Out of Character

So, I have read some Richonners think that Rick and Michonne being jealous would be OOC for them. I agree, but also think it would be so much fun to witness, so here it is.

The closing of the front door jars Rick from his slumber. He rubs his eyes, looking around and realizes it was the door that woke him. He moves to the window, pushing the curtain aside to take a quick look, and views Michonne on the walk in front of their house preparing for her morning jog. He is about to turn away when he notices another movement. He looks again to see one of the community folks joining Michonne. His eyebrows shoot up with curiosity when Michonne smiles at the guy, saying something, then the two of them jog off. Rick rubs his jaw absently as he moves to the bed, preparing to go back to sleep. Only he finds he can't sleep. He keeps thinking about Michonne on a jog with this new guy. All sorts of questions flit through his mind. When did she meet him? Where did she meet him? Who is he? Why do I care? He scoffs to himself and turns on his side, waiting for the sound of the front door again.

A couple of hours later, Rick is seated in the kitchen, having breakfast with Carl, Judith, and Michonne. They have been in the safe zone for almost three weeks now and just recently moved into a house of their own. The other group members had branched off as well, but they all still interact daily.

Rick looks over to Michonne, clears his throat, and asks quietly, "So who's your jogging buddy?" He swallows visibly, wondering if he should have asked her about the guy at all. He doesn't want to come across like he's being overprotective or getting into her business because her business is her business he is thinking to himself.

Michonne opens her mouth to reply, but Carl interrupts with, "You mean Jason? Oh he's way cool. He works with Dr. Stevens at the infirmary, but he has like a black belt in martial arts, so he's been teaching the kids at school about it. Michonne came over to walk home with me one day and they got to talking about self-defense and stuff."

"Yeah, he's really into fitness and gives me a challenge, so..." Michonne trails off as she notices the look on Rick's face. He quickly camouflages it when he feels her eyes on him.

"That's nice," Rick states absently, his mind turning with more questions, but he refuses to give in to the curiosity.

"I better get going. You walking with me, Michonne?" Carl inquires. The two of them stand and start gathering their things for the day. Carl hugs his dad and Judy goodbye. Michonne gives Judy a kiss and lets Rick know that she'll see him in a couple of hours at the office as they work security together.

A knock sounds at the door as Carl is walking that way. He opens it to reveal Cynthia, one of the community residents who lives down the street. She is holding a basket. Carl greets her and asks, "You looking for my dad?"

"I'll say hello if he's here, but I was just being neighborly. I prepared too many muffins for breakfast and thought you all would like some. Is he here?" she replies with a smile.

Rick walks into the room behind Michonne with Judith in his arms. "Thank you, Cynthia. We appreciate that."

"Just want y'all to feel welcome. Well, have a good day," she waves goodbye and makes her exit after handing the basket to Carl.

Michonne was quiet during the whole exchange, but she can't help thinking to herself that was the third visit from random women, bringing food to their home or rather to Rick. She noticed how they looked at him. Once it was revealed that he was a widower, they swooped in like vultures. Most of them were cautious because they couldn't get why she was in the picture. Neither she nor Rick bothered to explain anything to anybody. She was staying here and that was that. She felt a little irritation all of a sudden and wasn't sure why.

Carl returns from the kitchen, munching on a muffin. Around a mouthful, he ponders, "Mmmm, these are pretty good. Wonder what we'll get next?"

"Yeah, me too," Michonne mutters quietly with a look to Rick. He frowns slightly wondering what that look meant, then sees them out the door.

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"So, what do you know about him?" Rick is asking Daryl about Jason.

"Not much. He lived in the DC area before everything went bad. Believe he was a nurse or something. Guess that's why he's at the infirmary now and...wait a minute, what has this guy done? Shouldn't Chonne be helping you with this?" Daryl looks at Rick curiously.

Rick sighs and replies, "She's the reason I'm asking. I mean, we still don't really know who these people are and I guess she's friends with him or something, so I'm just looking out for her."

"Looking out for Michonne? She's a pretty good judge of character, so I wouldn't worry about it," Daryl returns. "Something about this guy rub you the wrong way?"

"I just want her to be sure of who she's dealing with," Rick tells him, avoiding his eyes.

Daryl scoffs and asks, "So, how is she dealing with him? They together or something?" He picks up on Rick's tension immediately.

"Do you know something? Is she with him?" Rick is almost afraid of Daryl's answer.

"You'll have to ask her, man. I don't know, but surely you expected this," Daryl offers, "A woman like Michonne ain't gonna stay single for long."

Daryl's words stay with Rick for the remainder of the day.

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The next morning, Rick is up waiting to hear Michonne leave. He stands at the window again, watching. Just as he suspected, Jason joins Michonne and his irritation is at an all-time high. After breakfast, Michonne noticed, with a small smile, that there were no food deliveries. She also noticed that Rick was unusually quiet and didn't look at her once.

Later that day, Michonne is seated at her desk, just a little bored because it is awfully uneventful at the safe zone. She is grateful for that, but after being out there for as long as they were, not sure from day to day about their survival, being immobile was foreign to them. She was dealing with it, but some days were harder than others. She looks over at Rick who is gloriously busy, reading through the safe zone's so called rules and regulations. He thumbs through the 10 or so sheets of paper like it's a 400 page novel. Just as she was about to comment, two ladies walk in each with a covered plate in her hands. One of them she recognizes as Cynthia, their neighbor from down the street. The other she has seen before, but was never properly introduced to.

