A/N: Hi everyone! It's Emily of E&G, and it's been awhile… yikes, sorry. It's been busy for us both but It's officially summer and we are back with chapter 11! Your comments are so appreciated as always and thank you so much for continuing to follow our story. Rick and Michonne are still figuring things out but we think you'll love this chapter and what's coming up. Enjoy! :)

Michonne POV

Flashback

"Hey, Michonne" Mike greeted me happily as he stood up from his seat outside the small coffee shop and gave me a hug.

"I got here a little early so I ordered your usual"

I could not stand to let this man be so sweet to me for one more second while there was guilt written all over my face about what I was about to tell him. So, I decided to rip it off like a band-aid. "Mike, I think that we need to talk…" I began.

"Oh yeah, me too," he said interrupting and reaching over the table to clasp my hand.

"I think this has been going really well lately, and I just want you to know that I really like you Michonne annnd…"

"Mike-" I finally stopped him and slowly pulled my hand away from his.

"I think that we need to end things, I'm sorry." I looked back at him waiting for a reaction but nothing came for the first few seconds. Eventually, he looked at me with a confused and hurt expression in his eyes.

"Umm… did, did I do something wrong?" he asked.

I quickly shook my head "No, Mike, it has nothing to do with you. You're a really sweet guy and I really hope you find someone just as sweet as you but a lot has been going on and I've been really in my head lately. I just need to focus on myself, ya know?"

He did his best to muster up a smile and nodded his head, "Yeah, ...that completely makes sense." he nodded.

"To be honest with you, I was worried it had something to do with that guy Rick I met at the party, you two seemed really close and he kept staring at me funny, ...but anyways, I'm so glad it's not that."

I didn't know how to respond to that and thought it was probably the worst possible moment to explain how complicated our relationship is so I only smiled and nodded awkwardly. We both stood to say goodbye and he wrapped his arms around me again, "Well… maybe we'll see each other again sometime," he said hopefully.

"...yeah maybe,"

..

If the situation was actually funny, I would've laughed at how wide Maggie's eyes and mouth were.

"Close your mouth Mags!", I hissed at her now that people were starting to look our way.

"I would if that wasn't so brutal! Jesus Mich!", she replied shaking her head effectively making me feel even shittier.

"I know, I know, I know….", I sighed, "I just couldn't take it anymore."

"Take anymore of what!? I thought he was treating you well. Do I need to beat his ass?", Maggie asked already getting out of her seat.

"No! Margret sit down!", I hissed again.

"Michonne you better tell me right now did he do something to you. If he did so help me I will shove my foot so far up his ass that I'll walk us both back to Wakanda!", she said causing half of the restaurant to turn and look at us.

"Maggie he has done nothing and Wakanda isn't even a real place! Sit!", I yelled back making even more people turn around.

"Oh. Well, why didn't ya say so?", Maggie said sweetly, straightening out her skirt before she sat back down. I dropped my head in my hands already feeling a headache start to form.

"Do you always have to cause a damn scene, Maggie?", I sighed.

"Nope. Only when it comes to you, my dear friend. Matter of fact you should feel honored. Not many people get this much energy from me ya know."

"Mmmhmmm….I can think of one-"

"Hush! Anyways are you sure you're okay? I mean if you said everything was good then what was the problem?", Maggie asked grabbing my hand from my head to hold. "You know you can tell me anything."

Yea…..thing is Mags, I hung out with your brother, made out with him while I was still in a relationship with Mike and then pushed your brother completely away with my reaction to his confession of love for me. So sorry; think I'm gonna bite my tongue on this one.

"I know that Maggie but…..it's really nothing. Like I said, I just need to focus on me right now. With work and everything, I guess I tried to juggle too many things at once.", I said trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"Okay, Mich…..But just know that if you wanna talk, I'm here. And if you wanna lock ourselves in my house and get pizza, Ice cream, and alcohol poisoning, I'm here. And if you wanna beat his ass, I'll keep my vaseline and sneakers by the door.", she said winking after the last one.

"Ughh! Shut up; I love you!", I replied willing a couple tears away as Maggie burst into laughter. "Okay so seriously enough about me. Rick is dating someone?", I asked trying not to sound too disappointed or too eager for information on it. As soon as the words left my mouth, Maggie's whole demeanor changed again. She slumped down in her seat and let out a long sigh.

