Ch. 14 Right In The Feels

""Shit""

They didn't shout or freak out. Michael and Maggie both scrambled quietly to get their clothes on. Andrea was making her way to the barn fast. Luckily she called out or that would have been even more awkward than it already will be.

Michael left the jacket where it was. It was practically unwearable now and would serve as a good reminder of what they had done. He had another new one in his bag anyway. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Michael had his jeans on and tucked in his white t-shirt. Maggie had her shorts and shirt on. The socks and shoes were the worst because the hay would stab their feet if they left any stuck to the socks.

Hay was all over themselves. They tried to get as much as they could off but it wasn't gonna be enough.

As they were picking hay from their hair, Andrea could be seen in the entrance of the barn. She looks up to the second floor and sees the two.

"Maggie! Oh…. Ahem. Lori was looking for you or Hershel. She seemed to be in a rush. It seemed important. She went back to the house after she asked me to come find you"

"Alright, I'm on my way" Maggie said a bit worried.

Maggie was the first to climb down, closely followed by Michael. They ran to the farm house and got inside. They searched for Lori on the first floor but couldn't find her so they went up to the second floor.

Lori explained that Beth had taken a knife and planned to kill herself with it.

Lori left the room. Michael didn't say anything but went and looked at Beth. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and smiled at her the best he could. After he smiled he got up and hugged Maggie and followed Lori downstairs. Whatever was going to happen was between two sisters. He loved Maggie and already saw Beth as a sister. He didn't want to see her go after not getting to even know her.

Michael went down the stairs and into the kitchen where Lori and Andrea were standing. Lori seemed to have been cleaning plates, probably from lunch or something.

Soon Maggie and Beth were shouting at each other. Michael was worried, but knew that nothing too bad would happen.

Andrea asks where Hershel is and Lori tells her that she doesn't want Hershel to find out yet. Michael completely agrees with that.

Lori says to just let them work it out. Andrea finds it hard to believe that them yelling like that is them working it out. And Lori says that when they stop fighting is when you should start to worry. Surprised to hear this from a mother of one child and one on the way.

Andrea complains saying that it could have been handled better. That Beth needed to be given the voice to kill herself. That way she wouldn't think of doing it again. Michael remembers hearing about Dale saving Andreas life by guilt tripping her or something. He didn't hear much.

Lori is appalled that Andrea would even consider suicide an option. She says that's why she won't send Andrea in there.

Andrea comes back with the 'I came through it' card. Lori hits her with the 'and you don't do anything around here to help out' card.

Then it descends into some sexism topics about men being the ones doing the fighting and the women doing the chores. Michael was not going to give his two cents into that.

Michael doesn't mind listening to the drama. Until Andrea says watch against walkers. He stands up so fast he bangs against the table he was sitting at. He just remembered that he had killed 4 walkers in the woods the other night and forgot about them. How can he be so stupid and forgetful. He grabbed his pistol and bo staff and ran off to find Rick.

He can't find him anywhere. He ran all over the farm and couldn't find Rick or Hershel. He found Daryl camping off on his own.

"Daryl!"

"What do ya want?!" Daryl was cleaning the fire of some small game he caught and making arrows.

"Have you seen Rick or Hershel?! I just remembered something very important!"

"No. What is it? What's so important your running around like a choke. With its head cut off?"

"Two nights ago I think, I can't remember. I killed four walkers that wandered over from the forest"

"What's so important about that? That's where we been watching guard from this entire time"

"What? No, I…I…"

"Calm down man! The hell gotten into you"

"I….the kids… Oh my god! Where's Paul and Briana?! Where's Carl?!"

Daryl walks over to Michael and punches him square in the jaw. Michael stumbles backwards and is about to swing back when Daryl talks.

"Calm the fuck down! They're fine!"

"How do you know!"

"Michael! You're a smart guy! Stop freakin out! You ain't doin nothin by freakin out!"

Michael wants to punch Daryl but knows that now isn't the time to get physical. He turned around and ran back towards camp.

Screw the walkers. He needs to find his brother and sister.

He gets back to the camp and sees Andrea walking to the house. Nobody was at camp. He ran over and was freaking out inside but listened from a distance.

When he hears that Andrea left Beth alone he saw red.

He marched forward and stomped with each step.

"Lori, where are the kids?"

