Was this her punishment for arguing with Rick earlier? Beside her Sasha was grinning from ear to ear. She shook her head vigorously.
"So you're really telling me you can't find a townhouse with an extra room?" She questioned the lady before her. She was young, maybe a recent high school graduate. The girl tried to not look scared.
"Um Mam, I'm really sorry. But during this time we get a lot of last minute book outs. It was an honest mistake booking and cashing someone else for that house." The girl's eyes darted between her and Sasha, who was still grinning happily. Sasha consoled the girl and paid the rest of the homes fee.
Maybe she deserved this. Admittedly, she knew she snapped at Rick earlier. Maybe this was fates way of showing her how she'd been an asshole to her best friend.
"Girl, I don't know what the big deal is. The bathrooms look amazing and this one has a pool. On top of all of that we didn't have to pay any extra money." Sasha said clearly thrilled with their situation.
"I have to share a room with Rick." She mentioned wondering if that even mattered to her friend. Sasha was on cloud nine.
"So?" She really didn't care. "You guys are besties, I'm sure you'll live."
"I'm not so sure. Earlier we had an argument on the plane. I said some things, he said some things. Needless to say we're not on good terms." Sasha frowned at her, confusion smearing her face.
"On the plane? Where was I?" Sasha genuinely looked lost.
"Sleeping obviously." She continued. "I told him about Mike, well I was forced to tell him about Mike. Somehow that ended with me talking about Andrea." Sasha made a face in response to her words.
"I see what you mean. But your both adults, you don't need me to tell y'all get over yourselves. Relax, Michonne. We're all here to enjoy this trip. Because who the hell knows how Negan managed to get us tickets? I don't know about you but I'm going to enjoy this. Just apologize, you know Rick's not going to stay mad at you." Sasha lectured. She was right, at some point they were going to forget about this and enjoy themselves. This trip was like winning and eight ball lotto jackpot. Grabbing some key cards from the front desk they ventured over to the rest of the group. Her eyes just fazed over Rick, it was petty, considering their predicament. She knew they had to talk it out.
"Maggie told us we got a new spot." Daryl mentioned sucking on a lollipop a bit harshly.
"Yeah, three bedroom and three baths, which of course means, Michonne and Rick have to share. Other than that this place is a hell of an upgrade from the first one. I'm not complaining." Sasha motioned for the bell boy lugging two trollies of their luggage's. Rick walked silently beside her as they followed the others to the cars.
"So who you rolling with Ninja?" Daryl asked helping the struggling bell boy lift suitcases into the trunks.
"She can ride with Rick." Maggie interrupted. Traitor! She also had a sneaking suspicion her blabber mouth husband had something to do with Rick finding out about Mike.
"Fine." She agreed, hoping in the second vehicle until Rick closed and secured the trunk. She looked straight ahead when Rick sat down in the driver's seat with a huff slamming the car door behind him. She scowled.
"Must you be so aggressive?" She asked slightly aggravated.
"So now you're talking to me." He responded.
"I never stopped talking to you." She watched, waiting for Sasha to move the car for them to follow.
"Could've fooled me." Rick murmured beside her. Sasha's lecture played in the back of her noggin. Who knew when she was going to grace the Hawaiian shores again. It was best for her to suck up her pride and enjoy it now.
"I'm sorry, Rick. For overreacting and bringing up your past with Andrea. I over stepped a boundary when I said that, least of all, I shouldn't have said that in a plane full of strangers." She said sincerely. Tilting her head toward him she viewed his profile hoping he'd relax. He gripped the steering wheel pressing gas and began tailing Sasha.
"I forgive you. I'm sorry about calling you an asshole. I was just mad. Mad that you didn't trust me enough to tell me what's going on with you. I had to find out from Glenn", I god damn knew it "All these months… Even after all these years you're still a mystery to me Michonne." She frowned as her mind pondered over his words. He was right in his own way. She never really spoke to him about her relationships but he always told her about his. Of course Jessie didn't count because that was a small smudge in his life. She still hid things from him. Little things like her being in love with him, wanting to marry him and have his babies. Little things. Hey, in her defense, she knew he had his secrets. They didn't need to share everything with each other.
Leaning her head back against the seat, she felt a dark cloud lift from her. Holding onto anger always weighed her down.
"Does this mean you're not mad at me?'' She heard him ask.
"No, Rick. We had to face the music sooner or later."
"You English people and your analogies." He joked casually causing her to laugh. Oh that felt good.
"You math people." She mocked him. "Like you said before math and English go hand in hand. If you keep telling me English sucks my guess is math sucks harder." He laughed. She loved his laugh. Damn it! Relax Michonne.
"There is a little tiny pedestal you're putting english on."
"Of course. Without English no one would understand the blabber called mathematics or if you want to be fancy arithmetic's." She said sweetly. "And that pedestal is not tiny." She added.
He hesitantly nodded agreeing to her statement. "Your right, but you said math is blubber so going by what you said earlier english is blubber as well." It was that easy with them. They argued and now they were back to teasing each other like nothing happened. She didn't know if their fast make ups were a good or a bad thing, none the less she appreciated it.
"Looks like we're here." Rick stated as the car pulled into a driveway filled with gravel. Looking out the window, she was graced with a modern two story concrete building. Coconut trees were scatter along the property covering most of the roof and the path way providing a source of shade. Everything had a tropical feel to it. She even spotted a hammock tied to two small palm trees. If outside look this good she couldn't wait to see inside. After turning to find an empty seat next to her she got out of the car only to find Rick taking their luggage out the trunk.
"Holy shit. Looks even better in person." Daryl whistled.
"And you're sure we didn't have to pay extra for this Sasha?" Glenn asked clearly skeptical.
