Chapter Ten:
"I got your message…", Oscar announced coldly, "Both of them"
Michonne kept her back towards Oscar as they stood in the hallway of their home. She held onto the stair rail with one hand and used the other to rip her shoes from her feet.
Her husband set her car keys down in the side table as he asked, "You do realize what you're asking for, right?"
Michonne spun around in a second, "Excuse me? Do I realize what I'm asking for?"
"You wanna' throw everything away¬ Just like that?", Oscar snapped back, "I admit I was wrong for walking out¬ Maybe I shouldn't have done that¬"
"Maybe?", She narrowed her eyes at him, "Maybe you shouldn't have done that?"
"But I had a right to leave, Michonne", He started to pull off his jacket, "You expected me to get all dressed up, just so I can follow you around tonight like some idiot. Then¬ then I'm meant to sit there and listen to you gush about how you got where you were on your own¬"
"I expected you to come and be there with me", She clarified firmly, "I expected you to talk introduce yourself, I expected you to talk to people, I expected you to have a few drinks and maybe even relax for once and I naively expected us to enjoy ourselves tonight¬ that was it"
Oscar gave her one of his cold, defiant stares, "But you did just fine without me though, right?"
She still peered at him through narrowed eyes, "What?"
"You got that cop to drop you home?"
"He offered to take me home and I accepted", She shot him a pointed look, "Because you went into my purse, took my keys and took my car and left¬"
"That's the same cop you've been spending all this time with, right? Him and his son?", Oscar chucked his jacket on the side table a little harshly, "That's the one?"
"What are you trying to get at here?", Michonne asked the question to bide some time and get her thoughts together. Her mind was becoming flustered with the new direction of their argument.
"I probably shouldn't have left, but the first thing you reach for is a divorce¬ and then you got that guy driving you home?", He frowned at her suspiciously, "I pull up and the two of you are standing up there¬"
"I thanked him for bringing me home and we were saying goodnight", She snapped, "Stop trying to deflect from what you did!"
"I'm not trying to deflect away from anything¬ I admitted that I probably shouldn't have done that¬ Maybe I was wrong", He patted his chest with his hand to emphasize his point.
"There is no 'maybe' about it", She shook her head at him, "What you did was wrong, and I'm sick to death of having to deal with stuff like this from you. If it's not one thing then it's the other, and I can't take it anymore"
He shook his head as though he didn't believe her, then muttered under his breath, "Yeah, all of a sudden"
Michonne huffed as she lowered her gaze to his new, black leather shoes that she had picked out for him just for the event. She wished she hadn't even made the effort. She slowly made her way towards the stairs, "I'm going to bed"
"Hold on a second, Michonne", He stomped closer to her, and when she didn't turn to face him, he stole her attention by grabbing on to her wrist to spin her around, "Listen to me; he better not be the reason behind all of this"
She could smell alcohol in the air when his breath hit her face. She reacted angrily and tried to snatch her hand away from him but his grip only tightened, "What the hell is wrong with you? Let go of me!"
"If I find out there's something going on between you and him then we're gonna' have a problem, Michonne"
"Get off!", She growled the word's as she tried to twist out of his stronghold.
"I mean it", He warned, raising his eyebrows to stress his point as he tugged her closer, "If you don't tell him to st¬"
Oscar looked up to the top of the stairs when a floorboard creaked from above them; Andre was stood at the top of the stairs, dressed in his night clothes as if he were going to bed, but his eyes were wide awake. He didn't look at either of them but the way he repeatedly balled his hands into a fist let them both know that he was aware of what was happening.
Michonne used the distraction to pull away from Oscar, and when she was free she hurried up the steps to get out of his reach.
Oscar said nothing as he backed away from the staircase and started to walk down the hall, leaving Michonne stunned by his outburst. She even peered at her wrist questioningly, wondering if her husband had really just done what he did. When she heard him slam the door to his studio she finally turned around to face her son, "...Hey, come on¬ go back to your room. Everything's fine"
Andre didn't move any other part of him but his fists.
"Come on, it's late", She touched his arm when she was close enough and urged him to move, "You can tell me what you did tonight in the morning.."
They had heated arguments before, and they'd both taken their frustrations out on furniture when they did, but never before had he reacted in such a way; he had never alarmed her like that before, and he'd certainly never put his hands on her like that either, but then again, he'd never had to worry about another man in his marriage either.
