It was just around five pm when Rick turned the key to his large, lonely home, expecting silence to greet him like a lover in wait. Instead, he was surprised to see the spanking new newlyweds, Daryl and Sasha along with Maggie sitting around his dining table each drinking a cup of coffee.
He gave a perfunctory nod to Daryl, their presence was unexpected but not abnormal given they all lived on the same street and had cultivated a tight knit family from their ten year friendship. Only, one of their family members was missing, but she was absent by choice.
This weekend proved that along with some other things he was glad he didn't have to think about presently, given the distraction of the three people he considered the most in his home.
"Took you long enough to get here. Where were ya man!?" Daryl asked his grumble low, his tone impatient.
"I worked a bit late today. I'm sorry being a Sheriff's deputy is so busy. Is there something I can help you three with?" He was now curious as to why they were there looking at him with judgmental eyes. He was going to take back his house keys from Daryl.
"You're really ok with the way things are? You're really ok with doing this once, twice a year?" Maggie asked fixing him a cup of his own coffee. Why did he have a feeling he was about to be chastised?
"I really wanna follow you Mags. Throw me a bone." His ideal evening consisted of a beer and some Johnny Cash to ride out the time until he dragged his tired body to sleep to dream things were as it should be between him and the woman he loved. Funny how when sober he would try to suppress her image, her voice from his mind but, as soon as his head hit the pillow she would still find a way to crawl into his dreams.
"Michonne man!" Daryl said. "You gonna make that girl walk out of your life again!?"
Aahhh, now he was caught up; they were staging an intervention.
They also fell victim to the second visit of the year from the one and only Michonne Ross. She swooped in from her busy, hectic writer's life in Los Angeles and reminded them why they all loved her. Reminded him why he was in love with her and that in two blinks and a few rounds of hello and goodbye sex she would be on the next flight out.
This time she had flew into King County for Daryl and Sasha's wedding which was three days ago, she had taken two more days to stay with Rick and make the most of the short time they had left.
"I'm not sure what y'all want me to do or say exactly." His silence and lack of trying for more with Michonne was enough to bathe him in actualization that it just wasn't going to work. He didn't want to do a long distance relationship and he didn't think she would move back home, not even for him.
It was why he decided that he rather have some of her than none at all. She flew in to visit her folks twice a year and for a few days they got to live in paradise. Neither of them making plans for tomorrow.
"I'm giving her what she wants. I'm trying to be the nice guy here."
"Oh my God! I told y'all! It's gonna happen! He's gonna die alone and I'm going to end up being the one coming over here to clean his fridge and feed him mashed potatoes!" Maggie sounded stress. Her hands fingered through her brown strands while she committed fully to her rant.
"You gonna nice yourself out of the woman you love?" This came from Sasha who had enough of the pussyfooting going on in Rick's kitchen. They didn't have time to play with.
"Look Michonne loves you and you love her. You two dumb asses need to get your heads together and decide how to make things work!" Sasha was known for being direct and her assertiveness was heightened when it came to the people she loved.
"Michonne doesn't want King County. She wants LA."
"She wants you Rick. End of story," Sasha interrupted.
"Sasha I hear everything you're saying but this is what she wants. We've always been at two different paces. If I'm walking Michonne has always been running."
"Yeah! Running away Rick!" Maggie all but shouted.
"All that runnin' she should be in the Olympics. It's you she wants man. You're always givin' her what she wants. There's no reason to stay and face the music."
"She has her reasons for leaving." He wasn't in full agreement with all of them but what could he do at this point? Time for being proactive was gone.
"Yeah but it'll take a real man like yourself to give her a reason to stay." Maggie didn't know if now would be a good time to reveal their smoking gun.
Their friends needed a push in the right direction, but this was Rick and Michonne, so they needed kicks with markers pointing to where they had to go.
Rick listened to his friends speak and meditated on their words. They weren't all right but they weren't all wrong either which made him ponder more.
He knew she was running, but was she running from him?
Michonne was a test he didn't have to study for. He knew every facial expression, every tone of voice, he knew her kinks and he knew her ticks.
What he didn't know was why didn't she just let him love her. Which made him wonder if he had spoiled her too much by always giving her what she wanted, time and space.
He looked at his very neat kitchen, knew the rest of the two story house was spick and span. He wanted kids with their toys in every room. He wanted to hear her salient voice yelling at him to get out of her kitchen because he couldn't boil water to save their lives.
He thought about tomorrows without her and his future looked dim.
