A/N: My goodness, I am so sorry! Work, life, marrying my friends all got the best on me and it's been way too long. My sincere apologies for the delay. I promise the next couple chapters will come out in rapid succession and will *hopefully* be to everyone's liking. I've had a ton of feelings about this story and I know where I want it to end up. Thanks for sticking with me through this journey. The next chapter is literally right around the corner. - My best, my worst, AZ

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A day later found her walking up to the familiar door. Hands snugly in her pockets and a messenger bag slung over her shoulder, Michonne took a deep breath. Giving a firm knock she heard the familiar sound of small footsteps followed by heavier ones. The door opened with a flourish as two sets of blue eyes greeted her.

"Hi." she said.


A week later Michonne sat comfortably at Abraham's kitchen tables going over building contracts. They were running ahead of schedule and she wanted to ensure that the distillery would be open by the new year. It was hot in Atlanta and Abe had the foresight of preparing some iced tea for their meeting. Sitting across from her business partner she smiled at how much work they'd put into this new venture and how it would all be paying off. Abe's phone rang as she sipped from her glass going over the layout one last time. Neither of them had to work at the bar today, a feat in their lives as owners, and she thought about going to the movies or doing something by herself. A knock at the front door took her out of her revelry as Abe's booming voice encouraged the guest to enter the home from the living room. To Michonne's surprise, Rick stood in the doorway carrying a bottle of Prosecco followed closely by Daryl who was sporting a smile and a cooler. A sheepish smile spread across Rick's face which sported a couple days worth of scruff. He's put on that brown shirt that she loved so much and was wearing the hell out of some dark blue jeans and his cowboy boots. Daryl, who wore his leather vest and ripped jeans just grunted a hello before walking the cooler out of the kitchen into the back yard.

Mustering up her bearings she smiled back, quirking an eyebrow at the bottle in his hand.

"Abe said you were gonna be here workin' before our guys night. Brought you a bottle to say 'congrats' on your baby. It's impressive Chonne." Rick said showing his teeth as he smiled brightly at her.

After she'd stopped by last week he replayed the time they'd spent at his house over in his mind. Although the visit was brief, watching Carl gush over her gift and the sheer excitement he felt that she was back in his home made him feel even more foolish at the flippant way he'd treated her. When Abe had invited him over to grill he was resigned to go, since Carl was with Lori, but hearing that Michonne would be there for a little while made him think about how he was going to work his way back into her good graces. He hadn't really felt like he needed anyone in his life except Carl, not even Lori, but Michonne made him want to be a better man always. It took him screwing everything up to remind himself why he'd tried to hard to be with her, and why he'd subsequently pushed her away- fear that maybe, just maybe she was too good for him and his little life. That'd she'd wake up one day, like Lori, and realize that maybe they weren't in love and the thought of that made him act rash, and later with Jessie try to fill a hole the size of one Michonne Aleria Anthony. No one could even begin to fill that space and the truth was, he didn't want anyone else to. He had to prove to her that he was over being a petulant child and was ready to be the man she had always asked him to be. So he got the Prosecco she liked, put on her favorite shirt and strolled back into her life with a determination he'd been missing for almost a year.

Michonne watched him walk closer to her, leaning against the kitchen island and gently holding out the bottle to her as offering. She smiled, taking the bottle from his hands before giving him a thanks. Ricks eyes darted all over her face as if trying to commit it to memory and she saw something there she hadn't seen in a long time- wanting, he missed her and she could feel it. It had been a long couple months without seeing him and yet, her stupid heart was constricting and beating quickly all at the same time. That familiar warmth spread through her limbs and rested in the pit of her stomach.

A few beats passed between them as they stared into one another's eyes before Michonne asked "You wanna see the layout?" gesturing to the table where the plans for the distillery sat spread across other papers. Taking a step towards her, Rick stood at her side, listening intently as she explained the set up, the bar layout and the plans for a hydroponic garden with the help of Jesus's firm who specialized in 'farm to table' restaurants. It was ambitious, and Rick nodded his approval, chiming in at the appropriate moments and even getting her to laugh at his comments about wooden benches and sore butts. Abe and Daryl had somehow magically disappeared, leaving the two to talk for well over 30 minutes before Abe returned with an almost smug smile on his lips. His mustacheod face glowing in amusement as he noticed their close proximity and the fact that at some point, Rick had grabbed a seat, his body leaning in Michonne's direction as she turned towards him. It looked familiar and Abe was almost congratulating himself on getting his two friends in the same room.

