Love Quote #18 -"Someone asked me what I saw in you, and my only answer was everything."

My Only Answer Was Everything

Andrea sat down on the porch steps of Hershel's home after taking a shower and dressing in a new set of warm clothes. When she had returned from searching for Sophia with Shane, Carol had insisted she get cleaned up. Andrea had wanted to stay with Shane, but to keep everyone happy and not arouse suspicion, she followed Carol's suggestion. They would have dinner in a few hours. For now, she was content to sit by herself. During the time alone, she thought about her time with Shane.

He had pissed her off royally by bringing up Amy, but then apologized for it. They had gone to a settlement where there was no sign of Sophia, but plenty of walkers for her to use as target practice. Shane didn't help her on purpose to see how she would handle everything—and she did fine. Better than she expected. They were driving back to the farm when she impulsively reached and squeezed between his legs. Shane looked at her with intense lust shining in his dark eyes and right away she knew he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him—

"Andrea."

Andrea looked up and saw Dale standing over her. "Huh? Were you saying something to me?"

Dale sighed, frustrated. "I've only been calling your name for the past minute."

What do you want?! The angry reaction was on the tip of Andrea's tongue, but she reigned herself in. "What is it?"

"You were out with Shane today."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I was. What about it?"

"You spent a lot of time with him."

"Okay and…?" Andrea tried not to let impatience lace her tone. She was getting tired of Dale constantly getting in her face about everything: her wanting to die in the CDC, taking away her gun, and now, her alone time with Shane.

"What were you doing?" Dale hesitated for a moment and then sat down next to her. "You were out there—"

"Looking for Sophia. Nothing more."

Dale was silent for a moment and Andrea hoped he'd drop the topic. But Dale was Dale, and in true Dale form, he pushed for more information, although she knew it'd end up with him claiming to be protective of her.

"What else happened? You both came back empty-handed. It seems like you were doing more than looking for her."

Andrea turned to face him. "What do you think we did, Dale? Have passionate sex in the car?"

Dale's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock. Andrea remained expressionless. If Dale was going to assume the worst about they had done together, then she might as well put it out there. She was tempted to heap on lavish details of their tryst and chose not to. Instead, she waited for an answer that never came. The silence between them seemed like it would go on forever. When Dale finally spoke, his voice was empty.

"I'm just looking out for you."

"I can look out for myself."

She decided it was best not to continue this conversation. Andrea rose up from the porch, wanting to get away from Dale. Just let him sit there and mull over the fact that Shane and her were growing closer together. It wasn't just sexual, but emotional. They were connecting at a very slow pace, but it was happening, whether Dale liked it or not. She had walked away when she heard him walking up behind her. She was about to turn around to face him when he got in front of her first.

"I've got only one question for you and I promise I'll leave you alone."

Andrea gestured with her hand for him to continue. "Ask away, Dale."

"What do you see in him?"

She was quiet as she contemplated how to answer that question. It felt like a trick question, as though Dale expected her to not be able to answer it or to falter with her words. She reflected on her interactions with Shane. The time when he was kind to her: listening to her talk about her family while he showed her how to disassemble and clean her gun. When he checked on her one day when she was walking around the farm by herself. He was good at pushing people away: the time when he brushed her off in the cemetery. Even his dismissive tone when he told her to "get over it"—this happened around the time when Dale refused to give back her gun.

It was also true that his personality left a lot to be desired. His unapologetic and straightforward manner in which he got his points across: Shane wasn't intentionally mean, even if he grated her (and everyone's) nerves. He knew how to channel his passion: her mind rewound back to earlier afternoon when they were in the Hyundai, their bodies melded together. He also struck her as a loner who yearned for connection, but was unable to have it with the woman he truly wanted: Lori. As all these memories flashed through her mind, Andrea could only think of one way and one word to answer Dale's question:

"Everything."