Thank for the review and follows.
Slightly dark chapter, but I said angst so. Warning applies.
Please, review.
Chapter II: Christmas Eve 10 years ago
"Are you okay, Rick?" She places her hand on his shoulder, and it suffices to draw the young man out of his mind.
A glance at Rick destabilizes Michonne, and she is not sure of the answer to her question. Rick looks dishevelled and confused. His eyes aghast seem unable to stay on a fixed point. She scoots closer to him, and she can have a better look at him. The adolescent breath hitches and she attempts to steal subtle breaths around his scent. Michonne's skin grazes Rick's one, and his flesh is burning. Rick is in a feverish state.
Her eyes run over his body, and a subtle blush darkens Michonne's complexion. Consequently, she averts her look from his body. Michonne clears her throat and frees her mind of the magical haze, which clogs her thoughts in Rick's presence. She draws a deep breath. With her thumb and forefinger on his chin, she lifts his visage to face it under a better light.
Is he okay? With his dry throat and heavy eyes, Rick does not know the answer to Michonne's question. He stops to breathe, and the young man's eyes catch a sight of Michonne's worried expression. Rick does not stare for long, and he never looks at her too long. Through the years, he has become painful to stare straight into her eyes. He tries not to encourage her crush nor tempt himself with a pretty teenager. There is enough scandalous relationship in his family. The thought surprises him. Sometimes, Rick digs in those strange thoughts. Michonne is not quite a woman, and he should not think more of her infantile crush when he flourishes in his manhood.
Rick stares at the glass in his hand, and he wonders how much alcohol it contains. The buzz in his head is deafening, and his body starts to plunge into a growing trance. Once again, he drifts out of the conversation and stares at the light on the ceiling. The young man holds his third or fourth tumbler of scotch, and the liquor is stronger than he thought. Rick draws a heavy breath and forgets Michonne's question.
"Rick?" The voice is insistent, and Michonne's hand shakes his body out of his stupor.
Rick looks down to face Michonne, and the distance between their bodies is almost non-existent. He is always hyper-aware of Michonne, and Rick normally stays away from Michonne for that reason. Tonight, his inhibitions are not strong. Accordingly, he invades Michonne's personal space. Michonne escapes Rick's encouraging warmth with a distancing step. He watches as her chest rise due to her sudden intake of breath, and the adolescent's teeth lock on her lower lip.
"Hmmm," Rick answers her call in an uncommitted manner while he tries to reconcile her voice with the unadulterated emotions, which he feels.
He is familiar to the honey in the undertones of her voice, but she sounds concerned. Michonne's voice quivers and she intensely stares at Rick. Their proximity makes her uncomfortable, and many fantasies flood her mind. Rick leans back, and he almost loses his equilibrium. She grabs his forearm and keeps him from falling. Rick's head spins in every direction, and he cannot focus on anything. However, the pressure of her fingers on his forearm grounds him.
For the second time, he stares at the scotch in his hand. Rick's sudden weakness is unexplainable. Four glasses and he barely stand on his exhausted legs. Rick is not a light drinker, and the circumstances do not explain his state of ebriety. If he were a weak drinker, Rick would not have survived college nor his best friend, Shane. The emotional distress must render him susceptible to the alcohol.
Tonight, Rick's father announced his engagement with Rick's ex-girlfriend, Jessie. The party's atmosphere changed after that fatidical moment. He cannot explain how it happened or how the pair of lovers met. Rick was waiting for their three months anniversary to introduce Jessie to his family, but three weeks ago, his father introduced him to his girlfriend. There was no point to expose the young woman, and Rick doubts Carlton will trust his words.
Now, Rick must spend Christmas Eve with the couple while he avoids his soon-to-be stepmother. Rick does not understand why Jessie is so adamant to interact with him tonight, and he is tired of leaving each of the rooms, where she follows him. From her multiple attempts to converse with him to the strange moment when he had to drink the glass of wine, which she thrust in his hand, Rick has lost his patience in the process. He had scotch and wine, but Rick usually handles his liquor. Tonight, the situation is different.
"Rick?" He again focuses on the velvety voice, and the young man tries to put a face on Michonne's highlighted frame.
