AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"See—I asked for bacon, but I really think I want sausage," Andrea said. "My period is like—right around the corner. I feel like a crazy carnivore, you know? Like I just—want to eat a plate of meat. I should've asked for sausage. You know what—never mind…I want both. Where's Jacqui?"

"She's right here," Jacqui said with a laugh. "And I heard you. Even more than I wanted to hear. Patty or link? We actually have both on hand today."

"You know what, one of each," Andrea said. "If it's not too much trouble."

"Not for you, sweetie," Jacqui responded. With a hand on Andrea's shoulder, she leaned down and kissed the woman's cheek affectionately after she put down the plate that she'd brought for Michonne.

"Are you sure you don't need a hand?" Carol asked, giving Jacqui a guilty look. Jacqui patted her shoulder affectionately in response.

"We won't have anyone else in for half an hour," Jacqui said. "And I've already straightened, cleaned, refilled, and prepped everything I can. You know I can't just sit around, Carol. Whipping up an order of sausage just might help me keep my sanity."

"I want whatever coffee she's having," Michonne said. "I need that kind of enthusiasm in my life."

"Jacqui just runs on that natural joie de vivre," Andrea said.

Jacqui smiled broadly at that assessment of her energy level and rushed back to the kitchen to get the sausage that Andrea ordered. Carol bit her breakfast sandwich—one of the bagel sandwich varieties that they were trying out for the next week or two to see how they were received—and sat back in her chair.

"You know what, Andrea Michelle Harrison," Alice said, putting her phone down and finally beginning to eat the breakfast food that was probably cold by now. "I kind of hate you. Just a little bit. For at least the next few minutes."

"Strong words," Michonne offered.

"What the hell did I do?" Andrea asked, filling her mouth with scrambled eggs.

"You changed the subject to breakfast meats," Alice said.

"What subject?" Andrea asked. "I didn't even know there was a subject, Alice."

"I told you I met someone," Alice said. "I told you I was thinking about sending her flowers, but I haven't decided if I should send them to her home or work."

"Well, Alice Jane," Andrea said, "you didn't make it clear that you were soliciting advice. I thought that was the end of the story until further notice."

"Home," Michonne offered. "Getting flowers at work is—if she's not ready to talk about this with her coworkers? You're forcing her into an uncomfortable position."

"Home," Carol echoed.

"See? It doesn't matter what I think, Al. The consensus is home," Andrea said.

"My point is that—I come out and say I've met this incredible woman and you just move on to the next topic. No—gee, that's great, Al, tell us more about her. Not a damn thing."

"Gee, that's great, Al," Andrea said. "Tell us more about her." Everyone laughed at Alice's expression and, in spite of herself, Alice laughed at their reaction. "I'm sorry. I guess—we just reserve our excitement given your…record."

"My record?" Alice asked.

"This isn't Andrea's fault," Michonne said. "Your record, Al. And you know you have a record. You meet someone amazing, you're totally in love, and then two days later that's over and we've never even met her."

"Exactly," Andrea said. "Between the practical parade of Jamies—wasn't it Jamie there was a run on last year?"

"It was Jamie," Michonne confirmed. "But there were a couple of Ashleys, too."

"OK—so it doesn't usually last long," Alice said. "But—this one's different. First of all, she's brand new to the area. Do you know what a new-to-the-area lesbian is like in Living Springs? That's like—I found Nessie."

"Is her name Nessie?" Andrea asked.

"Sadie," Alice said. "Her name is Sadie. She's just moved here to take a job at the university. You know that professor that died like two weeks ago? The old man?"

"The guy that always looked like Abraham Lincoln?" Andrea asked. Alice nodded.

"Sadie's filling in for his classes until next semester when she'll start her own. I met her at Beat on Friday."

"That's the gay bar near Birchwood?" Michonne asked.

"Yes, Michonne," Alice said. "That's the only gay bar in the area and, I don't know if you knew this, but that's the safest place to meet other gay people, you know?"

"Well, I think it's excellent," Andrea said after she'd thanked Jacqui for the delivery of sausage to the table. "And I, for one, want to meet this lesbian unicorn."

"With that attitude?" Alice asked.

"What attitude?" Andrea asked with a laugh. "Al—the only reason we never meet any of your interests is because you never invite us to meet them. You never bring them coffee. You never invite us over. You don't invite us to meet your interests and then you get pissed because we don't meet them."

"And that's when they're gone in like forty-eight hours," Michonne said. "Honestly—if you're serious about this woman, we're all excited. But we want to meet her!"

"Bring her to coffee, Alice," Carol said. "Before work. Breakfast. On the house. My treat."

Alice looked a little nervous at the prospect, but she also looked satisfied that she wasn't being ignored. She picked up her phone again, settled back in her chair with her coffee, and sipped the beverage.

"I might," she said.

