They stood there staring at one another. Flustered was probably the only word to perfectly describe the moment.

"I'm starting to think you really are stalking me and I'm ending up in a body bag before heading home." Michonne walked up to him, not really showcasing any nervousness. She didn't seem too worried about the fact that he had possibly heard her curse someone out just seconds ago.

"Nah, I would just make your disappear, no need for body bag." Surprisingly he joked back, shaking off the discomfort.

She snorted, "Right now I wouldn't mind that actually."

"That bad?"

Michonne suddenly felt vulnerable in the moment, she didn't know this person and she didn't want to lay it all out there for a random man who she happened to bump into, "Yeah, but it will be alright. I'm too used to the childish bullshit that comes with him."

"You need a beer," He said it without thinking, "The first one is on me since I've been kind of a jackass."

"Um," She wasn't sure if she wanted to waste another night with him, "The girls wanted to check out the strip."

He squinted his eyes and casually pulled her closer to him so she could see towards the blackjack table from between the slot machines.

"They don't even know that we exist right now." He pointed towards both group of friends who were laughing loudly around the table, "Hate to break it to you, but you are as boring as me."

Michonne shot him a look and teased, "Well this is the first time someone has compared me to senior citizen."

"I am not that old." Rick huffed out.

"Then why do you dress like Old Mcdonald?" She looked at him head to toe, her gaze stopping at his boots, "I mean come on."

He looked at himself. He was wearing a dark blue plaid shirt and jeans with his boots, "What the hell is wrong with this?"

Michonne shrugged and smiled at the same time, "I'm just surprised your wife of eighteen years hasn't updated this fiasco." She made sure to mimic his dramatic way when announcing the longevity of his marriage.

"You are such a nice person." Rick joked as he bit back.

She scoffed loudly, and turned around to walk away. He watched her go, and shook his head at her attitude. She was worse than Carl.

She turned back towards him, "Are you coming or what?"

For a second there he thought about saying no, but who was he kidding. It was not like he had anything better to do.

"Sorry about my friend earlier." Daryl said slowly to Connie and desperately tried to sign the right words.

She giggled at the way he tried to communicate to her. It was endearing to see such a rough looking man try his best to impress her. She took out her notepad and wrote for him, "Sorry about my friend too."

They stood a bit further from the table because Sasha and Negan were hollering big time as they tried to win some serious cash. Glenn was biting his fingernails as he nervously watched by. It wasn't his money, but it was nerve-wracking.

"Where is she now?" Daryl emphasized each word.

Connie shrugged her shoulders and wrote. "She went to handle her baby daddy."

Daryl nodded and gave her a thumbs up, "My friend, Rick, he went to the bar," He pointed towards the front of the room and kept trying to get his point across, "It's like oil and water, they don't mix well."

Connie smiled wide as wrote down and underlined one of the words, "Michonne is very hard headed."

Daryl looked at the notepad and nodded, "So is he."

"Fuck my salty balls!" Negan yelled out, out of nowhere, interrupting their moment.

Daryl shook his head and laughed.

Connie grinned as she showed him what she wrote down, "It's probably better that I didn't hear that."

He watched her and wondered how she was so confident in herself. They had shared a deep conversation about loneliness after the first night they met each other. He just enjoyed her company because it felt natural and he didn't want to over think it. She was very special and he rarely thought that about another person.

"Wanna facetime my dog later?" Daryl asked all of a sudden, signing, and nudging her, "I think he would like you."

Connie smiled and signed, "I thought you would never ask."

He wasn't entirely sure if it was a yes or no, but her smile indicated more towards the yes, so that was enough for him.

"We probably should have said that we left." Rick wondered outloud as he drank his beer. This felt like a weird routine now. They had ended up on the rooftop lounge, yet again. He followed her lead as she wanted to escape the noise of the casino.

Michonne took a swing from her own beer and shook her head, "We had to search them last night, let them stress this time."

"But I was searching for you, remember? " Sarcasm dripped from his voice, and it made her chuckle.

"Oh you got jokes this time." She drank again, "Maybe this time try not to cross any lines or you will end up apologizing again."

He waited for a moment, silence settling in as he stared at the bottle of beer. He had to admit to himself that he was curious and the mystery around her intrigued him. He knew he didn't have any ulterior motives and neither did she.

"I know how it feels," He started, the words coming out of his mouth almost accidentally, "when someone you trust does the worst thing imaginable."

