Hope you enjoyed the set-up of chapter one.

This chapter picks right up from where we left off. Everyone has left and Carl and Judith are upstairs sleeping. Rick is trying to relax and wait it out til morning as he remembers the evening that followed Michonne, Carl and him being reunited after the fall of the prison.

Chapter 2 – We're still breathing

After everyone had left and Carl had went to bed. Rick looked around the house for one last clean sweep of anything out of place. Carol and Maggie had helped him clean up but he still thought of himself as the only one who knew exactly how Michonne liked the place to look. Once satisfied that it no longer looked like a ransacked mess he stretched out on the sofa to rest for the few hours they had til dawn. The silence and darkness all around him made it easy to close his eyes but it seemed too eerie to fall asleep. He realized since they arrived this had been one of the first times they had been this long without power. He tried to remember the last time he had been in a darkened house and the memory of the house he and Carl had found after the prison attack came to mind. He thought about how Michonne finding them had been one of the best things that ever happened to them after they had lost so much. That night she helped take his mind of all he had thought he lost especially baby Judith and instead claim what they still had left...


"Rick."

"What?"

He felt embarrassed by the look she shot his way.

"Sorry."

He didn't even realize he had stared a hole through Michonne while she tended to the gunshot wound on his left upper thigh. He broke his stare on her and looked around the ransacked home taking in the gutted red brick fireplace behind her with the empty mantel on top that he imagined once held family portraits and then near the stairs that led to the kitchen were he could make out the open white drawers and cabinets which acted as a leftover memory from their earlier search of the house but his eyes still ended up on Michonne as he took in her brown eyes staring with intensity as she focused on patching him up and her fingers worked in delicate motions through the hole in his black haggard jeans. He found himself staring still in awe of her and the way she appeared out of nowhere to save him from The Governor and then again at the home he and Carl took refuge in after leaving a smoked and rubble filled prison behind made him think 'destiny' still had some meaning in this world. Michonne's knack for showing up at just the right time baffled and amazed him. This reunion reinvigorated him after having being unconscious for almost a day he hadn't thought he would wake-up to a dream come true during this nightmare.

"Fine." She said as he noted the resignation in her voice.

Rick knew she meant he had permission to stare at her again even though it made her uncomfortable. He grimaced in pain as she tightened up the thread she wove in and out of his thigh but still a small smile came upon his face because this granted permission to take in her glowing brown skin that showed through her tattered dingy white top in the candlelight excited him and made him wonder if she actually felt the same excitement about their reunion. He saw the tears still in her eyes before he and Carl opened the door to let her into the house. He convinced himself that she too must think 'destiny' finally tossed them a bone.

"I'm done." He looked down at the patched up gunshot wound in wonderment. He saw that it looked barely irritated with only a hue of pink peeking through his pale light skin. He knew Michonne had spent some time with Hershel who offered to show her a few things but he didn't think she would be such a good student...then of course corrected his thinking as he knew firsthand that Michonne could will herself into achieving pretty much anything.

"Thank you." He said while trying to relax his cheeks and wipe away the small goofy grin off of his face.

"Does it hurt too much? Or feel too tight?"

He heard the concern in her voice and began to reassure her, "No, I'm fine. It's perfect. Didn't know so much could be done with a little bit of rubbing alcohol some string and a makeshift sewing needle."

He watched Michonne get up with a candle in hand. He knew she would have to blow out the candle soon since they didn't want to attract any attention and took in her face in the glow of the candlelight one last time as he watched her bring her lips into a small 'O' shape and blow out the candle leaving the evening moon that just came upon them and a couple of melted down candles on the coffee table as the only sources of light.

"You better get some rest. I'll take the first watch." Rick offered.

"No, you're the wounded one."

"Yeah, but I've been unconscious all day."

Rick looked at a shadowy image of Michonne as she shook her head in protest and watched her dreads sway ever so slight. Rick felt a battle coming on but he wanted Michonne to rest she deserved it. Thanks to her Carl now slept sound upstairs just from the comfort of her presence. He wanted to give her a break.

"Let me give you a break, Michonne."

"No Rick, you need to take a break."

"I'm done taking breaks."