"Does it look like I'd pay extra after our old place was taken from us? Plus we already had our down payment in. They weren't going to play me." Sasha swayed to the front door at a quick pace. She laughed at how excited everyone seemed.
"Where's Maggie?" She asked curiously.
Glenn's face dropped a little. "She's just sleeping in the car. She's been feeling off for two weeks now. I don't know."
Her eyebrows rose, she looked at Maggie's huddled form with concern etching her face. It was weird, considering she was doing just fine earlier. She decided to help Glenn carry their luggage while he carried his sleeping wife inside. She rolled each one in and watch with an amused expression when Rick was panting after lifting three large suitcases.
"You could've just rolled them inside." She stated when she spotted droplets of sweat across is forehead.
"That would mean I won't get to show off my muscles." She couldn't resist rolling her eyes.
"You practically have all summer to do that Rick."
"Alright, where am I taking these." He gestured to their suitcases. Right, she couldn't forget that they had to share a room. Now that she really thought about it, they had to share a bed and a bathroom. That bothered her, not in a bad way, her perverted side loved this entire situation. And not in a good way either, she might be tempted to touch… It shouldn't be weird. They always were in close proximity to each other. Giving each other foot massages and cuddling under each other during movie time was enough. Not that she'd openly admit that her panties got a little damp just from just hugging him.
"We're taking this one upstairs!" Sasha yelled from the top of the stair case. She wouldn't be surprised if Sasha did a speed tour of the house. "There's another room up here and one downstairs." Sasha added sashaying to her room.
"I'll take the one down here," Glenn voiced. "I don't want Maggie walking down steps if she starts feeling like this again later." They all nodded in agreement.
Before going upstairs, she took her time scoping out the space downstairs. It was a lavish home. From the array of plush leather couches situated in the living area to the massive flat screen hanging on the wall, this open floor plan had a massive kitchen. And thank heavens for central air. Yes she was still going to enjoy the heat and sun of Hawaii but that didn't mean she wanted to die from a heat stroke. Looking through the lightly tinted sliding doors she could make out the outline of a pool. Taking one for the team never felt so good.
After wondering around she finally decided to head upstairs. Rick was still struggling with their suitcases.
"What is in here?" He asked a little annoyed. "I don't remember it being this heavy when you packed."
"Maybe you're just tired or weak." She teased, that seemed to stop his grumbling. She jogged ahead of him and opened the door to her haven. Their haven. Talk about spoiled. She didn't have to press down on the bed to know it was soft. It just looked like a cloud taken from heaven and strategically placed in the middle of their room. Ignoring Rick who was asking for some help, she went to the foot of the bed and fell back into feathers.
"Mmmmmm god this feels good." She moaned out. Maybe she could steal this bed before she went back. "So good." She felt the bed dip, and then blue eyes peered into hers with a strange look covering his face. She licked her lips, it didn't go unnoticed that his eyes followed the movement. "You should lay down." She prompted, patting the empty spot next to her.
"We should steal it." Rick said after he lay down beside her. Staring at the smooth white ceiling she shook her head.
"I thought about that too. But then we'd have to steal another one. I can't leave your back crying." She chuckled softly.
"I could always move in with you. We could share a bed. Or you could cut it in half and give me the other half." He sounded serious. Their feet were hanging off the end of the bed swinging idly.
"Why would I cut this beauty in half?" She asked incredulously.
"To take one for the team, Michonne. I thought you loved me." He teased. Her heart jumped. It wasn't that deep, he's just teasing you.
"I do." She let the truth go even if he didn't realize it had a deeper meaning.
"Well aren't you two getting along nicely." Daryl stated still twirling this pop around his tongue. Sitting up she watched him lean against the door frame.
"Yes we have. So nice of you to check up on us."
"I just wanted to tell you guys there's a TV behind the wall and the wifi password is treasurechestisintheseat1235," why is it such a long ass password? "Oh, we're getting complimentary dinner later and some breakfast in the morning." Daryl drawled out between licking his lollipop. Honestly it was getting annoying. Everything little thing was making her snap, besides this bed, the bed could do no wrong. Perhaps her period was coming on. "You might want to start locking your door." He added.
Her eyes squinted in confusion. "Why?"
"I just waltzed in here, what if you were changing. Worse, what if Rick was changing." Rick groaned in disgust.
"Point taken but there is this common courtesy called knocking." Daryl looked at her like she spoke another language. "Okay, I get it, the doors getting locked starting now." She got up but Daryl didn't move from his post.
"There's this convenient store literally right down the road if you need snacks, juice, sunscreen condoms…" She cut him off and began shoving at his shoulder trying and failing at budging him from the door."
"I think we get it Daryl." She puffed.
"Do you? Michonne if you meet an islander I'm sure you wouldn't want his baby."
"Daryl, get out." Rick's voice was hard enough for him to get the message.
"I'm just saying." He threw his hand up and retreated. She frowned closing the door and locking it behind him. By that tone Rick sounded like he wanted to make sure there wasn't an islander to even meet. She looked at him a bit surprised. He was still lying in bed with his arms folded behind his head and his eyes were closed.
Maybe it was the fresh ocean breeze she inhaled earlier, she couldn't exactly pin point what made her grabbed this man's foot and take off his shoe. Obviously startled Rick stared back at her in bewilderment. "What are you…," He began to ask as she began working on his socks. Shit, she didn't even know what was going on. "doing?" He finished. She started on his next shoe, removing his socks along with it.
She shrugged as if what she did was completely normal and in character. "Just wanted us to get comfortable." She made up her mind and finally found her resolve. Date with Mike be damned, she knew deep down she wasn't going to make it sleeping in the same bed as Rick every night. Then she had to hide the fact that she didn't want him as more than a friend? She wasn't going back to Atlanta without Rick being hers. And for that she'd gladly take one for the team.