Hi, all!
This is my first attempt at a Rick and Michonne AU fabfiction, and it's a little something different for me, but I hope it's good and you like it!
:
Michonne awoke with a start, stretching her sore muscles. She looked around for a moment, trying to remember what happened last night, but all she could remember was flashes of lips on skin, and hungry cobalt blue eyes on her own. Her heartbeat quickened when she saw it, him. His sun-kissed back, and curls that sat at the nape of his thick neck. He slept on his back, she smiled to herself for a second, he always did.
As soon as she recognized that it was him - Rick - she began to panic. Not because it was bad, or that it would be awkward, but because it was arguably the best sex of her life and it just so happened to be with a man that she'd considered her best friend for nearly nine years.
They'd met in law school; bright eyes and bushy tailed, filled with wonder about the future. She'd gone on to become to District Attorney, and he'd become a Sheriff Deputy in the small town of King County, but the friendship had remained. During that time, they were close, so close in fact that many wondered if they were dating or if they would, but the two of them were genuinely just close friends.
She couldn't imagine her life without him in it, but last night, things had changed between them. He'd looked at her with something akin to carnal lust in his eyes. He'd wanted her, desperately.
And sitting there now, sheet draped over her naked body, she couldn't help but feel confused by the emotions swimming within her already clouded mind.
"You gonna sit there all day starin' into space?" Came Rick's husky voice. It was gravelly and deep. "Or you can come back over here."
Michonne felt panicked again, as a warmth and a tingle jolted between her thighs at the sound of his voice. She'd slept overnight with him before, had heard him in the morning, but now after knowing what he could do with those plump pink lips, she couldn't focus or breathe.
She turned to face him, and she became distracted by the way the white sheet fell low on his hips. His sculpted chest was exposed to her, as well as his loose, messy curls. A smirk was on his lips as he awaited her answer.
"Last night," she began apprehensively. "It was great, but...it was a mistake."
She waited for his answer, noting that his lighthearted expression quickly grew cold and tense, and his usually warm electric blue eyes had turned a withering, almost artic hue. A big part of her wanted to go to him, and wrap her arms around his middle. She wanted to tell him that it would be fine, that they could make this work, but she knew in her heart that she couldn't be what he wanted. At least not right now.
During their friendship, she'd seen Rick marry his high-school sweetheart, Lori Anne Stewart. She was everything that a small town boy like him craved in a girl: pretty, popular, and narrow minded about their future.
They'd had a son together, Carl, who was now nearly eleven years old, but their divorce three years ago had left Rick hollow, and empty for awhile. Michonne knew that Rick wanted marriage and children, and she just couldn't provide those things for him. Not anymore.
"Why?" Rick asked.
He scrunched up his eyebrows, and tilted his head to the side. Michonne stated longingly at those messy locks of his, longing to run her errant fingers through the silky tresses, but she stopped herself. She had to focus.
"I just...," Michonne sighed, struggling for words. "It just was."
"That's not a good enough reason," Rick challenged her. "If you don't want this to happen again, then you're gonna have to tell me why."
Michonne sighed once more, but this time in frustration. She got up from her spot on the bed and began pulling on her underwear, pants, and t-shirt. She couldn't find her damn bra, which she remembered Rick throwing somewhere across the room, but that didn't matter. The room suddenly felt like the inside of a vacuum cleaner, except instead of air and debris, it was sucking up her ability to fight whatever she felt for this man.
"Look, we had a good time, but I don't want what you want. And I don't want that to ruin what we've been building for so long," she admitted.
He simply stared at her, taking in her impassioned, yet detached words. He still felt her, all of her, and didn't know how to carry on with that knowledge. He watched as Michonne slipped on her shoes, and walk to his bedroom door.
"If you leave this room, then we can forget this ever happened. We go on, but if you stay, then we can start somethin' wonderful," Rick said, not moving from his spot on the bed, but his eyes conveyed every emotion running through his heart and soul. He loved her, he always had, and always would. "It'd hurt me if you walk out that door, but I'll take you in whatever way I can."
Michonne nodded at him, unable to process his words and left out the door, knowing that her choice meant that she had to forget what they'd done and created the night before.
:
Rick walked into the coffee shop a few hours later with his close friend Glenn, and Glenn's wife Maggie. As always, the two were questioning him about the night before, wondering if he'd finally met "the one," and he of course was distant and enigmatic as ever about it.
If he were being honest with himself, he had no idea what was going on. He and Michonne had slept together last night, after flirting and making out like teenagers in a back room, but this morning she'd told him that she just wanted to remain friends. And since he wanted her in his life whichever way she'd have him, he relented. But the truth was, that his feelings for her were the reason why his ex-wife Lori had left him, but he'd never tell her that. He'd never told anyone.
