Thanks to everyone for reading and posting your thoughts! The responses really inspire the writing process.

Chapter Eight

Michonne followed Mike into his parent's home, through the grand foyer, then into the immense great room. She hadn't much to say while driving she and Mike to the house, for her mind was heavily on the wedding she'd been discussing hours before with his mother. At first she was shocked that he'd told his family about their engagement against her wishes, but when she really thought about it, she realized that she shouldn't have been surprised. For Mike had been eager to tell his family the minute he'd slipped that ring on her finger.

"Mike, we need to talk." Michonne seriously stated as he tossed his house keys on the bar, moved to pour himself a drink, but instead turned to face her, then stunned her with his response.

"You know I told my family about our engagement." He deduced and continued before she could respond. "I'm sorry I told them, but I was so excited that I couldn't wait. And I'm glad I did because if I hadn't…with what's happened to my father…" He stopped when emotion choked his voice. "I'm glad that I told him." He resumed, looking her in the eyes, unwittingly stirring up guilt within, making her reconsider what she planned to say. "And I'm glad you came." He said, walking up to her then taking her in his arms. Michonne allowed him to hold her close, to kiss the top of her head, to get the comfort he needed from her, while she mounted the courage to do one of the most difficult things she'd ever have to do in her life. Mike ended the hug then moved to kiss her on the lips but she pulled back, not wanting to encourage him further. "Chonne what's wrong?" He asked with bewilderment etched with frustration. "You mad about me telling my family?"

"No." She said. "Let's sit down."

"Why?" Mike questioned with irritation.

"Mike please." Michonne firmly implored. He slowly did as she asked and had a seat, with Michonne joining him on the couch. For a brief moment she looked down, feeling nervous and contrite, sadly telling herself she needed to do this, while Mike waited impatiently for her to speak.

"We've been together for a long time." She began after returning her eyes to his. "We've had a good relationship, so when you asked me to marry you, I said yes because I thought it was only logical…"

"You thought?" Mike interjected with alarm.

"Let me finish." Michonne gently demanded and he complied.

"I said yes." She resumed. "Because I thought it was only logical, considering how much we cared about each other and the life we already shared…but that was a mistake." She said, her heart hurting at the confusion in his eyes.

"What do you mean it was a mistake?" He questioned, woe in his tone.

"It was a mistake for me to accept your proposal." She clarified. "Mike I can't marry you."

"But you said yes. You promised to be my wife." He countered with angst and incredulity.

"I know what I promised."

"Well then why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's the truth."

"The truth?" Mike retorted as he stood from the couch, putting some distance between them, his emotions now a mix of agony and anger. "Was it the truth when you accepted my proposal, my ring and made love to me like I was the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?"

"I thought it was the truth in that moment." Michonne tried to clarify.

"That doesn't make sense to me." He said, turning to face her.

"It didn't make sense to either in the beginning, but as time went on…."

"You're overwhelmed with work." Mike interrupted. "And what's happening here with my father, you're just feeling a little col..."

"Mike it's not cold feet." She strongly interjected as she stood.

"Then what is it?!" He exclaimed with exasperation. "Is it your mother? Did she finally convince you that I'm not rich enough for you? Did you meet someone else?"

"No!" Michonne asserted, looking him in the eyes even as Rick Grimes burned in her heart. "No! It's neither of those things. I've been feeling this way for a while. I thought I could move past it, but I can't."

"This isn't just about ending our engagement is it?" He then declared with painful realization. "You want to break up?"

Michonne briefly closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. "Yes." She sighed.

"Why?" He questioned, his voice uneven with agony. "And don't tell me you don't know. You know why you don't want to be with me, now just tell me."

"Mike…"

"Tell me!" He demanded. "I deserve to know why." Michonne debated with herself as to whether she should say more. She'd already done so much damage, to tell him what was truly in her heart would be devastating.

"It's someone else isn't it? That's the only thing that makes sense." Mike concluded when she failed to answer.

