A/N: Medical school is kicking my behind, so thank trinirichonnetrash for this update (because boy I had written half of this and was about to leave it until like June 15th BUT good reviews and messages are my weakness that INFLUENCE ME - I'm weak gosh damn it).
Also guys I really wanted this to be fast burn, but in real life, is fast burn even possible? Therefore, I have to character build so bear with me...

The day had come quickly, Michonne's heart racing from the minute she was dragged out of her sleep, the impulse quick and fiery in her chest.
Her parents wasted no time – more so her mother – in making sure that she had everything she required.
"Breakfast?"
"Yes mum."
"Mini grill?"
"Yes mum."
"Notebooks?"
"Seriously?"
It was back and forth constantly until Michonne was left to look around the room that she had always occupied, the lilac on the walls, the pictures she had to tear down to bring with her and the faint print of blue tack that was left behind.
It tugged at her heart strings momentarily, until her fathers urgent voice grumbled about her not being in the car, not to mention the constant nagging in his ear from her mother.

The car ride was bleak, the songs in the background were those of upbeat gospel music that matched the racing of Michonne's excited heart and yet… there was a sadness that enveloped them like cling film.
The fear of the unknown plagued her.

Would she make enough friends?

Would she like her professors?

Would she like her classmates?

Would she succeed?

The last one caused a turn in her stomach, for Michonne had always been on a trajectory to be better and better. The work load associated with University was never played down and she hoped, the kind of hope that people get on their knees for, that she would always be among the stars.
And before she knew it, the energy of waking up so early in the morning after a summer so free had rocked her to sleep in the back of the car and she was left to wake up to the sound of chatter and laughter.

"Come on Michonne, you've got to move." Her dad looked back, the soft pat of his hand repetitive on her knee.

Her parents only stayed for a little while, the almost hysterical buzz of her mother made her father roll his eyes jokingly and whisper his goodbyes.

"You can come home any time. And remember…" Her mother began to say, placing her hand on the side of Michonne's face.
"I am smart and beautiful, I know mama."

But as she sat down once they left, the quietness of the room made her feel small and unsure. She was sure that with all the youtube videos she had watched, she was now meant to wait until everyone was here and then knock on their doors or something like that.
Or would it be too pushy?
She didn't know.

Her phone hadn't buzzed, so she'd assumed that both Negan and Maggie were busy pushing through with their lives. Were they already out and about doing things? Did she need to be out and doing things?

Michonne shook her head and pursed her lips, 'No, this thing has to go.'

And she was right.

The streak that had always followed her, the competitive streak that left her unhappy and constantly in a state of comparison needed to be removed from who she was as a being.
And she hoped that somehow stepping on University soil would have stopped that, but here it was ever present. There would have to be more work done internally to mould her into the woman she wanted to be.
Often, when times like these wandered into her mind she would walk and readjust herself to who she knew she was. But now, in the small of her room and the unknown of the outside, she didn't want to do that.

'Right, let's go, let's go and knock on some doors', she tried to convince herself.

This lasted for 10 minutes until there was a soft, but quite urgent rap on her door.

The muscles of her heart seized as she walked towards the door.

Rick:

The day had started messily, paired with the fact that Lori had made it her mission to see him the night before going, which gave Rick less than 4 hours to sleep.
Shane and Rick's parents decided to follow each other as they drove up, Rick receiving multiple texts about all the 'hot chicks' Shane was ready to catch in the first few weeks.

Rick: Am I still wrong for calling u shallow

Shane: Shallow is sticking ur dick in something & not leaving it out of loyalty

Rick: I'm ignorin u

His phone pinged with messages from Lori also but he steadily ignored them, focusing on the passing greenery and wondering how many moments in life would feel like this. Like a ball in your throat, or a stomach punch, or something you cannot control.
It mimicked when he had first gotten with Lori, the disbelief that she had picked him to be with her when all the other posh boys hands were reaching for her, while his reached for a shovel with his father.

But that feeling wasn't there anymore and it stuck to him like shame.

Shane: U seen the hot chicks we have with us?

Rick: Uh…?

Shane: Nah man, the black chick and that white 1

Rick: Am I gonna like where this convo is going

Shane: Im just thinkin who u'd bone in our flat tbh

Before he could reply, he received another text message from Shane.

Shane: yh I know ur loyal ass wont but if u could, who would u?

Rick: I don't have to answer this

Shane: ok

Shane: well im tryna get to know em

Rick: y u telling me

Shane: so u can knock on every1s doors later and invite them for a get together

Rick: u cant do it because

Shane: im the jock so every1 suspects that I have ulterior motives

Rick had scoffed at it originally, not bothering to respond but instead to chuckle and lean his head back as his parents played their old country tunes and spoke among themselves.
But as he sat in his room Shane had barged in, his hands clenched in a fist and his face not looking any happier (it lit up like a Christmas tree when they had come on campus).

