- Finally, I got this updated! Woohoo! -

Chapter Four: Towards the End of the World

The atmosphere was not comfortable. Michonne and Rick sat on the couch holding hands, their parents staring at them from the other couch opposite them.

"What did you say?" Mrs. Grimes asked.

"We're going to date," Rick repeated for the second time. "She's my girlfriend."

Mrs. Grimes mouth opened and closed as if she was searching for words to say but her brain simply could not keep up. "Umm...What-what about Lori?" she finally asked.

They were ten minutes into the meeting and Rick and Michonne had started the meeting off dropping this bomb. That they were indeed together and it wasn't just some careless, teenage thing.

"Mom, I already told you Lori and I broke up," Rick said, a note of exasperation tingeing his voice.

"But-" Mrs. Grimes lips opened and closed again. Once more, lost for words.

Michonne's parents sat silently looking on with disapproving expressions clear on their face. Michonne kept looking at them, their opinions important to her.

A silent moment passed and then Mr. Grimes turned to look at the other adults. They were all seated on the same couch in the living room, which was large enough to hold all four of them with a polite cushion kept unoccupied in between. Rick and Michonne were sitting on a parallel couch, facing them.

"I think we can all agree...that our kids are being reckless," Mr. Grimes announced. Rick and Michonne glanced at each other. "I'm running for Senator soon. I've told my son that this relationship can't happen. What are your thoughts?"

Michonne's father looked over at Mr. Grimes. "Of course this relationship can't happen," he agreed. Michonne's heart sank into her stomach. "Your son isn't good enough for our daughter." Dread and embarrassment caused Michonne to close her eyes. When she opened them, she sent Rick an apologetic look. He squeezed her hand, his blue eyes squinting back at her.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Grimes asked. The relieved expression that had been about to settle on his face from what he had perceived to be a mutual agreement turned into a frown of disbelief. Of all the reasons the Grimes felt the two couldn't be in a relationship, one of those reasons obviously didn't include the idea that their son wasn't good enough. "My son isn't good enough for your daughter?"

"No, he's not," Michonne's father stated, his voice deep and low in his chest. It was a voice that held authority and power. A voice that Michonne knew meant business. Usually business that she didn't like. "My daughter is on a fast track to Harvard with a four point 'o' average and a clear road out of Atlanta and definitely King's County Farmville. Your son is on a fast track to nowhere." He turned his head, dismissing Mr. Grimes. "Michonne. Let go of that boy's hand and get your ass up off that couch. We're going."

Michonne turned to Rick. She was torn between obeying her father – something she knew was wise, especially when he spoke in his official voice – and standing by her new boyfriend. If she let go of his hand now, who was to say that they would have the nerve to stick together until the end? Luckily the decision was taken out of her hands when Mr. Grimes spoke up.

"Well...Mister..." Rick's father said. "I don't know why you feel the need to insult my son, but I have to say we didn't have to worry about coming home to find our son groping a member of the opposite sex when he was with Lori."

Michonne's father stiffened and her mother glared over at the Grimes. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"I mean..." Rick's father said, not backing down.

"Dad-" Rick tried to interrupt him but his dad talked over him.

"I mean that it doesn't seem your daughter there has been taught the right womanly virtues of valuing her body."

The energy around Michonne's father became dangerous. He turned to face Mr. Grimes, all six feet of him coiled and tense. Sensing the atmosphere, Mr. Grimes stood as well. For a moment it looked as if the two men would come to actual blows.

Michonne grasped Rick's hand tighter. Maybe presenting their relationship right up front wasn't the best tactic; things seemed to be escalating quickly.

"Dad," Rick said warningly. He felt Michonne's tension beside him and he was ready to get in between the two men if it came to that. Even though both men were significantly bigger than him.

"Now I didn't call you both here for an argument," Mr. Grimes said, not taking his eyes off of the other man.

"What did you call us here for then?" Michonne's mother asked, standing up. "To tell us all of the reasons why our daughter won't be good for your son?" She looked Mr. Grimes up and down. "You didn't have to call us here for that. We could've come to an agreement over the phone. That our children being in a relationship won't do. We wouldn't have had to get into the ugliness of what you really think."

"Hold on now," Mr. Grimes said, holding up a hand. "What do I really think?!"

"Oh, don't even act like-"

"No, what do I really think? What ugliness are you talking about? You people always-!"

"You people?!"

"Yes, you people! You people always jump to the conclusion that skin color has somethin' to do with everything. When it has nothing to do with anything!"

"Oh, really-!"

Michonne's mother inhaled. She was like a hot air balloon, getting more and more heated and soon she would be taking off. Michonne's father grabbed her wrist gently before she started. "Let's not even bother," he said. "Michonne, get up! We're going!"

