Michonne all but stomped down the damp stairs of her home. The cool fall breeze combined with the now heavy rain offered a cruel combination to whomever dared to step foot outside. Michonne's arms were the first to feels the effects of the storm's freezing weather.
Michonne snaked both of her arms inside of her thin top in order to welcome them to any kind of heat her body offered.
Her attempts to keep herself warm and fairly dry were practically in vain as the wind picked up again.
She needed her jacket.
"Fuckin' Rick." She mumbled bitterly, her breath visible due to the storm's low temperature and harsh winds.
Michonne sighed, her breath visible once more as she tried to think about what caused Rick's sour mood towards her.
Sure she was out for quite some time yesterday, but that was the last day of the week. Michonne was always home during the weekend, she made sure of it. A second sigh escaped from her lips as replayed her and Rick's last two arguments in her head; both of which somewhere involved her lack of presence at their home.
Michonne understood that back on the road things were different, that presence was a requirement and not an option.
Alexandria is too different for those rules to apply there too. A safe community guarded by its people in which others got a chance to not only survive, but to live as well.
With all this taken into consideration, she still could not process why her absence was such a sensitive topic for her and Rick.
Michonne stopped for a moment to observe the walls of Alexandria. It was truly convenient that Reg was an architect before the world went to shit. But Reg was dead now. Her katana slit his throat and ended his life just as it had ended Hershel's.
Hershel, Tyreese, Bob…
"Michonne. "Came a concerned voice.
Startled, Michonne whipped her head in the direction she heard her voice in, her ponytailed locs dancing around due to the sudden movement.
The concerned voice belonged to Rick. The two were inches away from each other when Michonne turned to face him. She let out a shaky breath and took a step back in order to regain some sense of personal space.
"I could've hurt you." Michonne said after turning her focus back to the titanic walls. Her voice was unsteady, and barely above a whisper.
"We'll fortify it," Rick began knowingly. "That way we'll honor Reg, and show our appreciation to Deanna at the same time. His eyes were glued to Michonne as he spoke, but her attention was still on the walls.
Michonne simply nodded, her eyes casted downwards now, towards the ground.
Rick sighed before he brought his hands to the zipper of his jacket, preparing to remove it
"What are you doing?" Michonne questioned, her eyes finally reaching his.
"You can't blame yourself for Reg's death, Michonne." Rick said, ignoring her question. He motioned for her to remove her arms from the inside of her top. She did so as she waited for him to continue. Rick was silent for a moment while he helped Michonne into his jacket. "Remember when we were out lookin' for supplies and ammo with Carl?" "First time you saw Morgan? Michonne nodded. "Well, remember that guy that kept runnin' over at us every time he saw us pass? One with the bright orange hiking bag?" Michonne nodded again. "We left him there, screamin' and runnin' like a maniac on our way there. On the way back all we saw was that bright orange bag."
"We didn't even know that guy Rick, this is Reg we're talking about here."
"That's beside the point." Rick shook his head, a few of his drenched curls rested on his forehead as he did so.
"Point is that we didn't kill him. We didn't kill that man, and you didn't kill Reg."
Michonne squinted up at Rick. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it doesn't. You'd be an awful therapist. "She said with a small smile.
Rick returned her smile with one of his own. "I tried." He mumbled, scratching at the back of his head.
Adorable. Michonne thought to herself as she admired Rick's boyish antics.
Just as she was about to respond a sneeze passed through her lips.
"Guess that jacket ain't enough. Come on, let's get home." Rick suggested. Michonne nodded and began walking back towards the direction of their home
_
Michonne removed her boots at the door and placed them on the mat to dry. Rick did the same before entering their house behind Michonne.
Michonne removed Rick's jacket and hung it up on the hanger next to hers to dry. After doing so she sneezed again.
"Maybe you should call in sick on Monday," Rick suggested, only half joking. "I'm sure Deanna wouldn't mind if one of her constables don't show up to rescue any stranded cats." Rick stated with a smile as he approached Michonne with a dry rag.
"What did she want yesterday anyways?" Rick asked from the living room, where he was half focused on drying himself off with him own rag.
"Oh um, well Spencer wants a new job, says he's tired of playing bodyguard for the gate."
"That a fact?"
"Mhm." Michonne joined Rick in the living room. "So the three of us were up late, trying to figure out what duty would be best for him.
"Mhm." Rick was not giving this conversation his full attention. Rick knew that Spencer had a schoolboy crush Michonne, but that didn't faze him. In Rick's mind, Michonne bonged to him. He belonged to her. That's just the way things were.
"And?" Rick asked, encouraging her to continue.
"He decided that he wants to be a constable."
Rick stopped his task of drying off and looked at Michonne to see if she was joking. She looked back at him, as serious as he was.
She was serous. Spencer wanted to be a constable.
Michonne was Rick's partner and all around third most favorite person in this screwed up, post-apocalyptic world. They'd spent much more time together as constables than they did on the road. This time allowed them and their friendship to excel.
Spencer becoming a constable meant that he would be spending the same amount of time with Michonne that he did.
He'd be spending time with his partner.
His Michonne.
"Rick?" Came Michonne's soft voice. Rick had been staring at her for a while now, possibly playing off different scenarios in his head.
Rick blinked once, then twice. Finally, he spoke.
"No."
