Author's note:

Thank you for all the previous comments on the last chapter. I know it hasn't been an easy ride. I think this is the chapter that you have all been waiting for; there are a few questions that get answered.

Finally, Rick and Michonne speak and see each other. He has only one question to ask: "Am I Too Late?"


Am I Too Late?

Chapter 7


"Don't think I am happy about this GLENN," Maggie scowled.

"Maggie we...we shouldn't be getting involved." He soothed baby Hershel's back.

Maggie stopped moving and glared up at her husband.

"If you would have told me about them kissing in the first place, all this could have been stopped. Instead, you decided to keep secrets from me." She huffed.

Glenn was about to speak but Maggie held her hand up to shush him.

"I wouldn't have to be getting involved now," Maggie picked up her iPhone and rang Rick first. It went straight to voicemail. She rolled her bright green eyes and dialled another number. She tapped her foot waiting for the person on the other end of the phone.

"Andrea...I need to tell you something."

Glenn stood in the background listening to Maggie and Andrea talk.


Shane walked into the bar 'Who's Deanna'. He wiped his feet on the mat, shaking the heavy rain off his jacket. He looked up to see Abraham pointing to where Rick sat. He turned to find Rick staring into his empty glass. Shane turned back around and held two fingers up and spoke,

"I will have two more of whatever he's drinking."

Abraham frowned.

Shane watched Abe pour the liquor into the glass. Shane left some money on the bar and made his way over to Rick.

"Man, we've been here too many times over the last few months." Shane blew out an exhausted breath and slid the glass over to Rick.

"Thanks." Rick took the glass of whisky and downed the drink. He winced from the liquor stinging the back of his throat.

Rick placed the glass down on the table with a small thud.

"So, you going to tell me what happened when you spoke to Jessie?" Shane took a small sip from his own drink.

Rick's nostrils flared and his jaw clenched from the mention of Jessie, his soon to be ex-wife.

"She...Lied. Shane. She lied about the baby. There was never a baby."

Rick's leg started to shake. He was trying hard to fight back the tears that had swelled in his once electric blue eyes. They seemed to fade in colour when he was sad, as Michonne had mentioned to him on a few occasions.

Shane leaned back in his chair, rubbing the palm of his hands down his jean clad legs.

"I am sorry about that buddy, I really am. I know how much you wanted the baby. But...It's a good thing."

Rick nodded placing his hands around the empty glass.

"It's Michonne...it's always been Michonne, Shane." Rick confessed, looking up at his best friend.


Andrea walked into the bar after speaking to Maggie on the phone. She had rung Shane to see if Rick was with him and he was. Rick had moved out of Shane and Andrea's and into his parent's home at the back end of the week. Andrea said she was coming over and to stay where they both were. She placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. Shane scooted over to let his wife sit down next to him.

Rick just admitted that "He loves Michonne...more than a friend." Shane sighed.

Andrea let out a deep breath and nodded.

"I have to tell you something..."

Rick looked up confused at his best friend's wife.

"Michonne she was here in Atlanta. But, she checked out about an hour ago. She's on her way to the airport and heading back to New York. She's heartbroken Rick. She thinks she messed everything up. She feels responsible...responsible for you and Jessie breaking up."

"She was never responsible for me and Jessie. Wait...What? Michonne was here in Atlanta?" Rick raised his voice.

"Chonne was here...Look, man I had no clue." Shane leered at his wife.

"Don't look at me like that Shane."

"Baby, you could have told me that Michonne was here. Ya'll all out here keeping secrets from everybody."

"How long has she been here for Andrea? How long?" Rick spoke just above a whisper.

"Just over a week now. She was staying with Maggie and Glenn."

"You couldn't have told me this sooner? Why didn't any of you tell me?" Rick stood up in his chair, rubbing his hand down the side of his face.

Rick clenched his eyes shut. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Michonne was here all this time? Rick placed his hand on the table to steady himself.

"She didn't want you to know at first. But, then she said, she rang you and left several messages. Maggie did too." Andrea answered, standing up also.

"My phone...I turned it off when I didn't want to speak to Jessie. Then when I switched it back on there were thousands of missed calls and texts of Jessie flashing on my screen. She was begging for me to come back to her. I turned it back off straight away and I am waiting on a new one. I didn't mean to ignore Michonne. I would never purposely ignore her. I thought she wanted her space whilst she was in New York, that's why we suddenly stopped talking."

She nodded.

"Rick, you were settling. We could all see that." Andrea waved her hands about to their friends, Abe and Rosita, who stood behind the bar. Rick opened his eyes and turned around to look at them, before his gaze eventually fell back onto Andrea.

"Me, Maggie, Sasha...Chonne, we were all your bridesmaids because Jessie didn't have anyone...we were all there for you. Michonne was there for you..." Andrea trailed off.

Rick was thankful that his friends stepped up and were there on his wedding day to support him. But it was only for him.

"Rick, just as much as Michonne didn't tell you her feelings, it was you too. She thought you were making a life with your wife, sorting your marriage out...Then she had the run in with Jessie." Andrea placed her hand to forehead and rubbed across.

"Jessie spoke to Michonne?" his voice cracked.

"Yes, at the supermarket. She blamed Michonne for your failed marriage. Jessie started arguing with her, causing a big scene.

Rick shook his head and his jaw tightened.

