Author's Note: Hi guys, I'm back! I hope you enjoy the third chapter!
three: "no, no, it's my treat."
Rick Grimes didn't know much about Michonne Jones.
He knew she and one of his best friends, Morgan, were cousins. (Their fathers were brothers.) He knew she lived in New York City with her mom and dad, though they traveled a lot, because her parents were photographers for National Geographic. The two of them were on a three-month assignment in Africa, so Michonne had come down to stay with Morgan and his family for the summer. She was working in Mrs. Jones' flower shop to save up some money for senior year of high school, just like he was doing at Shane's dad's construction company.
Above all, Rick knew that he liked her. A lot.
She was the most interesting person he'd ever met, with all her stories of living in the city, and traveling all over the globe. He was pretty sure the smartest, too - there didn't seem to be a topic that came up she didn't know something about, and she kept talking about how she wanted to go to Columbia next year and major in journalism. Similar to her parents, but not quite the same.
She was definitely the most beautiful person he'd ever seen in his life. He loved the depth in her dark brown eyes, and the way her cheeks rounded when she smiled.
So, yeah. He liked her. But he hadn't said anything. He doubted his feelings were reciprocated. Sure, Andrea had whispered to him one day that Michonne liked him back, and the blonde did seem to be the person Michonne had grown closest to the past couple of months, but still, he didn't believe her. Andrea was known for her love of gossip and rumors.
After all, what would someone like Michonne Jones want with someone like him? Plus, the summer was quickly coming to a close, and then she would be gone, probably to never see him again. What was the point of telling her now?
That's what had him feeling so blue as he walked around the town's annual summer carnival with his group of friends. Tonight was the last night for it - another sign that the summer was ending, along with his relationship with Michonne.
"Oooh, they have funnel cakes!"
He was broken out of his sullen reverie by a sweet, melodic voice that he immediately recognized as belonging to the girl currently occupying his thoughts. There was noise all around them - blaring music, the mechanic groans of rides running, the loudness of people's voices as they tried to talk over all the other sounds - but he could pick out her voice as clear as day, like she had a direct connection to his eardrums.
He glanced across the picnic table where their group sat, scarfing down their last round of corndogs and cheese fries, and found Michonne staring at the lit-up concession stand with wide eyes, a grin on her face.
"Got a sweet tooth, huh?" he asked.
Andrea laughed from her seat beside Michonne.
"Shut up, Grimes. If you don't know that by now, you haven't been paying attention."
"Oh, I've been paying attention," he teased, his focus still on Michonne. "I saw you scarf down ninety-five percent of that super brownie sundae at Al's the other day. Weren't you supposed to split that with Maggie?"
Andrea laughed again, and Michonne rolled her eyes playfully.
"How about both of you shut up," Michonne said, "and how about I go get myself one of those funnel cakes?"
With that, Michonne stood. But before she could get very far, Rick reached out and grabbed her forearm. She stopped suddenly, and looked down at him with curious eyes.
"What?" she inquired.
What was right. He didn't know what he was doing. He knew what he wanted to do, but he never thought he'd actually be brave enough to do it. But he'd acted on instinct, without thinking, and now here he was. Stuck.
He looked up at Michonne, who was staring at him expectantly. He vaguely realized that all their friends' chatter had died in the background.
Fuck it, he decided. He was doing it.
Be cool, he thought to himself. Be cool, be cool.
"I'll buy it for you," he told her, trying to force non-existent confidence into his voice. He let her arm go so he could reach into his back pocket and grab his wallet.
"Oh, no, Rick. It's okay. I can get it," she assured him.
Her statement almost made him lose his nerve, but he swallowed his fears and forged ahead.
"No, no, really. I insist. It's my treat."
He pulled out a few bills from his wallet and held them out to her. After a moment, she nodded and smiled softly. She took the money from his hand and started off towards the concession stand once again.
He watched for a few seconds as she walked away. When he turned back, all of his friends were silent and staring at him with the same shit-eating grin. He immediately felt himself begin to blush.
"Well, well, well, Casanova - " Shane finally started, breaking the silence, but Andrea immediately cut him off.
"Shut it, Shane," she barked, before looking at the rest of the group with urgent eyes. "Guys, I think I want to ride The Wipeout one more time before everything closes down. Who's with me?"
"Me!" Maggie immediately shouted, hopping up and pulling Glenn along with her. "Come on, babe."
"Wait, what's going on?" Glenn asked.
"Yeah," Rick agreed. "Aren't we gonna wait for Michonne?"
Maggie and Andrea looked at each other and then frowned pitifully at the two.
"Men really are so clueless," Andrea muttered, before pulling both Shane and Morgan up by the backs of their shirts.
"Hey, I know exactly what's going on!" Shane protested
"Me too, 'Drea," Morgan said, and the two boys snickered together and gave each other a low-five.
"Come on, come on," Maggie said, as she and Andrea tried to herd the group towards the rides. "She'll be back soon."
"So I'm the only one who's waiting for her?"
As soon as he asked the question, everything that was happening finally clicked in Rick's mind. He could feel his palms begin to sweat.
"Exactly," Andrea told him, and she smirked when she saw the understanding finally appear on his face. "Good luck."
"Don't mess this up, cowboy," Shane shouted over his shoulder as the group scurried away.
It only took another minute for Michonne to return, but that was plenty of time for Rick's anxiety to kick into high gear.
Be cool, he begged of himself, once again. Be cool, be cool, be cool.
"Where is everybody?"
He was surprised, but thankful, that hearing her voice again didn't make him visibly shake. He shifted in his seat so he could see her, standing behind him. She was holding a funnel cake covered in powdered sugar in one hand, and had a perplexed look on her face.