"Yea….Tara set him up with this chick, but…...but I guess they hit it off."

"Oh….Well you don't sound too happy about it. Do you not like the girl?"

"Nah, I've never even met her. I just….I guess I just pictured Rick with someone else." Maggie replied shifting her eyes around.

Welp, that makes two of us Mags.

Glenn's POV

"No Scott. I've already considered it and I don't want this particular event held at a park. God forbid one of those children to wander off from playing and stumble in. Hershel Greene has generously offered up a couple acres of his land so that we can set up shop. I have some pictures of the layout so tomorrow we can go ahead and get started on exactly how we want to set up the stands and the seating areas. I also want the head of security and quality control briefed on this. When we make the announcement and post to all of our social media platforms I want it made clear that absolutely no one gets into this event without ID. And then-"

*Beep! Beep!*

I stopped talking and pulled the phone away from my face so that I could see who was trying to call me. My heart lit up as I saw my Maggie's gorgeous face smiling back at me. I remember taking that picture of her while we were away last weekend. I was checking some emails on my phone when she jumped on the bed facing me. She likes to do this thing with my hair where she tries to put it all up in the middle into a mohawk or something and this time I guess she succeeded because she started to crack up laughing at me. I immediately switched over to camera mode on my phone and cut the flash off so that she had no idea I was snapping photos of her. When I finally got a chance to go back through them, I saw that I caught one of her in mid-laugh. Her head was tilted, lips pulled back in a grin over her pretty white teeth and I'd even caught that distinct little wrinkle in her nose that she got when she was laughing hard.

"Scott, I have another call but I'll see you at the meeting so we can continue going over the finishing touches tomorrow…...Ok. Bye." I hurried to click over so that I wouldn't miss my loves call. "Hello, beautiful," I smiled into the phone remembering how I wrecked havoc on her and her class today.

"Hey, Kenny boy. Watcha doin'?", she asked jokingly.

"Nothing really, just finalizing some things for the event. You sound out of breath. You ok?"

"Are you home?"

"Uhhhhh yea. I-"

"Great. Open up."

I threw my phone on the couch and jogged over to my front door. When I opened it, there she stood looking just as beautiful as ever. I opened the door wide and stepped aside so she could enter my house. She hurried through the door without even looking my way and turned around facing away from me as she kicked off her heels still rushing.

"Babe, what's going on? And why are you out of breath; did you run all the way over here or something?"

"Actually I did. I took the stairs instead of the elevator since somebody bought cookies for lunch. And you're not gonna believe what I just found out. I didn't wanna tell you over the phone cause we need to think of a plan.", she said slinking out of her light coat.

"A plan for what?"

"Michonne just told me she-"

"That she what?", I asked wondering why she turned around and stopped dead in her tracks. At first, her face dropped but then I saw her lips start to curl into a mischievous smile.

"How dare you….", she said with narrow eyes scanning me head from head to toe.

"How dare I what?! Maggie quit it, you're freaking me out!", I said taking a step back. She looked like a lion ready to pounce.

"How dare you put those on again let alone in my presence?", she asked in a deep voice pulling at the drawstring of my grey sweatpants….Oh shit.

"Well in my defense I had no idea that you were coming over!"

"Mmhmm...come on.", she said pulling me by hand into my bedroom. When we got there she positioned me right in front of my closet door which doubled as a full-length mirror. When I had gotten home today I immediately stripped and jumped into the shower. When I got out I didn't even bother to put on a shirt and I definitely didn't think twice about putting on this pair of grey sweatpants.

"Now tell me; what do you see?", she asked

"I see a regular Korean guy in grey sweatpants."

"Ha! Wrong answer baby! What's the second thing you see?", she asked and before I could answer she pinched me in the side hard as fuck.

"Ahh! Mags that hurt."

"And be honest!", she stressed.

"Fine!...my dick.", I answered begrudgingly.

"Ding ding ding ding ding!"

