Chapter 14:

"He said what?"

Michonne watched Gabriel shifted from foot to foot, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder, "He said he'd make my life hell if I tried to… pursue something other than platonic with you"

Her eyes rolled back in her head as she folded her arms across her chest, "Of course he did. Of course he did-"

"I'm sorry to tell you that… it's just… I didn't know what else to do… I told him I wouldn't let him threaten me and… and then he wanted to fight me"

Michonne couldn't roll her eyes back any further if she tried, so instead she began to step around Gabriel, "I'm really sorry about that. He's a pain in the ass"

"He said that to- uh, I thought we were meant to…", Gabriel used his thumb to point at the library doors a few yards behind them.

She shook her head, "Sorry but I… I'm not really in the mood anymore and I've got some things to handle… same time tomorrow? Maybe?"

He tried to hide his disappointment, but he did a terrible job at it, "Yeah, okay… I got it. Tomorrow then… but if you're feeling up to it later then I'll probably still be here?"

She slowly nodded as if she was giving it some consideration, "Alright"

The truth was though, she wasn't. After a long day of classes she was already tired, and hearing that Rick had threatened Gabriel was the last straw.

She was desperately trying to adopt a new outlook on life. After spending part of the previous weekend with Rick and her friends, she came away feeling a little less lonely than she had previously done. She didn't think she would be able to stand his company anytime soon but he proved her wrong. He almost made her laugh like he used to, and she actually didn't mind when he kissed her goodbye, despite her protests. She had even played with the idea possibly calling him one night for a friendly talk, but when she returned to her dorm, she no longer wished for their first phone conversation since their break up to be friendly.

"Hi Daryl", She greeted with a false cheery tone as she threw herself down on her bed.

"...What's going on?", The other teen rasped over the sound of clanking in the background.

"Nothing, uh, I was just wondering if you knew how to get a hold of Rick? I know they aren't allowed to use their phones at the academy-"

"Nah. They have a pay phone out there. You have to wait for them to call you"

Her eyes rolled shut out of frustration, "Right. Got it...Well, if he calls you then-"

"Tell him you were looking for him."

"Thanks. Alright well-"

"Aye! Hold on, let me ask you somethan'..."

Michonne's eyes widened by a tiny fraction, "Uh, sure? Go ahead?"

Daryl lowered his voice, "Sasha's birthday. Can I get some help with that?"

"Sure. Do you want to go pick out a present or something?"

"Nah… I already got somethan' planned… Just need some help getting it done…"

She narrowed her eyes at the ceiling above her as she rolled on her back, "Go on…"

"...She said she was born at one in the morning, so I wanna' write a message for her, somewhere big so she can see it when she looks out her dorm window-"

"Aw, that's really sweet Daryl-"

"So I thought I'd write it on the lawn. In fire"

Michonne narrowed her eyes as if she could see him, "You want to write a message for her on the lawn? With fire?"

"...Yeah."

"What is it with you guys and fire?", She hissed down the line, "No, Daryl don't do that- there are so many other things you can do that don't involve a match, okay?... like you can get her… jewellery, a book, or uh… uh… a fish! A pet fish! She's always wanted one, and I think she'd love to hide one in her dorm room so... how about that instead?"

Daryl was silent for a short moment, "A fish?"

"Yeah! Not like a goldfish or anything, She already had one of those… something different, unusual… she'll love it"

"...Alright, I'll think about it- wait hold on, I got a call coming though", Michonne heard the other teen begin to fuss with his cell phone, before coming back to her, "Its them, probably Shane, I'll pass on the message to him"

"Thanks! Bye"

"Later."

She huffed as she dropped her phone on the bed beside her, still staring up to the ceiling. A small part of her wondered if she should return to the library since she felt that she really did need to study, but Rick had inadvertently made things even more awkward between her and Gabriel, which was a shame as she was sure that he was beginning to accept that she wasn't interested in him romantically. Well, she hoped that he was beginning to accept it anyway.

Tasked with having to wait to receive a phone call from Rick, she decided to spend the remainder of her afternoon studying in the comfort of her dorm, sadly the other students had other ideas. The halls were hardly ever quiet throughout the day, but for some reason or the other her neighbours loud discussions distracted her even more so that evening, forcing her to put her headphones on while she worked.

It was only when she was forced to turn on her lamp because the sun was setting that she decided to take a break from her books, just as there was a light rapping at her door. She expected Sasha or Paula to pay her a visit at one point in the evening like they often did, so she stretched in her seat as she called out, "Come in!"

"...You should probably check who it is before inviting someone in", Rick announced, stepping into her room with a little frown as he turned the brim of his hat to the back of his head, "Could have been anybody"

Michonne wore an even deeper frown as she jumped out of her seat, "What are you doing here?!"