She knew she'd behaved badly that night. She knew that Rick was going to test her from the moment the commissioner attempted to introduce them to each other; the man was so blatant that she had to be discreet for the both of them.
She tried to ignore him as best as she could but that only made her feel more uncomfortable, especially because she knew that he was always leering in her direction. Even after Oscar made his early departure, she thought she'd be fine if she just kept her focus on everyone else, and her plan did work for some time, but that all changed when he asked her to dance.
Things weren't from bad to worse in a matter of minutes; not only did he dance with her but he seduced her into right into his arms, and she allowed him to. She allowed him to put his heavy hand on her hip and she allowed him to caress her fingers with his thumb. She allowed him to get so close to her that she probably still smelt of his oaky cologne.
Knowing his intentions, she should have politely let him down and turned him away, but the truth was that she had already lost the battle against Rick.
As soon as she was under his gaze, everything around her became white noise. So much intensity radiated from his eyes that she wouldn't be surprised to see him set something on fire with just a prolonged stare.
He had the same amount of intensity in his touch. She could have recoiled when he held her. Every nerve in her body pulsed with such excitement that she lost all sense and couldn't pluck herself away if she tried. She descended even further down the rabbit hole when he kissed her. In spite of how brief it was, she remembered exactly how his lips felt on her skin and the way his beard tickled her jaw. She didn't think she'd ever forget that, and fortunately for all involved, Oscar hadn't seen what Rick had done.
That kiss had changed everything. Oscar's threat had changed everything. There was danger in the air and she knew she had to do something to change that. She had asked for a divorce but she now had reason to believe that it wouldn't be that simple.
"Can I go show Carl my new comic book?"
Michonne snapped out of her thoughts when her son spoke to her in her study the next day. She looked down at him with surprise when she said, "Huh? What's that, honey?"
"My new comic book", Andre held the graphic novel up, "I want to show Carl. He likes the Lich."
"Uh… Well we didn't have anything planned", Michonne quickly minimize the tabs on her screen so that her son wouldn't see the divorce-related pages she was looking at, then spun her desk chair around to face him, "You can show him tomorrow¬ outside of class"
Andre hadn't left her side at all that day, the same way that Max didn't leave him. He was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed in front of him and Max's head on his lap, "I can go to his house. I know where he lives; around the corner, Cherokee Avenue, door number eight-one-seven. The house is yellow with a white door. Carl's bedroom is on the top floor to the left."
Michonne blinked at her son, "...It never seizes to amaze me how you remember things like that"
"...Can I go, please", Even though it was a request, Andre's questions often didn't sound like questions because of his monotone.
"You really want to see him?"
"Yes."
She began to shake her head but stopped, "He might not be home though, Andre"
Her son began to look in her direction as he fidgeted with the book.
Michonne internally groaned. Andre was really getting comfortable with the idea of having a friend and she was happy to encourage that, but she wasn't sure how'd she'd cope seeing Rick so soon after the night before. She nibbled on her lip as she thought about it, "...Well, maybe we can check if he's home and not busy, okay?"
Andre replied, "Okay."
She put her grievances aside to find her cell phone, which was buried beneath a few papers on the other side of her desk. Her son decided to go back to reading his comic book while she prepared to call Rick.
He had given her his number when they finished the 'Just Partners' program, under the premise that they set up a plan for the boys to do something together that didn't involve a comic book, but Michonne didn't think she'd ever had to use it because they only lived around the corner from each other.
He answered only after two or three rings, "Hello?"
Michonne was suddenly overcome with nerves, "Hey... It's Micho¬"
"Michonne?", He sounded surprised, "Are you alright?"
"Fine", She cleared her throat, "Yeah, fine… Sorry if this is a bad time, but An¬"
"It's not. I've been wondering how you were actually"
Michonne had never been gladder that her son was too engrossed in his comic, otherwise, he would have seen his mother was squirming around in her seat, "Um, yeah I'm fine, thanks… And you?"
"Yeah, I'm doing just fine too"
She tried not to hesitate, "Great… Um, I just wanted to ask if you were home? Well, if Carl was home because Andre wanted to show him this new book he got…"
"Well we're actually at Carl's grandparents right now, but how about you come by a little later? You can stay for dinner if you're not busy that is?"
Michonne stared at her computer screen, "...Dinner?"