"Also Rick, Maggie told me that you and Michonne kissed...at her leaving party."

Rick thought back to when he and Michonne shared a passionate kiss.

"You and Michonne kissed what the hell! When were you going to tell me?" Shane looked at Rick shocked that he would hold in information like that.

"Wait did Daryl know? Who else knows that ya'll kissed."

"Just Maggie. Oh, and Glenn caught them kissing." Andrea said, turning to look at her husband.

"Only? I thought me and you were friends...best friends." Shane shook his head from side to side, folding his arms over his chest. He leaned back in the booth.

"Shane, this isn't about you." His wife gave him a stern look.


"I need to go to the airport. I need to see Michonne." Rick's hands shook s he started fumbling with the wallet in his hands.

Shane stood up. "Just go, I will get the bill."

Rick nodded. He ran towards the bar door bumping into Daryl on the way out.

"Hey, where's he goin in such a hurry'?" Daryl shouted, stepping inside of the crowded bar as Rick pushed passed him.

"To finally go and get Michonne." Shane yelled.

"About damn time." Daryl answered.

"Halleluiah! Now he can stop moping his ass around my bar," Abe said, getting Daryl's usual ready.

Rosita placed her hands on the back of her boyfriend's back and laughed.


Rick fumbled with the keys in his coat pocket. He unlocked his car and opened the door. He placed his keys in the ignition and turned the car over. But, there was no such luck.

"No...No...Come on," Rick tried turning the car over again. He smacked his hand against the steering wheel. He felt defeated. He didn't want Michonne to step on the plane, even though he would follow her to New York to tell her how he finally feels.

He waited a few minutes and tried the car again. The car eventually turned over and Rick revved the engine a few times. He pulled out of the parking lot and sped down the road.

Rick made it to the airport in record time. The tyres came to a screeching halt outside of the terminal. He thought he would better not leave it here and quickly headed to the parking lot.

After parking his truck Rick ran through the airport trying to find the right terminal. He scanned his eyes over the board, looking for the right flight number as Andrea had told him which number it will be. He saw a glimpse of who he thought was Michonne, but she looked different since the last time he saw her. Her hair had changed. Maybe she had changed, changed about her feelings for him. He hoped not because he needed to try.

"MICHONNE!" Rick shouted.


"Rick, what are you doing here?" Michonne pulled her face. She stepped out of the line to walk towards her former friend.

This was a dream. It had to be a dream because Rick couldn't possibly be standing before her in the airport.

"Michonne, I...I can't let you go without knowing. Knowing that I love you. I love you. I am in love with you...If you still meant everything you said that day...please say you do." Rick held his hands over his face.

Michonne nodded, stepping closer to Rick. She dropped her travel suitcase to the side of her.

"I cried for you. I cried for you every day that first month. I was sad... I was so sad because I didn't have my best friend because I couldn't talk to you. Do you know how hard it was not to talk to you every day? Not to see you every day? Do you?" Michonne pointed at Rick's chest. Her lower lip quivered.

"I do, because I felt exactly the same way." Rick answered.

Michonne pursed her lips together and wrapped her hands over her upper arms.

"Then why did we stop?" she asked.

"Honestly Michonne, I don't know. I guess...I wanted to give you your space in New York."

She pulled her gaze from his.

"I thought I lost you. I thought I did. I don't want to ever lose you again. I missed you Rick." Michonne's eyes were now flooded with tears.

"I am so sorry Michonne. I am...I am SO sorry."

"No, I am sorry too Rick. Sorry, it took me so long to tell you how I felt about you. I should have told you that first day on campus. I should have told you and we wouldn't have had to go through all of this." Tears ran down her cheeks, she used the back of her hand to wipe them away. But, every time she did, more would escape.

"You've always been there for me Chonne."

"And I have always been there for you." She tightened her grip around herself.

"What...What about Jessie?" Michonne asked.

Michonne already knew what had happened between Jessie and Rick. Their marriage was over and she ultimately played a big part in breaking up their marriage.

"I tried Michonne I really tried but, I couldn't because she wasn't you." Rick placed his hands on her face wiping away her tears. She gripped her hands onto the arms of his jacket.

"I thought about you every day whilst you were in New York. I hear your cries. It was a sound I couldn't un-hear for a very long time. I hated leaving you standing there crying...over me."

The guilt was written all over Rick's face.

Michonne sniffled a tear.

"I have this whole other life in New York City. Rick, I met someone..."

Rick released his hands off her face and his eyes fell to the floor. He never considered that Michonne would meet someone else. Of course, she would. She's an amazing person, funny, smart, humble and strong.

Michonne looked down at Rick trying to catch his gaze.

"But, I realised he isn't you. I tried to get over you. I tried so damn hard."

Rick slowly moved his eyes up.

"No one could ever replace you and how I feel about you."

Rick placed his hand on the back of her neck and leaned their foreheads together. They both closed their eyes. Rick breathed deeply before asking the question that plagued his mind.

"Am I too late?"

Over the intercom, they heard the words: 'Last call for flight DF 0208 to New York.


Author's note:

Rick and Michonne have finally admitted their feeling towards each other. So, is Michonne going back to New York? Or can they both finally move on and look towards their future? And most importantly, is Rick too late?

Reviews are welcome. Your thoughts on this chapter?