat, just itching to get out.
Just like you made us sleep on the floor after taking our beds and mattresses.
Judging by Negan"s expression, he"d also made that connection but he wasn"t treating it like something to joke about.
Almost as if he was ashamed of what he"d done.
Negan cleared his throat and looked away and now it was Rick"s turn to feel guilty about the sick sense of satisfaction that he"d felt when the other man had looked so dejected by his unspoken words that rang out oh so loudly between them anyway.
Before Rick could say anything else, Negan was reaching for the sleeping bags, handing one over to Rick and keeping one for himself.
"Didn"t find any pillows or blankets so I guess we"ll have to make do with our backpacks, huh?"
Once again, there was an air of uncertainty about Negan, as if he was fighting aginst saying anything that would mess this fragile thing between them up.
At this point, anything could set them off and so Rick decided against speaking up about the resentment he"d been clinging so desperately onto about what the Saviours had done- about what Negan had done.
"You"d think a library would at least have some pillows." Rick offered and could definitely see the relief in Negan"s almost-smile and his surprisingly soft eyes as he chuckled.
"That"s what I"m sayin". They have armchairs to sit on but not pillows? What a waste!"
Rick let himself snort at that and watched as that almost-smile became a full smile in no more than a second, reaching Negan"s eyes in a way that Rick hadn"t seen before.
What a sight, he thought, and let himself enjoy the moment of peace that passed between the two of them.
It only lasted a few seconds, naturally, because then Negan"s eyes shined with something that Rick couldn"t quite put his finger on and he reached for the Jack Daniels he"d stuffed into his bag, presenting it with an award-winning grin that promised nothing but trouble and yet Rick found himself smiling back anyway, agreeing to the man"s unspoken question.
A few sips each wouldn"t hurt.
"Now is this the best idea you"ve ever heard or what?" Negan questioned, on his third attempt to open up the bottle in his hands.
"I"ve heard better, I"m sure." Rick laughed openly at Negan"s insulted scoff. "Give it here, you"d think this bottle has some child-proof cork with how you"re going at it."
There was another offended noise and Negan grumbled something under his breath as Rick managed to open the bottle up without a problem, looking to the other man with a raised eyebrow.
"Shut up." Negan said and Rick smiled.
"I didn"t say anything."
"Sure you didn"t. You were saying plenty, thank you very much." And then Negan promptly swiped the bottle from Rick"s grasp, holding it out of reach when he reached for it. "Uh-uh, I found it- mean"s I get first swig."
Rick didn"t remember there being rules that applied to finding alcohol after the world ended but he supposed that he could follow them if it meant Negan smiled at him like that.
Since they had no cups they would have to take turns sipping out of the bottle and Rick found that he didn"t mind the thought as much as he would"ve expected to.
He looked to Negan when he took a sip of the Jack Daniels and a small, pleased noise left his lips at the liquid undoubtedly burning his throat and Rick"s gaze seemed to linger over the man"s adams apple in the room that was growing darker with each passing minute.
"That"s some real good shit, " Negan announced, handing Rick the bottle so he could get a taste himself and once he tilted his head back and let the the warmth the drink gave him spread through his bones, he hummed in agreement.
When his eyes shifted back to the latter, Rick saw that Negan was already glancing back with an odd sense of fascination in his dimly lit gaze.
Soon enough, a few drinks turned into a lot more than either of them would"ve expected or had been planning on and they were both a bit intoxicated.
Rick knew for certain that Negan was.
The man"s posture seemed to have shifted, his shoulders weren"t so stiff anymore and a faint shade of red dusted his cheeks, the smiles that Rick was now managing to pull out of him were all genuine and not as wide as the ones he was used to. They were real.
"Ah, shit." Negan was all giggly as well, it had been a game changer when Rick had realized that the man was a lot easier to make laugh when a few drinks in, found mostly everything freaking hilarious and there was a tingly feeling in Rick"s chest that he decided to chalk up to being the alcohol.
"Don"t remember the last time I had fun like this, d"you?"
And Rick was answering honestly.
"Last time I got any kind of tipsy was a few years back- damn, I think it was when my group met Dr. Jenner in CDC." Rick paused for a moment and stared at the floor.
The memories of who"d been there with him flooded back and his vision was going cloudy before he knew it.
"Ricky boy, you alright there?"
Rick realized that he must"ve stopped speaking for a while because Negan was looking at him with those surprisingly soft eyes, concern laced in his drawn together eyebrows and the tight line of his lips.
"Yeah I.." Rick took a deep breath and shook his head. "Just thinkin", is all."
Negan made a considering hum. "Anything in paticular on your mind? Other than how mind-blowingly good this whiskey is?"