Maybe it was time to be a little selfish. He allowed himself to settle for a mediocre relationship with her because she never asked for more. They were right. He had to give her a reason to stay. He was the reason. He wasn't going to continue to nice himself out of the girl he loved.
Only one thing stood in his way.
"Her job…." He threw out hoping that Inspectors Three had some ideas.
"Her contract is ending. Told me that at the wedding. She has decisions to make," Sasha rattled out then blew her finger tip that held in the shape of a gun.
She had released their smoking gun. There was no way he could back down now.
She and her hubby Daryl hi-fived each other, Rick was reminded why they were a match made in heaven.
"Help her make the right decision Rick," Maggie added as reinforcement.
"Ok. I get it but she's already at the airport. I don't even know what time her flight is?" He was already too late in his eureka moment.
"Well um we bought you a ticket to LA just in case you don't get her at the airport. We packed a small bag too. If you leave now you might just make it." Sasha and Maggie's faces were bright with excitement.
"You brought me a plane ticket?" Rick didn't know what to say, torn between his friends presumptuousness and glad they were so damn nosey.
"You may not need it but just in case. Glenn took her to their airport. They left not too long ago. You have time but you need to leave now!" Maggie was already pushing him out the door, Sasha shoved his bag into his chest.
"Ok! but if I do get her in time what do I do next?" He knew they knew he was nervous as hell.
"I don't know! I'm not the one writing this story!" Sasha said her tone weary but cheerful.
"You'll know exactly what to say when you see her face." Maggie was certain the words would flow from the man she looked up to like a brother.
"Don't screw it up! And don't come back here if she ain't with ya!" Daryl shouted as his buddy backed out of his driveway in his Chevy Truck.
The three musketeers looked at each other questioningly.
"Should we go with him? Should we follow him? How bad do you think he can mess this up?" Sasha was genuinely concerned this opportunity didn't pass Rick by.
"Nah, my boy will be aite," Daryl said assuredly.
"How do you know?" Maggie asked, looking at Daryl like he was holding a secret.
"Because it's time…," was his optimistic response.
….
"Sooo tell me everything! Did you two have sex? I swear Rick sounds like every city girl's fantasy. You're a better woman than me girl for leaving that man. Ok back to sex! What kind did you have?" Michonne let her friend Andrea ramble, she was known for her long winded, verbiage filled monologues, especially when it came to men, especially when it came to men and sex.
She pushed her carry on through the crowd as she finished at the check in counter, the heavily populated airport was noisy as expected. Her ears strained to hear Andrea on the phone above the whip of people heading in every direction to get to where they were going.
Flight announcements rattled out from the speakers above her head as she weaved her way to a vacant seat.
She honestly was in no hurry to get to her destination. She decided to take a breath before she went through the horrors of airports security before she got to her gate.
She had to fill in Andrea on her four days in King County.
"What kind of sex?" she asked, certain that Andrea, the goddess of the weirdest sexcapades ever recorded would educate her.
"Do I have to teach you everything? I read it in a magazine sometime ago, lemme see if I remember them all." There was a pause on the line, "Did you two have smurf sex? That's sex till you're blue in the face. Or did you stick to the boring missionary stuff that people who are too tired to do anything else revert to?"
Michonne shook her head in awe at Andrea's knowledge on the topic at hand.
She observed a woman saying goodbye to her husband with a kiss and a lengthy hug, swallowing the instant lump in her throat. She didn't even get to say a proper goodbye this time.
Her choice but it still sucked.
She tried not to remain transfixed on the past and shook herself back to the conversation at hand. "Andrea we definitely did not have smurf sex, that shit sounds painful but let me tell you, sex with Rick Grimes is anything but boring." She closed her eyes at the memory of his azure eyes holding her spice brown orbs ransom as he pushed himself deeper inside her, it was enough to have her salivating.
"Good to know! At least your not having religious sex...that's nun in the morning, nun in the evening etcetera etcetera….or social security sex….that's when you get a little each month but not enough to enjoy it."
Michonne felt free to cackle as loudly as she wanted because no one would notice in the busy airport. She could imagine the serious expression on the pretty blonde's face as she spoke.
Her girl was too much sometimes but she always had the propensity to make her laugh, which was something she needed right now.
Leaving Atlanta felt weird this time and she didn't know why. She felt slightly anxious and maybe a tad bit homesick. How could she be homesick for a place she didn't consider home anymore? It wasn't the place so much, it was the man. She was homesick for Rick, the love of her life. They always seemed to be like two ships passing in the night.