"Mike…"

"Was he who you went to see in Florida?" He talked over her. "The mysterious man you were on the phone with when I got home after the 4th?"

"Mike stop…"

"Were you fucking him all this time?!"

"I wasn't fucking anybody!" Michonne exclaimed with fury. "I would never do that and you know it." She contended, sparking the memory of her nearly making love to Rick.

"I don't know anything!" Mike argued. "All I know is you're telling me you want to end our four-year relationship because of what? You won't tell me. What else am I to conclude but that it's another man!"

"It's not another man." She stated more calmly and with resolve, accepting that she had to tell him the truth. "I don't ...I don't feel the way I need to, the way you deserve." She sadly confessed, looking him in the eyes.

"What are you saying? You don't love me?"

"No. I do." She admitted. "But not like a woman should love her fiancé, her future husband."

"That's bullshit." He bitterly exclaimed. "Two weeks ago you were happy. A month ago you were happy. Six months ago you were happy, now you suddenly want to end our relationship of FOUR years! This doesn't make sense…."

"It doesn't make sense to you, but it does to me." Michonne countered. "Mike, I have been struggling with this for months. Things would be okay for a while, but deep down I knew this wasn't what I wanted…that I wasn't really happy."

"Why didn't you tell me what you were feeling?" He replied with near despair.

"What could you have done?" She emotionally asserted. "This wasn't about you... You are a good man." She stated with truth. "It was about me realizing something about myself. I tried to ignore it, hoping it would change but it didn't. She said, her heart brimming with guilt at the devastation on Mike's face."

"You really want to do this? To walk away from…." He began, then stopped in grief.

Michonne nodded. Then morosely added. "It doesn't make sense for me to stay…I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you." She uttered. There was a long awkward silence. She could see the emotions swirling within him, his struggle to process all that had been said. "I should go." She then cautiously stated, hating to leave him in that state, wanting to ask him if he was going to be okay, but knowing that he wasn't and wouldn't be at least not for a while.

Mike didn't say a word. He stood now looking at nothing, his back to her, his head down. She could see that he was wounded, fighting to stay strong in front of her, but would soon lose the battle. Michonne wanted to say more, to comfort him in some way, but knew that she couldn't, and instead grabbed her purse from the couch and left.

The next morning

The airport was surprisingly bustling with people, already about their day, in route to their next destination. Michonne waited at her gate, feeling tired, physically and mentally, exhausted from the events of the night before. She was still thinking about Mike, hoping he was okay, her heart aching at the pain she'd seen in his eyes. After she'd returned to her hotel, she was so overwhelmed with emotion that she'd cried. She didn't know for how long, but she'd gotten little sleep and felt overwhelmed with guilt and concern over Mike. She'd wanted to catch the last flight home, but upon trying to get herself together, she'd missed the red eye back to Atlanta.

However, she had managed to book the first flight that morning, which would start boarding within the hour. Michonne stifled a yawn and took an Aleve to stay the headache that was threatening to start. Her thoughts then drifted to home, how she didn't have one at the moment. Her things were still at the townhouse she shared with Mike, which was in his name, and meant that she would need to move immediately. For all her preparation to break her engagement, she'd not had an opportunity to prepare to move out. Maybe she could crash with Angela or Sasha, both friends had plenty of space, but Sasha was married with children, and neither knew about the turn her life had taken.

Michonne rubbed her eyes then turned on her phone which had been off since she'd been at the hospital the previous day. She watched it power up and immediately saw various notifications pop up, missed calls, voicemails and texts, the most notable being the latter from Rick. Her heart felt full at the thought of him, regretting missing their routine texts due to all the drama she had going on. She then read his message first and felt comfort in knowing that he was thinking about her, yet guilt at the fact that Rick was in part the catalyst that led to her ending things with Mike.

