The Shampoo

It was a hot night in August. The air outside was so thick with humidity, it was hard to breathe. With the children in bed, Rick sat outside on the steps enjoying the stars and the quiet.

"It would be nice out if the air wasn't so thick." Rick said hearing Michonne walking out of the house.

"We've been in worse." Michonne said sitting down beside him.

"Yeah, everything was worse than this." He said smiling at her. "Did Judith finally get to sleep?"

"Yeah. She didn't want to wear her pajamas."

"Can you blame her?"

"Not at all. I won't be wearing mine either."

Rick looked at her and smiled.

"Do you even have pajamas?"

She laughed and gently elbowed him.

"I think I'm going to go shampoo my hair. Maybe that'll cool me off some." She said standing up.

"Can I help?"

"You want to shampoo my hair?"

"Why not?"

"No reason. I've just never had a man shampoo my hair before."

She reached out a hand to help him up from the steps.

He placed the kitchen counter bar stool in front of the sink which fit perfectly. She handed him the shampoo and he turned the water on. With the sink sprayer nozzle, he sprayed her locks, lifting them and spraying through them.

"Is the water too hot?"

"M-mm? Oh, no."

He smiled as he continued to rinse her hair. The shampoo was on the counter and he poured some on her hair and started to massage her scalp while the soap transformed into a lather.

"You know I'm next right?"

"Whatever you want. This feels good."

She smiled at the closeness, which was nothing new, but this was different. The warm water flowing through her hair and his strong hands controlling his fingers on her scalp was hypnotic.

Before she knew it, he was done and she had a hard time opening her eyes.

"Is there anything you're not good at?" She said sleepily.

"Yeah, I can't wrap your hair the way you do." He said handing her a towel.

She got up from the chair, quickly wrapped her hair and pointed to the chair for Rick.

"Okay, your turn."

He smiled and sat down. She pulled the spray hose out and sat on his lap facing him.

He smiled broadly putting his hands on her hips.

"I've never had my hair washed for me before, and had I known this is how it's done, I would never wash my own hair."

"I just wanted you to know what it felt like for me."

"If this is what it felt like for you, wash on then." He said enjoying the view in front of him. He resisted the urge to ravish her, to hell with the shampoo, but decided to wait until she finished. So he simply leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

She loved how his curly hair loosen in the running water and it reminded her of Judith's hair when she washed it.

While she massaged the last of the shampoo out, she took a moment to gaze at his face. She loved it when he relaxed without any signs of tension on his face. He could sense her looking at him and opened his eyes. She smiled sadly and kissed him deeply and he wrapped his arms around her. She broke the kiss and continued to look into his eyes.

"I should shampoo your hair more often." He said seriously looking into her eyes.

She simply nodded and kissed him again. He unwrapped the towel from her head, and gently pulled at her waist to move her off his lap, and took her hand and they both ran upstairs.