A/N: Another short chapter. I decided to break it in half, so the other part will probably be up later today if I can finish editing it. As always, thanks for all of your reviews and feedback, they make me smile! Also, remember to go vote in the poll on my profile, it'll be closed Monday morning. Without further delay, Chapter 27!

Dale, check. Rick, check. That left one more person on my agenda for today. Shane. I saw him talking with Andrea near the shed where they were holding Randall.

"Hey," I said to him once I made it over to where they were.

"Hi, what's up? You look upset," he said and nodded to Andrea as she walked away.

"I'm fine," I said and pulled him to the side, making sure Andrea was out of earshot before continuing. "We need to talk."

"About what?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"About you. And Otis. And Dale," I said, feeling the gravity of the situation for the first time. I saw his guard go up but I didn't pause because I knew I'd loose my nerve if I did.

"What's going on with you? Seriously?" I asked and put my hands on my hips, trying to look intimidating.

"We've talked about this…"

"No, we haven't. You brushed me off by dropping that bombshell about Otis on me. I get that it messed with your head, but there's something else. You've changed," I interrupted him and stared him down. I wasn't going to let him get out of this.

"Are you sure it's me who's changed?" He asked, taking me completely off guard.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and instantly becoming defensive.

"It means, you aren't exactly the same as you were a week ago. You've become awful friendly with the rest of the group, especially Dixon. You keep telling me there is nothing going on, but I catch you two all alone, hugging, you're wearing his jacket," he said, grabbing the sleeve of the coat to emphasize his point.

"That's not the point, quit trying to change the subject," I said, getting flustered.

"You're changing the subject too. You say I haven't been talking with you, well it works both ways Adeline," he said in an icy voice that made me take a step back.

"Why are being like this?" I asked him with a hard glare.

"Like what?"

"Like…"

"Like what, Adeline?" He nearly yelled at me.

"Like a jackass!" I yelled back at him, shoving him in the chest since he had invaded my personal space.

We started screaming at each other then, nonsense yelling and fighting. Then, he grabbed my arms and pinned them to my sides and got in my face.

"Listen to me, Adeline. I am your brother, family. Your priorities have gotten really screwed up lately, and you need to put them back in perspective, before it's too late," he hissed at me. For the first time in my life, I was genuinely afraid of my brother. Even though I knew deep down that Shane would never hurt me, I was scared of him right now.

"Shane, you're hurting me," I whimpered as his grip on my arms tightened. For a moment, he just looked at me and his eyes were empty, then he came back and he let go of me. Apparently, he'd had me lifted off the ground because when he released me, I fell back down.

"Adeline, I—I'm," he trailed off and rubbed his face with his hand. I felt tears spring into my eyes as I looked at my brother.

"What happened to you?" I asked him and walked off.

"Addie!" I heard him call but that just made me start running.

By the time I made it back to the front of the house, I was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. I saw Daryl heading out into the woods and my first inclination was to run after him and tell him what happened, then I remembered that I couldn't. I groaned and flopped down in the yard, pulling my knees up to my chest and putting my head in my hands. Then I stood up and marched into my tent.

I saw my sketchbook lying on the ground where Daryl must have left it. It was opened to the last picture in the book, Shane, Rick, and me. I'd drawn this from a photograph of us after my first day of gun training. We were all smiling and they had me lifted up on their shoulders. I ran my hand over the page, trying to draw on that memory. I flipped the page and picked up a pencil and started to draw again.

I drew a self-portrait. I drew myself standing outside by a body of water on a foggy night, looking out into the distance with the wind blowing my hair around. It was a beautiful picture, but something about it felt odd. That's when I realized I had drawn myself holding a crossbow in one hand and a necklace in the other. My hand instantly went up to my neck to grab the familiar chain. It had been my mother's and Shane had given it to me before he left to go back to college that year. I groaned. Shane and Daryl and wiggled themselves into my picture. It was amazing how well it illustrated my current situation. I was torn between them, feeling like they couldn't co-exist in my life. And now I felt lost and secluded from both of them.

"Adeline?" A voice called from outside my tent so I walked over and opened the flap. It was Carol. "I was just going to let you know, dinner's ready if you want to come eat," she smiled sweetly and I returned it after closing the book.

"Thanks," I said and walked out of the tent. I followed her to the house and sat down at the table, thankful that neither Daryl nor Shane were there.

"Joining us tonight, then?" Lori asked with a smirk and I looked up from my plate and glared at her.

"Yes," I said in my sweetest voice and plastered a smile on my face.

"Where is Shane?" She asked and I nearly choked in anticipation for my comeback. Then I looked at Rick sitting next to her and bit my tongue.

"Not sure," I said instead and went back to eating. I didn't join in their incessant chatter, but I did listen. It was amazing how comfortable they all were. It was like this was our home and we were having a normal dinner, something I could get used to.

As soon as dinner was over, I rushed outside and into my tent. I didn't want to talk to anyone else, I just wanted to curl up and sleep. And that is what I did. I fell asleep almost instantly and, amazingly, no nightmares plagued my sleep.

The next morning came with a bright sun and warm air rushing into my tent. I jumped up as I sensed someone's presence. It was Shane. I groaned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"What?" I snapped.

"Please, just listen. I want to apologize. I-I don't know what's going on with me Addie, I just keep lashing out and I can't stop. I never meant to hurt you, or yell at you. I just- I need you right now baby sister. I feel like I'm loosing you, and I cannot handle that. Lori, I can get over her, but not you. You're all the family I have left. Please, forgive me," his eyes were pleading and no matter how hard I tried to stay angry, it was in vain. Shane is my brother. Isn't that what I'd told Dale? So now it was time to start acting like it. He was the most important thing in the world to me, and I wasn't going to let anything screw that up.

I walked over to him, stared him down, and then flung my arms around him. "I love you," I whispered against his chest. I knew that it shouldn't be like this, that I shouldn't let him off the hook, shouldn't be okay with everything that had happened, but I was.

"I love you too," he whispered back and I was glad that at least one of my problems was resolved. Now just a million more to go.