"Come on, kid," Negan sighed, shaking Evelyn's shoulder slightly, "You need to get up."

The girl groaned, turning her face into her pillow even more, "I don't wanna," Her words came out muffled.

"Eva," He said softly, sitting down at the edge of her bed and rubbing her shoulder, "Look at me,"

Finally, Evelyn turned a tear-stained face his way, eyes bloodshot and hair messed up. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked up at him. She sniffled slightly and Negan felt another pang of sadness go straight to his heart.

"Okay, come on," He stood up and extended his hand to her, an invitation, "You and I are going out. We're going to get you some breakfast and coffee, both of which you desperately need."

Despite the teasing tone, Evelyn couldn't bring herself to smile. Not even a little bit. Though she wanted to, if only to wipe the worry off the man's features.

She finally relented, allowing Negan to drag her out of bed and throw some clothes from her closet at her for her to get changed into.

Negan stepped out of her room for a moment to give her some privacy, and she found him leaned up against the wall opposite of her door when she emerged.

He smiled softly, "Let's go," He said gently.

So the two of them set off, falling into step with one another.

It had been a few months since the first night that the pair met. After that original encounter at the party, the two were practically inseparable.

Negan had been quick to take Evelyn under his wing, show her the ropes of Penn State, and tried to have her stay on track with her classes.

As they walked to the breakfast place, snow was falling down lightly all around them, covering all surfaces in a soft, white blanket.

It wasn't until they got there and were seated at a booth with coffee until the silence was broken.

"It's Daryl's birthday," She whispered, staring down at the mug in her hands as she spoke.

"I know," Though, it didn't stop Negan from frowning, "You told me at the party the other night."

Ever since the two of them met, Evelyn dialed it down with the amount of parties she went to and how much she had to drink at them.

When she did go to parties though, Negan was there with her, watching over and monitoring her so that there were never any repeats of the first night they met.

It would seem though, that she had had a little more to drink than normal the other night, and had begun drunkenly rambling about how Daryl's birthday was coming up.

She had made so much progress moving on from that piece of trash that Negan's heart had almost shattered when he saw her getting upset over the day.

Had his birthday not come along, she would still be doing fine, hardly ever thinking about Daryl. To Negan's knowledge, at least.

"Hey," He said softly, reaching over and gently squeezing her hand, "I'm here for you if you want to talk. You know that, right?"

Blinking away tears, Evelyn looked up at him and nodded with a tight smile, "Yeah," She choked out, "I know. Thank you, Negan." She squeezed his hand back.

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"Are you excited?" Evelyn asked, skillfully moving her hands to fix his tie.

Negan let out a long breath, "I'm shitting bricks." He admitted.

The woman chuckled slightly, patting the front of his suit jacket to let him know that she was done.

He turned around to face the mirror, letting out another shaky breath as he looked himself over in his tuxedo.

"Don't you look spiffy," Evelyn teased, smoothing down a wrinkled part of his sleeve.

"Shut up," He laughed. His smile was quick to fade, though as he took a deep breath, "I don't know if I can do this," His words shook as he talked, and he began to anxiously play with the cuff of his sleeve.

"Yes, you can." The woman said gently, standing on her tiptoes to lean up and place a kiss on his cheek, "You're ready for this, Negan."

She smiled softly when he bent down to place a kiss on her forehead in return.

With a teasing grin, she turned to the best man, "I leave him to you, then." She told him with a smile, slipping out of the room.

"There's my maid of honor!" Lucille cried out as soon as Evelyn walked into a different room, across the building.

The bride-to-be hurried over and threw her arms around her, making the woman laugh and bit and stumble back, "Glad to know I'm a vital part of this wedding." She snickered, hugging the woman back.

"You're the vital part of this wedding." Lucille corrected, pulling back to look at her, "Well? How is he?" She asked anxiously.

Evelyn smiled softly, placing a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder, "He's fine. He's ready to marry you."

Lucille sagged in relief, bunching up her dress slightly as she fell into a seat behind her, "At least he's not getting cold feet," She was only slightly joking.

"Luce, he can't wait to marry you." Evelyn promised, then hesitated, slowly sinking down into the seat next to her, "With that being said..."

The woman raised an eyebrow, "What is it, Eva?"

Evelyn took a deep breath.

She had been the one to introduce Lucille and Negan. The woman met her while waitressing at a restaurant a little bit away from Penn State during her late years at the school. She had known right away that the two would be good for each other, and invited them both out to eat, saying she wanted two of her friends to meet.

Safe to say that after that night, they had already secured a first date for a week from then.

