Author's Note: Hi there! I used to write fanfiction a long, long time ago. Lately, I have become absolutely obsessed with The Walking Dead, and find it consuming my thoughts. I'm writing this as a one-shot, but am contemplating writing a series at some point in the future. Sorry if my characters seem unrealistic. I'm trying my best, but since I just watched the entirety of the show in such a short period of time, I feel like there are little details I may have missed.
Anyways, now to talk about this one-shot. I really enjoyed the character of Shane. I felt there was so much depth and his character just begs to be explored more. Plus, there is not enough Shane fics out there! What's up with that? This one-shot takes place a long time before the whole zombie apocalypse. and is from Shane's POV. Please review and let me know what you think!
Too Young to Settle Down
A man can only listen to complaints of relationship woes for so long. Don't get me wrong, I would be there for Rick no matter what. He was a brother to me. But when he was complaining about this bitchy new girlfriend of his, it took all I had to stop myself from asking him why he even bothered. Look at me, I wanted to say. If you need to get laid, that doesn't mean you need a girlfriend. Just grow some balls.
Rick could never be like me. That was the problem, but it was also the only reason our friendship worked. If he was a cocky son-of-a-bitch like me, there's no way we would be able to maintain our strong bond. He was the strong but gentle, and even though he wasn't afraid to take the lead, he always needed some sort of approval. On the other hand, I was strong and didn't give a shit if I had anyone's approval for my actions. Well, other than Rick's approval, of course.
It seemed like every week, he needed a night out to vent about this new girlfriend. The new girlfriend that I hadn't even met yet. "I don't know," he had told me one night. "I don't think you'd get on with her." I didn't think we would either, but that didn't stop me from wanting to see what I was up against. Clearly, this girl had to have a huge rack or killer sex drive. If she didn't, I had no idea why Rick would even put up with her shit.
It wasn't six months later when Rick told me that he was going to propose to her, this chick who still never showed her face at their friends' parties and never made it a priority to meet me. Did she know about me? I knew about her. Surely, Rick must've told her about his best friend since high school, his right-hand man. I wondered if I sounded as unbearable to her as she sounded to me.
"When am I going to meet her, Rick? This is gettin' stupid," I told him one night over beers, frustrated by the situation. He had told me about the engagement a week ago, and I still couldn't process the information.
"I'm waitin' for the right time," he explained before chugging back the rest of his bottle. "She gets in these moods. I dunno. She's hard to keep up with. I'd rather you meet her when she's… better."
"It doesn't sound like she is ever better. What are you doing, man?" I had to try and knock some sense into him. We were barely old enough to drink. There was no rush for either of us to be getting married anytime soon.
"It's not all bad. I know I complain. Sometimes it's good." I could tell that he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince me. "She'd be a good wife, a good mother…"
"Is that what this is about? Did you knock her up? Jesus, Rick, I thought you knew better than that."
"No, no. I'm not fuckin' stupid, Shane. I just mean…" He was struggling with his words. If he really wanted to marry this bitch, it shouldn't have been so hard for him to justify the situation. If he really wanted to marry her, I would've understood without him even telling me. "What's the point of screwing around? We all have to settle down one day. Why not now?"
"Rick, you don't have to settle for shit. This chick… She ain't right for you. I can tell. There's no spark. If you're already an old bickering couple now, what's going to happen when you get married, huh? When you have kids running around? You're gonna hate your life in twenty years." I didn't usually speak out like this. I usually just let Rick do his rant and get it over with so we could drink and I could hit on the nearest chick in a short skirt. Something just went off in me tonight.
"I'm not you, Shane. I can't do that shit. I can't fuck these girls I don't know. I need a family. Just wait, it'll get better once we're married. I'll be a damn good husband, don't worry," he assured me with a pat on the back, clearly wanting to move on from this conversation.
"You must be getting some damn good head if you're this whipped," I laughed before signaling for the bartender to bring us another round.
It was three months before the wedding when I met Lori. This thin, frail young girl with big eyes and pale skin. With the way Rick spoke about her and put up with her bullshit, I was expecting a stunner. Rick lacked the confidence that I had but he was a good-looking man and I wasn't afraid to admit that. There had to be other girls out there that were sexier and less bitchy that would have loved to be with Rick.
"Lori, I'd like ya to meet Shane. Shane, this is Lori," Rick awkwardly introduced us. I extended my hand to shake hers and it was weak.
What did Rick tell her? She seemed completely disinterested in meeting me. Did she know how many times I told Rick to reconsider and insisted it wasn't too late to back out now? Did he tell her about the night at the bar when I was entertaining that nice young lady out in the backseat of Rick's car while leaving him with her equally nice young friend, Tamara? Tamara with the blonde hair, large breasts and full hips?
I was practically setting him up with the polar opposite of Lori without even realizing it. Rick had too much integrity to lie to Lori. I wouldn't be shocked if she knew about the hand job he received in the booth that night, only about two weeks ago. In his defence, he swore Lori hadn't touched him in a month, complaining of headaches and stress. If it were me, I woulda told her that the best stress relief was a mind-blowing orgasm. Then again, I doubted Rick had the experience to provide her with that.
