A/N: Hi everyone! How awesome was SDCC for us Richonners? I loved all of the interviews and photographs and am feeling all kinds of inspired.
I know I have a few stories needing updates and shouldn't be starting new ones, but I can't help it! Anyways, this is a mixture of a prompt/confession on Tumblr about Michonne and Rick going on a double date with Andrea and Shane. I mixed it up a little to include what would happen if Richonne didn't really like each other at first! AU no zombies.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead
Warning: M for language and other stuff and thangs
Michonne walked gracefully into her office and placed her briefcase down on her desk; she kicked off her heels once she had taken a seat, took a sip of her coffee and closed her eyes. It was the end of a long week at the small firm where she worked as a defence attorney and she was looking forward to some downtime. She was about to check her emails when her friend and fellow attorney, Andrea Harrison, came through her door unannounced. The visitor smiled in a goofy manner at Michonne and she knew right away she was going to ask for something.
"What is it now?" Michonne asked as Andrea closed the door behind herself and sat down.
"You know how we've been best friends for ages now?"
"Yeah," answered Michonne.
"And how we were roommates in law school and then for two years afterwards we shared that dingy little apartment?"
"I remember," Michonne offered as she leaned back in her chair.
"And you know how I always look out for you and I pick up your dry-cleaning and get those theatre tickets for you and how you love me so, so much?" Andrea said.
"Yes, I know. Get to your point, counsellor," Michonne said, sounding every bit like her mother who was a judge did.
"Well, I need to ask a huge favor of you. Well, it's not actually that huge, but I know how you are about these things…"
"Andrea, spit it out," Michonne said, growing impatient with her friend.
"Okay, well I was wondering if you wanted to come on a double date with me," said Andrea sounding hopeful.
Michonne sighed.
"You know I don't have time for dating," Michonne explained; it was a line that her friend had heard many a time before.
"Because you never make time, Mich. Come on, it could be fun. When's the last time we actually had some fun together?" Andrea asked.
"Umm, just last week you came over with that bottle of red…"
"And we ended up sorting your filing system in your home office into chronological and alphabetical order," Andrea complained.
"That's fun for me!" Michonne countered.
"Come on, just do this one thing for me. I like this guy, but I'm not sure of him yet; plus I told him I'd only meet up it was a double date and I want to stand by the parameters I set out. He's got that whole sexy bad boy vibe goin' on and I wanna take it slow this time so I thought you could meet his friend…"
"So it's a blind double date, I don't even choose the guy?" Michonne snorted.
"Something like that. And to be fair, you've only been here for two months so I wasn't even sure if you knew any guys here since all you do is work and go straight home. So what do you say?" Andrea asked.
Michonne rolled her eyes.
"What kind of losers do you have lined up for us?" asked Michonne; Andrea smiled as she knew she was wearing her friend down.
"Oh, they're cops," she squealed excitedly. "Girl! Who doesn't love a man in uniform?"
Michonne chuckled at Andrea as she did a little dance while she was seated.
"You have a point there," Michonne replied. "Fine, when is this double date then?"
Andrea smiled widely.
"Tonight."
"Tonight? That's a little short notice," Michonne exclaimed.
"Mich, your filing will still be there when you get home. Come on. Be spontaneous for once," offered Andrea.
Michonne sighed and leaned her elbows on her desk. She really did need to stop letting Andrea talk he into things.
"Fine! Is the friend some bad boy type too?" Queried Michonne.
"No, I don't think so." Andrea answered.
"What's this guy's name?"
Andrea leapt from her seat and hugged her friend.
"Thank you so much. I appreciate this," she said. "And his name is Rick Grimes."
"Rick, fuck ya! Why you gotta be so boring?" Asked an incredulous Shane Walsh of his partner and best friend since childhood.
"I'm not boring. I just got better things to do than go on some double date with you. How old are these ones? Early twenties, again? I don't need you fixin' me up with these girls who are closer to Carl's age than mine," Rick replied.
"These ones ain't young and immature like the last ones. I'm tellin' ya, I won't make that mistake again. Come on, buddy. She said she wouldn't date me unless we doubled up," said Shane.
"That sounds like bullshit," Rick laughed.
"Well, it ain't and this one's different, so what ya say?" asked Shane.
"Shit, you and Miss New Thang better get cozied up real quick 'cause I ain't stayin' out long," Rick said adamantly.
"Thanks, man. I owe you one."
"You owe me more than one, asshole," Rick replied. "So when's this happenin'?"
"Tonight."
"Shane, Lori's droppin' the kids off tonight…"
"Just get Carl to watch Judy for a little while," pleaded Shane.
Rick thought inwardly that he needed to stop letting his friend talk him into things.
