Chapter 5 - Alive

The day after the party

It was about 10 in the morning and Michonne's phone was ringing for what felt like forever. "Oh my god…." she muttered to herself. She could feel her head banging and she was still in her dress from last night and now her phone wouldn't stop ringing. She reached for her phone with her eyes still closed, slightly opening her eyes to answer it. "My god, what is it?" She asked.

"So you are alive!" Said Sasha on the other end, cheerfully. While Sasha was the one who always threw parties she was rarely the one to get hangovers as she was often too busy making sure everyone else was having a good time and getting their fill of the alcohol.

"Oh my god Sasha, why are you doing this to me?" Asked Michonne her hand now covering her forehead with her thumb and index finger massaging her temple.

Sasha laughed a bit at her friend, "Look, Maggie and I are gonna come over and make some breakfast and soothe your hangover alright? We have some things to talk about…"

"Like…? Things that can't wait till tomorrow? How do you never manage to have a hangover?" Asked Michonne.

"Likeeee, you. And Rick. That little dance last night. You don't think we noticed? We have things to discuss! Now I know you are still in that dress so go change and shower and we will be over in about, 30 minutes or so." It was custom for a drunk Michonne to often go to sleep in whatever she was wearing that night, her makeup still on so Sasha knew she was right in her guess.

Michonne sighed, she wasn't aware that people were watching her and Rick dance but she should have expected nothing less especially from Sasha. "Is there no talking you out of this?"

"Now, you should know me better than that 'Chonne. See you in a bit!"

Michonne let out a groan as she hung up with Sasha. She forced herself to open her eyes and sit up, her headache seeming to grow as soon as she opened her eyes. She paused for a moment before getting up, remembering the memory of her dance with Rick last night. She smiled to herself as she began to get up to go to her bathroom. It was a good night she thought, as she entered her bathroom and turned the shower on.

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45 minutes later

After a long shower that seemed to shake off a bit of her hangover Michonne had changed out of her dress from last night into a soft pink, short sleeve maxi dress her feet bare and hair up in a messy bun as she walked around her home. She was in the living room, cleaning a bit, when she heard her doorbell ring. She walked over and answered the door giving her friends a small smile.

"Look at you! Getting all dressed! We weren't sure what you had here so we brought things." Said Sasha with Maggie on her side as they both raised the grocery bags they held.

"Hey 'Chonne" said Maggie, smiling as she and Sasha entered Michonne's home, walking towards the kitchen as they already knew the way.

"How are our boys?" Michonne asked, referring to Glenn and Daryl as they began to take food out of the grocery bags.

"Glenn spent all night drunkenly tellin' me all about the struggles of baby poop. I don't know how happy he was that I was comin' over here today." Said Maggie as she playfully rolled her eyes.

"I told Daryl to go over there and help him out," Sasha paused and then continued, "...I think I might be pregnant." She said with a smile.

"What?!" Said Michonne and Maggie in unison both in shock from the news.

"What do you mean you think you're pregnant? You haven't taken a test yet?" Asked Michonne.

Sasha shook her head, "No, not yet I was thinking of taking one tonight. It's just this past week I've felt...different and I'm late so I think I am."

"...Wait, so what were drinking last night?" Asked Maggie, they had decided to pick up the ingredients for a quiche at the supermarket so now she was in the process of preparing it.

Sasha shrugged, "Just some ginger ale."

"Oh my god!" Exclaimed Michonne, "no wonder you had the nerve to call me this morning, you weren't even close to being hungover." She was now also in the process of helping Maggie.

"Not my fault you wanted to drink all night," said Sasha with an innocent shrug.

Michonne shared a look with Maggie that read, really? With their lips pursed and eyes sliding over to Sasha.

"Anyways!" Said Sasha as she felt their gazes on her, wanting to change the topic, "how was the party for you, hm Michonne?" She asked as she rested her elbows on the counter, and rested her chin in the palms of hands.

Michonne sighed, here we go she thought. "It was fine Sasha." While Michonne was close to both Sasha and Maggie she wasn't going to be outright with her feelings with Rick to them before he even knew. And she wasn't sure when or if that would happen.

"Really? Just fine...Interesting. Maggie, did you happen to see Rick and Michonne dancing at the end of the night?" Asked Sasha, glancing at Maggie and then back at Michonne with a smirk.

"I may have…" Answered Maggie as she then noticed Michonne glaring at her, "or….maybe I didn't." She said with a shrug.

Michonne rolled her eyes, "so we were dancing and? Everyone danced with everyone last night." She said attempting to justify her close dancing with Rick.

"Actually everyone did not dance with everyone. Rick Grimes did not dance with everyone he danced with you." Said Sasha as she pointed at Michonne.

"And?" Asked Michonne.