She stared at the message wanting to text him back, to tell him every detail of her difficult day. She wanted to hear of the challenges he'd faced with his recruits, but it was still so early, well before dawn. She didn't know if he was awake. Furthermore, she didn't know if she was yet in the right mind to talk, even by text, but when her phone suddenly lit up and Rick's name popped up on its face, she took a deep breath and picked up.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Hey." Rick uttered, his voice, melting her inside. "Did I wake you?" He asked.

"No. I'm at the airport." She tiredly replied.

"You flying back to Atlanta?" Rick questioned with concern.

"Yeah... It's for the best." She responded in a low tone.

"What happened?" He softly inquired.

"It's Mike…"

"His father…"

"No…" She interrupted Rick's assumption. "He's the same. But last night, I broke up with Mike."

Rick was shocked and relieved that the obstacle of her engagement was out of the way, but empathetic to the anguish and guilt he knew she was feeling about what she'd done.

"How did it go?"

"Not good."

"I'm sorry. I know how difficult that had to be."

"I spent a month mentally preparing myself to tell him. She somberly declared. But when I did it, it was as if I wasn't prepared at all."

"The same thing happened with me when things ended with Lori." Rick revealed. "Even though it was a long time coming, when I said the words, it made it real. My emotions were so raw after…."

"Same here." Michonne admitted. "I knew that we couldn't go on, that I didn't want to, but still, we spent four years together, you know?"

"I do. It's tough right now, but it'll get easier." Rick quietly stated, completely understanding the complexity of her wanting the relationship to be done, yet struggling with its demise and the person she'd hurt in the process.

"I know." She sighed. "I just worry about him dealing with what's happened, along with what's going on with his father…he's hurting a lot right now and a big part of that is because of me."

"Hey. Don't go there." He urged with compassion. "You can't blame yourself for telling him the truth. He's in pain, but in the long run he'll be better for it."

"You're right." She acknowledged, taking his words in, finding them impartial and supportive, comforting her more than he'd ever know.

"I can be sometimes." Rick threw in, igniting a glimmer of mirth within her.

"Just sometimes huh?" She quipped back.

"Ok. I'll admit, all the time." He mildly joked.

"Hmm huh." She said with a small laugh, which contented Rick's heart. "What about you?" She then queried. "Your day any better than mine?" She said, thinking of the text he'd sent her the previous night.

"Not by much." He replied, then went on to tell her about Carl running away, to her complete shock. Rick had confessed what he'd not expressed to others – the fear it stirred, the confusion, the guilt and anger he felt about Carl doing this, and ultimately his relief when he was found to be okay. Michonne had been completely engaged, sympathetic while fully supporting his disclosure about what had happened. Rick wasn't usually that verbal, especially when he was troubled about something, but the gentleness and understanding of Michonne easily compelled him to open up.

"You said that Carl is safe, but are you okay?" Michonne asked with care, after Rick finished detailing the harrowing ordeal.

"Yeah. I am." He assured. I am concerned about Carl though. "I'm certain part of the reason why he did this was because he wants me and his mother to stay together. But that's not gonna to happen…I don't know how I can get him to accept that."

"A part of him will always want you and Lori together, but with time he'll accept…your separation." Michonne reassured.

"I hope so." He said, encouraged by her thought. "Wow, look at us, being Debbie Downers this early in the morning." He then spoke in jest.

"It happens. It's life." Michonne lightly replied and seriously added… "Thank you for listening."

"Anytime." He said, his voice gentle and sincere, filling her with tenderness and peace, when she heard the boarding call for her flight.

"They're calling my flight." She reluctantly declared, not yet ready to hang up.

"Alright." Rick replied with hesitance, feeling the same as Michonne, before he'd thanked her for giving him her ear, wished her a safe trip, and they'd ended their call.

Rick hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment, now irrationally missing Michonne, wanting so much to see her, to talk to her for a moment longer, then turned his eyes out the window, just as his phone alerted him to a communication.

~Thanks for being you ~

~That's all I know how to be. ~ He responded.

~I'll text you when I land. ~

~I can't wait. ~

He text back, feeling giddy with delight when she replied with a smiling emoji.