"Fine. I'll be there only for an hour. You fuckin' owe me, man."
Michonne used the blunt end of the tweezers to press the fake eyelash to Andrea's eyelid as she sat still on her bed.
"Ouch. You're pressing too hard, Mich!" said Andrea.
"Sorry. I told you I've never done this before. Why didn't you go to the beauty shop like before?"
"No time. This whole date was rushed," she explained.
"Yeah, I kind o' got that impression. Open your eye slowly…Yeah, that looks great," Michonne said as she placed the tweezers back into the cosmetics case and patted down her blouse.
"Um, when are you getting ready?" Andrea queried as she checked the time on her phone.
"I am ready," Michonne answered as she flicked her hair.
"Bitch, you're not wearing that…"
"Bitch, I look good!" said Michonne with a wink.
"Yeah, for the office. You've got a smokin' hot body, get rid of the pant suit. Throw on a push up bra. Show a little ass," Andrea offered as both women burst out into laughter.
"I don't think so, but at least let me borrow a different top then," Michonne said as she walked over to Andrea's wardrobe.
"Oh I've got the perfect outfit for you," Andrea said excitedly as she made her way over to stand beside her friend.
Rick checked his wrist watch as his ex-wife explained that their sixteen year old son Carl had been fighting at school again. She had arrived forty-five minutes late to make their drop-off; Rick was now late for the date Shane had organized. His cell phone rang for the third time and he removed it from his pocket to silence the ringtone.
"Am I boring you, Rick? Do you have somewhere else you need to be?" asked Lori, quite irritated at his seemingly rude behaviour.
"Of course not. I'm listenin', Lori. Go on," he said as he placed the phone back in his pocket.
"He's just been too much to handle, lately," she said in hushed tones.
"Well I said I wanted the kids with me…"
"That's not gonna happen," she retorted.
"You know Carl wants to be here. That's probably what all this fightin' and gettin' in trouble shit is about," Rick said.
"Look, I don't want to talk about that right now. Just make sure you have a word to him about it, okay?" said Lori.
"You know I will," replied Rick as he walked with her to the front door.
Michonne finished off the last of her second glass of sparkling water as she sat across the table from Andrea and Shane. She wore her hair pulled back in a chignon, a knee length black strapless dress, heels, a simple silver necklace and matching silver stud earrings. Her expression was one of impatience. She had to sit in the bar with her friend and her new beau while they flirted; she felt like the most obvious third wheel.
"Guys, I'm gonna get going," Michonne finally said as she stood and picked up her purse.
"No, Mich. He's just a little late," Andrea pleaded.
Even though Andrea was now comfortable with her date, she still wanted desperately for Michonne to have some fun. Though waiting on a blind date who was almost an hour late was not something that appealed to Michonne.
Shane picked his phone up from the table as it vibrated loudly.
"Look, it's him now. Hold on…" he said as he answered.
Michonne walked around to Andrea and hugged her; she gave Shane a small wave and walked away.
…..
"Shane? I'm on my way," said Rick as he rushed out to his car.
"Never mind, buddy. She got tired of waitin'. I'll see you tomorrow."
Michonne awoke at the usual time of six-thirty and dragged herself out of bed. She went about getting ready for her morning jog. Before she left her small home, she checked her phone for any messages. There was a new text from Andrea which read:
Sorry again Mich. Meet me for breakfast? xx
Michonne sent a response, placed her phone down on the bookshelf and made her way outside. While she was not necessarily looking forward to the impromptu double date, she did feel somewhat silly and disheartened at being stood up. It took a lot for her to break her routine and go out on a limb; to try something new. She felt foolish for even thinking she could have some semblance of a new life with meeting new people in a new town after her messy break up with Mike. A nice brisk jog would do well to clear her mind.
One month later
Andrea leaned her head on Michonne's bare shoulder as the two women sat side-by-side in former's backyard. The smoky smell of meat cooking on the outside grill wafted around as the two women watched the few guests making small talk. They sipped their cocktails and Michonne motioned to Shane who was doing the cooking on that lazy, late Saturday afternoon.
"So he brought that apron with him? I sure as hell know your hard earned money would not be spent on something like that." Michonne chortled.
Referring to the apron that had WILL COOK FOR SEX written in bright red letters.
"Yes, I know. I know. He's not that classy. But to be honest, neither am I and he's gonna get some sex later anyways," said Andrea as both of the women laughed loudly.
"God, I've missed just joking around with you," she added.
Michonne nodded.
"Yeah, same here. This is the first Saturday that I haven't been into the office for so long," Michonne said with a sigh.
"How's the Program organizing coming?" asked Andrea of the Young Offender Rehabilitation Program Michonne was working on.
