A/N: Hello, Dear Readers! Still with me? Lol Okay, time for the Richonne road trip ;)

It was Wednesday morning and Michonne had returned from the airport with the rental car. She pulled up at the front of Rick's house, looked in the mirror attached to the visor and checked her make-up. After brushing a finger over her eyebrow, she exited the vehicle and walked up to Rick's front door. The house looked a lot different in the daylight and Michonne immediately remembered the number of times she had been there in the late evenings skulking around like she was ashamed of Rick; or worse yet, ashamed of herself. It of course, was not the case and she still felt a pang of guilt for what had transpired between them.

Before she could straighten her clothing and ring the doorbell, Rick had opened the door and greeted her.

"Hey," said Rick

"Hi, do you have telepathy or something?" she joked.

"Nah, I just saw you pull up," he explained. "So we're ready to hit the road straight away?"

"Yeah," said Michonne as she began to walk down the steps onto the garden path; Rick locked his house and then followed her. "Did you wanna drive?"

"Sure," he replied, before smiling and adding: "But that means I get to pick the music."

"That's fine by me, Cowboy," she joked as she walked to the passenger's door; Rick grinned, chortled and checked out her ass.

xXxXx

We got married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout; we been talkin' 'bout Jackson ever since the fire went out. I'm goin' to Jackson…

The music was turned down just enough so that an easy conversation could be had but up loud enough to remedy any uncomfortable silences. Rick glanced over at Michonne in the corner of his eye; a smile played on his features as he took note of her tapping her hand on the dash and moving her head side-to-side. He had no idea that she liked Johnny Cash. Suddenly, it made him a little saddened that he did not know a lot about her at all; he cleared his throat.

"You never told me you liked the Man in Black," he said; Michonne looked at him.

"I'm sorry, the Man in what now?" she asked, feigning a confused look.

"Johnny Cash, the Man…"

"I'm playing with you, Rick. I know who you're talking about," she interjected before laughing.

"Of course you do," he said with a smile. "Don't know why I doubted it; you know everything."

Michonne snorted.

"I don't know about that," she offered. "I know a little about a lot of things."

"Well," said Rick as he looked in her direction. "That's more than the rest of us mere mortals."

He noticed she lowered her head and appeared to be a little coy.

"You don't take compliments very well, do ya?" he pointed out as she shrugged.

"Not particularly," she replied in earnest. "Besides, I don't hear them often."

"I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that," said Rick.

"Really?" she asked with her eyebrows raised; the conversation was still easy-going, even though they were touching on something she did not deal with well.

"Michonne, you gotta know how great you are, right?" he asked. "And if the people around you aren't sayin' that to you all the livelong day then they ain't got a lick o' sense in their heads."

Michonne chuckled.

"I forget you're such a country boy," she offered in reference to his vernacular. Rick sighed at her deflecting the attention from herself to him; for avoiding the opportunity for them to talk about her and what she feels. "But thank you. I'll be sure they get the 'Michonne is the best' memo."

Rick laughed at her joking; it was nice to see this side of her. He was pleased that she was letting her guard down around him and just talking to him.

"So, what's your favorite Johnny Cash song?" Rick asked, getting back to a subject that he knew she would engage in.

"That's not fair because how can you choose just one?" she asked. "They're all just so depressing. I love them all."

Rick could not help but laugh out loud at her analysis, "You got that right."

He reached for the CD player and skipped the song.

"We could play any random song of his, and it'd be depressing," said Rick as they both listened to what came out of the speakers.

At my door the leaves are fallin'

The cold, wild wind will come

Sweethearts walk by together

And I still miss someone

Rick stole a glance in Michonne's direction and thought the song was very fitting. By the time that Cash's deep voice sang Oh I never got over those blue eyes Michonne was ready to change it.

"Yep," she offered. "Depressing."

…..

The pair opted to go to the university before checking in to their hotel; Michonne looked in the visor mirror and fixed her hair as Rick tried not to stare at her. They had done well to be in a confined space for almost four hours together; they laughed, joked, and even flirted a little. Now, as Michonne stepped out of the car and grabbed her bag, her demeanor changed; she was all about business. She offered Rick a nod, to which he returned with a crooked smile, and then they set off to find the candidate.

"So," said Rick. "What's this student's name?"

Without breaking her stride or checking the calendar on her phone, Michonne answered, "Paul Rovia."

xXxXx

"I got it," said Rick as he grabbed both his and Michonne's overnight bags from the trunk.

