Rick entered the cafeteria of the prison to find them there.

They were seated at a table but not eating. Andrea was showing Carl a card and Carl looked like he was trying to recall something Andrea had taught told him.

Carl never answered. He looked at Rick when he realized his father was there. "Hey, dad."

Rick smiled and approached them. "What are you two up to?"

"We're playing poker," Andrea said as she shuffled the cards.

If Rick had been drinking something, he surely would've spit it out. "You're teaching my son to play poker?"

"What? It's not like I'm flying him to Vegas and getting him an escort," Andrea said and Rick chuckled. She turned a little serious then. "Is it okay?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, it's cool."

"Can you play, dad," Carl asked him.

"Little bit."

"Wanna join us?" Andrea raised en eyebrow at him as a challenge.

And he couldn't say no to a challenge. He pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Okay," Andrea began, all business and tapping the deck to he table. "This is Texas Hold'em. Do you know how to play that one?"

Rick nodded at her, watching her and Carl with amusement. Carl had a serious look on his face and looked determined. Andrea was speaking like she was telling them a great secret. Now that Lori was reaching the end of her pregnancy Carl spent more time with Andrea to let his mother rest. Rick constantly caught them together, playing, talking, helping around. Andrea and Amy had been in charge of taking care of the children back in Atlanta, Lori had explained to him. That was probably why Carl liked the blonde so much. She treated Carl like an adult and not a child.

"Once you have your cards you have to decide what you wanna do. If you have a bad hand you can flop. That means you give up and you have to wait for the next round."

Rick sat there and waited for her to finish. Carl looked completely fascinated and his little fingers were itching for his very first hand. Rick couldn't stop smiling. It was so rare these days, to see his son happy, to see the kid he knew he was losing come back however briefly. He was suddenly appreciative of Andrea because of that.

He looked at her. She was starting to deal the cards and something at her nose itched and she twitched it, and for whatever reason Rick found that absolutely adorable.

"You can go first. I'll go second, and your dad goes last because he made me burn too many bodies today," she said, giving him a shit eating grin.

Rick raised his eyebrows and pointed a finger at her face. "The dealer usually goes last."

"Do not question the dealer," she pointed back and Carl laughed.

Rick smiled. "Fine, fine." He got his hand and flipped it over. Not bad. Carl didn't seem to like his hand because he made a face. And Andrea... Andrea he couldn't read and he knew right away he was going to lose to her. A lot.

And he did. Even Carl managed to win a couple of rounds. It got a little embarrassing after a while but he was enjoying himself so much he didn't care. It'd been so long since he had a moment of peace and happiness with his family.

Whoa, stop, hold your horses! Andrea is NOT your family. Well, she was, because the group was family. But not his family family. Where the hell did that come from? He was so freaked out by that random thought that he lost another round.

"Dad, you suck at this."

"You really do," Andrea told him with a grimace. "You have zero poker face."

Rick smiled as he shuffled the cards. His turn to be dealer now. "What's poker face?" Carl asked.

"When you're playing you can't let your emotions show. Like if you get a good hand you shouldn't look happy because then everyone will know."

"Oh, man, I've been don't that all night," Carl said and Rick and Andrea laughed.

"It's okay, so has your dad," Andrea said.

Rick smiled at her. "I have some poker face."

She grimaced at him again and shook her head. "Uh-uh, zero."

They played a few more rounds. Rick sat one out to make three mugs of hot chocolate. When he drank from his he noticed his mouth hurt and he wondered why, then realized: because he'd been smiling all night.

He noticed other things. Andrea kept reaching for her hot chocolate blindly but kept grabbing his mug instead, did it so many times he stopped counting and they ended up sharing the two mugs. He'd drink from hers when she had his and from his when she had hers. And it struck him as oddly familial. He noticed she was letting Carl win during some rounds and noticed she had a special smile she only used on Carl and no one else. And he noticed that even though Andrea treated Carl as an adult, he was more of a kid around her than anyone else.

He added all that information up and didn't like answer.

Luckily he was yanked out of those thoughts when Lori came to collect her son. "Come on, Carl, time to go to bed."

Carl looked up at his mom, who stood by the door heavily pregnant. "Oh, come on, mom, we're having fun."

Rick saw the telltale sign of a Lori that was about to yell something at her son, but Andrea saved Carl from being reprimanded. "It's okay, we can play some more tomorrow."

"Yeah, you'll see Andrea tomorrow," Lori sighed, exhausted. "Come on."

"Alright." Carl sighed, putting his cards down on the table. He turned to Andrea and gave her a hug. "Goodnight, Andrea."

"Good night, sweetie."

"Night, dad," Carl said as he hugged his father.

"Night. I'll be right there."

"Kay."

Rick watched his son go after his mother and added. "Hey, say thank you."

Carl turned and waved at Andrea. "Thank you, Andrea!"

"You're welcome." She smiled at Carl and Lori nodded her a thank you. Andrea nodded back, then sighed when they were gone and looked at Rick. "I take it you don't wanna play an extra round?"

