A/N: So I'm still basking in the glow of last night's finale, and I literally got two different story ideas within the span of two hours, so… you'll be seeing even more of me soon! In the meantime, I just want to quickly say that I'm super glad most of you enjoyed the last chapter; it was fun to write and get some stuff and thangs off Michonne's chest, haha.

KK, and a couple of others, to answer your question, Michonne 100% slept with Daryl. (I guess I could've just let you read this chapter, but I didn't want anyone to be confused about that going in lol.) So… I hope that doesn't make you think less of Michonne, because that was not at all the intent. But of course, all this stuff is subjective, and open to your own interpretation! Either way, I hope you enjoy this one. Love you guys! I feel so giddy, and excited for next season right now, ahhhh! –Ash

lazy sunday

After our exhausting conversation and what had to be the most painful tooth extraction since the invention of procaine, I sent Michonne to my room while I cleaned up the mess we'd made in the dining room. I then headed upstairs to get a quick shower, and then I would leave her to rest. That was the plan, anyway.

The bathroom was full of steam by the time I stepped into the shower stall, so it took a bit for me to realize that I wasn't alone. "Michonne?" I called out, even though I could tell from the blurry silhouette that it was her.

"Yeah?" she answered casually.

She probably just had to pee, but I still felt odd, standing there completely naked, behind a glass door. I kept my back to her. "You all right?"

The door opened and I couldn't help but turn around then. She stood before me, naked from head to toe and I couldn't take my eyes off of her – the look on her face as she licked her lips, the smoothness of her skin, the exquisiteness of her shoulders, down to her world-class, supple breasts; the splendid curve of her hips, down to the lips between her thighs. She was the definition of perfect.

She had a look in her eye that I had never seen before, as she wordlessly stepped in the stall to join me. She gently pressed her soft body against my wet one and we slithered underneath the water together. I wasted no time finding her breasts and how they fit perfectly into my hands; I took them into my mouth, sucking at her nipples, one at a time. Her hands were gripping my hair and she was already bracing herself against the shower wall to wrap her long legs around me. I gladly welcomed them, pushing apart her perfectly thick thighs. As soon as I touched her, I wondered how I'd gone this long without doing it.

As I pushed inside her gently, she put her hands on either side of my face and everything else seemed to fall away. I had never gotten so lost in a kiss before. Her mouth tasted like her blood and I couldn't have cared less. I tasted her and realized I'd been starving. My heart kept missing beats and my hands couldn't bring her close enough. She gripped my neck tightly, breathing heavily in my ear as the water beat down on top of our heads. Our bodies fit together like missing puzzle pieces. I've had good sex, and I've made love, but neither felt like this. It didn't burn me alive. I didn't know what would happen next - maybe this would last an hour, maybe we'd last a lifetime. What I did know is that I'd been waiting forever for this woman.

when you call my name
when you love me gently
when you're walking near me
i'm in really love with you

The next morning, I woke up to find Michonne fast asleep just next to me, her leg wrapped around my waist. The Sunday morning sun streaming in and bouncing off of her face made her look like an angel. And the white sheets tangled against her dark skin made her look like a goddess. She was so damn beautiful. As I brushed her hair from her face, her eyes fluttered open, focusing in on me sleepily.

"Hey," I said quietly, smiling down at her.

She closed her eyes and yawned, rolling over so that she was lying on her back. "Good morning."

I laid back against my pillow as well, still gazing over at her. "How are you feeling?"

"So much better." She quickly ran her fingers over her lips and then rested her hand on her face. "Thank you."

"Thank you for trusting me."

"Thank you for trusting me," she smirked. She yawned again, and sat up straight, letting the sheets fall from her naked body. "What time is it?"

"I have no idea," I answered, making no secret of the fact that I was staring.

"Are the kids home?"

"No clue."

She looked back at me, amused. "You want some breakfast?"

"Nope." I snaked my arm around her waist, pulling her back down with me in a soft crash. "I just wanna lay here with you all day."

"Mmm," she sighed, nestling close to me once again. "That sounds like fun."