"Thanks," she offered while retrieving her purse and checking her cell phone.

"This looks nice," Rick said as he took in the front of the hotel.

"I hope it is," Michonne replied. "My receptionist made the reservations, so I didn't get to look at it."

"You're a control freak, ain't ya?" asked Rick playfully while they walked to the reception area; Michonne winked at him.

"Among other things," she replied.

…..

Michonne had just finished her shower and was searching through her bag for something comfortable to lounge around in. She retrieved her sweat pants and a tank top before removing letting the towel that was wrapped about her body fall to the floor. After she dressed, Michonne crawled onto the double bed and picked up her iPad so that she could check her emails; spending an entire day away from the office usually meant her emails would be backed up. She sighed when she saw the amount of messages in her inbox. She was way too tired to answer any of them at the present time so she logged out and then reclined in the bed with her fingers interlocked and placed over her tummy. Twiddling her thumbs, Michonne wondered what Rick was doing across the corridor.

Rick had just finished talking to Carl on the phone when he ended the call, placed his phone on the night stand and then picked up the room service menu. He and Michonne had not actually spoken about what they would do for dinner, though she assured him that her Office was covering the cost of the meals. The thought had crossed his mind to ask her if she wanted to accompany him to the restaurant, but for some reason he felt rather anxious about it.

It's not like you're asking her on a date, he told himself. You're colleagues on a business trip getting something to eat. She'd be okay with that, wouldn't she?

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his phone vibrating against the hard, shiny surface. He groaned slightly when he saw the name that flashed on the screen; it was Jessie. Rick ignored the call and then searched the area for his key card. He slipped it into his front pocket, grabbed his mobile and then walked out of the door, heading in the direction of Michonne's room. He stopped when he reached the door, took a deep breath and then knocked lightly. He listened carefully and heard footfalls approaching as he smoothed his shirt down. When Michonne was standing in front of him with her hair out and dressed very casually, Rick could not help but smile as he greeted her.

"Hey, everything okay?" asked Michonne.

"Yeah," he replied. "I was just checkin' to see what you were doin' for dinner. Did you wanna try the restaurant out here or…"

"Ah, I was actually just gonna order room service," Michonne explained. "I just really want to lounge around and watch cartoons."

"Okay," said Rick, visibly disappointed.

"I mean, I would have, but already got changed," she said, gesturing to her outfit.

"It's okay. I just thought to ask," said Rick as he turned to walk away.

"Rick," Michonne called out. "Wait a sec."

He stopped in his tracks, spun on his heel and glanced at her expectantly.

"Did you want to order a pizza or something? We could split it and watch TV in here if you like," she offered with a sweet smile that Rick just could not resist.

"Sure," he answered happily. "I'd like that."

…..

The buzzing of Rick's phone caught both his and Michonne's attention once more; Jessie's name appeared on the display again as Rick reached over, rejected the call and then placed the phone in his pocket.

"You're very popular tonight. You sure you don't need to take the call?" Michonne asked.

"Nah, it's okay. It's not important," said Rick.

"If you say so," she replied.

"I can't believe the Simpsons has really been on TV for this long," said Rick before taking a sip from his can of Coke, effectively changing the subject to what they were watching.

"Oh yeah," Michonne offered. "It's an American classic. You know, I had a roommate in law school who was from Nepal and I told her that if she wanted a crash course in American history or society, just watch the Simpsons."

Rick looked admiringly at Michonne as she picked the olives from her slice of pizza and ate them on their own.

"That's some sound advice," he said. "Is that where you met Andrea, in law school?"

Michonne nodded, "Yeah. I needed a new roomie and she answered the ad. We hit it off right away. Been best of friends ever since."

She smiled and Rick felt his heart swell at how beautiful she was.

"She's a good fit for Shane, too," he said. "Really changed him."

"Really?" Michonne asked. "What was he like before?"

Rick chuckled, "I ain't gettin' him in trouble if you go back and tell her."

"I'm not gonna gossip," Michonne said as she slapped Rick's arm playfully. "Now tell me."

"Okay," Rick said, all too aware that she had touched him. "He's a good guy, he just needed to find the right person to settle down with. See, when we were in high school, Shane had all of the girls tryin' to get his attention. And I guess it carried on to when he was grown. I was married straight out of school and Shane was still playin' the field. I ain't ever seen him this crazy about a girl like he is with Andrea. He loves her."

