******Sorry it's been quite a few days, but I wanted to make sure these next couple chapters are good( well, at least, I hope they are). I know it hasn't been that long, but I still apologize. I really don't like to keep you guys waiting. I like to get chapters posted as soon as I can. Anyway, I hope you all like it. :)*****
Michonne and Carl went home after taking Enid back to her house. Rick wasn't there and that surprised and worried Michonne. It surprised her because she was sure that he would be home and it worried her because she didn't know where he was.
Rick finally walked through the door about an hour later. He didn't even say "Hey" when he walked in. He just walked in and stared at Michonne.
Michonne realized that she needed a shower; her day with Heath ended up being way more work than she thought.
"Before I start dinner, I'm going to to take a shower", Michonne announced. "Carl, can you wait a little bit before dinner?"
"Yeah", he replied. '"I have to go to Carol's house to get Judith anyway. After that, I'll go and meet Enid and go get-", he tried to say Heath before he realized that he wasn't supposed to say anything about him. "Before I get Judith", Carl said, hoping that Rick wouldn't notice his mistake… but he did.
The confusion spread across Rick's face. "Isn't Judith already at Carol's?", he asked his son.
"Yes", Carl said quickly. "I just got confused."
Carl turned toward Michonne and gave her an "I'm sorry" look before he left the house.
Rick just stood there with confusion on his face and looked at Michonne. She didn't know what to say, so she walked up the stairs and he followed. He also looked like he was distracted.. like he was thinking. Michonne really didn't how to tell him about Heath, but she knew she had to. For all she knew, Heath could knock on the door and Rick could answer it and he would get a huge surprise.. only this time, he wouldn't like it. She needed to prepare Rick for later because there just wasn't any getting out of it.
Michonne sat her change of clothes on the bed in a neat pile, while Rick sat down and stared at her.
"Would you like to join me?", Michonne asked him. Maybe she could get him loosened up in the shower.. maybe if she did, the news wouldn't be so bad later.
"No. Not this time", Rick told her. Michonne quickly realized there was something really wrong with Rick.. he was acting really weird. He NEVER turned her shower offers down… so much for getting him loosened up.
"Are you sure?", she asked him again to make sure he actually heard her question. Rick didn't even say anything; he just nodded his head.
Michonne nodded and went to take a shower. She needed to figure out what was wrong with Rick.
+Rick's POV+
I can't let her know that I'm jealous.. I'm not supposed to be jealous… and I don't even know when I became the jealous type. What the hell's wrong with me?
Something is wrong with me… I just turned down a damn shower with Michonne.. I already had one, but you don't turn down showers with her. I know I confused her when I told her no.. I just hope I didn't make her mad or hurt her by saying no.
I just couldn't.
I can't even think straight.
I don't even know what the hell I'm supposed to do..
I'm going to tell her to stay away from him.. to never ever go near him again.. but how will that work?
It has to.
She shouldn't be near him anymore.
I'm telling her to stay away from him.
Dammit… I turned down a shower with her.
I'm a fucking idiot.
+End of Rick's POV+
Michonne quickly took a shower. She was losing time.
Michonne walked out of the bathroom and Rick was sitting in the same place, except now, he was staring at the wall.
He didn't even notice when she threw her towel to the floor, so she could put her clothes on. He was really lost in his thoughts.
After she finished putting her clothes on, Michonne sighed and said "Rick" softly. He didn't even hear her.
Michonne walked over and stood right in front of him and he finally looked at her. Rick looked at her and he looked worried.
"What's wrong?", she asked him.
"Nothing", Rick said as he looked at her.
"It's definitely something", Michonne said. "You've been acting really weird all day. What's wrong?"
Rick just shook his head.
"Did I do something?", Michonne asked him.
"No", Rick told her. "You didn't do anything."
"What's wrong?"
Rick sighed. "I want you to stay away from Heath."
"Rick, I wish I could, but I can't. It's not that simple. It's not going to go well with Deanna."
"I don't care. Stay away from him."
This was probably the absolute worst time to bring it up, but Michonne was going to anyway. The way she saw it, the conversation wasn't going to get any better.
"Rick, I need to tell you something."
Those words right there scared the hell out of Rick.. what did she have to tell him? Was it good or was it bad?
Rick looked at her and prepared for the worst.
"Before I tell you this, I need you to know and understand that it wasn't my idea; it was Carl's and he put me in a position where I couldn't say no."
"What?", Rick asked with confusion on his face.
Michonne let out a big breath before she said, "Heath's coming over for dinner."
As soon as she got it out, she saw Rick's eyes darken as he stood up.
"It was Carl's idea", she repeated again. "I didn't invite him, I promise you that. I told Carl that I would tell you so he wouldn't have to."
Rick started shaking his head. "He's not coming into my house."
Michonne agreed with him.. she didn't want Heath in their house, but they really didn't have a choice. She knew she had to get Rick calmed down.
"Rick", Michonne said softly.
"No", Rick practically shouted. "How can you actually want him to come?"
"You think I want him to?", Michonne asked him. "I told you that I didn't invite him."
