Given the current post-Zombie Apocalypse state of the world, certain things were very different than they used to be. Not just the whole fighting for survival thing, but relationships and how they ended…you couldn't just get a divorce and never see someone again.

There simply wasn't an easy way out.

Upon discovering that Lori had taken up with Shane again (the woman had gone into a jealous snit when Andrea had slipped up and mentioned hooking up with him once), Rick didn't have a fit. He didn't yell or accuse her of cheating (which, okay, before Lori had thought he was dead, but this time she had no excuse), he simply told her they were done.

Lori hadn't taken that too well, but after seeing that the rest of the group (including Carl) was on Rick's side, she blamed her meltdown on pregnancy hormones.

Things had actually settled down after that. Andrea had to give Rick credit for being civil to both Shane and Lori, which was far more than she thought she could have done, had someone she cared about betrayed her like that.

The fling in the car she had with Shane didn't count. That had been about adrenaline and life affirmation and she'd realized it hadn't been a good idea almost as soon as it ended.

So no one was whining or yelling or otherwise making things more difficult than they were. It was all very mature.

Only Rick's increased silence (not that he was much of a talker to begin with) gave any indication that something had happened…and Andrea didn't really mind the quiet. T-Dog, Glenn, Dale…they all seemed uncomfortable, thought they needed to fill any void in conversation and that just got awkward. Carl seem to take after his father, in that he wasn't a babbler and Daryl preferred the quiet, though he was devoting himself to looking after Carol.

Which left Andrea to venture into the woods on scouting trips with him or just when she wanted to learn how to hunt.

The storm had snuck up on them that day, when they were miles away from the farm. Rain pounded down on them and they'd been lucky to find shelter in an abandoned house. After checking to make sure there were no Walkers hiding anywhere and securing the doors, they stood in the living room, dripping onto the floor and blinking at each other.

Swiping a hand across his face, Rick flicked the moisture to the ground and said, "Well, that was unexpected."

"Yeah," she agreed, reaching up and wringing her hair out. "We should see if there's some dry clothes upstairs."

He nodded. "I feel like a drowned rat."

To be honest, he didn't look that bad. The rain had soaked through his T-shirt, making it stick to his skin and had washed away some of the grime that had collected on his face during their trek through the forest. Smiling wryly, she said, "I'm going to look on the bright side and pretend it was a shower."

Rick chuckled and stepped towards the window, peering out into the rain. She joined him, staring out into the downpour. It was almost peaceful, the patter of rain on the windows glass and she took a breath.

In the chaos that was their lives they didn't get a lot of chances to just breathe.

As they stood there, looking out into the rain, Rick reached up and smoothed back a damp tendril of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. His callused fingers brushed her ear and they stilled, sharing each other's space. Andrea's breath caught in her throat.

It'd been a long time since anyone had touched her gently like that.

Closing her eyes, she leaned towards him, and he met her halfway, allowing their foreheads to rest against each other. It was still innocent, a moment they could allow to pass without becoming anything more. They were friends, they were close….

Instead of just allowing the bump to happen, she reached up and caught his jaw with one hand, met his eyes before leaning further forwards and brushing her lips against his. The contact was gentle, tentative at first as Rick took a moment to respond, but oh…respond he did.

One hand fell to her hip and tightened as the other buried itself in her hair, cradling the back of her head. Encouraged, Andrea wrapped her free arm around his shoulders, parting her lips when she felt the tickle of his tongue begging for entrance.

She groaned as he kissed her, holding nothing back and releasing bottled anxieties and emotions and channeling them into their current interaction. Not that she minded. She did however wonder how much of this was just the moment or if he'd contemplated this before. She'd admit to having had a few fantasies here and there.

This wasn't a fantasy though. This was raw, passionate and real. This was noses bumping and over excited hands fumbling, no idea what the other liked (as far as this particular activity was concerned) and had the possibility of being awkward.

It was also kinda perfect.

Heart pounding, her breathing picked up and she slid a hand from his jaw, down his neck to grasp the collar of his shirt, hurrying to tug it his body. The water made it stick, catching on his skin and she cursed quietly.

Rick chuckled against her lips, assisting her by shrugging out of the offending garment. Then he surprised her, reaching down and grasping her thighs, easily lifting her. Out of reflex, she wrapped her legs around his waist and gasped as this new position brought certain body parts into close contact. True, they both still had jeans on, but a few layers of fabric did nothing to hide his very obvious interest.

His hands moved from her legs to her bottom, offering support and giving a little squeeze which caused her thighs to tighten around him involuntarily. That action caused Rick to moan into her mouth, a deep, needy rumble that she felt reverberate against her breasts. Definitly a reaction to be filed away for later contemplation.

During their earlier search of the house, they'd peered into several bedrooms, one of which he made a beeline for. Reaching the bed, her set her on her feet, hands sliding up from her hips to catch the hem of her shirt and skin it up and off her in one long, smooth motion. She felt a little jolt of nerves, standing in front of Rick in her plain white bra but from the heat in his eyes, he didn't seem to mind the lack of frills. He bent to mouth at the crook of her neck before slowly dropping to his knees before her, stopping to press a gentle kiss to the flat plane of her belly.

