Chapter 9:

"So that little mousy friend of yours… What's the deal with her?"

Michonne moved her cup from her lips to look at Shane, "Who Lori?"

He gave a single nod.

"Uh… She's um", She looked around the crowded cabin as she tried to find the words to her even more refined friend, "She's like the rest of us… you know"

Shane stared at her for a few seconds, "She's the preacher's daughter right?"

"She is"

"So how would I go about getting through to someone like her? How would I get her attention? Because whenever I've been around her, she seems to be judging me"

Michonne suppressed the chuckle that was about to escaped her lips, "She really likes flowers… she wants to have her own flower store one day…"

Shane's brow furrowed, "Flowers?"

She nodded.

His eyes darted away from her, then back, "Is there somethan' else that isn't so damn cheesy?"

Michonne frowned as she thought, "She likes dogs-"

"Is my name Rick?", He tilted his head at her.

Michonne sighed, "She's going away to abstinence camp this summer so maybe you could-"

"What camp? Absinthe?"

"Abstinence" She leaned forward and said it slower.

His face pinched in confusion, "The hell is that?"

"It's when you don't indulge in things that you consider tempting, like sex"

His face fell, "There's a camp for that?"

She gave another nod, "Why don't you talk to her about it…"

He stared at her for an almost uncomfortable amount of time, before dragging his hand over his face, "Looks like it's flowers then"

She could finally release the chuckle that she held in earlier. She gazed back around the party going on around them. She was enjoying herself, despite being under the watchful eye of Shane and Glenn.

She was taking another tiny sip of her paint stripper beverage, when she saw Paula making her way over to them. She quickly sat up straight on the counter and smiled.

"My favourite people!", Paula grinned, appearing a drink away from being drunk. She stumbled over to Michonne and put her hands on either side of her legs, "How are you doing?"

Michonne sighed in head, "You should probably slow it down, Paula"

"Oh look at you, all worried about me"

Michonne's smile tightened, "Have some water or something"

"You've been here for like ten minutes? How are you so drunk?", Glenn frowned at her as he took her cup and sniffed the contents.

"Honey, I just need five", Paula attempted to whisper, but failed.

Michonne was about to hop down off the counter to get her some water when, Karen and Jessie both joined them. Jessie seemed a little more sober than the last party and Karen stood smiling at the others.

"So where's Rick? Not like him to disappear from a party", Karen asked, looking directly at Michonne.

"He'll be here" ,Shane answered as he opened a can of beer.

"Oh good", Her eyes slid over to his.

"Was I wearing a hat?", Glenn asked as he gently nudged Michonne.

She looked at him and winced, "I think so? You think you left it the car?"

"Not my car", Shane shook his head as he brought the can away from his lips.

He deflated, "It's probably at Rick's house. Can you bring it on Monday?"

She nodded, "I'll look for it"

"Can't Rick bring it for you if it's at Rick's house?"

Michonne slowly turned to look at Karen, who was watching the two of them with a curious expression.

Glenn froze, his hand in mid-air as he was about to run his fingers through his hair.

"So what you girls got planned for this summer?", Shane asked as he looked at the trio of girls.

Even though Paula was quick to slur an answer to Shane's question, Karen still kept her eyes on Michonne and Glenn, and so did Jessie, though she didn't say anything, she was just as vigilant at her friend. Michonne wondered if the two girls knew that they had both slept with Rick, and if not, would it damage their friendship. She didn't ponder on the subject for too long however, as she didn't honestly care that much.

"Come on, let's go dance", Paula took her hand to pull her off the counter.

Michonne looked to Shane, then Glenn, "I'll be right back here to so don't move"

They both looked at each other, before looking back at her and giving a single nod. She didn't particularly want to dance with Paula, as she hadn't year spoken to her about their previous time together, but she did want to dance.

After snaking their way to the centre of the crowded room, the two danced for a number of songs, and Michonne genuinely didn't mind dancing with Paula. The girl was a little clumsy because of her alcohol consumption, but still fun none the less. It made her hope she could actually be friends with her, even after she had the dreaded discussion about the kiss.

"Shit! Bathroom break"

Paula grabbed Michonne's hand and snaked them back through the other teens, to the other side of the cabin, where there was a small hallway where the bedrooms where, and more teens where, but there seemed to be a queue for the bathroom. Paula groaned and dragged her back through the cabin, stumbling as she headed outside. Michonne followed her around the side of the small wooden house, where they passed a few teens kissing, and into the tall trees that surrounded the property.

"Thank God it's dark"

Paula leaned against a tree as she pulled her knickers down from under her dress. Michonne decided to play look out as she turned around and looked beyond the trees, thankful she could still see the cabin from where she stood.

"So hey, what's going on with you and Rick? What's the big secret?"

Michonne almost turned to face her, "What do you mean?"

