Disclaimer—I don't own or make claim to the characters from The Walking Dead. I only own my original characters

We find the house is still clear--it doesn't even look touched, but we check every room anyway. Rick looks around as a storm picks up outside. We made it just in time, there is major weather tonight, the rain is coming down in sheets and the temperature dropped suddenly. The cold is affecting me, so I try to keep moving in order to compensate. It's a good thing we decided to stop, there's no way we could have kept going in this on the road. I don't think we could have even seen the road, even with headlights.

Luckily, I left some reserve food stores hidden away in the house. I heat up some canned food. The fire provides a little relief from the temperature drop, but we can't afford to leave it going for long. Carbon monoxide is still a thing, unfortunately. Too bad other threats don't stop being reality the moment the world ends and you have bigger threats to deal with.

I hand a plate to Rick and we both eat while eyeing the storm outside and trying to absorb as much warmth from the fire as we can before I have to put it out. As we finish, I hear the change in the sound of the rain as it becomes louder, thumping into the roof and ground. Rick gets up and peers out the back door. "It's hail," he says.

I nod, it figures. I hear the wind pick up as well and batter against the sides of the house, coming through the cracks and whipping my small cooking fire around. I quickly move to put it out--a house fire is the last thing I need to deal with tonight. It's cold, but I'll survive, I think as I shiver slightly.

Something drops down over my shoulders, startling me. I look up and see that Rick has removed his coat and dropped it over me. I feel the warmth from his body heat inside the coat envelope me. I protest, "I already have a coat, you're going to freeze!" He shakes his head. "I run hot anyway and I could see you shaking. It's just going to get colder and you're already shivering. You won't last the night in that thin jacket." It does feel good, but I do have an alternative.

"There are blankets in the other room on the couch. I don't want you being cold and getting sick because of me." He scoffs at the thought, but still follows me into the other room and watches as I pull out all the blankets. I take his jacket off and hand it to him as I sit down on the couch and pull a couple of blankets over me. He eyes me and looks like he may protest, but then slowly puts his jacket back on, sits by me on the couch and draws a blanket over his lap. I am in the process of putting my third blanket over me and tucking them all around me to block any drafts from getting in. I probably look like an insane caterpillar with so many blankets, but it's helping, even if it's slowly. I look over at Rick who's staring at me like I'm nuts. I'm slowly warming up, but a strong shiver still goes through me.

Rick shakes his head and says, "Oh for hell's sake, that pile of blankets isn't doing you much good! You're still cold at the core and until you warm up you aren't going to get any relief." After this he scoots over right next to me and lifts up the side of my blankets. I start to protest when he gathers me into his arms, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me against his side. Then I feel a wave of heat from him hit me and my protest dies on my lips. He's so warm. I lay my head down on his chest enjoying the heat as my body begins to calm from it's shaking and he adjusts my blankets back over the top of us to hold the heat in. Mmm, it feels so good. The warmth starts to infiltrate my body and even my toes start to thaw out. "Wow. You weren't kidding about running hot," I comment. I feel his chest rumble as he chuckles. "Yeah, I have enough body heat to share. You won't be cold if you're willing to stay next to me." I hum in response, not really having words. On the one hand, I'm warm again and I won't freeze tonight. One the other hand, staying warm involves snuggling up close to Rick Grimes which is still a bit of a daunting prospect.

We've made a lot of strides in our relationship the last few days, but this is still a little overwhelming. It's not like he planned it though, I was the one who insisted on heading back home tonight. If that storm hadn't rolled in, bringing on darkness early, we should have been able to make it, too. Best laid plans and all that.

We sit there in silence for some time, both of us lost in our thoughts. Surprisingly, it's a comfortable silence. There's no urgent need to talk and not even a lot of awkwardness at the fact we are basically snuggling on the couch. The attraction is still there, but it's not urgent and we both seem to be content to relax and just be. It's actually quite nice and I have to hand it to him, he really has been able to throttle back that spark some, the intensity of it. I don't know how he did it, I certainly had my doubts about this process working.

After sitting in silence for quite some time, Rick clears his throat and says, "So...Michonne wants you to be an ambassador for the communities to work on the charter?" I smile and say, "Yeah. You want to discuss that now?"

