TICK // 14.1 - only the good die young
Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader
Rating: mature (angst, language, sexual content)
Word Count: 1800
☾
Come out, Virginia, don't let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well will be the one
☾
May 15, 1984 - junior year
That night in February sparked something fierce between you and Eddie.
Winter faded away, blossoming into spring. Hawkins was turning green with life again - birds sang their songs in the trees, snow boots and scarves were stuffed away into the backs of closets.
But most importantly, Eddie's high school graduation was just over a week away.
You had everything planned out: the party to be held at your house while your father was out of town, the present you carefully picked out for Eddie, the 'congratulations, I'm so proud of you' sex to occur - hopefully multiple times - after the graduation ceremony itself.
As of the last three months, gone were the days where you would hide from Eddie Munson in the hallways. You met up after almost every class, either to talk by your locker or to find a new place to make out on school grounds.
You would never be the kind of girl to open up to others about the gory details of your relationship, though, and still wanted to maintain your strong sense of privacy. The bond you had with the crazy Munson boy was precious to you. You wanted, needed, to keep it close to your heart.
You were so proud of him. Eddie worked hard to be this close to graduation. Even though, to be honest, he barely skirted by with his grades and reckless behavior. Hell, you were a lucky bitch to still graduate after spitting on a teacher.
But you were a one-time offender, which Eddie was not. It took some effort on your part to pressure him to attend classes and stay out of trouble.
☾
You mighta heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty, we ain't too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
Aw, but that never hurt no one
☾
Eddie stared at you from across the crowded lunchroom, thinking deeply.
The students were extra noisy and annoying this week, most likely due to graduation being within such close reach. Eddie Munson didn't care much about it at all. The fact that you cared so much is what solely fueled his high school education at this point.
You were still a junior, going into your senior year after the summer. You would continue at Hawkins High School for another whole year.
Without him.
He watched you as you sat at a table with Nancy Wheeler and Harrington. You were laughing and gesturing with your hands.
You always sat with your friends at lunch while Eddie caught up with Hellfire and his bandmates.
You spent nearly every other night together. Without actually saying it out loud, the agreement to take some healthy time apart from one another was welcomed by both of you.
…along with the status of your relationship. It really was a relationship, since you began calling him your boyfriend without either of you labeling it as such. Eddie couldn't have been happier to have his arm around your shoulders in the hallways without you running for the hills.
A comfortable routine settled in, but the excitement of summer break approaching set Eddie's nerves on edge.
Though his life was far from stagnant.
Hellfire Club was fully established, Corroded Coffin was getting ready to book some dive bar shows over the summer, and high school was going to be a thing of his past.
The cherry on top was the woman in his life. You were a wildfire burning in his arms almost every night, a flurry of shaking limbs climaxing in his bedsheets. He loved you, he truly did - though neither of you had said it to each other yet.
He loved it when you bickered with him (which was daily). He loved it when you kissed him (which was daily). He loved it when you made him feel like he was capable of anything, even when everyone else around you seemed to think differently of the strange boy.
Although Eddie was in the prime of his teenage years, he still couldn't shake his feeling of overwhelming restlessness.
He checked his watch. One hour until noon. His plan was about to be set in motion.
Out of the corner of his eye, you got up from your lunch table and said something to Steve Harrington. Nancy Wheeler, in turn, whipped her head towards Eddie and squinted at him with suspicion.
Eddie made devil horns on the top of his head, sticking his tongue out at her. Nancy made a face and turned away.
He looked back to you as you were heading towards the rear cafeteria doors. Sneaking a quick glance in his direction, you exited.
Eddie swiftly followed.
☾
And they say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun
☾
"You guys will come to the party, right?" you pleaded.
Nancy looked at you with apprehension. Steve seemed distracted, staring off into space while picking at the food on his tray. Tommy H. and Carol sat chatting loudly at the other end of the table.
You resorted to begging.
"Please, Nance? It'll be fun, I swear. It's nothing fancy. Just come for a drink or two," you explained, leaning closer to your friend to whisper. "I invited a lot of people, including you-know-who."
It was a fifty-fifty chance that either Nancy was nervous about going because Jonathan Byers would be there, or that she would want to go because Jonathan Byers would be there.
Lightly bumping your leg under the table, she whispered harshly to you, "That doesn't matter."
"Who's 'you-know-who'?" Steve's expression went from bored to vaguely interested.
You already had your answer prepared. "Oh, no one you know. My sister has a crush on this guy in band - she doesn't know he's coming."
"Quite the little matchmaker, huh?" Tommy butted in as Harrington looked away again. "Listen, I don't think we need to go to a party full of band kids and freaks. I bet you even invited Byers, didn't you?"
"So what if I did?" you snapped. Nancy looked anxiously between them, her eyes glancing at Steve every so often.
Carol had to steal the show with her comment, though. "I don't know how you hang out with people like that. Let alone date one. I heard a guy on the basketball team say that Munson worships the devil."
Tommy chimed in. “Does he collect the corpses of small animals?”
You burst out in laughter.
"Carol, I don't date him for his devil-worshiping skills. But thanks for that."
Popping her gum loudly, Carol just shrugged. You put up with these clowns because you saw something in Nance, a deeper friendship lurking beneath the superficial surface.
Plus, you kind of enjoyed having some shallow friendships, not ever having to divulge your personal life. It was less exhausting that way.
You turned back to Nancy. "Just come for a bit, please? I never ask you guys for anything like this! I've never even thrown a party before - if no one shows, you guys can just drive away and pretend like it never happened."
Surprisingly, Steve responded first. "Fine, we'll go. Right, guys? It'll be fun."
Standing up and grabbing your tray, you stepped away from them. "See? Now that wasn't that hard, was it? Smell you later, Harrington."
You purposely caught Eddie's eye as you left the cafeteria, knowing all too well that he would trail after you.
☾
Said your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
Aw, she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?
☾
A poorly lit dead-end hallway near the drama classroom was the prime place for devious things to take place. Especially during lunch hour, when everyone was preoccupied with social gatherings.
Approaching your waiting figure from behind, Eddie clasped a warm hand around your mouth. At first, you jumped in surprise, but quickly realized that it was indeed your boyfriend who snuck up on you. His distinct callouses from picking at guitar strings were rough on your skin.
"Well, hello there."
Eddie held you tight, one hand still covering your mouth and the other roaming up your sweater. He could feel giggles rumbling in your chest.
Backing up against a wall, blocked by some old stage props, you ran your fingers through his hair. His nefarious plan worked; the girl in his arms melted onto him like burning wax.
His hand trailed over your bra-less chest. It was personally one of his most favorite physical things about you. Eddie loved knowing that when you wore loose sweaters, your full, sensitive breasts were just free underneath. Waiting for moments like this.
You gasped when he lifted the sweater, exposing your breasts and grasping them roughly. You might complain to him about the gesture later, but Eddie knew well enough that the hallway was deserted.
In what seemed like your own bit of revenge, you pressed your backside against his already hard cock, pulling at his hair.
As many times as they had done reckless shit like this before, Eddie didn't think he could ever not lose his mind over it. You were a straight-A student who soaked your panties over public nudity, but you would never actually admit that.
He dropped your sweater. Once he let go of your mouth, you spun around, kissing him and holding your body against his.
"Hi, you."
Checking his watch again, Eddie saw that he still had some time before noon. Time to play before the action began. His nerves tingled at the thought, but he locked those thoughts away to focus on you.
You grabbed his hand as he was looking at his watch and surprised him as you led his hand down the front of your pants.
Eddie knew you inside and out. You had taken the time to learn many things about each other - sexual preferences, sensitive areas. Having you teach him exactly how to please you was something he felt compelled to master just like a new song on his guitar.
So his confidence soared as he touched you in all the right places, rubbing gently, then faster. You held onto his neck and hooked a knee up against his hip, stifling whimpers into his jacket as you crumbled into pieces at his hand.
Sighing, you kissed his jaw. Like the flip of a light switch, you stepped away, adjusting your clothes.
You flashed him a wicked grin as you walked down the hall.
"Thanks for the orgasm, graduate."
Eddie chuckled, rearranging his now very tight jeans. "Not a graduate yet, babe!"
11:36AM.
☾
You know that only the good die young
Tell you, baby
You know that only the good die young
Only the good die young
☾
(song lyrics credit: "Only The Good Die Young" by Billy Joel)
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On the Run - Chapter 13
Summary: The group goes ahead with Bill's plan of action to find out who is trying to kill Y/N, but things don't go to plan.
