A/N: Richonne has been canon for a year today, so I wrote some fluff!smut to celebrate. This does contain spoilers for the upcoming 7x12 episode, so if you're not up to date, you might wanna skip this. Everyone else, I do hope you enjoy! It's been an amazing year, hasn't it? -Ash


"What the hell was that?" Michonne demanded in a hiss as her boyfriend finally came barreling into the house behind her, a trail of blood dripping from his right hand. She was nothing but relieved, of course, that he was okay, but her indignant tone was the frustration over him unnecessarily risking his life for her.

Out of breath, Rick nodded in reply, understanding why she was annoyed with him; but at the same time, he'd seen the opportunity to keep her out harm's way and he took it. He wasn't going to apologize for that. "It's fine," he panted, shutting the door behind them. "I'm fine."

"I had it," she insisted, still frowning, though mostly out of concern for his hand now. She watched as his current bandage began to stain with his own blood, and she inwardly cringed. Not because she was unused to the sight of blood, but she simply hated to see him hurt.

"There were five of them and one of you," he answered, still not backing down.

"So you use bullets we can't afford to use, hop out of a car we can't afford to lose, and let it crash to save me from five walkers," she asked, recapping the last few minutes'. She carefully unwrapped his hand to inspect how much damage he'd done to the hole already there. It appeared that his fight had simply reopened the wound, which was a relief, but on a superficial level, she hated that he seemed insistent on ruining his lovely hands. "Jesus, Rick."

"I don't get any points for saving your life?" he smirked, ignoring the pain.

"No," she answered flatly as she turned back into the unfamiliar house, wondering whether she'd find a first aid kit on the premises. They'd only come away with a few from the school they raided the previous day, and she preferred not to break into their limited supply so quickly. "Come."

Rick didn't hesitate to follow behind his girlfriend as they explored the one-story home that would be theirs for the night. And he couldn't help but think about how nice it would be to sleep in a bed after the last week without one. "'No,'" he amusedly repeated Michonne's short reply. "'Come.' I feel like a puppy."

"And you belong in the doghouse," she commented, finally finding the bathroom she was looking for. "Sit," she added to her list of commands while she searched through the bathroom cabinet for some gauze, at the very least.

Again, he did as told, taking a seat on the ledge of the bathtub, leaving the commode open for Michonne to take. He grinned at her resourcefulness, tinged with a bit of good luck, when she came away with the coveted kit she was looking for. "Look at that."

Michonne rolled her eyes, vexed by his unshakeable good mood. That had been her just a few days ago, and she wasn't sure what happened, when they switched roles - perhaps fatigue was simply settling in, or maybe it was the inexorable balance in their relationship manifesting itself. But for the past almost hour, the love of her life had gotten on her last goddamn nerve. "Does it hurt?" she asked, her voice softening only slightly as she claimed the toilet seat in front of him.

"No more than it did when it happened," he shrugged, his eyes squinting in the darkened room. "You think you might need some light?"

"I'm used to working in the dark." She flipped open the plastic box she'd found, retrieving her necessary supplies and proving her point.

"No, I'm well aware of that," Rick smirked, resting his uninjured hand in her lap, then placed the bleeding one on top of it. "But this isn't exactly the same type of work..."

She quietly scoffed at his suggestive tone, refusing to laugh at him, and continued her task without comment on it. "If you want a candle, you can go get one from my bag."

"I trust you."

"You've got a funny way of showing it," she shot back.

He couldn't help but notice the contrast in her sharp tone versus her gentle touch, which only made him smile again. "I'm sorry," he quietly offered, staring at the top of her lowered head as she doused his hand in alcohol. As much as he understood why she was irritated, he did hope that it wasn't going to ruin their night. A rare occasion where they had no kids, no neighbors, no Negan to bother them. "How 'bout I try to make it up to you?"

Not even bothering to look up from the wound she was examining, she wryly returned, "You're not gonna fuck your way outta this."

"All right," Rick nodded, chuckling at her bluntness. "What can I do?"

"You can hold still."

With that, he decided to stop talking altogether, simply watching as she worked to rewrap his hand. Unsurprisingly, any pain he'd been feeling seemed to have vanished once she took over. So he studied her face, as he often did when she wasn't looking. Knowing all the pain she endured over the last two years, and how open she was in spite of it, he found himself searching for hints of it hiding in her expression or body language. She was so beautiful, both inside and out, she seemed unreal at times; a dream he didn't want to wake up from. But he could see where this fight was taking its toll on her. She'd already lost a bit of weight, her face thinner than it was two weeks ago. Which, in turn, made her look more tired. Of course, it was to be expected when they did more running than eating, but he hated that their lives didn't allow her to be fully happy. Kept snatching things away the moment she began to feel comfortable. His gaze narrowed in the darkness, noticing her brow line unknit until she was no longer frowning.