"Earth to Rick!" Glenn called out, snapping in front of Rick's zoned out face.
"Sorry, what?" Rick asked him.
"Maggie and I were just asking if you finally met someone at the party last night!" Glenn responded a little too eagerly. "We saw you with Michonne-"
"Michonne and I are just friends," Rick said swiftly, almost defensively.
"So I guess that's a no, then?" Glenn continued on. "I could set you up on a date with this girl I know. I think her name is Jessie, or something like that."
Rick pondered the idea for a second, his mind flashing back to Michonne and their night together. He remembers it so vividly that he can almost taste her sweet skin on his lips, and the feel of her tight body underneath him and over him as she drove herself to completion. But then he remembers her words this morning, and his promise to her and he decides that maybe it is best that they stay friends. Maybe he should at least try dating someone else, as he hadn't since his divorce.
"Okay, I'll go out with her," Rick finally agrees, which causes Maggie to squeal and hug him with delight.
:
After sitting down in the small coffee shop, Maggie spent the next fifteen minutes rattling on about pregnancy hormones and the horrors of natural birth until something, or in Rick's case, someone caught his eye. It was her - Michonne - of course it was, as it was her favorite coffee shop. Next to her was two of her closest friends, Andrea and Sasha.
"Rick, are you even listening to me? What are you staring at?" Maggie finally asked, turning around to see them standing there, and suddenly she understood. Her bright green eyes sparkled as she waved them over to join them at the table.
"Michonne!" Maggie called out. "Sasha, Andrea! Come on, we've got plenty of room."
Michonne, who looked just as out of sorts as Rick did, and apprehensively approached the table and took the empty seat right across from Rick. She stared at him for one long moment, as flashes of his soft, pink lips kissing down her body entered her mind, as well as images of her on top of him, his full length enveloping her. She'd never felt so completely full in all of her life. Her eyes dragged themselves up to his salt and pepper beard, and those now neatly tucked beard.
Was he always this fine? Michonne pondered to herself. Or am I just finally noticing it.
"So, where'd y'all disappear to last night?" Maggie asked, shaking Michonne out of her lascivious thoughts.
Michonne chanced a glance at Rick, who was looking anywhere but at her. She turned to face Maggie, forcing her face into a nonchalant smile, and quickly thought of a lie. "Rick wanted to show me where the beer was, and we lost track of time. He drove me home."
Maggie stared at her, her light eyes trying to discern whether or not she was telling the truth or not, but Michonne's career as a lawyer left her as a seasoned liar. She stared right back, arching her eyebrow up as if daring Maggie to try something, anything, but she didn't and so the matter was left alone.
A silence fell upon the table then, as everyone began to eat. Michonne felt intense gaze on her as she tried to eat, but couldn't. Her eyes found themselves on him again, as those same lips wrapped around his scrambled eggs. She realized that he didn't just eat his food, she noted; he worshipped it, sucking and pulling each piece in between his lips before swallowing and humming in satisfaction. As she stared, she felt herself growing warm and wet. How could a simple act like eating make her so aroused now? She had to get out of there.
It was at that point that she realized that Andrea had been yammering on the whole time.
"-And I was just telling Shane about it," Andrea finished the tail end of whatever she was talking about. "Michonne, you down?"
"Down for what?"
Michonne was flustered, but Andrea just giggled. "We're going clubbing together after work tomorrow, and Shane is bringing his buddy from work to meet you!"
The way Andrea said it, in such an enthusiastic manner made Michonne's stomach churn. She chanced a glance at Rick, whose jaw clenched, but he continued eating his food as if it didn't matter to him at all.
Michonne thought about it for a second, chewing her full lips. "Okay, I'll meet this guy," she finally agreed.
"Finally!" Glenn nearly cheered. "We're getting the two recluse hermits to go out on dates."
"What do you mean?"
Michonne tried to act nonchalant about it, but now the thought of him dating some other girl made her feel some sort of way. She had never felt this feeling before, and didn't know how to take it, so she didn't.
"I set up Rick with Jessie," Glenn shrugged, eyes darting between the two friends.
"Oh," Michonne said simply.
"Just 'oh'?" Rick finally asked from his spot right next to to her. He ran a hand through his slicked back curls and titled his head to the side, a small grin forming on his lips. "I thought Miss. Lawyer would have more to say than that."
"Well, excuse me, Officer," she leaned into him, matching his smirk. "I don't respond to basic."
