chapter one: prequel (pillow talk)

:::: reciprocityfic ::::

"Hi."

Rick's whispered word made Michonne giggle softly, as they laid in her bed, on their sides and facing each other. After addressing all the unspoken thoughts and feelings between them, and after their celebratory tryst in the park, they had bailed out of pub night early, with Rick feigning some sort of stomach bug and Michonne offering to be a good friend and drive him home. Their ride had been full of loaded looks and sly smiles, tension brewing and bubbling until it became nearly unbearable. It was a different type, though, than the pressure that had been weighing them down in the past weeks - the pressure of uncertainty, of hidden emotion, of wanting something so badly but not quite having it.

They welcomed this new kind of tension. The kind that lifted them up and pushed them together, that opened themselves to each other and shoved out all they'd been nervous to reveal. Making them able to enjoy each other freely, to let go of anything they'd been holding back and finally be with each other.

That same tension made their second celebratory tryst of the night begin as soon as Michonne had managed to unlock her front door. Rick was on her in half a second, gathering her up into his arms and kissing down her neck. They'd fallen onto the couch and fallen into each other, and they filled the open living room with breathless sighs, strangled moans, and high-pitched whimpers until Rick collapsed on top of her; they held each other afterwards, murmuring hushed words and sweet nothings back and forth.

Then, in what seemed like no time at all, they'd wrapped themselves around each other for a third time. In the process, they'd finally managed to make it to her bed. And now, here they rested, gazing at each other like they were the only two people who existed in all the world - sated, glowing, and so, so happy.

"Hi," she whispered back to him, taking her index finger and trailing it down his naked chest, before grabbing his hand that lay between them in hers.

She giggled again. She couldn't help it, and almost covered up her mouth with her free hand until she heard Rick join in her laughter. She looked up at him, saw the same mirth in his eyes that she felt in her heart.

"God," she said, shaking her head back and forth as she took a deep breath and tried to gather herself. "I feel like I'm eighteen again."

"Giddy and fallin' in love for the first time?"

Rick immediately regretted what he said when he realized he'd used the L word. Sure, he could already feel the first stirrings of it coming together deep in his chest, but he hadn't meant to admit that to anyone yet. Especially her.

Good one, Grimes, he thought to himself. You just got her, and you're already gonna scare her away.

But then, he felt her hand come up to rest on his cheek while her fingers curled through his hair, and his inner voice shut up.

"Exactly like that," she confirmed with a grin. "You feeling the same way?"

"'Chonne, I've been feeling that way since you found me out on that curb outside the bar."

They both burst out laughing, and he let go of her hand and reached out toward her, trailing his fingers down her smooth, perfect back and wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her closer. She scooted up slightly so that their faces were exactly aligned, and then leaned forward to rest their foreheads together.

"When did you know?" she breathed.

He didn't have to ask what she meant; he knew she was talking about the first time he knew there was something more between them. The first time he knew that he liked her in a way that went further than just being best friends.

He decided to start light.

"Well, from the moment Shane and Rosita introduced us, I thought you were the prettiest, sexiest girl I'd ever met."

He paused as she rolled her eyes playfully, and gently kicked at his leg under the sheets.

"Hey, it's true!" he defended. "But other than that, when did I know?"

And he did know. He didn't even have to think about it.

"Do you remember Glenn's birthday party awhile back?" he asked.

She nodded, and he continued.

"Well, it was after most people had left. We were all sitting out back in a circle - me and you, Shane and Rosita, Maggie and Glenn. Andrea, I think. You were sitting right across from me. And while we were talking, Shane said something stupid, like he usually does. I looked at him and shook my head, and when I looked back - I saw you. Your head was thrown back, and you were laughing with your whole body. The smile on your face was so huge and wide, and you looked...so happy and relaxed and free."

He could feel his heart speed up just from talking about it. A warm blush began to take over his face, and he glanced up at the ceiling above them, almost embarrassed to reveal something he held so dear and secret for so long.

"It was… It was kind of the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life," he finished.

He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, and was about to nervously babble something - anything - he could think of, when he heard her whisper his name.

"Rick."

He looked down to find her staring at him, her eyes shining. He couldn't quite read the expression on her face, but she leaned in and gave him the gentlest kiss they'd shared in the short span of time since they'd started this together.

