A/N- Hey guys, slight language warning but it's all towards Ed so it's all good. I hope you guys enjoy, like I mentioned last chapter there is Richonne in here. I know it took nine chapters and one prologue but hopefully it was worth the wait! This chapter also gets deep with a few of our teens so be prepared! Tell me what ya'll thought. I'd love to read your guys' reviews! Thanks to Acacia Rose Masen for helping me on this chapter!
Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Not An Intervention
It was another extremely long day for Michonne. It was filled with more bickering and snide remarks from her teammates. She and Rick actually had to stop Shane and Tara before a fist fight broke out between the two. It seemed that for every minute that passed while the group was together the situation only got worse. Rick and Michonne definitely had work to get done, and lots of it.
As much as they didn't want to admit it, Abraham and Rosita were about ready to give up all hope on their team. Rosita came to the point where she thought it was necessary to call each of the kids' parents but Michonne reassured her leader that she had a plan… but she didn't.
It was 5:30 in the afternoon when Rick's tired eyes landed on a familiar figure, Michonne. She was rushing over to him. "Hey." He smiled in relief. "Thought you weren't coming."
"And leave you here all by yourself? Never." Michonne smiled too. "The girls kept questioning where I was going." She explained.
Rick nodded. "Ah. What did you tell them?"
"That I needed to get some air but then they all offered to come with so I told them I needed to get air away from them." Michonne stated. "We don't have much time, Kelly can tell when I'm lying and she was definitely eyeing me before I left."
"Kelly? How is she? I didn't see her for the games today." Rick questioned.
"She's still pretty down. You know? All you gotta do is tell Rosita you're not feeling good and you don't have to play for the games." Michonne said as she sat on a log.
"Yeah? If I told Abraham that, he'll make sure I don't feel good." Rick cringed at the thought of that.
"Mm." Michonne went into deep thought about what Abraham would do but then she remembered the reason why she and Rick decided to meet up. "Okay. What are we gonna do about our team?"
Rick took a seat beside Michonne. He picked up a long twig and began to make shapes out of the dirt. "We could… talk to each of them, tell them that the other is sorry without the others knowing."
Michonne shook her head. "That's too risky. It might backfire on us." She sighed then looked down at what Rick was drawling. "What's the heart for?"
Rick's eyes went wide, "Oh, it's- it's nothing." A cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck and with his shoe he wiped away his creation. "So about the group… we could just sit them down. Talk to them, they need that. All of them. Even us."
"Us? We're not the crazy ones, Rick." Michonne smirked. "And I like that idea, sitting them down sounds good. We could ask a camp leader if we could use the cafeteria for the - what are we even calling this? An Intervention?"
"No. Mmm let's say it's… a meeting. A group meeting." Rick assured.
"Okay then, we'll need to ask someone if we could hold our 'group meeting' in the cafeteria. But who to ask?" Michonne thought aloud.
"What about Mrs. Deanna's husband?" Rick looked at Michonne. "Didn't Rosita say something about how Deanna's husband built this place, that he has the key to all rooms?"
"Where do we find him?" Michonne raised a questioning brow.
"Deanna's office, maybe." Rick shrugged.
"Where is that?" Michonne's brow went higher.
"We'll find it." Rick promised.
Summer...Summer...Summer
"Rick, I don't know about this." Michonne stated as they stood in front of Mrs. Deanna's office. "Doesn't it seem kinda weird that we are coming to her office and asking for her husband?"
Rick thought about that. "I'll just say I can't get into my cabin and I need to get a jacket." Rick offered.
Michonne grabbed Rick's hand to stop him from knocking on the door. "Rick, it's 95 degrees out here. What would you need a jacket for? You'd die from a heat stroke."
"Fine, then we'll tell her the truth. Maybe she can help." He shrugged.
"No! If Rosita was about to call our parents, what makes you think Deanna won't? She is way more strict than Rosita. The second we tell her she'll already be calling our parents." Michonne pointed out.
Rick took a deep sigh. "You're right."
"Course I am." Michonne smiled when Rick looked at her and shook his head, a small smile of his own showing.
"Okay then. What do you propose we do?" Rick raised a brow.
"Easy, we wait for him." Michonne said as she walked over to a bench and patted the empty space beside her.
Again Rick smiled. He walked to the bench and gladly took the seat next to Michonne. "How long is this gonna take?"
"As long as it takes for Reg to show up. You already tired of me?" Michonne teased.
"I don't think I could get tired of you." Rick smiled and fought off the burning at the back of his neck.
"That's because you don't know me all that well, yet." Michonne pushed back some of her dread locks behind her shoulder.
"I know you're smart, you have a secret passion for photography, your heart is always in the right place… and you like to mess with me." Rick listed a few things off the top of his head but there was so much more that he could say about Michonne.
"All of those things are true." Michonne chuckled.
Rick looked over at her and got lost in her smooth dark skin, he could feel his mouth start to move and he was speaking before he was aware of what he was doing, "I really like yo- y-your smile." He just barely caught himself at the last second. Gosh it was really hot out, must explain why he could feel himself beginning to sweat.
"Thanks. I got it from my mom… well that's what my dad says." Michonne trailed off. She was pretty sure Rick liked her and that made her uncomfortable, especially since she liked him right back. She mentally gave herself a face palm and decided it was best to change that topic. "How are the guys?"
"You mean, how is Shane?" Rick raised a brow.
Michonne sighed, "Yeah. He kinda worries me."
"He could be better." Rick shrugged. "All he talks about is how he can't believe he said what he said to Kelly. I think he really likes her, and I've seen him with girls, Kelly is different."
Michonne nodded, "I'll mention that to her." She looked at the nearby cherry blossom trees and studied how they swayed from the warm summer breeze. "How did you and Shane become friends anyway?"
Rick thought for a minute, it was such a long time ago. "We went to the same day care - you know? It's a really long story."
