Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 38

Author's Note: So I've decided this is going to be a whole long story because I keep going off script because there's so much to do with Rick and Jewel. And of course Summer. But you guys love it! Please just pamper me having a real bad day at work! I of course am doing some of the eight months they are on the run. I got a cute idea for Christmas. But right now, Andrea and Jewel need to have it out. And I so can see me having this conversation with my son who hated stop signs when he was learning to drive. Ever wondered where Daryl's poncho came from? I answered the question.

"With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men I will plead, but to tyrants, I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where here they will certainly be lost-William Lloyd Garrison"

Jewel's POV:

Jewel walked out of the house to hang up clothes and sighed as she saw Andrea approach her.

"I need to talk with you," Andrea said.

"Go ahead, no one is stopping you. But if you're going to talk, grab clothes, I am doing this one handed," Jewel told her.

"You may have been voted to be Rick's replacement if something happened to him, but I don't have to do what you say. I don't agree with you as the choice," Andrea said.

Jewel looked at the other woman. "Seriously Andrea? Did it look like I wanted to be elected to that position?" she asked.

"You sure the hell didn't say anything," Andrea told her.

Jewel smiled as she turned to her. "So, what is it Andrea? Lori dumped Shane, and you're his bed buddy now? So you just do what he says? He says jump you do it?"

"I'm not sleeping with Shane," Andrea said. "You really don't have much room to say anything; you jumped on Rick the day he got back."

Jewel looked at her. "You are seriously wrong in that regard. You know nothing about me Andrea. Exactly what are you doing around here?"

"I stand guard, keep watch for Walkers," Andrea insisted.

"Right, because you knew how to shoot so well before this," Jewel said. "There are other things that need to be done Andrea. Carol, Lori and me, we are the ones who are picking up your slack."

"You three have kids, more work will be piled on you," Andrea said.

"Remind me of that when it comes to dinner time, maybe your rations should be how much work you put out here. You want to complain about us not picking Shane to lead this group if something happens to Rick? Why don't you go ask your boyfriend about what really happened that night with Otis? Or how he had Rick in his sights and could have shot him? Or how he pushed my daughter down the stairs? Why don't you go and ask Shane about those things, and then come back to me and tell me that he's what's best for this group."

"He's done more for this group then Rick," Andrea told her.

"Seriously? You really can look at me with a straight face and say that?" Jewel told her. "Rick was handling that situation with the barn. But, Shane put this whole group at risk by his attitude and actions. Don't even deny trying to dignify that with an answer, Andrea. Ever since the CDC, you've had this higher than everyone else attitude. I'm tired of it. You lost a sister, and I'm sorry about that. You seem to forget that I lost a brother. If I remember, you were there; you were part of the group that left him on that roof. But somehow, I've forgiven everybody for that. You need to get over the fact that Dale cared enough for you to risk his life to get you out of the CDC," Jewel informed her.

"You aren't comparing my sweet innocent little sister to your rude foul mouthed brother," Andrea said.

Jewel shook her head. "I'm comparing their losses, how the affected us. It doesn't matter who Merle was, he was still my brother. I could argue with him for days, but the fact is that he was still blood, my blood. I know how rude and crude he could be, but he was still my brother. You miss Amy; you miss your conversations with her? I miss arguing with Merle, I miss just the three of us, Daryl, Merle and me sharing a laugh without even having to say a word. Daryl and I are grieving in our own way, but we are contributing to this group. I got shot for Pete's sake to bring Hershel back here. Now Andrea you need to get out of my face before I do something we're both going to regret. I got a pretty good left hook, almost as good as my right hook. Step back," she warned as she picked up a piece of Andrea's clothing. "Oh you want your laundry done, do it your own damn self. I mean considerin' I have a child to look after and you don't. So doin' your laundry isn't my top priority," she said as she walked into the house.

Summer's POV:

Summer easily took out a walker at 50 feet and turned and looked at Rick. "Do we need to waste anymore bullets?" she asked with a grin.

Rick chuckled. "No, I think you've proven yourself. Not that I had any doubt."

Summer leaned against the car. "So what are your intentions with my mom?"

Rick laughed as he leaned back on the car. "I expected that direct approach from Daryl, not you. I expected you to be a bit more subtle."

Summer shrugged. "We face death every second of every day; don't really have time to skate around the issue. Just don't tell mom I was being sassy please?"