"Slowly but surely. The last part of the funding came through so that's great," Michonne said happily.
Andrea smiled; she was proud of all of the hard work her friend was doing.
"We should do something to celebrate," Andrea proposed as she sat up straight and smiled widely at Michonne.
"We are doin' something. We're gettin' drunk off of this good shit, what is this by the way?" Michonne said as she took the straw out and drank from the cup.
"And we're gonna sit here and wait for the white people to start dancing," Michonne continued, feeling a little tipsy.
Andrea laughed uproariously.
"I forgot you like watchin' white folks dance," she said with a smile.
"Girl, it's one of my favourite things. So you better get your ass up! I thought this was a party?" Michonne said jokingly.
The two best friends laughed some more and finished off their drinks. Andrea went to refill the mixture of Bacardi Gold, Malibu Rum and pineapple soda for herself and Michonne when a few more guests started arriving. Andrea set their cups down on the ice box and went to greet them. Michonne had no idea who a lot of those people were, with the exception of Andrea's neighbours and a few people who worked at the courthouse. She scanned the backyard and smiled amicably if she caught the gaze of someone.
Her eyes fell on the man who had just arrived at the get together; he was in his late thirties or early forties, with dark hair that was greying at the temples, salt and pepper stubble, deep blue eyes and a nice smile. She took note right away that he was quite good looking. He wore a light coloured button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows; the shirt was tucked into dark jeans and she noticed he wore dark boots. Michonne thought at that moment that the party just got interesting.
After the stranger left Andrea to go and talk to Shane, Michonne, not waiting for her friend to return with the drinks, sidled up alongside her. Michonne took the refill from Andrea and then looked over to where the new arrival was standing with Shane; to her surprise, both men were looking over at them.
"Who is that?" Michonne asked as their eyes locked.
"That's Andrea's friend?" Asked Rick as he looked across the yard with raised eyebrows.
The woman who was standing with his best friend's new girlfriend was stunning. She was wearing a deep claret dress that hugged her athletic figure perfectly, was strapless and stopped just above her knees. An amulet that resembled a mandala hung from a thin, gold chain that extended down past the rise of her breast. The necklace matched her gold strappy flat footwear. Her long dreadlocks framed her beautiful face; she was all bright eyes and full lips.
"Yes, sir. That's Michonne. You feel like a stupid son of a bitch now, don't ya for standin' her up?" Shane asked with a laugh as he patted Rick on the back.
Rick did not reply. Truth be told, he did feel a little foolish and overly disappointed.
"Don't you leave me standing here," Michonne said to Andrea through gritted teeth.
Her friend just smiled and hurried away as Rick Grimes approached almost shyly. He stopped in front of Michonne with a beer in his left hand; he extended his right hand to her.
"Hello," he said softly. "I'm Rick."
Michonne took his hand way too eagerly; she inwardly chided herself.
"Michonne," was her short reply.
"Yeah, I know. Shane pointed you out. I wanted to say sorry for the whole debacle with that date we were meant to go on," he said earnestly.
Michonne nodded.
"It's fine. I'm over it," she quipped, sounding a lot harsher than she had meant to.
Rick raised his eyebrows slightly, taken aback by her apparent bluntness.
"Yeah, well. I mean it ain't like either of us wanted to be there so," he retorted.
Michonne stood up a little straighter as she sipped from her cup.
"Right, just doing our respective besties a favour, right?" She offered flatly.
"Sure," Rick said sipping his own drink and feeling the mood turn sour.
"Just some of us actually, I dunno; came through and turned up. Oh well. It was nice to finally meet you," she said a little too snidely for his liking.
"Yeah, you too," said Rick clenching his jaw and not knowing what exactly had just happened.
Michonne offered a small smile that did not reach her eyes and then walked away, leaving Rick standing there confused.
Was she really just givin' me attitude? He thought to himself.
…..
The party was in full swing and Andrea and Michonne were in the bathroom checking their hair and make-up.
"I can't believe you were a bitch to him," Andrea said.
"I didn't mean to be; besides, I knew the date was no big deal, but I still held up my end of it. So I'm gonna hold it against him. Thinks he can come on over with his southern charm and those baby blues and I'd be like. Sure, whatever. No hard feelings. What a dick," Michonne replied light-heartedly.
"Speaking of dick, how are you ever gonna get any if you don't play nice? Maybe give Rick a second chance. He's been eying you all night," Andrea said.
Michonne knew this was true; his stare had found her a number of times. She tried to ignore him.
"Firstly, I don't need to be worrying about dick. I've got Chico…"
"Who the fuck is Chico?" asked Andrea.
"A certain battery operated toy that you bought me for my last birthday," said Michonne.
"You named your vibrator?" Andrea laughed.