"You ok there? You're quiet after such a funny joke. You decided if you're gonna renew your contract with Ezekiel? You know he's gonna ask you as soon as you get back."
Michonne let out a long breath, "Yeah I've been thinking but still uncertain of what my answer is." She was hoping she would have found answers coming back home but she was leaving with even less of herself and more questions.
"Search your heart Chonne, it's a good navigator" Ever so often Andrea dropped some truth bombs on her that left her befounded.
"If I had a heart that would've been a big help." Ever since she left King County she felt like her heart had been replaced by an ice box. Her emotions jumped between cold and colder.
Dating didn't help to melt her heart, it was why she opted to be single.
"Eat a lot of protein, you'll gain a new heart." In a flash Andrea was back with her crazy wit.
She couldn't deny that the one time she felt her heart ticking loudly was when she was in the same breathing space as Rick. She wished things could be different but he didn't want to leave King County, he didn't want to do a long distance relationship. They could never reach a compromise. She packed up and left to face the life she thought he should be facing with her.
King County was home and there was no place like home.
She could end her contract and return home. She knew now she had the talent, the connections and now the money to start her own business in King County, but then what?
Go home to an empty apartment with no one to love, because she could do the very same thing in LA. Rick was paralyzed with his love for her, she wanted their love to move them forward.
She knew he worked harder than most on becoming the Sheriff's deputy. In a few years he would make Sheriff. She was certain of it.
Rick was a protector, that's what drew her to him all those years ago. He laid himself on the line for others without thought or expectation. He was considerate where others were not. He was a gentleman always showing up his southern roots.
Although his alpha side was never far behind. He was a confident man, cocky but not disrespectful. Dominant in all the ways that mattered to her.
She wanted to know she mattered to him and she did to a point, just not enough that would make her stay.
He always said he would give her whatever made her happy, even if she chose a job over him. Those were his words verbatim.
He always seemed okay with saying goodbye to her. Even if this time she couldn't.
What if that's why he was ok with saying goodbye? Did he really think she wanted this job over him? He must know that she always thought she could have both, but he didn't.
Now the very job she left King County for was up for renewal, her turn to decide.
She had to suck it up. She had decisions to make, a flight to catch.
She listened to Andrea ramble again on her latest beau Shane, poor schmuck was a LAPD cop and she was already putting him through the ringer. She gave a timely "uh huh" and "really" to keep the one sided conversation running.
Her mind had been transported to the night before and how right it felt to be with Rick again.
The fact he was still single confused the hell out of her. Were the women blind in King County?
A soldier who appeared to be coming home from duty was jumped by a short hair redhead before he was in close proximity to her. He caught her as she relished him with hard kisses all over his face until their lips met, then it was like no one else existed in the airport. Only them and the burning love they had for each other, separation doing nothing to dwindle the flames.
Good for you girl.
"So you're all checked in?"
"I am but I got a few minutes to linger." She didn't want to be searched and frustrated with the systems and procedures of airport authority, she would go in soon.
"Ok back to Rick Grimes.I just love saying his name. Rick Grimes….he sounds like a cool TV character!" Andrea squealed.
"Yeah he's something alright. I shouldn't have left without saying goodbye this time Andrea. I wish he was here for me to…...Oh. My. God!" Michonne said loudly, slowly as her eyes tried to sharpen the image of Rick running through the airport at a runner's pace, his bow leg most prominent in his fast gait.
"What? What is it?" Andrea's voice was loud over the speaker of the phone.
Michonne thought her eyes were failing her. This was a dream, she had conjured him up out of her guilt.
"It's Rick. He's here. And he just saw me and he's headed this way." Her head felt like it was spinning.
She saw his sigh of relief as they locked eyes and he jogged his way towards her.
Andrea couldn't stop firing questions at her, but Michonne drowned her out. Using all of her energy to stand and speak to the man who would forever hold her heart.
"What are you doing here?" There was a frog in her throat which only added to the illusion that Rick was really in front of her.
The illusion was wearing a red Henley and blue denim jeans, with the perfect length of his dark curls kissing his neck and the sexiest amount of scruff on his handsome face.
"Were you really running?" she asked, observing him bend over, holding his knees as he steadied his breath. "Andrea….I'mma call you back." She hung up the phone before her friend could beg her to feed her drama addiction.
"Yeah I was!" he said holding up a finger as a sign to give him a chance to regularize his breathing pattern.
"Why? Why are you here?" she asked forcefully.