"Why? You're just gonna beat me again," Rick told her. She chuckled and grabbed the three empty mugs they'd been drinking from to wash them at the sink. Rick followed her, not knowing why, standing a few feet behind her with his hands in his pockets. "Thank you for spending time with him."

"You don't have to thank me, I do it cause I like it." She finished, dried her hands, and leaned back against the counter.

Rick gave her a questioning look. "You like it?"

"Yeah, he's my friend," she said and frowned when he chuckled. "What?"

"Your friend is a seven year old boy?"

Andrea shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? He's pretty cool."

He shook his head and watched as she bunched all of her blonde hair to one side and inspected it closely, then twisted it several times and threw it back. Little blonde curls went flying everywhere before they settled on her back and shoulders. He didn't know what that little action meant in Girl World, but he kinda liked it. Maybe a little too much for his comfort.

When she looked at him she frowned. "What?"

Oh, shit. Rick shook his head. "Nothing."

But Andrea frowned deeper. "You're acting weird."

He looked at the floor. "No, I'm not." Oh, she was right. He was really fucking awful at lying.

"Yes you are," she said confidently and then sighed. "What are you thinking about?"

Oh, nothing, just the fact that I kinda wanna lift you on that counter and do things to you I haven't done to Lori in God knows how long.

He looked at her. "I'm not thinking anything!"

Andrea insisted. "Why are you acting weird?"

Because I've known you forever and I've never thought about you that way before and now I am and that's really fucking messed up.

"What's wrong?"

What's wrong? I'm fucking married, that's what's wrong.

He got his bearings back and sighed, trying to give her a sincere look. "Nothing's wrong, Andrea."

"Something's off," she insisted and he sighed. "Fine, don't tell me. I'll figure it out." As she walked by him she whispered, "zero poker face, remember?"

He smiled and it was a good thing his back was to her because he was pretty sure his cheeks were burning red.

Well, shit.

Luckily being leader kept him pretty busy and stressed out, and Lori's pregnancy was coming to an end and he was too worried about that to think much else.

Still, he caught Andrea looking at him all the time, always with her eyes narrowed like she was trying to read him. It freaked him out and he always reminded himself to keep it cool. Unfortunately their roles required constant interaction and sometimes, when he was tired, he let the mask slide off. Then he was looking at her too much, or putting his hand on the small of her back when he opened a door for her, or bit his lower lip too much... He tried to remind himself to stop doing all those things, but never seemed to be able to.

He was by the pick up truck one morning, missing real coffee and planning for a trip with Glenn when he saw her approach. She had that confident stride and he knew he was in trouble right away.

When Andrea reached him, she crossed her arms. "Do you have a crush on me?"

This time he was drinking something and this time he did spit. He hadn't expected her to be that direct about it. Jesus. His first reaction, shock, was not acted. "What?"

Andrea sighed and shifted her weight to her other foot. "I don't know what else it could be."

Rick insisted one more time. "Maybe it's just nothing, then."

Andrea took one step closer and used a dangerous tone that he felt down below and uh-uh. "Then why are you staring at my lips?" she said, smiling and waiting for his reaction.

It was just what she expected. He chuckled and blushed like 13 year old girl. Andrea grinned.

Rick breathed and it was half a sigh and half a grown, and leaned his body against the side of the car. Shit. Fuck it. Why keep denying it? It wouldn't work even if he was the best actor in history.

Andrea chuckled and came to lean next to him. "It's okay."

"Yeah, it's kinda not," he said.

She stayed quiet, trying to think of something that might make him feel better. "I had a crush on Daryl for a while."

He chuckled at her failed attempt. "Yeah, you're not married."

Andrea shrugged her shoulders. "So what? A crush is a crush. It'll go away."

Rick closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't believe we're talking about this."

"Why?" she said and turned to him. "We're friends."

He looked down. "Everyone's your friend, huh?" She shrugged her shoulders again and he looked at her and his eyes landed on her lips again and fuck! Stop doing that!

Rick looked away quickly. "I'll... I'll get over it," he told her but secretly wondered if he could.

"Yeah," Andrea said. "I think people... just get bored."

He snorted. "You think I'm just bored?"

Oh, no, wrong thing to say! Save it! Save it!

Luckily Andrea did it for him, but he knew it was too late anyway. "Yeah, I think you're bored."

The warning in her tone didn't go amiss and suddenly he felt his wedding ring tighten around his finger. Thank God, she was being so reasonable. Thank God at least one of them had their head on straight, because having her so close was turning his head to mush and if he didn't put his hands in his pockets he was scared of what he might do.

"I'll be on look out, okay?" she told him.

He sighed and nodded at her, still so confused by everything that was happening, her reaction, and those butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. "Andrea," he called out to her and she stopped and turned around. "Thanks. For... not slapping me."

She chuckled. "I told you it's nothing. It'll go away."

"How do you know?"

She smiled a new smile that he kinda hoped was only for him. "I have a really good poker face, remember?"

Rick couldn't help grinning at the implication of her words and even after she was gone he stood there, digesting everything. She was right, it was a crush, his would go away, hers would go away, too, and everything would go back to normal.

He sighed as he dropped his bag into the passenger seat of the pick up truck. "Fucking hate poker."

The End