"They're with Carol. She took em by the pond to check out the flowers"

Michael didn't have to worry about the kids anymore but he was still pissed. He walked up to Andrea and stood over her. Michael stands at a little over 6 feet naturally and Andrea stands at 5 foot 6.

Michael stares intently with his brows scrunched and a scowl on his face. "I have tolerated your fucking A-grade attitude thus far Andrea. You just broke something that can't be taped together the same. Do you hear me? You want to be treated equal to a man? You wanna act like your tough? You want to wave your dick around and flaunt how you're better than everyone else? You keep bringing up how you didn't get a choice to end yourself. You think you are such a badass and can take the world on. I don't ever want to hear about how suicide is a choice. That's not for you to put in someone's head. You can't just make it seem ok. It's not even on the list. I'm done with you. Don't ever come near me or my siblings. I'll leave the rest to Maggie. I need to walk off before I treat you like a guy like you want"

Michael walks away. Andrea is shaking like a leaf. But the other two women won't defend her. Andrea wanted to see Beth but Maggie said she won't go near the girl or the house.

Lori tried to say that she didn't agree to what Andrea did but now Beth won't be suicidal now.

Michael had to walk for 10 minutes and went to a water pump and doused himself off. He doesn't know what's going on with himself. Maybe he was having a weird panic attack or something before. He needs to do something about that and make sure he reigns in his emotions before something does go wrong.

He is soaked from head to toe. And his socks are wet but he can deal with it for now. He feels much better. Maybe it was heat stroke messing with his brain. He did just spend an unholy amount of time in the barn doing the deed with Maggie and went running around during the hottest time of the day. He just stood there enjoying the cool breeze on his body, the water made the breeze feel even better.

He stood there for 15 minutes just getting his head on right.

He took 15 minutes getting back hoping he would dry off a bit and he wasn't pissed or overheated so his stride was shorter.

He swapped to a different pair of shoes at his tent. He went back to the house and looked for Maggie. She was standing outside Beths room where Hershel was talking with her.

"Maggie" Michael whispered a few steps behind her. She turned and jumped into his arms. He hugged her and whispered to her: "I'm sorry for leaving you alone, I shouldn't have done it. I was downstairs waiting but then I remembered the walkers I had to kill when were by the woods stargazing. I freaked out and went to find Rick but couldn't find him. I then found Daryl who tried to calm me down. He ended up punching me and giving me this minor bruise on my jaw. Then I remembered I didn't know where the kids where and I freaked out all over again. That's when I came to the house and heard about Beth and what Andrea did. I even threatened her Maggie. I had to cool off. I.... I went to the water pump and doused myself with the cold water...I think I was over heated from being so physically active today. I…I was so scared….Thanks for listening. I love you so much Maggie. Sorry for making you listen to me babble so much"

"Don't you ever say you are sorry for opening up to me! I may joke about you talking too much but I love your voice. I want you to talk to me when you are hurting and even if you aren't hurting. You don't need to suffer alone, not anymore. I'm here to share your burdens like you share my burden. We're here for each other. I'm glad your feeling better. You're here now and that's what matters. I love you Michael, and that won't change"

Michael went to his knees, Maggie was dragged down with him. He put his eyes on her shoulder as the tears finally came. After not being able to cry for so long, they finally came. And they probably won't stop for a while.

"Damn right…..and it better not.... I told you ....I'm stubborn….Even if you try...…and get away now....I'll just keep….loving you…..more and more" Michael spoke out between his tears.

Maggie knew that Michael was carrying a heavy weight around with him. She realized just how big that burden actually was to him.

He seemed so collected. So strong and smart. It wasn't all an act, but he used those things to cover up the rest of himself. He was always worrying, he felt so weak and stupid. He did his best. Maggie though this was the case but wasn't entirely sure until now.

And Maggie loved that he was willing to open up to her. Not even his siblings saw this side of him. And he was showing her. She felt so loved and trusted by his simple words and actions.

Hershel eventually stood in the doorframe and saw his baby girl and this young man hugging and crying together. As a father, he couldn't be more happy for his daughter. If he had to give her away to a man, Michael would be his first choice out of all the men he's known. He knows his time is coming soon, eventually, he was over 70 years old already in this unforgiving world. He knew he couldn't protect her forever and knew that while Michael couldn't either, he would do his best. And that's all Hershel can ask for because that's all he himself had done.

Hershel shut the door to give them privacy and continued talking with Beth. He realized his girls were growing up so fast. He didn't want to miss anymore time with them.