"I have another one of those chili mac packets in my bag," Michonne quietly declared as she finished up with his hand. "We can share it if you want."

He nodded again, retrieving the first-aid kit from her lap so that she could stand. "This house have a fireplace? I can get a fire goin'."

She silently agreed, discarding Rick's old bandage before turning out of the door, leaving him to follow her once again. Immediately, the couple went into action mode, locking up their home for the night, preparing dinner - the typical, mundane things they hadn't been able to do for the last several nights, thanks to The Saviors. And within minutes, they were sitting down to their ready-to-eat meal, same as they had the night before, although this time in the solace of a house instead of a middle school hallway. Their scavenging hunt had taken them on a bit of an adventure, but this - the comfort of a couch, the ambience of a roaring fire - was the makings of a cozy date night. Of course this particular date had started off on the wrong foot, and now Rick was eager to get them back on the right one.

If you want me to, I'll try to make it right
Put it all aside for your love

The two of them sat quietly, waiting for their dinner to cool, Rick with his eyes fixated on his girlfriend. On the back of her, anyway, because she was sitting forward on the sofa, having yet to actually relax. "Michonne," he called out to her, his voice low; soft.

She responded by turning her head in his direction, but didn't speak otherwise.

He decided then to sit up with her, wanting to be face to face when he spoke. He tentatively touched her thigh as his eyes landed on hers. "I'm sorry that I scared you," he whispered. "I probably shouldn't have jumped in, but I saw you getting swarmed and I panicked. And not because I think you can't take care of yourself. I know you can," he nodded, briefly glancing down at her trembling hands before looking back up at her. "You've been doin' it a long time. I know that. But it doesn't mean I don't wanna take care of you, too." He timidly bit at his bottom lip, his gaze begging her to understand where he was coming from. "I'd do anything for you, Michonne."

She felt her eyes stinging with tears, but she immediately shook them away as she stared back at her boyfriend. All her irritation with the situation seemed to be slipping through her fingers and she could only see the earnestness in his eyes. "I get that," she answered with a shaky breath. "I love that about you. But you can't risk your life to save me. I can't... live with myself if you do that."

"Well I can't live without you, so… I'm not sure where that leaves us."

She chuckled at him, although she kind of hated where this morbid conversation was headed. "Just trust me," she suggested. "The world is even scarier than we thought. I know," she nodded. "But I don't have any designs on getting myself killed. So you have to do the same. You're not leaving me with two kids to raise on my own."

Rick's serious expression morphed into a smile as he recognized that her spirits had successfully been lifted. His eyes didn't leave hers, though, as he raised his injured hand to her face, tenderly caressing her jawline. "I'm not goin' anywhere," he promised. "Not anytime soon."

Michonne could appreciate his confidence, and as she drowned in his stare, she desperately wanted to rely on it - they'd survived so much, it was hard not to. But she also promised herself that she wouldn't forget where it had gotten them the last time they were so arrogant.

"I wanna do everything on earth with you," he declared in his hoarse whisper. "I wanna exchange vows with you. I wanna have a baby with you. I wanna rule the world with you, Michonne." His hand descended from her face to her neck, his eyes dropping to her lips as he began to pull her closer. "Me and you."

If you only knew the way I feel inside, it might make up for time
It's my pride, surprise surprise

The tears she'd been trying to hold back suddenly began to fall, her mind racing as she realized just how serious he was; how he'd obviously thought about this before. Probably in all those moments where she'd catch him gazing at her, or when he seemed to go quiet in the middle of their conversations. She'd been so busy trying to figure out how to defeat Negan, she never really thought about the particulars of what their future could actually look like. She could feel her heart beating out of her chest, the butterflies in her stomach as she leaned in to meet him halfway to a kiss. And even though she'd kissed him a hundred times by now, it felt like the first time again as their lips touched, and he sucked the air from her lungs. Her fingers immediately tangled in his sweaty curls as his tongue snaked out to touch hers and they tangoed for minutes on end, his nose pressed against her face, catching her fallen tears. Michonne felt like she was floating as she effortlessly climbed into her boyfriend's lap, straddling him as they deepened their liplock. Rick had one hand up the back of her shirt, caressing her warm skin, the other cupping her face until she was the one to break contact, breathing heavily as she stared down at him.