"And who is 'basic'?" Rick asked, his eyes gleaming.
"Jessie," Michonne shrugged. "I've met more interesting things at Lowes while being torn between off white and beige."
Rick hissed, and then chuckled. "You seem to care an awful lot about her."
"I'm just saying, you could do better," Michonne offered, and then hastily stuffed her food in her mouth as she felt Rick's eyes on her, all over her.
Their friends just stared at the exchange with knowing eyes, not saying anything.
:
Later that night, Michonne sat on her couch in her small apartment in downtown Atlanta. She wore casual clothing; a tank top, and some sweats, and her dreads were pulled up into a loose ponytail. Sasha sat next to her, her work clothes still on, and the stress of her job apparent, but she listened to her friend who was currently scarfing down Chinese takeout.
"I still can't believe that he's actually going out with her," Michonne huffed as she inhaled her Egg Foo Yung. "I mean, she's so basic, and I thought Lori was basic."
Sasha just laughed, and then shrugged at her friend's obvious jealousy. "Girl, why do you care?"
"Rick is my best friend. Why wouldn't I care?" Michonne argued.
"If you're just friends then who he's dating doesn't matter. And that boy is fine, but he's white, so maybe he's into basic white girls," Sasha said, slurping a noodle into her mouth.
"You're right," Michonne conceded. "I just - Rick is particular about what he wants."
"You speak as if you want to be the one that he's with, and you easily could be," Sasha told her.
"I know," Michonne admitted.
:
Rick sat in his squad car with close friend and partner Shane. For most of the ride, things had been silent, as Rick's thoughts were becoming more and more preoccupied by Michonne. He kept wondering if it was the right decision to let her walk out of that door, or if he should have fought harder. Ultimately, he knew that he couldn't force Michonne to want the same things or feel the same way. That was useless.
He didn't really want to date Jessie Anderson, but he also didn't know how long he'd have to wait for Michonne. He just wanted to maybe see what was out there for him, if there was something, but his heart was dead set on the girl that had left his bed this morning.
A part of him felt some kind of way about Michonne dating this college buddy of his, but not him. But he'd never admit that to anyone.
"Do you know anything about that guy that Andrea set Michonne up with?" Rick asked Shane.
Shane's eyebrows went up. Rick never asked him about women. "Why?"
"I'm just curious," Rick answered.
"He's this guy that we went to college with," Shane admitted. "Honestly, I just set 'Chonne and him up so that Andrea could put out. It's been weeks man," Shane said, his face dropping in mock sadness. "I'm suffering."
"I bet," Rick smiled sadly.
Shane tilted his head, staring introspectively at his friend. "Somethin' going on with y'all?"
"With who?"
Rick shifted a bit in his seat, deciding to play dumb, but Shane wasn't buying it. "You two have been acting weird as hell, and I saw you leave the party looking mighty cosy."
Still, Rick didn't budge. "Nothing happened, I just don't want her dating the wrong guy."
"You keep telling yourself that, buddy," Shane shrugged.
Before Rick could utter any sort of retort, the radio came on, signaling a disturbance. And, like always, it was their job to stop it.
:
Last night
Michonne sauntered into the party, the bright red dress that she wore left nothing to the imagination and hugged ever curve of her long, lithe body. Across the room from her, Rick stood, drink in hand, watching her. He'd never lervhimself openly ogle her before. And even when she came closer and closer to him, he just watched, spellbound.
"Hey," she greeted him. "In all my years, I've never seen you at the bar alone."
"I was just waiting for you," he winked, pulling her favorite drink - vodka on the rocks - off the counter, and handed it to her. "Already had your drink ready. I know exactly what you like."
Michonne flushed, her cheeks growing warm at the innuendo. Was that as flirty to him as it was to her? "I know you do."
Rick coughed, trying to mask whatever this was that was brewing just beneath the surface. His eyes roamed over her figure, deftly landing on her supple breasts, which were barely covered in her plunging, halter top dress. Her dark ebony skin was smooth, and soft, and his mouth watered at the thought of tasting it. He licked his lips, and shook his head, hoping that Michonne couldn't read minds.
"So, you liking this party?" Rick asked.
Michonne snorted, and moved closer to him. "You've got to do better with the small talk. Ask me something more personal."
"Fine," Rick said, deciding to push things even further. "Do you wanna try body shots? I heard Glenn setting it up in the living room and-"
Before Rick could get the words out, Michonne grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards towards the living area, and he knew that if things continued like this, then ultimately, they'd wind up doing something that they'd regret, but when her warm hand was around his own, he simply couldn't find it in him to care.
