An hour had passed before she finally heard the sound of Rick's footsteps coming up the stairs. As they grew louder with each step, she felt her stomach clench with nervousness and braced herself for the knock she expected to hear on her bedroom door. The footsteps traveled down the hall, though, and she heard the faint sound of his bedroom door closing followed soon after by the sound of the shower starting.

She rolled onto her side, facing the alarm clock on her nightstand. 1:40 AM. She let out an exasperated sigh and clenched her eyes shut, hoping to force sleep to come. Eventually it was the absence of sound that caused her to open her eyes. 1:47 AM. The running water had stopped and there were a few soft thuds and clanks, then silence. She rolled onto her back and chided herself for feeling even the slightest bit disappointed that he had not returned to continue their conversation. It was overly optimistic if not downright delusional to think that he could have sorted out his feelings with an hour of alone time. For all she knew, he could have just fallen asleep down there. Possible, but unlikely given how well she knew Rick and his beautiful, tortured mind. She also knew from personal experience that these changes can take time to happen, if they ever happen at all. She found herself going over scenarios of how their first exchange would be in the morning. They all started with awkwardness; that was a given in her mind. The endings ran the gamut from happily ever after, to status quo, to disaster. She had started perseverating on her emergency plan: move in with Sasha, maybe Glenn and Maggie, start looking for another position in the community, branch out and make friends with Alexandrians, give Rick space, let things cool off, and eventually return to being friends. No matter what happened, she could do these things and deal with it. She looked over at the clock again. 2:59 AM.

She groaned and whispered out loud, "Enough. You can't do this to yourself." She got herself out of bed and threw a thin cotton lavender robe on over her white tank and grey printed pajama bottoms. She quietly exited her room and headed down to the living room where she walked over to the book shelf and started looking for something to read. She hoped a book would be a good distraction and an even better sedative at this late hour. She skimmed through the books trying to find one she hadn't already read in her previous life.

"Michonne?"

She inhaled sharply and her shoulders tensed from being startled by the voice. She took a exhaled and calmed herself before turning to look toward the staircase where she saw Rick on his way down.

"Yeah, it's just me. Sorry I woke you."

He reached the bottom and walked into the living room to join her. "No, you didn't. I wasn't sleeping." His voice was strained and tired sounding, but soft in tone.

"Oh...sorry for that too, then," she said quietly knowing that her admission was likely the reason he wasn't sleeping either.

He waved his hand dismissively trying to ease her of her guilt, then took a step closer to her so that they were standing face to face in the center of the room with just a few feet between them. He placed his hand on his right hip and looked down to the ground, letting out an almost imperceptible sigh. She took him in, standing there in sweats and a white t-shirt. She wanted so much from him, but more than anything, she wanted him to be well.

"Rick, I want you to know that I understand where you're coming from. You have to work through things on your own time, and I don't hold that against you. I can't. So no matter-"

He interrupted her with a dry laugh, looked up to the ceiling and muttered out loud, "This...this is why."

She looked at him nervously, taken off guard by his reaction. There was no malice or manipulation to her statement, nothing to misinterpret as far as she could tell. He looked back at her finally, his face softer than she'd expected it to be. He took a step closer to her so that there was probably a foot between them, but to her it felt as though he was right on top of her. He tilted his head and gave her a small comforting smile, probably because he noticed the slight grimace that was on her face.

"I'm not sure if you understand how much you mean to me," he said with a slight break in his voice.

"I think I have an idea because I know what you mean to me," she answered quietly.

A sad smile played on his lips and he shook his head disagreeing that she could even come close to knowing. "I'm not here without you. If you didn't come when you did, I don't know what would have happened. What you've done for me...for my family. You saved us." She saw that his eyes had become glassy and she felt her lip begin to quiver with emotion and her eyes began to well up with tears, as well. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders, bracing himself and her.

"You saved me, too, Rick." He instantly began to shake his head no. "Yes," she said pointedly. "You did. I had been through hell, and I wasn't sure if I could make it back, but I did. And it was because of you." She maintained eye contact with him, making she that he knew that she was speaking the truth.

"You're everything to me. You're my friend, my confidante, my partner...if something happened between us or if I lost you, I don't think I could make it back from that. I don't know what my life would be without you. And it scares the hell out of me."

She brought her hands to his shoulders and gently joined her fingers behind his neck, lowering his forehead to hers allowing them to rest against each other. "You would be OK because we're survivors. We have been through the worst shit and we're still here. That's what we do. You do it for yourself, the kids, the group...and I would do the same." He shut his eyes and she could feel him nodding in agreement against her forehead. She gently rubbed her thumbs to along his jaw line where they were resting, pausing for a moment before continuing to speak.

"I never told you this, but after the prison fell, and we were all split up, I came across yours and Carl's tracks..." she drew in a shaky breath, and tears started falling down her cheeks. "And I went the other direction. I was gonna go off on my own, shut myself off from the possibility of being hurt again..." Rick tilted his head upward to meet her eyes, their foreheads still resting against each other. His mouth was slightly agape and he was still as could be. "But I realized that you can't do that. I wasn't dead, and I couldn't stop myself from feeling. I didn't want to. So I turned around and found my way back to you both. And no matter what happens, or how this all ends, I will never regret that. Never."