Michonne was practically cringing into her seat at this point.

"No, I'm not going!" Michonne's mother said.

Michonne wasn't surprised.

The hot air balloon was in the air.

"First. We come in here, it's Lori this and Lori that." Michonne's mother squared off with Mr. Grimes, her coming up to the middle of his chest. That didn't stop her from staring directly into his face though. Michonne's father stood protectively behind her and Mrs. Grimes sat on the couch with a pale face, looking as if she didn't know when and how things got so heated. "Next. You say 'my son isn't good enough for your daughter?' like it should be the other way around. Then you claim that our daughter doesn't have values – implying that we didn't teach her well. That we didn't raise that right. Isn't that what you were saying?"

"I think we just need to sit back down and talk about this calmly," Mr. Grimes said.

"There's nothing else to talk about," Michonne's mother cut him off. "You don't want your son to be with our daughter and I definitely don't want my daughter involved with this family. So congratulations. It looks like we both get what we want."

Michonne and Rick looked at each other. There was a large factor missing from their parents' conversation. "What about what we want?" Michonne asked, turning to face their parents.

"It doesn't matter what you want," Michonne's father said harshly. Matter-of-factly. "We know what's best for you."

Michonne scowled.

The two sets of parents descended into more arguing and Michonne wondered what the hell Rick and her were even doing there. His mind must have been following the same train of thought because she soon felt him tugging on her hand. She turned her attention to Rick and he tilted his head toward the door. Michonne glanced at their arguing parents and then back at him and gave him a short nod. He stood and led her toward the door.

Michonne thought they were going to make it outside without their parents even realizing they were going but the voice of Michonne's father called after them. "Where do you two think you're going?!" his voice boomed.

"Out," Rick called back shortly and continued out the door.

They made it to Rick's car and drove off. Michonne looked in the rear view mirror to see her parents yelling after her from the doorway.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

They parked somewhere vacant. Empty. Nowhere. On the side of a road in between a line of trees. They had been driving for a couple of hours it seemed. The sun was beginning to set.

Silence pervaded the car after the engine was shut off.

Michonne picked at the cloth seat beside her thigh. "...Our project went well," she finally said. Not talking about what they were doing. But what they did. Did they know what they were doing? Michonne wasn't sure. "Mrs. McKinnon was impressed. I could tell. I'm sure we got an 'A'."

Rick nodded and released the steering wheel. Allowing his grip to relax for the first time in hours. "Yeah," he said. "Probably the first 'A' I'll ever get in that class."

Michonne chuckled. "Really?" she asked, a note of disbelief in her voice.

"Hey," Rick said, getting playfully defensive because he picked up on her tone. "Don't judge. Not everyone can be valedictorian extraordinaire."

"Hey, don't jinx it," Michonne said quickly. "I'm not valedictorian yet. It hasn't been announced."

"Oh, please. You know you're going to-"

"Nope," Michonne said. She held her hands up to her ears. "Don't say it! Andrea is right on my tail and she has been since freaking kindergarten. So I don't wanna-"

"Andrea?! Andrea Harrison?" Rick grinned in amusement at the seriousness with which Michonne was treating this topic.

"Yes!" Michonne responded vehemently. "And she's involved with extracurriculars out the wazoo and she's the principal's favorite and...ugh! I swear I would love her if she weren't so freaking annoying!"

Rick chuckled. "Andrea's a suck up and an overachiever," Rick said, forcing his tone to match Michonne's serious tone. "She's got nothing on you!"

Michonne knew Rick was just humoring her, but she was pepped by his words all the same. "Right?" she said. "I just wish she would sit down and rest or...forget a class one day. And!" Michonne unhooked her seatbelt and turned to Rick; it happened so quickly that Rick was startled. She was obviously passionate about this. Rick unhooked his own seatbelt and made to face her more fully, trying to keep his smile of amusement at bay because this was actually an important topic to one person in the car. "She wants to go to Harvard! Can you believe that?!"

"No!" Rick said, assuming that was the right thing to say. It was. Michonne nodded, egged on by his agreement and continued on.

"I know! I mean, hello! Stop stalking me, please! Can't she go to Yale or something?! She's going to be my rival until the day one of us dies."

A bit of Rick's smile slipped out.

"What?" Michonne said, responding to Rick's expression. "Oh God, I sound like those snobby girls don't I? I sound like those girls I hate. Please tell me I don't sound like a hateful snob." Her hands had flown to her cheeks, as she was slightly horrified at the thought.

"No," Rick said, taking her hand from her cheek and cradling it between his own two hands. "You don't sound like a snob." Michonne gave him a small smile. "But you do sound like you can afford to take a couple steps back," Rick said honestly. "Stop stressing over this. Trust me. You're gonna get everything you want and more. 'Cause you've worked had for it and you deserve it. And Andrea nor anybody else is going to be able to get in the way of that."