"And tomorrow, too."

I could hear the smile in her voice as she replied, "And the day after that, too."

"And forever."

"Forever ever?"

"Forever ever?" I chuckled, mimicking the song I knew she was referencing. "Yes."

She laughed in reply, letting her hand rest against my chest as she glanced up at me. "What do you know about Outkast?"

"Excuse you," I answered jokingly. "I am Georgia born and bred, you know."

"I do know this. But you strike me as someone more into… I dunno, Rascal Flatts."

"Oh, so you think I'm one dimensional."

"Well I wasn't gonna say it, but…"

"I know all you city folks think small towns are full of country bumpkins, but believe it or not, we had radio stations and even the internet," I said, playing up my twang. "We were exposed to all kindsa music."

"Shut up." I could feel her face moving against my chest as she laughed. "You just made as many assumptions about me as I did about you."

"Oh, so you're not city folk?"

"I am," she admitted. "But my grandmother was from a small town near Columbus, and I would visit her all the time. Spent full summers there, so… I know about country livin'."

I looked down at her, genuinely surprised. I thought she spent her summers in Switzerland or something. "How much did you hate it?"

"So much." She rested her chin on my chest so that she could look at me as she spoke. "It was always me and a couple of my cousins that I really couldn't stand, and we'd be at each other's throats for two months straight."

"You mean you didn't get along with someone? That is shocking."

"Shut up!" she giggled again. "But in all seriousness, I didn't realize how much I cherished those moments until I got older, and my parents sent me to all these foreign places. The year before I started college, I spent my entire summer indoors, learning Russian and Mandarin. Made me really miss those moments where I sat on my grandma's porch, eating homemade ice cream."

"You didn't like traveling?" I wondered curiously.

"I loved it," she frowned to refute the question. "It taught me a lot; especially about how to be okay with being alone." Our eyes locked as she spoke. "But sometimes, that loneliness sneaks up on you. Especially when you've been gone a long time, and you just wanna talk to someone you know. It's not easy being away from home."

"Did you ever tell your parents how you felt?"

She rolled her eyes at such an idea. "No. That's not something you complain about."

"Why not?" I frowned back.

"Because I knew what was expected of me," she shrugged. "It's not like it would've changed anything."

As I internalized her words, I realized that that gave me a lot of insight into Michonne as a person. Why she was so withdrawn when we first met. It had taken real work for her to open up, and I seemed to be doing everything in my power to quell that by not opening up myself. "Did you enjoy your life before, Michonne?"

"I did," she answered with a thoughtful smile. "I was working my way up to partner at my law firm. I was happily unmarried to this beautiful man named Mike – he was a chef, and used to spoil me rotten," she grinned. But it slowly faded as she gazed at me seriously, and I could tell she was regretting whatever happened to him. I was so scared to ask, but I wanted to know so badly. And then the real bomb was dropped. "And we had a son."

"You what?" I returned before I could even think about it.

She let out a big sigh as she continued to look me in the eye. "His name was Andre. And as I know you know all too well about your children, he was my everything. He was the one to show me that I didn't know shit about life until he came into it."

I sat there, stunned, at a complete loss for words as I felt her tears fall against my skin. No wonder she thought I was an asshole for never asking about her. She had so much going on beneath the surface. She was fearless in a way that I didn't even know. With her hand rested over my heart, I squeezed it lightly. "They died after?" I guessed, feeling a tear roll down my own cheek.

Her eyes affirmed my assumption. "Those pet walkers Merle told you about?"

"Yeah?"

"One of them was Mike. The other was our friend. Terry." She exhaled again, turning her face so that her cheek rested against me, her tears continuing to fall. "They let it happen. The place we were at got overrun, and they were too high to save my baby or themselves. I wanted to punish them," she sniffled. "I wanted to punish myself."

I ran my fingers through her hair as I softly responded, "For what?"

"For not being there."

"Well if I know anything about you, I know you were gone for good reason."

"Trying to find food," she confirmed with a scoff. "It could've waited, though."

