Thanks everyone for reading and responding! I appreciate the support! Also, special thanks to those who read my Legacy fics back in the day and are back to enjoy my attempt at exploring TWD world.

Chapter Nine

Michonne returned to the inside of the townhouse, making her way to the kitchen just as her cell phone stopped ringing. She rushed over to the counter and picked it up in time enough to see Rick's name disappear from the screen. The routine continues she contently mused, as she put the phone down then taped the last box she'd packed, thinking how over the past three weeks their calls had become more frequent and thus expected. Michonne finished sealing the box then headed for the stairs while she dialed Rick back...

"Hey!" He answered.

"Hey!" Did you just call? She asked, while mounting the next set of steps, taking her to the third level of the townhouse.

"Yeah." What're you doing? He curiously questioned, lightness in his voice. "You sound a little winded."

"I just ran up two flights of stairs." She answered when she reached the top step.

"You trying a new workout routine?"

"No. I'm prepping for the movers who'll be here any minute."

"Oh, well then I'll let you go…"

"No. Don't go." Michonne interjected, stopping short of the master bedroom door.

"You want me to stay?" Rick softly replied, causing her to flush within.

"Yes. Just for a minute." She uttered, matching his soft tone.

"Only a minute? Because I can do longer if you want."

"I'm sure you can." She quietly declared, inflaming Rick's heart. "But a minute will do for now."

"Whatever you want." He huskily stated, heating Michonne more.

"What're you up to?" She asked, abruptly changing the subject, trying to turn their conversation away from the seductive to the innocent.

"I'm on my way to pick up Carl."

"You spending the day together?"

"Yeah. I decided to do our outing today, rather than Sunday." He explained. "I'm taking him to Rigby's Entertainment Complex in Warner Robbins."

"That'll be fun. Several of my colleagues have taken their families there and had a great time."

"I'm hoping it'll get his mind off everything that's been going on." He said, thinking how Lori was trying to stall the divorce by demanding that he attend counseling with her and Carl; otherwise she would make the divorce as difficult as possible. Rick was still deciding if he would go. He did agree. Carl likely needed some outside help dealing with all that had transpired, but he didn't want to send any messages to Lori and especially not Carl, that might give off the false belief that he thought the marriage could be saved.

"I'm betting he'll have a blast." Michonne guessed aloud.

"I'm counting on it."

"You nervous about the outing? This'll be the first time since you've moved out that you and he'll have some quality time together." She said, recalling all he'd told her about the divorce and thus his time with Carl.

"I am, nervous…. He hasn't had much to say since I told him about the divorce and moved out." Rick stated. Carl had taken the news in stride, but since, though happy to see him when they had visits, he was more reserved than usual. Furthermore, they really hadn't much time to talk about it due to school starting back, and what time they did have together was spent going over homework and running him to after school activities.

"He's still upset about you moving out, the divorce?"

"It's hard to tell, but I'm sure he is. At least he's not blaming Lori anymore, for all that's happened. Still I feel sadness from him." Rick sighed. "Which will be there for a while…How's the move going?" He then moved the conversation back to her after Michonne concurred with his latter statement.

"Like I said, the movers will be here any minute to pick up my clothes and a couples of pieces of furniture." She replied. Her crazy work schedule over the past few weeks, specifically the unexpected travel she'd had to do, delayed her move for three weeks. "Angela is here helping me pack up the stuff I'm gone drive over in the car."

"She still okay with you crashing with her for a few weeks." He asked, remembering Michonne saying that her friend was acting a little reluctant about her staying with her, at first, but had eventually warmed to the idea.

"Yeah. Reggie is supposed to be going out of town for a few weeks for training." Michonne revealed. "I think she's looking forward to having me for company."

"Any plans after you finish up the move?"

"Nothing but relax. Angela is going out with Reggie and all my other friends are busy. So I'm on my own for the night."

"Well then go to the movies with me?"

"What? How?... " She asked, completely mystified by his suggestion.

"Skype." He answered, a smile in his voice.

"Ah, now that's an interesting idea." She responded with mirth.

"Interesting enough for you to say yes?"

"I don't know. How would that even work?" She posed. She'd used Skype for work i.e. interoffice messaging, calls and presentations, but nothing like what he was suggesting.

"Easy. We Skype each other, turn on the movie, press play at the same time and watch. You have Netflix right?"

"I do."

"Well then we're all set."

Michonne laughed at how he always seemed to surprise her with the unexpected. "You've obviously done this before." She then said.