Michonne's smile grew wider. Rick shared the smile with her until a sadness creeped into his eyes. Noticing it, Michonne squeezed his hand. "What is it?" she asked with concern.

"Just thinking about our parents..." Rick said.

Michonne's smile faded.

"I can't believe it happened that way," Rick continued. "I never thought I would be embarrassed of my parents."

Michonne nodded, understanding him completely. She hadn't considered it her family's shining moment either. "They acted like children," she concluded. "And then had the nerve to act like they know what's best for us."

Rick glanced up at her with some apology in his eyes. "I'm sorry for some of the things my parents said," he confessed. "They're not racist, I promise! Or at least, I don't think they are..."

Michonne laughed. "It's okay," she said. "For the record, I don't think they're racist either. People just speak before thinking sometimes. And not to put all of the blame on him but...your father was doing a lot of that."

Rick chuckled, glad that Michonne was taking it all in stride and glad that she didn't seem overly hurt by it. "Yeah," he said. "He does that."

Rick was silent. There was a weight to the silence. Michonne was aware of what the silence held. She let her head fall gently against the seat as she stared at Rick, her hand still held in his.

"You're running away with me, aren't you?" Michonne surmised, a lightness to her voice. With nothing ahead and nothing behind, they were in their own little world inside the car and their possibilities were limitless.

Rick glanced at her. His lips lifted into a small smile. "...I'd like to..." he said.

Michonne smiled. She turned to stare at the road ahead for a moment. "Rick Grimes the romantic," she teased. She fixed him with her stare again. "You don't even know me."

"I know you," Rick said, facing her. Meeting her steady gaze. "I haven't been dating you long, but I know you."

They stared into each other's eyes and Rick's gaze was piercing. Michonne knew he was being sincere and not just reenacting his own version of Romeo and Juliet. She turned away. She knew him too. All that she needed to know anyway. It was right there in his eyes. In the way that he opened his body up to her whenever she spoke. In the way that he absorbed her words as if the secrets of life were falling from her lips.

Even when she was simply talking about a stupid rivalry.

"So where are you taking me?" Michonne asked, her eyes on the road again.

Rick sighed and his eyes faced the empty road as well. "...Nowhere."

"...Where were you taking me?"

"...Nowhere..."

Michonne glanced over at Rick and his heavy tone. Then she glanced back to the road. "You suck at this," she joked. A half-assed joke. A dry chuckle left her lips. "You're supposed to say Vegas. So we can elope."

One side of Rick's lips turned up into a smile. "You wouldn't marry me," he said.

"I might," Michonne challenged.

"Nah..." Rick said.

"Why not?"

"You have your future planned. And it's a good future. And it doesn't include me."

"It could..."

"...Nah..."

A heaviness settled in Michonne's chest. There it was. The weight of the previously unspoken. Michonne glanced at Rick. He was still facing ahead. His face sure. Determined. Resolved. "You really suck at this," Michonne said. Another dry chuckle. She looked down to hide sudden tears on her lashes. She felt ridiculous. She hadn't even officially dated him past a day. She hadn't even spoken to him before this semester. She tried to remind herself of these things.

"Your dad was right," Rick said. He continued to look ahead. Avoiding her gaze. He would embarrass himself with emotion if he were to look at her. He swallowed deeply. "I'm not going anywhere. You are. And I don't wanna hold you back."

Michonne was silent. Her mind was going over scenario after scenario. Trying to find a way to make it work. Nothing came to her except impulsive acts that could lead everywhere or nowhere. And the nowhere of it all was too scary to accept.

"Our parents would never accept us, would they?" Michonne asked.

Rick shrugged. "...They might. I doubt it. But they might. After a year or so...Or when the world ends..."

He turned to look at Michonne. She looked back at him. They knew. They didn't have a year. They were heading towards different paths.

Michonne moved towards Rick and pressed a kiss against his lips. They froze there. Savoring the moment. Remembering it.

The kiss ended and Michonne ran a gentle thumb across Rick's bottom lip and stared into his eyes. Ingraining the steel blue of his gaze into her memory.

As she looked into his eyes, she imagined him growing up to be a respected deputy in his community. A loving father of two kids. Married to a woman who loved him the best she could. At the same time, Rick was seeing Michonne in all of her glory. A successful career. A successful marriage. With a beautiful family.

"I met you too soon, Rick Grimes," Michonne whispered.

Rick closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. "See you at the end of the world?"

"...I'll be there."

THE END

- I should be starting on another long multi-chapter fic soon. Do you guys want an AU non-zombie fic or apocolyptic world fic? -