"It seems like a good time," he replies. "We have some free time and it's something we're going to have to work out. I don't mind telling you that I don't really like the idea."

I shift off his chest to a more upright position so I can look him in the face as the blankets fall down. "You don't like the idea, or you don't like that I'm the one she wants to do it?"

He sighs and pulls me back into his warmth saying, "Here, you need to stay warm." He starts to adjust the blankets back over me but I push back against him saying, "I find it easier to talk if I can look you in the eyes."

He says, "Please. I don't want you to get cold again." I relax against him, it is more comfortable here. Just the brief moment of sitting up let the chill back in and I'm shivering again. He rubs his hand over my back, trying to warm me up again. After a few minutes, I say, "OK, we can discuss like this if you want, but answer my question. Do you dislike the idea completely, or just because it's me she wants to do it?"

He lets out a big huff of breath. "I don't dislike the idea completely and I understand where she's coming from. She's not wrong. You do have a unique relationship with all the communities that nobody else has. She's also right that you're probably the only one suited for it." He pauses here for a minute and then continues, "So yes, I guess you could say that I don't like that you're the one she wants to do it, but I do understand the reasoning behind it." OK, this is progress. He's at least admitting it isn't a bad idea, just not one he's thrilled with. "So have you ruled it out? Is there anything to discuss or have you already made a decision?"

"No, I haven't ruled it out," he responds slowly. "I don't like it because you'd be traveling a lot and regardless of arguments you'd make to the contrary, traveling is still a risk. But besides that, you'd be gone a lot. I don't imagine this would be a fast process, so you'd end up staying at the other communities quite a bit while you work out the nuances of the agreement. I worry that would affect us, affect this relationship we're building."

I nod, I understand his concerns. It would be hard to build a relationship if we're never in the same place for long. That's part of the reason I decided to let him make the decision, we had just come to an agreement on how to approach our relationship when this came up. He made a lot of compromises and I didn't want him to think I was reneging on that. Not to say I won't give my input though, since we're talking about it. "I understand, it would make things a bit harder for us. I admit, I worry about how it would affect us, affect our time to get to know each other. But Rick..." He interrupts me. "I thought you told me you were staying out of this? That you were going to let Michonne argue her case and you'd accept whatever decision I made? Plain and simple, I don't really want you away from me. When you're near, I know you're safe. I'd worry a lot if you were gone all the time."

"Um, may I remind you that you're the one that brought it up? I did plan on staying out of it, and I will accept whatever decision you make. I would remind you that I'm more than capable of looking after myself! Also, I think it was fair to assume you wanted my opinion since you brought it up and said we needed to discuss it. Or was I wrong? Did you just bring it up to tell me what you decided, you didn't want my input?"

He sighs. "No, you're not wrong. I do want to know what you think about it. You have good instincts, good strategy. Hell, we won a war based on your strategy. I suppose I just hoped you had an alternative to us being split up like this. That you'd want to stay together to explore things between us as much as I do."

Oh my. The sadness in his voice tugs at my heartstrings. I move my head from his chest and up onto his shoulder, pulling back far enough to see his face, but retain the warmth. I slide my hand out from under the blankets to cup the side of his face while I stare into his eyes.

"Rick. I do want to explore things between us, that's why I didn't leave Alexandria permanently, why I came back and why I sat down with you and hammered out our agreement. I end up being drawn to you no matter where I go. I promise, I'm not using this as a reason to run away or escape our agreement. The last couple of days have been incredible, getting to know you better, getting to work together as a team. I intend to continue this journey so we can figure out exactly what we are to each other. I'm not afraid of it anymore, of the intensity of it." I pause. "Well, OK, that might not be completely true, but I'm getting there. I can see that it can be a good thing between us, even if it is intense. But Rick, we can't put ourselves above the good of the group. This could be the start of something huge. It could be the start of everything, of humanity coming back, of building up again. Trade. Safety. Civilization. Everything. How can we put ourselves ahead of everyone else?"

He closes his eyes for a minute and then opens them again staring deeply into mine. "You're right. I know you're right. I just don't want to know it. I've sacrificed so many times for my people, for my community. Sacrificed without a thought, even knowing I could die. But...I don't want to sacrifice us, even for the sake of civilization, not now that I've found you. I know it's the right thing to do, I do. I just don't want to do it."

