Author's Note: Oh man! I have to address some stuff, don't I? Well first off, I like that everyone gave some input, it makes me feel good that people care enough about the story to give suggestions (whether I agree with them or not is irrelevant). Okay so let me start off by saying this is not a strictly Daryl/OC story because that was the big issue I kept seeing. I will say that this was always meant to be a love triangle story line. This is meant to keep you guys guessing who Taylor will end up with through the whole story, and don't worry your pretty little heads because there are still a lot more chapters to go and a lot of guessing you will get to do! I'm hoping you like this idea of the love triangle cause I'm sticking with it since it's what I've had planned all along. Sorry if you're disappointed by this. :( Yay if you're intrigued!(: This chapter finally has the reveal of Shane's secret, now we'll all find out why he has a grudge with Taylor, she does hold a pretty damaging secret over his head.(; ENJOY!
Thanks to the reviewers of last chapter: fabsch1, taylyons, beth, both guests, padme1000, bigtimerushlover101. You all earn a gold star*(;
And thank you to anyone new that has subscribed/favorited! :D

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS.

Two long days had stretched by and although no one could really tell when it was night or day, besides from the clocks, they knew it had only been a few days. They were living in a paradise and it would be short-lived. Something deep down in their guts told them that, but they wouldn't speak it or even think about it, because who really wants to think about being out in that hell hole again? They would soon have to re-enter the land of the living, or technically land of the dead.

Andrea was walking down the hall towards her own bedroom when she absent mindedly ran into Dr. Jenner.

"Sorry Doctor Jenner!" She quickly apologized and gave him a faint smile when he looked away.

"Edwin," he whispered and turned back to her with a lopsided smile of his own.

"What?"

"My first name's Edwin, that's what you can call me. I'm not a doctor anymore," he fiddled with his hands at the confession, he hadn't meant to keep talking like that. He had a bad habit of keeping conversations short since he often said things he hadn't intended. This was definitely one of those times.

"You're still a doctor," Andrea titled her head slightly a little perplexed. She wasn't sure why he was suddenly so solemn.

"Right, right." He began to walk away towards an unknown destination when Andrea ran up and stopped him in his tracks.

"Is there something wrong? Something you wanna talk about?" She knew it was really none of her business but she couldn't shake the feeling that he knew something ominous that she didn't.

"No, why would there be?"

"You just seem... distant." She had attempted to choose her words carefully and thought that she did a pretty good job, until he spoke that is.

"I don't really know you people, remember? I wouldn't want to burden you with my thoughts anyway; they're not exactly pretty." He side stepped her and she once again cut him off.

"I've got time if you want to talk. I don't care how dark your thoughts are. They can't be any worse than mine..." she let her voice trail off as the image of her sister dying in her arms flashed through her mind in a quick fashion. "I can listen... maybe even help... Edwin."

He smiled when she spoke his name. Although he really wanted to just go lay by himself in his room and drink the horrible thoughts away; there was something in Andrea's smile and the sincerity in her voice that made him go against his better judgement.

"Okay, that sounds great."

"I don't know how else to go about this so I'll just come out and ask I guess," he inhaled a sharply and locked into a dead stare with her. "Is there something between you and Daryl still?"

"Um," she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as a distraction from the gaze that was currently boring into her. She suddenly felt uncomfortable. Not to mention she wasn't completely sure what to say in response since she didn't know the answer for herself. Technically she did know, but she also knew that there would always be doubt that lingered in between the simple yes and no answer.

"I mean, I know I was drunk the other night but it just seemed like I walked in on something," he was pretty sure that an event of significance happened but he didn't want to falsely accuse her and push her further away. Rick had always been a quick learner and with Taylor it was no different, he easily caught onto the fact that she was very timid when it came to the men department. On more than one occasion he had to remind himself to be careful with her, like he was dealing with a fragile piece of glass, one wrong word and she would be shattered. He wouldn't make her cry the way that Daryl did, not after being the one that had to see her so broken and hurt. Rick was determined to pick the pieces back up and put them together not break them apart even further.

"Do you want an honest answer?"

"That would be best," he sighed and ran a hand through his slightly-longer-than-he'd-like hair anticipating the worst. Rick kind of expected her to confess her undying love for to Daryl to him. Luckily none of the terrible things that his mind had come up with escaped from her lips; all that came out were semi reassuring words.

"I mean... I don't think there is. I've been thinking about a lot of stuff for the past few days-" she stopped briefly and looked up at him. They were sitting closely together on one of the cozier couches in the rec room which they currently had to themselves. Being nestled into his body form made it hard to angle herself properly to look him in the eye but she shuffled to do so.

