Author's Note: Yikes this was uploaded later than I hoped. But here you go hope you enjoy this next chapter.
The apartment looked the same, felt the same, and even smelled the same as Michonne remembered. She took a seat on the couch and looked around at the place that was supposedly her home.
In the two weeks that she and Andre had left they hardly left her parents house, and when they did it was to the grocery store and back.
Her bruises had healed and she was ready to regain some normalcy to her routine.
Despite the disruption Andre seemed to be doing fine and for Michonne- that meant she was doing fine.
Mike kept away.
She hadn't heard from him for weeks and when Andrea came to the apartment a couple days ago to get clothes for Michonne, she reported back that most of his clothes and toiletries were gone. It seemed that he was going to respect the protective order and make no attempts to contact her.
But Michonne wasn't naive enough to believe that the peace would remain- she had a hearing next week and although Mike appeared to be gone he couldn't be that far. When she realized that she hadn't prepared much for the upcoming hearing the thought of it brought back some unwanted anxiety.
Beginning to get restless while sitting in the silent apartment Michonne decided to do some cleaning.
She cleaned the kitchen first. Threw out any spoiled food and reorganized the food in the pantry.
Next she cleaned Andre's room. She bagged up any clothes he had grown out of, and made a note to stop by a Goodwill later. She disinfected toys he played with frequently and threw a few forgotten ones in the donation bag. She remade his bed, balled up the old sheets, and tossed it in the laundry basket.
Finally she entered her and Mike's- no. Her room.
She sat down on the bed and sighed. She looked around the room that didn't ever seem to bring her comfort. Sure the bed was plush, it was made with expensive linens with thread counts higher than Michonne could imagine.
Their bedroom was never a place for comfort. Just a room for quiet and heated arguments, followed by unsatisfactory "apology" sex ending with a night spent with their backs facing each other.
She wondered what it felt like to be with someone who spoke to her kindly and looked at her with gentleness.
She wondered what good sex felt like. Sex that bored housewives read about in gas station romance books. She wondered.. she wondered what it felt like to be held throughout the night. Held like the other person never wanted to let go.
She shook away her thoughts and went back to work removing any traces of Mike. There wasn't much of his stuff left and she wondered if he had a professional come in and clear out his things.
She decided to weed through her emails next. Two weeks was a long time in the business world and her emails had racked up.
About 60 from the school and clients at her private practice. But it was the most recent email caught her attention.
It was from Anita Freeman.
She hadn't heard from Mike's mom in years and was surprised to see her reaching out after all this time. Even if it was through just an email.
Michonne stared at the subject line, just one word: Please.
The anxiety was coming back. The fear too.
She needed to get out of here. Some food might help. She looked down at the email from the woman whom she hadn't spoken to in years.
A drink or two might help too.
Michonne pushed the door open and stepped inside the busy restaurant smiling at the bell as it rang over her head.
"Hello! Sit anywhere you'd like!" A young blonde greeted as she zoomed past Michonne while balancing a large pizza in her palm.
Michonne nodded and moved further into the restaurant. It was a nice midsize place with exposed brick and Edison lights hanging above each table.
It was a surprising modern take on a local pizza joint.
She was drawn to a wall with framed pictures of different memories. There was a picture with a young Asian man cutting the ribbons off the front door of the place. Another picture had pretty brunette smiling with the blonde that Michonne had seen waiting and greeting. She stopped and stared at a picture of the man from the other picture and the same brunette smiling wide with a large party. The young girl wore a beautiful, bright red dress and Michonne stepped closer to inspect the picture further.
"That was our wedding day. We actually flew out to Seoul. We had a big traditional Korean wedding."
Michonne turned to see the man from the photos smiling over her shoulder and she smiled back at him.
"Beautiful." Michonne replied and he snapped out of his reminiscing to greet the woman in front of him.
"I don't think I've seen you around before. I'm Glenn Rhee." He said as he wiped his hands on his apron and Michonne took his hand.
"'Michonne Gavins. I'm fairly new to the area. Definitely new to you."
"Oh I've heard about you," Glenn's eyes widened and he stammered over his words, "Good things of course. A lot of people appreciate what you're doing for the kids and parents out here. What you're doing for everyone." Glenn explained and Michonne's guard went down.
"I'm just trying to help." She said modestly and Glenn shook his head.
"It's very appreciated. A lot of good people had been down on their luck before you came." Glenn said seriously and Michonne nodded solemnly.
"Well let me show you to our best table. Reserved only for King County's best humanitarians." Glenn said with a wink as he walked over to a booth Michonne walking close behind.
It looked like any other booth in the restaurant but still somehow seemed intimate and special.
Michonne felt honored.
"Let me go get Maggie. She'd love to meet you." Glenn said as Michonne slid into the booth and Glenn was gone before she could protest. She wasn't really up to entertaining strangers but Glenn's personality was infectious and she was willing to try a little longer.
When he returned he was holding the hand of a very irritated, very pregnant Maggie.
"Slow down Glenn. You're moving like a celebrity is here." Maggie said through a labored breath as she pressed on her lower back.
"Hi I'm Michonne Gavins." Michonne said with a smile and Maggie's face softened considerably.
"Well you are a bit of a celebrity." Maggie said as she smiled back at Michonne. "I've heard a lot about you from Enid and Carl."
Michonne smiled at the mention of Enid and Carl. She missed her them.
"And of course that dumb-ass over there has plenty to say about you too." Glenn as he waved over Rick, who had just stepped into the restaurant.
Michonne looked over her shoulder and felt her cheeks burn at the sight of the man. Last time she'd seen him neither of them were in a very good state. She sat up a bit straighter and patted down her hair.