Characters: Joel Miller (The Last of Us), Negan (The Walking Dead), the reader (OC, third person), Bill (The Last of Us), Frank (The Last of Us), etc.
AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47007172/chapters/124256413
Warnings: Swearing, angst, violence, etc.
Notes: One more chapter left after this one. Sorry it took a while for me to post this one. I needed to take some time from social media. Thank you you to those who read this!
“I don’t like this,” Negan announced with tension in his tone scooting closer to the desk that featured all of the screens that Bill had set up inside of the surveillance truck that he had. They were all sitting closely together inside of the truck after Bill had instructed them to park it down the street from the address to the warehouse that was texted to him. With the surveillance Bill set up, they could see inside the warehouse, outside and could also watch whatever Bill was seeing from the camera he had hidden on his jacket. Everyone was watching closely in anticipation, not sure what to expect next. “Sending Bill in alone doesn’t feel right.”
“I think Bill is very capable of taking care of himself,” Joel tried to suggest gazing over at Negan from where they were sitting cramped together watching the screens. “This was his whole idea. We know that he can take care of himself.”
“Not to be an asshole, but have you looked at the guy? Compared to you and me I don’t see him being able to hold up against a group of people if he has to,” Negan grumbled under his breath, his face tensing up and showing the visible stress that was flooding through his body. “Bill is the brains, not necessarily the strength.”
“You know I can hear you,” Bill huffed through the earpiece after Negan went off on the whole thing. “There is a reason all of us are wearing earpieces. So everything you are saying, I hear.”
“We know honey, but you can’t be talking to us. Whoever is meeting up with you is going to think you are crazy,” Frank hushed Negan, waving his hand about while Y/N and Joel scoot in closer to the screens to get a look at everything. “Right now there is no one at the location. So take your time walking because you don’t want to show up early and get bombarded.”
“Now remember your safe word. You use it and the two of us will be there in no time,” Joel coached Bill, sliding in closer to Frank while he surveyed the video that was attached to Bill’s jacket. Deep down Joel knew that Negan was right. Bill going in alone just didn’t make much sense, but Bill insisted. “Negan and I will grab whatever we need. We’ll come in after you.”
“Ten-four,” Bill muttered, his deep breaths filling the air while he walked up the hill toward the warehouse. Every second that passed felt like an extraordinarily large amount of time. “Of course this place had to be on a fucking hill. I’m going to be passing out by the time that I get up there.”
“See what I mean?” Negan whispered letting out a grunt when Y/N smacked at the center of his chest. Throwing his hands up in the air, Negan knew that he wasn’t wrong about this whole thing. Sending Bill in alone was almost a death sentence for this guy if things went wrong and he didn’t want Bill to die.
“You’ve got this,” Y/N emphasized glancing back at Negan who was now surveying the guns they had brought with them. Of course they hoped they wouldn’t have to use them, but she knew that Negan was preparing just in case. Bill had several guns and knives on himself to keep him safe, but she knew that Negan was severely uncomfortable with this whole thing. Reaching her hand out, she placed her hand in over Negan’s knee and caressed over it. The motion made him look to her hand and his jaw flexed in uneasiness. Placing his hand over hers, he hooked their fingers together and swallowed down hard. “Just know we’re right here with you Bill.”
“I’m coming up on the warehouse. This is where I stop,” Bill informed them and Joel’s face was locked on the screen. Coming to a full stop, Bill looked around when he noticed that the parking lot was empty. “I’m still the only one here.”
“It’s not exactly the time yet,” Joel informed Bill looking to his watch that was on his wrist. Clearing his throat, Joel’s foot was tapping about a mile a minute showing his nervousness as well. “Just give it some time Bill.”
“We should have the truck closer,” Negan blurt out feeling tense about the whole thing. It made Y/N’s fingers hook tighter around his and he sighed. “It’s too far away.”
“It’s not that far away Negan. It wouldn’t look right just having a white van sitting there right next to the warehouse when nothing else is around. It’s like a sore thumb telling the person hey look we’re right here, come find us,” Joel responded which elicited a grunt from Negan’s throat. “This is to make sure that we are safe enough away to still get the reception of the video while hiding.”
“Would you two please shut up?” Bill scoffed on his end of the video showing that he was gazing around the area. The sun was starting to set and it was growing darker. “I need to have a clear mind to pull this off and you two bickering is not going to help.”
“We’ll keep them quiet,” Frank promised waving his hand about trying to get both Negan and Joel to shut up. Frank had to focus as well because he was the one in control of everything. Everything that Bill set up for him to be in control of that was. From one of the street cameras Frank could see a truck approaching. “Alright Bill, we have…” seeing that there was more than one SUV made Frank swallow down hard. “You have three vehicles approaching.”
“I told you this was a bad fucking idea,” Negan muttered under his breath, the tension growing in his body when the three large vehicles surrounded Bill. This wasn’t how the plan was supposed to go. They all knew that. Negan knew from the start they were never going to play fair. “Remember Bill, we are right here. You say the word and I will be there before you know it.”
“He’s got this,” Frank assured Negan, waving him down and Negan could feel his heart hammering inside of his chest. Bringing Y/N’s hand up, Negan deposited a kiss over the back of her hand before lowering it back to his lap. Y/N’s life really depended on this whole situation. If it fell through, she would never be safe and they all knew that. “I’m assuming the big dog is in the central car. Just keep your cool and we can get what we need. Easy peezy.”
“Really?” Negan snorted, his hazel eyes gazing over at Frank who gave a small shrug. Grumbling to himself, Negan scoot in closer to the screen, his eyes locked on the camera that was attached to Bill’s jacket. Waiting for the doors to open, Negan let out a shuddering, disappointed breath when a familiar face was revealed. Loosening his grasp over Y/N’s hand, he felt his arm go limp when the face became clearer in Bill’s footage. “That’s Simon.”
“I am so sorry,” Joel whispered knowing that Simon was Negan’s best friend. Upset filled Negan’s hazel eyes and it was obvious he was broken to know that Simon had something to do with this. Honestly? Joel wasn’t as surprised. “It makes sense Negan. It always made sense. After you told him about Poppy? How he sent a cleaning crew instead of someone to help. And then the people at the safehouse? Simon was always the obvious choice.”
“I know, I just…” Negan began finding himself losing the words. Stealing another glance at Y/N he felt guilty. Maybe this was his fault all along that he could never bring himself to believe that Simon was capable of something like this. Damn it, he hated that he was getting emotional over this whole thing, but he was. “I never thought he would do something like this. Not after everything we’ve been through together. I thought we were friends.”
Simon made an elaborate gesture that caught their eye pulling them to look back to the screen. Watching Negan, Y/N could sense that he was shattered to know that the one person he cared about other than her in his life was one of the bad guys. Like Joel, she wasn’t surprised to see his face. She was just curious as to how he made this whole thing happen.
“Are you the guy?” Simon arrogantly questioned pulling his black sunglasses from his face. Dramatically he bobbed his head about and Joel turned to look at Negan who lowered his head into his palm. Seeing Simon at the other end of the feed was hard for Negan to accept.
“I’m the guy,” Bill put emphasis on the word as Simon extended his hand out to Bill. Accepting the shake, Bill was obviously cautious when multiple men got out of the cars. Once their faces became clearer in the video, Y/N had recognized more than a few of the faces. These were all men that worked for Simon when it came to her father. “Are you the guy?”
“I’m not the guy, but I’m a guy,” Simon explained with a snicker throwing his arms up to give an over-the-top shrug.
“What does that mean?” Bill inquired, his voice changing when he gazed around the men that were surrounding him. “I requested that it just be me and the man in charge. This feels a bit much. Don’t you think?”
“For me? Oh yeah. Totally,” Simon reached out to pat Bill on the shoulder giving it a firm squeeze. “Trust me my man, when we go in, it’s just going to be me and two others. We’re waiting on someone else. But the rest of these folks? They are just here to make sure that things go smoothly. See, I didn’t know if I could trust you because I’m not used to fucking hackers getting in my business. You know what I mean?”
“I hate to break it to you friend, but when you offer that kind of money and you send the information out to multiple people you need to learn to hide things better,” Bill responded to Simon’s comment. Snickering, Simon almost seemed amused to hear Bill’s counter.
“Hmmm…just tell me how you actually did it,” Simon urged Bill to explain further, waving his hand in the air wanting more details. “How did you find this whole thing in the first place? You really have to understand how strange it is to be getting a text from someone…a complete stranger telling you that they did what no one else could. You have a gigantic sack for even trying this in the first place.”