Michonne smiled again.

"Good," she offered. "Because I didn't want to have to kick his ass if he hurt her."

Rick laughed and took another bite from his slice.

"So," Michonne started. "You were married young?"

Rick wiped his mouth with a paper towel, "Yes ma'am. As you can see, it was not the best idea."

"Too young?" she asked, feeling intrigued by the man sitting on the bed beside her. Yes, they had been physically intimate in so many ways, but she still knew so little about him; she was curious.

"I guess you could say that," Rick replied. "We loved each other, but as we grew older, I guess what we wanted from life changed. She wanted a husband who wasn't workin' all the time and I wanted a wife who didn't look at me like she was always…I dunno, disappointed."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said with sincerity.

"It happens," said Rick. "We've got two beautiful kids and at least we respect each other now."

Michonne smiled and then fell silent; she knew what was coming. Rick was going to ask her about her previous relationship. She felt her palms begin to sweat as she looked over at Rick who was now staring at her.

"You okay?" he asked, taking note of the slight change in her countenance.

"Yeah, it's just you spoke about your last serious relationship, so I guess I should share too. Quid pro quo and all that," she said trying to play it off as a joke.

"Trust me," said Rick. "You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to."

Michonne saw the sincerity etched across his face and she knew that she could trust him; that was all she wanted to do. She took a deep breath and offered Rick a small smile.

"When you broke it off between the two of us at Andrea's place that night, I didn't say anything," Michonne began as Rick listened to where she was going with her explanation. "I wanted to, but I didn't. I guess somewhere along the way I started to place my own needs as secondary to this guy I knew, and I never wanted to do that again."

"I'd never ask you to do that," Rick cut in; he wanted her to see that he was not like that.

"I know," she replied. "I just thought that if I kept you at arm's length that I was doing myself a favor. That I was the one in control of the pace of the relationship, and in control of how I felt."

Rick nodded his head as he listened.

"But there was something I didn't count on, and that was having feelings for you," she said coyly; Rick's heart rate began to speed up. "And I didn't consider how the whole arrangement was making you feel. I never wanted you to feel like I was using you, because I wasn't."

Rick said nothing.

"I was just trying to fool myself in to thinking I could keep screwing you and not, I don't know, feel something for you," she explained. "In the end, I was just torturing myself because I didn't think I deserved happiness."

"But why?" asked Rick. "Why did you think that way? I can't understand it. You're successful; you're beautiful. You're smart and kind. Why don't you think you're worthy?"

Michonne felt her eyes begin to tear up at Rick's words.

"I guess when you're told something enough times, you start to believe it," she said softly. "Before I moved to King County, I was in a really bad relationship. It was toxic. This guy, Mike; we were together for a while and things were great, you know. That was until he lost his job and fell into deep depression. He ended up resenting me because I was working all the time. Anyways, towards the end he was manipulative and emotionally abusive. It got really bad one day and he threatened to kill himself if I left him. I thought he was going to kill me, so I ended it. I called Andrea and we left and I never looked back."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Rick whispered as he gently rubbed her back in a soothing manner; she wiped a tear that had fallen from her eye.

"I treated you like shit because I didn't want to be emotionally available," she said, staring into Rick's calming blue eyes. "I didn't want to be emotionally available because I didn't want to be vulnerable. I'm sorry if I hurt you or made you feel any less of a person. I liked you and I fucked it up because I was scared."

"It's okay to be scared," he said. "I should have been more patient with you. I really liked you and I was trying to rush things a little so it ain't all on you."

"But I set the terms," said Michonne.

"I agreed to 'em," Rick countered, offering her a small smile; it made her feel better.

"So, now what?" she asked, still aware of his hand pressed to the small of her back.

"How about let's make a deal," said Rick. "When we get back home and when you're feeling ready, you give me a call and ask me out on a date."

Michonne chortled before giving Rick a questioning look.

"I'm serious," he said in his defence. "When you're feeling like you're ready to open yourself up emotionally, you come and find me and we'll take it from there. What do you say?"

She searched his eyes a moment and could tell that he was genuine about what he had put forward to her. They were in a good place to start over and she knew that she wanted to try with Rick. There was still some apprehension within her that caused room for her to doubt herself and her value as a person; but when she found herself become lost in his stare, she knew she should at the very least try.

"Deal," she said with a smile.

"Deal?"

"Yeah," Michonne offered as she bit her bottom lip. "Deal."