"Hey." I waited for her to look up at me, and I used my thumb to wipe her tears away. "Don't do that."

"It's the truth, Rick."

"I know you had to have made some sort of peace with it to get this far. To have taken care of Judy and Carl the way you have. Don't backslide and start thinking of all your mistakes… especially if they weren't actually mistakes."

"Like I said," she sighed, "sometimes it just sneaks up on you."

"Well when it does… no matter when, no matter where, I want you to tell me... talk to me. I'll be the person you know."

"You don't have that kinda time," she smiled sadly.

"My life is nothing but room for you," I promised, looking her in the eye. "That's all it ever will be."

when you look at me
i open up instantly
i fall in love so quickly
i'm in really love with you

She moved our sheets out of the way and pulled herself up so that she was straddling me, making us face to face, skin to skin. "Why didn't we do this sooner?"

I shook my head as my hands roamed over her strong shoulders and down her arms. "Because you were too stubborn to apologize and I was too stubborn to forgive you," I grinned.

She narrowed her big brown eyes at me suspiciously. "I think you have that backwards, Mr. Grimes."

I had no intentions of starting another argument, so I just smiled and agreed. "All right." I gave her ass a gentle squeeze, pulling her close for a kiss. And as she moved her naked body further up mine, it was clear to us both that we were ready for Round 2.

i'm in really love with you…

"What did you like to do on rainy days?"

"Paint," was her simple answer.

"Really? Like, on a canvas?"

"Mostly," she nodded. "But I did a mural in André's room when he was born. It was this really beautiful Amazonian forest, where I only used shades of green. Was working on another one for my home office when everything happened."

"So you were good at it," I marveled.

"I guess…"

"So we've got… full-time mom, corporate lawyer, part-time painter, all-around sword-wielding badass, video game enthusiast, you shoot whiskey like it's a gun, you like to cook, you know more languages than I know words in English..." I was shaking my head in disbelief that one person could be so many different, wonderful things. "Where the fuck did you come from?"

She giggled in response, causing her stomach to contract beneath my face. "Well when you put it that way..."

"I mean, I already thought it before, but that just confirms that you are just too good for this life. We don't deserve you."

"Don't sell yourself so short there, Rick." She held my hand over her chest and smiled. "You created an entire family – fourteen people that you would kill and die for – virtually out of thin air," she said, shaking her head now. "That's not nothing."

"I appreciate that," I grinned back at her, "but that wasn't something I set out to do."

"Which makes it all the more astounding. Because that's just who you are. If you love someone, you love him, no questions asked. Even when you had nothing else to give, you still gave us love."

"You're right," I admitted, feeling a tiny bit of pride for what she'd seen in me. I did love her.

"Well when am I not right?" she joked.

I began to trail my finger along the peaks and valleys of her chest, eventually circling her hardened nipples as I smiled up at her. "Tell me about the best sex you've ever had. Before."

"Oh god." She laughed lightly, letting it fade into a mixture of a sigh and a soft moan. "Wow... I don't know."

"Just too many come to mind, huh?"

"Something like that," she grinned.

"Just tell me the first thing that popped into your head," I offered, moving my fingers from her breast and slowly down her torso to her belly button. I wanted to trace every inch of her.

"The first thing that popped into my head was you..."

I felt myself blushing and just held her tiny waist in my hands for a moment. "I said 'before.'"

"I know," she nodded. "And still, all I could think about was last night and this morning."

I couldn't contain the smile on my face as my fingers continued down the crevice between her thighs. "Answer the question..."

"From before," she exhaled sharply. "Okay. I think it would have to be when Mike and I were flying to Hawaii."

"On the plane?" I asked in surprise.

She nodded. "He had been teasing me for hours, much in the same way you're doing right now. And somewhere over the Pacific, I just couldn't take it anymore. I pulled him into the bathroom and told him to make it good. He came through like a champ, as he always did."

I smiled at her happy memory as my hands carefully and unhurriedly explored Michonne's body. "I think mine was in a bathroom too, actually."

"Tell me about it."