"Grills all set up." Abe started, before adding "Chonne, you wanna stay for some food?"

Michonne checked her phone and noticed a text from Sasha, who was asking if she'd like to go see Girls Trip and get pedicures. As tempted as she was to stay and catch up, she knew that they were playing with some delicate china and she needed a minute with her girl to get some things straight.

"Nah Abe. Sasha and I are gonna go to the movies and get pedi's. My feet are starting to look like I've been hiking Everest." she said without shame, she'd been working hard and her feet hurt like hell.

"Plus, thanks to Rick here, we can enjoy the movie with some fresh libations." she said, patting Rick's shoulder almost unconsciously. Rick warmed at her touch, the feel of her hands anywhere on his body reminding him that he hadn't had that privilege for a long ass time. Refraining from leaning in he just nodded and responded with at 'was nothing'.

Abe just nodded as Daryl emerged in the kitchen with a "We gon eat or what?"

"Yeah, just give me five minutes." Rick replied as Michonne said "I should get going." As she gathered all of the papers Rick went to the front to grab her bag. Returning it to her person, he watched her gather her things and when she looked up, he was running his hands through his hair nervously.

"What Grimes?" she asked, knowing that he wanted to say something, but was uncertain how it would be received.

"Nothing Chonne. Just glad to see you, isall." he said sheepishly. He wanted to ask to see her again, but was being a better Rick.

"It was nice to see you too Rick. Thanks for the Prosecco, you remembered my favorite." she remarked

"I remember everything about you Michonne." he said, in a low rumble that traveled from the tips of her toes straight to her head. Michonne bit her lip at the suggestion, and yet, she still wasn't sure where this was going- what the hell. This wasn't a thing anymore an hour ago, and here she was feeling that pull, her center of gravity being drawn to this man, again.

"Well, it was sweet." she said, leaving all the unspoken things in the air to orbit around them. "I'll see you around Rick." she said, beginning to walk to the back porch to say farewell to Daryl and Abe.

"Wait…" Rick said, getting up quickly from his chair and stopping her before he opened the sliding door.

"Can I stop by sometime Michonne. I'd like to talk to you." he said, running his thumb across his index finger in his nervous tick. She was going to say 'hell no' but "Yeah" came out before her brain registered what the hell her mouth said. A smile tugged at his lips as he took a step back, giving her a minute to breath her own air. She chided herself for being so friggen sprung, god! But looking at the resolve on his face, made her remember. "It's almost our anniversary." she said, not really to him, but outloud.

"Which one?" he asked, knowing that though they'd had a great, abet short time together, he had a lot of making up to do.

"The break up." she frowned at the memory. And there it was, all out there, again. She didn't want to remember that almost a year ago he'd gone and ruined something good.

"Well, I'm a fucking idiot, so…" he said watching her eyes twinkle at his self-deprecating statement.

"Yeah Rick, you are." she said feeling mum about it.

"At least we can agree on something." he said with a little chuckle, causing her to laugh a little.

"So…" she started "Why don't we throw a party." she said, it was a joke, but the truth was if they were going to try to be anything he'd have to take it in stride.

"You want us to throw a breakin' up party?" he asked almost incredulously. "So everyone can be mad at me again?" to which she laughed.

"Yeah! At the bar. We can play sad music and we can have Morgan MC a storytelling break-up series." she said, the wheels turning in her head. Only Michonne could think of using one of the hardest things of her adult life and turn it into something whimsical. It was a good idea after all, when Abe and Rosita broke up there was an all out war for a minute, lines were drawn, loyalties were tested. It wasn't until Rosie and Tara started a thing that a true mend occurred and even now, Sasha being thrown in the mix always left a weird feeling for Rosita, everyone knew it but they were friendly so it didn't matter. Daryl and Carol had acted like she never happend so everyone was pretty easy on Morgan, however Jesus had a hard time breaking into the group since he'd basically blew up Rick and Michonne's spot after they'd started hooking up. It made sense that their group of friends would do something so flippant, and that Michonne, queen of everything was the one to suggest it.

Rick laughed as she started rattling off how to play this up and use it as a way to announce the distillery and just acquiesced. He wasn't gonna live this down. "This is great Rick! I'm glad something good can come out of you stomping all over my heart." she said with a chortle. Rick's grimace was unmistakable. She pat him on the shoulder as she calmed and he squeezed her hand, old habits and all. They left it at that as she bid Abe and Daryl farewell.