He closed the door with his foot as he shrugged, "Shane said that Daryl said that you said I should give you a call-"

She scoffed, "Then why didn't you just call me back?"

"Because you didn't answer when I did"

She opened her mouth to argue, but quickly remembered that her phone was still on her bed, "I was studying, and I put my music on because It was noisy out there"

"Yeah- you know there's a party going on a couple of doors down?", He tipped his head to the side to signal the direction he was speaking of.

"There's always a party going on somewhere", She rolled her eyes, about to cross her arms when she balled her fist in frustration, "Wait- that doesn't explain what you're doing here?"

"You didn't answer", He replied in a tone that suggested it was the obvious answer, "You could have been in trouble or somethan' so…"

"So you drove all the way here? Don't you have to be up early tomorrow? Are you even allowed to leave-"

"We kind of snuck out", He cringed, shifting his weight from one boot to the other.

"We? Who is 'we'?"

"Shane and I… he went off to find Paula"

Michonne stared at him with nothing short of disbelief, "I wanted you to give me a call because I spoke with Gabriel today"

He slowly inhaled as he shoved his hands in his denim cut offs, "I had a feeling that was the reason-"

"You had no right to go up to him, Rick", She raised her pointer finger at him, "And you had no right to threaten him!"

"I didn't threaten him", Rick's face pinched with annoyance, "I had no intention of touching him- you know me better than anyone else Cha…"

He stretched the last word that left his lips when he saw the look warning of her flash across face.

"...Michonne", He corrected, hands raised in surrender, "I was just having a little talk with him and then he said somethan' about being a black belt in taekwondo-"

"You shouldn't have gone to look for him in the first place! How did you even find him?"

Rick cringed a second time, "I got some help from Sasha… unwillingly"

Michonne balled her fists once again as she felt the urge to scold him coarse through her veins, but she instead she snapped her mouth shut and took in a deep calming breath before speaking in a light tone, "You have no right to warn anyone about anything to do with me, Rick"

He dropped his gaze to her feet as he nodded, "Alright. Got it"

"Good", She almost snapped but refrained from doing so. As annoyed as she was with Rick, she couldn't allow herself to be completely angry with him since he had travelled all the way to her campus just because she didn't answer the phone. She relented, dragging her hand over her face as she sighed, "Just sit down or something… I'm nearly done"

He flashed his infamous grin as he did as he was told, "I can do that"

Michonne plopped back into her seat and picked up her pen while Rick perched on the edge of her bed and began looking around like he had done previously. She tried to pick up where she left off but she was even more distracted than previously, and barely a minute passed before she put her pen down again, "I guess I'm done then"

"Oh?", Ricks eyebrows sprung up, "I hope that's not because I'm here?"

She spun around in her seat and faced him, draping one leg over the other as she answered sarcastically, "No. Of course not"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "You could always ignore me while you studied?"

"Yeah well, that was then and this is now", She dismissed, "So, have you spoken to your mom?"

He looked away from her as he shook his head, "Nah. There's no need"

Michonne crossed her arms over her chest as she sighed for a second time, "There is a need"

"Yeah? What is it then?", She could tell by the way that he looked back at her that he was quickly growing defensive.

"Because I know she probably wants to talk to you, and I know she wants to tell you her big news- she probably would have called you first if it wasn't easier to get through to me", She stressed with an edge to her tone, "She loves how close the two of you are now-"

"Yeah", He tore his gaze away from her again as he quipped sardonically, "We're really close, aren't we?"

Michonne soon found herself growing annoyed with his attitude, "You're mom has always tried, Rick. I know she wasn't around much in the past and she was too wrapped up in her work- but when she was around she did try. You and I both know she did. Yes, She should have tried harder and I understand why you feel the way that you towards her but you… you have to decide to either accept what happened and move on or you just…move on"

He lowered his gaze as he listened, clenching his jaw in either anger or frustration, "Yeah. I know"

She eyed him in silence for a moment before exhaling through her nose, "I decided to just move on, and it sucks. I wish I didn't even have to make a choice like that but I did and… I guess I'll feel better about it one day"

His bright blue eyes darted back to hers, his hard exterior falling apart as quickly as it had appeared, "...I would have done the same."

Michonne had no problem believing that at all, though she couldn't believe she was disclosing such personal information with him. She hadn't told another soul that she hoped to never speak to her either of her parents again. It was a decision she made shortly after her last encounter with her mother, and still a little hard to accept. She sighed, as it was her turn to look away from him, "So... Shane went to find Paula?"

"He did…", Rick rolled his eye before hoping off her bed, "Well since you're done studying, we could go get somethan' to eat?"

Michonne peered across the room at her alarm clock and noted the time, "It's getting a little late?"