Michonne glanced to Deanna's office door then turned back to Rick with a shrug. "I got the time." She smiled, knowing the story was probably something embarrassing for him.
"Great." Rick sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Like I said, it was day care. I was playin' with this red toy truck when Shane came along and snatched it from me. So, I tried to nicely ask him for it back but he wouldn't hand it over, said he was playin' with it now so I… I took matters into my own hands and… I jumped on his back and pulled his hair while he tried to fight me off him. Needless to say, the daycare called both our parents. As it happened, when our parents met they got along like they were all old friends. From there Shane's parents and mine thought it'd be a great idea to set up a play date so that we could learn to get along. It took a couple of these play dates for us to finally get passed how we met… but keep in mind Michonne, we were four and it was my toy car to begin with."
Michonne held back a laugh, "See that wasn't so bad to tell me, was it?" She gave him a genuine smile.
"Guess not. It's just not really the first thing you wanna tell a pretty girl." Rick shrugged.
"You think I'm pretty?" Michonne looked at him trying to hide her surprise. He had called her beautiful before but she thought he was just being nice. Pretty meant a lot to Michonne, she had never been called that by a guy.
"Well, uh- ye-yes. If that's alright with you." Rick stumbled over his words but felt more relaxed when Michonne smiled and nodded.
From the corner of her eye Michonne saw a man come around the corner. The man had hair as white as snow, glasses as round as Harry Potter's and a loop of keys hooked to his pants.
Michonne turned to Rick, "Is that him?"
Rick nodded then jumped up from the bench. "Excuse me? Sir?"
"Is there something I can help you with?" The man questioned.
"Are you Mr. Monroe?" Rick furrowed a brow.
"Yes." The man answered.
"Then yes. You can help us." Michonne spoke up. "Me and my friend here… we're on a mission."
Summer...Summer...Summer
"Michonne, why can't you just tell me where you're taking me?" Kelly whined as her friend dragged her along a path.
"Because if I told you, you wouldn't have come." Michonne stated right before she and Kelly stopped in front of a white door. "Now go inside."
Kelly gave Michonne a questioning look. She would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid but she sucked in a breath and slowly opened the door. "I swear if something pops out at me I- what the hell is this?" She bluntly questioned looking around the room that was filled with her teammates and two leaders.
"We brought you here to talk." Michonne pushed Kelly further into the room and closed the door. "We brought all of you here to talk."
"Who the hell is we?" Shane questioned as he tried not to look at Kelly.
"Rick and I." Michonne nodded to him.
"Yeah, we're a team and it's 'bout time we start acting like it." Rick took a seat in one of the last three chairs that were left in the large circle that he, Michonne, and Reg created.
Michonne quickly took a seat with Kelly, completing the circle. "We are here to just talk. I don't want any fighting." Michonne eyed everyone in the circle, especially Tara and Shane who both let out a grunt at the same time. When nobody said anything contradictory she continued, "Guys when we started here a couple weeks ago, we didn't know each other at all, well except for Rick and Shane, but we started to. And you know what was surprising? The fact that we all got along so well. We all just… clicked… and I don't know about you guys but I've never really been good at making friends especially since I'm homeschooled… acquaintances yeah sure I got about a dozen of those. The thing is guys we have more than just a summer friendship but we got to work for it because this is our family."
"Damn straight!" Abraham shouted, "I have never had a team so dysfunctional before."
"Dysfunctional?! You think we're dysfunctional?" Lori sat forward in her chair.
"Why do you have to go and ruin something good, Abe?" Rosita rubbed her temples.
"Michonne is absolutely right. Let's just get everything off our chests, we can start with Glenn." Rick turned to his younger teammate.
"Oh hell no! What is this? Some type of Dr. Phil shit?" Shane questioned.
"Ohmygod. Is this an intervention? Are we in an intervention?!" Lori gasped.
"No, no, don't think of it like that… it's more of a… a gathering." Rick looked at Michonne with a shrug as she nodded.
"A gathering I didn't want to come to." Daryl muttered.
Michonne side-eyed Daryl for a quick moment before she looked at her group. "It's healthy for us to open up to each other." Michonne tried in.
"What if I don't wanna be healthy?" Kelly muttered as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Too bad. Michonne is right." Abraham sat forward.
"We're talking about feelings? Fine. I feel like this was a stupid idea." Tara argued.
"Not feelings about this, feelings we have towards each other." Rick sighed.
"Fine. I think Shane's stupid." Tara huffed.
"I can say the same to you, Tara!" Shane shot back.
"Honestly, I could live without Shane and Tara fighting every two seconds… but I probably shouldn't say anything because nobody asked me." Kelly stated avoiding Shane's face at all cost.
"Kel- whatever." Shane sat deeper into his chair.
"Hey, I would like to apologize for anything that I've done and I hope I can get your guys' forgiveness because you all really mean a lot to me." Glenn spoke up.
"Wow, Glenn. That was nice." Michonne smiled at her younger group member, hoping that the others would see this as an opening to forgive and start sharing.
"Thanks… can I go now?" Glenn carefully asked.
"What? No." Rick shook his head, "Were you just saying that so you could leave? Where do you have to be that is so much more important than tryin' to help fix your group?"
"Yeah, Glenn. What else could be so important? What are you keeping from us?" Lori chimed in.
"I know, me and Kelly have been in the kitchen for the past few days and we never see you get food for any meal. What are you doing that you can't tell us about?" Tara questioned.
"What I'm doing or not doing is definitely not gonna help us all get on the same page." Glenn protested, and he had a point.
"Do you hear yourselves? All of us. Me, you." Maggie looked at her group. "Maybe we blew this out of portion. Maybe, we let the other team get in our heads. We gave them our strings an' they knew just how to tug 'em."
"We? You mean maybe Carol gave them our strings." Lori muttered.