True, there had been some ups and downs over the time that they had been dating, but Evelyn was able to support both of her friends in a way that it never felt like she was choosing between them.

"Listen," She started, "I know most people would think that I should be giving him this talk- and believe me I already did, the night you two went on your first date, actually- but I wanted to talk to you too."

Evelyn took another deep breath, looking her friend in the eyes, "Don't hurt him, Lucille. I know you never purposefully would, but I just feel like I need to say it. Negan... he- he's gotten me through so much- more than he's ever known. And the last thing I want is to see him get hurt."

Lucille's eyes softened as she looked at the woman, who had begun tapping her fingers against the side of her leg, and gently took her hand in hers.

"I appreciate you saying that," Lucille told her, "To know that there's someone looking out for him in this world is comforting. And of course, I would never purposefully hurt him." She assured her.

Though Evelyn had known that already, she still couldn't help but sag slightly in relief, "I know, thank you."

Despite the fact that Lucille hadn't even begun to walk down the aisle yet, Evelyn felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

All she wanted was for these two to be happy.

To have what she never got to have.

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It was sometimes a topic of conversation, why Negan and Evelyn had begun hanging out. Two kids from two different years and two different majors at the college.

When he thought about it, maybe it was because Negan had seen some of himself in Evelyn that first night, trying to drink away their problems in their early years.

Or maybe it was because they both had needed a friend at that time, and they just fit the other person so well.

Regardless as to why, the two had stuck together like glue all throughout college, and even in the years that followed.

Negan had always wanted to be a gym teacher, it was the one thing he had ever looked forward to in his years at school, and he wanted to give that feeling to other kids.

Evelyn however, took a bit longer to realize what she wanted.

For as long as she could remember, she had longed to be a published author. Writing her stories for the world to know and read.

But after graduating high school, all her hopes and dreams for the future had been shattered, leaving her behind, unknowing as to what she wanted the future to hold now.

It had taken her over two years in college to finally admit that she didn't want to continue on that path anymore. But when she did say it-during a night out with Negan- he had hugged her tightly and told her that it was her choice, and she could take as long as she wanted to make it.

After that night, Evelyn found herself paying more attention to what Negan was doing, wanting to become a teacher- even if it was for physical education.

She realized that she wanted that too. She didn't want kids to have that feeling of dread whenever they got to school like she did, she wanted them to enjoy learning.

So, with Negan's help, she was able to figure out that she wanted to become an English teacher, still incorporating reading and writing into her daily life, while also hopefully making a difference in the world.

When Evelyn graduated, her best friend had been thrilled to announce that there was an open teaching position at his school for an English teacher, and the woman didn't hesitate to apply.

Now, years later, the two still worked side by side.

"Coffee," Evelyn groaned as she dragged her feet into the teachers lounge, "I need coffee."

Negan chuckled from where he leaned against the counter, handing her the mug he had already prepared for her.

"You're an angel." The brunette woman sighed dreamily, taking a long sip of the steaming substance.

"Don't I know it," He teased, bumping his shoulder playfully against hers.

A comfortable silence settled over the two for a few moments before the woman sighed, knowing that she couldn't keep it to herself much longer.

Negan raised an eyebrow in her direction, lowering his mug from his mouth, "What is it, Eva?"

"I-" She cleared her throat, "I'm taking a few months off of work."

His eyebrows shot up, "What? Why?"

She stared down at her coffee, "I got a call last night, my dads in the hospital and he's- he's not doing well."

Negan tensed up, "The same father that's ignored you all your life?"

Evelyn angled a glare up at him, "He's still my father." She snapped.

He sighed, running a hand down his face, "You're right, I know, I'm sorry." He peered down at her after a moment, "How're you holding up?"

The woman also softened, sighing quietly, "I don't know," She admitted, "I just- I just feel like I should be there with him."

Negan nodded in understanding, "How do you... feel about going back?"

He was referring to the town she grew up in, in Georgia. Where her and Daryl spent their childhood.

"I-I don't know," She admitted, "I mean, I should feel something, I just- I just don't know."

"That's okay," He assured her, rubbing a comforting hand up and down your arm. An idea sparked a moment later and he grinned down at her, "How about you come over tonight? Lucille and I'll give you a proper send off dinner."

Evelyn copied his grin at that, "You know your spaghetti is my favorite food in the world."

Negan sighed jokingly, "What can I say? Perhaps my calling was to drop out of school and open a spaghetti restaurant, after all."

That at least got her to laugh.

A/N: Sorry this chapter was a bit all over the place, I just had to do it to move the story along