"You really wanna have a baby?" she asked, her tone dipped in equal parts disbelief and intrigue. She brushed a few stray curls from his face as she waited for his answer.

"If you do," he replied, shifting beneath her weight. "I mean, after Andre, after Lori, I don't know if that's somethin' you're ready to even think about," he nodded understandingly. "But I'm ready whenever... if ever you are."

Michonne found herself frowning as she fixated on Rick's swollen lips, her heart still thumping uncontrollably as she contemplated whether this was something else she wanted for her life. Their two kids were always enough for her, hard enough to keep alive. The idea of adding to their family never even crossed her mind. "You're not scared?"

"I'm terrified," he laughed lightly. "But that just reminds me that I'm alive. You," he said, taking soft hold of one of her perfect arms, "remind me that I'm alive. And I want everything that comes with that life."

We're the ones who live. She'd been saying it to him for the past few days now, trying to convince him to hold onto his revolve, to keep fighting, and here he was, ready to embrace its ultimate meaning. She told him to smile, and he hadn't stopped since. "Rick..." Her gaze began to soften, a grin tugging at her own beautiful lips as she pictured a life with some little version of the two of them running around.

But if you're ready babe…

He could see the wheels turning in her head, the smile on her face and in her mind as she saw what the future looked like for them, once they got past all this hard stuff once and for all. She saw the same things he did - their home, their family, the rebuilding of the world. A life. "Say yes with your voice and not just your eyes," he quietly begged, grinning back at her.

Are you ready baby?

Her smile seemed to widen with every second as she ran her fingers along his lovely beard, thinking about how beautiful he looked in the fire's glow. She wanted to do everything on earth with him, too. "Yes."

Rick lifted himself to kiss her again, claiming her mouth as he picked her up by her hips just to lay her down, both of them giggling as she landed on her back, and he got into his favorite position between her thighs. He'd completely forgotten about their dinner by then, because consuming her was infinitely more satisfying than any food could ever be.

"We're just practicing tonight," Michonne reminded him, feeling his wandering fingers already tugging at her belt. "Right?"

He kissed her once more, a short suck on her full lips before he pulled to his knees to get started. "Right."

What a relief it had been for the past couple of days to not have to rush. No need to be quiet, or in this instance, even leave the couch for fear of someone seeing or hearing them. And so, Rick took his time undressing her - starting with her belt and then her shoes, while she kept her wanton gaze on his face, already imagining those lips and that beard buried between her thighs. In fact, she quivered just thinking about it, causing him to smirk in response.

"You okay?" he whispered.

She nodded, wanting nothing more than for him to continue with getting her pants off. "Keep going."

Licking his lips, Rick dove into her body, lifting her shirt to reveal the skin of her taut torso. He found her muscles so sexy, especially the ones in her stomach, and how he could often see the ripples through the fabric of her tops. He licked his way across them, grinning at the way her belly contracted, her breaths obviously getting heavier as his mouth made contact with her skin, his tongue circling her navel as he unbuttoned her pants. And his lips continued on downward until he reached the waistband of her grey and black panties, appreciating that she managed to even match her underwear to her clothing. His lady, perpetually having her shit together.

Michonne felt her toes involuntarily begin to wiggle as Rick continued undressing her; his tongue covering every inch that her pants uncovered. His lips followed the trail that her Apollo's belt offered, kissing in the creases between her thighs until her jeans were down to her knees. He smiled at her devilishly as he pulled back to peel them down her legs, and she could actually see his erection bulging from his pants. Her mouth began to water as she imagined it pressed against his zipper, knowing he wasn't wearing any underwear, only his tattered jeans separating her from his dick. "You too," she whispered, lifting her leg to assist him in his task.

"You first," he replied, still unable to stop smiling as he took in her naked pussy. She had her legs wide open for him, her delectable brown clit staring back at him, and it took all his strength not to go for it first. But he had every intention of taking his time, and so he laid between her legs, wrapping his arms around her thighs, and pulled her right up to his face. Ready to eat, indeed.