Sasha was sipping her drink out of the mason jar they'd snuck into the theater. Aperol spritzs were the new things Michonne had insisted everyone try before the summer came to an end.

"A break up party" Michonne said as they waited for the previews to begin.

"You are savage Chonne… Savage"

"What Sasha. It's almost been a year. I just had my first real conversation with my ex without us getting in our feelings and this seems perfect. Like a way for us to just get rid of the bad blood." Michonne nodded at herself, feeling mature and proud of her deductions.

"You sure this isn't a 'make up party'. I mean, Chonne, who celebrates their break-up with their ex? You're on some next level shit." Sasha said.

"Whatever. You should come. Even consider inviting 'he who must not be named' this time. It's been a few years, y'all are cool right?"

"I'd rather literally eat glass than be in the same room as that man. We aren't cool Michonne. Not sure if we ever will be." Sasha took a big swallow thinking of her ex, Bob and how despite everything he'd left an important piece of himself in her heart. He just needed to fix his own life first, which he was trying to do, but girl couldn't wait.

"Well, I'm thinking of inviting Andrea and maybe even Abbie." Michonne said nauntiently.

"Oh, it's like that kinda party." Sasha said with a raised eyebrow. "What! It's been like almost 8 years since Abbie left town for Update New York and Andy's back in town and I'm a free agent as far as we're both concerned. Abbie's here for a couple weeks on business and she asked to meet for coffee."

"Does JR know about you and the sharpshooter or the agent?" Sasha asked, giving her girlfriend a nudge. "Never came up. Plus, John's not the type to be weirded out about who folks are into."

"Some guys get insecure about that shit." Sasha offered.

"Well, if he's weird about it, that would be a deal breaker for me. Rick was never weird about it."

"Rick wanted to be the meat in that sandwich, if you know what I mean." Sasha said wiggling her eyebrows like a kid on Christmas.

"Whatever Sasha. You're officially cut off." Michonne said, taking the drink from her friends hand and capping it.

"Anyway!" Sasha said with a breathiness that showed she'd cooled off, "I'm kinda excited about this! Maybe I'll tell the Spencer story." Michonne almost choked on her drink as she recalled the very excruciating details of 'the Spencer story'.

"Spare us all the details of that one. I'm sure no one but me knows that you two had a torrent romance that resulted in a broken arm."

"He said he wanted to try it!" Sasha huffed. "Girl, Spencer, god love him is a hot bag of rocks." Michonne laughed, watching Sasha blush a deep pink. The lights turned down low as the previews began. The two enjoyed the hell out of the movie and their time together.


"You going?" John asked his brother as they lifted his couch through the door of the new condo he was moving into with Maggie. It had been a few weeks since baby Rhee was announced to the Greene and Rhee clans. Both sets of grandparents were shocked to say the least and after a lot of cajoling from John towards his mother who was a bit sad that her younger son was going to be living in sin again, she was pleased that it was Maggie, again. John and Glenn had moved most of the boxes the week before with the help of Noah and Eugene. Although Glenn was sad to be leaving the two, the prospect of moving back in with the mother if his child was exciting and terrifying. They'd done this dance once before and that shit led to him living in a nerd cave with Robin and Rain Man. He needed this to work, and he hoped that Maggie was on the same page, finally.

"Michonne has a morbid sense of humor." Glenn marvels, thinking about the last time at Black Hole when Michonne told him about the party. "But I'm obviously going to go."

*John had been thinking about the conversation with Michonne they'd had on their Sunday date the week prior. One season of Bojack Horseman later they were eating ice cream in bed in an almost domestic bliss. John was enjoying the simplicity of their afternoon when Michonne brought up the party. It was a bit weird, but he was dating an artist type, so he was cool with it until she said it was spurred on by a conversation she'd had with the killer cowboy. He wasn't sure what It (killer clown) wanted from his not-girlfriend, but he knew that fucker was playing at something. John wasn't a jealous type at all, but the growing familiarity of having Michonne in his life was something he wanted to keep for a little while longer. Fucking Rick Grimes, John signed wanting to be something he wasn't before, possessive.

"So you're inviting all your exes to your bar?" he had asked, wondering how this got so weird so fast.