He made quick work of the button on her jeans, sliding them down her legs so she could step out of them, freeing her from her boots at the same time. She grinned down at him, surprised when he turned positively devilish eyes upward and, in one quick move, hooked his elbows behind her knees and tugged, sending her toppling back onto the bed. Before she caught her breath, he joined her, knees on either side of her hips as he leaned down to capture her mouth again.

She gripped the back of Rick's head, blunt nails scraping through his short hair as he kissed her, moving from her mouth to her neck. His hands were busy as well, one holding himself up so as not to squish her and the other making short work of the clasp holding her bra in place. Once it was free, she shimmied out of it and tossed the fabric aside.

A shiver coursed through her as his fingers encountered the newly bared skin of her breasts. He clearly felt her reaction and leaned back up to kiss her, slowly, sweetly and thoroughly as his fingers continued to swirl on her flesh, rough pads of his fingers moving in ever tightening circles before finally brushing over the nipple.

That made her yelp a little and arch up into his touch as she placed a hand on his head, applying a light, downward pressure, indicating exactly what she'd like him to do. He made pleased sounds against her skin as he made his way slowly down her neck and across her collarbone before swooping down to pay slow, careful to her breasts, alternating from one to the other in a most maddening fashion.

She arched up to him again, writhing as he slid his hands under her back, supporting her as he made his way down her ribs to her navel. There he kissed a circle around it before thrusting his tongue into the little indentation. Andrea gasped aloud, then moaned low in her throat as he pressed in, a preview of other things to come. Her fingers threaded through his hair, caressing his scalp, and she whispered his name over and over like a chant. He nipped at her belly and she squeaked as a new jolt shot through her. His fingers were at her waist, dipping into the top of her panties and she raised her hips, encouraging him to slide them off, which he did.

Then he paused again, looking down at her, blue eyes darkened with desire as he murmured, "Andrea."

"Rick."

Neither one of them was especially chatty and somehow those two words said it all.

He knew she wanted him to lose his pants and he complied quickly, standing to make short work of the button and zipper. Gravity did the rest, taking care of his boxers as well, and revealed the skin normally hidden beneath his jeans.

Well, hello. Living in such close quarters, you couldn't help but catch the occasional glimpse of people changing, but brief, quickly covered views had nothing on an unabashed, very aroused Rick. She grinned at him and sat up, delighting in the way he jumped when she reached out and wrapped her hands around him.

The moan that was wrenched from his throat made her want to hear more and she wet her lips, scooting forward, intent clear but was stopped by desperate hands on her shoulders.

"Andrea," he gasped and she looked up at his flushed face, and lust dark eyes and shuddered herself. "Andrea…it's been a while. If you do that…."

She understood and agreed. If they decide to do this again, perhaps then. She herself was more than ready to get things moving, if the ache at the core of her body was any indication. "Okay," she smiled, releasing him and reaching for his hands, tugging him back toward the bed.

At the last moment, she twisted and tugged harder so he landed on the mattress instead of settling back atop her frame. He let out a huff of surprise, but quickly caught on to her train of thought as she settled herself onto his hips, bracing her hands on his chest to lean down and breath into his ear. "Giddyup, cowboy."

He choked a little, moaned her name and she kissed him as she reached down and took hold of him again. A couple of firm strokes had him practically whining into her mouth before she raised her hips and then sunk down onto him. Out of practice internal muscles stretched, a good sort of burn and finally she settled on his hips, her moans mingling with his, but both their eyes were smiling.

Experimentally, she rolled her hips and reveled in the shudders that shook their bodies. She gripped him hard with her inner muscles, feeling him twitch inside her and gasped. Riding him slowly, then with increasing speed, she let one of her hands slide from his chest to his side, where her fingers traced the scar left by a bullet. He gasped, head falling back to reveal the straining tendons in his neck.

Using the hand braced on his chest, Andrea pushed herself into a sitting position. She rose up and sank down again, murmuring non-sensical words of pleasure, her body joining his in the rush towards completion. His hands caressed her breasts, thumbs brushing her nipples in the way she liked causing her hips to stuttered and making Rick grin. One of his hands traveled down her body, squeezing her hip before his thumb found her clitoris, rubbing firmly until she felt her body clamp down on him, waves of pleasure rolling through her just as he gave one final hard upward thrust and came.

She slumped, boneless and sated onto his chest, kissing the sweat salty skin as his arms came up to hold her close. His lips brushed her brow but, for the moment, she lacked the energy to raise her head.

In the quiet of the house, their breath echoed in the room. Andrea was pretty sure neither of them knew sadly how to handle whatever this was, but for now, with the rain still pounding down outside, they could lie there and regroup.

She also wouldn't be opposed to going for round two.

Comments, pretty please?