Tonight I'm gonna swim in it
Dive in it
Drown in it
Hide in it, babe

Michonne let out a light breath the second she felt Rick's lips touch the inside of her left thigh. He was so gentle, it felt like a feather, tickling her most susceptible spots. He slowly worked his way over, teasingly kissing at her labia the way he often did her mouth - slow, tender pecks before deepening the contact, using his tongue to get inside her. His warm breath against her flesh had her squirming, and her soft exhales turned into heavier moans when she felt his fingers part her slit, allowing his tongue deeper. "Rick," she whispered shakily, her hands already finding his curls. She bit hard at her bottom lip, her eyes closing as she basked in the splendid feel of his mouth.

He smiled at her reaction, happily inhaling her scent as his tongue moved languidly through her folds. His left hand slid underneath her, squeezing at her luscious ass as he devoured her pussy. He used the other to gently rub against her clit, his thumb massaging her tortuously slowly, while his tongue penetrated her opening, dipping in and out until he felt her juices in his mouth. "God… damn," he mumbled, the vibration of his voice against her body making her even wetter. The taste of her had his dick throbbing in his jeans, and he couldn't wait to free himself.

"Rick," Michonne whimpered, her back arching spontaneously. She should've been used to this by now, but the truth was, she would likely never get used to that immaculate mouth and how well he used it. The way he used his tongue to explore every inch of her, to massage her, tickle her, fuck her. He unabashedly made out with her pussy, and it made her come undone every single time. "Rick…"

Live in it
Die in it
Ride in it
Inside of it, babe

The sound of her moaning his name, her fingers gripping harshly at his hair, it only encouraged him, and he took that opportunity to go even harder. His free left hand went wandering up her body until it reached her back, and then snaked around front to slip underneath her bra. His fingers managing to push it out of his way so that he could fondle her soft breast, all while his tongue continued to service her down below. He was alternating between slowly winding his tongue around her clit and gently sucking the engorged bud until Michonne was closing her legs on his head. He licked her like ice cream on a hot day, lapping at her melting drops as they streamed down her rich skin. He was so deep inside her pussy, he had lifted her hips from the couch, his nose buried in her depths, his beard wet with her fluids as he tongued her perineum and back up. He had her legs trembling as she moaned for both him and God.

"Fuck, Rick," she cried with pleasure. He was practically underneath her, eating her like his life depended on it, and she felt like she was going to die. Her hands and thighs were squeezing his head, unable to take any more, but not wanting him to stop. "God. Fuck. Yes."

"Come on," Rick hummed against her flesh, his fingers massaging her opening as he continued his light little sucks on her clit. His mouth already had her soaked, and still, he wanted more. He craved the taste of her orgasm, to drown in her sweet scent as it coated his face and tongue. And he didn't have to ask twice, almost immediately feeling her body quiver with her climax, followed by a quick gush of her cum. Hungrily, he lapped it up, his dick actually twitching with excitement as he licked her clean. Because nothing quite turned him on like getting her off.

Swallow it
Follow it
Fall in it
All in it baby...

It took a moment for Michonne to come down from her high, her body feeling numb from the pleasure. She stared at the unfamiliar ceiling for far too long, trying to find words to accurately express what she'd just experienced. "Why… are you trying to kill me?" she eventually breathed.

He took that opportunity to finally come up for air, untangling himself from her thighs to scale his way up her body until they were face to face again. Smiling at her, squeezing one of her exposed tits, he went in for another kiss, inhaling her as if he were still hungry. And he was. "Last thing I'm tryin' to do is kill you," he grinned, staring at her in a mixture of awe and affection. "Although I do like hearin' you moan like that."

She smiled back at him shyly, knowing that the freedom to be loud was a welcome change, one that enabled her to let loose. "Is your leg okay, or do you need me to to get on top again?" She was already working to unbutton his shirt as she anticipated his reply.

"Let the record show that I didn't need you to get on top last night. I wanted you to."

"Oh, excuse me," she giggled, licking her lips as she exposed his tanned skin. At that point, she didn't too much care either way, so long as she got that dick out of those jeans. His bulge was hard against her bare pussy, making her wet again as they laid there bantering. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pulled him closer, letting him know exactly how she wanted him. "Let's go then."

Rick was unable to contain that same impish smile as he undid his pants, and buried his face in her tits, sucking at her nipples like they were his dessert. And with his cock freed from his jeans, he slipped into her heavenly depths with a soft grunt, feeling like he was the one who'd died. But everything about the moment was a reminder that they were alive. We're the ones who live.


Lyrics: "Drown in It" - Syd (Fin)