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Negan has always thought that Halloween was stupid. He also thought that most holidays were stupid if he was planning on being honest with you.
Christmas needed all these decoration that they didn't have anymore. Thanksgiving was food that they didn't have the ability to spare. God for saken Valentines day had become a whole excuse just for people to get far to sentimental about how the world isn't what it used to be anymore.
Then there was the dreaded halloween, it was just frankly ridiculous. There were no more trick-or-treaters anymore. No more neighborhoods that had children running from one house to another with their fake plastic pumpkins.
No more porch lights left on, that glowed into the darkness of the end of October. No more parents sitting on their front stopes, or in their driveways laughing as they watched their children go down to each house in cheap costumes.
There was barely any candy left, so yes to Negan halloween was far from stupid. Halloween was asinine.
At least that’s what Negan had been saying for the past week. Which is why you couldn’t fathom the thought of him standing in the middle of the small courtyard with the tiniest little pumpkins under each arm.
It wasn’t one, or even two. But four pumpkins. “I thought you said that halloween was stupid.” You said, Negan glanced down at the pumpkins as thought he just come to realization that they were in fact in his hands. “Did I?” he teases, “Yeah you did, Negan.” He hums, and shifts the pumpkins up agasint his chest.
“Well it seems I’ve changed my mind apparently.” You folded your arms in front of your chest, “About halloween?” You ask, “No.” He answered quickly. Negan just ends up giving you a pointed look, “Just about the pumpkins.” You laugh, and Negan narrows his eyes even as a smile tries to tug at his lips. "
You could see it, even if he tried to hide it, but it always came out whenever Negan made you laugh. He set the four pumpkins down on the table, that you had managed to drag outside all by yourself a few hours before the coolness of the day got to you.
“I found the earlier, on a supply run.” Negan tells you. “You just found pumpkins?” You ask a little confused. “No I found a whole fuckin’ patch full of them.” Negan corrects you, Your brows rise. “And you just happened to bring back some?”
“Maybe.” He says with a shrug of his shoulders. “Negan.” You says sharply. “What?” He looks like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Did you go looking for pumpkins?” “I went looking supplies.” Negan says again correcting you.
“But you brought back pumpkins.”
“Pumpkins are supplies.”
“They are not.” You argue, “Yes they are, they are in fact food, baby.” You roll your eyes at the correct information being spit at you, “You don’t even like pumpkins.” Negan nods, but looks at you with warmth in his eyes. “But I do like you.”
Negans words slip out so earlier, and so casual that it makes the both of you pause. Negans brows rose, and you just stare at him. He clears his throat after a few moments go by. “Anyways.” He says with his mouth still covered with his hand. And then points towards the pumpkins.
“We are carving these bastards.” You smile uncontrollable. “You want to carve pumpkins with me?” You ask joyfully, “No.” As quickly as your smile had appeared it disappeared. Negan smirks like the devil he is, “I want to watch you… carve pumpkins.”
Your brows furrow together. “That’s definitely different.” “Very.” Negan says nodding along. “You sure you don’t wanna carve one?” You say with pleading eyes, Negan sighs dramatically, “Fine, but just one.”
You smile triumphantly. “Thought so, big guy.” Negan raised a single brow at you. “Don’t go gettin’ cocky on me.” You walking over to him, and wrapped both of your arms around his waist, and Negan stiffened immediately at the touch before going soft in your hold.
His hands settling agasint the back of your neck, “You sure are a pain in my ass, sweetheart.” You smiled, “But your brought me pumpkins.” Negan rolls his eyes, “Still the biggest pain in my fuckin’ ass I’ve ever met.” He teases you.
You tilt your head back to look up at him, “And you love me.” You says so quietly, He looks down at you, and his eyes go soft, “Yeah.” He murmurs. The fat of his thumb brushing over your cheek. “Yeah, I do.” You smile sweetly.
Negan leans down quickly, and presses a chaste kiss to your forehead. Then just as quickly as his tenderness had appeared it vanished behind his normal cocky, and devilish smirk. “Now you get your ass over there before I decide that this is worst idea i’ve ever had.” He says spinning you out his arm, and smacking your ass as he pushes you towards the table.
You came to the very quick realization that Negan was in fact horrible at curving pumpkins. Not that he couldn’t do it, it was actually the exact opposite. Negan could probably curve the damn pumpkin into a perfect jack-o-lantern with his eyes closed and a blindfold tied around his head if he actually bothered to learn how.
Negan’s problem was that just fucking refused to listen to directions. “Negan.” You said his name sharply. “What?” He looked up from the pumpkin in front of him. “That isn’t how you’re supposed to do that.” He glances down at the pumpkin, then towards you, and then back at the pumpkin.
“Sweetheart, it’s just a pumpkin. There isn’t exactly a wrong way to stab the damn thing.” You scoff at him, “You’ve just made a hole in the side of it.” Negan looks at it, then you. “It’s artistic.” You shake your head, “No it’s just a hole.” Negan shrugs, “Let’s agree to disagree.” You shake your head at him.