"Or maybe we're acting completely reasonably." Tara shrugged.
"Abe." Rosita whispered to her co-leader, as he leaned in closer to her. "They're not gonna listen to us are they?"
"Not a chance. We'd be lucky if we got one syllable of a word in." He answered.
"I was thinking that too. I have a meeting with Deanna in a few minutes." Rosita looked at her wrist watch.
"I'll come with." Abe offered.
"I thought you hated Deanna's meetings." Rosita stated rather than questioned.
"I'd rather fight with Dawn than fight with our kids." He explained as the two got up and slowly made their way to the door.
"... and that's why I think Shane is a self centered, don't know right from left, two-timing, bald jerk!" Tara shouted out the last part of her 'theory' so that she could be heard over the other fights going on in the room.
"How dare you call me bald!" Shane shouted back.
"Wait! Where are you two going?" Michonne called out for her two leaders.
"We have a really important meeting we need to get to." Rosita explained.
"Even Abe?" Rick looked at his other leader hoping he would stay.
"Yeah, but it seems like you two got this under control." Abraham said to Rick and Michonne, just as Daryl finished dropping a few 'F' bombs.
With that the two leaders quickly left the room. The teens were in complete war with each other. Not only were the girls mad at the boys but the girls were now also mad at each other and the same with the boys. It was like dominoes falling and setting off others as it continued without an end. Finally Carol couldn't taking it any longer.
"Stop! Stop it! Just shut up! Obviously we're not ready to talk. And I'm not gonna watch this team burn itself alive." With that, Carol stood from her seat and walked out of the room as everyone filed out right behind her.
Michonne was almost on the verge of tears, "What is it gonna take Rick? Why do we even care so much? It's summer, it's not like we're ever gonna see these people again after this."
"Michonne, calm down." Rick walked over to her. "We have just over three weeks left, and I'm not gonna spend three more weeks listenin' to this crap… plus I go home with Shane and I'll probably never hear the end of it." He chuckled at the last part and so did Michonne.
"Okay, but what's our next move?"
"We'll figure something out." Rick reassured as he pulled her into a hug.
Summer...Summer...Summer
The next day the teams got paired up and were preparing for the games. Abraham could see his team was still falling apart and he had no idea what to do. He had never had a group comprised of such stubborn, headstrong individuals before and he felt completely helpless. Everyone was mad and no one was willing to sincerely apologize. Abraham truly hated to admit it but maybe they needed to split the group up into other teams.
"Glenn." Kelly slowly walked over to her teammate. "You're kinda the only one I don't mind right now, you wanna be my partner?"
"Sure. You okay?"
"Just a headache. I'll be fine." She promised, again Glenn just nodded and patted her back.
"Hey, Maggie. Is it cool if we partner up?" Rick questioned.
"Hmm, you're not gonna ask Michonne?" Maggie folded her arms before her and raised a brow.
"Oh uh- well, I was already her partner this week." Rick cringed. "But I haven't been with you yet."
"Yeah, that's how you boys are, willing to go to the next girl at the first chance." Maggie looked over to where Glenn and Kelly stood.
Rick followed Maggie's gaze and his eyes almost popped out his head. "What? Maggie, no! Glenn likes you. A fight isn't gonna change that."
Maggie turned back to Rick with a skeptical look on her face. "Fine. I'll be your partner."
"Carol!" Shane waved her over.
She breathed a sigh and walked over to him. "You don't have to ask. We're the only two left." Carol pointed out.
"I wasn't gonna ask." Shane protested keeping his voice low. "You gonna hold up your end of the game?"
Carol raised a brow. "Don't worry about me." She bluntly stated then headed off to where Rosita was assigning games to each pair.
Summer…Summer...Summer
The games started with Rick and Maggie. They were doing a circuit race that started off with a three-legged race, followed by a potato sack race, and ended with an egg run. To win they needed to finish first.
"Hey, I got the ties." Rick shook the rope in his hand around. "Give me your leg." He motioned her over. She walked over to Rick's side and lined up her left leg with his right, then Rick looped the rope around his and Maggie's ankles, tying the rope off in a secure slip knot. "You okay?"
"Lets just… focus on the game."
Rick shook his head, "Maggie, we're tied together for that next few minutes. Talk to me. Is it Glenn?"
"I just- I don't know. Yes, but it's also with our group."
"Broken things can be fixed, and you have nothing to worry about with Glenn, he really likes you."
"Gosh, I haven't even talked to him since the fight."
"He's giving you your space, Maggie. My mom always tells me, everything that's meant to be finds its way. Whatever happens it will work out in the end. I promise."
Maggie stared at the side of Rick's face. "You're wise for a 15 year old."
"I get that a lot." Rick shrugged.
With that Rick and Maggie made there way to the start line. Once the whistle blew they took off. Hobbling their way to the finish line with Enid and Gareth hot on their tail, Rick wrapped his arm tighter around Maggie and pushed on.
Maggie picked up her speed and held on to Rick just as tight as he held her. They quickly finished as Rick easily pulled the rope from their ankles. He and Maggie both rushed to get into each of their own potato sacks and began hopping. They were ahead but not by much. Maggie took a few tumbles but made it out alive with all four limbs still intact.
Next to do was the egg run. Two referees handed Rick and Maggie a spoon with the egg on top of then the two took off and went through the very curvy obstacle course carefully, with the intentions of not dropping their egg, or else they would have to start all over again.
Summer...Summer...Summer
Kelly gave a deep sigh. The one day she had a headache was the day she would be playing a game that required thinking. She and Glenn were playing life sized jenga. Whichever partners got their tower the highest in 10 minutes without it falling down, won.
It was one minute into the game and Kelly was still deciding which block she should move out first. She wasn't in a rush since her competitors were Nick and Gabriel. She figured she was smarter than the two of them combined, even with a headache.
