A/N: Hey guys, once again, thank you for your reviews and very interesting, hilarious p.o.v's.

Guest: Well, the Michonne and Carol dynamic is something I have begun exploring in this chapter and hopefully you'll enjoy the scene. As for Team family taking sides, will see. And a Richonne kiss is on the horizon, by the end of this chapter, well close to the end of this chapter all pretence is gone.

Chapter 4

Michonne had stopped crying a while ago and was now relatively calm until she felt the nature of Rick's embrace change. She wasn't exactly sure when his arms had moved from the middle of her back, to having one hand making soothing circular motions. The other hand had snaked its way up to the nape of her neck, his fingers buried in her locs. It was his fingers buried in her hair that startled her back to reality and she tried to slowly extricate herself from his arms. Placing both of her hands on his chest, she tried to step away from him but his fingers remained buried in her hair, the hand on her back moved to settle firmly on her waist. She looked up at him, questioningly.

"Are you okay?" he whispered in concern. Tilting her head, he brought his face closer so her face looked up at him, his eyes probing.

She nodded unable to speak, having not fully absorbed the effects of her little incident, she was instead otherwise distracted by her heart. She wondered if he could feel it's pounding rhythm considering how close they were to each other. His eyes were a darker shade of blue up-close and there was a subtle shift in them when their gazes met. His stare seemed to intensify as his eyes darted down to her lips and remained fixated there for a moment too long.

Michonne felt unbelievably turned on as she waited with bated breath, anticipating what would happen next, the blood thrumming in her veins seemed to be rushing towards some conclusion. The last time that this had happened, it had culminated into nothing and they had proceeded to ignore the moment had ever existed. She watched her hand in fascination (almost as if it was an out-of-body experience) as she placed light, feathery, touches along his jaw, the feel of his growing stubble making her tremble. Her eyes darted up to his and she was met with Rick's heated gaze as she rubbed her thumb against his jaw. She draw in a shaky breath when he groaned.

The sound shocked her out of her enthrallment, her treacherous brain reminding her of the conversation they had been having before her little freak-out. Jessie. He had been talking about her and just like that, the pleasure that had been coiling in her abdomen dissipated leaving an empty, unsatisfied echo of what could have been.

Rick tamped down his disappointment when he felt Michonne's hand fall from his face and she made another attempt to pull away from him. It probably hadn't been the right time to make his move, bearing in mind that she had been crying a few minutes ago. He gave her some space, not much though, unwilling to increase the distance between as he sensed the walls going up. He was certain they had almost kissed. It had been in the way she had touched him, sensual in a way that defined her appeal. The way she had looked at him, her eyes shimmering with residual tears but also with a hunger that left him breathless. He watched unhappily as she averted her gaze, her hands came up and she wrapped them around herself.

He tried to cup her chin to make her look at him but she must have recognised his intentions and withdraw from him before he could touch her. Twigs and dead leaves crackled under her feet as she stepped away. He stopped moving, his hand hanging in the open space between them, uselessly. He closed his fist, and let it fall to his side as he stared at her in bewilderment.

"Are you okay?" he repeated.

Michonne didn't immediately respond to his question, she stared through the opening in the greenery, back at the community's fortified walls. She wondered if he knew what he was asking; whether he was talking about the vivid hallucination she had been subjected to, or that they had almost kissed. Again.

"No, not really" she answered him honestly. She adjusted the strap of the sheathed sword and made to walk away.

Seeing her about to leave their hiding spot made Rick panic, he tried not to let the feeling of rejection take root and to think about what she might have been going through in that very moment. Them kissing- almost kissing, was bad timing.

"Are we not going to talk about what just happened", he blurted out. He ran his fingers through his hair, and let out a strangled sound of frustration when she didn't even look at him. "I want to understand but I don't, Michonne. You demand that I be honesty with you but why can't you just be as open with me, as I'm trying to be with you!" he bit out.

Michonne paused, she considered explaining the horror of what she had seen but felt overwrought by the turbulent emotions coursing through her. Some annoyance trickled through, he was one to talk about sharing and being honest considering his little secret shenanigans since they got here, ones that nearly had him exiled. She took a moment to compose herself, then looked at Rick who hadn't moved. Under the darkness of the shade he looked just a little bit cold and unyielding.

"Don't put this on me", she said stiffly, "just because you are being-". She stopped herself before she could finish the sentence, realising that she was letting her fear and anger dictate her tongue before her mind had a chance to catch up. She sighed, shifting from one foot to the other. "Let's not talk about it right now, okay?"

Rick could see that she was shaken up and didn't want her to withdraw any further, he left the covering of the woods, the sun beating down on his face warmed him as he watched her fidget, looking so unlike herself.