"Good," Michonne said. "Now—while we're on the subject of people we've never met…Andrea, I saw Shane Walsh in town yesterday, and he wasn't just being passingly friend with Miranda Igel. So—I don't know if I'm obligated to tell you that or…what's going on with your stranger?"

Andrea smiled to herself.

"Well, I haven't answered Shane's calls in—days," Andrea said. "And since we weren't really monogamous to begin with, and since I'm certainly not being monogamous to him, all I can say is Godspeed to him and God bless to her."

"So that's over, over?" Alice asked.

Andrea raised her eyebrows and shrugged, but the pink on her cheeks and the smile on her face said she certainly hoped it was over.

"I have something to bring to the table," Andrea mused. "Carol Ann—do you have anything you'd like to discuss?"

Carol smiled a tight-lipped smile and focused on her sandwich.

"What do you mean?" She asked, not very convincingly.

"I have something to admit," Andrea said, addressing everyone as she half looked at Carol. "I told him that I would be the one to say something. In fact, I asked him to let me be the one to say something. I swore him to secrecy with everything but a blood oath, but…I've met your…Daryl."

"I know you met him," Carol said with a laugh. "Here. When you were spying on me."

"I prefer to think of it as being protective. And, no," Andrea said, shaking her head. "No—that's not what I'm talking about. I bumped into him again."

"Getting groceries? God—I hate buying food. I see everyone there. And it's impossible to act like you don't see anyone or hear them calling you for the whole time you're there. And you want to know what's a real pisser? Being someone's doctor and they just stop you right there in the cereal aisle and want you to diagnose something—for free—right beside the Sugar Smacks."

"Alice?" Michonne said, interrupting.

"Hmmm?" Alice asked, looking up from her phone.

Rather than say anything, Michonne simply signaled, with her eyes, in the direction of Andrea and Carol.

"Where'd you run into him?" Carol asked.

"His house, actually," Andrea said.

"His house?" Carol asked.

"Turns out—your Daryl is the bouncing baby brother of the man I'm seeing," Andrea said.

"You're dating Merle?" Carol asked.

"I'm not sure if dating is the right word just yet," Andrea offered. "I mean—we haven't left his house together since the night we met at Salty's. But I'm absolutely fucking Merle."

Michonne laughed across the table.

"Merle Dixon? You're dating Merle Dixon?"

"Again—saying we're dating might be being a bit generous at this point."

"You know him?" Carol asked.

"Both brothers work for Ty," Michonne said. She shrugged her shoulders. "Ty told me a little bit about him when I told him you were seeing Daryl. Merle's—a character. Andrea—I don't want to piss on your parade, but from what Ty has said, I'm not sure you want to get tangled up with Merle Dixon."

Andrea laughed to herself.

"Why not, Mich?" She asked.

"He's a bit of a womanizer," Michonne said.

"We met at Salty's," Andrea said. "He picked me up and took me home with him. And—he hasn't been really sneaky about anything. I mean…he told me he doesn't do second times, and he certainly doesn't do third times."

"So—what are you going to do?" Michonne asked.

"I'm going to see where the ride goes," Andrea said. "I've wasted my whole fucking life—at least, the better part of my forty-five years. What's it to me if I waste a little more time? And I like Merle. Better than I liked Shane. And Shane's the best prospect I've had. So—I'm going to see where the hell it goes."

"Alright," Michonne said, some disapproval coming through in her tone.

"Point noted," Andrea said. "I'll cry on my own shoulder if I need it."

"That's not what I meant," Michonne said. "And you know it, so you can go ahead and unknot your panties."

"Merle's a womanizer," Carol said. "Doesn't do commitment. But Daryl's…"

"Could be the same," Michonne said.

"He's not…he's not!" Andrea said. "Listen—this is why I didn't want him to say anything. Not right away. I wanted to feel him out a little. Get to know Merle. Draw my own conclusions before you started making that face, Carol. I'm not even sure that Merle is what he says he is…but I can already tell you that Daryl's not that type."

"Merle's not what he says he is," Carol mused. "So—it's a show?"

"Not like that. Not—I don't think it's like that at all. He's nervous," Andrea said. "A lot like a—caged animal. The whole idea of I'll bite you if you come any closer because I want you to leave me alone. But…I don't think he really wants to be left alone."

"They are brothers," Michonne offered. "You'd think that one would be like the other."

"Evidently you've never met my sister, Dot," Alice said.

"I haven't," Michonne said. "Nobody has. For all we've seen, you were hatched, Alice."

Alice snorted.

"And there's good reason for that," Alice said. "My parents are…woo…but as for Dot? We're—I mean, wow. We're just wildly fucking different, OK? Like—Dot told me I was adopted, and I believed her. In fact, I hoped it was true. I hoped the circus would swoop my ass up and take me away with them. I'm telling you, we're entirely different."