"They, uh, went to go ride The Wipeout one more time."
"Oh," she said, frowning.
She sat down next to him instead of across from him, and put her plate down on the wooden table. She was close enough to him that their shoulders would brush together every so often, and his heart jumped every time they did.
"Thanks for waiting for me," she said.
"Of course," he replied, the corner of his mouth lifting up into a half-smile. "I mean, of course I would."
She looked up at him, but said nothing. Her expression was soft, and the multitude of bright, colorful lights from the carnival shone in her wide eyes as she stared at him.
He stared back. He couldn't help it - it was like he was in a trance. She looked so beautiful, and he wanted to kiss her more than he had at any other point throughout the summer.
But before he could gather up the nerve, she looked away, and laughed.
"Those guys really are idiots. They just ate about ten pounds of cheese fries combined. How much do you want to bet one of them pukes up?"
"I bet it's Shane," he said, and she guffawed. Somehow, to him, it still managed to sound like a song.
"Of course it's Shane," she agreed, and the two of them broke into a fit of giggles that made his own stomach hurt.
After a few moments, their laughter died down, and she wiped at her eyes as she took a steadying breath. She picked up the fork that was stuck into the funnel cake.
"I used to stay with my grandparents a lot when I was younger, you know, because I couldn't always travel with my parents. Especially during the school year. They lived in Brooklyn, and every year on the first weekend Coney Island was open, my grandmother would take me. We'd spend the whole day there, and then right before we left, we would split a giant funnel cake."
He smiled at the memory. He could picture it so clearly: little Michonne walking up and down the boardwalk, holding her grandmother's hand, tired from the day they'd had but so excited to eat their funnel cake together.
"That sounds like a lot of fun."
"It was," she confirmed.
She started to eat her treat, but he could sense that the mood had shifted a bit. She almost seemed sad now. He frowned.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," she breathed. "It's just...both of my grandparents died last year. My grandmother had a heart attack, and then my grandfather died just a few months later. They said it was just old age, but I think it was from a broken heart, honestly."
"I'm so sorry, Michonne," he murmured, bringing his hand up to rest on her shoulder. His heart broke for her.
"Thanks," she told him, giving him a sad smile. She placed her hand over his, and squeezed. "But I'm okay. I mean, I miss them, obviously. But I know they wouldn't want me to be sad about it. They'd want me to be happy."
"They would," he agreed gently.
She let her hand fall from his, and he released her shoulder, but let his fingertips trail along her back as he brought his arm down to his side. And he might have been imagining things, but he could've sworn he saw her shiver, just the tiniest bit.
She went back to work on her funnel cake, but paused after a moment. She put her fork down, and turned in her seat, so she was facing him.
"Thank you, Rick," she told him.
His brow furrowed.
"For waiting for you? I told you, of course I would."
"Not just for that. For this entire summer. I never thought I would like it down here in Georgia as much as I do. I'm having so much fun with all of you, but...especially you. I know everything is coming to an end in a couple weeks. And I'm gonna miss it here. I'm gonna miss you."
And before he could even properly process her words, she lifted her face and kissed him on the cheek. It was quick, only lasting a moment, but the warmth of it traversed his entire body, penetrating every cell.
She pulled back, and looked at him. He knew he should say something, but he was stunned. All he could do was lift his hand and trace his fingers over the spot where she had kissed him.
She misinterpreted his silence, though.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry," she said frantically, fumbling over her words. "I'm just gonna - I'm gonna…"
She trailed off, and went to move away from him, but before she could, he grabbed both of her upper arms with his hands, turned her back towards him, and kissed her square on the lips.
It took them a few moments, each of them still slightly shocked that this was happening, but eventually they both relaxed into the kiss, and melted into each other. Rick wasn't very experienced - he'd only had one girlfriend in his life, and that relationship only lasted two months - but he was sure that this was the best kiss of his entire life.
When the kiss ended, they smiled shyly at each other, neither speaking. Then they looked away in different directions, both slightly embarrassed, but excited and happy all the same.
Rick caught sight of her uneaten funnel cake.
"You wanna split it?" he asked, finally looking at her again. A brilliant smile took over her face.
"Yeah. Let's split it."
He scooted closer to her as she picked up her fork, and grabbed her free hand. She immediately laced their fingers together.
"Now, we're gonna split this. Don't go eatin' the whole thing again like you did with that brownie sundae."
She giggled uncontrollably, and he followed suit, still high on their kiss.
"I swear, Grimes, if you don't shut up…"
"Yeah?" he asked playfully, rotating so they were facing each other again, the funnel cake all but forgotten as she dropped her fork. "What are you gonna do about it?" he challenged.
Her gaze dropped to his lips. They were just about to lean in again, when they heard…
"Guys, you're not gonna believe this!"
They turned their heads to see Morgan rushing back towards the picnic table, the rest of their group shuffling behind him, dragging a sickly-looking Shane along with them.
Rick and Michonne scooted a bit farther away from each other, but kept holding hands. They both shared a secret look before acknowledging their friends.
"What happened?" Rick asked.
"Walsh threw up!" Glenn exclaimed.
"Yeah, it was disgusting," Maggie sneered.
Rick looked at Michonne, Michonne looked back at him, and the two burst into laughter.
A/N: I swear they're not all gonna be this long. I watched Adventureland the other day, which inspired the setting of this story. (Fun fact: The amusement park in Adventureland is the amusement park by my house I go to a bunch every summer!)
I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter, so leave me a comment if you want!
I hope to have the next chapter of A Slight Return Home up relatively soon.
xoxo,
Rebekah