Michonne stands below the chandelier, and the bright lights hide her face. Her hair has grown, and the lock, which she used to they used to mock her for, turned into an elegant crown. The thought is a constant flutter in time, but Rick finds Michonne beautiful. With the need to explore his discovery of the beauty, which she has grown in to, Rick drags Michonne's body closer to him until their noses touch. She steps on his toes because he pulled her too close. Aghast brown eyes stare at him, and it suffices to stir Rick's drowsy memory.
"Michonne?" He says with a tone, which lacks its usual annoyance.
Rick loses his hand in her hair and destroys the intricate up do, which Michonne wore for the party. Dreadlock spills in his palm, and Rick looks at her in a drunk awe.
"Your locks are very pretty. Did I get it right this time?" He asks with genuine tone, which disarms Michonne and sends her heart into a racing gallop.
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Michonne does not know how to react to his compliment, and she timidly tries to move out of his grip. The crimson is perfectly hidden by her dark complexion, and she blushes while she wills her heart to stillness. When his knuckles graze her cheek, Michonne's heart threatens to leap out her rib cage. Since she was thirteen years old, the adolescent has not been in such nearness of Rick. Although she does her best to gravitate in his orbit, Rick never permitted such physical closeness.
Michonne looks up to him, and she waits for him to restore the mandatory distance between their bodies. However, Rick does nothing of the sort, and his hands brush Michonne's bare arm. He keeps her in his embrace and presses their bodies together. She cannot breathe because it means breathing him. Consequently, she withholds her breaths until her lungs burn with a need for life.
Minutes later, Rick continues to hold her, and he absent-mindedly stares into her eyes. Michonne does not know how to react, and so she freezes in Rick's arm. There is a warmth to his touch, and his hand chooses to explore the small of her back. The situation is strange, and he is acting out of character. Michonne opens her mouth to question is well-being again, but the words never leave her lips. Her tongue wetting her lips is enough incentive for Rick.
Rick's lips cover Michonne's one, and her already burning lungs combusts. The world freezes around the teenager, and it spins out of reachable orbits. When his warm lips suck her bottom one, Michonne gasps with shock, and the opening suffices to offer Rick the liberty to push his tongue into her mouth. The tongue intrusion is surprisingly lazy though his hold on her waist is bruising. Much like their relationship, there is a duality.
Michonne's skin tingles and her heart accelerates. She helplessly holds on his shirt, and her nails dig in Rick's shoulder. The teenager does not know how to proceed, and the gravity of her world disappears. She floats above clouds after the caress of his tongue. The kiss is Michonne's first one, and she has dreamed of the moment many times. Rick is her charming prince, and the pressure of his finger digging into her small back helps ground her to reality. When she finally gets a hold of the lips motion, his tongue ceases to caress her, and he unlocks their lips.
"Mistletoes." He points up with an aloof grin, and Michonne knows something is amiss with Rick.
She attempts to drag him toward the couch, but she cannot handle his weight. His hand, which he wrapped around her shoulder, drags Michonne down. Although, she miraculously succeeds in her task. Michonne pushes him in the couch, and she crouches to take a good look at him. There is a bed of sweat on his forehead, and the dark of his pupils has swallowed the blue of his iris. She presses her hands to his face, and she only keeps his attention with her touch.
"Are you on drugs?" She questions and his rebuttal comes as slurry words, which confirm her accusation.
"I don't feel well." Rick groans when his eyes become heavy, and fog falls on his mind.
The drink, which he holds, slips from his hand. However, he can bring himself to care. Once again, Michonne shakes him out of his stupor. The drowsiness is intense, and his muscle weights so much on his skeleton.
"I can see that. I'm going to get help. Don't move, Rick." When he fails to rise from the couch, Michonne tells him.
"I don't feel well." He repeats when the world starts to blur, and he attempts to lay down to obey his desire to sleep.
"I will be back, and don't move, please." Michonne leaves Rick, as he lies on the couch.
"Here, you're." He can barely recognize the voice, and the couch sinks when the person sits down.
Blonde hair covers his face, and the smell of lavender replaces Michonne's coconut one. When he feels the weight of another body on him, Rick opens his eyes. He meets jolly blue eyes, and there is alcoholic glee in the air. Unhappy with the sight, Rick attempts to move away, but his body is almost unresponsive.
"I'm sorry." She peppers his visage with butterfly kisses, and Rick wants to escape her tight embrace.