“The future governor has a shooting at his house where his child goes missing and you don’t think you’re going to have people interested?” Bill replied in such a way where he didn’t seem worried at all. In fact it impressed Y/N with how good Bill was acting everything out. There was no fear in his voice. Bill seemed bored with the whole encounter. “I dug into everything. I’m a hacker. I was able to find texts, learn about those men that were killed at the first safehouse. You sent out a lot of texts. It wasn’t like you were hiding it.”
“I see,” Simon seemed to be scrutinizing Bill with his gaze.
“You know I know who you are too,” Bill informed Simon showing that he wasn’t afraid or backing down. It made Negan wonder if that was really the right approach to this whole thing.
“Oh?” that peaked Simon’s interest.
“You’re Philip Blake’s head of security, Simon. I guess I should have known that someone on the inside was in charge. It was too convenient,” Bill thought aloud causing Simon’s jaw to tense up while he stared out at Bill with curiosity. “I learned everything I could about Philip Blake and his family. Along with the three that were with Blake’s daughter. Tell me, did you just start to hate your job or…?”
“I thought you know everything,” Simon mocked, his eyebrows bouncing up when Bill took a step back to eye him over. “I mean go ahead. Tell me what you think happened here. I’m dying to hear what your theory is.”
“I never claimed to know everything. I just know more than the average person does,” Bill corrected Simon who gave a small smirk in response. “I just know you work for the man whose daughter went missing. And you were best friends with the big one.”
“Hmm…” Simon hummed in response making Negan tense up from where he was seated in the white van with the others. Instead of acknowledging what Bill said, Simon just folded his arms in front of his chest. The expression over Simon’s face was hard to read. There was no way to tell if Bill was right or not because Simon was giving nothing away.
“My guess as to why you are doing this? You got sick of working for Philip Blake. You knew how much money he was really worth and you were getting paid scraps. Decided to take things into your own hands. While working for a man like that you are going to have access to all kinds of things and you took advantage of it. Philip had to have gotten rich enemies through the years willing to work with you to take advantage of his running for office and killing his daughter to make a point,” Bill deduced and his theory sounded like it could be right. It made the most sense. “I think your biggest mistake was the country singer. You just weren’t hiring the right people to truly get the job done.”
“Yeah, Half Moon got…carried away,” Simon tipped his head to the side letting out a tense sound when he sucked in a sharp breath of air. “It was a case of someone taking a situation into their own hands. But what I really want to know is how you found Y/N and the two men. They disappeared off the grid. No one saw them. At all and trust me, we were looking. So how did you do it when no one else could?”
“Because I’m not like anyone else,” Bill answered with a smug tone and amusement flooded Simon’s features. His dark eyes were hooked on Bill like a hawk and it was obvious that Simon was absolutely curious about the man that Bill was. “What I’m capable of is quite amazing.”
“A man of mystery, I like that,” Simon stepped forward and wrapped his arm firmly around Bill’s shoulders pulling him toward the front door of the warehouse. “So you just typed some things into your little computer and you were able to find out whatever you wanted?”
Frank shifted his seating when he adjusted to watch the screens where Simon was now walking into the warehouse with Bill and two other people. Like Simon said, the rest of them stayed outside while Simon and Bill walked over toward a container at the center of the warehouse. Simon sat down on top of it and threw his hands up in the air.
“I could find anything I want about anyone,” Bill was honest and they all knew that. Hell, Bill had something on every single one of them. Things that no one really knew, so Bill wasn’t lying to Simon. “After they left the motel, I was able to track their SUV by using traffic cameras. Following them after that wasn’t very hard. They were hiding somewhere in the woods. Thought they would be safe, but my father taught me to hunt when I was a child. I became very good at tracking. Super easy.”
“Look at you, Mr. Smarty Pants,” Simon retorted sucking in a sharp breath of air. “Smarter than anyone I’ve ever met.”
“Well if this goes well, maybe you can hire me on so you can actually get your projects done right,” Bill snorted back and there was an annoyance in his tone. “I don’t really mean to press your buttons here, but if you’re the man in charge I’d really like to get my money now.”
“What’s the rush?” Simon scoffed, throwing his hands up in the air. A dramatic, over the top expression flooded his features before he chuckled. “The money is here big guy. You’re not going to get screwed out of your money.”
“Prove it,” Bill blurt out and Simon chuckled before tipping his head from side to side. Letting out a sigh, Simon got up from where he was seated and headed over to the far wall. Reaching for the large painting that was on the wall, Simon set it down on the ground and pointed to the safe that had been hidden behind the painting. “How do I know there is money in there?”
“You’re just going to have to trust me because I don’t have the fucking code,” Simon knocked on the safe letting out an amused sound before heading back over to where he was originally to sit down on top of the container again. “So where are the bodies Mr. Smarty Pants? You were supposed to bring them here.”
“Where is the man in charge? He was supposed to be here,” Bill replied back with a bit of venom in his tone. Simon threw his hands up and almost mocking Bill. The other two people that followed Simon into the warehouse were at the corners of the warehouse and when they shifted on their feet it caught Bill’s attention. “I’m not a stupid man, I knew that by coming here with the bodies I would have no leverage over this situation. You give me the money, I give you the exact location of the bodies. That way we both win.”
“I see,” Simon swallowed down, sucking hard at his bottom lip. “Let me see that photo again.”
Wiggling his fingers, Simon demanded and Bill sounded disgusted. Pulling out his phone, Bill looked through a few things before handing over the phone to Simon who survey the photo over letting out a tense sound.
“Are you going to keep fucking me around or are you going to actually give me the money so I can give you a location and we can get back to our regular everyday life?” Bill snapped finding himself getting uncomfortable with the fact that things were not working out the way he was hoping.
“We need to wait,” Simon asserted with a rumble as his eyes were still locked on the phone. “This looks legit.”
“Because it is,” Bill spoke swiftly making all of them tense from where they were seated inside of the work van. Was Simon questioning the validity of the photo? “The three of them are dead as can be. Waiting for you to go collect them and take care of this so we can get this over with.”
“I told you, I don’t know the combination to the safe,” Simon reminded Bill angering Bill even more. “What are you so damn nervous about? You are about to be a rich man. You can’t handle a little conversation?”
“I’ve never been a very social man,” Bill claimed, folding his arms out in front of his chest. “I like to get things over and done with.”
“Tell me how you did this,” Simon held the phone out showing Bill the photo that was up. “Tell me how you killed them.”
“I told you. They were hiding out in the woods and I was able to track them,” Bill recalled what he had already told Simon who was rolling his eyes in response. “I killed them, I got rid of their SUV and their bodies are waiting where I left them.”
“No, I want details,” Simon tossed the phone to Bill who fumbled to catch it before pushing it back into his pocket. “You’re a smart man. I’m sure you don’t forget details. Go over how you killed them.”
“I killed the big one first,” Bill explained coming up with a story and they hoped that he was able to work well under pressure. “Negan? That was his name, right? Put up a hell of a fight, but he never saw me coming. Took multiple gun shots to finally get him down. Then Joel Miller? Fought like hell to protect her. But he didn’t see me coming. I have my talents at being able to stay hidden. I gutted him. And then when it came to her, she was leaning over the side of Joel’s body trying to help him. She was the easiest. I came up behind her with my knife and I cut her throat. End of story.”
“Bloody,” Simon’s eyebrows bounced up and he stood up from the place he had been seated. Stepping in closer to Bill, his eyes were locked on the smaller man as he cleared his throat. His expression grew dark while he stared down at Bill. “You know the order was to kill just the girl.”
“And the country singer killed her friend, so I didn’t think it would be a big deal,” Bill snapped back and even though it was true, it made Y/N let out a saddened sound knowing that she still wondered what happened to Poppy’s body. Then again, Simon had to admit to being in charge of this whole thing. And once they had him in custody, he would have to be convinced to admit what he did with Poppy’s body. Part of her believed he wouldn’t even do that. “I couldn’t get to her without killing them.”
“You killed the strongest son of a bitch that I ever knew,” Simon informed Bill, his Adam’s apple bouncing in his throat showing that he was getting angry. Stepping in closer to Bill, the warmth of Simon’s breath was hot over Bill’s face. “He shouldn’t have died at the hands of a hillbilly like you.”
“Oh, fuck this. Give me my money,” Bill demanded before letting out a sharp breath when the sound of a gun going off was heard. Dropping to his knees, Bill grabbed a hold of his abdomen, his eyes big with shock. Standing before him was Simon with a gun that he had managed to sneak out in their discussion.