"A few times with Carl." He confirmed, thinking how they'd watched The Flash, many times using Skype, when he was out of town doing deputy training. "What do you say?" He asked again.

"It sounds like a date." She skeptically countered.

"Do you want it to be?"

Happiness swelled inside, urging Michonne to tell him 'yes,' but logic stopped her from responding with emotion. She'd just broken up with Mike, and though Rick had filed for divorce, he was still having issues with his wife. She'd said they needed to wait six months before they could pursue a romance, which was a very wise decision considering all that was happening in their lives. Thus she'd instead uttered. "I'll tell you after."

"Does that mean we're doing this?" He said, his tone implying so much more than friendship.

"I guess so." She nervously replied.

"What time should I pick you up?" He joked, inciting wild laughter from both him and Michonne.

"I'll meet you on Skype at 8:00." She stated when her hilarity finally calmed.

"See you then." He said, his joviality still apparent.

"See you then." She quietly replied.

The mood had been tense. From the moment Rick had picked up Carl at the house to the arrival at Rigby's Entertainment Complex, the boy had few words to say. The drive to Warner Robbins had been unusually quiet with Carl only giving one word answers to Rick's attempt at conversation, until he'd finally asked where they were going after they got 20 minutes into the drive and hadn't stopped at any familiar places. When Rick told him they were going to Rigby's Entertainment Complex, Carl couldn't hide his excitement and as a result, he'd opened up some. He was eager to see the place, play all the different games, try the food. He'd had friends who'd gone and had a ton of fun, and Carl had always asked to go but something would oftentimes get in the way.

Therefore, Rick thought that taking him there would be a wonderful surprise and give them some much needed time to bond. Once they arrived at the Complex, the tension had eased a bit. For they were distracted by the activities and immense arcade. They'd rode the Go Karts, played Laser Tag, Space Balls and many other things. They'd even met other families and had bonded with them while playing the games together, but were not connecting with each other the way Rick had wanted. After all the fun and games, they'd made their way to the restaurant within the Complex, ordered a Meat Lover's pizza, per Carl's request, which was heavy even for Rick. Michonne would get a good laugh out of this. Me feeling something had too much meat. He'd thought with a smile after the first bite, when giddiness sprang in his heart, as his mind briefly set on their planned movie date that night. Despite the Pizza's heaviness Rick had managed to ingest two slices and a half a cup of Coca-Cola. However, as the meal dragged on, the awkwardness and tension thickened to the point of diminishing his appetite, driving him to push Carl to talk.

"You gonna talk to me? Or am I gone have to pry it out of you by forcing you to go another round of Laser Tag." He said, which prompted a weak smile out of his son, but it was again taken over by somberness. "Carl, what's wrong?" Rick gently urged.

"Nothing." The boy answered with a shrug.

"One-word answer again." Rick noted aloud. "Something is wrong otherwise you wouldn't be so quiet."

"I've not been quiet." Carl denied. "I talked in the arcade. I'm talking now."

"You're talking, but you're not saying anything."

"There's nothing to say." Carl claimed, shrugging again.

"I can tell you're upset." Rick declared. "I know, things have been difficult with me moving out, and your mom and I going our separate ways."

"With you going your separate way." Carl quietly retorted, astonishing Rick.

"What does that mean?" He then inquired.

"Nothing."

"Don't tell me nothing. What did you mean by me going my separate way?"

"Are you leaving us for another woman?!" Carl erupted without warning.

"What?!" Rick exclaimed with shock.

"Mom said she asked you for another chance but that you don't want it because you met someone else." Carl explained, anger rising in his voice.

"What your mother told you is not true." Rick replied, his mind drifting to Michonne and how their relationship could be misconstrued in the context of this situation, yet how she was an extraordinary addition to his life, who already felt apart of him in ways he didn't fully understand, and thus was that 'someone else' in part driving him to do what he should've months ago.

"Mom lied?"

"Your mother…is having a difficult time accepting the change in our relationship." Rick stated with caution. "I am not leaving her for someone else…"

"But did you meet someone?" Carl questioned, staring his father down.

"I did." Rick admitted as he remained focused on his son, not once turning from Carl's troubled stare. "She's a friend, who has nothing to do with what's happening with me and your mom."

"If that's true, why won't you give mom a chance?"

Furious, Rick struggled to keep the emotion from showing to his son. He could not believe that Lori would put him in this position, that she would really go here, putting their son in the middle of their problems. "Carl, sometimes people have a relationship that works." He said, forcing his anger into compassion for his son. "But then with time it starts to break down. You do everything you can to fix it, but it's not enough."