"Kelly what's our first move?!" Glenn asked, his anxiety showing.
"Stop pacing and maybe I'll be able to think." Kelly turned to her teammate. "Take this middle one and put it on the top."
Glenn nodded and delicately slid the block Kelly pointed to, out, then he took a few steps up on a ladder and placed the block on the top.
"Good, good! The far left one, that should be next!" She directed.
"On it!" Glenn assured, wiggling out the second block and again placed it at the top. "Nice Kelly. What next?"
"I'll get one from the other side, you take that one on the right." Kelly ordered as she ran to another side of the jenga tower and grabbed a block then tossed it to Glenn. "We make a good team!" Kelly smiled as she worked on getting another block out.
"Yeah! Better than the rest of us." Glenn stated while making sure he placed the blocks on top as carefully as he could. "I have a question, if you don't mind me asking." Glenn glanced down at Kelly from his place on the ladder.
"Go for it. What's the question?" Kelly called back as she punched a block out of its slot causing the jenga tower to sway slightly.
"Does Maggie… talk about me? I mean, has my name come up at all?" Glenn hated to ask. He didn't want to sound desperate but at this point, that's all he was.
"Glenn, you were her boyfriend. Her FIRST boyfriend - even if it was only for two weeks. Of course she talks about you." Kelly shrugged.
"Is it bad? Does she hate me?" Glenn questioned fearfully.
"I haven't really talked to her about you but I don't think she hates you. Stop worrying." Kelly carefully threw another block up to Glenn when she was sure he was looking.
"You're probably right." Glenn took a deep breath in and released it.
"Besides, you and Maggie are both teens and it's summer. It's not like y'all are gonna get married or something. If you and Maggie don't work out, there are plenty of other fish in the sea. You'll find someone new." Kelly assured.
Glenn just nodded hesitantly. Kelly's reassurance didn't make him feel any better, it actually made him feel worse. Maybe it was him high off of the emotions of his first relationship or maybe it was Maggie herself but Glenn didn't want anyone else. He wanted Maggie.
Summer...Summer...Summer
Shane and Carol had finished their game for the day. It was a challenging outdoor volleyball match against Ed and Alisha which they won. Shane hated to admit it but he was glad Carol was his partner, she kept up her side of the court plus she had the best spike he had ever seen but he would never admit that to her.
After the game Shane helped take down the volleyball net and put the rest of the equipment inside a duffle bag and began to walk it over to the ref's golf cart. Up ahead on the path to the golf cart Carol stood with Ed. Subconsciously Shane rolled his eyes and let out a growl, she was literally fraternizing with the enemy and he just didn't understand it.
The two were still pretty far up the path so Shane shuffled the bag on his shoulder and kept his eyes on the ground since it looked like they were flirting and he'd rather not witness their lovey dovey moment or he might just be sick. What did Carol even see in Ed? It was beyond all that Shane could comprehend. He cleared his mind and stared at the dirt ground he walked on as he awkwardly continued forward.
"You looked good playin', sugar."
Carol forced a smile, "Thanks Ed. You looked good too."
"Of course I did." Again, he smiled making a shiver go up Carol's spine. "So you ready for the night rally? They light up these lanterns that are almost as pretty as you."
"Yeah, it sounds great!" Carol nodded and again plastered a smile on her face.
Ed took a few steps closer to Carol and ran his hand up Carol's arm. "You know, I was thinkin'... maybe we could-"
"Go together?" Carol finished for him.
"Yeah, and… I was thinkin' we could do a little smooching." Ed ran his other hand across Carol's waist and pulled her closer to him.
"Smooching?" She questioned as she silently thought, who uses the word smooching any more?
"Maybe we could start the smooching now." Ed puckered his lips and moved towards her.
Carol's eyes slightly widened as she moved her head dodging Ed's kiss. "Well umm-" From the corner of Carol's eye she could see Shane walking their way and all she could do was pray for him to walk faster so she could have a reason to leave.
"What's wrong? You nervous?" Ed raised a brow.
Carol shook her head "It's just I-I-umm-"
"You don't wanna kiss me, that it?" When Carol softly pulled way she slightly shrugged.
"I just don't think I'm ready." Carol bit her bottom lip, hoping Ed would respect that and leave her alone.
"Don't worry I can lead you through it." Again Ed captured Carol in his arms.
"I don't need leading Ed. I'm just not ready." She tried to push him way but this time she was unable to.
"Carol, I've waited too long for this, kiss me already." Ed's voice got deeper and his grip around her got tighter.
Carol saw a flame light up in Ed's eyes and it scared her, thankfully Shane was getting closer. All she needed to do was escape Ed's grip of death. "Ed, please. Let me go."
Shane's head snapped up when he heard Carol tell Ed to release her. Carol didn't sound like she was flirting and, trust him, he definitely knew what flirting sounded like. It almost looked as if she was afraid… but why should he care? It's not like Carol was his friend and if anything she was the one who got herself into that situation. Still, Shane was raised better than to walk away from someone who sounded like they were in trouble and he found himself slowing down to try and hear more of the conversation.
"Stop playing games. I know you want this Carol. Just give it to me."
"No Ed, n-"
"Hey dumbo ears! I'm shocked you didn't hear the first time but she said no." Shane cut in.
"Look, superman to the rescue. Last time I checked he had hair." Ed snickered.
"Just take your hands off her." Shane growled.
"This ain't your problem and this ain't your girl."
"No, but she's apart of my team and last time I checked, I told you not to touch my team."
"Yeah? You mean the team that fights every two seconds?" Ed loosened his grip and pushed Carol back with some force, almost knocking her to the ground, and that's when Shane dropped the duffel bag that was around his shoulder.
Shane felt something spark deep down in the pit of his stomach and before he knew it he was face to face with Ed. Nothing was stopping his fist that was already flying at Ed and now the fight was on.