“You shouldn’t have killed Negan,” Simon snarled down at Bill. The other two men that had joined Simon in the warehouse had stepped forward beside him.
“Son of a bitch,” Negan stood up in the van not waiting for any kind of word from Bill. What they had just seen was reason enough to rush to go help Bill. Grabbing the guns he had selected earlier made Joel cuss out.
Scrambling to keep up with Negan, Joel reached for his supplies as well. Without a second thought, Negan hopped out of the van making Y/N panic. Joel cussed out trying to grab what he could, but he wasn’t keeping up with Negan. Instead of rushing out after Negan, Joel leaned into press a swift kiss over Y/N’s temple. Pulling back, Joel stared out at Frank who looked worried, “You keep her safe. Do you understand me?”
Giving a nod, Frank watched as Joel hopped out of the truck and slammed the doors shut behind him. Joel couldn’t think about Frank and Y/N in this situation. Joel had to be Negan’s back up. Trying to catch up, Joel could see that Negan was already running up the hill toward the warehouse.
“Hey,” Y/N reached for Frank’s arm inside the van seeing that he was clutching to the table that was before him where they were doing surveillance. In the video she saw Bill fall forward on the ground and Simon lifted his gun to itch at his own temple.
“What the hell Simon?” one of the other men snapped looking down at Bill motionless on the ground. “You weren’t supposed to fucking kill him. We needed the location of the bodies. What are we going to do now?”
“I overreacted,” Simon tossed his hands up in the air looking down at Bill’s body and he dramatically shook his head. “I’m just supposed to be okay with some fucking loser killing Negan? Some fucking hacker hillbilly? I’m sorry, but I’m not okay with that shit. He deserved to go out in a way that fit. Not because of this loser searching the deep web to find the information. Fuck that.”
“What are we going to do?” the other man demanded an answer trying to reach down to check on Bill who was motionless. “I think you fucking killed him.”
“We see the picture. We heard the story. It’s believable,” Simon declared with a loud grumble trying to gather himself. “By the story he told they were in the middle of the woods. No one would be able to track their bodies at this point. Just let the bodies rot.”
As the conversation was taking place, both Negan and Joel were approaching the warehouse together. Joel hid behind one of the trucks that they had brought seeing the men that were surrounding the building. Multiple ones had gone around the back and Joel knew they would be up against over a dozen men.
“We need to come up with a plan in order to go get Bill and get the hell out of here,” Joel explained trying to get Negan to focus while he scouted out the area, his jaw flexing. “I’m sure we can be stealthy, take down who we need and…”
Without even listening to Joel, Negan stood up and started shooting. Because it was random and unannounced Negan was able to shoot several of them making them hit the ground hard while the rest of them spread.
“Son of a bitch! Negan!” Joel called out seeing that a few of them were popping out behind Negan in attempts to shoot him. Thinking quickly, Joel shot multiple times taking the men down with the rifle that he had grabbed hating that it was leading to this.
Inside of the warehouse, Simon had hid himself behind the containers that he had been sitting on previously, trying to keep himself hidden, “Holy shit. The hillbilly had a fucking group of people with him too. I did not see that fucking coming.”
“You shouldn’t have fucking killed him!” one of the other men in the warehouse stood with their gun pointed at the door. “This was stupid. This was so stupid!”
Outside, Negan and Joel made their way toward the front of the warehouse. The way Negan moved for the door like nothing could hurt him worried Joel. Negan was killing people easily without much of a reaction, but by the time they had gotten to the front door, multiple bodies were on the ground and Joel hid himself against the wall.
“The door is locked,” Negan pulled at the door letting out a roar looking back at Joel with frustration in his eyes. “Get Frank to unlock the door.”
“Frank, you have to get the doors unlocked,” Joel instructed moving away from the door to try to get Frank to respond to them. Bill had set everything up so Frank was in control of everything that had to do with the building.
“Joel, they are already unlocked,” Frank explained from where he was looking down at the buttons, confused to what Joel was saying. “They were never locked in the first place.”
“They are unlocked Negan,” Joel was confused when he turned to look and see that Negan had opened the door and was pulling it shut. Running forward, Joel tried to tug open the door but Negan had manually locked the door in his attempts to keep Joel safe. “Negan! No. You can’t do this whole thing alone. You’re just one man.”
“Keep her safe,” Negan demanded pointing in the other direction. It was clear what he wanted from Joel. Hitting the door over and over again Joel was determined to get in with the glass starting to crack, but not enough to make a difference. Instead of opening the door, Negan turned on his heel eliciting a hiss from Joel.
“He locked me out Frank! I need to get in,” Joel explained drawing Frank to let out a nervous sound and he felt Y/N moving around beside him in the truck. “Negan can’t go in there alone.”
“I don’t know what to tell you Joel, the back door is surrounded by them and you know that you can’t go there. Not after what we set up,” Frank looked for an option but there was none. Joel’s loud, frustrated breaths were heard while he continued to pound at the glass on the door trying to break it down. “Break the door down Joel. Use your gun.”
“It’s wasting bullets,” Joel reasoned before using the butt of the gun to hit at the glass until it finally shattered.
“What are you doing?” Frank questioned from where he was seated noticing the way that Y/N was digging through the supplies that was in the work van. When he saw that she had grabbed a handgun, he let out a frustrated sound. “You can’t go there after them Y/N! You know what the plan was!”
“I’m not going to let them get hurt further. Not for me,” she hopped out of the van sticking to her guns. Frank frustratingly breathed out. It looked like he was going to follow her out, but she threw her hand up in the air. “You have to keep them safe from here. You know what you have to do. You can’t leave.”
“Goddamn it,” Frank cussed when she slammed the doors of the van shut behind her leaving Frank inside.
Wincing out, Joel had managed to get his arm through the broken parts of the glass to get the door unhooked and at the same time Negan was approaching the room that Bill had gone in with Simon. When he stepped into the entrance way, he let out a grunt when one of the two managed to shoot him in the arm making him jolt back. Quickly gathering himself, Negan shot multiple times at the man who had shot him, hitting him several times before getting a kill shot in the head. Pointing his gun at the other man who was left standing, Negan cleared his throat and motioned them to throw the gun down.
“Throw it down, now!” Negan demanded seeing the other man shake his head immediately. It looked like he was about to shoot Negan, but another few shots filled the air. Looking back over his shoulder once the body dropped to the ground, Negan saw that Joel was standing behind him. Joel expression was furious. “I fucking told you to stay.”
“I don’t give a shit,” Joel snarled at Negan and it was followed by a surprised sound escaping Simon’s throat when his hand pressed in over the container so he could look back and over to see Negan pointing his rifle out at him. “Negan!”
“Back from the fucking dead,” Simon let out an amused breath making Negan’s face scrunch up in anger and Negan pulled the gun up further. “Was this your idea? You sent this idiot in to stage everything and you got him killed?”
“Don’t,” Joel warned when Simon slowly stood up looking between the two of them. “Don’t move. Or I’ll fucking shoot!”
“I can see that,” Simon was amused, keeping his hands at his hips while Negan remained silent. “You do know at any moment, the rest of the crew is going to come in through the back, right? I’m sure they are making their way there right now as we…”
A booming sound filled the air making Simon drop down and cover his head when debris from an explosion toward the back exit filled the small warehouse. Instead of reacting to the explosion, Negan kept his gun on Simon knowing that the explosion was caused from the explosives that Bill had set up just in case someone tried to sneak into the building. Frank had set it off showing that Simon was right and the rest of the crew was coming in through the back.
“Negan!” Joel called out seeing that a few people were still approaching. It became obvious that not everyone had been effected by the explosion that was set up. Immediately bullets were flooding into the room and Joel shuffled to try to get cover behind a wall. Negan had dropped down at the other end of the containers that Simon had scrambled behind again.
Trying to pop his head out, Joel scoffed when the bullets continued to graze by him. Dropping down onto the ground, Joel clung to the rifle and cussed out loud knowing that there was still too many men for them to take down at once in this situation. They had the upper hand.
Scoping out the warehouse, Joel saw the set of stairs that were at the corner of the room that led to the second floor overlook of the warehouse. That was the only way he knew that would work with him having an advantage in this situation. Stretching his fingers out, he reached for a piece of the debris from the explosion that had made it this far across the building. Tossing it aside, the gunmen shot at the area it landed giving Joel enough time to scramble for the stairs. They shot at him and he managed to reach the steps before he could be shot.
