A/N: First and foremost, thank you guys for the feedback! I never know what to think when I'm starting a new story, so it means the world to hear your thoughts and see you share in my excitement! I've officially finished the outline for this story, so I hope to update pretty regularly. (We'll see how my job feels about that, lol.) Anyway, here's another chapter to help you through yet another Richonne-less week of TWD. Womp, womp. -Ash

2 – The First Day of Our Acquaintance

6 months ago.

Rick had just returned from a perimeter check and was sitting on the steps outside of the tombs, enjoying the fresh air of the evening, when Michonne happened upon him. It was cold, so she hadn't any plans to stop and talk, but he spoke first. He had started to do that lately, she noticed – stopping to chat. It was usually about nothing, which she was beginning to enjoy, but today, she wasn't particularly in the mood for it.

"Where've you been all day," he greeted her as she appeared at the bottom of the steps. He stood from his seat so that she would be able to get by.

"Wandering," she answered simply.

"Wandering?"

"Through the woods, just seeing what's out there. Or who's out there, I guess."

He nodded in understanding. She was a loner, by her own design, so he hadn't pushed her to be any more a part of the prison than she wanted to be. But her disappearing without telling anyone was getting old to him. "Well you missed dinner, but I'm sure we could rustle up some leftover squirrel for you."

"I'm fine," she smirked, heading up the steps to go inside.

He watched her as she passed, as he often did. The way her katana always hit the back of her thigh amused him, for some reason. But something about her ass just insisted on drawing in his curious blue eyes. Sometimes, he didn't even realize he was staring at it. "You don't seem fine," he told her cautiously. He had to get it out before she could disappear.

"Excuse me?"

"Okay, no, you are fine," he corrected himself, feeling nervous suddenly. "I mean... it seems like you might be a little... down."

She frowned back at him, unsure whether he was extremely good at reading her, or just transferring his own feelings onto her. Either way, it wasn't something she wanted to probe at the moment. "I'm fine," she repeated, a little more forceful this time.

"I don't mean to offend you..."

"You didn't."

"I just..." He sighed. He didn't know whether he wanted to continue. "Have a good night, Michonne."

She sighed this time, frustrated with the fact that he was being so suddenly timid. From the way he spoke to her when she first arrived, she knew he wasn't intimidated by her, not the way most men were. Why couldn't he just spit it out? "What is it, Rick?"

"It's nothin'."

"It's obviously something that's got you sputtering like a little kid."

"You've been gone all day and now you're in a bad mood," he finally revealed his issue. "I just wanna know what's goin' on."

"What's going on is that I have no desire to sit around here, acting like everything is fine. We could die tomorrow, at the hands of that man, and you people are more worried about Christmas dinner than your lives."

It was his turn to be offended. "'You people?'" he repeated, walking up to meet her at the top of the steps. The space was small, so he essentially had her pinned against the door. "So you just kinda live here? You're not one of us?"

"Is that what I said?"

"That seems to be what you're saying," he nodded. "Yes."

"I just don't want to get comfortable. Comfortable gets you killed."

"And what's the point of being alive if you refuse to live, Michonne?"

She swallowed hard, trying to think of a response. But it was hard to do that with Rick so close. He tended to get right in your face when he was making a point, and this was no exception. "I just want to find him."

"I know you do." He backed off a little when she seemed to be softening her stance. "But that doesn't mean you don't get to enjoy things in the meantime."

"I don't want to enjoy things."

"Why? What does depriving yourself do for you?"

She closed her eyes, admitting to herself why she was so determined to stay hardened to the world, and even more tragically, the people at the prison. "It keeps me safe."

"Because you cared about Andrea, and now she's gone," he knew. "I get it."

"It doesn't seem like you do."

"I do," he assured her softly. His breath created a puff of cold air that encircled both of their faces. "I have bad days. A lot of them, honestly. And it's this place, these people, that keep me going. You people are the reason I'm still standing."

She smirked at his use of her term, but avoided his gaze, looking down to the ground. Their feet were so close, she was surprised their bodies weren't touching. "Can I go inside now?"

"You could've gone inside five minutes ago," he shrugged.

She nodded, but didn't move. She stood with her back against the door, not even worried about the fact that anyone could come bursting out of it at any minute. She felt emotionally drained, and her body felt stuck as a result. She just stood there, staring at their boots.

"You all right?" he wondered when she hadn't left her spot.

She nodded again. "Just finding my bearings."

"You don't strike me as someone that would ever lose them."

If only that were true, she thought to herself. In fact, she nearly stumbled when Rick's hand reached past her hip for the door handle.

Noticing her odd reaction, he pulled back. "I'm not tryin' to seduce you. I just wanna get inside."