"Yeah. If you let me know what Andre likes then I can whip somethan' up¬"
"You don't need to do that", She finally found her voice, "We can just reschedule or something"
"It's not a problem. Andre wants to see Carl, and it'll give Carl somethan' to look forward to since he's been bored all weekend…", She heard him smirk.
"...Um", Michonne could picture red flashing lights going off in her mind.
"And I'd like to see you again", He confessed in that rough voice of his, "That is if you don't mind seeing me again so soon"
Michonne felt her neck grow warm, "...That's very nice of you to say, Rick… Bu¬"
"That's the third time you've used my name now"
She froze, "Excuse me?"
"You never used my name before yesterday. You always called me Sergeant or Captain… You've started calling me Rick"
Her mouth opened and closed several times as she thought about it. She blew out a breath as she said, "Yeah… Maybe you're right"
"I like it... I mean, I like hearing you use it."
Michonne found It hard to believe that someone as forward as Rick could be so inadvertently adorable at times. She smiled involuntarily, "Oh. Okay"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt what you were about to say-"
"Oh, um, just that…", She was going to turn him down. That was what she had to do. While she may have made it clear to Oscar that she was done with their relationship, she was still in no position to entertain Ricks feelings or her own, but despite having those thoughts at the forefront of her mind, she still said, "We can stop by for a little while- I really don't want to put you out"
"You won't be. It'll be my pleasure."
Of course, Andre was happy with the idea of going to the Grimes household, but Michonne was a little more on edge.
She and Oscar had given each other a wide berth for most of the day. He hasn't said anything to her and she hadn't said anything to him. He didn't have a chance to say anything to Andre because he was glued to his mother's hip. Their home was divided even more so than it was before, and she didn't even bother to tell him that they were leaving that evening. She changed into a white blouse and white jeans and gave her feet a break from heels by opting to wear flip-flops instead. As soon as she was dressed she met Andre and an excited Max by the front door, then they left.
Michonne didn't even know what to say to her son when they were walking down the street. His behavior was an indicator that he was well aware of what was going on between his mother and step-father, and she didn't want him exposed to so much tension anymore. It was bad enough that he'd been around it for so long already.
After mulling over a few different ways to touch on the topic, she finally decided to just be honest with him, "...I'm sorry that you had to see that last night"
Andre kept his eyes on Max.
"...Andre?"
He turned his head ever so slightly.
"I said I'm sorry that you saw what happened last night. Oscar and I don't want you to see us argue like that"
Andre turned his head away as he responded bitterly, "...He's bad."
It may not have seemed like a harsh insult to anyone else, but coming from Andre, it meant something of great magnitude. Michonne was stumped for a reply, "...He did something bad¬ we both should have spoken to each other differently, so I'm sorry you had to see that"
Andre didn't say anything else, and Michonne wasn't sure if that was because he'd stopped listening or because he didn't agree with her. Knowing how stubborn he could be, she decided that it was both; He stopped listening because he didn't agree.
She gave him a little nudge as she declared quietly, "You don't protect me. I protect you."
He shook his head, causing his long dreads to swish around, "No."
Michonne's heart fluttered. She pulled him closer by his shoulder as she said, "Thank you"
When they got to Rick's well tended to home, Michonne rung the doorbell and Andre took Max's leash off. It was sweet to see her son so excited, and Michonne wished she could feel the same but there was too much on her mind. She was beginning to wonder if accepting Rick's invitation was a bad idea, especially at such a tender time, but when he appeared at the door with a smile on his face, suddenly everything didn't seem to bad.
He greeted them cheerfully and welcomed them into his home. Despite the fact that Michonne had insisted that he didn't cook, there was a delicious smell seeping into the hall from the kitchen, telling her that he didn't listen.
"Carl's probably just trying to clean up his room… It seems that he likes to do that at the very last minute", Rick glanced back at his staircase, "But you can go on up"
Andre had previously gone in search of Carl with no issue, but this time he looked towards his mother as he hovered beside her, and it didn't take long for Michonne to realize why; he was still in protective mode. She gave him a little nudge and said quietly, "Go on. I'll be down here. It's fine."
He followed her instructions, and as soon as he moved, Max bolted up the stairs before he did. Michonne figured that was because Carl had probably given her food before, so she was also excited to see him.
Rick waited until Andre was gone to ask, "...Is he alright?"
She nodded with a little too much enthusiasm, "Yeah. Fine¬ It's been a long day…Lot's of stimulation…"
He slowly nodded his head as if her reply didn't make sense, "Alright"
She swiftly changed the topic, "How's Carl doing?"
