Chapter 3:
Michonne was unaware of how long she was watching Rick for, but she was reluctant to move right away. His eyelashes fluttered as he slept, his eyeballs moving rapidly beneath his lids. She imagined he was dreaming, and she wondered what about to make him move the way he did. The space between them in the bed was more than symbolic for what was happening in their relationship. She used to wake up tangled in him, but recently, he would be on one side of the bed and she would be on the other.
He would take her hand in his when they were both awake, and sometimes he would pull her over to lay with him. She had stopped initiating the contact with him, though she didn't push him away when he did. She was waiting for him to truly forgive her first.
She left his room, and went downstairs to gather breakfast for herself. She couldn't help but check the state of the front of the home, after Rick left his father's belongings in a heap on the lawn. She was surprised to see the boxes had been placed neatly, in what she could only describe as a giant cube, still on the lawn however. She doubted his mother did it, as she saw what Rick did the night before and slammed the door, so she imagined it was Ezekiel.
She ate her breakfast alone with the home still quiet, before going back upstairs to have a shower. She didn't have much planned for the day, but she did hope to see her friends again. She had yet to see Paula, Maggie, or even Lori, though the thought of seeing Lori was one she struggled with. The girl had drunkenly kissed Rick before they left, but she couldn't picture cutting all ties with her friend, as they had known each other for so long, and she still cared about her greatly. It was something she had to put more thought into.
Once she finished changing in her bedroom, she tread lightly back to Rick's room, where he was sat up in his bed, looking at something on his phone, only glancing at her when she entered the room. She picked up Rocky from his desk chair, where the pus had made an array of new scratches in the leather, and took her over to his bed.
"I start training tomorrow", He rasped, throwing his phone on the bed as he sat back against the headboard.
"Oh? That's good", She hummed, sitting with her legs crossed in front of her.
He combed his fingers through his messy hair, "Yeah…"
"My mom's giving me her car for college… she sold my dad's, so she's going to get a new one…"
He raised his eyebrows at her, though his gaze was off in another direction, "That's great…"
"We can go check out my dorm when my license gets here…"
He finally looked at her, "Training ain't what I thought it would be"
Her eyes widened, "Really?"
"Yeah. I just found out that we are required to live on campus in the week…"
Her gaze fell, shocked that he was dropping this important piece of information on her lap so casually, "You just found that out?"
"Yeah..."
She tried not to sigh, forcing herself to nod instead, "So, you'll be gone in the week… okay, it's fine. I'll go set up with Paula and her mom or something, and you can come and see it on the weekend?"
He didn't immediately answer her, leading her to look at him. His own gaze was elsewhere again, "Sure"
"We can work with this… if you're at campus all week and I'm in college then we can just-"
He flung the sheets back, covering Rocky and climbing out the bed, "We'll just deal with it. That's what you said before, right?... Did you have breakfast already?"
She stared at him, her mouth slightly agape.
"Did you?", He repeated, cocking his head to look at her.
She threw the sheets back, freeing a confused Rocky. She scooped the cat up in her arms and climbed off his bed, "Yes".
He watched her leave his room, but she didn't dare give him a second look. She retreated to her own bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her. She knew what he was doing, and it angered her, but even more, so it upset her.
With hardly anything to do in her room, she threw on her favourite plaid shirt and converses, grabbing her phone and backpack and decided to leave. She didn't feel like staying trapped in the house, hiding in her room from him.
There was light chatter coming from the kitchen as she made her way down the stairs, and she decided against going in. Rocky had followed her out her room and to the front door, and she was going to send the feline away so she could leave in peace, but she had grown even more attached to her in the last few weeks. She took her everywhere she could, when she could. It took only a moment for her to decide to take her with her in that instance.
"Hey, are you home?"
"Hey! Of course!", Paula cheered from her phone, "Are you coming over?"
"I can", Michonne responded, holding Rocky by her middle as her other hand held her phone to her ear, "Is your mom okay with cats?"
"Is my mom even here?", Her friend scoffed, "Even if she was she'd be asleep, so just come"
"Okay"
The walk to Paula's would have been a calming one, if she wasn't thinking about Rick so much. She tried her best to push him to the back of her mind but it was proving impossible when she didn't have something to distract her. The fact they he'd be gone for her last week at home, with a high chance they wouldn't leave on good terms, left her feeling ill at ease.
"Michonne?"
She looked towards that car crept along the street beside her, surprised to see Mike, especially after what she had learnt about him the previous day, "Hey"
He parked closer to the curb and she stopped to face him, "I haven't seen you in a while… heard you left town?"
She nodded, "Yeah… heard the good- the news. Congratulations"
He sighed, switching off his engine and stepping out of the car, "Thanks. I wanted to talk to you about that-"
"You don't need to. It's none of my business", She shrugged, holding Rocky closer to her chest.
