Rainy Day

She kept her eyes closed after she woke up. It was raining and the steady cadence of rain on the roof sounded to her like an annoying, leaky faucet. She needed to get out of bed, but felt heavy and couldn't put her feet on the floor. She looked out the bedroom window at the gloomy, darkened sky, and the raindrops dissolving onto the window. The memories days like this brought out were nearly unbearable to her.

The gentle knock at the bedroom door startled her and she cleared her throat to answer.

"Come in."

Carl poked his head in.

"Are you okay? I thought you'd be up by now."

"I'm a little slow this morning. Can you take Judith to the Miller's?"

"Sure. Do you need me to get you anything?"

"No, I'm okay. I'll be getting up soon."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

Rick left before dawn working on another part of the wall. She was glad he wasn't there. Days like this she usually kept to herself.

Rick walked through the gate after his usual morning inspection of the wall. He got up early and enjoyed getting the bulk of his work done before the community woke up. He saw Carl walking toward him which made him curious. School was in the opposite direction.

"Hey."

"Hey Dad."

"Are you going to school today?"

"Yeah, but I think you should go home and check on Michonne."

"What's wrong?" Rick said not stopping, but walking toward their home.

"She said she was a little slow today. That's not like her. I took Judith to the Miller's. Michonne's still in bed."

"Go to school. I'll check with you later." Rick said sprinting home.

When he got there he ran up the stairs and found Michonne lying in bed with the pillow on top of her head and one arm holding it down.

He walked over and crouched down to see her face.

"Hey." He said gently lifting the pillow.

"Hey." She said looking at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just a little blue today. I'm getting up soon."

"Why are you blue?"

"It's raining."

Rick didn't quite understand, but he knew she would eventually tell him. He ran a thumb across her cheek and smiled sadly.

"Can I get you anything?"

She shook her head and sat up.

"Get dressed and come downstairs. I'll make you some tea and we'll talk."

"I don't want to take you from what you're doing today."

"I'm doing this today, just try taking me from it."

He went downstairs and Michonne decided to get up and see if she could get quickly past this.

She dressed and went downstairs and Rick handed her a mug of tea.

"What did you do this morning?"

"I walked the perimeter. I wish Reg had fortified the wall braces with cement."

"Could we do that now? Isn't there cement left at the mall site?"

Rick nodded his head clearly thinking about it.

"Who knows how to mix cement?"

"Eugene might." Michonne said drinking the tea and looking out the window.

"Why does the rain bring you down so low?"

"Memories. Good and bad."

"Wanna talk about it?" He said walking over to her at the kitchen counter.

"Not really."

She looked him in the eyes deciding on whether she would anyway.

"Michonne, I told you a while back, I'm all in no matter what. We both had a past before this, but it's in the past."

"I know."

She smiled sadly. She knew that about Rick. She took a deep breath and reached out and ran her hand over the hair on his bare forearm.

"Mike didn't understand how I could be depressed on rainy days. He never would have come home to spend time with me like this."

"We were all different before this and driven by different priorities."

"You would have gone home to see about Lori. That's who you are."

He looked away briefly. What she said was true.

"Do you think about Lori?"

"Every now and then, yes."

"Good times or bad times?"

"Both I guess. Sometimes it seems like there were more bad than good, but only because most of the bad times were more recent. You think about Mike?"

"I do. When I do, I can't help but compare how he treated me to how you treat me."

Rick frowned when she said that.

"When I was with him, I thought I was in love. I thought I couldn't live without him. Truth was he couldn't live with the way things are without me and he didn't. I wasn't there and he died."

"It wasn't because you weren't there. Some people weren't meant for this. This hard life; deprivation, and lack of every form of basic human necessity. Mike and Lori would not have survived what we've been through." Rick said sadly. "I believe that some people are driven insane by how things are now, you and I get days like this to cope with."

He stood up and pulled her up from the couch. "Come here."

He walked over and opened the drapes to the overcast sky and rain sheeting down the windows.

"Turn off the lights in the kitchen." He said to Michonne.

He walked over to the entertainment center and put a CD in. It was a fast song and he started bopping his head in time with the music and snapping his fingers. Michonne simply looked at him and shook her head.

"No?" He said faking being hurt.

He then put in a different CD with a much gentler and soothing selection. He slowly and gently took her hand and held it close to his chest, and put his arm around her waist. He positioned one of his legs between hers and held her tightly against him. He then slowly swayed with her folded within his arms to the music.

"Let's make new memories for days like this."

"Okay." She said snuggling against his neck.

"When I was young, the barn on my father's farm had a tin roof. On rainy days I used to run up to the loft and lay down in the dry hay and listen to the rain hitting the roof. The sound somehow was in sync with my insides. It calmed me down so much I would fall asleep up there and my parents would have to come find me."

"You do that for me." She said looking up into his blue eyes.

She listened to the rain and the soft music playing, and felt her mood lightening. She changed the position of her arms to around his neck.

"You're kinda smart you know that?"

"Coming from you, that's an honor."

"You're an honorable man. You did a big thing today, you got me out of bed."

"I hope that's not a sign of the things to come."

She laughed out loud.

"Not a chance. You do big things there too."

"Bedroom humor and we're not even in bed. I'm impressed Michonne."

He went from joking to lovingly serious right before her eyes.

"Your happiness is a priority to me. Don't ever feel like you can't share your feelings and fears with me."

"You too." She said nodding.

"Any way I can get you back in bed?"

"Have you tried asking?" She said nonchalantly.

He gaped his mouth open and tried to look shocked.

"I have to ask? Where's the fun in asking? Kicks spontaneity right out the window." He slid his hand up one of her arms and took her hand in his and led her towards the stairs. "As well as sensuality, slow, seduction, and all those other words starting with the letter S."

She laughed and joined in the joking.

"Today's afternoon delight brought to you by the letter S, and the phrase I love you."

He looked at her and smiled as they walked up the stairs together.

"You are awesome lady warrior. I love you too."

"None of those words start with the letter S."

"Sue me." He said kissing her passionately at the top of the stairs.