"Do you want to fix it?" Carl sourly asked.

"I did. But when I saw that things had completely changed…for both me and your mom, I realized that we couldn't be fixed, that it was time to let go."

"But that's not true, mom's been unhappy since you moved out." Carl argued. "That's why she kissed Uncle Shane, because she was lonely…."

"Carl…"

"It's true. She wan…"

"Carl!" Rick strongly asserted finally getting him to quiet and listen. Your mom will always be important to me because she's your mother, but we can't be together.

"You mean you won't be with her."

"Carl…"

"Mom's right. You don't care about us. You just care about yourself!"

"Carl, that is not tru…"

"I'm not hungry anymore."

"Carl!" Rick called, but he couldn't stop his son from leaving the table and storming out of the restaurant.

Michonne laid her engagement ring on top of the clock on Mike's side of the bed, she hadn't worn it in Philly and thus couldn't give it back to him while she was there. She then walked about the bedroom and the other rooms upstairs before strolling on the rooms on the second floor, then the ones downstairs, taking one final look around the townhouse, making sure she'd gotten everything she'd brought to the space. She couldn't believe this part of her life was done. She thought with a hint of melancholy when her mind went to Mike, who she'd briefly talked to a few days before. She couldn't believe he was now her past, but in the same breath she was relieved that she was now able move on with her life, start over and hopefully find happiness elsewhere. Michonne warmed within at the memory of her call with Rick, feeling excited about their planned movie…. What? Date? No. She rejected, refusing to accept the obvious. Why? She had to remind herself, because it was too soon for such actions.

"Having second thoughts?" She heard Angela ask as she came back into the house after placing the final box in the car.

"No. I just can't believe it's over."

"It doesn't have to be." Angela stated.

"But it does." Michonne looked at her friend. "I'm not in love with him."

"But you're in love with this Rick?" Her friend questioned, nearly indignant.

"What are you talking about?"

"You did leave Mike; a man you've been with for four years for him."

"No. I didn't." Michonne firmly refuted. "Why would you think that?"

"You go to Florida, meet this…Rick and suddenly you're ready to leave Mike." Angela contended, judgment in her tone. "Sounds like you left him for Rick to me."

"I've been questioning my relationship with Mike for months, you know this." Michonne pointed out, now perturbed by her friend's deduction.

"And yet you accepted his proposal."

"Why are you saying this now, when I'm about to walk out the door? Do you not want me to crash at your place? Because if not, you can just say."

"I don't mind you crashing at my place. I just want to make sure you're not making a mistake." Angela stated. "Mike is a good man, and he's rich and successful. He adores you. Most women would kill for that." She said. "But you're running after this guy, who is a sheriff's deputy, with a wife and kid and no money…"

"How do you know he doesn't have any money?"

"Chonne please, you're completely out of his league."

"And you're completely misrepresenting the situation." Michonne exclaimed, her irritation growing. "First off he's divorcing his wife. Secondly, you don't even know him."

"Do you?" Angela retorted.

"I know enough." Michonne defended. "You didn't spend three days with him in Palmer and see what type of man he is and what he continues to be as my friend. And furthermore, whether I'd met him or not, I still would've ended things with Mike." She argued. "Yes, he's a good man, but he's not the man for me."

"And this Rick is?"

"I don't know." Michonne replied, even as something within her told her that wasn't true, that Rick Grimes was special in ways she was not yet ready to admit.

"Ok, what if you and this guy get together Chonne? You'd have to deal with his ex-wife, and kid. You don't even want kids." Her friend reminded.

"I never said I didn't want kids." Michonne fiercely denied. "I just don't want them right now."

"If you and this guy get together you'll have his kid to deal with, "right now."

"IF we get together, it would be just dating." Michonne countered. "I wouldn't be trying to marry him. And as far as Mike goes, I couldn't go on pretending that I was in love with him when I wasn't. He deserves better and so do I."

"I still think you should go back to him." Angela staunchly maintained. "Love isn't everything."

"This from the woman who just told me a few weeks ago that lust was fleeting and love was forever."

"I was trying to get you to see what you had with Mike, before you…made a choice like this." She stated with exasperation.

"Ang, I appreciate that you care, but I'm not a child." Michonne declared with her own frustration. "I understand the choices I'm making, and those choices are what's best for me, no one else."

"Alright." Angela retorted. "I'll be in the car when you're ready." She said, Michonne acknowledged her response, then watched as her friend walk out the house, while contemplating the points she'd made about Rick.