"You left me that's why!" he said, a little too loudly, he couldn't hear his voice over the wild beating of his heart.
"And this time is different because….?"
"Because you made me miss waking up in the middle of the night and tripping over all your damn high heeled shoes on my way to the bathroom! Because you left me without sayin' goodbye! Because I finally have my head outta my ass!" His hands rested on his waist as he delivered his heart to her on a platter. "Because I just realized that you're runnin'. Runnin' from us. You keep saying that you and I are two ships passing in the night but I think we're really our own icebergs."
"Rick, I have a flight to catch..." she reminded him and herself. Adrenaline was rushing through her veins with the realization he had come for her.
"Yeah but you're not leaving on that plane Michonne." His tone was confident as he inched closer to her. She was delectable in her long sleeved beige top, her tight fitting black pants and her round tip black boots. She completed the look with a black scarf that was thrown over her shoulders. Her locks in a neat bun. He was ready to throw her over his shoulder and leave, even if she would be kicking and screaming all the way.
She stepped back, everything felt surreal.
She saw a metal bird take lift in the sky, she needed to get through security. She needed to get to her gate. Yet she couldn't move if someone was paying her.
"Rick, you and I are a dead end." It hurt to even say it.
"It's not a dead end if it's leading you to somewhere you need to go." He inched toward her again. He saw it in her eyes, the fear, the love, a small amount of hope. It encouraged him.
His friends were right, she needed a reason to stay.
"You're leading me somewhere?" she asked nervously.
"Down the aisle I hope." He watched her eyes fill with tears and he chided himself that it had taken him all this time to realize what was right in front of him.
He had been emotionally unconscious yesterday but he was awake today.
"Rick this is all sweet and everything - "
"Michonne…" It came out in a laugh, he used the pad of his thumb to swipe his eyebrow." Michonne...I know you love me. I know LA isn't what you want. Not anymore at least. I know I never gave you a reason to stay and I'll forever regret not opening my eyes sooner but I'm not spending another day without you. I love you." He touched her cheek softly and saw the same love he had in his eyes reflected in hers.
"I do love you but my life is in LA now." She didn't know why she was still fighting it. This was everything she wanted.
"Maggie told me about your contract. You can start over again, for the first time again, right here. Or if you want I'll give up everything here and go with you but I'm not leaving this airport without you." His words were explosive.
She felt scattered in a million pieces but it was the best feeling ever. He was fighting for her. Every girl should be loved so fiercely.
"I always wanted you to give me a reason to stay, I don't think I realized that until Sasha and Daryl's wedding.
"I always wanted to be reason enough for you not to go, but I get it now. We both needed to put our hearts on the line. I needed to be a man about what I wanted. What I want is you. In any place, in any time just as long as we're together."
"Leaving without saying goodbye this time was hard…..this one felt harder than the rest."
"You know why it was hard this time?" He tilted her chin and captured her eyes in a steady gaze as she shook her head.
"Because you and I were meant to be. Because there's nobody out here for you but me"
"Rick...do you really mean that? Because this is what I want. You and me. Forever," she confessed grabbing onto his arms, holding onto him tight. She had no future plans of letting go.
She checked her watch, she was going to miss her flight. For the first time in a long time she was ok going off her plan.
"I do. So what do you say we grab your bags and get out of here." He was already reaching for her travel bag. She stopped him with a still of her hand.
"You know in the movies…when the guy rushes to the airport to get the girl he loves before she leaves on the last flight out and he actually gets the girl he 's supposed to kiss ," she said smirking, waiting.
"Really now? Well you wanna jump on me or do I kiss and spin you or…." He was joking around but if she wanted the whole movie experience he would give it to her.
"Just shut up and kiss me!" she laughed, already pulling him to her.
He took control of the kiss and parted her mouth eagerly. He didn't know how thirsty he was until he got to her waterfall. He lapped at her lips, his arms coming around her tiny waist tightly against him, not even doubt could pass between them. His tongue danced with hers in the kiss of promise, the kiss of renewal. She kissed him hungrily, whetting his appetite for more.
Around them, people couldn't help to stare this time. Rick and Michonne were in a bubble of their own.
"Good for you girl" She heard a passer by shout in her direction and smiled at the irony of her circumstance.
She heard her name being called over the Public Service Announcement System to check into her gate immediately. Rick picked up her suitcase and took hold of her hand.
Their linked hands a seal to their future.
She hoped whoever the lucky person was that got her seat knew what they were leaving behind and knew where they were headed.
She finally did.