Once he reached the top, he paused to make sure that there was a safe spot for him to settle himself. They hadn’t stopped trying to shoot at Negan who could barely move and Joel knew he needed to do something. Propping himself up, he aimed at one of the men that Simon had brought with him, shooting and hitting the first one in the neck causing the blood to spray from his throat. It was something that usually would have made Joel uncomfortable, but he had to push through the emotions of this whole thing. Killing was never something he wanted to do, but this was a situation that he got stuck in. Taking another shot took another one down leaving Negan room to finally move away from where he was. Once Negan was safe, Joel dropped back down to give himself cover as well.
“Negan!” Simon called out from where he was still hidden. “What the hell are you doing?”
When the shooting stopped, Negan popped out from where he was hidden to shoot at the remainder of the men that were there. With them distracted on Negan, Joel knew that he could pop up again taking out a few more of them. During the process they had noticed that Joel was up on the second level and he had to hide himself. It gave Negan the opportunity to shoot at them. Heading back for the stairs, Joel knew that it would give him the chance to fool them with where he was. They were still shooting at the second level unaware that he had made it back to the first floor.
“Christ! Stop!” Simon screamed out while the bullets continued to be shot back and forth between both sides. Once another one of their men was taken out by Joel and Negan, the remaining three had dropped back. “You two are killing all of my men.”
“Good,” Negan snarled back, pressing forward toward the area they had run off in. It left Joel trying to go off after him, but Negan was already pulling out the handgun that he had, dropping the rifle on the ground. The way he shot the men with ease in the back as they ran away shocked Joel knowing that Negan was an incredible shot.
“Hey!” Simon called out drawing Joel’s attention since he was still partially in the warehouse. Letting out a worried sound, Joel saw Y/N moving into the building and before he could react Simon was scrambling from where he was to move in behind her to wrap her up in his arms from behind making her gasp out. Pointing his rifle out at Simon, Joel made his way back toward the situation seeing that Simon pressed the gun to Y/N’s head. “You step closer and I will blow her brains out all over the place.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Joel questioned with a frustrated glance seeing the fear in Y/N’s eyes while she stared out at him. “You were supposed to stay where you were.”
“I couldn’t let the two of you get hurt,” she answered letting out a wince when Negan had entered the warehouse and lifted his handgun to point it at Simon when he realized what was happening. “Negan.”
“Let her go,” Negan warned getting closer to the three of them that were already in a standoff. “You do something stupid Simon and you’re outnumbered. All of your men are dead. There is nothing you have over the two of us.”
“This is fucking insane,” Simon acknowledged with a bit of a maniacal laugh. Hiding his body behind Y/N’s, Simon was doing his best to keep himself from being shot. Simon’s arm was hooked around her throat, with the gun still pointed at her temple. “All of this over this dumb broad? The both of you?”
“Let her go now!” Joel screamed at Simon, his body shaking from his emotional outburst. Snickering, Simon buried his head against the side of Y/N’s neck. The sensation made her eyes shut tightly in fear.
“You must have a magic pussy or something,” Simon slurred making her let out a disgusted breath when his lips pressed in over the back of her ear. “You have both of these two suckers willing to risk their lives for you. What is it? I’ve known you your whole life and I just don’t see it.”
“You’re disgusting,” she shouted out at Simon trying to wiggle out of his grasp, but his muscular arm wasn’t letting her go anywhere. “I always knew you were a piece of shit.”
“Oh? Did you now?” Simon’s voice raised while pulling her tightly to him. “Do you want a fucking cookie for knowing that? God, you’re so fucking special, aren’t you? Did you think the men who were working for your father were good people?”
“Let her go Simon,” Negan demanded but Simon didn’t listen. It just made Simon smirk and he shook his head. “Why are you doing this Simon? Tell us who hired you and we can work something out with you.”
“Oh, you’re going to work with me?” Simon chuckled with his eyebrows furrowing and Simon nuzzled his nose in the back against Y/N’s neck.
“Do you trust me?” Joel inquired making Y/N’s eyes grow with fear. This was Joel asking Y/N for permission to do something and it made Negan let out a nervous exhale. “Do you trust me?”
“No,” Negan responded with a shake of his head seeing that Joel was lining up a shot. “We don’t trust you.”
“I need to hear it from you,” Joel begged of Y/N knowing that it was only her that could give him the permission to do this. There was doubt in Negan’s face, but she could feel the gun digging in further at her temple.
“I trust you,” she breathed out and a moment later a gun went off making Simon hiss out in agony showing that Joel had hit him. It made Simon release Y/N and Negan scrambled to grab a hold of her so he could push her behind him to protect her. Simon was holding the side of his face, clinging to it while blood seeped through his fingers.
“You shot off part of my ear?” Simon snarled, lifting his fingers to trace over the area that Joel had managed to shoot in order to get Simon to let go of Y/N. Tossing his handgun up, Simon pointed it at Negan. Joel stepped forward to make it clear that he was there with his gun. “Fuck, I understand why you hated the fucking professor.”
“Fuck you,” Joel swore at Simon making Simon laugh and gaze over in his direction. “Tell us what we need to know and I won’t put a bullet in your fucking head. And trust me, with that shiny ass forehead it’s not going to be hard to miss.”
“Oh, look at you. Big and bad. So terrifying you smartass,” Simon chuckled, gazing over to Negan and letting out an exhausted sound. “I can’t believe it got to this.”
“What does that mean?” Joel inquired letting out a groan when a gunshot went off, hitting his left arm. Hitting the ground hard, it felt like the breath left his lungs and Joel immediately clung to his arm. Quickly turning, Negan shot off a few rounds at the person who had obviously shot Joel. Once the sound of a body hitting the ground was heard, Negan turned on his heel and brought the gun back to Simon. Simon had his gun pointed at Joel and he had kicked Joel’s rifle away. “Fuck.”
“That’s what you deserve for shooting part of my ear off you prick,” Simon hissed at Joel who was clinging to his arm while blood seeped through his fingers. When he noticed the fear in Negan’s eyes, Simon chuckled to himself and shook his head. “You really are clinging to these two, aren’t you?”
“Hey,” Negan made sure to keep Y/N behind him to block her so that way Simon couldn’t point his gun at her. “Just tell us what we need to know.”
“Come on Negan, don’t you think it’s about time to give up the gig?” Simon pushed keeping his gun up and pointed at Negan while Negan made sure to push Y/N further behind him. “I think it’s gone on long enough at this point.”
“What are you talking about?” Negan tipped his head to the side noticing out of the corner of his eye that Joel was attempting to slide toward the gun that Y/N had dropped when she entered the building. She had dropped it when Simon had grabbed a hold of her. Trying to keep Simon’s attention he knew that he didn’t want Simon’s gun on either Y/N or Joel. “Stop fucking around Simon!”
“Don’t play innocent,” Simon snickered looking between both Y/N and Joel who looked confused with his response. “I didn’t think you’d let it get this far. When you came up with the idea for this whole thing, I thought it would be a simple job, but you have dragged this thing out way too far.”
“What?” Negan snarled, his eyebrows furrowing when he shook his head. “You’re talking nonsense.”
“Y/N, this was originally just supposed to be Negan stepping in to be the hero,” Simon clarified, his head nodding slowly when he dramatically wiggled his gun out in the air. “There is no money in that safe. Negan wanted to be your hero to make you fall in love with him. He was so jealous that you had the professor that he tried coming up with a scenario of how to make you fall in love with him. I let him do it because he’s my friend and I thought after the first night it would be over. I didn’t think this would drag on for weeks. We were going to set up the shooting, Negan was meant to kill them and then he would be your knight in shining armor. You deserve to know that Negan isn’t the man that you think he is.”
“Bullshit,” Y/N snapped back at Simon making him look offended when he place his hand in over the center of his chest.
“Why do you think I was so fucking pissed that the hillbilly killed him?” Simon pushed further nodding over toward Bill’s body that was still on the ground. “This was just supposed to be something that Negan and I worked up together. After Negan lost Lucille, he just became so obsessed with the idea of you. You were this sweet, pure little thing and he just wanted you so much. And the professor was getting in the way. Negan is not the man that you think he is. In fact, he’s quite honestly the biggest manipulator I know. Hell, I fell for it too. I wanted my best friend to find love and even though it was a bit extreme, I went through with it. I didn’t think he was going to make a whole fucking action movie out of it. It was when Poppy got killed where I knew I had to straighten this shit up.”
“Oh fuck you,” Negan snarled once he realized what Simon was trying to hint at. “I would never do something like this you fucking piece of shit. And you know that.”
