iii.| A Little Heart To Heart |

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"I looked for you, even found you, but you had already moved on. So I did too."
- Ava

   "So, where'd you go?" Negan asked without looking in her direction, and she immediately knew what he was referring to.

"Atlanta....", she answered softly, biting at her lip when he turned to face her, his expression tight and full of resentment.

"You never called...never wrote. You just left." he stated dryly, moving to sit down on the couch hat was placed just a few feet in front of her. "We were together for four years-- four years, Ava, and I got nothing."

Ava quickly looked away. "I went back", she began to say after a moment, "I looked for you, even found you, but you had already moved on. So I did too."

   Negan looked at her, feeling a bit of guilt rise up above the anger. Standing up he moved closer, making Ava stumble back a bit.

"Why didn't you find a way to contact me?" he asked softly, eyes filled with confusion as he looked her over.

Ava swallowed the lump in her throat and replied, "After what happened...my dad just couldn't trust you. When we moved, he told me I wasn't to keep in touch, and to just go on with my life." she explained slowly, each word hurting a little more than the last.

Negan kicked the coffee table, a glass tumbling off the edge onto the floor. He should've known her father had something to do with this. The man never approved of him dating his daughter. "You weren't the only one who was hurting! I had to move on, or at least try to." he said as he began to pace back and forth in front of the woman.

"I'm sorry....", she started to say. "It's like I said Nathan, I went back, but you were with someone else--"

"Stop calling me that!" Negan snarled angrily, interrupting her. He sighed and ran a hand through his slicked back hair, letting out a humorless chuckle.

   "I made a mistake that day, alright?" he said softly, scratching at the scruff on his chin. "I should've known when it was time to call it quits, but the guys kept pushing Scotty and me into going around a few times."

He reached out, cupping her pale face in his large, calloused hand, looking into her eyes as he took a deep breath. Ava stood there, frozen in place, her own hands moving to cup his.

Negan noticed the flash of gold on her finger, taking in the wedding band with a mix of pain and disgust. So that was what she meant by moving on. No, he didn't like this. No one else was supposed to have her, make her happy. Nobody else but him.

"You're married." he stated bluntly, and with slight hesitation Ava nodded.

"Y-- yes, I am." she spoke softly. Though she didn't love her husband the way she'd loved Nathan, she still cared for Wes. But that was hard to do at times.

His hands were removed from her face, and Negan sighed softly before moving towards the couch to retrieve Lucille.

"Does he treat you right? Is he better than I was?" he questioned, though if he were being completely honest with himself he'd rather not know the answer.

With a soft sigh Ava replied, "Yes and no." It wasn't a lie, but she wouldn't go into details or give him comparisons, because that could cause a whole other batch of trouble she wasn't ready to face.

Negan turned to look back at her, chewing at his bottom lip as he thought over what he should say next. "I should go now... I'll see you in about a week." he informed her softly. "Maybe I'll get to meet him then."

Ava nodded slowly, already dreading the awkwardness of the two men in her life meeting one another. Except it worked in her favor, because only she knew who Negan truly was; Wes had only ever heard of Nathan.

"I'll see you then." she replied softly, and with a nod Negan left, Ava soon finding herself able to breathe again.

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A/N Hello everyone! I would love to know what you think of this book so far, so don't forget to vote and leave some feedback :)