A/N: Hi guys! I had surgery on my knee a few weeks ago and this is my first bit of writing since then. I'm not sure if I can promise coherency, since I'm still on quite a bit of painkillers, but I hope this makes some sense at least. I'm sure it's probably a bit OOC, but we never do get to see the camp just relaxing together. Maybe they really are all a bunch of gossip fiends.
This is set in my own post-season 2 world, where everything is all sunshine and roses for the group. Do you expect anything less from me?
"I have to ask," Maggie says as she comes over to sit beside Andrea, who offers a little grunt in response as she pokes at a plate of runny and quite pitiful looking eggs. "What's it like with him? With Daryl?"
Andrea all but chokes on a bite of eggs. Across the fire, Carol quirks a delicate eyebrow in her direction and Lori turns towards her, her own plate of eggs forgotten. On the other side of Maggie, Beth, sweet as she is, goes pink around the edges and discreetly turns her gaze to the ground.
"So?" Maggie presses.
Andrea just shakes her head. "I'm not telling you that." She takes another stab at the eggs, watches as the liquefied insides come seeping out like goo, and immediately sets her plate down on the ground in disgust.
"Is there anymore jerky left?" she asks the group of women, all suddenly fixated on her like she was the sole possessor of the world's greatest secret. Or the code for Brad Pitt's alarm system—post outbreak, that is. "What?"
"We want to know," Lori says, giving her a lecherous grin. "We've shared with you."
Andrea just stares at her, mouth agape. "That's different! And it wasn't like I wanted to know those things," she retorts, giving a shudder at the memory of walking in at the wrong end of a conversation Lori had been having about her first anniversary with Rick.
"How is it different?" Carol asks, delicately crossing one leg over the other as she leans back in her chair. She looks like the picture perfect ideal of maternal innocence sitting there in her linen Capri pants, and Andrea almost can't believe she's the same woman asking for details about her sex life.
Andrea groans, running one hand through her still sleep mussed hair. "It just is!"
"It's not," Maggie sing-songs beside her, reaching over to pat Andrea on the knee. "So spill."
Andrea glares at them all. "It's… I don't know," she says, picking at imaginary piece of fuzz on her pants. "Good?"
Lori snorts. "Well I'm sure you wouldn't have stuck around with him if it wasn't."
"I would have," Andrea says defensively, back bristling. "It's not just about sex with him."
Carol shoots her a small little smile. "He can be very soft when he wants to be."
"He can be," Andrea agrees. "We're… together or something. I don't know." Truth be told, they were, though Andrea wasn't ready to divulge that little tidbit of information just yet. They'd actually only discussed it the night before, and she wasn't quite sure that Daryl would appreciate having personal details about their relationship broadcasted all over the camp. It was a wonder they had even come to the agreement of a relationship at all, and Andrea was determined to hold onto that.
Lori looks incredulous, fork stilled halfway between her mouth and the plate. "'Together or something?' With Daryl?"
Andrea narrows her eyes at Lori. "Is that so hard to believe?"
Eager to diffuse the tension, Maggie quickly cuts in. "It's not," she assures Andrea, giving her knee another pat. "Glenn speaks highly of him too. He seems like a good guy… all things considered."
"Thank you," Andrea sniffs. "Why aren't we being entertained with all your dirty details?"
"Well, last night-."
"I wasn't being serious!"
Both Carol and Lori laugh, and Andrea lets out a little 'hmph'. "What? You've never talked with your girls?" Maggie asks, and Andrea suddenly feels like she should be seated at a table in a café somewhere with her feet stuffed into a pair of $700 shoes.
"Of course I have."
"So why can't you talk with us?"
Because you're not my girls, Andrea wants to say, hit with a sudden pain of longing for the friends that she'd left behind. There had been many chats over coffee, discussing cases or gushing and complaining about boyfriends. There had been shopping dates and club nights and exchanges of sympathetic smiles when one of them had wandered into work nursing a hangover. With these women, there was nothing. There was no bond that kept them together, save the desire for survival.
But then, as she looks around at all their faces, she realizes that that isn't true. As sudden as the sense of longing had come, it disappears, only to be replaced with one of affection. She cares about these women, she realizes. They're… well, they aren't her "girls", per se, but they're the closest thing she has.
They're her friends.
"He's the best I've ever had," she admits, a small smile tugging at her lips. "The first night we were together? My toes curled."
Maggie lets out a boisterous laugh. "The same with Glenn. He does this thing with his hands… I won't even go there, but it's wonderful." She gives a content little sigh, eyes going glazy as she retreats into an obviously fond memory. "What about you, preggo? Hormones got you going crazy?"
"Maggie!" Lori exclaims with a scoff. "Yes, as a matter of fact. And for the record? It's the best we've ever had. Even better than when I was pregnant with Carl."
Maggie lets out a low whistle. "And people say married couples are boring."
Beth pipes up for the first time, smiling so shyly that she almost looks sheepish. "Jimmy was my first. If I had known that it could be that good, I wouldn't have waited so long."
Maggie gives her sister a playful nudge, and Andrea smiles encouragingly at the girl. "You guys are a good match," she tells her, and Beth goes pink again.
"You and Daryl are too," Carol says, and now it's Andrea's turn to flush.
"You think so?"
"Absolutely!" Lori says, flashing her a wide smile. "You both have that rugged, wild thing going on. I don't think you guys could ever find anyone better."
Andrea's stomach flutters at the thought. She can't say that she loves Daryl, not yet, but she cares for him more than she's ever cared for anyone else. She thinks that maybe Lori is right, that maybe they are a perfect match. And she finds it kind of funny; the fact that she'd gone through date after date to try to find "the one" and she'd ended up meeting him after the world had gone to hell.
"I agree," Carol says. "I always thought that I…" she trails off in embarrassment, and the tips of her ears go red. Her affections for Daryl were no secret, and Andrea just smiles at her to encourage her to keep talking and to show that she doesn't mind. "Well, I think it was always you. I think the only times I've ever seen him smile, really smile, is when he's around you, Andrea."
Flushed with both pleasure and embarrassment, Andrea presses the tips of her fingers to her lips to hide her growing smile. "I'd like to think so."
"She's right," Maggie insists.
"She is," Beth agrees.
"Guys, stop it," Andrea chuckles, shaking her head.
"Yeah, Maggie," Lori cuts in with a grin. "Why don't you tell us more about Glenn and his magic hands?"
Maggie gives them all a saucy little wink. "With pleasure."
Andrea laughs as she settles back in her chair. Her heart gives an odd little lurch as she takes a second glance at the women surrounding her. Maybe, she thinks to herself. Maybe they could be her girls after all.
/
Across camp, Rick stood sandwiched between Glenn and Daryl, watching as the women chattered away.
"What do think they talk about?" he asks, raising an eyebrow when Lori threw her head back out and let out a loud laugh.
"I don't wanna know," Daryl says.
Glenn raises an eyebrow as well. "At least they seem happy."
"Better than when they're all bitchin' at each other," Daryl agrees, hoisting his crossbow up onto his shoulder.
Rick nods. "Much better."
"Ready to go?" Daryl asks, eager to get started on their hunting trip before the heat of the afternoon truly began to roll in.
"Absolutely." Glenn slides the strap of his rifle onto his own shoulder and adjusts his hat. "Oh hey, how's it going with Andrea?"
Daryl turns back to face him and Rick, smirking to himself when he catches sight of their eager eyes. "She's the best I've ever had."