Chapter 4: Cake
Rick was dressed in a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black slacks, and black dress shoes as per the dress code for Daryl's birthday party. Their local bar, which was a place him and his friends had visited frequently, was rented out for the night and it was decked out in decorations that were black, silver and gold with many of them saying 40 in bold letters and exclamation marks. There was one wall that had a line of food against it and another with a dj against it who was playing some soft background music as there were only a few guests at the party so far. "She really went out all didn't she?" asked Rick, leaning up against a free wall by the entrance with his friend Daryl who was dressed in a similar fashion. Daryl let out a slight chuckle, "Yeah, no shit. You know that woman can't take no for answer."
Rick chuckled lightly at his friends comments, "She loves a party." "If she could throw a party when we wake up in the morin' she would." Rick laughed at his friend, despite his outward reaction to his wife's love of parties he knew that if Sasha wasn't throwing this party Daryl would have been upset. "Where's your lady anyway? Ain't we gonna be starting soon?" "She's in the back getting ready, she was here all day doing this. I think Maggie and 'Chonne were here too so they're probably in the back with her." Rick involuntarily sucked in his breathe in hearing that Michonne was already here. Daryl glanced at him, hearing him do so and smirked "Calm down boy, don't get too excited." Daryl was aware of Rick's attraction to Michonne but was unaware of how deep his feelings ran. Rick rolled his eyes at Daryl's comment, "I don't know what you're talking about." "Yeah and I'm the fuckin' Queen of England." "Alright, that's my cue to get a drink." Daryl laughed lightly as his friend began to walk away, "What I'd say?" Rick smirked, shaking his head and raising his middle finger as he continued to walk towards the bar, he heard his friend laughing behind him.
Rick leaned against the bar, resting his forearms against the bar counter. "Hey, can I get a-" "Whiskey. Neat." He smiled widely as he recognized the voice and turned around, attempting to keep his mouth from falling open as he saw her. Michonne was smiling widely at him, her locs were pulled back into a low bun with a few of them falling around her face with a bit of a curl and there were a few silver rhinestones decorating her bun. She had a bit of gold eyeshadow on along with her favorite red lipstick. She wore a white off the shoulder, short sleeve, calf length dress it had small half circle cut outs that showed a bit of side cleavage. The dress was form fitting and she wore it with a pair of white patent leather heels.
"Wow, look at you!" She exclaimed. "Who's the baby face now, huh?" She said, grinning as she walked over to him leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "What do you think of this place, huh? I think we did a pretty good job." She asked, as she looked around the bar taking in the work done by herself, Sasha and Maggie. "Yeah...beautiful." Said, Rick he was still enthralled with Michonne and his comments were more so about her then the bar. She smiled at his words and requested a gin and tonic from the bartender when he placed Rick's whiskey in front of him.
Somewhat out of his daze once she moved her attention to the bartender, Rick took a large swig of his drink. I'm gonna need a few of those to get through tonight he thought to himself. Michonne turned to him after taking a sip of her drink and placed one hand on her hip. "So, who would've thought Grimes would be taking my advice. I never thought I would see the day." Rick laughed easily and playfully rolled his eyes, "Whatever, I didn't do it to appease you." "Whatever helps you sleep at night." She said, shrugging and smiling widely. Rick paused for a moment and looked her up and down she seemed extra happy tonight. "You've been drinking without me 'Chonne?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Michonne chuckled, "I may have had a drink...or two," she said with a smile "when we were getting everything ready for tonight, we decided to start the party a little early. Is that okay with you Grimes?" She asked, lightly poking him on the arm. Rick laughed, "As long as I'm not taking you home tonight." "Oh please, I do not need nor want the Rick Grimes taxi company."
"'Chonne! Stop talking to Rick and gimme my kiss already!" Called Tara, one of their friends. Michonne laughed and turned to the voice and put a hand on Rick's shoulder with her other hand holding her drink, "Time to catch up Grimes." She said with a smile, shaking her glass at him as she walked over to Tara giving her a tight hug and kiss on the cheek. Rick watched her as she walked away, his eyes landing on the way the dress hugged her ass. "Jesus" he muttered to be himself. "Say again?" asked Daryl as he strolled up to his friend with Glenn on his side, a slight smirk on his face. "You guys know the girls already started drinking?" asked Glenn, "Bartender, let's get some shots going for the birthday boy." Rick shook his head lightly, relieved that Glenn had unknowingly changed the topic before Daryl had begun his interrogation.