Weeks ago I invited Maggie over for dinner at my place. I had just finished working out at the gym in my building. Now Maggie being the over punctual lady that she is, showed up fifteen minutes early. When I opened the door in my t-shirt and grey sweats, she completely lost it. She must've scolded me for fifteen minutes straight and forbid me to wear them out in public or around her cause it's distracting. I didn't see what the big deal was until she made me do little things around the house while she filmed me. After that, she sat me down to watch it and I guess you could say I was more than surprised at how revealing those pants are. You could basically see my entire length. Then she went on to explain to me how she didn't want all the women in the city to have wet dreams about "her dick" and then she called me a…..thirst trap?

Thinking back on all that made me look into the mirror back at her and smile. My baby sure has come out of her shell.

She was standing behind me with her hands on her hips. Without turning around, I reached behind me to grab her arms and wrap them around my waist. Then I took her hands and hooked both of her thumbs inside the sweats.

"Well baby, I do think there is a very simple solution to all of this."

"And what's that?", she asked with attitude. I then placed my hands over hers and in one quick movement brought down my grey sweats and underwear. I didn't spend much time looking into her wide eyes through the mirror cause I then turned around to completely face her.

"If you don't like the sweats, I'll just take them off.", I said shrugging my shoulders.

She bit down hard on her lip and then peered up at me through her thick lashes. Then without warning, she pushed me against the mirror crushing her soft lips against mine.

….

After round one, round two in the shower and a sub meal from Jimmy Johns, we were sprawled out on the sofa with the tv on but muted. I had my head resting in her lap while she played in my hair and scolded me again for distracting her from the whole reason she came over in the first place. Before she really got into things, I zoned out about how right this felt. I used to laugh at the married guys at the company who told me that all this success was nothing if I had no one to share it with. Maggie wasn't just some chick that you meet somewhere and just casually sleep with whenever you feel like it. I've had a lot of those girls and they're all the same. They're boring, pretty but shallow and easy as hell to get over. But Maggie….We actually know each other. We can actually have a conversation. With her, I could have a dollar to my name and still feel like the richest guy in the room. Matter of fact, I don't think I've ever felt this comfortable with anyone.

"Ouch!", I jumped not expecting her to flick me in the head.

"Wake up it's about to get good.", she said pushing my head off of her lap.

"I wasn't even sleeping, girl. So what was so important that you wanted to come over and make a plan?", I asked sitting up and giving her my full attention.

"Ok so, Michonne broke up with Mike.", she blurted out excitedly.

"What? Why?"

"She said she just has a lot on her plate and needs to focus on herself but….I don't know. I just feel like there's something she's not telling me ya know. But that's not even the worst part!"

"There's more?" I asked already cringing.

"Hell yea there's more! Rick actually went out with that girl! Tara came to get our drink order and she told me that she briefly talked with Rick and that he told her that he had a great time with her!"

"Woooow…"

"I know right! Like how could he do that to Michonne! And that's why we need to come up with a plan. Michonne's single now and just because Rick had a good time doesn't mean anything right? We have to talk to him and get down to the bottom of this. We need to just sit them both down and-"

"Maggie Maggie Maggie time out!", I said making the signal with my hands. "Listen, baby. I know that's your brother and you want the best girl for him but….we don't even know if Michonne feels the same way about him. And if she told you that she has a lot on her plate then I don't think starting up a brand new relationship would be the best thing for her right now."

"But I just feel like that's not all of it; like there's something that she's not telling me. How could she just dump Mike like that? He was doing everything right and he was hot as hell!"

"Hotter than me?!", I asked pretending to be hurt.

"Awww baby of course not.", She said crawling over and straddling my lap. She grabbed my face in both of her hands and gave me the sweetest kiss. "You're that hottest Ken doll I know."

"Shut up.", I said making her crack up again.

"I mean it. If there were an Asian Wakanda I'm sure that's where you'd be from."

"Fine fine...I'll take it. But seriously honey, let's not play matchmaker on this one."

"Why not?"

"Cause Michonne and Rick have known each other for a long time. And if all this goes in the wrong direction it could mess up their friendship. I'll talk to Rick and see if I can get the details on this date but after that, I think we should stay out of this."

"No."

"No?"

"No….I wanna talk to Rick. I'll stop by his house after work tomorrow and casually pry. If he's happy then I guess…..I guess I'll just leave it alone.

