AN: I probably won't be updating as much for the next couple of days. I'm going to try to at least get you some short chapters out to keep things moving, but I've got a lot of personal stuff going on that's keeping me away from the computer as much as usual. Sorry for the shortness of the next couple (maybe) of chapters, but anything is better than nothing, right?
Thank you to anyone who is still reading. Please feel free to review (good or bad) and let me know what you're thinking so far. I really enjoy hearing your thoughts and opinions. We still have quite the way to go, so I hope you're still with me!
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The newcomers were settling in well. They'd taken their own house, which Daryl had declared the "frat house" though there wasn't much of anything happening there. Dominique was clearly in a relationship with Stella, but Chelsea seemed to be left to her own devices. Michonne certainly didn't think of any of them as threats. They were good kids, still settling in, even if now they were the group's responsibility.
"I need you a minute." Carol said, finding Michonne in the street, carrying the last of the boxes from one house.
"OK, can I drop this off?" Michonne asked.
"Yes, of course." Carol said. She'd waited awkwardly at the steps outside the storage house. Michonne had gone in, putting the box down without saying anything. She went back outside to find Carol.
"What is it?" Michonne asked. Carol seemed jumpy, and that was unlike her.
"I just need your help." Carol said. Michonne followed her quietly to headquarters and waited while Carol fumbled around with things in the kitchen.
Carol came out with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a syringe.
"I know it hasn't been three months…" Michonne started.
"Not for you." Carol said. "For me. I had a few problems before Sophia and a few with her. I'm not looking to repeat it now."
"Is there something I should know?" Michonne said, cocking an eyebrow. She had seen Carol and Tyreese together, but she hadn't realized it had become something serious. They hadn't done anything at their house.
"Not yet." Carol said. "But I don't want to ask anyone else because they'll blab. I'm just getting prepared, in case." She said. "I don't want him to find out and think I'm being presumptuous."
Michonne smiled at Carol. "I don't know what I'm doing."
Carol undid her pants and motioned. "In this area. I don't want to ask anyone else. They'll talk and it could get back."
"I don't think you're as good at drawing circles behind your back as you think you are." Michonne offered. "I've got a lot of choices."
"Imagine it's an orange cut into quarters. Upper left or upper right quarter. I don't care." Carol said. "I just don't want to end up with a baby."
Michonne followed her instruction.
"Jeez, next time try to remember that this is my ass, not a Walker's head and that's a needle, not your katana. You don't have to use so much force." Carol said, rubbing herself.
"Sorry." Michonne offered. She hadn't meant to be so rough, but she wasn't used to doing too many things delicately. "You know, you could help this along by letting him know you're interested."
"The way I was raised a woman was never interested, at least not first." Carol said.
"Do you think Daryl made a move on me?" Michonne asked. "You've got to give them something to let them know you're ready to move on or they're stuck at stage one forever. Tyreese doesn't want to scare you, so he's just going to hang out at this stage until he gets some indication that you're ready to move forward. If you want to get past the kissing and the hand holding you're going to have to nudge him a little."
"Who are you? The love doctor?" Carol said.
Michonne raised her eyebrows a little but remained otherwise expressionless. "I got Daryl, didn't I?" She said.
Carol snorted. "Good point. I just don't think I could come right out with it…"
"Well, you might want to start hinting. Maybe give him some time get ready for it…" Michonne said, smirking.
"To tell you the truth I'm a little nervous." Carol said. "It's been a pretty long time."
"Well, just be sure you remind him of that." Michonne said. "Tyreese seems like the kind of man who would take that into consideration. I have an idea."
"What?" Carol asked.
"When you've worked up your courage, ask him to come over after dinner. We'll stay up for a while and everyone can chat or play cards or something, and then I'll make Daryl go up to bed. You'll be in the perfect position to suggest a little making out that might go a little farther." Michonne said. A nervous look passed Carol's face. Michonne smiled. "Calm down, it's like riding a bicycle, you don't forget, you may just have a case of the wobblies your first few times out."
Carol laughed at Michonne having stolen her word.
"Yeah, just a case of the wobblies." She echoed.