When they pulled away, there was a soft smile on her face, and he chalked her reaction to his story up as a good thing.

"Your turn," he informed her quietly, as he ran his lips across the bridge of her nose. "When did you know?"

"Well," she began, blowing a puff of air past her lips. "It seems you were a few steps ahead of me. Mine was at the wedding. At the reception, when the bridal party was doing their first dance together. And you and I were paired up, and we were dancing. You were so close, and we were talking back and forth, and looking at each other, and it was… It felt nice. I'm not even sure what it was about it, or why it was that moment when I finally realized it. There was just something good about it. Something really good."

"Is that why you chose that night to jump me for the first time?"

She scoffed at his words, and pointed her finger; then, tapped it on his chin, once.

"Let's be clear and truthful, Rick Grimes. If anyone jumped anybody that night, it was you who jumped me."

He chuckled at their teasing back and forth, and then caught her finger, still suspended in the air between them, in his mouth. He bit it lightly before kissing the tip of it.

"If that's how you choose to remember it, so be it. I'm just glad someone chose to do the jumping."

She grinned, and then wrapped her hand around his bicep and gave it a small squeeze.

"I am, too."

They fell into a comfortable silence, and twisted closer to each other. Rick ended up laying on his back, while Michonne laid on top of him, her head tucked under his chin and their hands clasped together again.

"What are we gonna tell people?" she asked eventually.

He thought for a moment, and then shrugged, glancing down at her.

"What do you wanna tell people?"

"I don't know," she murmured, as she played with his fingers. "I mean, it's not that I want to hide it, but I… I think it might be nice to keep it to ourselves for a bit. So we can figure all the new stuff out without being subjected to everyone else's opinions and quote-unquote advice, and so we can just be for a little. Without having to factor anyone else into it."

He took a second to mull it over before nodding.

"We can definitely do that."

"Is that okay with you, though?" she said, as she shifted to get a better look at him. She didn't want to make him do something he was uncomfortable with. "If it's not, we can think of something else."

"Michonne, I'll do whatever you wanna do, whether that means never telling anyone about it ever for the rest of our lives, or takin' an ad out in the newspaper tomorrow. But, I do think it would be nice not to tell anyone for a little bit. To enjoy us being together and not having to worry about anything."

"And when we want to tell them, we can," Michonne mused. "And we'll be able to choose when and how we want to do it. It'll be on our own terms."

"I have to warn you, though. Shane knows."

She shot up in bed, and gaped at him.

"What? How?"

"Well, he doesn't know know," Rick modified. "But I think he's starting to suspect something. We were together at the bar when I was watching you play pool with that guy and he asked you out and shit. I was more than annoyed, and by the way Shane kept looking at me, I think he was starting to figure out why."

"Shit," Michonne mumbled. "Well, don't say anything to him."

He pressed his lips together tightly for a quick moment.

"Lips are sealed, baby."

Her stomach fluttered at the term of endearment. She moved so she was completely on top of him, every plane of her body pressed flush against his. Heat rolled through her, and she smirked as she pushed one of his curls that had fallen into his face back behind his ear.

"I like that," she murmured seductively. "You calling me baby."

"Yeah?" he breathed, a devilish grin lighting up his face. He rotated them again so that she was on her back. Now, he hovered over her, staring down with a glint in his eyes that made her legs spread further open for him of their own accord. "I can think of some other things you like, too, baby."

He leaned down and kissed her, open-mouthed and passionate, tongues dancing and lips smacking. When they pulled apart, their gazes locked.

And she started giggling, again, as something close to shyness washed over her. It was strange, because she had never been shy. Certainly not with Rick, and certainly not after the number of times they'd done this by now.

But the feeling was there, all the same.

"Why does this feel like the first time I'm having sex all over again?" she questioned, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder.

She expected some sort of smart, funny reply from him. But when it didn't come, she leaned back, and found him gazing at her with a thoughtful smile on his face.

"I think it's because we both know it's important. And because we both know what it is we're doing this time."

She grinned brightly, and ran her fingers down the side of his face.

"Yeah," she agreed. "We do."

He captured her lips once again, and as she wrapped her legs around his waist, they started in on round four.