Somehow, Sharon had managed to avoid talking about the kiss she had given Andrea for the rest of the day, even though things were incredibly awkward between the two when her best friend had made her appearance for breakfast and lunch. It had been a blessing when Ricky had called during the middle of the strained lunch, talking her ear off while they picked at the food on the plates in front of them. While she was still talking, Andrea had cleared the table as best she could before disappearing back upstairs, and Sharon let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Mom? Is everything okay?"

She waited until she heard the door to the guest bedroom close before she answered her son. "It's been rough on Andrea, her having me hover over her as I watch her recover. But this is the second time in a month that she's been attacked by Phillip Stroh, and I just want her to be happy. The only way for that to happen is for Stroh to be out of our lives, once and for all."

"But she's okay living with you? She seems too independent to just sit back and allow another person to take care of her."

"We're having a few bumps along the way, I'll be honest. I think part of that comes from her living on her own from the time she started law school. She's never had a long-term partner, or at least not in all the time I've known her. But I adore her strength of character, I feel like we were both formed from the same fire, in a way." Sharon let out another sigh. "I love her."

It wasn't until the words were coming from her mouth that she wondered how Ricky would respond to them. "You love all your friends, Mom. It's probably your best and worst character traits."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Sometimes you just so blindly love that you see nothing else but the best in people, or rather, the ideal best in your friends. It's hard to be human and live up to an ideal, because we're only human, in the end, and there are so many people who do not want to fail you. Try to keep that in mind if she gets short with you. Okay?"

"Okay. How did you get to be so smart?"

"By watching you. Now, I should probably get going, this was just supposed to be a quick check in call, and I'm late to meet up with Claire."

"Go, I'll be fine. I love you."

"Love you, too, Mom," he replied before hanging up, and Sharon hugged the phone tight to her chest as she tried to digest his words. There was a truth to what he was saying, she did have a tendency to have high expectations for her loved ones. Still, though, she shied away from thinking too much about their kiss, since in the scheme of things, it didn't change her relationship with Andrea. Or at least, that was how she was going to think of things.

Letting out another sigh, she got up from the table and carried her water glass over to the couch and took a seat, curling her legs under her as she pulled a blanket off the back of it, wrapping it around her as she stared at the wall. It didn't take Sharon long to completely fall asleep, even though it wasn't an ideal bed. In the daze of her sleep, she could hear feet padding near her before someone's warm hand tugged her legs out on the couch, covering her with it before pressing lips against her forehead.

The next thing she knew, Sharon was being kissed awake by Andy, and she smiled lazily as she let out a deep sigh. "Are you just getting home?" she asked, her voice still thick with sleep.

"Yeah. I tried calling earlier, to see what you wanted, but Andrea mentioned that you had finally fallen asleep and I told her not to wake you. Somehow, she managed to wash all the clothes that were in the laundry, and start the dishwasher. It's like she feels she needs to earn her place here."

Sharon frowned a little as she sat up, stretching before getting to her feet and looking around him to glance into the dining area. Andrea and Rusty were setting the table and talking lowly to each other. Andrea glanced up at them, the open look on her face quickly shuttering as their eyes met, and Sharon looked away quickly before threading her fingers together and tightly holding on to herself in order to keep from reacting in a way that would arouse attention.

"Come on, guys, the food will get cold if we wait much longer for you!" Sharon nodded absently and allowed Andy to lead her to the table, pulling her chair out for her before doing the same for Andrea, who murmured a small thank you to him before looking studiously down at her plate. "So, Mom, did you really sleep the day away?"

"Not the whole day, no. Andrea and I managed to make it through lunch before I passed out."

"You've been pushing yourself too hard, Sharon. I think that I am more than capable of taking care of myself now, so that you can focus on your own health."

She narrowed her eyes as she shook her head. "Andrea, do you really think I'm going to agree to that after what's happened to you? You know what, I'm not hungry, I'm just going to head up to bed." Pushing away from the table, she ignored everything that they were saying to her, tearing her wrist free from Andy's loose grip as she stormed away from the dining room and went into the master bedroom, taking care not to slam the door behind her as she tugged off her clothes and let them fall to the floor before she made her way over to the dresser and pulled out a nightgown, tugging it over her head before throwing herself onto the bed and pulling the covers up to her chin and curling up into a ball.

"Sharon? Is everything okay?"

Andy's voice was welcome, but she didn't turn to look at him, instead listening to his footsteps pad over to their bed. The mattress sank beneath his weight, and she tensed a little, knowing that he would be trying to pull out of her what was wrong. She let out a long breath as she shrugged, and a moment later, she felt him spoon himself around her body, his arm coming to rest around her waist. "I think that Andrea was right in one regard," she finally said lowly, the memory of their kiss playing back in her mind.

"And that would be?"

The kindness in his voice hurt her heart, and she bit her cheek a little to stop the tears before responding. "I have been pushing myself a little harder than I should. I just don't want to let any of you down, and I want to protect Andrea and Rusty from whatever Stroh might have in store for them. But I know that I have to be around to protect the people that I love. Please, go out and entertain them, I'm going to try to catch up on my sleep. Maybe that will put me in a better mood."

The little white lie ate at her heart, but it was really for the best. Andy didn't need to know that she had made a mistake so early into their marriage. After all, he was the love she had waited for, the rest was just her chasing pavements she had no business walking on.