"He's fine, too. In fact, I should probably call him down to say hello¬"
"Oh, don't worry about it", She waved her hand dismissively at the idea, "Let him have his fun."
"Alright then", Rick raked his fingers through his hair, then motioned towards the living area, "Why don't you come and take a seat… I'll get you a drink"
Michonne tried to behave the way that she normally would but it wasn't easy under these circumstances. The last time that she visited his home, they sat on his front porch for the passing world to see, but now they were very much alone. If he could be so brazen to woo her with an audience, then she couldn't imagine what he was like behind closed doors.
"I hope that Andre enjoys a hearty home cooked meal", He asked casually as he watched her take a seat in the corner of his large, soft grey couch.
She arched one of her brows at him, "You didn't?"
He shrugged, "Maybe I did"
"But you didn't have to…"
"I don't want to brag but I make good home cooked meal…", He countered, causing her to laugh quietly. He grinned as he took a seat on the arm of a recliner, "I'm not just saying that by the way"
"I'm sure", She playfully rolled her eyes.
"So can I get you anything? Water? Lemonade?"
"...Anything stronger?"
He appeared amused, "...I don't wanna' make the same mistake as last time"
She tilted her head as she thought about the weekend she'd had so far, "I think I could probably go for your strongest"
Ricks brows shot up into his forehead as he slowly stood up, "Looks like I'll be driving you home again tonight"
"Hilarious", She chuckled.
"I'm just saying... ", He held up his hands innocently as he teased her, "If you start stumbling around here then I don't think it's wise that you walk home... You might end up at the wrong front door."
She shook her head and tried to rein in her smile. She didn't want to think about her home while she was there. She didn't want to think about anything that lead back to Oscar. She'd been carrying so much tension on her shoulders for a majority of the day and she didn't want to pick it back up again.
When Rick left her alone, she took the chance to really look at the things that he had in his home. She didn't get much of an opportunity to do so the first time around; he had plenty of pictures of Carl hung up and on the mantle. Several other pictures showed them together and with other people, then Michonne started to wonder if his wife was in any of them. She focused on the ones of Carl on his own and realized that he wasn't alone in them. There was a woman's shoulder in one, and a hand in the other. Michonne sat back with a slight frown, questioning if that was done purposely.
"...I have to warn you; This is the kind of stuff that my grandfather used to drink, and even he struggled with it", Rick walked back into the room with two tumblers in his hands.
"Bring it on", Michonne took the glass from him when he handed it to her, and she didn't even need to put her nose to the rim to smell the strong oaky aroma. He'd only put a small amount in the glass but it was enough for her to turn her head away for a second, "Wait a minute"
Rick laughed out loud as he took a seat on the couch too, "I told you"
"What is this?"
"It's a malt whiskey", He only had a little more than her in his own glass, "Maybe take a very small sip first, enough to wet the tip of your tongue"
She followed his advice and let a few drops of the dark brown beverage slip past her lips. Her chest almost caved, "Oh, wow"
"Yeah", He winced after taking a bigger sip, then set his glass down on the white coffee table, "You have to be careful with a drink like that"
"You can say that again…", Michonne was thrown through a range of emotions when she realized how close he was sat beside her. It may have been a large couch but it certainly wasn't so large that she would struggle to hear or see him if he sat on the opposite end.
He sat back and brought his calf up to the knee of his other leg as he got comfortable, "So I take it you've had a… busy day?"
"...Yeah", She peered down at the tumbler she held on her lap as she lied, "A lot of work to do… But it has to be done"
"...Yeah", She could tell that he was looking directly at her because his voice was so clear, "...Was everythan' alright when you got home last night?"
She could have choked on air, "Was everything alright?"
"I wanted to ask earlier", He explained, "After everythan' that happened¬"
"Fine", She spat the word out, "Fine…Just… got a lot of things to...discuss…"
Rick eyed her with that same suspicious look from earlier, "...I see."
"So what about you?", She had the change the direction of their conversation, "What have you and Carl been up to?"
He began to look away, "Uh, yeah. I just took Carl to spend some time with his grandparents… Trying to save myself from another visit like before"
"...Yeah", Michonne wasn't expecting him to make that last comment, "...Is Carl close with them?"