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The dining room was pretty much full at this point. Some people ate at the table, others just sat around on the floor eating. Michonne was at the table, but Daryl had taken a spot on the floor with his back against the wall. They were done eating now, but most everyone was engaged in conversation. The new kids, were finally showing a little personality and Michonne had been engaged in a conversation with Stella, who was admiring her locks.
"I've thought about doing mine." Stella said.
"It's convenient, pretty low maintenance. I've had mine for a long time. I could help you get started, if you want." Michonne offered.
"I might take you up on that." Stella said.
Michonne liked Stella, she was very nice, maybe a little too giggly at times, but Michonne thought it was good that she was staying light despite what they'd all told them about how many people they'd lost.
It wasn't Stella who Michonne was concerned with at all. Throughout the evening she'd been watching Chelsea. The young girl was a pretty blonde with shockingly green eyes. She could have, for all intents and purposes, passed as a sister to Maggie and Beth. She was one of those girls that Michonne imagined had been a cheerleader or something in college.
She was also very obviously flirting with Daryl, though he seemed completely unaware of it. She had actually gone to sit beside him and Michonne kept watching them.
Michonne was amused at herself. She realized, suddenly, that she was a little jealous. She didn't care for the way that Chelsea was flirting with Daryl, even though it wasn't as if Daryl was flirting back. He was just talking to her because she was talking to him.
Stop flirting with him, for Christ's sake. He's holding a baby. My baby. Michonne thought to herself. She amused herself again. She'd never once been the jealous girlfriend. She'd always had the code that if some man she was with saw something else he wanted, he was more than welcome to go and get it, so if women flirted with them, it was up to them to decide what they wanted. These had been men who were very likely to find something better, men who were always looking to upgrade to newer, shinier models. Daryl wasn't even that kind of man, wasn't even aware that she was flirting with him, and yet Michonne felt jealous right now.
Watching the two of them kept distracting Michonne away from the conversation that she was trying to have with Stella. Finally, she excused herself, telling Stella she'd talk to her later.
"I'm tired." She said. Walking over to Daryl and reaching out for Hope. Daryl passed her Hope and then got to his feet.
"Me too." He said. They said goodnight to everyone and went back to the house.
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"She was outright flirting with you." Michonne said.
Daryl was laughing. Michonne was pouting with him, at least a little, and he didn't think she had any reason at all to pout. He didn't understand it, but apparently the kid, Chelsea, had been flirting with him. He just thought she was a chatty girl, so he'd talked to her whenever she'd ask him questions. They were innocent questions, he thought, and she'd asked him a lot about Hope. Now Michonne seemed a little irritated.
"'Chonne, I told ya, I weren't payin' her no attention." Daryl said. "Is you jealous of that girl?" Daryl thought it was kind of cute. He knew that Michonne had to know that even if he'd known the girl was flirting with him, it still wouldn't have mattered. He wasn't even paying attention to her.
Michonne curled her lip and picked at the pillowcase on the pillow she was holding in front of her. "Maybe…a little." She said.
"'Chonne, you ain't got nothin' to be jealous of." Daryl said.
"So you wouldn't think at all about upgrading to a newer model? I mean she's a lot younger than I am." Michonne said. Daryl smiled. Now he could tell she was teasing him a little too. He liked that she was a little jealous and pretending to be worried. To Daryl it meant that he was important to her, something she didn't want anyone trying to take away from her. He leaned over and kissed her.
"Shoot, 'Chonne, why'd I wanna go messin' 'round with kids when I got me a woman?" He took the pillow out of her lap and pulled her up on her knees so that he could hug her better, kissing her when she was positioned in front of him.
"A woman, huh?" She said. Kissing him. She bit his lip gently.
"Yeah. My woman." Daryl said, he nipped at her neck and felt her shiver. She always liked that. There was one spot that almost always made her shiver. "You know," he said, "it might outta be me that's worried 'bout all these young roosters walkin' 'round these days. You might get a hankerin' for one of 'em."
Michonne kissed him again, and reached down to grab him gently. She looked him in the eyes, smiling slightly.
"There's only one rooster in my hen house." She said. She kissed him again, pushing him down onto the bed.