Rick chuckled. "You have my word. I told your mom I loved her last night," he answered honestly.

Summer turned and looked at him. "And she didn't run for the hills? She stayed put? She didn't say it back did she?"

"No, but I didn't expect her too, I didn't expect to say it either," Rick told the teen.

"I don't want to see mom hurt, I mean with Lori pregnant…." Summer hesitated before continuing.

"No way the baby is mine," Rick assured her.

"But, Lori broke up with Shane. So, what if she wants you back?" Summer questioned obviously concerned about her mother.

"She already tried and I made it clear to both your mom and Lori that wasn't going to happen," Rick assured her. "Yes I know it's going to be difficult, I mean Carl is always going to be part of Lori and me, and I can't exactly go pick him up on the weekends for visits," he told her.

Summer laughed. "True. Mom likes you, I can tell. Just give her some time?"

"Trust me I am," Rick assured her. "So, I was thinkin' about this driving lesson of yours," he told her.

"Are you chickening out?" Summer questioned as she crossed her arms.

Rick laughed. "No," he assured her. "I was thinkin' we could drive 20 miles out, check out that little housing development Maggie mentioned. Your mom mentioned she might have had a birthday or it was coming up?"

"It's the end of September now, and her birthday's the twelfth, why?" Summer asked.

"I'd like to see about getting her something," Rick said.

"Am I hearin' right, that a Sherriff is suggesting that we rob houses?" Summer asked with a grin.

"We need to search for supplies, and it's in the opposite direction of town and where the herds were, so yes," Rick answered.

"Rick, do you think that what happened with Luke is our fault?" Summer asked.

"Hey absolutely not, alright?" Rick answered. "We did what we could, we believed in our hearts that he would be found alive. We were out there searching."

"Maybe I should have went, ankle and all. Maybe another set of eyes would have made the difference," Summer insisted.

"And maybe we would have lost you too," Rick told her. "Don't you blame yourself, Summer. It kills me that you, Carl, Sophia and Mitch are going to grow up in a world like this. And the baby that Lori's carrying? And you? You should be worried about dances, and first kisses, and boys, and taking out your friends when you got your driver's license. You should be worrying your mom and Uncles about you when you break curfew, not if you're going to come back alive from stepping outside. So when your mom asked if I would take you out for a driving lesson, I agreed because that's what a normal teen should be doing. You shouldn't be fighting to stay alive," Rick told her as he put an arm around her. "And you definitely should not be blaming yourself for a little boy's death."

"If I told you somethin' would you not tell mom?" Summer asked.

"It depends what it is. I'm not going to keep something secret from your mom or your Uncle that I think they need to know," Rick told her.

"It's…I count them," Summer said.

"Count what?" Rick asked as he turned and looked at her.

"Walker kills…It makes me feel like somehow I'm in power. If I kill ten, that's ten that I survived," Summer told him. "Morbid huh?"

Rick gave a small smile. "You know what Summer? If that is what it takes for you to feel in control in this messed up world, then go on and count. And you are right, if you kill ten, that's ten more of those bastards that can't hurt you, or your mom, or anyone else."

"Are you going to tell mom?" Summer asked quietly.

"No, you know what; I think that's something that can be between us. But I want you to promise me something," Rick told her.

"What?" Summer asked.

"That if you get to over whelmed, you come talk to me. I love your mom, and you are part of what I love about her. So you're a package deal, and you need to be comfortable to come to me and talk to me. So it's a deal?" Rick asked.

"Yeah," Summer said.

"Alright, driving time, please don't try to kill me, scare me to death, or wreck the car," Rick teased as he handed her the keys.

"Now that's a big order!" Summer teased back.

Rick's POV:

Rick had to admit he only had to grip the dash twice since Summer had taken the wheel. He had to laugh when she blew through a stop sign. "Um, that red thing back there, with the big white letters that was a stop sign."

Summer put her foot on the break and looked at him. "You want me to actually stop?"

Rick had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing at her look. "Back up and stop at the sign," he instructed.

"Rick, seriously?" Summer asked. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but we're the only people on the road."

Rick tried to keep a straight face. "Blame the cop in me, but part of driving is obeying all traffic signs. If there's a herd coming, then you have my permission to blow through a stop sign. But since it's empty on the road, back up and stop. Unless you want me to drive back?" he asked.