Rick's POV

"Alright. Keys, check. Credit card, check….", I said mumbling my mental checklist to myself. Just then I heard the low rumbling of an engine pull up and turn off in my driveway. I walked briskly to my front door to let Nabila know that she could come in for a drink if she wanted. But when I swung open the door, I was greeted with my little sister's face instead.

"Mags! What's up; I wasn't expecting you.", I said giving her a quick hug.

"The kids had early release today so I just thought I'd stop by to see my favorite brother."

"Ha! I'm your only brother."

"Yeah well… you gonna let me in or what?", she asked peeking around me as if she were looking for something. I moved out of the doorway so that she could step in.

"I was actually just on my way out but sure…...Umm, is everything okay?", I asked closing the door after her.

"Just peachy. So where you headed out to brother?"

"Uh, Nabila and I are going to the mall. She's gonna help me pick out an outfit for Glenn's party. And why are you acting so weird?"

"I'm not acting weird. I ran into Tara yesterday…...she told me you and Nabila had a good time when you went out.", she said shifting her eyes around the living room. What in the hell is wrong with her today?

"Yea we did. She's a really really nice girl. If you wanna stick around you can meet her."

"No, it's ok. I just….Ok, look Rick, I wanna know how you can just up and move-"

"My hat! Hold that thought, Maggie. I'm gonna run upstairs and grab it real quick before Nabila comes.", I said already jogging towards the staircase. I heard her let out a big sigh and mumble something under her breath. Geeze…..What's got her so bothered today? It better not be Glenn cause I already made a clear warning to him.

"Rick! Your phone's ringing!", Maggie yelled.

"Just answer it! I'll be right down!", I yelled back still looking for my favorite cougar hat.

Maggie's POV

I walked over to the coffee table to grab Rick's phone before the vibration knocked it right off the table. Hmmm…..the name on the caller ID looked so familiar. I could've sworn that I've heard that name somewhere before.

"Hello."

"Rick?"

"No this is Maggie speaking. Rick ran upstairs to get something but he'll be right down if you wanted to hold on for a sec.", I said in my rarely used receptionist voice.

"Maggie? Maggie Greene?"

"Uh yes…...I'm sorry; do we know each other?"

"No. We don't….How's your father doing these days?"

"He's doing fine but may I ask who's speaking?" All of a sudden I got this uneasy feeling in my gut. There was a long silence before he spoke again.

"Tell Rick I'll call him back."

"Well like I said, if you would just hold on for a second he'll be right down-"

"Bye Maggie."

Rick's POV

As I rushed back down to the living room, I slowed down my stride when I saw Maggie facing away from me just staring down at my phone. I walked up behind her and hesitantly placed my hand on her shoulder. Something wasn't right. I could feel it. She turned around slowly and when she faced me fully, the heat of her gaze made my stomach drop.

"Rick….Who's Spencer?", she asked.

If I could just drop dead for a little while then that would be great.

"Rick."

Out of all the damn people in the world to call me at that very moment!

"Rick?"

There's no way I can tell her now. But if I don't she'll never let it go. I've kept this from her long enough and she already looks like she knows something. Ugh! Why why why why why why now?!

"Rick!"

"What did he say to you?", I asked not even sure that I wanted to find out. Maggie narrowed her eyes at me before she finally spoke.

"Well, first of all, he knew my last name and then he asked how daddy was doing. He was so ominous and weird. When I asked who I was speaking to he refused to tell me. Rick, who the hell is this guy and how does he know me?"

"Look, Maggie now isn't a good time-"

"What the hell do you mean it's not a good time Rick; I'm standing right here.", she said spreading her arms out.

*Buzzzzzzzz…..Buzzzzzzzz*

Maggie jumped slightly when my phone started to vibrate in her hand again. She glanced down at it, rolled her eyes and then shoved the phone in my chest. When I looked down I saw Nabila's name on the screen. Sheesh…..talk about saved by the fucking bell. I gave Maggie my most apologetic face and answered the call.

"Hey, Nabila. What's up?"

"You're what's up silly. I'm outside so whenever you're ready we can get this ball rolling."

"Great! Okay, I'll be right out.", I said hanging up and sliding the phone in my back pocket. I slowly took a couple of steps closer to Maggie and put both of my hands on her shoulders.

"Look Mags…..Honestly, he's just some guy-"

"Just some guy? Just some guy who knows and checks up on your family and won't even identify himself?"