"I just don't want to get invested in you if you're all caught up with him," he pushed a stray hair out of her face which had become a habit for him and continued, "but just remember that I actually know what I want. I want to be invested in you and with the risk of being too romantic, I want you to want me."

"I do want you!" She protested a little louder than she meant and covered her mouth quickly to prove it. "I'm ... I'm done with him. I'm choosing you. As long as you're still choosing me," she slid on his lap and kissed him lightly on the lips which escalated to hot and heavy rapidly. Soon hands were exploring and kisses were being placed on more than just lips. A sharp knock and clearing of a throat startled them enough to detangle themselves from each other.

"Sorry for interrupting," Shane slithered through the door and rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed on what he'd just walked in on.

"It's fine," Rick chuckled and moved a few inches away from her.

"Do you think we could get a second to talk? Just wanna ask for some advice," he added quickly and rolled his eyes for a good cover up. Rick had no idea that Shane's intent was not to ask for womanly advice in any way, shape, or form.

"Ya sure," he gave her a peck on the lips before taking his leave. "I'll be in the room Tay," were his parting words as he unknowingly left her alone with her nemesis.

"So," he slowly shut the door as soon as Rick was down the hall and out of sight. "I guess we have something to talk about. Huh, Taylor?" The way he said her name sent a shiver down her spine, she knew he was not here to make small talk.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do. If I tell Rick he'll be crushed because I'm sure you just got done telling him that everything is fine and dandy. I won't let you hurt him. We may not be the picture perfect best friends anymore but I still care about him-" Her heart sank when she finally realized that he must have seen what happened the previous day. She could not believe it.

"What you saw was a mistake! And it's done and over with," she had to interrupt him in the midst of his little speech before he began to drawl it out, that was a tendency of his after all. Taylor covered her face as a shameful, hot-burning blush began to creep into her cheeks. The incident he was referring to was fresh in her mind. Everything happened so fast and spun out of control before she could stop it. She didn't know Shane was there, she didn't know anyone could see them, and she certainly didn't do it with the intent of hurting Rick; but that was the way Shane was going to twist it, wasn't it? That she was a she-devil with malicious ways meant only to hurt the innocent.

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" He waved her off and went back to playing his game of solo darts.

"Okay if you're going to pretend it didn't happen then I will too. But we're done, I'm never going to speak to you again! Since that's apparently what you want," she huffed and turned on her heels ready to leave the situation behind her. He grabbed her shoulder and stopped her from leaving just like he always did, every single time.

"I don't know why, dammit! I just did, okay?"

"Yeah that's a great reason. Like that will make Rick feel any better. Daryl and I kissed because he just did it, for no apparent reason!-" She sneered at him completely fed up with all his twisted emotions that she could not make heads nor tails of. She would think she had him all figured out and he would turn on a dime and leave her with more questions than before.

"Will ya stop yellin?" He covered her mouth with his hand to stop all the screaming that was coming from it, the last thing they needed was more attention drawn on them. As if he didn't already have enough problems within in his own mind, let alone having others breathing down his neck. He suddenly jerked his hand back and grimaced. "Did you just lick me?!"

"Yes," she smiled triumphantly and put her hands on her hips in a childish manner that she was accustomed to, "I don't like to be silenced."

"That ain't no shocker. Been dealin' with that since day one," he wiped his hand off on his jeans and shook his head at her. No matter how much she acted like a child he still couldn't be mad at her for more than a few minutes.

"I don't have to put up with this," not even half-way through her turn he caught her and slammed her against the wall not too rough but not gently either. He gripped her wrists in his hands and pinned them above her head. Their lips crashed together for the second time but it felt like the first time all over again. He released her hands once he knew she wasn't going to protest. Her hands slid down to wrap around his neck as his promptly shifted underneath her shirt.

Shane was just about to enter the rec room when he found himself frozen in place. The scene unfolding before him was unbelievable. Well, to him it wasn't all that shocking because he had suspected it all along, but to others it would be heart-stopping, and he had a very specific 'other' in mind. He almost instantly deduced that they did not realize that the door was left open a crack, enough to be peeked into undetected anyway. He watched as his hands moved up and hers down and turned away with a grimace. Should he go tell Rick now? No... he would confront Taylor, but not while she was in the middle of that. He would let her seal the deal and would have even more dirt on her! Maybe even enough that she would 'forget' the secret that he had been keeping. He took off in a mad dash back to his room to avoid being caught.