"Why didn't you say anything? You could have came up with something to stop him from coming over tonight."
"I couldn't", Michonne told him. "I couldn't because Carl kept pressuring me to let him. He kept telling me that you shouldn't mind. What could I say?"
"Well, I do mind", Rick said. "He isn't coming into my house and eating at my table. You should have told Carl not to invite him.. You could have made up a story… you could have said something, but you didn't."
"Yes, I should have told Carl not to invite him, but I didn't know that he would. You're acting like this whole thing is my fault. And I can't just lie; he would find out and then he would tell Deanna."
Rick was getting angrier and he couldn't stop himself. Michonne was the last person he wanted to argue with.
"I don't understand why you care about what everyone thinks. Who the hell cares if you lie? And why does it matter if Heath finds out? It doesn't matter. I don't care what the hell Deanna thinks. She doesn't matter either."
"You better care", Michonne said. "You're in a risky situation. You can't just do what you want. Deanna is in charge and she will kick you out if you ever do anything to Heath. So, I'm doing everything that Deanna asks. If I don't, Heath will start blaming people.. and it won't be me. It will be you. Then, there will be problems. So, to keep all of this shit from happening, I'm doing all of this.. for you."
"If you were really doing this for me, you would stay away from him like I asked you to," Rick shot back.
"Haven't you heard anything I've said?", Michonne asked him and she spoke louder.. "It's not that simple."
"It really isn't that hard either", Rick said. "Are you on his side now?"
'Yes, it is difficult. I don't understand why I have to keep repeating this to you. I don't want to be around him any more than you want me to. I don't want him coming over for dinner and I sure as hell don't want to keep giving him sword lessons. I can't do anything and you can't either. If you do, Deanna will banish you. I'm stuck in the middle here. I want to stay away from him and you know I can't. I'm not on his side.. Rick, I'm on yours.. I don't understand why you would ask me that."
"You're always taking up for him… defending him.. like today… He needed to pay for what he did. He could have hurt you, and you made me stop when I was confronting him. Every time I go around Heath, you protect him."
"Do you really think I'm defending him?", Michonne asked angrily.
"That's what it looks like to me."
"Well, you're wrong", Michonne said. "I'm protecting you.. I make you walk away, so you won't kill him."
"Why does it matter to you if I kill him? So what?", Rick asked her. "You won't be kicked out.. it will be me."
"So you think I'm just going to stay here after that happens? I'll be going with you.. Carl and Judith too. If you go, we go", Michonne told him. They were both practically yelling by this point. "It matters to me because you matter to me. You don't need to kill people to prove anything."
"Is that what you think I'm doing? Killing people for proof? Proof of what? I kill people to protect my family. I don't understand why you care so much."
Michonne let out a breath. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you telling me that I'm not supposed to care about you? Well, I'm sorry if I care too much, but I stop you from doing the things you do because I give a damn. I care. That makes me wonder if you even give a damn about anything."
Rick didn't even want to be doing this right now. "I don't give a damn anything? Is that really what you think?"
"I'm waiting for an answer", he said after she didn't say anything.
"You asked me why I care so much, so I thought it would be fair to say that. After you asked me that, it made me wonder if you even care at all."
"Why do you worry about me so much?"
"You're really going to ask me that?", Michonne asked.
"What were the words you just used? I thought it was fair."
"No, that isn't fair. If you really can't see why I worry about you, then I guess I'm just going to have to tell you. I worry about you for a few reasons. The first reason is because I'm married to your ass and you might not believe it right now, but I love you. I care. You don't want people to worry about you, but too damn bad. I do, and if you don't like it, I don't care. You're not going to want to hear this, but you need someone to worry about you…. you need someone to stop you from doing stupid things because, Rick, you don't always make the best decisions. You need someone to keep you grounded… to help keep you sane.
Rick, that's the last thing you should question me about. You should like that someone worries about you.. not many people have someone like that anymore."
"Can you really ask me if I give a damn?", Rick asked her. "I feel the same way about you. How can you ask me that?"
"I don't know", Michonne admitted. "Why would you ask me something like that?"
"I don't know", Rick said as he laid on the bed with his back facing her. "If you don't know… I do give a damn… I fucking do."
Michonne sighed as she left the room and slammed the door. She knew she had hurt Rick.. Michonne could see it in his eyes.. but he had hurt her too..
She was halfway down the steps when she stopped herself. Michonne turned around and walked back to their room.
"Are you going to come down?", she asked. She didn't care if she was mad.
"I don't know if I'm coming down or not."
"What do you want me to tell Carl?", she asked him. "He's going to ask about you."
"Tell him whatever you want to tell him. I really don't care. Tell him I'm not good enough to go down there. Maybe I can't go down there because I don't care enough."
"Rick…", Michonne said.
"What do you want?", he asked in an irritated tone.
"Nothing", Michonne said quietly before she walked out and shut the door. She didn't know what to say, so she just walked away.
That conversation definitely didn't go the way Michonne wanted to… but how did she expect it go? She knew that Rick wouldn't be happy about it, but she didn't want it to end like that..