"Yes!" Michonne replied.
"Girl, you need to get laid! Rick! Rick? We need help here. Rick!" She called out playfully before Michonne grabbed her and covered her mouth with her hand, both of them laughing boisterously.
"Seriously," started Andrea after they caught their breaths. "You need to start dating again; Rick's a good guy."
"I don't have time. You know that. Your man's BFF wasted my time when I finally did relent. I won't be made a fool of twice," replied Michonne a little sombrely now.
Andrea noticed and placed a kiss to her temple.
"I know, doll. You deserve all the best. Come on, the white people are dancing; I feel it in my waters."
…..
Both women hooked their arms together and walked back outside. They went to where Shane, Rick and a red haired man named Abraham and a young woman named Rosita were standing. Michonne caught Rick's eye for a moment as she stood beside Andrea silently. A few people gathered on the paved area that was obviously the nominated dance floor; the music of some popular song was playing and the people were dancing. Michonne and Andrea watched them and smiled; Rick Grimes discreetly watched Michonne as he continued listening to Abraham.
"I don't know what the hell they want all o' this gun reform for," said the red haired man to Rick. "Things are fine just the way they are."
"It's all o' them leftist assholes stirrin' up shit," added Shane. "I say praise the lord and pass the ammunition."
"Fuckin' A," replied Abraham.
Rick nodded.
"It's unconstitutional is what it is," said Rick as he looked again at the dark skinned beauty.
Michonne scoffed as their conversation caught her attention; she had debated the issue of gun control a number of times with colleagues. She bit her lip and tried to stay quiet; she might have too if that damned Rick Grimes with his fucking cowboy swagger and intense eyes would stop stealing glances at her, thinking she did not notice what he was doing.
"You got some thoughts on it?" asked Rick as he tilted his head to the side.
Michonne sighed.
This is why I don't go to parties, she thought.
"I think the legislation could be more stringent," she weighed in finally.
Everyone in the small group turned to look at her; Rick sighed to find they were at odds regarding something else.
"Do ya now, sweetheart?" asked Abraham.
"Yes. And I'm not your sweetheart," she said firmly.
"That would imply you were sweet, right?" Abraham replied in a whisper and Rick chortled a little.
Michonne glared at both of them and ignored what she heard.
"The laws surrounding firearms and who has access to them are too lax. It would change a lot of things that are wrong with our criminal justice system if we made reforms to gun control. It makes sense," Michonne offered as Andrea dragged Shane onto the dance floor just as he was about to open his mouth, not wanting him to get into a debate with her best friend; a debate he would lose.
"What would make sense is if assholes stopped breakin' the law," Rick finally said as if he were challenging her; and he was.
Michonne's eyes met his gaze but she did not back down.
"That's right. Some jerk off steps on my property lookin' to rob me then you best believe I'm fillin' his ass with lead," said Abraham.
"Not that simple," Michonne said in response. "I mean what kind of hillbilly hell have I stepped into?"
Rick rolled his eyes; he was irked at people from the city thinking those in his small town were all backwoods idiots. This woman, Michonne; she unsettled him somehow. There was something about her that he could not put his finger on. Not that he cared about what she thought, he reasoned; but deep down, even if Rick was not going to admit it, he did not want to look less than in front of her. Her 'hillbilly' comment got his back up; he felt the need to become defensive. The others did not mind it.
"Well, sweetheart, this hillbilly's gotta piss real bad," said Abraham and left the conversation with Rosita in tow as Rick and Michonne stared each other down.
They were quiet a moment before he spoke.
"You make a living off of people breaking the law don't you? Why do you even care? I didn't think some hot shot city lawyer would have an opinion on gun control either way," Rick said as he downed the last of his drink.
Michonne felt a dull throbbing in her temple.
"I make a living off of defending people who break the law. A constitutional right that they're entitled to. Your job depends on lawbreakers as much as mine does," she said as she tilted her head.
"I get dangerous people off the streets, your job is to argue their case and put 'em back out there, so your opinion on all o' this is just confusin' me right now," said Rick.
"Have you ever been shot in the line of duty, Deputy?" Michonne asked as she stepped a little closer to Rick; his breath hitched from their proximity.
He shook his head.
"No, ma'am."
"Well, my father was a police officer and some random who got a gun without a proper fuckin' background check shot him when I was ten years old. He died three days before Christmas, so yeah; I got an opinion on it. If that confuses you, that really is not my problem. Please excuse me."
With that she ambled over to Andrea and Shane and informed them she would be leaving; she used Shane's phone to call a cab and Andrea walked her out of the yard. Rick cursed under his breath and felt like a backwoods asshole.
A/N: Thanks for checking this out.
Please let me know what you think.
More to come!