Sorry, sorry, sorry. I've even had this chapter written for a while, I'm just a terrible person. Life's been weird lately. But you don't want to hear excuses, you want to (finally!) read a chapter!

I don't own The Walking Dead.

Michonne wasn't sure why everyone thought she was an idiot. It had started when she was a child, being the youngest of five children had that effect. She was generally regarded as an afterthought, a fact that, as an adult, she knew that informed her hard work in school. She had never quite received the reaction she had hoped for upon presenting her straight A's to her mom, but the look of genuine surprise had served well enough.

Then of course, she got married. God knew why she did that. And her husband and his friends would laugh and joke about her boobs like she couldn't hear them from five feet away. And her love for art was regarded as nothing more than her liking "pretty things." Of course, they were dead now, and she was very much alive, so she felt like that answered the question of whether or not she was intelligent pretty well.

Then there was Andrea, who just called her crazy and a conspiracy theorist when she begged her to leave Woodbury. Everything had been wrong about Woodbury, from the biter fights to the man in charge, the Governor. Andrea had too been blinded by her desire for normalcy and a decent lay to listen to her. That time, for the first time, Michonne hated being right.

And now, there was Beth and Rick. The two practically drooled over each other in a fashion that Michonne found deeply disturbing. Even more disturbing was the fact that not only did the two of them think they were sneaking around her with any success (as if) but the two of them also seemed to be fairly oblivious to the other's drooling.

It was really getting on Michonne's nerves.

She had seen it from the second she walked in. Rick had been absorbed in his son, but even so, his body had been unconsciously oriented to Beth. And Beth was even worse, her blue eyes were pinned to Rick, aware of his every facet, from his hitched breathing to the shaking shudders in his shoulders. Her fingers had danced across the sheets of the bed where she sat, as if they were ready to leap into action to care for him if needed.

Michonne didn't know what had happened on the road between the two of them, and she really didn't need to. It was abundantly clear that a bond had formed between them. Not one of lust, though Michonne noticed that simmering beneath the surface as well, but one of trust and pure, unadulterated, need.

Neither of them had said anything to her about it, of course. They were all sidelong glances and blushes. She understood their hesitancy, particularly with Carl. God knows how the boy would react to his father getting it on with his one-time crush. His hormones were a mine field that Michonne had only somewhat successfully navigated in their time alone together. But what Michonne didn't understand was why they were hiding from each other.

Not physically, of course, though they both had shown restraint there. Again she wondered if it was perhaps her hair style that made people think she was a complete dolt. Like she didn't see and hear Rick sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to calm a fitful Beth. Like she was completely oblivious to the love emanating out of Rick when he would wrap his arms around her until she fell asleep again; or to the way Beth would sigh in his arms, and breathe in his scent, like it was the only thing she needed.

Then morning would come, and it was all innocent touches and blushes again.

And it was making her crazy.

She wanted to grab the two of them and lock them in a room, until they either talked or boned, and she was beyond caring which.

So when Rick woke Michonne up again, by tripping over her leg, she was about ready to throttle him. But he didn't wrap around Beth like a blanket this time. Instead, he shook her gently and whispered to her, words that were just beyond Michonne's hearing. Beth giggled quietly, a sound that Michonne was surprised to hear.

The two of them walked off together, disappearing from her sight. Michonne wondered vaguely what they were up to, when she heard the telltale creak of the beams being moved from the entrance to the store, and she was sure they were sneaking out for some clandestine time together.

Michonne let out her breath in a heavy sigh.

It's about damn time.

/

It was still dark as Rick blindly pulled Beth up the tall hill. His legs strained at the exertion, and he wondered briefly if this was really the best plan he could come up with. In all fairness, it wasn't as if he could take Beth on a normal date. They couldn't rightly take in a movie, or try the new restaurant in town. And pretty much every meal they ate was a picnic at this point, wasn't it? But his concern flooded out of him at the sensation of Beth holding his hand, and he remembered why the company made it very, very worth it.

It had been even better when they had snuck out this morning. She had laughed when he asked her if she wanted to go for a walk, but had practically run out of the building with him. Once they were clear of the building and the brisk morning air had hit them, she had thrown her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, her body pressed firmly against his own, and he had clutched at her like she was his life raft. She kissed him chastely on the cheek before breaking the embrace suddenly, and sauntered off in front of him with nothing more than a wink.

He pretty nearly died right then.

When they finally reached the top of the hill, he heard Beth huff behind him, and pinch her side.

"God, I'm out of shape." She sighed, and Rick smirked at her, but scoffed.