However, Rick cannot do anything with flaccid muscles. Through his blurry vision, the young man tries to extract an identity for the person, who joined him. His mind ceases to be functional, and Rick groans with frustration.
"You were not supposed to learn it this way. Your father did not tell me before, or we could have prepared for this." At the mention of his father, Rick knows who his by his side.
"Jessie?" He questions with a slurry speech and a strong confusion in his voice.
Rick wants to leave the room because he is tired of her stalkerish ways. Since Carlton revealed their relationship, Jessie has grown quite obsessed with the man's son. Her attempts to gain Rick's forgiveness were inconclusive, and she is increasingly desperate. Through his exhaustion and drowsiness, Rick succeeds to leave the couch, but Jessie holds on his arm. Any other day, He will be able to shove her, but he feels so weak and drunk.
"baby, please give me a chance to explain." She begs him while she keeps him immobile with an iron grip. "I will fix everything after this." Jessie rises and presses her lips onto the lips of a semi-conscious Rick.
"You will understand that we're so good for each other after this." She drags him out of the room.
"I don't feel well," Rick complains as the motion worsens his states.
"It is going to be okay, babe." She presses another kiss on his lips, and Rick stares in confusion.
When Michonne returns to the last spot where she saw him, Rick has disappeared. She holds a bottle of water in her hand because she could not find the help, which she went to seek. Her concern for Rick's wellbeing overwhelms the adolescent, and she starts to look for him. Carlton will hate if Rick destroyed his perfect night. Everyone knows that father and son have a difficult relationship, which spans from jealousy in regards to Richard's senior possible succession.
From corridors to corridors, Michonne explores the ranch with a beating heart. The adolescent has never seen Rick in such a poor state, and she does not want him to heart himself. From rooms to rooms, it feels as if Rick vanished from the house. Concern and exhaustion make Michonne reconsider her quest. She knows how Rick feels about her proximity. He sees her as a clingy brat, though she is eighteen.
Michonne ultimately finds Rick, and she regrets the discovery. The room is dark with the exception of a small yellow light, which grazes his skin.
Michonne's fingers lock around the plastic bottle until she can no longer hold it. In their eagerness, they must have poorly closed the door. The light caresses his shoulder and brightens the blue of his eyes. A sheer coat of sweat cover his bare arm, and blonde hair fills Michonne's vision. The girl gasps while emotions force the constriction of her throat. Her heart beats with a saccade rhythm, and fury floods her artery.
Michonne does not need a complete view of what is happening. The door partially obstructs her view, but she is far from being deaf. Her moans echo on the wall surrounding them, and Michonne's sobs are silent. Michonne's eyes meet Rick's one, and he holds her angry look. Furious brown swallows dull blue, but Rick focuses on Michonne's blurry silhouette.
Although, his look contains an emptiness, which Michonne's jealousy forces her to overlook. Unable to move, she stares at Rick, and he holds on her eyes while the world fades to black around him. Morbidly, his eyes keep her glued by the door and Michonne is silent for a few minutes. The moans on the other side are louder, and Michonne cannot stand it. Bile rises and tears flood her burning scleras. Angry, she storms away after catching a sight of his tryst's partner.
Michonne wipes her mouth as if it could erase her first kiss. For the first time, she questions her love for Rick Grimes. He always treated her as a leprosy patient and quarantined her away from his life. After the kiss, her immature heart thought of a better future, but he will rather have sex with his father's girlfriend. Michonne's hero falls from his pedestal, and she seeks comfort where she can find it.
Accordingly, Michonne shares what she saw with no thoughts for the consequence. There is the need to vent her frustration, and Maggie listens and consoles her. The veracity of her words never questioned by her friend. Michonne will never lie about Rick. Her devotion for him never knew any limit until tonight. She falls asleep on Maggie's bed while tears drench her face.
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The morning is a horror scene, and Michonne prepares for a confrontation with Rick. However, chaos has already erupted. The boudoir door is closed, and Maggie anxiously stares at it. Michonne joins the brunette, who appears to be in pain. Maggie stares at the door, and her guilty expression scares Michonne.
"What is going on?" Michonne asks her best friend and the only person who knows that she saw Rick have sex with his father's girlfriend.