It only took one punch and already Shane had busted Ed's lip. With his other hand Shane grabbed a chunk of Ed's shirt and pushed him down to the ground. "You like that? You disgusting pig!" Shane growled while he pounded his fists into Ed's face.
Shane could feel Carol trying to pull him off of Ed but she wasn't strong enough. In a split second Ed managed to grab a hold of Shane and tossed him to the side and rolled on top of him.
After taking a few punches in the face from Ed, Shane could hear Carol yelling but he payed no attention to what was said. Taking in a huff of air and with all his might, he pushed the heavier boy off of him. He punched Ed in the nose and quickly Shane stood over him.
"I swear you touch her like that again an' I promise you it won't be pretty!" Shane spat on Ed and began to kick him in the stomach before he felt a strong grip pull him back.
"Enough!" Abraham's voice rang loud and clear as he pulled Shane away from Ed, "Atta boy. You just walk it off champ." Abe said in a hushed voice to his camper as he patted Shane on the back.
"Abe, I'm gonna take Peletier to Doctor Denise, I already called Mrs. Monroe and Mr. Blake over!" The ref stated as he helped Ed into the golf cart and sped off.
"Thanks Carter!" Abe waved then turned his attention to Carol. "What happened?"
Carol shook her head and shrugged. Her eyes were watery and she was a little shaky from witnessing the fight. Before she could speak, Deanna and Phil showed up in a golf cart of their own.
"Ford, why is Ed Peletier on his way to the camp doctor?" Mr. Phil questioned as the one eyebrow he had, arched.
"I'm still trying to figure that out myself." Abe answered.
"Mr. Walsh, do you care to enlighten us?" Mrs. Deanna turned to the boy whose nose was slightly bleeding.
Shane spared a glance at Carol then looked back to the adults, "Ed wasn't keeping his hands to himself with Carol - even after she said no. I stepped in and did what I did." He briefly explained.
"Are you alright Carol?" Mr. Phil gave her a concerned look.
Carol nodded. "Because of Shane I am."
Before they could continue a loud voice interrupted them.
"I should have known!" The voice of Dawn Lerner sounded off as she came walking fiercely over to where Abe stood with the camp directors. "Whenever Abraham is around a fight always starts! I knew you should have kept a better eye on your wild kids because now one of mine is in the medic room." She yelled.
Milton nodded, "Yeah-"
"Shut it, Milton." Dawn snapped.
"Nice try Dawn, but my kid didn't start it this time… but he sure as hell finished it."
"Mr. Ford are you suggesting violence was necessary in this case?" Mrs. Deanna cut in, raising a brow.
Abe's eyes widened a bit. "Uh-tha-that's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean Abraham?" Dawn questioned, getting a kick out of how Abraham was starting to turn red.
"Can't you mind your own business, woman." Abe raised his voice.
"Not when you bring my kid into this." Dawn sneered.
"Bring your kid into this?" Abe questioned incredulously. "Maybe your boy should keep his hands to himself!" Abraham suggested.
"I could say the same about yours!" Dawn narrowed her eyes.
"I don't have ta stand here an' listen to this cr-" Before Abraham could finish he was cut off by the sound of a horn. "What the-"
They all turned to see a golf cart driving at the speed of light toward them. The horn continued to sound off even after the person driving drove over a curb, almost causing the whole golf cart to flip over. Abruptly, the cart came to a stop just inches before hitting someone as Rosita jumped out of the drivers seat.
"Carol! Shane!" The horrified leader ran over to her teens and pulled the both of them into a hug. "Are you hurt? What happened? Who started it? I came as fast as I could, I was so worried!" She looked over her kids then turned to Abraham, "Why is Shane's nose bleeding? He needs a doctor!"
"I'm fine." Shane assured.
"They're not babies Rosita." Dawn rolled her eyes.
"You keep your mouth shut Dawn, it seems I'm the only one who cares about the kids' well being!"
"Now that's not true, Rosita. We all care about the children in this camp." Mr. Blake reassured.
"Speaking of children, we have enough around here so quit arguing like them." Deanna ordered, mostly towards Abraham and Dawn.
"Yes, now on with punishments. For you Mr. Walsh, we have zero tolerance for violence and seeing as you threw the first punch, we'll have to send you home." Mr. Phil started only to be interrupted.
"What? No!" Carol spoke up as the adults turned to her. "Send me home. The fight wouldn't have started if it wasn't for me."
Shane shook his head. "No, Carol. I can take my punishment, it was what I did, not you."
"If anyone should go home it should be Ed. He's been here multiple years, he should know the rules by now." Abraham butted in.
"Shane was defending his teammate and himself. We shouldn't punish him for that." Rosita pointed out.
"Well Shane took it to far." Dawn stepped in.
"Well, this actually concerns what happened to Carol." Mr. Phil spoke up.
"What are you talking about?" Dawn demanded before seeming to realize who she was talking to, "Uh, sir."
"It seems that Mr. Peletier was too handsy with Miss Owen and he wouldn't leave her alone when she told him too." Mrs. Deanna explained.
Dawn appeared shocked, "I didn't know."
"Yeah, you didn't." Rosita stated in bothered tone while still holding on to Carol and Shane.
"You know what!" Deanna put her hands up. "Here's what we're going to do. Mr. Blake and I will come up with a punishment for Mr. Peletier once he's cleared by the camp doctor. Mr. Ford, you will give Mr. Walsh a punishment because he did use physical violence and that is still unacceptable. For now, I will personally call both of their parents to inform them on this recent incident. Report back to us when you figure out Mr. Walsh's punishment." With that both directors got into their golf cart and sped off. Dawn and Milton also left after that, probably to check up on Ed.
Abraham turned to Shane and studied the boy's face while trying to think of a punishment, "We should get a wrestling program started here at the camp and put you in it." Again, Abe patted Shane's back.