"Hardly. We're all in perfect shape, just underfed." He sighed, and she nodded sadly. They both took in the clearing for the first time. It was quiet, but it was so different from the quiet they were used to. In this world, quiet was almost a bad thing. But Rick had cleared the walkers yesterday, so he had high hopes they would remain uninterrupted.

His glance cast over to Beth who was staring up at the sky, the moonlight illuminating her features. Rick wrapped his arms behind her from behind, almost annoyed at how powerless he was to keep his hands off of her. She chuckled softly against him, but her hands moved slowly over his forearms and she sighed against him as he pressed a small kiss into the nape of her neck.

"You can still see Orion." She whispered to him, and Rick smirked against her skin.

"I didn't know you were an astronomer." He teased, and he swore he could hear her rolling his eyes at him.

She pulled out of his embrace and pointed at the constellation. "If you can find Orion, the big and little dipper are easy to spot." When he remained rooted to the spot, Beth turned and pulled him by his wrist until he was even with her. "Look." She whispered. She pressed closely to him and used her finger to trace out the constellations. "Growing up on a farm, they're hard to miss." She mused in explanation.

Rick admitted on some level he found the night sky beautiful, but he was more than a little distracted by the feel of Beth's breath on his cheek, and the flutter of her eyelashes against him. He cleared his throat roughly, and stepped back, giving him some distance between he and Beth before his body betrayed him. He sat against a tree, and ran his hand through his hair.

Beth seemed unfazed as she turned and regarded him. She seemed to only shrug before approaching him and sitting between his legs, grabbing his arms and wrapping them around her. This was so different to Rick, he was unsure of how to react. Not the touching part, the touching part was as natural as breathing to them now. There had been physical connection out of necessity, as a form of silent communication as they struggled to keep quiet in trouble. And of course, there had been the other things. The sleeping together, and the loaded if innocent touches were something else altogether. But now… now it meant even more. Every touch was no longer a question, but a confirmation of what had been stirring between them so heavily for so long. It made him sigh with relief.

Beth misinterpreted his sigh. "I want to apologize again." She muttered, her finger swirling through the hair on his arm, as a nervous tic. "I didn't mean to freak out at you. I just got scared, it wasn't even you I was seeing, I just…"

"Beth." He interrupted her with a small kiss to her temple. "I'm not mad, and you don't need to apologize. I get it."

She huffed so fiercely it almost made him laugh. "I'm so tired of being scared." She barked out, her hands clenching at the air in front of her.

Rick held her tighter, his chin resting on her shoulder as her head fell back to rest on his own. "I get it, you know. I'm scared too, Beth."

She shook her head softly. "What are you afraid of?"

Rick almost yelled at her. What wasn't he afraid of? But he felt like that would set a bad precedent on a first date, so he took a deep breath before beginning to try to explain. "I'm scared for you. I'm scared of having to lead again. I'm scared of failing you-"

"Failing me?" she interrupted his diatribe, and he sighed as he nodded.

"Yes, failing you." Beth's hand came up and twisted in his hair. "I know you're struggling Beth, and I know you need your sister. I don't know where to find her; I don't even know where to start. I don't know if I could watch you go through the pain of us searching and coming up empty again and again. The thought alone tears me apart."

Beth turned and studied him for a moment, before grabbing his shirt and pulling him to her again. Rick never grew tired of her touch, but he worried momentarily about the intensity of her hug. She was desperately grasping at him, and he rubbed her back gently, before pushing her back slowly.

"Sorry." Beth mumbled, and Rick chuckled softly.

"Beth, I can promise you that you'll never have to be sorry for hugging me. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Rick brushed his knuckles across a bruise that was fading from her face as she shook her head vigorously. "Just glad to hear you care about finding them too."

Rick scrunched his face in frustration, and his hands fell from her face. "Beth, I want Maggie back for you, yes. But they mean a lot to me too. Glenn is the one who saved my life at the very beginning of all this. And Maggie has long been someone I've looked to for support many times. I want them back for me, too. Don't ever think I don't care about getting us all back together."

Rick worried that he had been too harsh in his words, but Beth's eyes warmed, and she smiled at him in understanding.

"Good." She said simply, before settling back against him again.

They were quiet for a while as the dark blue of the sky finally began to be painted with purples and reds. This is what he had brought her here for; for the image of the sun rising up over the trees.

"It's going to be a good one." He murmured into her ear, as she turned again in his arms.

"Yeah, it is." She breathed, before she tugged on his shirt invitingly. Rick smirked as he met her lips with his own.

They missed most of the sunrise.

Hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know via a review if you would...