“Oh?” Simon held his finger up on his free hand digging into his pocket to pull out his phone. “I thought you might pull something like this. So…”
Keeping Y/N safely behind him, Negan felt his whole body tensing up when Simon brought up something on his phone and the audio clip started to play, “I have to figure out a way to get rid of the boyfriend. All the guy fucking does is upset her. But she’s so goddamn in love with him that I don’t know what I could even do. It would have to be something big. Something that was a grand gesture. I wish I could just throw the guy in the fucking river and be done with it.”
A nervous laugh fell from Negan’s throat when he looked back at Y/N seeing her eyes gazing over him and he shook his head, “That’s taken completely out of context. I don’t even know why he recorded that. It was right after Joel asked you for money the first time and I was talking to Simon about it, I don’t…I don’t even know why he recorded that.”
“Negan, she loves you at this point. You got what you wanted,” Simon shoved his phone back into his pocket pointing over at Joel who had started to pull himself up from the ground. “I can tell by the way she ran in here guns blazing. You have both of these two wanting to protect you and keep you safe. You got between her legs, so let’s finish this shit up.”
“Shut up,” Negan screamed at Simon who simply shrugged his shoulders and lowered his gun about. “You don’t know when to stop lying, do you?”
“Do you?” Simon repeated pointing back and forth between Y/N and Joel. “You just can’t stop this whole thing you started. Joel has been shot for fuck’s sake. Poppy is dead. People are fucking dead. Lots of fucking people. And it was all over some girl? This is fucking ridiculous Negan. I helped you set up this building, I picked the men for you to kill to make sure she knew you were the one that loved her the most. What more could you possibly want? This is what you do to your best friend?”
“Negan?” the color drained from Joel’s face while he stared out at Negan who was shaking his head.
“He’s full of shit,” Negan declared shrugging his shoulders. “Why would I do this?”
“Because love makes you do crazy things. Your wife died and you were never able to get over it. I think it drove you kind of crazy friend. And I should have questioned this before you did all of it,” Simon retorted with a wrinkle of his nose making Negan’s face scrunch up in anger. “I’m sorry, it’s just time to be honest about things. Let’s just do what you wanted from the start with Joel. Let’s just kill the son of a bitch and get a move on because this is really fucking with her dad’s run for governor which is fucking with my job. You’re my friend, but enough is enough.”
“You’re trying to fuck with her mind and it’s not going to work,” Negan shook his head, his Adam’s apple bouncing in his throat when he felt Y/N’s body moving away from him. Looking back over his shoulder, Negan felt his throat tightening and he let out a tense breath. “You can’t actually believe what he’s saying, do you?”
“Come on Negan. She’s not stupid,” Simon pointed out waving his gun about when he saw her eyes staring Negan over. “How the hell do you think we knew where you were at all times? There was only one constant Y/N. And that’s Negan.”
“The tracker in my necklace,” she blurt out thinking to the tracker that she had destroyed previously from the necklace that her father had given her. “My father gave me a necklace when I was younger that had a tracker in it. That’s how.”
“You think that tracker would work across the fucking country?” Simon scoffed working to make Y/N question that very thing. Negan’s face had gone pale so much that when Y/N looked to him, Simon could tell that Negan was staring to panic. “Honey, Negan has been fucking obsessed with you since Lucille died. It was just supposed to be a show. Hurting people is not something Negan has a problem with doing. You think he just suddenly learned to be a good fighter? The guy was a baseball player and a gym teacher. Yet he can kill people point blank and easy? Were you guys with Negan every time that he called me?”
The look over Joel’s face answered it for Simon and he snapped his fingers showing that he was proving a point, “After the shooting happened at your birthday party, Negan realized that it was pushing you and Joel closer together. We were supposed to stop it, but he couldn’t handle you being with Joel. So he told me to keep things going. Begged me. The country singer was an accident. He had a mind of his own, Poppy wasn’t supposed to happen. That was my mistake not making sure that it was someone who understood better, but this whole thing happened because Negan wanted you for himself.”
“Why are you doing this Simon? You were my friend,” Negan reminded Simon, but it didn’t seem to effect Simon when he simply shrugged his shoulders.
“How do you think I fucking feel Negan? I am your friend, I got you this job. I didn’t expect you to fall in love with Philip Blake’s daughter. You were just supposed to do your fucking job. I just can’t put up with this any longer. It’s gone on for too long and it’s fucking up my life. I’m sick of it and it needs to stop,” Simon interrupted Negan looking to Joel again who was just standing there staring out at Negan. Both Joel and Y/N were staring out at Negan looking for any kind of proof that this wasn’t true. “Listen, I’ll just kill the professor for you so that way he’s no longer competition for you. Then it can just be the two of you. We’ll clean up this whole mess and pin it on Ezekiel like we originally planned. Then our life can go back to normal.”
“No!” Negan called out seeing Simon lifting the gun to point it at Joel. Right when Simon was about to pull the trigger a shot went off making Simon jolt back. Negan had shot him in the shoulder to stop him from shooting Joel. A furious roar escaped Simon’s throat when he turned away from the group. Waving his hand out, Negan nodded toward the door and cleared his throat. “We need to get you help Joel. Come on, we can grab Simon and bring him with us.”
With a tip of his head, Joel cleared his throat and shook his head. Holding out his hand, Joel motioned Y/N to come to him. It made Negan lower his gun, looking back at Y/N who was staring out at him with big eyes. A shuddering breath fell from Negan’s throat when she moved around him to head over to Joel instead.
“Why isn’t anyone showing up Negan?” Joel wondered making Negan’s jaw flex with tension while he gazed back and forth between Y/N and Joel. “If someone was in charge, they would have shown up by now, right? Why aren’t they?”
“How am I supposed to know?” Negan stepped forward trying to reach out to Y/N, but she stepped back away from him. Joel urged her to get behind him and Negan could feel his heart pounding inside of his chest. “After everything I’ve done…this is how you two respond? Yeah, I didn’t like you at first Joel, but you didn’t like me either. But now? After everything, we’re a fucking trio. Remember? We all protect each other. Do you really believe I let myself get shot? That I allowed myself to get my ass beat so bad that I pissed blood for days?”
“I don’t know what to believe Negan. The person behind everything is your best friend,” Joel reasoned with Negan looking to Simon who was hunched over grabbing his arm. “And you are incredibly good at killing people. Simon isn’t wrong. For someone who claimed to never kill a person before, you do it really well.”
“So are you,” Negan reminded Joel with a shake of his head, lowering his gun when he spoke to the two of them. “I can’t believe this. After everything we’ve been through together, you really believe the shit that he is spewing? There are so many plot holes in his story.”
“Is there?” Joel questioned, his eyebrow arching up in curiosity drawing Negan to let out a hurt sound. “How did he know that we were getting closer after the shooting at her birthday?”
“I called him every fucking time we stopped and you know that,” Negan reasoned with Joel stepping forward. It made Joel raise his gun up further stopping Negan from getting any closer. “Why would I hurt Y/N? I wouldn’t. She was the only reason I was still here. I love her. And I…I thought the two of us…”
“Dear God Negan. You’re sinking the ship in both of them? You fell in love with him too?” Simon shot back at Negan making Negan’s hazel eyes narrow and he raised his gun back at Simon again who stood. “I can’t believe you shot me, for him. Of all fucking people.”
“Just put the gun down Negan so we can figure all of this out,” Joel suggested seeing the way that Negan looked to Y/N. “We’ll take Simon and we can figure things out.”
“You really think I had something to do with this?” Negan begged for an answer from her seeing the confusion that flooded into her features. “Y/N, I love you so much. I promise you, I would never do something like this. I’ve done bad things in my life. I have. You know that. But what I feel for you, I love you so fucking much. I would have died for both you and Joel. Why would I do this to protect the two of you?”
“Because you didn’t want them to find out,” Simon screamed at Negan seeing the way that Y/N was staring out at Negan. “You’re making it more obvious Negan. I knew you were fucking obsessed with her, but the begging. And wanting the professor’s approval too?”
“You’re fucking with the people I care about,” Negan snarled holding his gun up in Simon’s direction making Simon roll his eyes. Stepping forward, Y/N reached out to place her hand in over the side of Negan’s face getting him to look at her with his hazel eyes. “Please…”
“I believe you,” she whispered drawing Negan to loosen up before her. “There is only one person in this world that I’ve counted on my whole life to keep me safe and it’s you.”