I reach my other hand up to hold the other side of his head as the blankets fall off, down to my waist. I'm intent on him, I don't feel the cold. Acting on instinct, I use my hands to pull his head down to mine, where our foreheads rest against one another. "Getting the charter done, getting the communities to cooperate is the right thing to do," I murmur to him. "But it doesn't have to mean we sacrifice our growing relationship. Just because I do this doesn't mean it's the end...in fact, it can be the beginning. We can find a way to stay connected. We're pretty smart people, we can find a way." I pull my head back and look at him, glad to see the glimmer of hope in his eyes now. I want to encourage that hope, make it grow. On instinct, I lean forward and kiss him. Yes, I know, I know, I told him no kissing. But he just seems like he needs one. He needs to know that we're in this together that I'm committed to exploring where this relationship is going. That I'm not abandoning him if we decide the ambassador thing is what I need to do for the community. It doesn't take him long to get into the spirit of things and kiss me back. This time it's a soft meeting of lips rather than a demanding confrontation, although no less intense for it. Our lips touch, then part and touch again. It's comfort and attraction all rolled into one. He nuzzles in deeper, inquiring and I respond by parting my lips, granting admittance. We explore one another with lips and tongues and small nips. I tell him through my kiss that I'm here, I'm not abandoning him. He acknowledges that with a deep follow-up kiss that takes our breath away. He's here for me, he'll always be here for me, he tells me. Slowly, the kiss calms more and we catch our breath as we pull apart. I lay my head back down on his shoulder and he pulls the blankets up to cover me again. We look into each other's eyes, confirming silently that all's right with the world right now.

After several moments of silence as we recover from that intense but comforting kiss, Rick says, "I've thought and thought about it. In fact, at times I wonder if I've thought about anything else since I talked to Michonne about it yesterday afternoon. But I haven't come up with an alternative. She's right, you're the best person for the job and it does need to be done. But we have so much work to be done at Alexandria, so many things I need to see done to make sure we're set before next winter comes, so we don't starve next year. I don't see how both can be done without us being split up." He gives me a look. "We don't even have phones to stay in touch, like a long distance relationship could use in the past."

I look at him, my mind whirling. "No, but we do have walkies," I declare. "The saviors long-distance walkies, would those work?" I ask. He's thinking. "They might. I'm not sure they'd reach the farming outpost, but they would probably reach everywhere else." My eyes light up, "See, it's not ideal, but we can come up with solutions!" He gives me an expectant look. "How about solutions that don't split us up for days or weeks on end?"

I start thinking harder. "What are the projects that need to be completed, do you have a list of them?"

He thinks about it. "I guess it's more of a mental list right now, but I could get it down on paper easily enough. Why?" I'm in planning mode now, possibilities running through my mind. "Because we plan it out. We list all the things that need to be done, divide them into projects. Put them all into project plans like we did with the war preparation. Assign dates, people responsible for items, work out the things that have to be done by you and the things that can be done by others. You're finally starting to delegate, so we use that, expand it, assign each project to someone else as a co-owner along with you. Assign it all out, determine the highest priorities, what order things need to be done in, what dependencies one project has on another's timeline, how long each task will take. Once we work all that out, we can assign due dates to everything. That then determines the dates you absolutely must be in Alexandria to see these projects through for the parts that you have to do. Then we can look at what's open."

He's catching on and says, "What's open would leave me free to travel with you."

"Exactly! If we could free up some time in the beginning for us to travel to all the communities for the first round, that would be the longest one. It would be good for you as the leader of Alexandria to spend some time at each of the communities anyway. Get to know their leaders better, negotiate trade deals, let their people see you and know you aren't the big bad wolf some make you out to be. You could work on those things while I negotiate with community leaders and their residents about the charter. What they want, what they would agree to or disagree with. It would serve a dual purpose."

"Big bad wolf?" he asks with a raised brow. I shrug. He may not realize it, but he's a bit intimidating, especially when he's leading a war. It was reassuring to see him that way during the war, but people need to see him without his war face on as well, especially the people from other communties that only know him in that context.

