Puppy Love

Summary: Rick and Michonne have a very serious discussion about their relationship and an inevitable conclusion is reached.

A/N: Well, it's been almost a year and a half since I last updated this fic. This might be a record time between updates. I hope you enjoy it and, of course, please review!

And thank you so much to all the Richonne fans who have followed me all these years. Seriously, years. Wow. What am I doing with my life?

…

Chapter 5 – A Happy Ending

Gossip travels fast in a small community. It didn't take long at all for everyone in the prison to hear the story about Rick Grimes running through the halls naked except for a towel, chasing after Carl's wayward puppy who had made off with his father's boxers.

By the time Carl slunk in to the cafeteria for dinner, he was certain that he was in for it.

Carl had spent most of the afternoon completely absorbed by his paperback copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. Michonne had brought the book back for him on one of her supply runs and, after he finally got around to starting it, he could hardly put it down.

Boris, on the other hand, was easily bored and with Carl thoroughly distracted, the curious German Sheppard mix had wandered off unnoticed.

His dad had explicitly told Carl that he was responsible for Boris, including training him to behave and obey commands. So Carl found it odd that his dad didn't mention the underpants theft at all.

In fact, Rick seemed rather distracted during dinner. He told Carl something about their plan for working in the garden tomorrow but otherwise he didn't say much at all.

When Glenn and Daryl started teasing Rick about running around with shampoo in his hair, Carl was certain that was it. But Rick hardly reacted.

He halfheartedly told Daryl, "Stop," but his mind was elsewhere and he went back to eating.

Well, I'm not going to complain about not getting a lecture, Carl decided and focused on his own meal, occasionally sneaking small bits to Boris, who sat attentively at his heel.

Rick finally perked up when he saw Michonne enter the cafeteria. She grabbed a bowl of food and made her way to her usual spot beside Carl. Before she could sit down, however, Tyreese appeared with a worried expression.

"The cluster by the east tower is growing faster than we can kill them," he said breathlessly, "The chain-link is starting to bend."

Maggie stood up, "We'll get more people on it. We need to take care of this before dark."

"I'll help," Michonne volunteered immediately, as she always did whenever there was trouble.

Maggie nodded. She, Glenn, Daryl, and several others got up to go help.

Daryl glanced at Rick but when Rick hesitated to say anything, Daryl said, "We got this."

Rick gave his friend a small nod of thanks for not asking him to join. Rick would stand up and fight when he was needed, but in the meantime, he was grateful that Daryl seemed to understand his need to step back from the front lines.

Before leaving, Michonne set her bowl down next to Carl, instructing him seriously, "Don't let anyone eat this."

Carl smiled up at his friend, "Your food is safe with me!"

Michonne frowned, adding, "That means you too."

"I know, I know," Carl reassured her.

Rick caught her eye for a second before she left. Usually he could read her so well but at that moment he couldn't tell what she was thinking at all. Was she happy or conflicted? It was horrible not knowing, but he would have to wait until he had a chance to talk to her alone to figure everything out. And there was a lot to figure out.

The evening passed slowly. Rick helped clean up after dinner and then he spent some time with Judith before putting her down to bed. It was quiet in the cell block and, as the sun went down, the teams working the fences came back in ones and twos, but there was still no sign of Michonne. Rick was determined to stay up and wait for her.

…

The last glimmer of day sank over the horizon and the chill of night settled over the prison yard. Michonne was the last person still outside.

Enough delaying, she sighed. Using a spare rag to wipe her sword clean, Michonne walked slowly back towards the cell block. The more she delayed, the more nervous she felt, questioning and over-thinking everything. And that was never Michonne's style. She preferred to address things head-on.

Michonne decided to go find Rick as soon as…she finished her dinner. True to his word, Carl had left her bowl of roasted veggies on the little desk in her room. She ate them hungrily, hoping to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt butterflies in her stomach but ever since kissing Rick, that was the best way to describe how she felt. Michonne changed out of her blood-splattered shirt and quickly brushed her teeth before making her way down the cell block.

There was a dim light on in Rick's cell but it was quiet inside. For a half second Michonne considered turning back, but that brief look Rick had given her at dinner hung in her mind. He wanted to talk, that much had been abundantly clear.

Michonne pushed aside the curtain covering Rick's doorway and smiled.

Little Judith was sound asleep in her crib and Rick was sound asleep with an open book laying on his stomach and a flashlight by his side. He'd fallen asleep while reading. Probably waiting for me, Michonne guessed.

Michonne sat on the edge of his cot and picked up the book, carefully turning down the page corner to mark his place, and put it and the flashlight on the table. Rick blinked, confused until he recognized her.

"I was, uh, hey," he said groggily, sitting up.

"Sorry to wake you," Michonne said.

"No, um, I'm glad you did. I wanted to…talk. About earlier," Rick said, his voice a bit uncertain but the look in his eyes was earnest.

Michonne couldn't help but smile, "Yeah. That was something, huh."

"It was," Rick agreed, his eyes flicking to her lips before meeting her gaze again.

Even in the dim light, Michonne could read him like an open book.

"Did you want to talk or…" Michonne teased, "pick up where we left off?"

Rick smiled as he leaned into her space and kissed her.

Their first real kiss had been exhilarating, the sudden passion of realizing at the same moment that they both wanted the same thing. This time, as Rick tenderly kissed her lower lip, Michonne felt a joyful confidence building in her heart.

She knew with every fiber of her being that their connection was real and, running her hand over the back of his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair, exactly what she needed.

"Hold on," Rick murmured, shifting his body to make space for her on the narrow bed.

Michonne scooted down so that she was laying on her back with Rick leaning over her, kissing her. She could feel his desire building off her own.

Breaking the kiss, Rick said in a low voice, "We have to be quiet, don't wanna wake the baby."

The idea that they were sneaking around like a couple teenagers made Michonne giggle.

"Hey, I mean it," Rick tried to sound serious but she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Come here," Michonne whispered, and kissed him deeply.

Rick slipped his hand under her shirt and the feel of his warm touch on her soft skin was the tipping point. They both needed more. He pulled her shirt over her head, discarding it somewhere to the side of the bed, and she unbuttoned his pants. In seconds their bodies were bare and the two lovers found a substantially more satisfying position.

In the dark of night, their heartbeats moved in a perfect rhythm. And for the first time in a very long time, Michonne felt fully and wonderfully alive.

As she and Rick fell asleep, tangled up together with only a blanket pulled over them, Michonne decided that she never wanted to go back to the way things were before.