"Shane, you were serious?" He nodded. "Come on, you want to get booty through pizza? Your game is weak." Rick joked, closing the page of the book he was reading.
"Yeah and you're so whipped on your girl your sat in here reading a book." He moved to place his hands on Rick's shoulders and look into his eyes. "It's university, we're better than this."

Rick rolled his eyes, causing Shane to sigh in a deep frustration. "Dude fine if you don't do it, I will. But I will set you up so bad you'll hate me."

The threat was accepted and the intense stare from Shane caused Rick to roll off of the bed and check himself in the mirror. He knew Shane was smirking behind him as he did so, as though it was a tale-tale sign that he was interested in devious activities.
Admittedly, he had looked at her facebook profile picture and took into account that not only did she have a nice face, but a nice firm body too. When he had added her, he received 21 questions from Lori in a night that backfired after he questioned all of hers in the same manner.

Still, he was a guy and any girl who looked even remotely attractive on his radar was going to see the best haired, non scruffed version of what he could be, just so he felt better about himself.
Giving Shane one final look of disgust over his shoulder, he finally left the room. Thankfully, they were living right opposite each other and it meant that it didn't give his mind enough time to fuck up the words in head.

"Hey," he said after he knocked softly, "It's Rick." He was suddenly aware of the inescapable soft twang that would present itself as they spoke.
Funnily enough, ever since getting with Lori, he hadn't been able to speak to many girls and it worked both ways - possibly due to the fact that Lori sent them daggers every time they were close.
His inexperience around just 'female companions' was his reason for why his palms were a little too damp for his liking.

"Heya," the chirp in her voice was warm and reminded him of the way birds wake you up in the spring. It warmed him, making him relax his shoulders and lean a little. "W-whats up?" The slight stutter calmed him even more, allowing him to know that she was nervous. Maybe not for the same 'inexperienced' reason, but just in general.
"So uh, we're opposite neighbours and I was just gonna go knocking around to see if anyone wanted to order pizza later? Like meet in the kitchen around-" He looked at his watch, "7?"

"Sure!" Her response was quick and excited, and he could tell by the way she shrunk back on herself she thought the same too. But it was nice to have someone unashamed of what they felt and it made such a contrast to Lori already, who played passive aggressively until you managed to decipher just what was required of you.

And it was an ugly thing to realise and pick up on in the moment, because it got saved in the bank at the back of Rick's mind that showed itself whenever Lori did something to make him doubt what they were.

"That's cool then."

They teetered there in an awkwardness, Rick's mouth opening and closing as he tried to find something to say. Michonne's foot tapped with the anxiety that flowed in her blood stream and she waited for anything to come from her brain.

As if on cue, Shane stepped boldly out of Rick's room and towards Michonne, extending an arm.

"Hey, I'm Shane, Rick's best friend." He rested himself confidently on her door frame after they shook hands, Rick looking for the gleam in her eyes that often showed with females who were stark struck by Shane. "You wanna come knock on the rest of the doors with us? We haven't met the rest of our flatmates."

Rick's lips tugged into a grimacing line.

Michonne looked at her ceiling, almost laughing at the blankness of it and how it compared to the vibrance of her room. Looking at her phone, she estimated she had been tossing and turning for a while, her usual routine of falling asleep around 11pm shattered.
The parties started tomorrow, the thought of them hugging her chest walls tightly with excitement. Yet, the nerves of what was going to unfold tomorrow irked her and made her eyes flutter right back open whenever she tried to close them.

It wasn't simple, always holding your head up high with confidence. It had always been hard for her to build friendships, she often found that people would look at her and already use buzzwords towards her character – which she always had the misfortune of finding out when they realised she was "nice" and not "bossy" or "independent" as they would say.

The rest of the flat had joined in with the pizza – thankfully, her mental budget for food really required that – and at first it was awkward. But isn't meeting a bunch of strangers awkward for the first time always awkward? Trying not to trip over your own words, or interrupt others, or spit too much when talking or laugh too loud… yeah, it's a right struggle.
But characters were already showing themselves… take Shane for example, typical cocky dude who knew what he was worth and wouldn't settle for less – or even anything on par with him to be entirely honest.

Or take Sasha, who also knew what she was worth and deflected every look that Shane threw her way in a confident play of tag that he wanted her to participate in. Michonne liked her, especially when she cornered her off to the side and squealed at the fact there was another black girl in the flat – yeah, she didn't have social media, so she wasn't ever present in any of th group chats they had established once figuring out they were all living together… Maybe her vagueness enticed Shane, Michonne thought.