“You mean that?” Negan inquired with a small quiver of his bottom lip and she nodded her head, tipping up on her toes to brush a kiss over Negan’s lips. It made him exhale loudly while she stroked over the side of his face. “I promise…”
“I know,” she reached for Negan, leading Negan closer to them. “Simon is trying to fuck with us Joel, but Negan’s not lying. I have never in my life felt safer with someone than I do when I’m with Negan. He just wants to keep us safe.”
“You are such a stupid little girl,” Simon called out from where he was drawing their attention to him from where he was holding his gun. Joel was moving toward them and Simon raised his gun. “This shit would have been so much easier with the professor fucking gone to begin with. If he wasn’t there on your birthday…”
Tossing the gun up, Simon didn’t wait this time. Joel tensed up hearing the gun go off and he gasped when Negan threw himself in front of Joel after shoving Y/N aside. The sound of the gunshot echoed throughout the warehouse when Negan fell forward against Joel. Clinging tightly to Negan, Joel felt his heart racing realizing what happened.
“Ah shit,” Simon snarled when Negan fell to his knees and he realized that Negan had taken the bullet instead of Joel. “You weren’t supposed to do that. You were the only one I wanted to keep alive you idiot. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Hey,” Joel clung to Negan, his hand pressing in over Negan’s back feeling the blood that was against his fingertips. Dropping to the ground with Negan’s body, Joel let out a tremoring breath when he realized how much Negan was bleeding. “Negan?”
“Negan,” Y/N called out sliding down in beside them seeing Negan reaching out to her and she grabbed a hold of his hand.
“I made the choice for you,” Negan whimpered causing her chest to ache realizing that Negan was referring to the conversation that they had the day before. “I didn’t do this. I just want to keep you both safe. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Hey, no,” she shook her head motioning to the door. “We need to get him out of here.”
“Come on,” Joel tried to pull Negan up making Negan cry out in pain and he fell back onto the ground. Crawling in beside Negan she pulled him into her arms and she tried to pull him up to the best of her ability. “We have to get you help.”
“I can’t move,” Negan shook his head with broken breaths, his hand lifting to see the blood that was covering his fingertips. There was fear in Negan’s eyes while she pulled him in closer to her chest. Burying his head against the center of her chest Negan winced and she kissed at his forehead. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize,” she shook her head feeling tears swelling at her eyes while Joel sat on his knees beside Negan. “We need to get help. Now. Call someone.”
“No one is calling anyone,” Simon asserted stepping forward raising his gun up seeing that Y/N was pulling Negan in closer to her body to hold him close. In her arms, Negan’s body went limp and Simon sighed loudly. “He wasn’t lying,” Simon informed them with a huff staring down at Negan in her arms. “As much as I love this fucking guy, we needed someone to fall back on and he was the perfect scapegoat. The bodyguard that became obsessed with the woman that he was watching over? It fit him perfectly. He already had pictures up of you at his apartment. I hate that he has to die, but now I guess it makes it easier to sell the story. Not that it’s going to be hard anyways. I mean look at how fast the two of you believed the story I was selling. He gave his all for the both of you and look at what you did to him. You turned your backs on him as soon as you could.”
Lifting his gun up, Simon pointed back and forth between the two of them before finally settling in on Y/N, “I wish you would have just died that first night. It would have made things so much easier. Instead you made this shit so damn hard for me. All of you were such a pain in the ass. Goodbye Y/N. You and Negan can die together.”
Closing her eyes tightly, she heard the sound of a gun going off and let out a shuddering breath when she realized that she wasn’t struck. Opening her eyes, she looked to see that Simon was looking down toward the center of his abdomen where he was bleeding. Looking beside her she saw that Joel had a gun that he had in his hand that he had obviously hidden previously. Dropping his gun, Simon fell backwards and his blood started to pool on the floor.
Motioning Y/N to move, Joel looked over Negan seeing that he was still breathing, but barely, “We need to get him out of here,” Joel announced picking up Negan from the ground in his arms with a roar. Carrying him toward the door, Y/N quickly followed after him only for the lights to go out leaving a small light from only the exit sign flooding the room. A few gunshots went off and Joel cry out followed when the lights came back on Y/N could see that he was on the floor with Negan and Joel got shot in the shoulder on the same side he had got shot in the arm. Scrambling to help them, she didn’t know what to do at this point. “Get out of here!”
Movement was seen in the back of the room and Joel shot off a few shots with his good arm making a body drop to the ground when it was obviously one of Simon’s men that they had missed previously when they entered the building.
“You fuckers,” a slurring sound was heard when Simon started to pull himself up showing the blood that was dripping from his lips. “If I’m going to die, I’m going to die knowing that you both are fucking gone.”
A gunshot went off and Simon fell to the ground in a thud and this time the gunshot was to the head so there was no getting up anymore for Simon. Lifting her eyes, Y/N saw that it was her dad standing behind Simon holding the gun that Negan had dropped.
“Dad?” Y/N muttered seeing the way that her father’s head slowly rose to meet her stare. Getting up from the ground, Y/N scrambled over to her father to wrap her arms tightly around him to hug him. “What are you doing here?”
“I had some men watching Simon because he’s been acting suspicious,” Philip explained hearing Joel wincing out as he pulled himself into a standing position trying to reach for Negan. “They found a paper that Simon wrote information on and I came as fast as I could.”
“I need help,” Joel called out with a desperate sound trying to pick up Negan with all of his might.
“Let’s get all of you guys to the hospital,” Philip suggested moving forward after putting the gun into the back of his pants. Leaning down to try to help Joel pick Negan up, Y/N headed over toward Simon’s body to pick up the gun that was there. “Come on honey, we need to get Negan help.”
Going to move forward, Y/N stopped when she spotted the safe that was still exposed in the wall. Swallowing down hard, she looked to Simon thinking about how he seemed to be waiting for someone the whole time. Stepping toward the safe, she shakily reached her hand out to the dial doing the combination that she had known for so long. Letting curiosity get the best of her, she knew that it should have been the last thing that she did, but she couldn’t help it.
“Come on!” Joel called out looking back over his shoulder seeing her standing at the safe. “What are you doing?”
Putting in the last number, the sound of the safe opening was heard making Joel and Philip both turn to face her while they were holding a limp Negan up by wrapping his arms around their shoulders. Negan was soaked in blood at this point and he should have been her number one priority, but when the safe pulled open she felt her heart sink. A shuddering exhale fell from her throat seeing the stacks of money that were inside of the safe. Involuntarily her body began to tremble and it was followed by a nervous sound from Philip.
“How did you get that open?” Philip inquired with tension in his tone. “It must have been left open.”
“It was your combination dad,” she informed her father swallowing down hard when she turned on her heel to stare out at her father. Uncomfortably Philip laughed. “It was the day you made your first million. I know because I stole mom’s necklace from your safe years ago. I’ve always known your combination. That means this safe is yours. This building is yours. Simon was working for you and waiting for you. You’re the person that put the hit out on me. Your own daughter.”
“Come on,” Philip grumbled staring out at Y/N with a look of disgust plastered over his features. “I’m a lot of things, but you think I would kill my own daughter? It had to be Simon that did it. He knew everything. He had all of my resources!”
“No, he didn’t know the combination. He was waiting on you to show up the whole time,” she snapped at her father making Joel’s gaze switch to Philip who was shifting uncomfortably at the other side of Negan. “Simon had no idea. Not once did he trash your name. It was you that he was working for.”
“Hell,” Philip scoffed pulling out his gun making Y/N gasp out when Philip shot Joel in the leg. Immediately Joel dropped to the ground with Negan falling in over him. Sounds of agony filled the air when Philip marched forward and Y/N attempted to lift the gun, but Philip swung the gun out hitting her in the face with an incredible amount of power knocking her to the ground. “Simon wasn’t wrong. You are an incredibly stupid little girl. How you have my blood running through your veins and you are like this is beyond me.”
Crying out, she pulled her hands away from her face to see that her nose was bleeding and there was an incredible amount of heat flooding her face. Slamming the door shut on the safe, Philip growled out and tossed his hands up in the air.
“You had to let your curiosity ruin everything. If you would have just kept your fucking mouth shut, we could be on our way to the hospital and both men in your life would be okay,” Philip alerted her waving the gun about in the air. “Instead you have to do what you do best and fuck shit up. It’s what you were always good at.”
“Why?” she pulled herself up into a seated position bracing her back against the containers that were behind her.