"Different how, Al?" Carol asked.

"Fundamentally fucking different," Alice said. "I'm gay, she's straight. She's—practically out of the nineteen fifties. And not in a good way. Not in a cute aesthetic way. Not even the way that—like you are with your kind of obsession over the whole decades gone by thing. Everything Dot and I believe is just different. It's impossible to believe that we were raised by the same people. Honestly. There's a reason why we only interact with one another at family gatherings and, even then, we're just kind of like 'how are you' and that'll do 'til next year."

"Yet it's not unreasonable to assume that you and Dot have some things in common," Michonne said. "Some—common characteristics that you share because of your childhood."

"Look at Amy and I," Andrea offered. "We're nothing…nothing…alike."

"That's different," Michonne said.

"How?" Andrea asked.

"First off because you're not full siblings," Michonne said. "Secondly—Amy is a lot younger than you."

"And Daryl is a lot younger than Merle," Andrea said. "I'm telling you—I'm the only one at this table that has met both of them. They may have some things in common, but they're very different, too."

"Daryl says they're very different," Carol said.

"And that's why I didn't want to say anything until I'd kind of met both of them," Andrea said. "You forget—I'm your oldest friend here. I know you, Carol. Better than anyone. And I can see it on your face. Don't go thinking that there's anything wrong with Daryl just because Merle's a little rough around the edges."

"What's the deal with this Daryl, guy?" Alice asked. "Do you like him?"

Carol picked at her sandwich.

"Yeah," she said. "I do. I do like him."

"You spent part of the weekend with him," Andrea said. "And I only know that because I spent that part of the weekend with Merle."

Carol's face ran red.

"I did," she said.

"So—tell us about him," Andrea pressed. "What do you think about him?"

"I don't know," Carol said. "I mean—I like him. But…he's…wonderful. He's…funny. And handsome. And thoughtful…"

"Fuck—those are some strong words of praise, Carol, for you to be delivering them in a eulogy voice," Alice offered.

"I guess he just seems a little too good to be true," Carol said. "He seems—way too good to be true, actually."

"Is that like an instinct thing?" Michonne asked. "Because you've got to trust your instinct." She jumped. "Andrea—I swear…if you kick me one more time in the fucking shin…"

Andrea smiled at Carol.

"There's a difference in instinct and paranoia, and that's all I'm going to say about that," Andrea offered. "Give him a chance. Didn't you give him a chance this weekend."

Carol's face ran pink.

"I did," she said.

"And?" Andrea asked.

"I—we had a good time. I had a good time. And then, Saturday, I told him I needed to…do something on Sunday."

"What'd you need to do?"

"Let my poor flower heal," Carol said.

"OK—see? I'm back in this conversation," Alice said, putting her phone down. "Why the hell don't we lead with the good stuff?"

"It's not that exciting," Carol said. "It's just—I wasn't used to it and then we…a couple of times…and…I just needed to give her a cool down period. A breather."

Andrea snorted and helped herself to some of the coffee from the cooled pot in the middle of the table.

"Well, what do you know, Mich? I think I just figured out one of the things the brothers might have in common." She jumped, scoffing, and it was clear that Michonne had paid her back, under the table, for some previous kicks.

"I just needed a break," Carol said.

"Why didn't you just say that?" Andrea asked.

"You know how men are," Carol said. "It would've been—a whole thing. Either he would have insisted…maybe worse. Or—he'd've been pissed off for the rest of the time anyway."

"He didn't make you do anything you didn't want to, did he?" Alice asked.

Carol adopted a bit of a deer in headlights expression and shook her head.

"Simmer down, Al," Andrea offered. "Carol—sweetheart—did Daryl make you feel like you couldn't say let's just hang out for a while and spend some time together without…that…or did Ed make you feel like you couldn't say that?"

"It's just how men are…" Carol said.

"No, Carol," Michonne said. "That's not how men are. Not real men. I mean—OK, I'm not going to lie. Ty might get a little grumpy about it, but that's only after I've turned him down for a good, long time. And even then, it's just being disappointed."

"Not being Ed," Andrea finished for her. "You know—I've gotten to talk to him a little bit, Carol. And you know that I'd never let you be around someone that I thought was bad for you. I mean, honestly? If you were dating Merle I might be like…that's a bad idea. But I've talked to Daryl a little bit. There's no reason to believe that Daryl would act like Ed. Next time, why don't you just—tell him? Give him a chance to show you how Daryl acts, and not how Ed acts."

Carol gave Andrea a somewhat nervous smile and nodded her head.

"Maybe…I'll talk to him about it," she said. "We're having dinner and—maybe a movie tonight. It doesn't matter right now, though." She stood up and began collecting some of the dirty plates from the table to announce her intention to excuse herself to start her workday. "Right now—I've got to go help Jacqui. The morning rush will start any time."