"Well…" I sighed, keeping my eyes on her. "Lori and I had driven up to Atlanta for my birthday. She got tickets for us to see Paul McCartney at Philips Arena. So we got a hotel and made a whole weekend out of it. To make a long story short, we liked to do this role-playing thing whenever we were in the city, where we pretended we were strangers. So at the concert, we just took that and ran with it." I chuckled fondly as I recalled that entire night. "We were drunk," I remembered. "And still completely in love. We snuck into one of those executive suites and just went to town on each other."

"So birthday sex and bathroom sex," she nodded approvingly. "That's a double whammy."

It wasn't lost on me how odd it was to be discussing what sex was like with our dead lovers. But I was glad we were open enough to do it. I grinned at this epiphany as my hands made their way down to her feet. I slowly ran my finger along the tops of each of her toes, then around her ankle before stopping. "You know what you need?"

"What?" She watched me sit up straight and begin to climb out of bed, but she stopped me. "Don't you dare move," she groaned, holding onto my wrist. "We were so nice and warm."

It was certainly hard to leave her there, lying perfectly naked, even if only for a second. "I'll be right back," I promised.

She let go of my arm and gave my bare ass a quick squeeze. "Hurry."

I headed into the bathroom, where I remembered seeing a caboodle full of nail polish beneath one of the cabinets. I wasn't sure how many of them had survived neglect, but I pulled out the case anyway and brought it to Michonne. "Pick a color."

She rolled to her side and looked up at me like I was crazy. "What?"

"You heard me," I retorted.

"For what?"

"For yourself. I'll give you a pedicure."

She was smiling uncontrollably as she sat up and gazed at me specifically. "Why are you doing this?"

I sat down with her, watching as she picked through the assortment of options. "Because why not?"

"What was… your favorite holiday?"

I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her contemplatively. "I dunno… Christmas I guess."

"You guess?"

"I think so. After Carl got old enough to enjoy it, it was all we ever worried about."

"Kids," she noted with a nod. She glanced down at her toes and gave me a smile of approval. "Nicely done, sir."

I looked down at my work, pretty happy with the results myself. "I dunno whether to be proud or ashamed that I'm so good at painting toenails."

"Wear it with pride," she assured me with a grin. "It's a good skill to have."

"Even now?" I asked. I went back to brushing a final coat of turquoise polish over her big toe.

"Especially now."

We had officially been in my bedroom all day now. The sun was setting as we continued to lie there unclothed while undressing each other emotionally. Invading each other's personal space in every way imaginable. Our past lives had been explored to death, and still, there were more questions to ask. More reasons not to leave this bed. This was the best day I could remember having in a long, long time.

when you touch me there
when you make me tingle
when our nectars mingle
i'm in really love with you

"It feels like maybe we should check on the kids," she proclaimed, glancing out to the orange view. "Carl hasn't bothered us since noon."

"I think he got the message after the third time," I chuckled. "Either that, or he went back to your house."

"Well, as much as Carol's been baking lately, that is probably the best place to be."

I closed the cap on the nail lacquer and set it on the nightstand before turning back for Michonne. I fell back onto the bed, using her body as my pillow. "I beg to differ."

She began to tangle her fingers in the ends of my hair and then deeper towards my scalp. "You're sweet."

"It feels like you don't agree..."

"No, I do," she answered softly, lifting her leg to examine her toes again. "I was just thinking… that maybe I shouldn't have left."

I glanced in the direction of her face, though I couldn't see it very well. "No shit, Michonne."

"Oh, shut up," she was grinning. "I like my house and I love my roommates. I love being able to branch out and have a life outside of you."

I nodded, because I had enjoyed that bit of our separation, too. Maybe even needed it. "So do I," I admitted quietly. "But the truth is, when I took off my ring, it was you I was thinking of. I always thought it would be Lori, but… it was only your face that I saw."

i'm not an easy man to overstand, you feel me?
but girl you're patient with me
i'm in really love with you

She stopped running her fingers through my hair and sat up a bit. "I saw you guys out there," she said with a frown on her face. "And I wasn't sure if you were trying to make me see you or what, but when you took off that ring? With her? I wanted to run out there and knock you out."