"I know but still… what happened with Karen back then, it only happened when I thought something was going on between you and… him. I know it probably just sounds like a pathetic excuse but… it really got to me- I mean, you remember how things were back in school"
She blinked at him.
"I'm sorry, is what I wanted to say…"
"Okay.", She was far from caring that he had cheated on her, though she did appreciate the fact that he was owning up to it and apologising for it, even though it no longer mattered, "So… you work at the grocery store now?"
He looked down at his shirt, "Yeah… only temporary, till I start college…"
"Oh? So you're going?"
"Yeah… Karen and I… we decided to put the baby up for adoption"
Michonne shifted her stance, not entirely sure how to react to the revelation, "Yeah?"
"Yeah…", He nodded, "We obviously can't afford a baby, let alone raise one… we can't even stand each other anymore"
While she could agree with what he was saying, it still felt so strange to discuss such a topic with him. They had gotten to a stage where they were friendly with each other, but not enough for him to divulge his personal choices with her.
"I get it", Was all she could choke out, "You have to do what's best for your-the baby"
"Yeah", He nodded, his eyes roaming the space around we for a few seconds, "Where are you going?"
"Paula's. You?"
"To work. I can drop you off? It's on the way so…"
She shook her head, "No, it's okay. I need the walk, but thanks anyway"
"You sure? It looks like it's going to rain, and I'm sure your cat won't like that", He joked.
She glanced up towards the dark grey clouds that covered the sky, and it did indeed look like it was going to rain. It wouldn't bother her to walk in the rain, but she couldn't say the same for Rocky, "I might just have to take that ride then…"
Riding in a car with her ex was something Michonne knew Rick wouldn't particularly like, but with how bad things had gotten between them, she imagined it couldn't make things any worse.
"So where did you go?"
She glanced over at Mike, "A few places… Savannah, Macon… Jacksonville-"
"Yeah? How was it?", Mike probed.
"It was fun. The people were friendly… mostly drunk and friendly…"
"I forgot you're a drinker now, right?"
She shook her head, "Not any more. I had my fill"
He chuckled, "That bad, huh?"
She wanted to shake away the broken memories that flashed through her mind, "Yeah. That bad… so how is it working at the store? Is Philip still there?"
Mike scoffed, "That guy's an ass. You'd think he was the CEO with the way he marches around dishing out orders"
"He hasn't changed then…"
"His girlfriend's pretty funny though, have you met her?"
She smiled at the mention, "Yeah. She is"
"She stops by from time to time, giving him hell. I will stop whatever I'm doing just to watch her piss him off", Mike chortled, and Michonne couldn't help but join in, "She's always creating a scene and he just stands there"
"Yeah… I've had to play witness for that before…"
They pulled up outside Paula's home just as heavy rain drops began to fall, and Michonne made sure to wrap Rocky in her shirt.
"Thanks for the ride", She called to Mike as she opened the door.
"No problem. I'll see you around", He waved.
"Bye!"
She sprinted from his car to Paula's front door, much to Rocky's displeasure, and pressed the doorbell continuously. Moments passed, before the front door opened, and much to Michonne's amusement, it was Shane that appeared, in a pair of sweatpants and socks. She imagined he had stayed the night, which only made her feel a little awkward.
He looked her up and down, "Why the hell did you bring the cat?"
She shrugged, stepping in the home, "Because I wanted to?"
"Women", He rolled his eyes, stepping in the doorway and looking outside, "Where's that boyfriend of yours?"
"At home… maybe? I don't know", She shrugged a second time, uncovering Rocky.
Shane closed the door, eyeing her suspiciously, "Oh, really? I thought I heard a car pull off?"
"You did-"
"Hey girl!", Paula greeted, skipping down the stairs, and Michonne looked at her in awe. Her hair was naturally red, but she dyed it a much more crimson shade, and she had indeed shaved almost an inch off the sides of her head, but her long hair still fell in every direction.
"Hey!", Michonne called back, hugging her when she was close enough, "I love your hair-"
"I love yours!", Paula ran her hand over her locks, "I'm jealous. Come on, Shane was just going to get us some drinks"
"Cause I'm a butler right?", Shane muttered, walking towards the kitchen.
Her friend snickered, pushing her by her back into the living room, "He was going to leave to go meet Rick but when I said you were coming over, he thought he'd come to"
Michonne shook her head, "Nah. He's not"
"Bummer. Well, come and sit, tell me everything I need to know about your lovely little road trip", Paula threw herself down on the couch.
She joined her, "It was fun. We went to a couple parties, festivals and things like that… but I actually wanted to ask you when you're moving into your dorm?"
"Oh. Thursday? I think? Shane!", Paula yelled, "When can you take me to my dorm?!"
"Has to be the weekend! I'll be at the academy all week!", Shane called back.