Rick snorted and for some reason spoke his mind, leave it to some old Jack Daniels to make him spill about his past to Negan.
"My.." he started, "My wife was still alive back then. Felt like she just got back in my life before she was taken away again."
If Negan was shocked at Rick"s words he didn"t show it, he looked more serious than Rick had ever seen him though and he let them sit in silence for a moment or two.
"What happened to her?" he asked, softly.
He didn"t push Rick for the information, it was a gentle request.
"Died while givin" birth to Judith.. she- Carl.. he had to shoot her coz there was no one else to do it." Rick felt tears clinging onto his lashes and tried his best to keep them from falling.
"She started when the prison had been a bit more than over-run and I couldn"t get to her in time to.. shit. "m sorry."
Rick shook his head again, willing himself to stop being like this in front of Negan. It"s not like the man actually cared.
Negan had just been wanting to get wasted on some alcohol and here Rick was ruining all that by almost crying over something that had happened what now felt like a life time ago.
"Don"t." Negan said and Rick made a small, questioning noise. "Don"t apologize for that shit, Rick."
The face Rick was making clearly spurred Negan to explain a bit more because he swore under his breath before continuing.
"I"m sorry you had to go through that." Negan sounded so genuine that Rick almost started sobbing on the spot but refrained from doing so as much as he could. "Fuck, man. I know for a fact how much it hurts to lose someone you love- especially in this mess that the world is now."
Rick let himself breathe for a minute or two, calming down a bit due to Negan"s soft words.
The longer he considered them though-
"What d"you mean by that?" he asked and Negan made a face as if he"d been hoping that Rick had missed what he said out.
"I lost someone real special to me too." Negan"s eyes had that thousand yard stare and Rick knew that although he was here then, his mind was elsewhere. "My wife."
There was a pause, a brief second where neither of them spoke.
Rick could only hope that Negan would continue, that he would open up even just slightly as Rick had done only a few minutes ago.
"She.. she was sick before this all started." Negan began, quietly. "Found out a few days before it and we were almost finished with the treatment but.. well, cutting a long fucking story short, I got back too late and she"d taken her own life."
Rick"s heart broke for the man and he fought the urge to reach out and lay a hand on his shoulder.
It was the way Negan said it- he was still clearly not over it but he seemed to have desensitized himself from the topic to an extent. He reminded Rick of himself after Lori.
"She asked me to not leave her like that- fuckin" wrote it on the wall outside of our room but I.. couldn"t. Burnt the place to the ground instead- couldn"t bare to be in there anymore." Negan"s voice wavered and Rick"s earlier hesitaion dissapeared as he laid his hand over Negan"s own which was far more intimate than he"d initially planned on.
Negan seemed to be just as surprised as he was at the sudden touch but he didn"t say anything about it.
Instead he took a steadying breath and Rick felt his hand clench under his.
"Fuck.." Negan breathed, staring pointedly at the fire that lit up his face, the one that let Rick see his teary eyes. "Don"t remember the last time I told that to anyone. Feels like years."
Rick was understandably surprised to see a tear trickle down Negan"s cheek and he felt the need to wipe it away but he didn"t get the chance to consider actually doing it because Negan was pulling his hand out from beneath Rick"s and doing it himself, laughing nervously.
"God damn, think something got in my eye- this place has a shit ton of dust just flyin" around." Negan started and Rick heard an unmistakable hitch in his words, saw the man turning his head to the side and when Rick reached out to turn it back to face him he saw the onslaught of tears cascading down despite Negan"s attempt to stop them.
This was not the man that Rick knew.
This was not the Negan that had killed two of his friends in front of him, the one that used to mock and humiliate him when he took half of Alexandria"s supplies, threatening his people.
Rick had been coming to a slow realization over the past few months and that was that the man that Negan had been when his group had first met him was not the man that Negan was before the world ended.
God knows that Rick had done many things that he wasn"t proud of in the name of survival or after Lori had died.
And that wasn"t an excuse for what either of them had done but it put some things into perspective.
Rick must"ve been quite for too long- again- because he felt Negan begin to pull away when he focused back on the current situation.
Carefully, as to not startle the latter, Rick"s hand slid to more directly cup Negan"s jaw- noticing the way his eyes widened ever so slightly.
"You don"t have to pretend." Rick said, softly, "Don"t have to pretend that everythin"s fine when it"s not."
Rick"s thumb brushed over Negan"s cheekbone and the man seemed to shudder, leaning into the touch ever so slightly.
"S"nice." Negan murmured back, his eyes now fixed on Rick as if he was waiting for the inevitable knife to the throat but there wasn"t going to be one, Rick decided.
