Chapter 18:

'Stop it, Michonne. Just stop'

Michonne reprimanded herself as she walked out of her bedroom a third time, after a third outfit change. She didn't know why she felt it necessary to fuss with her clothing, but she didn't exactly know what vibe she was meant to be sending Rick. It wasn't as if it would matter anyway, but she just wanted to look noticeably nice, but without looking as if she put too much thought into her outfit.

After the fourth outfit change, she settles on a black gypsy top, and her dark blue jeans. She purposely ran down the stairs to avoid the urge change again.

As neither of them had specified if they were having dinner or not, Michonne had prepared a vegetable casserole and left it in the oven just in case. She felt so silly for running around her home like she had no sense, when she had only seen Rick the previous night, and even then she was prepared to sleep with him, despite her bruised and battered body.

When she heard a knock at the door as evening approached, she closed her eyes for a moment, drawing in long, soothing breaths. She purposely walked at a snail's pace to the entrance of her home, so she didn't seem like a hurried mess when Rick saw her.

"Hey", He smiled, turning from the street to face her.

A shiver tickled her spine, "Hey, come in"

He stepped into her home with a smooth strut, and it had been the first time she'd witnessed him not stomping everywhere. She closed the door behind him and he stopped just short of the living area.

"Go right in", She instructed lightly, following behind him.

"How was your day?", He asked once he took a seat on the couch.

"Pretty good. Carl came by, then I went to see Daryl, talked to him about going on a run…", She informed, taking a seat beside him.

"Oh yeah? Well we have that trip to the kingdom tomorrow, if you still wanna come along?"

"Yeah, I'd be glad to", She sighed while crossing her legs, "So, what about your day?"

A little groan left him, "I feel like I spent most of it on my feet. Jesus is here, he came to talk to us about somethan' he found… he wants us to check it out…"

"Oh?", She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, a burnt up town, he said it looked like everyone there was killed recently"

Michonne's eyes narrowed, "A town?"

"He said maybe thirty people"

Her eyes sailed away from him for a moment as she thought, "Alright".

"Did you go and see…"

"No. Not today… did you speak to him?"

Rick took a moment to answer, his eyes landing on something else, "I did"

"And?"

She couldn't help but noticed the way he hesitated before he spoke, his gaze creeping back over to her, "I probably did somethan' that I shouldn't have"

Her brow began to furrow with confusion, "What?"

"Well, he has it in his mind that I've been trying to 'lay claim' on you and-"

"Oh god", She groaned, turning away from him.

"I didn't exactly tell him everythan', I just kinda-"

"Why?"

He exhaled through his nose, "He seems to think that you would 'slit my throat and pull my tongue through the wound to make it look like I was wearing a tie' if I went near you"

She could almost hear Negan making the threat in her mind, "So you thought you'd tell him what happened?"

"No", He drug the word out to emphasis his point, "I… just told him that you did somethan'. Just not that"

A growl almost left her, "Rick-"

"I know-"

"No. You are going to listen. Don't use this", She waved her finger between the two of them, "As a reason to get at him because it won't go down well for us. I get that the two of you don't like each other and I expect that, but I'm not to be toyed with-"

"That wasn't what I-"

"Making little quips about what's going on between us is toying with me! You don't use me to get at him! You already know that that our friendship is on rocky ground right now and I don't appreciate you making things worse"

He groaned, raking his fingers through his hair, "You're right".

"I know", She fumed, sitting back against the couch, "You don't have to like our friendship but if you respect me then you'll respect it"

"You're right", He repeated, raising his hands as in surrender.

"I know"

"Can I say somethan' now?", He asked softly, tilting his head to catch her gaze.

She raised her eyebrow at him.

"I was wrong for it. I admit that. I saw a chance to really piss him off and I damn near ran with it. But I'm sorry"

She sighed, dropping her head back against the couch, "Well. I'll just have to deal with that"

"...Can I ask why he feels that way?"

She tilted her head to glance at him, "Because he's just… Negan"

"You think he'd react that way if you were involved with someone else?"

"If he had the same problem as he did with you? Then yes", She answered dryly, "Have you forgotten everything that's happened?"

He bit his lip, his gaze roaming the room, "Makes sense".

"Yeah…", The thought of seeing Negan became an even harder one, as she had already decided to wait a few days to visit his cell. Knowing now that Rick had informed him of their tryst, only made her dread their pending conversation even more.