"I've heard a lot about you, Shane," she said meekly, barely cracking a smile.
"Likewise. Welcome to the family, Lor." If she wasn't going to like me anyways, there was no harm in killing her with kindness. At least it would show Rick that I was trying to make an effort. I pulled her into a friendly hug and heard her grinding her teeth, obviously in one of those moods that Rick had warned me about.
Four months after their wedding, they moved out of Rick's tiny bachelor apartment that held so many fond memories for us. Lori complained it was too small. She had too many things to fit in the limited storage. I told Rick the easiest solution was to just make Lori get rid of all of her useless girl shit. Unfortunately, he didn't take this advice. They scraped together all the money they could, borrowing some from her parents and some from his, and bought a tiny one-bedroom house that needed way too many improvements. I was too good of a friend to refuse to help him out. I knew Rick didn't know the first thing about home renovations.
"You got a fuckin' problem?" I barked one day from underneath the sink. Rick was out picking up some pizza and beer, the meal of men who were trying to get as many stupid and crappy renovations done in one day. I was fixing a clog in their sink while he was gone, and I could feel that dumb bitch lurking over me, watching my every move.
"Yeah, I got a fuckin' problem. My problem is you always being at my house," she snapped at me after a few minutes of silence. She barely said anything to me when Rick was nearby, and any moment we were alone was far too tense.
"Well, maybe y'all shoulda thought of that before you bought a fuckin' house that was falling apart in every fuckin' room. Or better yet, you shoulda thought of that before you got married when neither of y'all had stable goddamn jobs and an income. Then I wouldn't have to fuckin' be at your stupid ass house all the time, you dumb bitch." Rick was always grateful for my help. He knew he couldn't have fixed up the house without me. Lori acted like I was a burden, taking away her time from her precious husband, when I knew they'd just be sitting in passive aggressive silence if I weren't there.
"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? You think Rick would let you talk to me like that?" I could tell that she wasn't going to be done bitching anytime soon. I pulled myself out from under the sink, bringing myself to stand mere inches from her.
"I don't give a fuck what Rick lets me do. He ain't my boss. He's my fuckin' brother. I should've stopped him from marrying you when I still had the chance. He's fuckin' miserable every time you come near him."
"And what, he should just be out fucking bar whores like you? Some men have self-respect, Shane." The girl had quite the mouth on her. I wondered if she fought like this with Rick. He never got fired up with anyone and I couldn't imagine him standing around to take this verbal abuse. "You don't have to drag Rick down with you just 'cause you can't find a woman who can tolerate you for longer than a five minute fuck."
"Rick would never be able to do what I do. He doesn't have the balls. You know damn well how I can fuck all those girls and he can't. I could've made you one of those bar whores if I wanted to. You're just lucky that Rick doesn't know how to keep his women in check." I didn't know when it happened, but I was pushed up against her now, pinning her legs between myself and a kitchen cabinet. I had at least one-hundred pounds of pure muscle on Lori and she wasn't even flinching.
"You're just jealous of him and you always will be. You're fuckin' scum, Shane," she told me through gritted teeth.
We were staring each other down, breathing heavily and bodies tense. None of the fights that Rick described to me sounded even remotely close to this. I knew exactly what I would've done if she was my wife, to show her that I wasn't whipped by nobody.
"You're just a whore who managed to attach herself onto the first man that looked your way."
"You're an asshole," she spat at me.
"You don't know shit about me, sweetheart. You're lucky that Rick is my best friend or I would put you in your place so fast."
"I'm not afraid of you, Shane. You're nothin' to me." If I was nothing to her, why was she even bothering with this conversation? Her face was red and I was wondered if she could feel the growing hardness underneath my jeans that came from the body contact and unbelievable sexual tension.
"You don't understand what you're asking for, girl," I muttered, hand reaching up to her neck. If she had been uncomfortable with this, I knew she would've pulled away by now. I was starting to pin her harder against the counter when I heard the front door swing open.
"Time for pizza and beer. Who's hungry?" Rick called out as I jumped back from Lori, going back to my place under the sink. He came into the kitchen, setting the pizza box and case of beer onto the counter where I had just been rubbing myself up against his wife. "Jesus, it's really clogged, ain't it? Can't believe you haven't fixed it yet. Time for a break. Want some pizza, Lor?" He seemed oblivious to the fact that she was hanging around me when normally she kept as much distance as possible.
"No, I'm okay. I have… laundry to do." With that, she left the room and I breathed a sigh of relief. I pulled myself up from under the sink once again after the evidence of my arousal had disappeared, grabbing a bottle of beer.
"Cheers, brother. Here's to hoping we finally get this god-forsaken house done soon." With that, we clinked our beers and I thought about how maybe I finally understood why Rick could be drawn to Lori.