The Binge.

"I dunno Paul," Michonne sighs into the phone, leaning against the door jamb of her closet, "I've had a long week."

"Not that lame ass excuse again Michonne! Daryl and I haven't seen you in forever."

"It's not an excuse!" She giggles, "I just became partner, my work load has tripled in the last month." Her eyes shift around her closet a little, "Nah, I think I'm just going to climb into bed with a pint of Rocky Road and read."

"Mmm hmm," Jesus replies quickly, "Well, I guess I'll have Daryl call Rick and tell him not to come then." His sing songy tone trails off into silence as he can practically hear Michonne's eyebrows perk up.

Michonne turns sharply as her mouth drops open, "Rick's going to be there?" She questions as she bites her bottom lip.

"Yep."

Michonne turns back toward her closet and walks in quickly, sliding hangers past her eye line as she begins planning a casual but cute outfit, "The guy I met at your wedding?"

"The very same."

"The one with the teenage son and young daughter that just got divorced?" She questions, holding up a sheer pink top to her torso as she peers in the body length mirror on the door, "The cop, right?"

Jesus laughs in the phone as he glances at Daryl, giving him a thumbs up, "The happily divorced, still single, curly headed, bow legged, father of two that you couldn't stop gushing about. That Rick."

Michonne shrugs out of her shirt and throws it to the ground before shedding her old, Walmart bra and replacing it with the very itchy, but very cute Victoria Secret push up. She switches the phone from ear to ear as she wiggles into a pair of jean shorts, jumping up and down slightly, "I'll be there by eight, cool?"

"You know, I'm offended." Jesus laughs, "You'll only come to see us if there's some eligible dick around? That's rude as fuck."

Michonne scoffs loudly before shutting off the light to the closet and traipsing through her bedroom and into the bathroom, "Says the guy who's been getting dick on the regular for the past two years. I'm hanging up now."

"Wine, wine, wine! Bring some wine you hussy!" Are the last words she hears as she ends the call and opens up her massive make up drawer.

Michonne opens the front door to Daryl and Jesus' home before poking her head in, "Hello, hello?" She calls as she's met with the dull chatter and laughter of the small get together.

She steps in, shutting the door behind her before she makes her way to all of the noise. She rounds the corner into the great room and is met by the tall, stringy dark haired Daryl, "Took you long enough." He grunts, before pulling her into a tight hug, "Being late is not your thing."

"It's a party though, it's cool to be fashionably late." She pulls away from him slightly to shake the two bottles of wine at him, "As requested by your husband."

Daryl rolls his eyes, slinking his arm around her waist as he takes one of the bottles, "I'll stick with my beer, thanks. So, you're only here for Rick huh?"

"Oh my God," she scoffs, laughing lightly, "I am not! Where is he anyway?" She kids, glancing around a few of their friends for the object of her desire.

Daryl pinches her side, smiling as she squeals before nodding his head toward the couch, "Right over there. I think he's texting his kid."

"Sooooo," Maggie says loudly, pushing a plate of mixed fruits into Michonne's hands before grabbing the second bottle of wine, "You should go offer him some fruit."

Michonne rolls her eyes as she pops a grape into her mouth, "I don't want to disturb him if he's talking to his kids. He probably doesn't even remember me. Hell, even if he does, he's probably not even looking for anything. He just got divorced." She says, sighing sadly as she makes a face.

"Honey, he got divorced a year ago, that's plenty of time. I'll bring you guys some wine in a minute. Go on." Maggie persuades her, stepping behind Michonne and pushing her lightly.

Michonne shoots her a look before walking slowly through the double doors that lead into the living room. She takes a breath, collecting herself as she walks around the side of the couch, "Hey there." She chirps up, a bright, open smile on her face.

Rick lifts his blue eyes to hers and she nearly melts as he returns her wide smile, "Hi. Michonne, right? We met at Daryl and Paul's wedding a while back?"

She nods quickly, her smile growing at the thought of him remembering her name, "That's me."

He stands and leans into her, hugging her quickly like the good old southern boy he is. She takes a deep breath, soaking up his cologne as he embraces her, "It's nice to see you again. You look great." He adds as he pulls away.

"Thank you," She gushes, dropping her head a little as she feels her face heating up, "You look nice too. Um, fruit?" She offers, holding up the plate to him a little.

He grabs a strawberry and bites into it, his eyes glinting underneath the light illuminating the room as he chews slowly. Michonne glances back toward her friends, only to find Maggie, Paul, Daryl, and Glenn staring back at her, all of them smiling and nodding like idiots at her. She returns hers gaze back to the slightly taller man in front of her and smiles again, "I didn't disturb you, did I?"

"Oh no," He returns, "I was just texting my daughter goodnight. It's all good. You wanna sit?"