"Oh you know… you're like, stuck together"

"Yeah… he's my best friend"

"Yeah I've heard that, but like… Shane's a good friend… even though we've fucked.. a few times actually…"

Michonne frowned into the distance as she wondered where this conversation was going.

"It's just strange… you seem more like boyfriend and girlfriend, but you have a boyfriend- that Mike guy right?... and Rick… well Rick's fucked all my friends"

The girls admission made her cringe inside. It was true, but it didn't sound nice having someone else say it, "Mike and I aren't together anymore"

"Oh", Paula appeared beside her, "Well… he's an ass anyway"

Michonne couldn't help but smirk at her comment, "Yeah…"

"Come on, let's go inside before we get eaten by a bear or something"

They walked back to the cabin, where Michonne noticed Rick's car out front. She groaned when she realised he was probably inside, questioning Glenn and Rick about her disappearance. She hoped he'd start to have some faith in her being left alone at parties. While she did find herself nervous at times, it was getting easier, and not everyone was and Wolf out to get her.

They arrived back in the Kitchen area, where Rick was stood looking back and forth between Glenn and Shane, with Daryl and Sasha behind him.

"Hey you made it!", Michonne gave Sasha a hug as she made her presence known.

Rick looked back and squinted at her, before raising his brow in a questioning manner, "Where were you?"

"Dancing… then bathroom break", She gave a small shrug as she stepped over to him.

"See! She told us she went to dance", Shane through his hands up in frustration.

"I did", She supported, "But Paula needed to go to the bathroom but there was a line so we went… outside"

Rick looked at the space behind her, "Where's Paula?"

Michonne turned around and saw that Paula was gone. She frowned and turned back, "Probably gone to dance again"

Rick sighed, nodding as he looked back at Shane and Glenn, "Alright alright"

"See", Shane grinned as he handed him a beer, "Everythan's fine, so you can relax"

Michonne slipped past the friends, to pour herself a drink, as she had no idea which was hers in the sea of red solo cups. She had taking a liking to the spirits, even though she sipped only drops of it at a time. She was slowly introducing herself to the world of alcohol.

"What are you drinking?"

Rick held her hand as he tipped the cup towards him, causing his eyes to widen when he saw the contents. Michonne wondered how familiar he was with drinks to be able to tell without tasting or smelling it.

"Really? You're all grown up now?"

She pulled her hand away from him, "I'm not drinking it all in one go, Rick"

He raised his eyebrows at her, "I'd hope not"

She sighed as she looked away from him, turning her attentions to Sasha, who was not surprisingly a few feet away from her talking to Daryl. As sweet as they looked together, she could have used her friend in that moment. As she began to tire of Rick's attitude towards her.

"Hey! Where'd you go?"

Paula appeared at her side, holding a bottle and beginning to sway a little bit more than before. Michonne wondered where she went, but judging from her almost non-existent lipstick, she could figure it out.

"I was here", Michonne offered lightly as she took in her dishevelled appearance.

"Come on, let's go dance again"

Paula did as she did before and grabbed her hand, dragging her away from the kitchen area by the hand. Michonne didn't dare look at Rick, she knew well enough that he was probably watching the two of them.

She couldn't get lost in the music like she had done before, not with Rick there. She wished he'd let go the way she'd seen him do with his other friends. She'd heard stories about the things he'd do at parties that he'd been to before and while she was nearly and ways left shocked, but she knew he was reckless. Though he seemed to be holding back in her presence and she didn't want that, though she was thankful that he wasn't running completely wild, she didn't want him to sacrifice his fun to watch over her.

"Here, have some"

Paula pulled away from her ear and held out the bottle she held to Michonne. She looked at it, wondering what it was as she sniffed it. It didn't seem to have a scent, and she wondered if that was good or not. She took the tiniest sip, and she could have sworn it burnt her lips. She shook her head and handed it back to a giggling Paula.

"It's not for everyone", She brought the bottle to her lips and drank it as if it was water.

Michonne's eyes widened as she pulled the bottle away from her, "How about you save some of that"

"Yeah, you're right!"

"Hey girls!"

Michonne turned around to see Karen, slip beside them. While she said hello to both of them, she only had eyes for Michonne.

"You having fun?" Karen asked over the music.

Michonne gave her a nodded before looking back to Paula, who was jumping around beside them, almost smiling her drink.

"Let's take her outside"

Karen grabbed Paula's arm and began pulling her through the crowd. Michonne hesitated, as she didn't want to have to deal with Karen, though she was worried about Paula, so she followed ahead, hoping to leave the two when Paula was sat somewhere.

"So! I've never really seen you at these parties"

Karen leaned on the front porch as she looked Michonne up and down, after sitting Paula down on the steps.

"Yeah, it's not really something I did before" Michonne kept her eyes on Paula, feigning great concern, though she did seem to stop swaying.

