It's been a long time since the last update, but after some time off and clearing my head from the events on the show, I was able to find some time and inspiration for writing. Just to remind you, this story set once the group reaches Alexandria and I'm taking many liberties with the plot. Some things are the same, and some are different from the show. This chapter picks up in a flashback to the night of the party. It's a long update, but I had a lot of catching up to do. Hope you enjoy!

Michonne pushed through the doors which revealed a party that was already well underway. The room was smaller than she imagined it would be and was filled to capacity with probably 30-40 people. She tried to scan the room for familiar faces of her friends, but the group of Alexandria residents standing closest to the door was blocking her line of sight. The six of them had stopped their conversation once the door opened, directed their eyes towards Michonne and Rick, and smiled expectantly as the two made their way into the room. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Rick was still with her. He caught her glance and nodded his head forward encouraging her to proceed.

She used to be good at this sort of thing since her previous life was a nonstop loop of client dinners, cocktail parties, and family gatherings; so she mustered up the biggest smile she could and approached the group.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Michonne. Michonne and Rick, our new constables. We know who you are," said a plump middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair, "My name is Bev and this is my husband, John," she said pointing to the man next to her. "We're both teachers. That's Pete and Jessie Anderson, he's our doctor and Jessie works in the pantry. And that's Tobin and Francine, they both work in construction," she said as she pointed out the other members of the group.

She gave a general wave to the group, "Well, it's nice to meet you all. Thank you for welcoming us so warmly already. We're looking forward to settling in and getting to know everyone," she said with a smile as she turned to Rick trying to include him in her sentiment since he had remained quiet. He grinned and nodded in agreement.

"You know, your baby girl is the talk of the town. She's just precious. How old is she?" Bev asked while the others watched on. Based on their non-reactions, it was apparent that she was talkative and there was no use in trying to rein her in.

"Ahhh," he hesitated as he squinted his eyes and looked upward. Michonne could tell he was trying to figure it out since they had lost track of the date by the time she was born.

"She's 9 months old," Michonne piped in to help him out. Since Judy was sitting on her own, but not yet walking or talking, she figured it was a safe guess based on her experience with Andre.

Her assured answer surprised him, and he met her eyes with a bemused look on his face before addressing Bev, "Yeah, 9 months. I'm terrible with birthdays, anniversaries, all dates really. Typical, I guess," he said as he shrugged his shoulders relying on his southern charm and self-deprecation to diffuse any awkwardness. It elicited a polite laugh from the group as he'd hoped.

"Oh honey, don't take it personally," Bev said as she reached across to pat Michonne's arm. "Been with John thirty-three years and I think he's remembered five anniversaries on his own? You're lucky you've got that handsome face to get you out of trouble," she said with her eyes on Rick.

Michonne only hoped her face wasn't relaying the mixture of confusion and embarrassment she was feeling. Did this lady really just imply she was Rick's wife and possibly Judith's mother? Wrong and obviously impossible. And if she was his wife, she's fairly sure the lady just said her husband was cute and dumb. Also wrong.

Rick nodded and grinned again as this was apparently his standard response for the night, then added, "Well, it's been nice talking with y'all. If you'll excuse us, we promised Deanna we'd check in with her as soon as we got here." With that, he placed his hand at the small of Michonne's back and guided her toward the center of the room.

As soon as they were a few steps beyond the group, Michonne finally looked up and made eye contact with Rick. She shook her head in disbelief and mouthed "what the hell" to which he shook his head. As she faced forward again, she finally caught sight of a familiar face.

"Maggie!" she said reaching to grasp her forearm.

"Oh my goodness, hey y'all," she said in a relieved tone. She wrapped her free arm around Michonne for a quick hug.

"Where's Glenn?" Rick asked.

"He's grabbing drinks with Abraham and Rosita. I was looking around to see if anyone else was here so they could join us. Glad you found me," Maggie said smiling.

"Glad we did, too. I think I've hit my limit on small talk already," Rick said.

