Michonne's eyes fluttered open as she blinked quickly several times; she was beyond tired, having been kept awake by the neighbor's dog and its incessant howling the previous night. Now there was a loud banging at her front door and it sounded like it was the police. Suddenly, a sense of fear set in and she worried what would warrant a visit from the Atlanta Police Department at this early hour of the morning. Her heart felt heavy and her stomach sank as she climbed out of bed and rushed to answer the door.
"Shane," Rick said in a harsh whisper. "What're you doin'?"
His friend just looked at him and knocked three more times.
Bang, bang, bang
"I'm coming!" called Michonne from the other side of the door.
She swung it open and saw the officer standing there in his uniform. Shane was lost for words when he saw the attractive woman looking at him expectantly. She wore a tank top and short shorts; her dreadlocked hair was pulled to the side in a braid. She looked tired, but beautiful.
"Can I help you?" she asked as she folded her arms, totally unimpressed.
She looked down and saw the piece of paper in the officer's hand.
Great, she thought. The dickhead next door called the cops on me.
Shane quickly came to his senses when she spoke; Rick stood off to the side mortified, but not surprised that his partner would use his authority as a police officer in such a rude manner.
"Mornin', ma'am. Sorry to bother you at this hour, but ah, I was wonderin' if you received any of these types of notes left on your door?" he asked as he held up the piece of paper.
Rick wondered what he was doing, but figured the woman who answered the door must have been a looker, because Shane would not change his tune so quickly otherwise; Rick approached them.
"So this is where our tax dollars go? Sending the cops around at the crack of dawn over some notes left on a door?" she asked incredulously and Rick could not help but chuckle.
"No ma'am, just wanted to know if you received anything like this…"
"Officer…Walsh, is it?" she asked, reading his name tag.
"Yes, ma'am," he answered with a cocky smile.
"Officer Walsh, if you had a close look at the note, you'd see it's signed off from the occupant of number 23. You're standing at number 23 right now; so if you have something to say, a reprimand or whatever, you best get to your point," said Michonne.
Shit, thought Rick. She's sassy; I think I like it.
In that moment, Rick stepped forward and excused himself.
"Pardon me, ma'am. I live at number 25 and I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding here…" said Rick.
Before he could finish, Michonne spoke up.
"You can't arrest me for leaving a note on your door. I do know my rights," she offered defensively.
"What? No one's here to arrest you," said Shane.
"Then why are you here?" asked Michonne, growing irritated.
Rick tapped Shane on the shoulder.
"Give us a minute, man," he asked.
Shane looked at Michonne and then at Rick; he handed the note to Rick, nodded and left the pair standing there. Michonne noticed the officer, her neighbor, had the bluest eyes she had ever seen. She found it difficult to hold his gaze; unbeknownst to her, Rick was also having a hard time staring into her deep, dark brown eyes.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry for my partner stormin' over here. He can be a little…hot headed. Pay him no mind," Rick said earnestly.
Michonne remained silent; she wondered about the man with the kind face standing before her. She remembered what she was going to say after a short moment being lost in his eyes. However, before she could say anything, the man in front of her offered his hand.
"I'm Rick," he said softly. "I'm sorry about all o' this."
"Michonne," she replied, taking his hand and shaking it gently.
"My kid wrote that note back to you when I told him not to. I'm sorry about our dog, too; he ain't used to bein' locked up inside all day," Rick said with a small chuckle before he finally let her hand go. "He's been restless."
"Thanks," said Michonne, slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry for being a nightmare neighbor and leaving the note for you there in the first place; the things we do when we're running on three hours sleep."
She laughed coyly and then leaned against the doorframe.
"Right," grinned Rick. "I'm sorry about that too. Is there some way I can make it up to you? Could we maybe grab a coffee some time? My treat?"
Michonne felt her face grow warm; was he just being nice, or was he asking her out. Either way, her face was flushed warm there was a fluttering in her stomach. She was really stumped and taken by surprise by the whole thing.
"You don't have to," she replied.
"No, I want to. I should've come and seen you when I found out that Bucky was giving you trouble in the first place," said Rick.
"Bucky?" asked Michonne with a slight grin.
"Oh, Bucky's our – how did you phrase it?" he asked as he looked at the crumpled note. "Right, he's our 'asshole' dog."
Michonne felt her face grow warm again and Rick smiled widely at her, taking no real offence to her note.
"Sorry," she said shyly, shaking her head and looking to the floor.
"It's fine," said Rick before leaning in to whisper: "He actually is an asshole."
This caused Michonne to laugh and Rick thought it was the most wonderful sound he had heard in ages.
"Okay," she managed.
"Okay he's an asshole or okay you'll have coffee with me?" asked Rick hopefully.
She smiled at him and he felt like his heart skipped a beat.
"Both," was her playful reply; Rick could not help but grin.
For months now he had lived next door to this charming woman and did not know; now he was determined to be a good and friendly neighbor to her.
"What are you doing later today?" asked Rick.
"I have some classes before lunchtime. And I have to drop my son off soon," she explained.
"You have a son too? That's great. Maybe we can all go together," Rick offered.
Michonne nodded.
"Sure. I'm free this afternoon if you are. Around three?" she asked.
"Three is perfect," Rick said with a wide smile.
He had no idea what he was doing, and it was most definitely too early in the morning to be making dates with women who were posting angry notes on his door, but Rick felt like he needed to rectify the situation. He felt as if he needed to get to know his neighbor better; he could not explain the instant connection to her that he had found.
"I'll meet you downstairs at three then?" Michonne asked.
"I'll be there," he replied and then reluctantly decided to excuse himself.
They said goodbye and Rick walked to his door; Michonne hesitated, but then called to him.
"Rick," she said.
He stopped and looked back at her.
"How about we grab a coffee and go for a walk and you can bring Bucky with us. That way he'll get some exercise and might actually sleep tonight," suggested Michonne.
Rick nodded his head.
"That's a fine idea," he replied. "And hopefully then you'll get a good night's sleep too."
They shared another smile and entered their respective homes. Michonne could hardly believe how considerate he actually was and felt bad for writing the angry notes; Rick could hardly believe she had lived so close to him all that time and he never noticed. Both continued to wear happy grins as Rick was winding down from his shift and Michonne's day was getting started; each of them eager and a little nervous about three o'clock.
A/N: Okay, so one more chapter then; a Richonne date! Who likes confident Rick? I do!