"Then say, 'Excuse me.'"

He went for the handle again, this time deliberately brushing her hip as he did. "Excuse me."

She stared at him now, wondering if he was attempting to flirt with her. There had been a couple of times in their short history where she honestly wasn't sure, but then figured he probably wasn't if she had to ask herself. But now? He had clearly touched her on purpose, and his eyes seemed to be daring her to say something about it. "You're excused," she returned, removing herself from his path.

He knew she wouldn't take the bait, but a part of him hoped she would surprise him. He went on in, holding the door for her so that she could follow. As soon as they were inside the tombs, he pushed her against the nearest wall and demanded her gaze. "Can we just get this over with?"

She had been avoiding whatever 'this' meant for months now. Maybe even since the day they met. There had been a tension between them that they'd been trying to ignore, but Rick was obviously done with it, and she was, too. Perhaps this could be the one thing she enjoyed without being racked with guilt. She nodded only slightly in reply to his question before pulling him in for a kiss. She hadn't kissed anyone in a while, so when she went for his lips, it was sloppy and ungentle. It was awkward. Her lips bumped his teeth, and she wasn't sure what to do with her tongue before they found their rhythm.

Rick's hands moved swiftly, the two of them silent as he pulled off her belt and unbuttoned her jeans. She bit her lip in anticipation, her eyes on the ceiling as he crouched to the floor to help her to step out of her pants. They still didn't speak using words, only their tongues wrestling mercilessly with one another. Rick's body was pressed against her now, and she could feel his rock hard dick nearly digging into her pelvis. She could tell he wanted her, even if it was just because she was the nearest vagina available. And the feeling was mutual.

She waited impatiently for him to loosen his own belt buckle, and soon, his pants and drawers were around his ankles. He grabbed the underside of her ass to hoist her up against the wall, letting her long, strong legs wrap around his waist. He then pushed her panties to the side before thrusting into her roughly. Michonne gasped at the sensation, surprised by not only the force, but the tightness. Granted, she hadn't had sex in over a year now, but Rick filled her completely, and the feeling was almost akin to her very first time – gloriously painful.

He hadn't seemed to notice though, and was pumping steadily, enjoying the delicious pleasure of her hot, wet pussy surrounding him. It had been so damn long, and he never got the opportunity to just blow off steam like this. Maybe the lack of sex was why he went crazy in the first place. Everyone needs some kind of release. And this sex wasn't about the two of them getting to know one another better. It wasn't about sharing some intimate emotional bond. It was a primal need both of them had been suffering from. It was urgent and intense, and it showed in the pace of their breathing. By all accounts, the tombs were freezing at night, but the heat between them completely quelled that. It was like a sauna.

"Rick..." Michonne moaned out loud, unsure of what she wanted to express beyond that. She felt so good, for the first time in a long time. She felt alive. But being pinned beneath his thrusts, she also felt helpless. She felt vulnerable, and she didn't like it. She wrapped her arm around his neck and willed herself to come quickly.

"Oh fuck," Rick grunted as he felt himself reaching his climax. He probably should've asked before they fucked, but he hoped she was on some kind of birth control. Because he didn't hold back in the least, letting himself spill into her violently. He wouldn't have been surprised to find out she was pregnant by morning.

Sated, she slowly slid off of him and they immediately began pulling their clothes back on, preparing to return to their regularly scheduled programming. Michonne was headed for the door the second her katana was slung across her back again, but Rick's voice halted her as he snapped his holster back into place.

"Hey."

She turned to face him, but was nervous about what he would say. She didn't want this to be a thing they had to address. It was obviously something they both needed, and nothing further needed to be said. "Rick, I don't need to be courted," she stated plainly. "We're at war. Fucking and fighting is just about all we have. We don't need to talk about either one."

"Okay," he chuckled, resting his hand on his gun.

"I don't mean to be crass. I just–. "

"No, I like crass," he nodded, with a small smile. "I even like the arrogance that told you I wanted to sit here and have a discussion about it. But I was just gonna say that you know where to find me if you wanna do it again."

"Right." If her face could turn red, it would have. But she played it cool and simply bid him a good night, keeping to herself that he'd most certainly given her a good one. "Looking forward to it," she smirked as she turned back for the door.

"Does this mean you're gonna stick around for longer than a week at a time?"

"I didn't say all that, Grimes."

He smiled at the sight of her walking away, just as amused by it as he was her cocky demeanor. He liked her. "It's not fair you get to call me by my last name and I don't even know yours," he called after her.

She laughed to herself, but didn't turn around, so as not to show her hand. He didn't need to know that she was charmed by his antics. "It's Dillard," she declared quietly, just before disappearing into their cellblock.