"You met the pasta machine lady?" Maggie asked.

"No, we haven't had the pleasure," Michonne said. "We were just talking to the town crier, Bev."

"Bev. Yeah, we met her. She wanted to know when 'Baby Rhee' would be arriving," Maggie said rolling her eyes.

"Wait, are you?" Rick asked quietly. Michonne couldn't help but smile at how concerned and cute he sounded asking that.

"No, no, no," Maggie assured him. "She wanted to know how long we've been married, why we didn't have a baby yet, when we'd have a baby, and so on. I don't think she really gets where we came from."

"It's just a different world with a different set of priorities in here," Rick mused. The two women nodded in agreement while looking around the room.

Michonne felt Rick tap her forearm, and turned her head to find him leaning into her personal space. "How 'bout I go get those drinks we talked about earlier?" he asked in low voice.

"Yes. Please."

"What'll you have?"

"Whatever you're drinking," she said not caring much about what she was drinking so long as she had one.

"Yeah?" he said as he tilted his head to one said.

"Yeah," she answered back confidently with a smile.

"All right..." he said grinning. "You need anything, Maggie?"

"No, I'm good, thanks. Glenn's got me covered."

Michonne watched Rick walk away then returned her attention to Maggie who was looking at her with a small grin on her face.

"What?" Michonne asked.

She just grinned wider and shook her head.

"Maggie…" Michonne said in a warning tone.

"I'm sorry, but would you rather it come from me or someone else? It's only a matter of time at this point," she said gently to her friend.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do. You and Rick. What's going on?"

"Honestly, nothing. We're not together. We're friends like we always have been."

"Michonne, ever since Terminus, you've been inseparable. The kids are always with you, you're living together now, and you're flat out flirting with each other right in front of me."

"We were joking around. Rick actually does that sometimes. And we've all been living together as long as we've known each other. We're sharing space out of necessity, not playing house."

"Glenn mentioned that he thought something was up when you guys went to Shirewilt, and I thought I saw something too. Whatever it is, we care about you both, and we just want you to be happy. I'll go back to minding my own business like my mama taught me, though," Maggie said smiling.

Michonne smiled back and saw Rick along with Glenn, Abraham, and Rosita approaching, so she decided their conversation was over.

Rick assumed his position at her side again, and handed her a glass of bourbon.

"Well folks, I don't know about you all, but I am feeling very blessed tonight," Abraham started. "Walls around us, roofs over our heads, clean clothes, food in our bellies, alcohol flowing so very freely...and fellas, we are especially lucky to have these lovely ladies by our sides. We are indeed the lucky ones." Rosita sidled up to Abraham so he could put his arm around her. Maggie glanced at Michonne with a slight widening of the eyes. Michonne just stared into the circle of friends avoiding Rick's reaction because she didn't want any awkwardness and she she certainly didn't want to add any fuel to the fire for the others.

"So let's raise our glasses for a toast," he continued. "To better lives, our better halves, and their mighty fine asses."

"Abraham," Rosita hissed and swatted him with her hand. Glenn, Maggie, and Michonne quietly stared at each other for a split second until Rick started to chuckle and shook his head.

"Cheers?" he said raising his glass. Everyone followed suit and clinked glasses.

Abraham polished off his drink in one gulp then announced to the group, "My friends, it has been a pleasure. It's time for another one of these, and then back home for the real party." The group said their good nights to them and turned back to each other.

"Glenn, you win the award for most interesting recruits between him and Eugene," Michonne said laughing.

"I love that guy, but half the time I don't know what the hell he's talking about. The other half, I do know and wish I didn't," Glenn answered shaking his head. "The things I've seen and heard, you guys have no idea."

"He's family now, honey. Crazy Uncle Abe. Every family's got one," Maggie said.

"That's the truth," Rick said. "Hate to do this, but we've gotta move on. We told Deanna we'd check in with her once we got here."

"No problem. We need to find Noah and Tara anyway. We'll see you guys later, OK?" Maggie said.