"There you are." He then heard from behind prompting him to put away his phone and turn around. I've been looking all over for you.

"Is Carl alright?" He asked his soon to be ex-wife.

"He's fine. He's still asleep, but when I woke up and didn't see you there…I got worried you'd left." She said as she walked up to him and invaded his person space, making him feel uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?" He questioned, after stepping back and putting some distance between them.

"What do you mean?" She innocently asked.

"The looks, the touches, the quiet insistence that we sleep in the same bed, now this, you walking up on me like we're still together. Why are you doing this?" Lori didn't answer for a while, appearing to Rick as if she was trying to organize her thoughts.

"Over the holiday I had more time to think." She said when she finally spoke. "I realized that I love you, and I want us to work. I want to save our marriage." She confessed.

"Now? After months of nothing?" Rick skeptically questioned, thinking how when he'd wanted to make things work more than a year ago for their son, she was not interested.

"Not nothing. I remember not too long ago we were still acting like a married couple."

"That was mistake, fueled by alcohol and you know it." He refuted the regrettable encounter that had occurred a couple of months before.

"It doesn't matter." She countered with a hint of impatience. "I want to make this work. I want to give us another chance."

"Lori, this isn't just your decision to make. I have a say in this too, and I don't want this marriage anymore."

"Is it because of her?" She questioned, irritation mounting in her voice, perplexing Rick. "Don't give me that look. I read your text messages."

"What?! You went through my phone?!" Rick exclaimed in anger and shock, remembering how his phone was turned up when he'd woken early in the night and moved to the waiting area to sleep. At the time, he could've sworn he'd left it turned down, but eventually blew off the thought.

"Dam right I did." Lori unrepentantly admitted.

"What the hell were you thinking? You had no right!"

"I had every right, I am still your wife!" She exploded.

"In name only. You had no business going through my phone!"

"I heard about that…woman you were parading around town during the 4th of July weekend. I wanted to see if there was any merit to what I'd heard. Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"I don't care if you found out! We're separated. This marriage is over. And frankly what I do and with who is none of your dam business." Rick contended with ire.

"It is my business if affects our son!"

"You want to talk about what affects our son? Why don't you tell me what you were doing with Shane to cause our son to get so upset that he ran away?"

'What?! That's absurd!" Lori retorted, her ill temper instantly deflating into nervous distress.

"Really? You think I didn't see the looks and strain between you and Shane? The way Carl responded to him when he turned up in his room?" Rick countered. "I know something happened to make him run away." He said as Lori shook her head in denial. "What happened Lori?" He pushed. "Did he catch you and Shane kissing? Did he catch you two in bed?"

"That's disgusting. I would never be with Shane. He's your friend." She defensively rejected.

"Well then what happened?" He challenged again, but she refused to speak, crossing her arms across her chest, her eyes revealing that there was something she didn't want to reveal. "You know what, I don't want to know, but whatever it was, keep our son…."

"Shane came on to me." She suddenly asserted. "That's why Carl ran away. He probably saw it." She said. "And thought something was between us."

"What did he see? … What did he see Lori?" Rick repeated when she remained silent, dropping her eyes.

"A kiss." She cautiously divulged, causing Rick to scoffed in disbelief that Shane would make such a move, but the news certainly explained what seemed to be the man's increased interested in everything Lori these past few weeks. "Rick it was a mistake." Lori tried to explain. "It meant nothing to me." She said walking up to him.

"I don't care." He stated with indifference.

"But I want to make things work with you. I don't care about Shane or that woman you were running around town with. I care about you. I want you."

"That's not possible." He said, looking her in the eyes. "I'm moving out of the garage apartment, and filing for divorce by the end of the week."

"You can't do this." Lori cried.

"I am, and I will." Rick said then moved to go around her.

"I won't make this easy for you." She threatened. "I won't allow you to do this to our family!" She tearfully yelled.

"And I won't allow you to do this to our son." He fiercely vowed, then walked away.