"We don't have to go far", He shrugged, "You don't even need to change. We'll find a drive-thru"

Though she believed it was too late to go out since she had class in the morning, she couldn't deny the hunger she felt, so she reluctantly agreed. After finding her boots and grabbing a light jacket, the two teens left her dorm made their way to his car.

Spending time with Rick wasn't something she thought she'd be doing again so soon, but the truth was that she would always feel comfortable in his company, despite everything that had happened between them. The idea of being romantically involved with him again wasn't something she wanted to think about for the moment, but the thought of having their friendship return to what it was, seemed manageable.

"...Have you spoken to Rocky today?"

Michonne rolled her eyes from the windshield to look at Rick as she retorted dryly, "Very funny"

He snickered, "I'm just asking? Did you? Did she purr for you?"

"You are such a pain", She groaned as she looked back through the windscreen, "Maybe you should get a pet. It could teach you some responsibility"

He snorted at the idea as he kept one hand on the steering wheel, "A pet is the last thang I need. Cats are evil, dogs require a lot of attention-"

"Cats are not evil.", She quickly dismissed, "Rocky has always been a good cat"

Ricks eyes widened as he glanced at her, "Did you forget what she did to my chair? Or my trunk?"

Michonne gave him a nonchalant shrug, "She's a cat, and they like to sharpen their claws-"

He furrowed his brows at her, "Notice she never did that to anybody else's stuff? Just mine?"

"Because you didn't interact with her enough. You were like a stranger to her and she probably wasn't familiar with your scent-"

"She lived in my room, Michonne", Rick squinted with disbelief, "My scent was everywhere. In fact, let me rephrase that- She still lives in my room"

Michonne let out a little gasp as she slapped her hand to her chest plate, "Does she? That's actually really sweet"

"So I think she knows exactly who I am, she just wants to taunt me. And don't think I haven't caught her in the act", He relayed sourly, "She's looked me dead in the eye when I've walked in while she was tearing apart what's left of the leather. She didn't give a damn that I was standing right there"

Michonne bit her lips together in a bid to silence a chuckle, "It sounds like you're the one with the problem, not her"

Rick glanced at her again, "You're doing this on purpose. I know you are"

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Yes, you are. You're making it seem like I'm the one that's crazy, when really it's the cat"

"Do you hear yourself? You're calling a cat crazy!", She couldn't hold back her laughter any longer, "Those are your words, not mine"

A sly grin appeared on his face as he glanced at her a third time, "I've worked it out, the two of you are working together to take me down"

Another chuckle erupted from her as she shook her head, "I'm not listening to you anymore"

"Because you know it's true"

"No, because you're a sociopath"

"That's not true- remember we took the test", He pointed out with a crooked smile as he turned into the nearest lot, "I only had a few traits"

Michonne ran her hands over her face in despair, hating how easy it was for him to make her laugh. They pulled around to the drove through where they made their orders, then proceeded to wait for their food.

"You know… there was one more thing I wanted to do before I left for the academy", She looked over at Rick, who was staring through windshield as he spoke, "Just one more thang to get out my system before I went on the 'straight and narrow'..."

Michonne frowned at him, "You think you're on the straight and narrow right now?"

He wiped his head to the side and gave her an incredulous look, "I have"

"You're not meant to be here right now, Rick. You should be back at the academy and probably in bed"

He scoffed as he raised his hands in exasperation, "On the grand scale of thangs I've done, you think this is bad?"

Images flooded her mind of all the activities and possible crimes she had ever witnessed at the hands of Rick and his friends, and she quickly felt compelled to agree, "Okay, this isn't as bad"

"Exactly", He flashed his infamous, devilish grin again, "But I have yet to do what I really wanted to do…Somewhere I've always wanted to go."

She stared at him with the most unimpressed look on her face, "What?"

"...Do you still trust me?"

"No.", She answered easily, crossing one leg over the other, "Now tell me what it is?"

He feigned offence as her turned his body in the driver's seat to face her, "You don't trust me? Have I ever gotten you hurt? Or in any trouble? I've always looked after you when I've taken you anywhere and that still applies. I know exactly what I need to do, and I don't think I can think of anyone better to do it with?"

"Shane. Daryl. Glenn", She ejected with a flat tone.

He shook his head, "They won't appreciate it, and even if they did, it wouldn't be for the right reasons"

Michonne stared at him, appearing uninterested on the outside, but something within her was genuinely curious. She'd be lying to herself if she denied having fun when Rick had previously taken her on his adventures, and it had been a while since she truly enjoyed herself. It also didn't help that the teen had a successful way of marketing his plans.

"If you let me take you there now then I can get you back in your dorm before midnight", He added in a promising tone, "Maybe even before that"

She gave up trying to appear indifferent and huffed, "There better not be water involved, or bugs, or fireworks"

"None of the above", He smiled, looking as happy as a child in a toy store, "This will be unlike anythan' else we've ever done. I promise"