"Oh seriously, come on," Summer said as she backed up the car.

"You need to look around your surroundings," Rick told her as he looked out the window trying to keep the laugh in.

"You…are trying to laugh at how ridiculous this is! Oh my God!" Summer said as she stopped the car at the stop sign and deliberately slammed on the breaks causing him to lunge forward a bit.

"Now that's what I would call Sass," Rick warned. He laughed. "Yes, I know it's ridiculous, but you may not always be alone. You may have one of the kids with you. You may have the baby with you, and you might not have a choice. You may need to get out of somewhere in a hurry," Rick told her. "But, if you don't know how to do things on instinct, then you aren't going to be able to think on the run."

Summer nodded. "Sorry about the attitude," she told him.

Rick laughed as he squeezed her shoulder. "You're a teen, I expect attitude."

Summer rolled her eyes. "I'm not really lookin' forward to getting' back and to Shane. I'm sure he'll have somethin' to say with us bein' gone most of the day, even though we did find gas and guns."

"Don't worry about Shane," Rick assured her.

"Holy crap!" Summer said as she slammed on her breaks as a walker came out of nowhere.

"Why don't you try that new bat you found? I got your back," Rick said as he handed her the bat from the back of the car.

Summer opened the door. "Hey bastard, over here! Come on," she said as she readied her bat.

Rick watched her as it approached.

"Yeah I'm not a snack! Not today!" Summer said as she beat its brain out with the bat.

Rick nodded. "Let's go before his friends come," he told her. "So, how many was that? How many have your survived."

"Sixteen…." Summer answered as she got back in the car.

"You're going to be alright Summer," Rick said as he squeezed her shoulder.

Jewel's POV:

Dale looked down from the RV. "There back, and Rick looks like he's in one piece," he called down.

"Any walker blood on the car?" Glenn asked.

"Seems clear," Dale responded.

"Well then that's not a lesson, not until you take down a walker or two with the car," Glenn said.

Jewel glared at Glenn. "Not funny," she told him.

Daryl laughed. "Hey Dale you want to take my motorcycle up on the RV?" he teased.

"Glad you all find this amusing, I mean it's not like they haven't been gone almost all day, wasting time on teaching a kid how to drive," Shane said.

Summer pulled the car up, coming close to Shane. "Sorry!" she said with a grin.

"What the hell girl?" Shane asked.

"Back off," Daryl warned.

"Alright, you look in one piece, how did it go?" Jewel asked.

"She did pretty good, only had me clutching the dash three or four times. Of course, there was the whole thing about actually stopping at stop signs," Rick teased her.

"You made her stop at stop signs? Seriously dad?" Carl asked.

"Thank you!" Summer said. "But we brought back goodies!"

"Goodies?" Shane asked. "You brought back goodies?"

Summer rolled her eyes. "We found this one house at that development the opposite way of town, the guy had stocked up on guns and ammo and gas," she said. "He had like ten or eleven gas cans. We only brought back seven, couldn't fit any more. Found some clothes and stuff too," she said as she threw a poncho at Daryl.

"Thanks," Daryl said.

"Sounds like Maggie and I need to make a run," Glenn said.

"So no walkers?" Jewel asked.

"Two in one of the houses and one on the road," Rick said as he got stuff out the back. "Shane you want to help out here or you just want to stand there?"

Jewel smiled as she grabbed a bag. "I can handle this one," she said as she walked to his tent with him. "So it went good huh?" she asked as she kissed him. "God I hope you found a razor."

"What you don't like the whole cave man look?" he teased. "She did amazing. She is definitely your daughter," Rick told her. "How'd it go back here?"

"I had an argument with Andrea about me being voted your second, and Maggie gave me a box of condoms," Jewel said with a laugh.

"What?" Rick asked as he looked at her.

"Yeah, even told me where she and Glenn sneak off too," Jewel said.

"Oh? This may get interesting," Rick told her. "So, I got something for you."

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Well I apologize for it being late, I didn't realize you were having a birthday and secondly if it's not your style, I just didn't have a lot of choices," Rick said as he kissed her shoulder and moved her hair out of the way as he put on a necklace with a single pearl on it. "Happy birthday," he said.

Jewel smiled as she touched it. "Thank you," she said as she kissed him.