Rosita shook her head at Abraham's ideas. "They could get hurt, Abe. And you got to start thinking of that punishment." Rosita said as she quickly turned and got Shane and Carol situated in the golf cart then began to drive off, slowly seeing as how she was still parked on the curb.
"Where are you taking them?" Abraham called out to her.
"To get checked out by the doctor, of course." Rosita replied as a groan escaped both Carol and Shane. She quickly drove off after that leaving Abe where he was standing.
As he watched them drive away, a thought made its way to the forefront of his head.
"Where did she get that golf cart?"
Summer...Summer...Summer
"Can you believe we have to leave the very second our game ends just to come help out in the kitchen for our stupid punishment." Tara sighed as she opened the door to the cafeteria and made her way to the kitchen alongside Kelly.
"Tara you say the same line every time we walk in here." Kelly shook her head.
"Well sorry for being depressed. You know, I don't even get excited for meals anymore and I love food!" A spark of fear came over Tara from that realization.
Kelly nodded as she opened the door to the kitchen, "I know righ- Shane?"
"What is baldie locks doing in here?" Tara furrowed a brow. When Shane just shook his head Tara knew something was wrong. "No come back? Did someone die?"
"Almost." Abraham laughed but got serious when Mary gave him a look. Abe cleared his throat, "Guess I'll be going then. I'll come back during dinner." With that Abraham left the kitchen.
"Get your equipment on and I'll be back in a few minutes I have to get some things." Mary directed as she left the kitchen.
"Wait… you're gonna be working in here too?" Kelly raised a brow.
"Looks like it." Shane looked up from the ground to his two teammates.
"At least you don't need a hair net." Tara shrugged as she and Kelly began to put on theirs.
"That doesn't make me feel any better." Shane stated as he put on some gloves.
"What are you in for anyways?" Tara raised a brow.
"I fought with Ed." He answered.
Tara made a face. "We all fight with Ed."
"Well, yeah, he's a douche. But I meant that I punched his face in a couple times."
"What?! Why?" Kelly's eyes widened, even she was surprised at how concerned she sounded.
"He wouldn't quit touching Carol. She told him no but he wouldn't leave her alone. I went over there to tell him to stop and that asshole pushed her and she almost fell and that's when I lost. Oh and I kicked his stomach a few times too, but I'm sure you can see the dickwad got a few lucky punches in too." Shane shrugged.
"What?!" Both Tara and and Kelly simultaneously gasped.
"That's horrible! Where is she now?" Kelly asked.
"Back at the cabin. Rosita's with her." He explained.
"Good. She can comfort her. You should've seen her after Lori nearly drowned the other week. Oh and when we thought we lost Daryl, Rosita almost lost her mind." Kelly told him.
Shane just nodded before an awkward silence fell over the room. It was broken by a sniffle from Tara which caused Kelly to look over.
"Tara? Are you okay?" Kelly reached out for her friend's shoulder but before she could actually reach it Tara moved over to Shane and wrapped her arms around him.
Shane stood with his hands at his side as he and Kelly shared the same confused expression while Tara sniffled into Shane's shirt, her arms still tightly wrapped around him. "Umm what are you doing?" Shane questioned.
"I'm hugging you, you idiot." Tara stated.
Shane glanced at Kelly who was still just as confused as him. "Um, yeah… but why?"
"Cause you punched Ed, that's something we all wanted to do from day one." She said burrowing her head further into Shane's chest.
Kelly looked skeptical. After this week of working in the kitchen together, she could tell the younger girl wasn't exactly being fully honest. "Tara? Are you sure that's why you're crying?" Kelly furrowed a brow.
It was silent for a moment, and both Shane and Kelly wondered if Tara was going to even answer Kelly's question. "I just wish there was someone to protect my sister." Tara said still holding onto Shane and that's when a realization came over Kelly.
"That's why she's pregnant, isn't it?" When Tara nodded against Shane's chest Kelly could feel a few tears slide down her face and suddenly her heart felt heavy.
It took Shane a moment to make sense of this information but now he understood. He wrapped his arms around Tara and hugged her back reassuringly. Kelly watched the two, tears still streaming down her face, when Shane looked over to her and caught her eye. He carefully shifted Tara to his side and held his left arm out for Kelly so that she could join the hug. Kelly wiped some tears away as she walked over and joined her friends' embrace. The three stood together in silence comforting each other.
Mary returned with a handful of cans, one slipped out and hit the tile floor making a noise that caused the three teens to break their embrace. "What happened? I was only gone for three minutes." Mary looked confused at the teens.
Shane cleared his throat. "Nothin'. Let's get to work."
Summer...Summer...Summer
The night had set, dinner was over, and the stars were out. Lanterns of all sizes dangled from tree branches and lit up pathways to the large open field where the campers would be celebrating their three weeks at camp and the end of partner games. They were also celebrating the start of team games leading up to the final game for camp. The bonfire in the center was lit with a station to the side where you could get marshmallows and hot dogs to roast. A cotton candy machine was up and running along with a buffet table filled with desert. The garden was lit with holiday lights and that's where Glenn found Maggie who was looking over the fountain.
"Hey." Glenn stood beside her keeping his eyes on the fountain as well.
"Hey." Maggie glanced at him once.
He sighed and turned towards her. "Maggie, I really need to talk to you."
Maggie nodded and turned to face Glenn, ready to listen to what he had to say when something behind him caught her eye. "Umm, not now Glenn."
Glenn shook his head. "Look, I think what I have to say is important-"
"Okay, then we can talk about it later." Maggie stated still looking at what caught her eye. "What's going on over there?" Maggie furrowed a brow and when Glenn turned to see what she was talking about his eyes landed on his teammates Shane, Tara, and Kelly. He was about to turn and tell her to just leave them be when Maggie came into his line of sight as she made her way towards the three. Glenn did nothing but sigh as he followed right behind her.