He turned his head to look at her, "I am sorry, though. I mean it. It was stupid and I should have been more considerate to you"

She was in no rush to accept his apology, "You should be… and next time-"

"There won't be a next time. I promise"

"Good."

They sat in silence, the tension in the air slowly seeping away as Michonne tried to relax again, but it was difficult, as she was still very, very annoyed with him.

"I really don't want that to mess this up"

She looked at him, "Well, neither do I"

He smiled at her, his steel blue eyes radiating warmth, and it made her heart flutter.

She forced herself to look away from him, "Uh, so-"

"Why do you do that?", He quizzed with an amused tone, "You always look away first?"

She was taken aback by his candour, "Would you rather I didn't?"

"I'd rather stare at you some more", He raised an eyebrow in a flirtatious manner, giving her a teeth baring smile.

A little moan nearly escaped her, "Well I guess you should have thought about that before you let the cat out of the bag to Negan"

His smile fell from his face.

She raised her eyebrows at him playfully as she stood up, "Come on, I made dinner"

"I just apologised for that-"

"You did"

He followed her to the kitchen, "Did you not accept my apology?"

"I never said I did", She shrugged, ready to hang him on tenterhooks, when he took hold of her forearm and spun her to face him.

There was barely an inch of space between them, his hands found her waist and held her against him, "I told you, I am sorry"

Being so close to him would be her undoing, "I know"

"Then will you forgive me?", His lips brushed the tip of her nose, his breath spilling into her mouth.

She rested her hands on his biceps to create some distance between them, but feeling his tensed muscles beneath his denim shirt only fuelled the heat growing between her legs, "I have to think about it…"

He raised an eyebrow again, "What do I have to do to make it up to you?"

Her knees nearly buckled, "I'll have to think about that, too"

The corner of his mouth curled into a smile, "Fine".

She found the strength to break away from him, turning back to the kitchen, "Vegetable casserole?"

He leaned against the counter with a groan, "Sounds great. And I wanted to thank you for the milk by the way. Carl told me"

"No problem", She took out two plated for them and set them down on the counter.

"...Can I ask how you started out?"

She glanced at him, "How I started out?"

"Yeah", He nodded, "In all this?"

She withheld a sigh as she turned to the oven, "I was in Atlanta, things got bad so I left… met Negan and we-"

"Is that the short version?"

She looked at him from over her shoulder, "Did you want the long version?"

His gaze leered around her, "I'd like to know about you, if that's alright?"

She took the casserole dish out and placed it on the island, "Is that necessary?"

He frowned, his head jerking back, "Well it's not necessary, but I'd like to know"

She imagined it was a topic he wasn't going to lay to rest so easily, so she released the sigh, dropping the oven mitt beside the dish, "I was with my boyfriend and my son, I left them to go look for food and when I came back my son was dying and so was he. I killed him, and I took my son. He changed and I still couldn't kill him so I just kept him with me. Negan found us, did what I couldn't do and that's where we started out. Better?"

Rick's expression was a stunned one, and he only moved to shift his stance against the counter.

"I don't know how hungry you are…", She grabbed the spoon and began dishing food onto a plate, "Just eat whatever you want or how much you want-"

Her sentence came to a halt when Rick held her hand. She looked up at him with furrowed brows, and attempted to pull away, but the man was strong.

"That wasn't better", He rasped quietly, "And I didn't mean for you to tell me like that"

"What did you mean then? You wanted me to start crying and fall to the floor in a sad heap?", She countered in a cutting tone.

"No", He responded firmly, still holding her arm, "Not like that either"

"Then what? You asked and I told you and that should be it-"

"I'm sorry that happened to you. And I'm sorry if it's hard for you to talk about. I just wanted to know more about you, and I didn't mean to bring somethan' up that you weren't ready to discuss"

She averted her gaze elsewhere, hating the sombre turn of the conversation, "It's fine"

"No it's not. I know it's not"

She was tempted to recoil from him, but all she could do is huff, looking back down at the plates in front of her, "Are you going to let me finish now?"

His thumb stroked over the skin on her wrist before he released her, leaning back on the counter, "Not a lot of people know about that, right?"

"No. They don't", She resumed to dishing out their dinner.