"Oh great!", Paula through her hands up in the air.
"Well listen, I applied for my license last week, it should be here by Wednesday the latest, and my mom's giving me her car, so do you want to move up there together then?"
Paula's eyes lit up, "Of course! Let's do it! Don't worry, Shane! I got a ride!"
"Yeah? Who?", the young man frowned, walking into the room with three cans of Dr Pepper in his hands.
"Michonne's getting her license, and a car! So we're set!"
Shane raised an eyebrow at Michonne as he handed her the drink, "Yeah? You going up there in the week?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Might as well"
Something about the way Shane slowly nodded after handing Paula her drink and making his way over to the recliner, made Michonne feel uncomfortable. It was as if he was either storing the information away in his mind to later review.
"You think there's going to be a party up there this weekend? If there is, we are going. Without a doubt.", Paula insisted.
"Yeah, sure", Michonne nodded.
"I haven't even got everything together yet. We need to go shopping or something-"
"Me too. Rick's mom offered to come with me to help-"
"Oh my god, you know his mom and my mom have started hanging out right? My mom gave her a 'makeover' and everything", Paula giggled, "It's pretty adorable. They were running around here the other night getting ready for their 'double date'-"
The house phone began to ring, and Paula growled as jumped up to answer it. Shane had been sitting across from Michonne with his eyes on her for most of their conversation, and he had perked up as soon as Paula was out of earshot.
"So, everythan' alright over there?"
Her eyes crept up to meet his. She had a feeling he was referencing Rick's home, specifically she and Rick. She nodded innocently, "Fine."
Shane's unimpressed expression told her that he wasn't buying it, "Yeah?"
"Yeah. Everything's just peachy", She lied, placing her can on the table.
He stared at her for a few seconds, as if he was waiting for her to say something else, but when she didn't, he gave a little shrug, "Alright. I just thought he would have dropped you off over here, on a count of the fact that you two are usually joined at the hip"
"Not anymore", She huffed as she shook her head, feeling a lump in her throat. Her eyes were beginning to sting, so she blinked a few times to stop the sensation.
"Yeah?"
She felt like such a fool when her eyes glossed over and a tear escaped, falling from the corner of her eye before she could stop it. She wiped it away with her sleeve and sniffed.
"Shit, wait, no. Don't do that, please?", Shane pleaded, sitting forward in the chair, his Hands raised in surrender, "I didn't mean to-"
"No. It's fine, I'm just being an idiot-"
"Look, I don't know what's going on with the two of you but you both seem a little off, and it's throwing me off, so can you… I don't know", Shane sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "Fix it?"
She smirked, "I wish it was that easy"
"Ain't it? I mean what's really the problem? You're not pregnant, are you? Cause I don't think I'm ready for that kind of responsibility-"
"No!", She shook her head adamantly, "Not at all- wait, what responsibility would you have?"
He scoffed, "Well I'd be an uncle! Probably the godfather, if you're in to that. And that's a lot of responsibility, which I don't think I'm ready to commit to. Obviously I'd love the baby regardless-"
"That's really sweet, Shane, but no one's pregnant", She reinforced dryly.
His face pinched, "Then what? That's the only thang I can think of that's big enough to mess up a relationship. Well cheating too, but Rick wouldn't do that and I don't think you would either"
She gave a disbelieving chuckle, "Well, can you tell him that?"
Shane's head reeled back, his gaze trailing up and down her, "What?"
"You need to tell him that because he doesn't seem to believe me at all"
His mouth fell agape, his eyes almost bulging, "Did you cheat on him?"
"No! I didn't! That's the point!", She stressed with her hands raised, "He doesn't believe me, he said he does but I know he really doesn't, and couple that with the fact that I'm not scared to be away from him for a while... he's probably thinking that I don't want to be with him anymore"
Shane face registered nothing but confusion, "So, wait, what happened-"
"Guess who has the house to themselves! Again!", Paula cheered as she walked back in the room.
Michonne gave Shane a quick glance, hoping he would know not to discuss the matter further, "Your mom's not coming back?"
"Nah. She's got a night off but she's staying with her new boyfriend", the red-haired teen rolled her eyes as she jumped back on the chair, "You wanna sleep over?"
"Uh, sure? I don't mind", She shrugged.
"You know where starting at the camp tomorrow?", Shane reminded, "We'll be gone all week…"
She realised what he was getting at, but Paula didn't, "Oh! Invite everyone over then! We can hang out here and order pizza or something? Right?"
A strange sound left Michonne, "Well if they have to get up early-"
"They don't have to stay all night", Paula shrugged, "It's not even one yet. If everyone gets here for like three or something, they can leave at like nine? Right, Shane?"
The male shifted in his seat, but still nodded, "Uh, sure, yeah. Nice and… early"
"See! Let's make some phone calls"