He gestures toward the couch and eyes her as she steps past him, tilting his head as he admires her rather shapely behind. He plops down beside her as she grabs the remote to the TV, turning it on and bringing up Netflix as her nerves suddenly get the best of her. She clears her throat and then lets out a breath through her teeth as she feels his eyes on her. Rick doesn't speak right away, he just watches her as she fidgets with the remote, trying desperately not to link eyes with him. He smiles, remembering their brief meeting months before.

"You um, you heard about this show? Stranger Things?" Michonne asks after a minute, no longer being able to take the silence.

Rick nods, "Yeah, my son watched it a few weekends ago, told me it's pretty good. I myself am in the middle of a pretty intense Wentworth binge so I haven't had the time to start this one."

Michonne turns her head toward him, her eyes widening, "You watch Wentworth?"

"Just finished season three last night. You know season four is up right?"

Her eyes widen more as her mouth drops open, "Quit lying."

"I ain't lying. I was gonna start it last night but I had already watched four episodes and I had the early shift today."

Michonne scoffs as she searches through Netflix and brings up her favorite show, "You call four episodes a binge? That's weak bro, so weak."

Rick laughs as he pushes her shoulder softly, "Hey, hey, hey. I've got two kids and a rather demanding job missy."

"That is no excuse. I just became partner at my firm and managed to watch season three in a day. That's a proper binge, okay?"

Maggie smiles as she heads into the room, "Sorry to interrupt," She coos, sitting the glass bowl of popcorn, some finger sandwiches, and two wine glasses on the coffee table in front of them, "Just thought I'd drop off some snacks for you two. Compliments of Paul." Michonne begins to speak but Maggie holds up her hands, smiling all the while, "No, no, no, I'm not here. Have fun guys."

Michonne rolls her eyes again but grabs a small cucumber sandwich, "I'm sorry, she is so annoying."

"It's all good. So, we really gonna do this?" Rick asks, nodding his head toward the TV, "I'm off work this weekend."

Michonne eyes him as she chews, narrowing her eyes at him, "Nah, you ain't ready."

"What?" He says loudly, laughing again.

"Four episodes man? You can't possibly binge with me; you need some more practice."

Michonne giggles as he laughs again loudly, clapping his hands and throwing his head back, "I'm good, start it up."

"No way." She waves him off, "You're too lame."

Ricks' mouth drops open as he stares at her, causing her to giggle even more, "Okay, let's make a little wager, shall we?"

"Okay." Michonne agrees, turning toward him as she tucks her legs underneath her.

"If I make it through all twelve episodes with you tonight, I get your number." He says slyly, his eyes doing that twinkly thing again.

Michonne bites her lip to try and keep the smile from breaking out on her face, "Deal. And if you fall asleep?"

"I'll have your driving record for the last six months wiped clean. The chief of police of Atlanta and I go way back and I can only imagine how much trouble you and that pretty white Audi sitting outside get into."

Michonne gasps, "You can't do that." She says, counting up the two speeding tickets and one parking violation she's had in the past six months in her head, "That's illegal."

"Yeah, but I saved the chief a hefty sum of bail money by making his son's drug charge miraculously go away. He owes me." Rick holds out his hand and Michonne takes it with zero hesitation, both smiling at each other like morons.

Three episodes later, Michonne snores lightly as she rests her head on Rick's shoulder. Rick glances down at her, smiling softly to himself as he wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her a little closer. Paul sneaks in, draping a blanket over her, "She's been so busy lately. You want me to move her into the bedroom?"

Rick shakes his head, "No, no, she's fine. Thanks for inviting me over, man."

Jesus chuckles lowly, "She fell asleep. This isn't exactly what I imagined for you two when you asked about her."

Rick shrugs, "It's not so bad having a pretty girl fall asleep on you. Plus, now I have a reason to see her again."

"Oh yeah?"

"She's going to have to finish season four sometime. Might as well be at my place." Rich shrugs again.

Michonne stretches out slowly, cracking her eyes open as she yawns. She sits up, rubbing her face before panic rushes through her. She snaps her head to the right and then the left as she focuses in on Paul and Daryl's living room. The sun cracks through the mini-blinds as the quietness of the house is shook slightly as Daryl's cat meows up at her. Michonne groans lightly as the memories of the night before flood back to her.

"Fuck." She hisses, dropping her head into her hands.

She's not sure when she fell asleep, but not only did she lose their bet, she lost her chance. She didn't even get to give him her number. She lets out another breath and is about to stand when her phone catches her eye as it sits on the coffee table. She feels at her back pocket, clearly remembering shoving it into the denim right as she got out of her car last night. That's weird. She grabs it up and illuminates it to check the time. A wide smile breaks her face in two as she reads over a simple text from a strange number.

678-354-1997 Todayat 8:12am

I win