He slowly nodded as he watched what she was doing, "Well, thank you for telling me. And not hitting me for asking in the first place"

She bit her cheek to stop a smile, "I wouldn't have hit you for asking."

"I think I'd probably deserve it if you did hit me"

She smirked, "You definitely would"

"I'm glad you seem so pleased to agree", He chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest, "So you never did tell me what you mean by that small town comment?"

Her eyes widened a fraction, "Oh. You remember that…"

"I do. I'll have you know that I'm a proud, small town, country boy-"

"I don't doubt that at all", She snuck a glance at him, "It practically radiates off of you"

"Ain't that a good thang?"

She dared to look at him again, "If you're into that sort of thang"

He snickered at her, "Well, are you?"

She rolled her eyes at his brazen attitude, "You're here, aren't you?"

"Is that your way of saying yes?"

She picked up the plates and forks, then strolled past him, "It's my way of letting you keep your neck intact"

He chortled as he followed her to the breakfast table, "Alright, let me guess. You were one of those city girls, strutting around on the phone all day…"

She raised her eyebrows at him as she placed his plate down, "Strutting around?"

"You know what I mean. Wearing fancy shoes and all dressed up to go to work-"

Laughter burst from her lips, "Fancy shoes?"

He cocked his head at her as he sat down, "Are you laughing at me?"

"Of course I am", She giggled while she joined him, "What's a fancy shoe? Do you mean heels? Heels where a fancy shoe?"

"To me they were. My wife…", He dropped his gaze as he picked up his fork, "Those were thangs she wore when it was a special or somethan'... not every day"

The thought of him having a wife never crossed her mind, though it was quite obviously a possibility, especially as he had a child so young. Unlike him, however, she didn't like to pry, so she swiftly avoided the subject, "So Kings County was a laid back town, I take it?"

"It was"

"What did you do? Farmer? Cowboy?", She teased, an evil grin spreading across her face.

He pursed his lips at her, "Deputy"

Her eyes lit up, "Oh, even better, Deputy Rick. You had a hat, right?"

"I still do. Carl wears it sometimes when we're out"

She felt as if she hit a gold mine of information, "He does? And a badge? Tell me he has the badge too?"

"He does", Rick could barely eat as he started to laugh.

"I'm going to have a field day the next time I see him!", She cackled, "Deputy Carl"

"I'm glad the two of you are getting along. He's not usually as trusting. Well, we both aren't but-"

"He's nicer about it", She deadpanned, slipping a fork full of carrots into her mouth.

He sighed, "I apologised for all that-"

"You did."

Eating dinner with Rick was even more pleasing than she expected. She had grown to love the sound of his laugh, and the way his eyes appeared to shine when he smiled. They bounced off each other with great ease, and she found her cheeks hurt by the end of their meals. It was hard to believe that this was a man she near enough hated only weeks ago.

However, he still annoyed her. He was bullish, and had a tendency to be reckless, and it was a side of him that she had decided to tame, but beneath it all she could see he was a good man, and he cared about his people, which attracted her to him. The fire that burned within him seemed to match hers, and it was something she couldn't ignore anymore.

"So we like to leave early… usually around nine"

"Yeah? That's fine", She nodded as she put the plates in the sink.

"I can come by and get you if you'd like?", Rick offered, leaning on the counter next to her.

She sniggered at him, "Such chivalry. Next thing you know, you'll be offering to carry my katana"

"And I'll let you hold my python", the smile he wore slowly faded away once the sentence left his mouth.

Michonne roared with laughter.

"You know what I meant", He slapped his hand to his forehead, "It didn't sound that bad in my head-"

"Oh, I'm sure it didn't"

"Stop that"

"Why, Deputy", She teased in her best southern accent as she inched past him, "I do declare-"

He reached for her by her waist and pulled her towards him, "What was that?"

She raised her eyebrows at him as her head reeled back, "Maybe you have something to declare?"

He smiled down at her, "I do. I'd like to kiss you, if you'd allow me?"

"You're allowed", He barely let her finish her sentence before leaning in to press his lips against hers. She would have swooned if he hadn't held her by her waist. She parted his lips with her own, and his tongue slithered into her mouth without prompt.

His hold on her tightened, and he gently pushed her back against the island in the middle of the kitchen. She rested her hands on either side of his neck, relishing in the feel of his strong body against hers. It was silly of her to think they could just kiss, especially after feeling his bulge through his jeans.