Michonne sits by the brunette's side, and they stare at the closed door in a heavy silence. Maggie bites her nails, and hesitation holds her voice. The shouts from the closed room fill the corridor, where the adolescents sit. Michonne glares at Maggie, who eventually feels compelled to speak. Her moral would always be her downfall, and she is the worse person to tell heavy secrets.
"Uncle Carlton and Rick are..." Maggie does not finish her sentence.
The door opens, and three silhouettes are immobile. Jessie is in tears, and Rick has a redden skin. Fury oozes from every inch of his skin, and Michonne looks at him from the corner of her eyes. After last night, she can't stand his sight.
Exhaustion overtakes Rick until he sees her. The same brown eyes are on him, and he remembers those eyes. She must have spoken, but what could she said. The young man has no idea how he ended up in bed with his ex-girlfriend. Blurry night and alcohol, he has tried to explain. Rick mentioned their past relationship, and Jessie called it a fling. She reduced two months of intense romance to an awkward night, which lead to Rick's obsession. She claims that he blackmailed her, and Jessie feared to lose Carlton.
A need to have someone chose him over Richard junior blinds Carlton. Carlton chose to disregard his son's words. Jessie's tears won over Rick's truth. Tired of tears and shouts, Rick stands at the door, and he stares at Michonne. She squirms, and he assumes that it is under the weight of guilt.
"Is it what you really want?" Rick asks his father, but he stares at Michonne.
"When you are so obsessed with my fiancé and spit those lies, I don't want you around her, me, or in my house." Carlton does not flinch as he reiterates his request.
Rick does not say more, and he walks away without reminding his father that the house belongs to Richard senior. Chances are the ranch will later be Rick's one, and maybe it is the reason behind Carlton's reluctance to give a chance to his son.
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Michonne can't prevent the motion of her body. She runs after Rick, and the adolescent finds him in his room. Bags opened, he pulls clothes from his closet and throws them into the bags. The young woman stands at the door, and she has not forgotten her anger. However, Rick seems lost, and she knows that Carlton must have punished him for last night. Jessie must have confessed after noticing Michonne's presence or so the adolescent believes.
"Rick?" Michonne calls with the same velvet, which he comes to associate with the smoothness of her voice.
He freezes and turns to face her. His glare makes her step back, but it is too late to retreat. Rick drags her into his room, and the door closes. In a second, he presses her body into the wall. Michonne winces when she makes contact with the hardened surface.
"Was it a revenge because I chose to ignore your little crush? Was it a revenge because I chose to be a responsible adult and ignore your yearning look? Will you have been satisfied if I fucked you?" Frustrated his let go of Michonne.
The girl blinks, and she fails to understand his fury. Accordingly, she does not claim her innocence. Rick has a temper, and it may be a moment of misdirected anger. Michonne swallows down, and she wants to back down. However, Rick does not allow her to break eye contact, and she stays glued to her spot.
"What are you talking about?" Michonne questions, and once again he shoves her into the wall.
Her loose bun opens, and locks recover her face before Rick can see her pained expression. He oppresses her with his intimidating weight, and in his anger, he forgets how easily he hovers over her. He does not need his height to intimidate her, but her brown warm eyes seem to appease him to fast.
"Congratulation, you win. You destroyed my life for a little tantrum and rejection." Rick walks away from her, and he grabs his bag to leave.
Michonne does not understand, and she stupidly questions him. The fire of anger continues to render Rick's unstable. She walks back and falls on his bed when he quickly closes the distance between them.
"My father threw me out because of what you said. You could not just keep it to yourself. It was not supposed to happen, and I don't know how it did. I don't remember, but everyone words over mine right." Rick shouts at Michonne, and she feels so small.
"Where are you going?" Under shock, her mind picks the matter to focus on.
Rick ignores her and grabs her arm to drag her closer to him. His nose brushes hers, and much like last night, his warm engulfs her. Although, his eyes no longer carries the same emotions. He looks up and down.
"One day, I will ruin your life like you ruined mine. You should have kept your mouth shut." He hisses and keeps her in that strange intimidating embrace.
Michonne does not know what to say, and so she stares at Rick until he lets go of her. She watches him leave his room, and the young woman does not know what to do.
"where is Richard?" half an hour later, Richard senior's voice draws her out of her stupor.
"Gone..." She answers after another stare at the door.
I know a short chapter, but it was emotionally oppressive.