"What's going on over here?" Maggie asked when she finally reached them.
"We made up." Kelly informed her as she rested a hand on Shane's shoulder and the other on Tara's.
"You made up?" Maggie raised a brow.
Glenn studied them carefully. "Why?"
Shane sighed, "This is what happened, me and Ed got in a fist fight 'cause he wasn't treating Carol right. He was holding onto her and when she told him to let go, he didn't. That's when I stepped in and broke his nose."
"Don't forget you also kicked his stomach in a few times." Tara added gleefully with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
"Yeah, did that too." Shane smirked.
"He better watch out because if I see him a broken nose is gonna be the least of his worries. I'm gonna skin him like the pig he is." Maggie narrowed her eyes.
"Oh good, I'm not first on the list anymore." Glenn sighed in relief.
Maggie looked over to him. "I was never gonna skin you. Is that what you thought?" She asked with a touch of guilt in her voice.
"Oh uh, course not." Glenn rubbed the back of his neck, trying to play it off like he hadn't been worried about that at all.
A smile tugged at the corner of Maggie's lip before she looked back to Shane. "So where's Carol? Is she around here?"
"No, she's just gonna get some rest for the night." He answered.
"Oka-"
"No, no, no, no! Please not tonight!" Michonne came running up to her group with Rick at her side. "Guys this is a party and there are innocent kids that are younger than us around! So please no fighting!" She pleaded, cupping her hands together.
"Yeah, you all can go back to hating each other in the mornin' but now is our time to relax." Rick calmly explained.
The group just stared silently back at them as Michonne was almost on the verge of tears again. Kelly went over and hugged her friend. "It's okay Mich! We're okay. We're all actually on the same page for once. We've made up!"
Michonne pulled away. "What? How? Why?" She skeptically asked, not daring to hope that this was actually true.
"Is this a trick? 'Cause we're not falling for it." Rick stepped in. "You don't have to lie to us, we're not forcing you guys into another intervention right now."
"I thought that was a gathering." Glenn said to himself out loud.
"Me too." Tara furrowed a brow.
Shane stepped forward, grabbing his best friend's and Michonne's attention. "Last time I'm gonna say this, Ed and I got in a beat down. I punched him a few times and kicked him-"
"What?" Michonne said in shock.
"Why doesn't anyone let me finish?" Shane threw his hands up. "It was-"
"Probably the most epic thing we never got to see!" Tara cut in. Shane simply raised a brow at her causing Tara to lightly shrug, "Sorry but it probably was." Rick's eyebrows rose in slight shock when it registered that Tara actually sounded genuinely apologetic towards Shane.
Shane just shook his head and continued, "Anyway, that happened because he was tryna kiss Carol an' wouldn't let her go, then he pushed her back when I told him to let go. I couldn't jus' let him do that ta her. What you said earlier Michonne, about us being a team, a family. It really did get to me. All I had was Rick, but now I have Glenn, Daryl, you girls. It's different." Shane shrugged realizing how deep he was getting. "But we're okay now." He cleared his throat.
"Okay." Rick nodded, anger clearly showing. "Ed's gonna get what's coming to him, even if my fist is the only thing comin' to him."
"Trust me, that's not the only thing comin' to him." Maggie said folding her arms across her chest.
"What are you losers talkin' 'bout?" Daryl said in his usual gravely voice.
Everyone froze as they all simultaneously thought the same thing. Shit we have to tell Daryl.
"What? Why are you all givin' me that look?" Daryl growled.
"Daryl… we have to tell you something." Tara said, being the only brave-enough person to speak up.
"Okay… what?" He questioned hesitantly.
Tara looked over to Shane who just shook his head. "I've told the story four times already. I'm done." He said moving slightly closer to Daryl.
Then Tara looked over to Kelly who sighed. She was the one closest to Daryl, maybe it was best if it came from her. "Okay… um. See what happened was, Shane was walking on a path-"
"Speed this up Kelly." Michonne cut her off.
"Okay then how about you tell it." Kelly gestured for her friend to continue the story.
Michonne's eyes widened. "No I'm good."
Kelly nodded. "Then don't complain Mich."
"Can you just get on with it. Why do I even have to hear about Shane walkin' on a damn path?" Daryl groaned.
"Because it's important… well not the path, ugh! Telling a story is hard..." Kelly focused herself and took a deep breath. "Shane saw Ed and Carol together, he thought they were flirting or whatever but when he got closer he could hear Carol telling Ed to let go of her, but he wouldn't. Then Shane came up to them and told Ed to let her go-"
"Did he let go?" Daryl questioned, anger causing his voice to change.
Kelly swallowed hard and nodded. She could see Daryl's knuckles getting white as he balled his hands into fists. "Yes, but when he did he pushed her back and she almost fell. That's when Shane punched Ed's face and kicked Ed to the ground." Kelly felt that that's where she should stop since Daryl was fuming with rage.
"How-Wha- Where is he?!" Daryl took a step toward Kelly, who stepped back. "Where?!" He growled.
"I-I don't know! Daryl, please, calm down!" Kelly pleaded.
"How can I? I'm gonna kill that bastard!" Daryl turned but before he could storm off both Shane and Rick lunged out and grabbed him pulling him back and turned him to face the group as he tried to fight them off.
"Daryl you can't kill him, you'll be arrested!" Glenn came up and grabbed Daryl by the collar of his shirt to keep him from moving too much.
"I don't care!" Daryl growled as he tried to free himself but together the three boys were stronger than him. "Get off me!"
"No, you can't do this. Not now at least!" Rick shouted as he fought back against Daryl's strength.
"Come on, think with your head Daryl! I know you have a brain in there!" Tara yelled over the boys' shouting.