He lets it go and continues, "I could learn more about how their communities work, maybe take some of their methods of farming, blacksmithing, etc. back with me and implement." He's getting the idea now. I smile and say, "That's the spirit! There's a lot of good that could come from you going with me." He then turns a very intense look on me, saying, "We could still spend time together, even if it isn't in Alexandria. We could spend the evenings together when you're done negotiating. In fact, it may be even better this way." The intensity is back and in full force. I swallow and ask, "How so?" He replies, "It'd just be you and me with a lot of time to kill when you aren't in meetings. I can think of a lot of things we could do with that time." I give him a wary look. "Like what?" I ask. He smiles, widely. Wow, he should really smile more, it dazes me and lights up his face. "Like playing board games," he says as the sudden intensity rapidly dissipates. Wait, what? I look at him in disbelief and he just keeps grinning at me and then starts laughing. I laugh and tap him on the shoulder. That's not what he was thinking and we both know it. I do appreciate him letting it go though. For now.

It is getting darker and colder. Rick gets up to check outside once more, but reports the storm is still going strong. He sits back down but looks at me with purpose. I give him an inquiring look.

"This couch isn't going to work all night. I need to stretch out my legs. Nothing is moving out in that storm right now, we need to get some rest while we can."

"You're right. You should go up to one of the bedrooms, get some sleep," I reply.

His look of purpose increases. "I'm not leaving you down here so I can find you as a popsicle in the morning. You're too stubborn to come find me if you need it. You're coming with me."

Oh. Now I know where he was going with that. The thought of laying in a bed with Rick for the night is a daunting one, but I know he's right as well. I can't seem to keep warm, I'm already getting cold again just with him being gone from the blankets for several minutes. I nod and stand up. "OK, let's get settled for the night." He looks surprised, like he was expecting a fight. I know I've been difficult, but I'm not unreasonable. I know I'll need his body heat to get through the night.

We go upstairs to the room I used to use. The bed is hard, but it's a king size at least. It should accommodate us and maybe even give me a little extra breathing room. We get settled down on the bed a little awkwardly. We're all limbs and shuffling as I try to find a position to take advantage of his heat without invading his space too much. That hope is lost when, after much shuffling around, he huffs in exasperation. He then hauls me over in front of him laying me on my side facing away from him and tucks my head on his arm and under his chin, pulling my hips over in front of his. My breathing is rapid as he adjusts the blankets over us and then he lays his arm over my waist and just like that we're spooning. I'm definitely warm, both from his body heat and as my cheeks flush with embarrassment. He rumbles in my ear, "Alright?" I take a couple of breaths and then agree, "Yeah. Alright." Unexpected, but alright. My breathing calms and slowly the warmth overtakes me and the active day catches up with me. I'm exhausted and suddenly it doesn't matter that we are so close. The intensity calms and the comfort rises. I begin to drift off to sleep in Rick's arms as we lay there. Right before I give up consciousness, I sleepily think, who ever thought I'd be spooning with Rick Grimes without the intense spark having it's way with us?

A/N I am sorry for the delay on this chapter, I really struggled with this one for some reason. Well, actually I know the reason. I had an idea in mind for exactly where things were going at this point, but every time I tried to take it that way, my characters rebelled and didn't cooperate. Everything I wrote felt forced and wrong. It took me some time and finally clearing my mind of expectations and plans and sitting down and just writing before they showed me where this chapter was really going to go. I let them lead the way and it seems to have turned out pretty well. In fact, they solved their own problems in this chapter rather impressively. Rick looked to Sandi to come up with a solution and it suddenly just appeared. I had actually planned for them to debate this for a while longer and honestly had no idea of the resolution when Sandi just came up with it on her own out of nowhere. She didn't like that Rick was sad and torn up at the thought of them being apart, so suddenly her project planning skills from the war prep made an appearance and saved the day again. She also knew that for their children, they have to make sure this charter works so they can rebuild civilization. Now, I guess she'll be taking many road trips with Rick while still making sure everything stays on track for Alexandria. Let me know what you thought about this chapter, I absolutely love feedback!

Thanks for reading, I really appreciate you all coming back for more. I really hope you enjoyed where this chapter went and enjoy how Rick and Sandi's relationship is growing. I plan on having another chapter up next weekend as long as my characters are more cooperative this time around!