"That's not what I was doing," I chuckled.

"I didn't really think so, but I couldn't be sure, since you left all irrationally."

"I left because I was mad at you."

"And irrational because of it," she maintained. "But… to know that you were thinking of me is just…" She was smiling at the notion.

"I couldn't help but think that it should've been you standing there with me."

"Then why did you do it with her?"

"I don't know. Probably my ego, in some strange way," I nodded. "She asked me about it, and it seemed like a good way to move on from you."

She gave the top of my forehead a harsh tap. "Fuck you for thinking that."

"Fuck you for sleeping with Daryl," I retorted, half-jokingly. I was less upset about it than I had been, but it still flashed through my head here and there. "I know it's not my business," I said, looking up at her, "but just tell me why."

"It's bothering you that much?"

"Enough."

She lifted my head and sat up completely straight, letting my head fall back into her lap. She smiled at me warmly as I softly kissed the flesh of her stomach. "The truth is, I don't know."

"You don't know why you slept with him?"

"I mean, there wasn't much thought put into it. We were both drunk and didn't wanna be alone that night."

I accepted that thoughtfully, but I suppose I didn't want it to be that simple. I needed there to be a reason. "So it wasn't to piss me off?"

"No," she snorted, shaking her head at me. "I thought about you in that moment where I was deciding whether I would do it or not. Because I kinda always thought it would be you, I guess, but... no, this wasn't some act of revenge. I like Daryl."

"Yeah… I know you do."

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Because I know you do," I chuckled. "And he likes you."

"I think so..."

"So is there somethin' more there?" I asked cautiously. "I'm not trying to get in the middle of anything here." I realized I said that a bit futilely, seeing the position we were in, both literally and figuratively.

"Honestly? I don't know," she exhaled. "I don't think he wants anything more, and I'm pretty sure I don't either, but… I do like him."

"You're awful," I chuckled at her. "You and all your options."

"Pot, meet kettle," she shot back, smirking. "How 'bout you talk to me? What do you want here?"

all night, i wish for you here
lay your head beside my hip
i'm in really love with you

I wasn't quite sure of the answer that question. I wanted everything, but I also had no expectations. I knew by now that those were dangerous. "You ever think you'll get married?" I decided to ask.

She laughed quietly in response. "Why are you avoiding my question?"

"Because I don't have an answer yet. So let's go with mine."

"That sounds like something I can't even fathom right now," she replied, shaking her head. "At some point down the line… maybe? Why?"

"Just asking…"

She was frowning at me curiously, obviously trying to decipher why I was being so cagey. "Rick, what do you want here?" she asked seriously.

"I want you." I began to run my tongue along her thighs as I waited for her answer to that.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Her hands were in my hair again, and her voice had a smile in it. "I want you too, Rick."

"So then what now?" I wondered, looking up at her as I thought of Daryl, and even Rachael. Were we hurting them? Would they care? I was loath to find out the answer.

"You and Rachael are… what?" she asked cautiously, her voice lowering.

"We're just friends, but… I know she wants more than that," I admitted quietly. "And I like her. Something about her makes me feel… good. Safe, even." I let out a sigh, shaking my head at the thought. "But she wasn't the light I was looking for."

Michonne looked down bashfully, trying to contain another grin. "So you weren't trying to make me jealous?"

"I might've been, a little," I confessed, smirking. "But I never had sex with her. Never even thought about it," I clarified. "I wouldn't do that after I spent a year waiting for you."

"Oh, wow." She was nodding her head slowly, as if sarcastically. "If you're trying to make me feel guilty, it's working."

"Good. I chuckled to let her know I wasn't serious, and then sat up to face her, spreading her thighs so I could fit in the space between them. She looked at me as if she had a thousand more secrets to share, and I was ready to uncover them all. But first, I was going to use the rest of the night to make her forget her name.

i'm in really love with you

Lyrics: "Really Love" – D'Angelo & The Vanguard (Black Messiah)