Michonne waited a while before turning herself to look at him. Searching his eyes for a reason not to trust, but she couldn't find any.

"What do you mean?" She asked quietly, like she was scared to be the one who he opened up to.

"Six years ago," Rick swallowed nervously, "I found out that my wife and best friend had developed feelings for each other."

Michonne was taken aback, "You literally told me last night I would be happy to have what you have."

"Yeah, what we have right now," He quickly corrected, "but we went to hell and back to get here and I felt like shit for snapping at you last night after you told me what your husband did."

"Ex-husband." She corrected him.

"I just wanted to say," Rick sighed as he held the beer bottle between his hands and leaned against the bar, "I know. It's not easy to experience that type of betrayal."

Michonne nodded, appreciating the words, but felt the need to ask, "How could you forgive them?"

He looked at her, "I had to for my family."

"I couldn't."

"And that's fine," Rick wanted her to understand their situation, "Shane and I grew up together. We were like brothers. We went to school together, we were partners at work, he was a huge part of my life. I just didn't know he was a huge part of Lori's life as well."

Michonne listened closely as she drank the rest of her beer.

"I never saw it. I didn't realize there was more to it than friendship, but then she came to me one night and admitted that she had kissed him. It was like a smack in the face."

"You believe that? Just kissed him?"

"I've known Lori practically my whole life, I know she is not a bad person. I trusted her word," Rick swallowed again nervously, "but I lost it. I beat him up bad, I almost lost my job because of it. In the end Shane left town without a word. He just disappeared and it fucked with my head because I lost a huge part of my life."

She could tell the pain simmered underneath when he explained to her what had happened.

Rick took a swing from his beer and continued," Lori wouldn't talk to me for months. I felt guilty that my son lost his godfather and I think he still resents me for it because he doesn't know what really happened."

She didn't have anything to say which was very unlike her. Suddenly he made a whole lot more sense in her eyes.

"but that's horrible," She said without hesitation and asked baffled, "How did you end up here? how can you just accept that and move on."

"Before all of it, I was gone a lot. I was working practically twenty four seven. I just know a lot of it was also on me," He thought back, the guilt was all over his face, "after it happened, for a year we were practically zombies, we didn't speak. Just took care of the kids y' know. My daughter was still tiny, barely five years old. I demanded a paternity test for her because I didn't know what to think. We did that, and she was thankfully mine, but that test tore everything apart. Lori wanted nothing to do with me."

"I'm guessing you almost dropped dead since you reconciled."

"I got shot." Rick laughed because it was funny how her train of thought worked.

"Let me guess," She turned to him with a smile, that certain knowing look in her eye, "Coma?"

"I don't think we can be friends because you are scary good at that." He muttered as he looked at her.

"Really? we are friends now?" Michonne teased, disbelieving look on her face.

He shot the same look back, "We can be for tonight."

"Sure," She laughed brightly and asked curiously, "So what happened then?"

"I woke up and she was there. We got a fresh start. My recovery wasn't easy, but Lori took care of me every step of the way," Rick smiled, clearly a bit emotional, "Somehow we found each other again. Sure, now that it's been a couple of years things have settled down and life happened again, but I think we are happy."

"You think?" Michonne challenged him yet again.

"Yeah, I do," He insisted, a bit annoyed that she found a way to doubt his words, "We didn't even need to do this. Everybody around us pressured us into this."

"Or maybe they wanted to see you let loose for a bit?" She suggested, clearly getting the whole picture now, "I mean when was the last time your wife saw you do something completely wack?"

"I don't do wack things." Rick asserted strongly, "Lori knows who I am."

"And that's the issue. You just said life happened again," She wouldn't let him catch a break, "So don't let life happen. Let her see that there is more to you."

He ran a nervous hand through his hair, "I'm good. Believe me."

"You have any social media?" She ignored his answer and got her phone out to search him from Instagram. Rick sat there watching her, no idea what was going on in that smart brain of hers, "Oh you have, but you got nothing posted, grandpa." She gave him a serious sideye and looked around.

Rick looked at her, squinting his eyes in confusion, "What?"

"Let's do something fun." She grinned, and eyed the bartender who seemed to be alone during his shift, "Soon as he steps away. You jump behind the counter and I'll take a picture. Drink from one of the bottles, they charge way too much anyway."

"What! No!" He exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Come on! It will be funny."

"No."

"Don't be a buzzkill. Show her you are capable of having fun."