"Yeah. Andy's back in town and I got a text from Abbie last week."

"Abbie?" he said, raised eyebrow "Yeah… problem?"

"None. Sounds hot. I'm sure Abbie is a smoke show." to which she grunted, pinching him in the ribs. "Totally." she said. A few beats past before he asked about the killer cowboy.

"He's going to be there of course. It is our anniversary after all." John frowned. "Don't be weird about it." she followed, as his frown deepened.

"The dude is absolutely still in love with you and plotting to get you back. I'm not trying to be weird about it." John wasn't sure where this was coming from.

"You wanted this to be casual." she said, nothing this disposition changing.

"I don't know what I'm doing Michonne. I'm not use to being jealous."

"He's always going to be around John." she said with finality. "Need I remind you that you agreed and said you wanted us to see where this goes. I'm comfortable to you, and you like that cuz you've never had this before."

"That's not it." John protested, they were having their first disagreement.

"It is JR. You've never stuck around for the good stuff. The 'we have a routine' stuff, and so this feels nice and fuzzy. You like me because I'm growing more familiar, and because this is all shiny and new. I get it!" she sighed. There it was, all the things he'd been hemming and hawing over since they got back from the Bay Area.

"Michonne, I really like you." John began, but before he could finish she said "And I like you too John Rhee. I just know that this thing is good and fun, and temporary." she said.

"Temporary?" he asked, feeling a gut wrenching he'd never really experienced before.

"John! You want to be a Clooney. Live your life, date around, be free and easy until your 40s. We're traveling down different roads. I'm glad that we are doing this thing, and I hope we learn a lot from each other. You're an amazing man JR, and I know you're not the settling down type- yet, and I'm getting ready to be. I want to be someone's hot mom, in two years, not ten. You told me not to bullshit you so I'm being honest."

"So you're breaking up with me?" he asked, imagining himself as BoJack spiraling into a bottomless pit of despair.

"John, I'm not breaking up with you. I'm just telling you where I am. I do like you John a lot more than I'm willing to admit out loud. I just want you to know where my head, and my heart is John. This is good- the fun, carefree stuff, the dates in bed, and sex is great. I'm just getting ready for the hard stuff, and I want that with someone who's sure."

"Someone like Rick?" John asked

"Maybe. Rick and I have history, but I'm not sure about a future."

"He is" John admitted "Is what? Michonne asked.

"Sure" and like that the reality of where he was and where he wanted to be blurred together. Could he imagine having a kid in two years? Would he want to move Michonne into his apartment and have breakfast together on the weekends. Did he feel comfortable with someone in his home while he was away, besides his cleaning lady. It all felt just too much, and he knew she was right. He wasn't ready for that, even if she was the hottest lady in Atlanta, even if she was near perfect, he was still not- still wanted vacations away, and nights out whenever he felt like it. He liked being unattached, needed it.

"Well fuck." John sighed, watching the gleam in Michonne eyes as she watched him process what she had said. "Well… lets" she said, removing the heavy blanket of feelings that were clouding the afternoon. Taking his hands and sliding them to her very warm and wet center.

"Let's hammer out the details later." she said, sliding into his lap and placing kisses across his cheeks and nose before leaning in for a searing kiss. It was perfect, and temporary.


Glenn shook his brother out if his thoughts, asking him if he's ok.

"Do you think I'm Clooney?" John asked. "Oh totally! You're definitely going to live it up til you're 40." Glenn nodded in approval.

"Michonne said that." John replied.

"Dude, she's right. You know and I know that if you try to do the whole exclusive relationship thing with her, you're only going to fuck up the friendship you're building." Glenn providing an astute confirmation of John's feelings. "Dude, every time I bring up baby Rhee you get that weird look on your face like it's already pooping on you." Glenn laughed as his brother registered the face he was making.

"Don't be mad at her for calling it straight."

"Damn. I'm really that guy." John sat on the couch and just rubbed his forehead. When did he become that guy? In any case, he was glad that he'd be getting some practice on how to not be that guy with Michonne.

"So what do I do Glenn. Since you're basically my Dr. Drew?" John asked.

"She said, just go with it. So just go with it. If either of you find someone else, just be straight forward. If someone makes your heart beat like it's gonna explode, call it quits and see where that goes."

"Is this more k-dara wisdom?" John asked.

"More like some Depak Chopra." Glenn said laughing.