He made a small, inquisitive noise and Negan turned his face slightly into his hand. "This. Been a long fuckin" time since I"ve had some human contact that wasn"t a punch in the face."
And there was an small grin there that came with an equally unsure chuckle, as if he didn"t understand why Rick hadn"t let go of his face yet.
Rick brushed his thumb under Negan"s bottom lip then and the entire mood of the room seemed to shift.
"Rick.. " Negan whispered and it felt so loud in the small room, it should"ve made Rick realize that what he was doing was far from okay but it just made him want to hear his name on the man"s lips again.
The first brush of their lips was tentative, Rick having been the one to lean in because Negan seemed to be almost frozen in place, and it was only a peck- something that Rick had wanted to do for a long time, just feel Negan"s mouth against his.
"Rick." Negan breathed out again after they"d parted, his hand having reached up to grasp at Rick"s wrist where he was still cupping Negan"s cheek- it was trembling ever so slightly and Rick saw the worry in his eyes.
"Yeah?" Rick asked, just as soft as his earlier words had been, maybe even softer.
"Don"t." Negan whispered. "Don"t do that if you"re going to regret it in the morning.. I can"t- just don"t."
"I"m not gonna regret it." Rick whispered right back but Negan shook his head.
"You"ve had shit to drink- you"re head"s not clear-"
"We"ve had the same amount to drink, Negan." Rick told him, "And I"m feeling more clear-headed than I have in a while."
Rick paused for a moment, looking Negan right in his eyes.
"I want this. Do you?"
And Negan nodded after another second or two, his hand falling away from Ricks wrist and ending up resting on his knee from how they were sitting.
So Rick moved forward once again, hearing the latter"s breath hitch ever so softly as he pressed his lips to Negan"s and this time- this time he got a response.
Their second kiss was soft and raw, Rick being able to feel the wetness of Negan"s cheeks against his own and the warmth of his mouth. It left them feeling a bit breathless despite it being slow.
By their fourth kiss, Negan"s hesitancy had mainly gone away but Rick could still feel it lingering and his chest ached a bit at the thought that Negan wasn"t sure if this was genuine or not.
"Hey, " Rick murmured, taking Negan"s face into his hands. "Stop holdin" back. I want this.. I want you."
Negan then got a lapfull of Rick Grimes because the man threw his leg over Negan"s and settled on his sturdy thighs, getting kissed within an inch of his life and that"s when he seemed to understand.
Negan"s hands traced over Rick"s thighs and went up until they reached his hips, deciding to settle there momentarily as he tilted his head and took things up a notch by catching Rick"s bottom lip between his teeth.
It felt better than what Rick could have imagined- had imagined, the few times in these past few weeks when he"d allowed his mind to stray further than normal.
Rick"s hands went to tangle in Negan"s short hair and the kiss went from increasingly heated to the slow and tender kind and stayed that way until they pulled back again.
Opening his eyes, Rick noticed two things-
One, the fire had mostly gone out and was now barely crackling which made the room almost pitch black.
Two, Negan was already looking at him with sheer adoration and Rick wondered briefly how much more there was to him than just an arrogant prick who used to take half of their supplies.
"As much as I"d like to continue this, I don"t think either of us are gonna appreciate how fuckin" cold it"s gonna get sooner or later." Negan said "I need to get some more of that paper from the front desk."
Rick nodded but didn"t do anything to move for a moment or two, content in staying sat on Negan"s lap as if that"s where he belonged.
Negan"s face broke out into an ridiculously attractive smile and he leaned in to press their lips together for the shortest of kisses before patting Rick"s ass which Rick took that as the go ahead to get off of him.
"I"ll be right back, baby." he promised and Rick"s lips threatened to curl up with the most lovesick sort of grin at the petname that he somehow managed to push down.
"Don"t keep me waitin"." Rick said and he heard Negan"s amused chuckle even when he left the small room.
Rick reckoned that he felt too at ease when he should be at least a tiny bit concerned at the blizzard currently going on outside but there was a warmth in his stomach that he blamed on both the alcohol and Negan and he thought that he could just let himself have this.
The briefest moment where he could sit in the quiet room and not think about the after- not think about how things would be tomorrow after they got back from the run.
He"d worry tomorrow.
Apparently a moment was all he was going to get because after a few minutes Negan came stumbling back and it wasn"t because of the small amount of whiskey in his system- they both had plenty of time to walk that off.
The man was swearing under his breath and clutching tightly at his thigh and immediately, Rick was standing up to ask what was wrong.
"Fuckin"- got caught on one of those- ah shit, " Negan pulled his hand away from his thigh and Rick could see the dark liquid dripping from it even with the low levels of light in the room.
