A/N: I was pleasantly surprised by the reviews I received. Glad you are all keen to see where the story goes. I've decided that this will be ongoing while I unwrap how Richonne's relationship developed and, ultimately, what happened to cause Rick to be presently sitting in his squad car with his feelings for Michonne still intact after fifteen years.
Fifteen years ago and I still feel the same
Why did he have to mention your name?
I'm as broken up inside as if it's been a week or so.
It takes a mighty long time to get a real love off your mind, I know I've tried, since fifteen years ago.
Rick Grimes tried in vain to hide the smile that had crept across his handsome face as he recalled the first time that he and Michonne had met. It was a lifetime ago, but he remembered it as if it were yesterday. His eyes seemed to light up as he thought of the way her smile drew him in; how when she beamed at him, it made him feel giddy. He could not help but grin foolishly when she shared a stunning smile with him; even now, after all of those years had passed Rick sat smiling at the memory of her face while his partner looked on.
"Fifteen years, uh?" asked Shane. "Shit, didn't realize it was that long."
"What did she say?" Rick questioned, looking straight ahead out of the windshield.
"She asked how you were. Where you were," Shane offered.
Rick nodded, but still averted his gaze; not that it mattered because Shane already had an inkling that his partner's thoughts had wandered off back to another time. A happier time some fifteen years ago…
"What did she say?" asked Shane excitedly. "Did she ask about me?"
Rick shook his head and said, "No."
His partner exhaled loudly and leaned back in his chair to face the wall so that the rear of the chair was aimed at the reception desk of the King County Sheriff's Department. Rick's chair was already turned to the wall in order to continue their competition on who could land the most consecutive shots of crumpled paper into the small bin. It had turned into an excruciatingly slow day and Deputy Grimes was winning.
"Besides, Shane, why would she be askin' about you?" Rick quizzed, obviously amused at his friend's absolute sense of self-preoccupation, and thinking back to earlier in the day when he met the young woman in question; Michonne.
"Because, asshole, they're always askin' about me, ain't they?" Came Shane's reply.
"Who's always askin' about you?" Rick asked, although he already knew what the answer would be.
"The hot chicks, that's who. They come in here and see all of this," he said as he used his hands to gesture to himself. "And whoo boy, they can't control themselves."
Rick erupted in laughter and his friend soon joined in.
"Hey man, did you ever notice the old ladies always take a shine to me?" asked Rick, losing his train of thought for a moment and missing the shot.
"Hell yes!" exclaimed his partner, as he laughed loudly again and scrunched up his piece of paper. "They all over you, boy. It's 'cause you got that Southern charm bullshit goin' on."
"Ain't no bullshit, you asshole, the chicks love 'em some Southern charm. And fuck you for thinkin' it's BS!" laughed Rick playfully.
"Yeah, the old ass chicks on their walkin' frames, that's about it. And fuck you right back, you blue eyed, baby-faced, curly-headed prick!"
Just then they heard a soft cough that interrupted their faux-argument and caused Rick to stand and turn, while Shane swivelled his chair. Standing before them was the young woman they had been talking about. Michonne smiled amusedly at the two young officers and waited for one of them to speak; it was to be a red-faced Rick who cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Ah, excuse us ma'am, we didn't hear you come in. Sorry about the language, how can we help you?" he offered coyly as his recently blushing face remained warm despite the moderate temperature provided by the air conditioner.
"It's fine," Michonne started. "I've heard worse. Oh, Mr. Toomey thinks he dropped his pen in the interview room."
The two young men looked at Michonne, quite perplexed as to what this had to do with them; she noticed their confused expressions and went on to offer more details.
"Seriously dude, it's hot as Hell out there and I think he's about to pass out. This is the fourth place we've stopped at. The pen's a family heirloom or something; used to belong to his granddaddy so he's a little stressed. I said I'd come back in and look for it. Could one of you please go and check for me?"
Both Rick and Shane could not help but chuckle at the situation; Rick then looked at his partner and said, in a self-assured manner:
"Deputy Walsh will be happy to check that out for you, ma'am," before looking back to Michonne and offering her a wide smile.
Shane, a little irritated that he was not as quick thinking as Rick, offered his partner a fake grin and went into the back of the station leaving Rick and Michonne standing in awkward silence.
"So," Rick started. "How much of that conversation did ya hear before you let us know you were behind us?"
She let out a small chortle and beamed at the young man.
"Well, let me see; oh yeah, I heard all about old ladies liking you and your BS Southern charm," she offered, finding Rick to be ever so adorable as he chuckled and put his head down, thinking of how he could respond.