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2 hours later
People were scattered around the bar as it filled up, some were by the food, others by the bar, and some dancing as the dj had turned up the music significantly. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn were sat at one of many round tables with empty glasses around them.
"I'm serious! It was everywhere! I didn't know such a small person can poop so much!" Exclaimed Glenn as he explained the most recent debacle that was changing his 6 month old daughter's diaper. Rick and Daryl were laughing loudly at the story and had to slow down their breathing just to get out a sentence.
"Shit like that is why I ain't having no babies anytime soon," said Daryl. "Literally shit just like that," said Rick grinning widely. "Literally!" Said Daryl repeating after his friend as he took a gulp of his beer. Glenn laughed at his friends and shook his head, "The shit is just a part of the process man. Right rick? How many poop explosions did you have to deal with?" Rick laughed, he looked to the ceiling, recounting the memories of changing diapers, "Let's just say this won't be your last one. Prepare yourself my friend." "I'm gonna have poop filled nightmares." Glenn said as he sighed and shook his head, taking a gulp of his drink, his friends chuckling at him.
After a brief pause, Daryl smiled as he pointed his beer towards the women on the dance floor, "Look at 'em." The women were in a large circle and were belting out "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child in unison. "Say my name, say my name. When no one is around you, Say baby I love you. If you ain't runnin' game." They sang out, the men chuckling as they did so. As the song finished Sasha walked over to them, her afro was braided to imitate a crown around her head and she wore a black silk dress with thin straps, the dress fell down onto the floor with a slit up to her knee. "I hate to pull you away from the boys but we want cake. So come on." She said with her hand stretched out to her husband. Daryl chuckled and pushed out his seat, grabbing her hand, "Alright, let's go get 'em some cake."
The music slowly came to an end as people began to clink their glasses. Daryl and Sasha were upfront, standing next to a two tiered cake that mimicked the colors that were in the room as well as big bold letters that said 40. Their friends surrounded them in a semi-circle. Rick and Michonne were towards the back and she had her head leaning against his shoulder. Rick gave her a small smile as he looked down at her as Sasha began to speak. "First of all, thank you all for coming to Daryl's birthday party that means a lot to us. Daryl…" she turned her head to him and smiled lovingly, "I'm not going to go into this big spiel because I know you don't like the attention. But. I love you, I love you." She said, repeating the second I love you softer than the first. "Happy birthday," she smiled and leaned into him kissing him on the lips as people cheered and whistled at their kiss. She pulled away and giggled lightly against his lips, "You wanna say something?" "Uh, thanks for coming. Drink a lot. Eat some cake. Have fun. I love you girl." He said, giving her a light kiss on the shoulder as the crowd cheered again. "Y'all ready for some cake?" He asked the crowd as Sasha began cutting slices and handing them out.
Rick stopped before walking up to his friends and getting cake at hearing a small sniffle. Michonne was looking down and was rubbing her eyes. "Are you crying? What's wrong?" He asked, a concerned look on his face as he tilted his head trying to get a better look at her. Michonne shook her head and smiled softly as she looked up at him her eyes a bit glazed over, "Nothing! Just a little bit too much to drink is all...You want some cake? I want cake. I'm gonna go get some cake" She said quickly not waiting for his response as she walked away.
He watched her walk away his brow still furrowed in confusion. He felt someone nudge his shoulder and looked seeing that it was Glenn. "Hey man, you might wanna get some cake before it's gone, this is great. Where'd you think they got it from? Or did Sasha bake it? Does Sasha know how to bake? I don't know man all I know is this is goddddd." Glenn said as he quickly eat his piece of cake, he looked up at his friend and nudged him again. "Hey, you okay man? Look, I'm sure the cake won't go that fast." Rick let out a small smile making a mental note to discuss what just happened once Michonne was sober again. "Yeahhh, I'm fine. Let me go get some cake." He said, walking away.