Negan grins as if he’s won. You both are sitting at he table beside each other. Pumpkins guts are spread agasint old newspapers. You had carefully cup the top of your pumpkin off, and you were carefully scooping the seeds. All while Negan beside you reached into his pumpkins and throw a glob of guts, and before you knew it the slimy thing hit you square in the cheek.
You froze, and slowly turned to look at him with your mouth stuck open. Negan was already laugh, his head thrown back. "You did not just fucking do that!” You groaned. “I sure fuckin’ did sweetheart.” He laughed, “You know what you’re gonna regret doing that.” You said sharply. Negan looked at you with faux surprise in his eyes, “Am I?” He asked.
You didn’t waste any time, before scooping up a handful much smaller then Negan into your hand and you watched as Negans smiles started to falter. “Now… sweetheart…” he tried but it didn’t matter because before he could get another word out you smack him across the face with the seeds. Smearing the slimy texture into his bread and face.
There was a deafening silence, Negan blinking at you, and you trying your hardest to not laugh. He slowly wiped his cheek clean, and looked at he betrayal of mess on his fingers. Then towards you, “Sweetheart you’ve made a grave mistake.”
You bursted out laughing. Negan lunged from his chair, and you squealed trying to get away nearly knocking over your own pumpkins. “NEGAN!” Your shrieked, “Come here, sweetheart.” You shook your head, “No. You started this, Negan!”
“I didn’t start shit, sweetheart.” He said catching you by the waist before you were able to escape, you shrieked as you got pulled up agasint him. “Gotcha.” He whispered into your ear, “Negan!” He just laughed in your hair.
Your struggled for a few moment in his hold before just giving in and resting your head agasint his shoulder. His arms remained wrapped around your waist, and the when the laughed slowly faded. Neither one of you spoke for a minute.
The courtyard was very quiet, and the sun was starting to disappear behind the tall pine trees. Leaving the sky to look like a painting made of up of oranges, and pinks. Negan looks down at the pumpkins on the table. Then towards you.
“This is nice.” He admitted to you. You smiled at his words, “It is.” You hummed, “You don’t tell anyone.” You looked up at him, “Why, big guy?” You teased. “Because it will ruin my reputation.” He told you, you rolled your eyes at him. “You have a reputation?” He scoffed, “I had one.” You laughed as Negan kisses the top of your head.
By the time the sun was fading and almost gone. Your pumpkins were finished. You had carved a silly face onto one. It had crooked eyes, a lopsided grin, and a single tooth sticking out from the bottom. Negan stared hard at it.
“That’s hideous.” You rolled at him, “Hey big guy you helped me.” Negan began shaking his head quickly. “I was only here to supervise you.” You looked at him with confusion, “No you put that tooth there.” You said pointing to the crooked tooth.
“That because it needed some extra character.” You nudged his shoulder, “And yours?” Negan looked at his pumpkin, that he had worked longer then he would like to admit. The face was surprisingly neat, with triangle eyes, a wide and mischievous eyes that refelcted it’s carver. And a single tiny scar over one side.
You stared, “Negan?” He hummed, “This is actually kinda good.” Negan rolled his eyes, “Yeah I know sweetheart.” “And you actually spent like a lot of time on this.” “No I didn’t.” Negan said quickly, “Oh yes you did.” “Nope.”
“Oh come on, you’ve been working on this for the last twenty minutes.” You said with that look on your face. “I… were you keeping time on how long i took to carve this stupid pumpkin?” Negan asked utterly amused. “Maybe.” You said with a little shrug of your shoulders.
He rolled his eyes at you, “You’re weird.” You smiled, “You made your pumpkin have a scar.” He shurgs, “Thought it would look cool.” He says quietly. “It does.” He looks down at your pumpkins, then towards him. “You’re is better.” negan admits, you blink at him.
“What?”
“I said that yours is better.”
“But you just said it was hideous.” You say confused. “I’ve changed my mind.” He tells you. “Yeah I notice you’ve been doing that a lot lately.” You smile softly at him, “Maybe.” Negan just looks away.
The courtyard is only light up by small lanterns that you and few others had hung up earlier. The pumpkins are sitting beside each other on the table. And for the fist time in years, Halloween looks almost like halloween.
Almost being the key word there.
You reached over and took his hand in yours. Automatically his fingers curled into your own. “You know.” You said quietly. “You don’t always have to pretend that everything is normal.” You didn’t see Negans face change, but you could sense it regardless. “I know.” “And we can still enjoy things.”
“I also know that.” “Even if they seem stupid.” He looks down at you, the faintest of smiled appearing on his face. “Sweetheart, especially when they’re stupid.” You laughed, and he gave your hand a squeeze. “I just don’t want you thinkin’ that you need to pretend the old world is still here.”
“I don’t.” Negan said quietly. “I’m serious Negan.” Both of Negans brow go up, as he looks at you. “Yeah so am I sweetheart.” You leaned into his shoulder. “I like this because it is ours, Negan.” You yell him, and for the first time in a long time, Negan is just quiet.