It went quiet again, as Rick shyly glanced at Michonne; she seemed so interesting and funny and he wanted to keep the conversation going, but did not know what else to say. He always ended up lost for words around pretty girls, but Michonne was absolutely beautiful. Rick found himself staring at her like a fool. She took note of his timid demeanour and decided that she would keep talking.
"I have to say, I never thought this would be part of my summer internship; chasin' after an old pen," she finally offered as she leaned her forearms on the top of the reception desk.
Rick laughed before asking her how long she would be in town for. Michonne informed him that it would be a three month internship and that she was pleased to be undertaking it at a small law practice in a small town, even though her father had wanted her to work at his large firm in Atlanta. She was adamant that she wanted to try something different. Rick liked listening to her nice voice and found her sense of adventure to be appealing; the fact that she was amazing to look at did not hurt the situation either.
"Well," Rick offered, feeling a little more confident to speak to her. "I'm glad you came out to our part of the world anyways."
Michonne tilted her head slightly, smiled a little, nodded and said, "Yeah, me too."
Just then Shane came through the door twirling the famous pen around in his right hand before placing it down on the desk.
"There ya are, ma'am. One old pen belonging to one old man," he said as he offered her a flirtatious grin.
Michonne shook her head at Shane's remark, thanked him and bid them both goodbye. Rick and Shane watched her walk to the door, admiring the sway in her hips and the way her skirt and blouse clung to her body. Before she reached for the door handle, Michonne turned around and said:
"Hey Rick, I don't think your Southern charm is bullshit; works fine for me," she said as she walked out of the door while Rick and Shane stood staring straight ahead; both a little shocked at her forwardness.
Finally Shane nudged Rick's shoulder with his own and clapped him hard on the back before exclaiming excitedly: "Shit, son, you're in there!"
xXxXx
Three days had passed and, to Rick's annoyance, he still had not seen Michonne around town. He had admitted to himself, and his partner, that he was interested in her, but had no idea of how he could get to know her better. Shane's words of advice were something along the lines of arresting some shit-kicker so that Toomey would have to come down to the station and Michonne would have to follow; Rick looked at his friend stunned and proceeded to ask him what kind of drugs he was on. Bad ideas aside, Rick really did need to think of a way to be near Michonne, with any luck, she would realize that he was shy and just ask him out instead of him having to ask her; just like in high school. He really did feel like he was a teenager again; which meant do not, under any circumstances take advice about girls from Shane Walsh, especially if you wanted something more than a quick tumble.
Rick looked around the quiet room at the station, ensuring that no one was in earshot of him before he reached for the receiver of the telephone that sat atop his desk. The dark grey, plastic object felt somewhat heavy in his hand, more so than usual, so he placed it back to the place he had grabbed it from. He sighed, slightly annoyed with himself before shaking his head and wiping his mouth with his right hand. Shit, Rick. Get a grip, man. He thought as he sat up straighter in his seat, again checked the room and picked up the receiver. His hand trembled a little as he dialled the number that was scribbled on a scrap of paper in front of him. Rick's throat felt dry all of a sudden, so he coughed to clear it as he listened to the dial tone that seemed to have been sounding for an immeasurably long time. Finally…an answer.
The calming music that wafted through the phone receiver did nothing to settle Rick's nerves as he waited for his call to be transferred to Michonne. He shifted in his seat and felt the beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead. He licked his lips and cleared his throat once more, just seconds before the calming music ceased and a feminine voice on the other end of the line answered: "Hello? This is Michonne."
Silence…
…
…
…
"Hello?" she asked again, wondering if the connection was a bad one.
"Hi," Rick finally offered, feeling quite silly as his heart pounded nervously in his chest.
"It's Rick Grimes…"
"I know. The receptionist told me," she responded, smiling to herself at how utterly cute the Deputy was.
"Oh," he said as he chuckled slightly. "Of course she did, sorry about that ma'am."
"It's fine," she offered before asking, "What can I do for you, Deputy Grimes?"
Rick felt a little more comfortable now, realizing that Michonne was really easy to talk to; he found her voice calming somehow.
"I was wondering if I could ask you somethin'."
"Fire away," she said, eager to discover what Rick Grimes wanted with her.
Rick took a deep breath and let the words fall from his mouth:
"Would you like to, maybe, meet up with me sometime? Like, go out together, ya know? Like, on a date, or somethin'?"
A/N: There it is; I have to say I smiled the whole time I was writing that!
The banter between Rick and Shane was really fun to write; inspired by listening to how my young male cousins speak to one another.
Now, I wonder what Michonne will say? Will she agree to a date? Or is this fifteen year love story one-sided and Rick just a stalker with a badge and a gun? LOL *hint* he's not a stalker :)