Rick narrowed his eyes at the wall in front of them, "He was. Before he was"
She felt safe to look at him; whenever they went anywhere near the topic of his wife or anything to do with his wife, it seemed as though he was no longer talking to her, but to himself. She nodded her head as she said, "I see… Well I hope he enjoyed himself"
Rick snapped back to the present as he said, "...He gets bored because they haven't realized that he's not a little boy anymore. They still got a bunch of his old toys there and they bring 'em out when he's there"
Michonne started to giggle, "Really?"
He smiled, "Really. They think he's still six, not almost sixteen."
"...Well in their defense, I've kept some of Andre's old toys too. He had this beautiful red car that he used to take everywhere with him¬ it's still in great condition. He moved on from it but I just couldn't throw it away"
"Does he know you still have it?"
"He does and he couldn't care less if he tried", Michonne brought the glass up to her lips and took the most pathetic sip of the strong beverage.
"...Does he see his father often?"
"As often as he can. He's always busy with work but he talks to him on the phone most days...And I think his father might consider moving closer because he's got another addition on the way"
Rick raised both his eyebrows, "Oh really? How'd Andre take that?"
Michonne inhaled deeply as she tried to think of the best way to describe her son's reaction, "...I don't want to say that he didn't care…"
A little chuckle came from Rick, "Alright…"
"He needs to actually see the baby to feel something", She explained with a smile, "And when he does, I think he'll even get a little protective, but until then it's just not having the kind of effect that you'd expect"
"I can imagine him being protective", Rick swiveled the ice cubes around in his glass, "And I hope you don't mind me saying that you're doing a great job with him. I can see that the two of you have somethan' really special going on."
Michonne appreciated his small declaration, "Thank you"
The more she spoke with him, the more she wanted to speak with him. She liked hearing his little tales as well as his thoughts and opinions, and they almost got so caught up in their conversation that they forgot all about dinner.
She called for the boys while Rick set out a small feast on the dining room table; he'd made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, greens, beans and buttermilk biscuits. Everything smelt just as good as it looked, and Michonne truly wished he hadn't gone through so much trouble because it really could be a hit or miss with her son.
But on the bright side, if he didn't eat any of it then she could help herself to his share.
When Andre and Carl finally came downstairs they all sat down and began to tuck in, like a recently blended family. Michonne liked what was happening between the boys and she also appreciated the lengths Rick went to when it came to accommodating Andre, but she still couldn't fool herself into thinking what she was doing was right.
She wasn't innocently enjoying a meal with her son's friend and his father, and she knew that. Her incident with Oscar may have been pushed to the back of her mind for the time being but she couldn't completely forget it if she tried.
"Carl and I haven't been on a hike in a while...:", Rick rested his forearms on the table as he spoke, "But we used to love going up by the quarry. It has a great view up there"
"Yeah", Carl set his glass of water down after taking a sip, "And over by the lake"
"The lake, too", Rick agreed.
Michonne slowly nodded her head, "Well I hope the two of you enjoy your next hike-"
"You and Andre should come with us", Rick ejected with a coy smile, knowing she wasn't trying to be invited along.
Carl caught on to what was happening and sniggered, "It's fun. It's nice up there."
Michonne couldn't turn down the teen as easily as she would his father, "It sounds like a nice idea… what do you think Andre?"
Her son stopped feeding Max dredged of food beneath the table and looked towards her.
"How'd you feel about going on a hike, Andre?", Rick asked, "Just nice long walk up-"
"A ninety-degree hill, in the sun. No shade.", Michonne finished his question for him and Carl laughed even more.
Andre narrowed his eyes, "You're exaggerating, mom"
"He caught you out", Rick snickered, "So I think that's three against one"
"Traitor", Michonne muttered as she side-eyed her son. He almost smiled but chose to go back to looking after Max instead. She sighed with defeat, "Fine. We can take a nice, healthy hike"
Rick raised his tumbler to indicate that he agreed, "We'll set a date"
Michonne had to look away from his stunning eyes or else her own glass would slip from her fingers, "Deal."
"My mom doesn't want to go hiking because she's afraid of black bears", Andre's harmless declaration was aimed to Carl, most likely because he wanted to join in the conversation, but he obviously forgot that the adults were in earshot.
Michonne's eyes shot towards her son, while Rick and Carl's both began to grin. The father spoke first, "Black bears, huh?"
"Alright, why don't we clear the table?", Michonne ignored him as she stood up with her plate in hand. Rick and Carl couldn't contain themselves any longer. She couldn't resist adding, "Stop. That's a very rational fear to have."