"Sit down on one of the sleeping bags- I"ll start the fire." Rick instructed and Negan did so without protesting- handing Rick both the set of papers and the lighter that he"d had before plopping down.
Rick went about making the fire and the flame was larger, allowing him to see better when he knelt down next to the latter.
"Let me see." He said and Negan took his hand off of his steadily bleeding thigh just enough to let Rick see the gash that could"ve only been caused by brushing past something incredibly sharp.
"Crap." he muttered, shooting Negan an annoyed glance at his chuckle.
"Crap indeed, Ricky boy. Sorry if this is a mood killer."
Rick shook his head and took Negan"s hand and brought it back over the wound, making him press at it tightly and trying to ignore the hiss of pain it got him.
"It"s not too deep but it"s bleeding a damn lot." Rick murmured and this time it was Negan"s turn to shoot him a look. One that screamed- "really, captain obvious?"and even though the latter hadn"t actually said anything, Rick knew he wanted to say it or make some comment about it.
"Alright, gimme one second." Rick swore that he heard Negan muttering a quiet "one" and huffed, if the man was still acting like that then he was sure that he"d be okay.
Reaching for his backpack, Rick made quick work of opening it and fishing out some gauze as well as a bottle of iodine for when the cut stopped bleeding.
"Lift your hand." He instructed and Negan did, taking a sharp intake of air before letting it out slowly when Rick pressed the gauze to the wound, grabbing the latter"s hand to put it over his own, making eye contact with him. "How are you feelin"?"
Negan laughed sharply through his teeth although it was not unkind.
"Like a million bucks, babe." he told Rick, giving his hand a squeeze. "It hurts like a bitch but it"s far from the worst I"ve had. "specially since you"re here playin" nurse."
If Negan wasn"t currently injured, Rick would"ve given him a light-hearted whack to the shoulder but refrained even when the man winked at himin that over exaggerated manner that made his stomach flip just a little bit.
"What a night, huh?" Negan murmured and Rick was inclined to agree.
From being forced to go out on a run with the man to getting snowed in and kissing him a few times- it wasn"t what Rick would"ve expected.
Not that he was complaining.
This had been surprisingly pleasant- apart from when Negan had nicked his thigh somewhere which now had forced Rick"s worry about that to intertwine with all his previous worries that he"d promised he wouldn"t think about till tomorrow.
"Hey- you don"t-" Negan paused, swallowing around what RIck assumed was a lump in his throat and that made him question what the man had to be worried about right now- other than his leg?
"You don"t regret what happened, do you?"
Rick met Negan"s gaze immediately, needing him to understand the answer to that was a definite no.
"I don"t regret it, " Rick told him and Negan appeared to relax somewhat- as much as he could, Rick supposed, with his still bleeding wound that seemed to be lessening now.
"I was more so worried over your thoughts on it." Rick found himself saying, seeing Negan"s eyebrows shoot up at his words.
"Y" were worried that I"d regret it?"
Rick"s silence was apparently telling and Negan"s hand clutched at his more meaningfully now, almost as if wanting to reassure him.
"Rick, I"m a bit crazy about you." Negan said and Rick felt as though his cheeks were warming up at the words and that intoxicating smile spread across the man"s lips. "I don"t think I need to tell you that I enjoy the fuck outta your company and if I could, I"d stick by your side for the whole day if you"d let me- hell, make it the night as well."
There was another brief pause where Negan was biting the inside of his cheek before he spoke again.
"I"m more than a bit hooked on you, Rick Grimes. Please pardon the execution of that, I"m a few years out of practice but fuck, I think I"ve gotten the point across, yeah?"
How else was Rick to respond if not lean in and kiss him silly?
That"s exacctly what he did, let his free hand cup the side of Negan"s face as it had done before and he pressed their lips together, adoring the pleased little sigh that earned him from the other man.
A few seconds into the kiss Rick must"ve forgotten that he was still keeping pressure on Negan"s wound and leaned on it a bit too much because the man made a pained noise that had him pulling away sharply.
"Shit, sorry-"
Negan laughed. "Not a problem, baby. The only thing we"re gonna have a problem about is if you don"t get back here and kiss me better."
And Rick did.
Minutes later, they"d poured the iodine on Negan"s wound that had stopped bleeding along the way and bandadged it up seeing as it didn"t need stitches.
They curled up on their sides inside a sleeping bag- which had taken them some time to fit in- and talked until Rick heard the unmistakable long, drawn out breaths from the other and after that it was only a matter of seconds before his eyes shut on their own accord as well.
Rick fell asleep that night content with how the run had gone despite the snow storm still going on outside the cozy room with the warm fire that they were in.
As it turned out, going on a run with Negan had not been that bad of an idea after all.