He groaned as it reminded him how his son would call him a buzzkill all the time.

He drank the rest of his beer in one swing.

"Fine," He whispered to her, "If I get kicked out because of you- I'm taking you down with me."

"Sure, now push your hair back and open up the first few buttons on your shirt."

Rick looked at her like she had lost the plot, "What?"

"Just do it." Her voice was serious, "Give me your phone."

He exhaled long with a pretend-sigh of exasperation as he unlocked his phone and handed it to her. Then he did what she told him to do, "I look like a douchebag."

"And take this," She pulled a white stick from her purse and put it behind his ear. It looked like an cigarette. Though it was far from an innocent cigarette.

"Is this a fucking joint?" He whispered to her, "Are you out of your mind?"

She kept watching the bartender who seemed to be leaving his post. She couldn't hear Rick ranting at her as she kept her eyes on the target. He left the bar empty as he walked towards the backdoor, to probably retrieve something for a customer.

"Now." Michonne waved at him to jump over the counter.

Rick groaned as he jumped over the counter. Really questioning himself right there and then. What on earth was he doing. She on the other side positioned herself to take a picture of him with his phone. He noticed how she was laughing, her whole face beamed and she snorted like a little kid as the sight was probably funny because he was so out of his comfort zone.

As he took in her reaction he decided to just go for it. He took the first expensive looking booze bottle that was open, and took a long swing from it. She captured the moment perfectly. She tried to stifle her giggles, but couldn't. This man was really going for it.

He drank a good amount. The bitter, strong taste really taking a toll on him. He shook his head when setting the bottle back down and silently cursed at the taste. He saw fresh sliced lime and took one before smoothly jumping over the counter.

She was still laughing her heart out when she pulled him with her and they made a run for it.

"Lori, that's amazing!" Maggie looked at her friend in awe as she showed her the dress she was going to wear. It was a elegant cream colored satin dress that fit her like a glove.

They had opened a bottle of white wine as they went over the plans for the renewal. It was late, but they still wanted to huddle together and make their finishing touches.

"That's perfect." Lucille agreed as she drank from her glass.

Lori looked at herself from the mirror, "Is it too much? I don't want to look like a bride."

"No, no, honey it's perfect for the occasion." Maggie tried to convince her, "Rick will love it."

Lucille was scrolling through her phone casually on the sofa and shrieked suddenly, "Oh my God!"

"What?" Both Maggie and Lori were alarmed.

Their friend burst out laughing as she showed them the picture of Rick which had just popped up on her feed. He looked like a hot mess, drinking behind the bar from a booze bottle.

"Oh my God! Is that Rick?" Maggie took her phone and laughed, "Well he looks like he is having fun."

Lori laughed at the picture happily. She was shocked to see her husband actually enjoying himself. She hadn't seen him look like this in years. It made her happy and excited. This was just what they needed.

"I want what he is having." Lori laughed with her friends.

They returned to their own wine and chatting when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Maggie smiled as she went to open the door.

Behind the door stood Carol, who also lived in the same block.

"Hey! You made it!" Maggie was happy to see her because earlier she had said that she couldn't make it because her husband Ezekiel had arranged them to have a date night while their kids Henry and Sophia were having a sleepover at friends.

"Close the door." Carol whispered and motioned her to step outside.

She looked at her friend suspiciously and wondered what was wrong. Carol was very upfront about everything and she was very protective when it came to her friends and family.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked as they stood on the front poarch of the Grimes household.

Carol took her phone out her pocket and showed the picture of Rick to her.

She was confused, "We were just laughing about this."

"No," The grey haired woman tried to keep her voice down, "Look at the reflection. Behind him."

Maggie scrunched her eyebrows in further confusion and hesitated, but zoomed into the photo. It wasn't there in your face and you had to focus to see it.

Then she saw her. She was a very gorgeous woman, she had long hair and she was wearing a plunging neckline with a big grin on her face.

Her stomach dropped. Why was she taking a photo of Rick and who on earth was she.

"Holy shit." Maggie cursed. It looked bad.

"We need to talk to the guys before Lori notices," Carol swallowed nervously, "You try to reach Glenn and I'll try reach Daryl. Until we do, no word of this to anyone."

She nodded in agreement, but tried to keep it positive, "It could be just an innocent photo."

Carol nodded back "Lets hope so."

Thanks so much for the reviews, they make me so motivated to continue and I love writing this!!