Tears continued to fall down her face, and Rick lifted his forehead from hers and pulled away to look at her. He brushed the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs and let his hands continue to cradle her face, then he lowered his head, tilting it slightly to the side, and gently pulled her face towards him, letting his lips press into hers. Michonne gave into the kiss immediately returning the light pressure of his lips with her own. The intensity quickly built and soon his hands were sliding from her face to her shoulders, one hand wrapping around to rest between her shoulder blades so that he could pull her in closer. Once their bodies were pressed together, Michonne reflexively exhaled into his mouth mid-kiss as desire continued to mount in her. Her hands traced down the muscles of his back until they landed just above his waist. She pulled him tight against her and leaned into him unable to get as close as she wanted to. As their movement became more frenzied, she broke their kiss and pulled her head away to look into his eyes. She wanted to know that he was there with her. He looked back at her and gave a slight nod, then pulled her back into a kiss. He slipped the robe off of her shoulders, letting it fall to the ground, while he moved his lips down her neck scattering kisses until he reached her collar bone. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply as his hands crept down past her buttocks and cupped under them lifting her into him.

She gasped in surprise, "Rick..."

"Come with me," he whispered into her ear in his thick southern drawl. She couldn't deny that voice or this man, nor did she want to, so she wrapped her legs around him. He carried her to the couch where he laid her on her back and lowered himself on top of her. She reached for his face to pull him back into a kiss, but he caught her hand and pulled his face back.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Nothing," he said smiling as he traced the fingers of his other hand along her cheek bone. "I've just thought about this for a while."

"Me too," she said sweetly waiting for him to resume their activities. He continued stroking her face and gazing into her eyes. "Rick...it's been a really long time."

"It's OK," he started to say reassuringly.

"No, it's...you're killing me right now," she said as she lifted her hips to press them into his sending the message that she was impatiently awaiting the next step. He dropped his head to her chest and started laughing quietly. "I'm sorry," she said starting to laugh as well.

"Nah, I get it," he said as he brought his mouth to hers and silenced her with a kiss.

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Michonne was slowly lifted from sleep by the sound of birds chirping and the warmth of sunlight streaming through their living room windows. If she didn't know otherwise, she could almost fool herself into thinking she was just a normal Saturday morning in suburbia. She looked at the clock on the wall. 8:05 AM. She frowned knowing that she was going to have to end this moment. She laid on the couch on her side, her head resting in the fold of Rick's right arm with the left draped over her waist, his body pressed against the back of hers. They were naked save for the throw blanket haphazardly covering them. She took his left hand in hers, lightly rubbing her thumb over it then bringing it to her mouth for a kiss.

"Rick?" she whispered.

"Hmmm," he murmured into her neck where his head was resting.

"We should probably get up. The kids could come home any time now." She gently unwrapped herself from his arms and sat up on the edge of the couch, yawning and stretching her arms before she got up to gather their clothes. She slipped her tank and pajama bottoms back on, then pulled the robe over her shoulders and tied it at the waist. She looked back to see Rick still lying on the couch with a smile on his face.

"You gonna stay like that all day?"

"Maybe."

She tossed his shirt and sweat pants to him. "I don't have a problem with it. Others might, though..."

He sat up and pulled his pants on, then walked over to her, white t-shirt still in his hand. "Good morning," he said as he placed a kiss on her lips.

"Good morning," she said smiling. A knock came at the door, and they gave each other a knowing look, then she walked over to answer the door as he slipped his shirt on.

She swung the door wide open to see Carl holding Judith with Maggie and Glenn behind them.

"Good morning guys," she said as Rick came up right behind her and gave a greeting as well.

"Morning," Maggie said as Carl made his way into the house. "We already had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, so they should be wired and ready to go."

"Thanks for that. We should let you keep them until after the sugar crash," Rick said sarcastically with a laugh. Michonne felt his hand rest lightly on her hip as he stood behind her. She shifted to obscure it, but she saw Glenn's eyes catch her movement then look back up at her.

"We could, if you want," Glenn offered. "It's a nice day; we could hang out at the playground for a bit." Maggie looked at Glenn with a surprised look.

Michonne smiled, "Nah, it's OK. You guys go on with your day. Thank you, though, for everything."

"No problem," Glenn said. "Anytime."

"Thanks again. We'll see y'all later. Dinner tonight at Carol's, right?" Rick asked.

"Right," Maggie said. "See you then!" They turned and walked away as Rick reached over Michonne's head to shut the door, then leaned against it.

"How is it possible to feel so energized and so tired at the same time?" he pondered from his spot against the door.

"Glenn saw that," she said with her hands on her hips.

"I know," he said.

"OK..." she said as a small grin took over. "Well, I'm gonna put the coffee on."

A/N: The End. This was my first multi-part story and it was a learning experience from start to finish. Thanks for following along and reading while I felt my way though the process! I appreciate the reviews and support, they a hufe motivation to continue writing.

Quick follow up to focused on prosperity's review, I don't think Rick could see himself as ever being the abuser Pete was, but he did relate to their broken marriage. He worried about the emotional scars that he and Lori could have continued to inflict on each other versus the physical.