"OK," Michonne answered giving each of them a quick hug good night.

As she and Rick headed off, she turned to him, "Do we really have some kind of meeting with Deanna?"

"Not if I can help it."

"So this is just your new excuse when you wanna get out of something?"

His lips curled into a guilty smile, "Maybe."

"So if I ask for help with the dishes or if Judith wakes up crying in the middle of the night, you're gonna try that line?"

"Maybe."

"Don't. It's not gonna work on me."

"No?" he asked teasingly.

"Definitely not," she said laughing.

"You know, it's not always Deanna. Sometimes it's you."

"What?"

"If I want to get out of something, I just say, 'I gotta check in with Michonne' or 'I told Michonne I'd help her out with something.' It works every time, no questions asked."

"Shut up, you do not do that."

"I do."

"Don't drag me into your messes. I don't want any part in that," she said as she finished her drink.

"Another round?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said as they made their way to the bar. He refilled their glasses while she took two more plastic cups and set them in front of her. When he was done pouring the second glass, she took the bottle from his hand and put a generous pour in each of the plastic cups.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Roadies," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Officer…"

"Deanna said so?" she countered.

"No, that's not how that works," he said laughing.

"Michonne says so," as she handed him one of the plastic cups.

He shook his head at her, "Double fisted. People will talk."

"Let's get out of here before they see us then," she said as they headed out the back door. She spied two Adirondack chairs on the back deck overlooking the small pond and made her way to them. As they settled into the chairs, they audibly sighed in unison then looked at each other and started to laugh.

"This is more like it," Rick said letting his head turn to the left to face Michonne.

"It is. Fresh air. Peace and quiet. Ironic that we're supposed to be celebrating our new home, and we end up out here," she said as she rested her head on the back of the chair and turned it to the side to face him, as well.

"We celebrated. We came, drank, met a few people. I'm fine with it."

"Me too," she said as she felt her cheeks start to warm from the second drink. She took a moment to really look at him since it was just the two of them and he was completely turned toward her. She'd seen this man nearly every day for the better part of a year, but she knew things weren't the same between them. How they were tonight was not the same as it was 6 months ago, 3 weeks ago, or even just a few days ago. She could try to deny it to herself and anyone who asked or assumed things, but was there a point in doing that anymore?

Rick reached over and tapped the near empty glass in her hand, "So what now?"

He left his hand lingering on the arm of her chair, so she hooked one of her fingers around his. He looked so relaxed leaned back in his chair looking at her with a slight smile on his face. As she took a deep breath in, she became aware of a tightness in her chest and the feeling of her heart beating a little faster. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it and shook her head. There were so many ways to answer that question, but the one closest to coming out terrified her. She rubbed her finger back and forth over his, unaware she was even doing it until she noticed the smooth, cool metal of his ring interrupting the warmth of his skin each time she moved her finger against his. She wasn't sure whether it was just a convenient cop out or a valid reason, but it was right there in front of her telling her something. She shrugged her shoulders, and finally answered him, "Don't know."

He turned back toward the pond, and lifted his glass to his mouth to finish off his second glass, then set it down in the grass beside him. He then exhaled, stretched his legs out in front of him, and closed his eyes. "I'd be happy to stay like this forever."

He looked more at peace than she'd ever seen him before, and she wanted to be happy for her friend because no one needed a moment like this more than him, but she couldn't help feeling like their evening had come to a disappointing end. The joking, small touches, and tipsiness had led to nothing and the frustration was gnawing at her.

"You falling asleep on me over there?"

He grinned with his eyes still close, "Nah, I'm just resting my eyes."

"Right...so how long should I let you rest your eyes?"

"20 minutes?"

"Sure thing," she said as she gently extracted her hand from his to finish her glass as well. He left his hand resting on the arm of her chair with his watch facing her. She reached down beside her to trade out her glass for the plastic cup and started on her third drink, her eyes cast over the pond and the just the sound of Rick's watch and light snoring filling the air. All dressed up, she thought, and going nowhere…