“Why not?” Philip responded, kneeling down before his daughter making her look up at him with big eyes. “You are a fuck up Y/N. I’m running for governor and honestly? I’ve never really liked you all that much. It wasn’t that hard of a thing to come up with. A tragedy often sways the public vote toward someone who lost everything. If you died, it was guaranteed that I would win hands down. Especially now that the news channel is suggesting that Ezekiel had something to do with that. But see, the media is easily corruptible. You hand them some money and they are eager to do whatever you tell them. Money fucking talks sweetheart. It’s what keeps me going. I need to win. You know that I’m projected to go all the way to the white house if I get elected as governor. I have this happen, Ezekiel loses by large amounts and I don’t have to worry about the wrong media focusing on the fact that I’m not a family man because I kicked my troublesome daughter out of my life.”
“All so you can win governor?” she blurt out feeling the world spinning around her while her father stared out at her with his intense blue eyes. “I lost my best friend because of this.”
“Poppy was never supposed to die. You were. Then Joel, Poppy and Negan had to get in the fucking way,” Philip snarled down at her, throwing his finger up toward Joel and Negan. “If you would have just died that night at the party, Poppy would still be alive. Negan and Joel wouldn’t be bleeding out.”
“You’re a piece of shit,” she whimpered seeing Phillip think about it before nodding.
“I am, you’re not wrong about that,” Philip shrugged letting out a tense sound as he stayed knelt before her. “Listen, we have two options here. Either I take Simon’s gun and I shoot you with it myself before killing both Joel and Negan or you take option two. And option two is very nice if you ask me. Option two is we pin everything on Simon. I allow you to keep one of the men in your life and the three of us walk away from this being able to live another day.”
“Fuck you,” she snapped at her father making him sigh out when he stood up from where he was to head over toward Negan and Joel. “Leave them alone.”
“You’re going to have to make a choice kiddo. Negan is still breathing. I see it. But barely,” Philip informed her swirling his finger over Negan. Blood was surrounding the floor around both Joel and Negan. At this point she wasn’t sure what belonged to who. “If we forget this whole thing happened, I’ll let you pick one to keep alive. If you want to pick Negan, I would suggest you do it fast though because he looks like he is bleeding out. Joel is slowly working his way there.”
“You want to just forget this whole thing happened?” she hissed out, pulling herself up into a standing position. Philip simply nodded, his eyes staring out at her when she cleared her throat.
“I’ll give you and whoever you pick all the money your heart desires. Just to disappear. You stick around long enough for the media and when it’s over you can leave. It will make sense because the media will play it like you had to get away from the catastrophic event that almost killed you and killed two of your friends,” Philip went off pointing the gun between Negan and Joel. “So pick!”
“Money doesn’t fix everything,” she stammered lifting her hand to reveal that she had Simon’s gun. Philip laughed when he saw it. “Money won’t make me a monster like you.”
“You’re going to shoot me?” Philip stepped forward, his eyes narrowing at his daughter when he stepped before her. When she didn’t pull the trigger, Philip wrapped his finger around the back of her neck and forced her forward. “Money can make anyone do anything. I fucking promise you. Watch…”
Snapping his fingers, Philip managed to get Joel to stare out at him from where he had propped himself against the wall. There was anger in his eyes while Philip pushed Y/N before Joel, “Joel Miller, if you shoot my daughter, I will give you two million dollars. I’ll fund your business, make sure your daughter and your brother get the best of the best. We will pin everything on Simon and Negan. Use the same story that Simon told you earlier.”
A shuddering exhale fell from Joel’s throat and Y/N felt her stomach sinking, “Joel?”
“See here is the thing honey. Money is more important than you. Money has always been the most important thing in the world. Money is what made this son of a bitch fuck with you in the first place,” Philip squeezed his fingers at the base of her throat making her whimper while Joel stared up at them with his intense brown eyes. “In fact, let me explain to you how important money is. When your mother left, it took her a year to settle her shit. To get help with the alcoholism, to get her own home…and then she came back for you. I offered her money to leave and never look back. And she took it. Your own mother picked a life of luxury and money instead of choosing you. I don’t care if you think Joel loves you, no one is going to turn down the kind of life that I can promise them. Well, no one other than you. And maybe Negan, but he’s not really in a position to be making decisions now, is he?”
Wincing out, she felt her father’s fingers digging tightly into her flesh, “So what do you say Mr. Miller? Do the kill shot and I’ll give you everything you ever dreamt of.”
Joel’s eyebrows twisted with tension, he was sweating and the color drained from his face. After a moment, he nodded his head making Y/N let out a whimpering breath, “Joel?”
“A man with common sense,” Philip motioned Joel to stand watching as Joel shakily pulled himself up and braced his weight on his good leg. Handing over the gun to Joel, Y/N cried out when Philip pushed her before Joel. “Come on Joel, one right between the eyes and your life gets incredibly better. You can start over new with your family.”
“Joel, please…” she begged seeing Joel lining up the gun, his dark eyes narrowing while the gun shook in his hands. “Joel…”
“You’re going to learn a lesson before you die sweetheart and that’s money is more important than you will ever…” Philip began letting out a wail when Joel swiftly turned the gun shooting Philip in the shoulder making him fall back onto the ground in a thud. Sliding back on the ground, Philip scrambled for the gun that he had gotten Y/N to drop pointing it out at Joel who stepped in front of Y/N to keep her safe. “I just offered you everything. What is wrong with you? I offered you your life back. And then some.”
“Some things are more important than money,” Joel declared with a shake of his head looking back at Y/N with a firm nod.
“I will destroy you. No one is going to believe what happened here today. They are going to…” Philip paused when he heard his voice echoing and he looked over his shoulder to see that Bill was standing behind him holding his cell phone out to show that his speech was being streamed onto one of the most popular news channels.
“I think it’s time to stop Mr. Blake,” Bill explained, tearing at the shirt that he was wearing to reveal that he was wearing a bulletproof vest. The bullet that Simon had shot him with had hit him so firmly that it had knocked him unconscious from the pain that it caused. “We weren’t the only ones here today. There was one more. And when you started talking about why you did everything, he started streaming out your confession to all the major news channels. Everyone knows what you’ve done now. Everyone. See, I came in here earlier today and disguised myself as an electrician. Said the powerlines went down and I made sure that I linked all of the cameras in here to my own personal computers. So you’re wrong. Everyone is going to believe what happened here today because they heard it from your own mouth.”
“You son of a bitch,” Philip raised his gun at Bill in attempts to shoot him, but Joel shot off once more hitting Philip in the hand making him drop the gun to the ground with a pained wail. Dropping out onto his back, Philip smiled and shook his head slowly. “You must feel big Joel Miller. Bringing down the man that ruined your life. Might as well take your final shot.”
“And make life easy for you by killing you?” Joel snarled, his dark eyes narrowing when he let out a tense exhale. Tossing the gun aside, Joel shook his head and glared down at the man who had done nothing but made his life hell. “I want you to be around to experience everything that is going to happen to you Philip. You’re not escaping this one…”
Sirens filled the air when the lights from the police cars pulling into the lot of the warehouse were heard making the color drain completely from Philip’s features. Shaking his head, Joel turned on his heel and reached down to grab a tight hold of Negan. Pulling him up in his arms, it took everything inside of him to get Negan up as he headed for the door limping.
Giving her father one final glance, she felt the police moving in around her and when they forced her father face forward against the ground, she shook her head and followed Joel out. Chasing to catch up with him, she knew that she wanted to be with Negan.
“He’s lost a lot of blood, please help him,” Joel explained with a weak exhale when he finally got Negan to the ambulance that was there. They grabbed a hold of Negan and put him onto a stretcher. Once they had Negan, Joel dropped down himself and felt himself being caught by Y/N who lowered down to the ground with him. Lifting his eyes, Joel stared out at Y/N letting out a tense sound. “You’re free from him now. You’re safe.”
There were tears in her eyes when she nodded and he reached out to stroke his fingers in over the side of her face, “If something happens to me, please take care of Sarah.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you,” she hushed him looking to see that his leg was bleeding badly as well. The paramedic reached for Joel pulling him from her arms making her let out a shuddering breath when she looked down at her hands to see they were covered in blood. It was undoubtedly mixed from both Joel and Negan.
“We need to get them to the hospital,” they informed her and she stood up to her feet approaching the ambulance.
“I need to go with them,” she asserted and they allowed her to get into the passenger seat. Once inside the ambulance, all she could focus on was the sounds of the paramedics in the back trying to help both Negan and Joel. By the sounds of what they were saying it didn’t sound good for either one of them. Nothing else mattered to her after tonight. Not her father. Not her father’s money. All that she prayed for was that both Joel and Negan would be okay. They just had to be. Or else this would have been for nothing.
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