Then you had Andrea, who upon opening the door looked more flustered than anything else. But at the mention of pizza her face broke into a smile, and she apologised for the way she had opened the door. '"I'm just unpacking,"' she said, wiping her forehead. '"And I carried a whole lot more than I should have."' Although, she didn't accept the hands that were offered to her, which made Michonne like her confidence.

And then there was Rick, who Michonne noticed didn't speak as much – and when he did, it was to throw in a dismissive comment to Shane's attitude or make a wise crack joke himself. But she liked him, the brightness of his eyes, the sharpness of his jaw, the aura that clung to him with such a soft gentle light that you couldn't help but feel mellowed out.

They were a mix of people and sitting at that table, she had felt positivity – the wonder of whether your dorm mates would be dumb as a rock and ignorant usually hovered in everyone's mind and in every forum she read before coming to university.

Head in the clouds and worrying about tomorrow, Michonne wandered into the kitchen, the boredom forcing her mouth to want to be distracted with food. Hovering in the fridge – which thank goodness there was enough room because if she couldn't store her yogurt there would have been hell to pay – she jumped at the sound of the door swinging.

"Sorry," Rick commented, looking like a deer in headlights, with bedhead that wasn't at it's full capacity. He rubbed his eyes like he had arrived from a long nap.
"It's okay… did you just wake up?" Michonne drew her eyes back to the fridge but felt heat in her cheeks. She had never dressed 'comfortable' around people she didn't know (comfortable being short pyjama shorts, a top and no bra – gosh damn it how could she forget that?!).

"Haha, yeah, managed to get about twenty mins sleep but I guess my body just wants me awake." He went to sit at the table as Michonne picked a blueberry yogurt pot before finding a spoon. There was as slight hesitation on her part, where her eyes flickered towards the door and towards her chest area. Could she make an excuse to go get a bra? Or would the sudden obvious change let him know that she was aware that he may have been aware and make this awkward? Why was meeting someone for the first time so awkward?

"So what'd you think of our dorm?" Rick commented, not directly looking at her but the wall over her shoulder. Michonne smirked and made her way to sit down, immediately ripping off the plastic for her yogurt pot.
"It's alright… we still have to learn each other's ways though."

"What'd you mean?"
"Who's the unclean one? Who's the one that's really loud in the middle of the night? Who's the clean freak… which will probably be me." Smiling in her spoon, Michonne watched a grin break out onto his face.
"You were reading online forums about types of housemates, weren't you?"

"Never!" Michonne sarcastically remarked, rolling her eyes and laughing. "Are you going out tomorrow?"
"Shane's going to make me."
"You guys seem close, how long have you been friends?"
"Years upon years, I know he sounds like an idiot sometimes but he's alright." Rick shrugged. "What about you, you going out tomorrow?"
"Hoping to, have no one to go with yet." She finished the last of her yogurt, her eyes immediately getting droopy now that her stomach was full, and her mind felt calmer. Leaning on her elbows, she held her head in her hands and marvelled at the length of Rick's eyelashes, whilst simultaneously hating her own.

"… Should we all go together?" Michonne's eyes squinted at his request, making him take a deep breath and his cheeks puff red at the brash statement he just made. "No… I uh… am not saying that wouldn't be nice but like I have like … kind of… a girlfriend."
Michonne laughed, swatting at the air. "Don't worry, my hearts not broken, I have a boyfriend too… and I got what you meant." Standing up, Michonne reached up towards the sky, momentarily forgetting the lack of a bra she was sporting and the embarrassment she felt that came with it until she realised Rick's eyes were not on her, but the wall behind her.

"Well…" she sighed, "I'm off, goodnight!"
"Goodnight Michonne."
Sometimes, it felt good to hear her full name on anyone's tongue. The shortening of it to 'chonne' or 'mich' happened so frequently, she missed the way her full name sounded.

After binning her yogurt pot and chucking her spoon in the sink, her hand hovered on the door handle. "You know, as a girlfriend myself, you really gotta say you have a girlfriend with more confidence." It was a joke that resulted in Rick squeezing the bridge of his nose and sighing.
"It's uh… difficult?"

Michonne nodded, pulling the door slightly. "Well if we keep meeting around this time, maybe I'll learn all about it."

Lori: Hey my lovely I miss you and I can't wait to ring you tomorrow love u lots xoxoxoxo

Rick wondered what to reply.

Negan: Hey babes things r going good Ill call u tomoz if I got the time u no how it is luv u

Michonne replied in a heartbeat.