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2 hours later
The party began to wind down as the bar emptied out and the dj was now playing slow jams with only a few close friends still lingering. Rick sat at one of the round tables watching the few people on the dance floor.
"This is the last song of the night folks, so grab someone and enjoy." Said the dj on his mic as "(At your best) You are love" by The Isley Brothers began to play.
"Grimes," said Michonne as she walked over to Rick who had now switched out her white heels to white flip flops as many as the women still left had done. "Come dance." She said her hand out for him.
Rick smiled but shook his head no, "you know I ain't a dancer 'Chonne." Michonne put her hand to her chest and her eyes grew wide, faking surprised "oh, you thought I was asking you! Haha no. I was telling you. Now come." She said with a smirk her hand still out to him.
Rick chuckled lightly as he pushed his chair out and walked over to her, taking hold of her hand. He knew that she wouldn't take no for an answer but he also knew he would enjoy her warmth against him.
There are times when I find
You wanna keep yourself from me
When I don't have the strength; I'm just a mirror of what I see
But at your best you are love
You're a positive motivating force within my life
If you ever feel the need to wonder why
Let me know, let me know
Rick and Michonne made it to the dance floor and she wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling softly up at him as she laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes and he wrapped his arms around her waist and they began to sway slowly to the music. He felt his heart beating rapidly and thought, calm down she's gonna hear it, it's just a dance, calm down. But it seemed like this logic had failed him.
But if you feel, girl, like I feel
Confusion can give way to doubt
For there are times when I fall short of what I say,
What I say I'm all about, all about
But at your best you are love
You're a positive motivating force within my life
Should you ever feel the need to wonder why
Let me know, let me know
Rick looked down at Michonne she seemed so calm as she laid her head on him the only reassurance that she wasn't sleeping was that she was still swaying with him. Who told the damn dj to play this song? He thought, it seemed like the words were mimicking his feelings for her. He breathed in deeply and let the breathe out as he attempted to relax. She's fine so you need to be fine too, he thought. He leaned down and nuzzled his head into the crook of her neck and it was if this space on her were made for him. His nose was pressed into her and his nose filled with the soft coconut vanilla scent she usually had on. It felt as though time was slowing down as they danced like this and with both of their eyes closed, like no one else was in the room.
Tell me what it is (Tell me what it is)
There's no need to make believe
(Make believe, no need to make believe)
Look beyond your world (Look beyond your world)
Try and find a place for me (Try and find, find a place for me)
Cause at your best you are love
You're a positive motivating force within my life
And if you ever feel the need to wonder why
Let me know, let me know
They slowed as the song came to end and paused for a moment, Rick's head still resting in her neck and her head still resting on his chest. Michonne pulled her head up and opened her eyes causing Rick to do the same and he smiled softly at her. Her hands began to play with his hair at the nape of his neck. "Thanks for the dance Grimes." She said softly. "Anything for you 'Chonne." She smiled, her hands still playing with his hair as they heard a car beep outside.
"I think that's my cab." She said as she pulled away from Rick, him letting her go unwillingly. "Okay…" Said Rick his eyes jumped down to her lips and then back up to her eyes, giving her a small nod as he did so. "Imma go say bye to everyone," she said as she began to turn and walk away from him. Before she can get far he lightly grabbed her wrist pausing before he spoke.
"Michonne…" He bit down on his lip and sighed a bit. "...let me know when you get home." She smiled brightly at his concern for her and she took a few steps back so she was directly in front of him again and kissed him gently on the cheek. She seemed to have linger but maybe, Rick thought, he was just looking into it. "I will. Goodnight Grimes." She said softly as she began to walk away, they heard the beep of a car horn again and she quickly made her goodbyes picking up her shoes from behind the bar as she left. She waved lightly at the remaining crowd and walked out.
Rick watched her as she did so and smiled at her wave. It seemed like she was looking straight at him as she waved, as if it was meant just for him. But maybe, he was just looking into it.
A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you once again for the follows/favorites/reviews. As far as the next two chapters I have a general idea of what I want to happen but I wanted to know if you guys have any things you feel should be answered in the upcoming chapters? Put it in your reviews or PM me! Rick and Mike will be meeting soon, no worries. Chapter 6 will be from Michonnes perspective and chapter 7 from Rick's. Thanks for reading! :)