Rick made himself speechless from his own words as they practically choked him and left a golf ball size lump in his throat. He felt that taking a break is what got them in this situation in the first place. He lost his home and Judith. He wondered what would have happened if they had secured the prison better, came up with a better escape plan and most of all continued the search for the Governor like Michonne had did. The feeling of failure washed over his body as he sat on the floor in this dark home with his back rested on a mildewed burgundy sofa hoping for safe harbor and another night of safety while contemplating what ifs. He realized he didn't want to take anymore breaks but he also didn't want to be alone either.

"Come here." He beckoned in a whisper. He didn't like the darkness and wanted her right by his side. He felt her hesitation and apprehension as she stayed put in her spot standing across from him and in a position to block the entry to the stairs. He could tell she had made herself comfortable away from him in protest to his request to take first watch. So he waited for her to move. Finally, he heard her move as the floorboard waned and creaked from the pressure of her boots and saw her dark silhouette grow in size from the shadows created by the moonlight coming in through the living room windows as she made her way over through the darkness.

He heard her take in and exhale a long deep breath. He felt her standing over him as he sat with his back against the couch by the door. The fact that he could feel her over him made him both excited and leery.

"I'm here." He heard her say in a light sultry tone. He tapped the space on the floor to the right of him. He thought even though she could barely see his gesture she knew what he meant. He jumped a little when she put her hand on his thigh to steady herself as she made her way to the floor. He heard her sigh again and felt the warmth of her body next to his. When he could finally tell she had settled in he began to whisper with his head facing towards her.

"When you came through that door I wanted to hug you but of course Carl beat me too it."

He felt her light chuckle and continued to speak in a hushed tone. "I know. I know you were looking for the Governor out there for so long even when the trail ran cold and I'm sorry I didn't do more to help you save the prison. To save our home. Now you just had to patch me up. I just don't think it's fair."

Rick felt his chest get heavy and stopped speaking he didn't want her to hear too much of the hurt or pain that weighed down his voice like a ton of bricks.

"Sometimes I wonder if I just went out there because I couldn't handle it inside. Then I decided to give up the search after Daryl, Bob, Ty and I returned with the meds."

He waited as she paused. He let the weight of all the names of all their friends who they would never see again bear down on his battered shoulders. For a minute they both turned their heads away from each other and stared into the darkness straight ahead shrouded in silence only filled by sounds of crickets and the evening breeze. Rick didn't want to force things when it came to Michonne since from past experience he learned if she didn't feel right or ready he would get some major pushback. He had learned to gently nudge, watch and wait to see what would be the best approach. Since he could barely see her and had already nudged enough with his demand for her to sit next to him he decided to try his last approach and just wait it out. He felt like he just won an award when he heard her voice again.

"I guess after Andrea and Woodbury I just didn't want another place where I would be let down again. But then I thought maybe the third time's the charm so I chose life again. I chose you all and the prison."

"And now it's all gone." Rick interrupted no longer wanting to hear the sadness in her voice.

Rick felt Michonne's position her body towards him and he reciprocated til he could almost panted knees touch and his thigh sparked with pain being re-position and their necks tilted as they took in each others' faces through the glint of the of the moon and candle glow with only a few breaths of space between them.

"We're still breathing. We're still here." He heard and felt Michonne say in a firm whisper. His eyes focused on her lips and then he looked down in realization.

Rick understood what she meant and grasped around in the dark for her hand. He felt Michonne's body respond to his touch as he traced his hand down the smooth skin of her left arm and he sighed with relief as his hand covered hers. He sensed his body and her body relax into the touch as his right thumb caressed the top of her bare hand.

'Fine.' He heard her say in a soft but firm voice.

He knew it meant they would both take first watch. But the sound of resign in Michonne's voice made him think it might have also meant she also agreed to something else. A team, a partnership, a home, a family, all these possibilities went through his mind but he didn't dare ask. He just wanted to enjoy this moment and it scared him that he might not get the answer he wanted. Then he wondered if he even knew what answer he really wanted. He felt her rest her head on his right shoulder and she breathed deep and then he started to realize he might know the answer after all.

This is what I hoped happened when the Richonne reunion scene cut off at the end of the episode 'After'. In this fan fic I like to keep things realistic to the world of TWD as it is currently on the show so I hope you all enjoyed that. Next chapter we will be checking on Michonne.