"So that bad boy Rick is really rubbing off on you...I've noticed the two of you have been spending a lot more time together…"

Michonne's eyes darted up to the teen, then back down to the other one.

"I've heard that the two of you grew up together… So your like brother and sister or something right?"

She tried not to frown at her assumption, instead gave a little shrug, "Not something I've heard before"

"So do you two stay over at each other's houses and stuff like that?"

Michonne realised she no longer had to stick around for the conversation, and slowly made her way up the steps, "Not really-"

"Oh good. So if he takes me home later then you won't mind?"

Michonne's eyes widened slightly at Karen's boldness. She shook her head and smirked, "Sure, If he's looking for that later then I'm sure he'll know where to find you"

Karen gave a smile that Michonne knew wasn't genuine but she was past the point of caring. She knew Rick was trying to stay away from she and Jessie, but it still annoyed her that the other female could even say such a thing. It wasn't as though she was lying, given another time, Rick probably would have. Michonne frowned when she realised he still could have if he wanted to. Her train of thought made her uncomfortable.

"Where'd you go?"

Rick frowned at her as he sat on the countertop, "Sasha went to look for you, said she couldn't find you?"

"We danced, then took Paula outside" She explained as she stood beside him, taking a sip from her drink.

He watched her every move, "Who's we?"

"I was dancing with Paula, then Karen came over and we took her outside-"

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from her?"

Her gaze dropped as she remembered, but she looked back up quickly, "I barely talked to her. I just took Paula outside and made sure she was okay before I came back in"

He blinked at her for a few seconds, before shaking his head, smirking as he looked in the other direction.

She sighed and put her cup down, "What Rick? I haven't done anything wrong-"

"I didn't say a thang", He shrugged as he looked back at her with an indifferent expression.

"You know what I mean, so stop it"

He bit the corner of his lip as he sized her up with his eyes, "You have a problem?"

She huffed in annoyance. She was growing tired of him always looming over her, "I'm not a child, so stop treating me like one"

He tilted his head, "I'm treating you like a child?"

She blinked, "Yes you are, you're always hovering around me like I'm incapable of looking after myself, you even had your friends babysit me while you were gone-"

"So nothing happens to you", He leaned forward as his bit out the words.

"Nothing happened to me when I was out of their sights", She crossed her arms over her chest, still holding her cup, "I was away from you most of tonight and yet, I was perfectly fine"

His eyes were hard as they looked her up and down, "Your fine without me then?"

"I'm not hurt am I? I didn't put myself in any danger did I? I danced and hung out with Paula a little. That was it. You're not gonna make me feel bad for that-"

"Who's the one that brought you here? Who's the one that took you go your first party?" He leaned forward as he leaned at her, "I want you to come out, but if you're not going to listen to me-"

"Then what? I'm on punishment? Will I get in trouble for not letting you control me like my parents?"

His face was a picture of confusion as he sat up straightened up, his eyes darting all over her face.

"You're comparing me to your parents?"

She looked down at the counter in front of her, refusing to meet his gaze. He hopped off the counter, his head tilted as he looked down at her.

"Well?"

She turned around, her chest only an inch from hers as he was stood so close. She looked up with him with angry eyes, that to her dismay didn't have anything on his cold stare.

"I'm like your parents?", His voice was calm, though his body language said otherwise.

She stared back at him, not feeding into the anger that she knew was brewing within him.

He watched her for what felt like a few minutes, before slowly nodding and turning around and facing his friends, "This is meant to be a party right?! Let's light this place up!"

His friends all grinned as they watched him, as if glad to have their party god back. Michonne felt a tightness in her chest, and couldn't pinpoint the emotion she was feeling. Her and Rick rarely argued with that kind of intensity before, and she didn't want to make the comparison to her parents, but she was annoyed with him.

Karen appeared at Rick's side, her eyes wide with excitement. He pursed his lips as his eyes dragged from her toes all the way up to her eyes, before he smirked and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. While Shane jumped up and led the way out the Cabin, and Glenn drunkenly followed, Daryl frowned at his friends, looking from Rick to Michonne suspiciously before leaving Sasha to follow.

"Uh… What's going on?", Sasha asked as she moved to stand with her.

Michonne sighed, watching others following the boys outside, "He's mad at me"

"Why?"

"I said he was like my parents"

Sasha's eyes popped open as her head jerked back, "Oh…"

Michonne shook her head and turned back to the counter, "Let him be mad. I'm sick of him always breathing down my neck"

Sasha watched her pour herself more alcohol and lean against the counter, frustration written all over her body, "Uh… okay, why don't you just talk to him… you know properly? Like not at a party… while you're drinking?"

Michonne sighed, she could agree with that, "I will, maybe tomorrow or something. When he's not in asshole mode"

Sasha nodded, her eyes still on Michonne's cup, "What is that by the way?"

She shrugged, "I don't even know anymore"