Rick slowly rose from his seat as he agreed with great sarcasm, "Yeah. Of course."
The teens helped to move the rest of the dishes to the kitchen but vanished as soon as it was time to wash anything, so against Ricks protests, Michonne rolled up her sleeves and got to work while he tidied up. She felt it was the least she could do after he probably spent a lot more effort in preparing their meal than he was willing to admit.
"I noticed that Andre didn't have a problem with dinner…", Rick said coolly as he walked into the kitchen with a rag, "...Which I took as a compliment"
Michonne sighed as she dried a plate with the dishcloth, "Another one to add to your list of happy diners?"
"Believe it or not but it's a long list", He joined her by the sink, "Though I didn't hear what you thought about it?"
Michonne purposely didn't look his way as she set the final plate on top of the others, "I enjoyed it…Though I still don't think you should have gone through so much trouble"
"Like I said; it was no trouble at all", He put the rag down placed his hands at his sides, "Can I get you another drink?"
"Um…", Michonne peaked at the clock on the wall, "I'm sure that you'd like some peace and quiet now…"
He tilted his head by an inch, "Is that what you think?"
Michonne reluctantly looked at him, and all of a sudden she wasn't sure what she thought. In fact, she'd stopped thinking altogether, especially when he stepped into her space and reached for something on the counter behind her. He gazed into her eyes, completely unfazed that they were less than a few inches apart, while Michonne internally crumbled. She was reminded of his kiss from the night before and her skin flushed.
He pulled back and held up the glass to her, "One more?"
Michonne discreetly released the breath she was holding and said in a quiet voice, "...Sure."
She reprimanded herself as soon as the word left her mouth. They'd been there long enough, and she couldn't see any good coming from being left alone with him again, but she still let him pour her a glass of wine and lead her back to the living area. She sat in the same spot that she occupied before dinner and so did he, but this time he turned his body to face her and kept one arm up on the back of the couch. His focus was clear.
"...I'm actually really glad that the two you could come over tonight", He revealed in a soft tone, "I hope we can do this again sometime"
Michonne didn't dare look up, but she still wore a polite smile on her face, "...I think Carl and Andre have enjoyed it"
"I think they did too", He agreed, "I actually saw somethan' earlier that I'm not sure if you noticed too..."
She peered at him from the corner of her eye, "What?"
"...Andre looked at him. At Carl.", Rick explained, "When they were having their own little conversation at the table"
Michonne's head jerked back, "Really?"
"Yeah. Only for a second or two but I definitely saw him do it", Rick began to smile, "I thought that was quite sweet"
Michonne had embarrassed herself and her son enough when it came to his friendship with Carl, but knowing that Andre had reached a stage where he felt comfortable enough to look directly at Carl was quite the milestone.
"I only say that because I don't think I've ever seen him look at anyone besides you…", Rick cut his sentence short when he noticed her dabbing her eye with a finger, "...You alright?"
"I'm fine", She chirped, keeping her gaze moving so she didn't tear up, "I'm sorry, you're right; it really is sweet"
"Go on, let it out", A light chuckle escaped Rick, "He's upstairs so you're safe"
Michonne sighed as she let her head fall to the back of the couch, "...I think it's finally hit me that he's capable of forming bonds with other people on his own, he even wanted to come over here on his own earlier and I just…"
"Wasn't ready to make that step on his own?", Rick finished for her.
"No. I wasn't… And I don't even know why because he was walking home from school on his own, even though he wasn't meant to be walking home from school on his own", Michonne grew annoyed when Oscar's careless behaviour crossed her mind, "At least now he has Carl so they can keep each other company… but I just¬"
"Sounds like you're having a tough time letting him do thangs on his own?", He arched his eyebrow to emphasize his point, "I'm sorry to break it to you but it sounds like you're a parent"
Michonne's mouth fell agape for a second, but she soon started to laugh, "Alright. Guilty."
"He's never gonna' stop needing you… but sometimes we gotta' take a tiny step back and give them that chance to do thangs on their own. It won't be easy, especially with a young man like Andre but, and I hope you don't mind me saying this... I think he's more capable of doing thangs than you're ready to recognize"
She inhaled deeply as she reluctantly agreed with him, "He is. I know he is… He doesn't need me hovering over him"
"But, I will say that I think he likes knowing that you're there", He reasoned, "And I don't doubt for one second that you'll always be there"
He'd never uttered a truer statement. She happily agreed with that point, "Yeah. Always."