"Okay", he agreed easily. He wasn't going to push her but he wasn't going to let it go either. "For now I'll let it go but we are going to talk about that". His hand gestured carelessly to where the two walkers lay dismembered. Then his finger pointed at her and himself a couple of times as he spoke. "And we are going to talk about what almost happened here and that, Michonne, I assure you I will not easily forget". He narrowed his eyes meaningfully at her.

Michonne was entranced by the look in his eyes, her stomach did double flips into places that shouldn't be physically possible to exist within her. She nodded at him and walked away.

Rick watched her walk away, enjoying the view she presented but an ominous feeling settled within him, making him question if he had made the right call.

They had left at the crack of dawn and it was now late in the afternoon when they finally made it back to Alexandria. Michonne walked with Glenn and Tara as they made their way home, relieved that their first supply run after the disasters they had endured, had been mostly uneventful. Another death would have been detrimental to the group's emotional and mental stability. She rhythmically tapped the strap of the Beretta semi-auto rifle that she had slung over her shoulder as thoughts of her own mental stability slithered into her conscience. The look on Glenn's face when he had seen her that morning, had been filled with confusion as he took in her issued gun and the evidently missing weapon that had been on her person for several days now.

Thankfully, he hadn't asked any questions as she had closed the door to the house, quietly- hoping that Rick was still asleep. She had successfully managed to avoid Rick these past few days, and whenever they had been in the room together, she had made sure they hadn't been alone. It was juvenile of her to be acting this way and had initially not meant to do so. She had thought that she would work through what had happened, why she had envisioned a dying Reg and Hershel's head. Then she would talk to Rick about it but the more she ruminated on these thoughts, the more she was afraid of appearing weak or being viewed as a liability.

The almost kiss, well, beyond admitting that she had wanted to find comfort in Rick's arms, she had not allowed herself to dwell in the moment in fear of wanting more than what Rick was willing to give her. She had already accepted that she had feelings for him a while ago. An admission to herself wasn't as a big of deal as compared to the actual act of following it through and then dealing with the consequences on her own. Ideally- before Jessie happened- she hadn't thought Rick could be that kind of man who jumped from one woman to the next. She wanted something meaningful.

So she had avoided him like the plague and she had clearly seen how frustrating it was to him, every time she thwarted his attempt to talk privately. It was an added bonus that since the two factions of the community were now trying to work together, and so he had taken up his role as a constable again, this time his duties more defined than they had been previously. This kept kept him busy enough.

She had no doubt that he would be angry when she got back but it had been important to her, to go on this run. She had to make sure it didn't happen again, that it had been a one off, a residual effect of picking up the katana again after going so long without it. Admittedly she had been afraid to risk a repeat by taking it with her, but she had handled the walkers just as effortlessly with the gun as she did with the sword but it hadn't felt the same. The gun was too loud and drew unwanted attention especially in moments where she had been forced to open fire. After their successful expedition, she had decided that she was ready to face him.

She remained deep in thought as they walked through the street, she didn't notice the looks of concern that Glenn and Tara threw her before they branched off and headed for their own homes. She walked up the steps, the novelty of having her own home again- in this post-apocalyptic walking dead world- hadn't worn off. As she walked closer toward the door, she saw Rick and Judith engaging in what looked like a choppy version of a waltz. She couldn't help but smile at the harmonious picture they made. She steeled herself as her fingers curled around the door handle, took a deep steadying breath and walked into a potential war zone.

Rick spun around on his heel as he heard the sound of the door being opened, Judith who had been relaxed in his arms as she drifted in and out of sleep was now wide awake, bouncing in his arms excitedly, her chubby arms outstretched toward a dirty looking Michonne. Juxtaposed to his daughter's unrestrained joy at seeing her, he on the other hand was livid.

"Would you look at that Judy, guess whose home." His lips curled up as he sneered at her. He glared at her daringly when her steps faltered at the entrance to the room. "Well, welcome home, Michonne. You took off so early in the morning that I barely saw you, although, I was surprised to see that you left your sword".

Michonne held up her hands in surrender as she walked toward them. "I know. I know." Michonne wasn't really shocked by the cold reception, on some level she did deserve it. She greeted Judith who was trying to crawl from her father's arms, into hers but she settled for patting her head whilst she peppered her with tiny kisses. "Let me get cleaned up Judy, then we can play", she cooed at her.

Rick who was watching her with mounting frustration wasn't appeased by her immediate submission. He watched her with conflicting emotions as she babbled nonsensical gibberish with his daughter- whom responded in kind. On one hand he was glad to see her back in one piece and on the other hand, he was outraged that she had gone on this run after what had happened a few days ago. She had been avoiding him, he had known instantly on that very same day when they had returned to the house from their patrol. She had immediately gone to visit Maggie and Sasha, taking Judy with her before he could say anything.