You can feel his thumb brushing over the back of your hand, “Ours?” He repeats, “Yeah.” Negan looks down at the pumpkins, then the darkening woods, before landing on you. “Before I used to think that Holidays were about what you had.” He tells you quietly, and you wait. “You know the big meals, the parties, presents, and the people.” His voice goes soft.
“Turns out it’s got nothing to do with that, and instead who you’re sittin’ beside.” Your heart squeezes tightly in you chest at Negans words. “That was almost sweet.” Negan rolls his eyes at you, “Don’t go pushin’ it now.”
You laugh sweetly as Negan leans down and kisses your temple. “Besides.“ He whispers into your skin, “I still think that halloween is the stupidest holiday.” You groan shaking your head. “Of course you still do.”
“Very stupid.”
“Sure, big buy.” You say, “It’s a terrible holiday.” He continues to ramble. “Absolutely.” You play along with him, “And the pumpkins are ugly.” Negan just continues to go on and on. You looked down at the pumpkins that you and Negan had spent the last twenty minutes carving. “You’re holding my hand.”
“So.” Negan says without looking at you. “You’ve been holding onto it for the past five minutes.” You mutter, “So.” Negan repeats again. “You don’t have to let go.” You say softly to Negan with wide and innocent eyes.
negan looks down at your intertwined fingers, and then looks at you. “I’m aware, sweetheart.” He says before he’s kissing you. It’s not a dramatic kiss, or filled with desperation. It’s just warm and slow.
The kind of kiss that belongs to just the two people who had survived just enough to make then understand that ordinary moments like this is are more special then ever. When Negan pulls away from you his presses his forehead into yours. “Happy halloween, sweetheart.” He whispers.
You smile wide at him. “Happy halloween.” He sighs softly. “God, this feel disgusting.” You laugh, “You’re such a fuckin’ liar.” You tease the older man. “Yeah.” His thumb brushing your cheek. “I am a liar.” He says warmly.
It’s later in the night when you’re curled up on the couch, with one of the pumpkins glowing softly in the windowsill. The other one beside the door, Negan had insisted that yours belonged to be in the most visible spot of the house.
“Why mine?” You asked. “Because it’s the better one, sweetheart.” He said matter of factly. “You SAID it was hideous.” You said repeating his own words back to him. “Well… I was wrong.” Negan admits to you.
Your eyes go wide with pure shock. “You are admitting that?” Negan once again rolls his eys are you. “Don’t get used to it, sweetheart.” You end up with your head resting up agasint his chest, and his arms wrap around you. Fingers tracing patterns on your shoulder lazily.
There was something peaceful about the quiet that two of you were sharing in.
No alarms, no walkers, no arguments, no running. It was just the two of you, Negan looked down at you. “Are you happy?” He asked, you nodded. “Good.” Negan whispered before kissing your hair.
After a few moments, you felt Negan shift. “Don’t fall asleep yet.” He told you, making you open just one eye. “Why?’ You asked with suspicion. “Cause I’ve got somethin’ for you.” He tells. “Just something.”
He reaches carefully into his jacket pocket. You watch in awe as he pulls out the smallest piece of candy. Your eyes goes wide, and you smile with joy. “Where did you get that?” You ask unable to stop yourself from reaching out for the candy.
“Found it.”
“Negan!?” You shriek, “What?” He says loudly, but not annoyed. “Is that chocolate.” He smirks, “Maybe.” You smile even wider, “You saved me candy?” He hums, “For you, sweetheart.” He mumbles looking embarrassed. “You know what… you’re unbelievable.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He rolls his eyes. He holds the chocolate out, and you take it with a smile on your face. “You really do care about halloween.” Negan shakes his head, “No I don’t.”
“That can’t be true, cause you saved me candy.” Negan watches you for a moment as you unwrap the chocolate and break it in half. “I care about you.” Negan says softly. You lean up and kiss his quickly on the cheek.
He smiles and as you hand him the piece of candy he looks down at it with surprise. He takes it, and you settle back down agasint him. Negan pops the candy into his mouth, and after a few seconds he speaks again. “Still halloween is shit.” You smile once again.
“Sure you do, big guy.” You say as you feel his arm tighten around you. “Don’t tell anybody.” He requests of you. You laugh softly. “I wouldn’t dare.” Outside the pumpkins are continuing to glow, with small warm light that are battling the darkness of the world around them.
Sure most of the holidays are gone now, there are no more great and grand celebrations, at least not in the way they used to be. Instead there are just little reminders of things that make it worth smiling again.
People that are worth holding onto. Moments that are worth remembering. And for Negan, it was apparently pumpkins. Even if he was going to deny it until the day he died. He glances down at you, but you’re already drifting towards sleep.
His eyes soft, “Happy halloween sweetheart.” he whispers, you mumble back something but it’s unintelligible with you pressed up agasint his chest. Negan smile, and pulls the blanket up higher, surrounding you warmth.
Just because halloween was the stupidest holiday, and the world had gone to shit, and there might not be many things left here to celebrate, but for you. You were worth every single fucking pumpkin in this entire zombie filled world.