Sasha sighed, throwing her head in her hands clearly a bit exasperated with the situation. She looked up and looked Michonne dead in the eyes, "Michonne...do you want to fuck Rick?"

"It's Sunday!" Exclaimed Maggie her mouth falling open.

"Oh my god…." muttered Michonne. This was not what she was expecting this day to become. But Sasha's observation made her wonder how obvious it was of her feelings towards Rick. If it's so obvious to her is it so obvious to Rick too? she thought.

"Look, if you say no I'll drop it I swear. We won't ever talk about you and Rick Grimes fuc-" Sasha stopped, catching a glare from Maggie, "I mean….having sex...ever again."

Michonne sighed, her thoughts were screaming out yes but her face remained stoic. "No," she said simply. She didn't want to elaborate more, fearing that something would would slip out.

Sasha squinted at Michonne for a moment, not quite believing her, but Michonne's face remained the same. "Okay, that settles it." She said with a shrug, "...How's it going with Mike?"

Michonne let out a small sigh, relieved that the conversation has moved on to another topic that did not deal with her and Rick sleeping together. But this topic wasn't much better than the first.

"We haven't talked since the night of our argument….I guess I should call him right? I think he's waiting for me to make first contact." Said Michonne.

"Y'all should talk," said Maggie with a small smile. "You know you be scaring those boys away so he isn't gonna call you first."

Michonne chuckled at her friend her mouth falling open,"I do not scare boys away!"

Sasha nodded in agreement with Maggie, "you kinda do. I don't know if Mike can handle it, one argument and he hasn't called yet. Come on!" She said with a roll of her eyes.

Michonne laughed at her friends, "His….he just has to get use to me is all. I'll call him tonight."

"Good, now…" Said Sasha, "is the food done yet?"

Maggie smiled and nodded as she pulled the quiche out of the oven. "Yes, yes it's ready calm down." She said, with a smile.

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Several hours later

Michonne's house was now quiet as Sasha and Maggie left for the evening. They spent most of the day talking girl talk, discussing possible baby names, and wondering how Daryl would be as a dad. While Michonne loved her friends and her hangover was long gone she was happy to have her house to herself again. And now that she was alone she was able to be with her thoughts.

Maybe I should call….she thought to herself with a sigh as she unlocked her phone and scrolled through her contacts before stopping at Mike's name. Her thumb lingered for a moment and then she pressed his name, putting the phone to her ear as it rang.

"Hey….I was starting to think you were never gonna call." Said Mike, on the other line.

Michonne smiled a bit at the sound of his voice, "You know you could've called to, right?"

"I wanted to give you some time….are you okay?"

"Yeahhh, I'm okay. Are you?"

"Better now that we're talking...What you do last night?"

Michonne smiled a bit, remembering last night. "Partied a little, drank a little. Had some cake. It was a good night."

Mike smiled at her recollection of the night before, "Wish I could have been there…" there was a pause, "Look I wanna ask you something."

"The last time you wanted to ask me something we stopped talking." Quipped Michonne, reminding him of how their last argument started with a simple question.

Mike let out a nervous chuckle, "Yeah, I know….I just think it's time for me to meet him."

"Him?...Who is him?" Asked Michonne, even though a part of her knew the answer before Mike could say anything.

"Rick." Said Mike, he could hear a sigh coming out of Michonne and he imagined she was probably rolling her eyes. "I know, but listen for a sec. You've met my friends and I've only heard about yours. If you want me to wait to meet everyone else in your life, that's fine but Rick seems to be the closest to you so I wanna meet him. I'm….I'm not sure I'm comfortable continuing with us if I don't meet him."

Michonne chewed on her bottom lip as she thought of a response. Since she was slow moving in her relationships for her knowing someone for 3 months was too soon to meet her friends. But she also thought that if she didn't bend at least a bit on her rules that her short relationship with Mike would be over. She was unsure of how long this relationship would last but she figured she could at least try.

"...You still there?" Asked Mike after Michonne was silent for what felt like too long.

"Yeah, I'm here….When do you want to meet him?" Asked Michonne.

"When are you free?"

"Tomorrow after work? Around 7 if that's good for you."

"Yeah that works...Thanks Michonne. I know this isn't something you usually do so early but it could be good for us, you know?"

Nope, thought Michonne. Apparently her feelings for Rick were painfully visible and she was sure that Mike would be just another person who noticed.

"Yeah...it will be." Said Michonne hoping Mike wouldn't hear the lie in her voice. "So, I'll see you then?"

"I'll see you then…. Night 'Chonne." Michonne can hear a lightness in his voice that wasn't there in the beginning of the conversation, this same lightness she was trying to convey.

"Goodnight Mike" she said softly, hanging up the phone afterwards. "...Damnit," she said to herself. She grabbed her phone again and typed up a quick text message to Rick hey, what are you doing tomorrow night?