This wasn't missed by Glenn or Maggie, and they smiled secretly at each other.
"Hey guys what's going on?" Rick asked as he pulled off his baseball cap. His hair and beard had grown considerably since Michonne had last seen him and she decided she liked his face like this best. She stood up to greet him and he gave her a boyish smile.
"Hey." She said quietly and Rick stared down at her.
"Hi." He whispered back and he wondered how inappropriate it would be to hug her. He settled for his usual stare, stammer, and smile routine.
Maggie watched the two amusingly before speaking up.
"You here for your usual Rick?" Maggie asked and Rick finally looked away from Michonne. He had been caught by his kid cousin.
"Yeah but no rush." He insisted as he looked back at Michonne.
"Maybe you can join me? Tell me what's good?" Michonne offered and Rick frowned a bit.
"I was just gonna order something to go.." What he really was going to do was have himself a little pity party since Carl was over at Aaron's. But nobody needed to know that.
"Stay." Michonne insisted gently ignoring the desperation in her own voice and Rick sighed.
"So are you staying or..?" Glenn asked with a smirk and Rick nodded.
"Yeah. I can stay a while."
The beer was good, the pizza was great, and the conversations were even better.
Michonne felt lighter than she had in years as she cut into another piece of pizza that had been lovingly named, "The Grimes." She almost spewed beer out her nose as Glenn animatedly told the origin of the pizza name. Something about Rick working at a pig farm one summer and slipping in a pile of mud and poop right before his first date with Lori. He had smelled so bad that Lori refused to get in the car and called off the date entirely.
"When Maggie told me about it, I knew I had to tease Rick. So thus, the creation of The Grimes. A BBQ pulled pork pizza." Glenn explained and Michonne shook her head as she helped herself to another bite.
"And it's still our best selling pizza to this day." Maggie added as she winked at Rick and he let out a groan but smiled just the same.
"More beer? Ginger ale?" Glenn asked as he slipped out of the booth and everyone nodded.
"Here, let me help you." Maggie offered as she struggled to get out and Glenn immediately declined They exchanged a look and Maggie rolled her eyes. "Yeah c'mon your son is dancin on my bladder." Maggie insisted as Glenn helped her out of the booth. She gave Rick and Michonne a smile before following behind Glenn into the back.
Michonne and Rick sat in silence for a moment before Rick turned to face her. He couldn't quite see all of her face but even just her profile was stunning. Maybe her time away did her some good. He struggled with what to say but finally settled for the easy question.
"How have you been?" He asked quietly and Michonne turned to face him too.
"Good." She answered quickly and she felt bad for the lie. She had been sad and anxious. "How have you been?"
Rick stared down at his hands and nodded.
"Okay." He returned and he hated to lie to her. He had been angry and confused. He wondered if she could see through him and he longed to tell her the truth. "Actually, uh, I've been on suspension for the past two weeks." Rick admitted and he instantly felt lighter for telling her. He averted his eyes from her when she hadn't spoke for a while, maybe he shouldn't have told her.
"What happened, are you okay?" She asked and Rick was surprised at her genuine concern and worry instead of condemnation.
He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah just got stupid with a suspect. Just got to me." Rick said and Michonne touched his arm. "A domestic violence case that hit too close to home." That wasn't completely a lie.
"I can understand that. It can be hard to remain impartial with the things you see. I think I would be worried if these things didn't get to you. I think your heart breaks for everyone, you've got a big heart Rick." Michonne said gently and Rick was blown away by her merciful way of thinking.
He wasn't sure how to tell her exactly what happened and how it seemed to have a lot to do with her-even if he didn't understand himself.
"It's been weird being away from work. I feel like I'm on this impromptu vacation I didn't ask for, and I'm not having fun on." Rick mumbled and Michonne let out a breathy laugh.
"I definitely understand that. I've felt like I've lost my purpose since I've been gone. I'm ready to get back to work." Michonne said determinedly and Rick was again in awe of her resilience.
"But you and Andre have been okay.. safe I mean?" He asked and Michonne smiled. She appreciated the concern for her and Andre's safety.
"He's with my parents now. I'll pick him up tomorrow after work. He still remains so untouched by it all and I couldn't be more grateful. Resentful even." Michonne admitted and she felt her eyes burn with tears at the mention of Andre and Rick handed her a napkin.
"That's all you can hope for right? That throughout all the bullshit your kid is okay? You'd take all of the pain if he could be okay." Rick said and he felt his own eyes get misty. Michonne handed him the napkin back and they laughed at the broken tension. Rick swiped at his eyes before giving Michonne a smile.
"We'll be okay." Rick said with such certainty that Michonne allowed herself to believe it.
"Yeah." She said quietly to herself and she scooted a little closer to Rick. He smiled and moved a little closer himself.
There was more pizza eaten and couple more beers drank that night at Rhee's Pizzas.
Glenn and Maggie didn't come back to the table but Rick and Michonne hardly noticed.
Even as business slowed down and customers left Rick and Michonne remained talking quietly to each other.
They laughed over stories about their sons and shared a few embarrassing tales from their younger days.
Glenn watched as the two talked like long lost friends, he hadn't seen Rick look so carefree. Definitely not in the last few years.
He jokingly said to Maggie that it felt like they were witnessing Michonne and Rick's first date. Both Michonne and Rick sure were giggling like teenagers.
Something wonderful happened that night.
In the back booth of a pizza restaurant two broken hearts began to mend themselves together.
All it took was some pizza and beer.
Next chapter we're going to tie up some loose ends with Mike. And no that's not code for kill him lol.