Daryl paused in his fight to get free and furrowed a brow at Tara. Why was she acting like that? Like she wasn't mad at him. Like the past week never happened. Like they were friends again. Why did everyone seem okay? "This ain't okay. He's gonna pay for this."
"Yes he is but not right this moment. Daryl, please." Michonne started in.
"Okay! Fine! Let me go then." Daryl's voice became calmer and more leveled and the other boys glanced at one another to determine if they should let him go or not.
"Promise you won't go after Ed." Glenn spoke up.
"Promise." Daryl said in an annoyed tone. He yanked his arms away when the guys' grips loosened. "So, where's Carol? Can I see her?"
"She's with Rosita getting some rest." Kelly answered.
Daryl nodded. "What are we gonna do? He's not getting away with this."
"Deanna and Phil are picking his punishment when he gets better." Shane assured.
"When he gets better? From what?" Daryl wrinkled his brows.
"Well if you payed attention to the story, Shane beat him up." Kelly stated.
Tara quickly cut in, "Pretty good too, I hear he was unconscious at the end."
A satisfied smile tugged on Daryl's lips as he turned to Shane. "Did you get him in the nose?"
"Just like you told me." Shane nodded.
Daryl nodded too. "Good. Thanks for that."
"Yea-"
"Guys! Guys!" Lori came running full speed at them. She bumped into Glenn, who caught her before she fell. "Oh, sorry Glenn! Thanks." The girl quickly adjusted herself.
"What's wrong Lori?" Michonne worriedly questioned.
Lori held up her index finger as she tried to catch her breath. She took a deep breath in before releasing it. "Did you guys hear about what happened with Carol? I know we're all mad at each other and some of you guys aren't talking but I don't give a damn! One of us was hurt by that… that… that motherfucker and I'm not just gonna keep my mouth shut and let him get away with only some punishment for when he gets better. We have to get Ed back, who's with me?!"
It was silent for a moment as they all stared at Lori in shock for her language before Kelly finally spoke up. "We all are."
"I'm not taking no for an ans- wait, what?" Lori stopped herself.
"We're all with you." Rick assured.
"Wait… why are you all- what did I miss?" She looked around her group.
"Everything." Tara smirked as Lori's mouth fell agape. "But the gist of it is we've all made up, we're friends again, and definitely not letting that motherfucker get away with what he tried to do to our Carol."
"How did you find out about Carol?" Glenn asked.
"I heard it from a friend, who heard it from her leader, who heard it from another leader, who heard it from Abraham." Lori simply explained. "By the way, Abraham seems to be pretty serious about that wrestling team." Lori said with a smirk in Shane's direction.
"Wow. News travels fast." Maggie thought out loud.
"It's summer camp. Everybody knows everything." Lori shrugged.
"Well I'm glad we're on the same page for once." Rick spoke up.
"Me too." Tara nodded. "You and Michonne did have a part in it too, so thanks."
"It was more Michonne than me." Rick shrugged, smiling at Michonne.
Kelly raised a brow. "Mmhmm. But really, Like Michonne said, we're a family now." Everyone nodded in agreement.
Summer...Summer...Summer
The night rally was now in full swing. Deanna and Phil both gave motivational speeches to the campers, even some leaders went on the stage and spoke. Mini games were being played and kids ran around every. Michonne went off on her own taking in all the sights and doing some exploring, she even got lost a few times but asked for directions from some other campers. She enjoyed the warm summer night's breeze but as she turned onto a lit path she saw Rick and Daryl heading her way.
"Hey Michonne. Where did you go off to?" Rick asked.
"Just walked around." She answered. "How about you two?"
"The same." Rick stated.
Michonne nodded as Rick began to nod too. They didn't look away from each other until Daryl cleared his throat. "I should… probably go, have a lot to plan for Ed." They both nodded to Daryl as he turned and walked way.
"Sooo." Rick turned back to Michonne.
"So?" She smiled.
"Beautiful night." Rick looked up to the star filled sky.
Michonne held back her laugh, he was trying and that was nice. "Yeah… I guess it is." She said looking up, too, as she looked over the natural twinkling lights from above. When she lowered her gaze back down, her eyes met the most intense color of blue she'd ever seen. "Umm- well at least we have our group back." She smiled.
"Yeah. All because of you."
"Hey, you helped too." She patted his arm.
Rick shrugged but before he could say anything one of the older campers came up to them.
"Hey Michonne!"
"Hey Heath." Mich smiled.
"I like your hair like that, it looks pretty." He smiled at her.
Michonne froze. "Oh, thanks." She fiddled with the ends of her dreadlocks.
"Alright, see you around." Again he smiled to her then nodded to Rick as he left.
"Who is Heath?" Rick questioned eyeing the older boy as he walked away.
"He was one of the juniors we played against for capture the flag." Michonne explained.
Rick nodded in understanding. "You like him?" He dreaded to ask that since he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.
"No - um… he's not really my type." Michonne shrugged.
"Oh good- I mean cool... so, uh, what is your type- if you don't mind me asking." Rick trailed off.
Michonne lifted a brow. "Oh just, you know, shy southern boys with piercing blue eyes."
"Good, I got a chance then." Rick winked at her which made her laugh.
"We'll see about that Grimes." She teased.
"Michonne," Rick reached out for her arm and grabbed it softly. "I'm not one to let go of somethin' if I know it's worth holding on to."
She smiled. "I hope I'm worth holding onto then."
"I think you are." He said before he moved closer to her and kissed her cheek.
When Rick pulled back Michonne grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. "Well I think you are too." Letting go of his hand she moved hers to the side of his face, then pulled him in closer to her as she kissed his lips.
Oh shit! Hehehehe ;) Caryl next chap, that's all I have to say... oh and more Richonne!
Yes I am apart of the fandom that is in denial about Glenn #StillAlive!
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...Until Next Time...
