The Truth About Nightmares Part II

Rick adjusts himself quietly in the chair, watching Michonne as she sleeps. He feels somewhat stalker-ish and got up to leave more than once but realized this was probably the only way he could corner her long enough to find out what was going on. He takes a deep breath as he continues to try and come to terms with the fact that he is sitting in her room, ensuring that she doesn't get away from him again.

She moans softly and the way her voice carries has him sitting up at full attention, wondering what she could be dreaming about. Moments later, she awakens with a gasp, a hand going to her neck as she draws in breath after shaky breath. She detects someone in the room and grabs her sword from the night stand as she comes to an upright position. Pale moonlight shrouds the room as she connects with the familiar blue eyes of her best friend.

"Rick?" She drops the sword to the floor with relief and immediately draws her knees up to her chest and drops her chin.

He is instantly concerned and jumps up from the chair to approach her. He sits on the bed, cautiously. "Michonne? Are you ok?"

She lifts her head and before she can think better of it, she launches herself at him, burying her face in his neck as she clings to him tightly.

Rick is so taken aback that he doesn't know how to react at first. He feels her grip loosen as she attempts to pull away, so he envelopes her in his arms, hoping he is providing her with the comfort she seeks.

They remain that way for a few moments before Michonne pulls away slowly.

Rick catches her eyes with his. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Nightmares. I….I keep having these nightmares," she states.

He is hesitant as he asks, "About what happened before?"

She shakes her head no.

"Then what? Walkers?"

She scoffs. "I wish."

"So, you aren't gonna tell me?"

With a heavy sigh, she blurts, "You. I'm dreaming about you." She wrings her hands anxiously as she awaits his reaction.

Rick is not sure how to react to that information. Dreams are nice, right? From her reaction, these dreams don't seem so nice. "You wanna tell me about it?"

"I really don't." She drops her gaze to her hands. "I don't know if I can."

"We can tell each other anything, right?" He lifts her chin. "Hey. It's me. No judgments."

Michonne drops her head back and looks to the ceiling as she relays to Rick that she has been dreaming about them making love. Before he can even form a coherent response, she goes on to tell him how the dream turns into a nightmare.

With that admission, she appears to deflate right before his eyes and Rick can see what a toll this has taken on her.

He frowns. "Hey. Hey. Look at me."

She reluctantly brings her gaze back to his, almost afraid of what she would see there. Her heart beat quickens as he traces a finger across her knuckles.

"I would never do anything to hurt you. You have to know that."

She stretches her fingers, rubbing the pad of her thumb against his finger. "I know that but I can't explain why this is happening. What it means."

Rick is at a loss for words so he pulls her into his arms again, kissing her soundly on the cheek. "Come on. You need to get some sleep."

She pulls away from him. "No. The last thing I want is sleep. I don't want to sleep. I don't want to dream. I don't…."

He interrupts her. "Hey. It's ok. It's gonna be ok. I promise." He nudges her to move over and make room for him.

She looks at him curiously as he stretches out his legs and puts an arm at her waist and pulls her back to lie down with him. She nestles closer to him, resting her head on his chest. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep is that she never knew how good it would feel to be wrapped in his arms.

Rick closes his eyes as he waits for her body to relax with sleep. He doesn't have to wait long as he knew how exhausted she was by just looking at her. He can't help but to reflect on what she told him and wonder at the meaning of it all. The fact that she could even see them as lovers makes his heart race even more. He can't deny that he has had the same thoughts but wasn't 100% sure how she felt about it. Knowing that she is not adverse to it….aren't dreams just subconscious thoughts anyway?...brings a smile to his face. Now he just has to convince her to allow him to dispel this so called nightmare….and what better way to do that than to actually make love to her? He looks down at her sleeping form and wonders if they should just talk it over and determine what could be causing the nightmares. His eyes drift to the ceiling with that thought and he decides that he likes his first idea a whole lot better.

The next morning, Michonne stirs slightly before opening her eyes to find herself still resting in Rick's arms. She also immediately recognized the fact that she didn't dream. She actually slept. Now she wonders if being near him had anything to do with that. She looks up cautiously and finds that he is still sleeping. She smiles at how relaxed and vulnerable he looks. The urge to reach up is too strong as she does just that and smooths a wayward curl back from his forehead.

The light touch has his eyes popping open immediately. He looks around and connects with her beautiful brown eyes, returning her contagious smile. "Morning."

"Good morning," she returns.

"You sleep ok?" He asks.

"Better than I have in a long time." She drops her eyes shyly. "I didn't dream."

"Is that good or bad?"

She can't help the smile that plays around her mouth as she brings her eyes back to his. "I don't know."

Her heart rate increases as she knows exactly what he is implying. She can't deny that she enjoyed the lovemaking in her dream and wondered if the reality of it would be as good as she envisioned. For some reason, that is more prominent in her memory than the other part of her dream….the nightmare and she is most thankful for that.

They can hear Carl and Judith in the hallway and realize it's time to get up and start another day.