"Michonne…", He whispered against her lips when she began unbuttoning his shirt, "Wait, just wait a second-"

"What?", She hissed, pulling back an inch to look at him.

"I don't want to hurt you", His hands stroked up and down her arms.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "There's ways around it"

He frowned as she kissed him again, and she knew he was wondering what that meant. It was endearing that he was trying to be careful with her, and she was still sore from it all, but she had been through worse, and there were indeed ways around her injuries.

She all but ripped his shirt from his body, and began peppering kisses along his broad chest as she worked on his belt. His hands roamed up and down her back, his fingers slipping down the back of her jeans.

As soon as she had his belt off and his jeans undone, she turned and faced the counter, pulling her top off over her head.

"Oh…", He seemed to realise where she was heading.

She peered over her shoulder at him as she pulled her jeans and her underwear over her round, plump ass, "Problem?"

His head tilted when his gaze dropped to her bare behind, and he sighed, "Never."

He seemed to have caught up with her, as both hands soon found her hips and his erection slipped between her thighs. She instinctively rubbed her folds on his length, causing them both to moan from the sensation. She rolled her hips back and forth, coating him in her juices until she felt his tip at her entrance. He slowly pushed into her, and her eyes widened at the size of him. She felt a mixture of pain and pleasure, leading her to cry out grip the edge of the counter.

"You alright?", He rasped in her ear.

She nodded, resting one hand on his neck, "Yeah, just… be careful with that"

A little chuckle left him before his mouth found her neck, and he drove himself deeper. Her breath hitched when he filled her with every inch whilst tonguing at her skin, his free hand massaging one of her breast. She melted against him, allowing her head to fall back on to his shoulder.

He started to rock his hips into her, as if he was attempting to go deeper. It had been so long since she had been intimate, but she knew that Rick wasn't the usual standard of her past lovers. He was electrifying, and he invaded her with more than just his shaft.

His hand moved from her breast and wrapped around her waist, while the other held the counter firmly. He picked up the pace, his thrusts becoming more pronounced and purposeful. A dull pain in her hip acted as a reminder to her that she was still not at her best, but she refused to let it interrupt the moment.

"Is that alright?", He breathed, his head reposed against hers as his lips grazed her ear.

"Yes", She panted, barely able to formulate another word.

She didn't want to feeling to end. She desperately wanted to have him, so she tilted her head to catch his lips, and he met her with ease. The kiss seemed to excite him, as he was soon slamming into her with hurry. She cried out, her head rolling forward as he made her bounce against him. Her arm grew tired of putting so much pressure on it to steady herself, so she laid flat on counter, the marble surface feeling cool on her hot skin.

Rick's caressed her toned back before settling at her waist, "My god, Michonne"

Her orgasm was near, and she was thankful, as the act was taking its toll on her. She stood on her toes, raising her ass higher for him, and a guttural groan left him as he pounded her with a vengeance. It dawned on her that she was being careless, as the man was bare as he pumped her. She hoped he still had some bearings left, and he would know not to release himself inside her.

Her back arched while she cried out, her walls gripping his shaft as she shattered before him, and it was only moments later that his thrust became more sporadic, and he quickly withdrew himself, his load pouring between her cheeks.

Michonne couldn't move. She wanted to but, she couldn't. Rick had calmed, and he had taken to massaging her lower back as she laid there.

"I thought we were gonna wait?"

One of her eyes rolled open tiredly, "A little too late for that, wouldn't you agree?"

"You did pounce on me…"

She turned around and faced him at record speed, "I pounced on you?"

He bit his lips together, suppressing the urge to laugh, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, their bare chests pressing against each other, "I wanna do this again"

"Alright, relax, we just finished-"

"Not that. Well… that could happen again. I wouldn't mind, at all", He sniggered, "But this. I liked this. A lot. And I want to do again"

"We will…", She wasn't sure why she felt dubious about the request, but she didn't want him made aware of the fact, "Maybe not tomorrow… we'll probably be out all day and… but after that?"

He rose an eyebrow at her as he nodded, "That's fine"

"Good".

He didn't bother to ask to kiss her the third time, as his lips were growing accustomed to finding hers. They had created a little world of their own in her home, but she knew once they stepped outside her front door, it wouldn't be as magical, and Negan would be more than happy to bring her crashing back down to reality.