"So if it helps, he's more than welcome to come over here on his own? Even after school if he wants", Rick combed his fingers through his hair, "He can get Max and they can take her for a walk or somethan'..."
It was a kind offer, and Michonne wished she could do the same but she didn't want to expose Carl to the toxic atmosphere in her home. She still smiled, "She would love that"
"...I'd like to remind you that you're also more welcome to come over here, too", Rick unveiled his smoothest tone yet, "It's nice to be able to talk to you like this"
There was a pitiful amount of resolve that still remained in Michonne and she had to dig deep to find it. She'd need it if he planned on steering the conversation back to the topic of them, "Thanks...That's very nice of you Rick but this probably shouldn't become a regular occurrence, and I think you know that"
"I do", Rick didn't even blink, "But that's not enough to stop me from wanting this to become a regular occurrence"
"The fact that I'm married should be enough"
"You're right, it should", His eyes radiated that same amount of intensity that Michonne had caught a glimpse of the night before, "But it's not."
Michonne could have easily reiterated her point, but she always found herself speechless when it came to Rick's declarations. It dawned on her that she probably should have said something because her voice would have drowned out the sound of her cell phone vibrating in her purse.
They both heard it, but neither took their eyes off of each other.
"I wanted to say somethan' last night but I wasn't sure how to really put what it is that I feel into words...", He stated softly, "...Because you're like somethan' out of a dream to me, Michonne… And I think I'm too far gone to start looking back at what's right or wrong here"
So much blood had rushed to the surface of her skin that she was sure he could probably see that she was blushing, and unlike previous occasions, she just couldn't look away from him.
"...There hasn't been a day that's gone by where you haven't been on mind, and I like that. I like how you make me feel, and I'd like to do whatever I could to make you feel the same way", His gaze trailed all over her face, "...So can I ask what you're thinking, Michonne?"
It was the second time he'd asked her that question, and clearly, he was keen to know just how she felt in return but she just couldn't bring herself to say it, even if she a divorce was on the cards for her and Oscar. She lowered her gaze to his chest, "Rick..."
She lost her train of thought when he leaned closer, reached up and cupped her chin with his index finger. Alarm bells rang out in her mind, and she quickly searched for that last bit of resolve that she was sure she had.
His thumb stroked her chin as he said, "Yes?"
Michonne felt it again; her nerves buzzing with excitement. Her feelings for him no longer wished to be ignored, and she marveled at the electricity that flowed between them. She wanted to kiss him and must have indicated that when her sparkling gaze tumbled down to beard, because Rick stopped pressing for a reply, and pressed his lips against hers instead.
It was a soft little kiss, like the one he'd given her the night before, but this one wasn't as innocent. This one wasn't something she could write off as a 'friendly gesture'. This kiss had passion behind it, and it was the kind of kiss that Michonne had only ever read about in romance novels; it made her eyes roll shut and her core flutter, especially when he coaxed her to part her lips with his tongue. Her hand timidly felt for the base of his neck, and when he felt her touch he responded by placing his hand on her hip and pulling her closer.
She heard her phone vibrating again, and she was even less interested in answering it than when it rang the first time. It had been so long since she was overcome with such a need to be intimate with someone that she allowed herself to be swept away in Rick's affections until she felt a weight on her knee that made her pull away from him out of fear; It was Max.
The dog had snuck into the room and sat directly in front of her as she waited patiently for the adults to stop doing what they were doing. Rick combed his hair back with his fingers as he said a little breathlessly, "I didn't even hear her come in"
Michonne sat up and quickly adjusted her clothes, "...She's probably thirsty"
"...Oh", Rick said, "Well I'll get her some water"
"You don't have to, I can¬"
"It's alright", He insisted lightly as he wore a very content smile on his face, "...You did the dishes after all"
"Oh… yeah", Michonne agreed as she nervously chuckled, "Alright, fine"
Just when she thought he'd get up and leave her alone for a while so she could take the opportunity to gather her witts, he kissed her again; another long peck that made her swoon. He was virtually glowing when he whispered against her lips, "I'll be right back"
"...O-okay", Her pitch was so high that even Max jerked away in fright. Rick stood up and called the dog to follow him, which she easily did, and Michonne waited until the coast was clear before she buried her face in her hands and muttered to herself, "Shit."