He had tried to talk to her on several occasions, then resorted desperately to finding ways of cornering her, such an opportunity had risen after one of the council meetings were the different sides had argued on end about them keeping their guns on hand. As they had walked into the house, victoriously holding their weapons, discussing the planned run for supplies the following day. He had tried again to get her to talk and she had slithered her way out of it, claiming she had a throbbing headache from arguing with Deanna's people.

"Michonne", he hissed.

She glanced up at him acknowledging the serious tone in his voice, she gave Judith one last kiss, straightened her posture and waited. She leaned back in surprised when Rick swooped down to her level, his piercing eyes locked onto hers as his head moved minutely from side to side with each word he spoke.

"God help me if you take off again today like a little girl. I'll tie your ass to my bed and you won't be leaving for a very long time", he snarled, his eyes glittering.

A resounding silence followed him as he left the room.

Michonne was left speechless as she watched him walk away with a swagger toward the kitchen, with Judith still babbling in his arms, oblivious to the tension in the room.

Michonne made her way towards the stairs feeling refreshed and ready for the talk with Rick or to take him on, considering the mood he was in. She was surprised when Carl almost knocked her over when she turned the corner to go down the stairs. She steadied herself against the wall as he skid to a stop before her.

"Michonne!"

She grinned, happy to see him as she had barely seen him that morning, what with trying to sneak out of the house before Rick woke up.

"Hello stranger, where are you coming from in such a hurry?" She was intrigued by the reddening colour of his cheeks as he blushed. She raised an inquisitive brow at him.

Carl looked behind him, along the corridor seemingly in the direction of his father's room, then looked back at her shiftily.

"I want to talk to you about something", he whispered as he stepped closer.

Michonne's grin widened, the telling blush and shady behaviour told her all she needed to know. She indicated with a finger that they could go to his room but he declined.

"Not now", he said as he walked away, "later".

"You bet your little skinny behind we are going to talk about it", she shouted rather gleefully, amused by the boyish expression that had been on his face.

She laughed, momentarily distracted from her own drama when his eyes widened at her before disappearing into his own room. She chuckled as she continued on her destination towards the kitchen. She had guessed from the delicious aromas emanating from the room that Carol was home and already preparing dinner. She walked in and greeted her quietly and checked if she needed help. She had every intention of walking out when she refused any assistance but was stopped in her sweet escape, before she even took a step towards the exit.

"Can we talk Michonne, I think it's time that we did, don't you think so", Carol asked rhetorically.

Michonne scowled at her snide tone but refrained from answering and just turned to face Carol with a neutral expression on her face. Carol was focused on her task of cutting up some herbs on the counter. She looked up when Michonne didn't respond, there must have been something she found in her face because her lips twisted into a knowing smile.

"I know you are not happy with me", she said in a singsong voice, "and I can take a guess that it has something to do with the events that took place last week". Her eyes twinkled as she took in the unchanging expression on her friend's face that revealed a lot more of what she was feeling more than she thought.

Michonne, piqued by her nonchalant attitude, narrowed her eyes at her. "What do you think?" she retorted. "I don't claim to know everything about you Carol or that I fully understand what motivates you most of the time but since we came here, I feel like you've became a different person. What's going on?" She leaned against the counter that separated them, her eyes focused on her face.

Carol turned to the sink to hide the expression on her face, she pretend to be focused on clearing the sink that was half-filled with dirty utensils and dishes. She spoke with her back to Michonne, her face hidden from view. "Daryl thought I was imagining it you know, but you kept on avoiding me, and there was this judgemental look in your eyes whenever our eyes met".

Michonne rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I'm not judging you, but I have been questioning the methods that you and Rick have employed since we got here. Aren't you happy…or at least relieved that we have found this place?" She gestured at their surroundings.

Carol hesitated, her eyes fixated on her hands as she cupped the soapy water and let it trickle from her fingers, back into the sink. "You know", she began conversationally as she reached for a dry cloth and wiped her hands. She rested against the sink as she faced Michonne, playing with the cloth between her fingers. "Since this group came together even at the beginning, inevitably something bad always happens. Wherever we go, wherever we have tried to settle and make a home for ourselves, shit always happens. So I decided to deal with it instead of always being the victim and being pushed around. I'll do whatever it takes to keep us here. To keep our family safe and intact", she said fiercely, the cloth gripped tightly in her fist.

Michonne looked at her thoughtfully her fingers playing with the ends of her locs. She took in her rigid posture and the dangerous, determined glint in her eyes. Before she had a chance to respond, Carol's demeanour changed suddenly and became brighter, her eyes were turned toward the entrance.

Michonne turned her head to see the Grimes family walking into the kitchen, she eyed Rick who cocked his head at her curiously, most likely sensing that something of significance had occurred before they had walked in. Michonne looked back at Carol, taking in her bright countenance with a shrewd understanding that she had been somehow inducted into Carol's web of secrets. She blinked in disbelief.