Of course if he had stuck around he would have seen the moment swiftly change to depressing, but fate never really worked out that way and Taylor was never really lucky.

"Stop," she tried in vain to back away but remembered that she was pressed against a wall, there was nowhere to go. "Just... stop."

"What?" He looked genuinely puzzled.

"I can't. You- you can't! What about Cassidy? What about Rick? None of this feels wrong to you?" Taylor took a few deep breaths to regain proper breathing for her aching lungs.

"No, I mean I ain't got nothing serious with Cassidy... and no one said you n Rick were exclusive," he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. She peeled her arms off of him and wished that he would do the same. Once he noticed the death glare she was sending him he abruptly followed suit.

"I can't do this. I can't do ANY of this anymore," she waved her hands in front of herself and pointed between them dramatically. "I'm going to stay away from you and you're going to stay away from me and it'll all be okay. We don't have to talk or even look at each other," she was rambling on out loud devising a plan that left Daryl standing clueless. He thought that maybe she had gone off the deep end talking to herself aloud, but then he realized that she was actually talking to him, distractedly of course.

"Taylor." He tried once and she continued on with her little plan, clearly off in her own world. "Taylor..." He blew out a frustrated sigh through gritted teeth and took her by the shoulders to softly shake her. "Taylor!" When she finally ceased speaking and looked into his eyes he furrowed his eyebrows and continued, "what the fuck are ya goin' on 'bout?"

"Me and you!" She stepped out of his reach. "I- I don't want to do this but we can't be anything anymore, not whatever this is, not even friends. Just nothing." She bit her lip and looked to the ground for reassurance. "I can't hurt Rick... I won't hurt him, he deserves better, especially after what Lori did. So I just have to cut ties with you."

"Why won't ya look at me?"

"We're done. You were sure you didn't want to be my prince charming... I guess you can have what you wanted now," she sniffled and hurriedly left the room before he could catch her or talk her out of it. She would not let him suck her back into whatever emotionally disturbed, twisted, relationship they'd been in. She slammed the door behind her and left him empty-handed once again.

"What if I was wrong?"

"Why should I believe that Taylor? You've been lying to Rick's face and you apparently care about him. You don't give two shits about me... so how can I trust your word?" He took a few steps closer to her with a dark gleam in his eyes. He was about to get his way, finally. This time luck would be on Taylor's side and his way was nothing more than keeping his dark secret under covers.

"I won't tell Rick about ... your thing," she whispered, somehow knowing exactly where he was leading with it all. Once he had said that he saw them she pretty much had a gut wrenching feeling that he was just going to use it as blackmail. Now she would never dare spill his secret, would she?

"Good, I guess we can finally see eye to eye now," he turned to leave feeling satisfied that his and Lori's secret would be kept good and safe.

"He should know though," she bravely spoke up against her better judgement.

"What did you say?" He whipped around with a small vein in his neck prodding out with every angry heartbeat.

"Rick deserves to know... It would crush- devastate him, but he should know. It's not fair," she twisted her hands together nervously. It wasn't often that she stuck up to him and even less so when she was alone with him. Shane would never hit a woman, but he just didn't see Taylor as anything more than a loose end that needed tied up a long time ago. He thought that catching her and Daryl would be more than efficient at solving the problem but she seemed to be getting antsy about it all. He supposed her getting closer to Rick was more of a curse than a blessing.

"You will not tell him-"

"I would never want to be the one to tell him that. I just think that him finding that out would hurt him a hell of a lot more than him finding out that I kissed Daryl," she took a few steps backward in case he was going to lunge, but he just stood stalk still.

"You said it was a mistake, right?" She nodded, knowing he was referring to the kiss. "Well what me and Lori did was a mistake. I... I was being stupid, they were just married and he was already in the hospital from a car accident," he sighed and relaxed a little, "we hooked up ONE time and it just so happened to get her pregnant. Neither of us could have seen that coming! Rick was too distracted to do the math but me and Lori knew... neither of us wanted to break the news to Rick so we never have. You don't understand, he already hates me for taking her away from him... please don't let him know that his prize possession-" he stopped and had to hold back a sob that was threatening to escape him. It had been years since it all happened but it was still so hard to swallow, he had slept with his best friends wife and they were barely two months into the marriage. He knew he was a bad person but just wanted to forget it, but there was a little brunette that made that memory always come back and remind him of the awful thing they had done. He looked Taylor dead in the eyes now without anger, just pleading for sympathy.

"Please don't tell Rick that Carl isn't his."