"He knows you because I've mentioned you and Hershel before. And no he's not just some random guy. He's more than that but I just can't get into it right now okay…. Please, Maggie, this is like the worst timing ever; Nabila's outside."

"Fine Rick. But I wanna know who the hell this mystery Spencer guy is and why you're acting so damn secretive about him. And in a timely fucking fashion too!", she said turning on her heels and heading towards the door. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding and followed her out, locking the door behind us.

By the time I turned around, Nabila had gotten out of her car and had my little sister crushed in a bear hug.

"It's so nice to meet you, Maggie. Rick's told me so much about you. And girl I love that outfit! Rick's apple must've just fallen waaaay away from the tree.", Nabila said causing Maggie to laugh for the first time since she's been in my presence.

"Thanks, hun. We've all tried to steer him in the right direction but as you can see that didn't work.", Maggie said side eyeing me briefly. I was thankful as hell that my sister knows how to keep up appearances. Lord knows the last thing I wanna do is have to explain to Nabila why my sister is pissed at me.

"Well, I'll leave you two to your shopping. Nabila it was nice meeting you."

"Same here Maggie. I promise I won't let him embarrass Y'all at any more functions.", Nabila replied with that funny giggle of hers.

"On behalf of the rest of the family, thank you so much.", Maggie giggled back. Then she turned around towards me and gave me a tight hug.

"I'd suggest you not catch any memory loss about what happened inside of this house today. Cause if you do, you gonna catch these hands and I'm positive you'll remember after that.", she whispered harshly into my ear. I'm sure the look on my face said it all but when Maggie backed away from me she had the most pleasant smile on her face.

"Get something nice. Love you.", she said patting me on the back as she walked to her car.

"Okay so we want Michonne to be really impressed but we also want her to be able to recognize you, so what would you normally pick out?" Nabila asked looking up at me.

"Also what is this event for again?"

"It's a party to promote Glenn's newest brand of beer. It's open to the public for a limited time but all his friends are on the guest list and that's where Michonne comes in." I explained.

"Oh okay, so pretty fancy," she said continuing to sift through the clothes rack.

"How about something like this?" I asked holding up a plain black button down shirt.

"I can wear it with my normal jeans and boots"

"Hmm… no Rick, you can't," Nabila responded laughing.

"Okay fine," I said smirking and turning back to the clothes.

"You said that you took her to prom in high school right?" She asked

"Yes, and that reminds me, I've told you way more about Michonne than you've told me about this Ezekiel. You still owe me that story," I reminded her.

Nabila just looked at me and shrugged.

"Come on tell me," I said to her.

"Alright fine," she said rolling her eyes.

"He's technically my boss, and I suppose I could say that I was in love the second I saw him. We became friends and when I got promoted and we continued to stay in touch even if it wasn't for work. He's always been a really flirty kind of guy but I could never tell if he felt the same way about me,"

"Nabila, not that I'm an expert, cuz I'm definitely not but it sounds to me like you need to tell this guy to either make a decision or to lose your number. You're too good to be waiting on him."

"Yeah Rick, your probably right. But to be fair, I did try to move on.", she joked nudging me in the side.

"Oh god.", I groaned turning a little red. "It's funny how things work out huh?"

"Oh yea...this funny little life we live.", she replied with a sigh.

"Hey! Will you come with me to the event?", I asked excitedly.

"That's really sweet Rick but I don't wanna crash the party or any-"

"You won't be crashing anything; it's open to the public. Come on. You'll get to get in early with me and among the first to sample the new brew. Besides, I need you. With you there, you can keep me from doing anything weird or stupid in front of Michonne. Please.", I wined sounding like a child.

She giggled that sweet sound as she shook her head.

"Fine Rick. Free food and alcohol? I'd be a fool to say no.", she said throwing her hands in the air.

I got overly excited again and rushed her with a hug.

"Thank you so much! And hey, there'll be a lot of guys there so if this Ezekiel situation doesn't work out, maybe you'll meet someone."

"Yea….yea you're right. Thanks, Rick.", she said with a weak smile.

I watched her try to shake the thought of Ezekiel from her mind and get back to the task at hand.

"Well anyway," she continued, "I thought I saw something good in the front of the store, just go to the fitting rooms and I'll bring it to you"