Rick stands to greet them, inquiring how he can assist them.

Cynthia begins with, "Oh, we don't mean to bother you. Just thought you and Michelle..."

Rick and Michonne correct her simultaneously with, "Michonne."

"Yes, forgive me. We thought you and Michonne would enjoy some lunch," Cynthia finishes.

The other woman chimes in with, "I'm Gloria by the way. Cynthia and I work together in the kitchens."

Rick nods with an acknowledging smile, moving towards them as he says, "Nice to meet you. Bringing us lunch is awfully kind of you. Thank you both. We appreciate it." He notices how quiet Michonne is and gives her a stern glare.

"Thank you," Michonne mumbles. She turns her back to them as she pretends to fill out some paperwork. The two women move over to Rick's desk, gushing about something that Michonne has chosen to ignore.

Ten minutes later, the visitors have finally departed and Rick moves over to Michonne's desk with the two plates, telling her they should check out what they've got.

"I'm not eating that," Michonne states with a shake of her head.

"Why not? Looks pretty good to me," Rick replies.

"Are you really that blind? You can't see what they're up to?" Michonne asks with a dark look. "Bringing you all this food. I guess they're familiar with the old adage the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Rick looks taken aback as he says, "What are you talking about? They're just being friendly."

"Yeah, they want to be your friend alright," she returns sarcastically.

Just as Rick is about to reply, Jason waltzes in with a huge smile on his face and a couple of small boxes in his hands. He greets Rick and walks over to Michonne's desk.

"Hey, you'll never believe what I found. We had to take inventory today and I actually found a box of pedometer watches. Most of them didn't work, but I found a couple we could use," he says as he hands one of the boxes to Michonne. "I got so excited, I just had to come over and show you."

"Thank you," she tells him, taking the watch out of the box to inspect it.

Jason moves closer to her and starts to demonstrate how to operate the watch.

Rick clears his throat and imparts, "Hey, it's time for patrols, so..."

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to barge in while you're working. We'll talk in the morning," Jason tells Michonne as he takes his leave.

"That was rude," Michonne turns to Rick with a frown. He drops his head with guilt, not sure what had come over him in that moment. He just wanted that guy gone.

"What do you even know about him?" he asks her, moving to his desk, so he could retrieve his gun belt, preparing for patrols.

Michonne watches him and says, "Jason's ok. We have fitness in common, so..."

Rick cuts her off with "Is that all you have in common with him?"

"What do you mean by that?" Michonne shoots back, a bit irritated.

Rick is not sure what came over him, but he realized that he had to know the truth. It was driving him crazy and he couldn't, wouldn't hold back any longer. "Are you sleeping with him?"

Michonne's mouth drops open as she is floored that Rick would even have the audacity to ask her that. She moves to stand in front of him, glaring as she offers, "That's none of your business."

"So, is that an admission?" he questions with a tilt of his head. His hands go to his gun belt and he rolls his shoulders with agitation.

Michonne moves closer to him and says, "I can't believe you have the nerve to ask me something like that. Why are you concerned anyway? You've got the whole female population here throwing themselves at you, so what does it matter what I do?"

"It matters because I care about you," Rick returns.

"Well, you've got a funny way of showing it. You..." Michonne is interrupted as Rick leans into her face.

"We are raising my children together. How can you think that I don't care about you?" he says heatedly.

"Look, we've been here for almost a month now. You were the one who said once we found some place safe we'd get to live. Well, that's what I want. I want a life. I want friends, I want family, I want laughter again and good times and damn it I want sex..." Michonne stops abruptly as she realizes what she just admitted and also because Rick's whole body language has changed.

"Ok...you want those things, but do you want them...with me?" His heart rate is in overdrive as he waits for her answer. They watch each other with intensity and finally, Michonne whispers, "Yes."

His relief is palpable as he lets out a shaky breath and nods his head, acknowledging her answer. When he doesn't offer more, Michonne turns away from him, unsure of what just took place between them.

Rick reaches out and gently places his hand on her arm. "I want what you want and I want it with you."

Michonne gives him a slight smile, then grows serious as she notices Rick's eyes zero in on her lips. He moves back to rest on his desk and pulls her to him to stand in between his legs. She laces her hands around his neck as he gently places a hand at her waist. They are almost molded together as Rick slowly brings his mouth to hers. The kiss starts out soft and gentle, both exploring cautiously. Rick deepens the kiss, aching to taste more of her. Michonne moans softly as Rick wraps his arms around her, pushing his tongue further into her mouth. They are both breathless moments later when they come up for air.

She smiles at him, dropping her forehead to rest against his. "Just so we're clear. I'm not sleeping with Jason. He's gay, so he'd be a little more interested in you than me."

Rick laughs and says, "Thanks for letting me make a fool of myself."

"There's no stopping you when you're on a roll." She moves out of his arms and grabs the plates off her desk. She looks at Rick and orders, "Handle this. My cooking is the only cooking you'll be eating from now on. Comprende? We'll give these to Tyrese and Abe."

"Yes, ma'am," Rick says, "Come on, we've got patrols, remember?"

Michonne gives him a quick kiss as they prepare to leave the office. She's not sure of what the future holds, but she's happy to be taking this journey with her best friend.