Chapter Twenty-Five

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, ect., are the property of their respective owners.  The original character and plot are the property of the author.  The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise.  No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: When the world ended the only thing Birdie Grimes wanted to do was to get home to her family.  When she finds her sister-in-law and best friend on the outskirts of Atlanta, will she finally get the chance to tell him how she really feels?  Will love blossom?  *No evil Shane* 

Warning:  This fan-fiction is rated Mature for Language, Gore and Adult Situations.  Readers under the age of 18 are strongly discouraged from reading.

Pairing: Shane Walsh x Birdie Grimes

Chapter Twenty-Five

 

The loud clinking of silverware and low laughter sounded from the mess hall as Shane and I entered, his arm draped lovingly over my shoulder.  Just as Lori had warned, everyone was already awake—sans Daryl—and gathered around the table, already finished with their breakfast and merely enjoying their coffee and idle chatter.  As Andrea laughed at something Glenn had said, my spirits soared; it seemed everyone—even Andrea—were in relatively happy this morning.  It was a nice change from the glooming cloud of depression that had been hanging over this group for the past couple of days.

“Did you find Birdie and Shane?”  I heard my brother ask—most likely directing the question to his wife. 

She snorted when Shane and I sauntered in, nudging my brother’s side and jutting her chin out to where Shane and I had taken seats a little ways down from them.  Ricky turned his head and his eyes immediately fell on Shane as he sat down to my right, but he said nothing—only groaned.  Poor fella looked like Hell. 

“Sleep well?”  Dale asked, smirking at the smug glowing look on Shane’s face—probably mine as well.

“Fantastic.”  I told him, smiling sweetly. 

Jacqui snorted into her coffee before looking up over her steaming mug and muttering, “When?” 

Lori snorted loudly and caught my eye as my poor, hung-over brother looked to Shane with blurry eyes and groaned.  “Do you feel as bad as I do?”  He asked, whimpering like a baby and holding a frozen bag of unnamed vegetables firmly over his forehead. 

Shane smiled at this, his hand slipping under the table to caress my leg, knee to hip.  “Nope,” he replied with a slight chuckle, exaggerating the “P”, “Not even close.  In fact, I feel pretty damn good this mornin’.”  

Lori barked out a laugh, using her napkin to muffle the sound as she muttered, “I bet you do.”  Apparently, because my brother is like me—blind and all that—he totally missed the blatant innuendo Lori just spelled out for him.  Instead, he turned his eyes to Shane.

“Why’d you let me drink so much?”  My brother whined, apparently blaming Shane for his aching head and rolling stomach. 

I shook my head at him.  “Oh no, brother, you can’t go blaming Shane for this one.  This was all you, Daryl and Glenn.  That bottle of Soco doesn’t seem so appealing now, does it?” 

Ricky groaned, turning a little green and Glenn’s head popped up at the sound of his name and looked at me questioningly.  “Did I do anything stupid?” 

Shane chuckled, clearly having remembered what I’d told him last night.  “Not unless you think callin’ another man’s woman “pretty” is stupid.” 

Glenn’s eyes widened adorably and he buried his face into his palms.  “I didn’t?”  Poor thing sounded so hopeful.  Like maybe I wouldn’t call him out on his drunken idiocies…ha!  You play, you pay…that’s the Grimes family way. 

“Don’t be too hard on yourself Glenn; you didn’t call me pretty…”

He looked up at me; hope blooming in his eyes, well, before I crushed that…

“You just happened to tell my brother I was pretty with Daryl sitting there.” 

He groaned louder as the rest of the table laughed.  “In front of Daryl?”  He cried. 

I giggled at him and his flushed face, glad that for once, I wasn’t the one blushing.  “Like I said, don’t feel too bad, Daryl’s the one who called me hot.” 

My brother smiled as he caught Shane’s glower, however T-dog also caught the large scratches adorning Shane’s neck this morning as he came around offering us a scoop of scrambled eggs. 

Thank God I have long hair.

“What happened to you?”  T-dog asked his voice cracking comically as he smirked and looked Shane over with mock concern. 

Every face but my brother’s immediately jerked up to look at me and grinned.  My cheeks flamed under their scrutiny and I tucked my face into Shane’s chest, pinching his side, telling him without words that he better keep what really happened to himself. 

“Must’a done it my sleep,” Shane lied easily, removing my fingers and getting up to pour both of us a cup of coffee.  His eyes darted towards mine from the coffee pot, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as he tried to hold a straight face. 

My eyes darted back to Rick, hoping that he’d buy the lie and almost choked at the funny way his face screwed up in concentration from under his head compress. 

“That’s not like you,” Rick commented, not even an inkling of comprehension blooming on his face. 

I ducked my head to hide behind my hair, praying to God that I didn’t laugh and give it away.  But that got much harder when Shane sat back down, nudging me with his elbow and handing me my cup of coffee as he spoke.  “No, that’s not somethin’ I’d do at all.” 

T-dog and Jacqui—whose room for the night was directly across the hall from ours—started laughing, loudly, while Dale, Andrea and Lori started tittering behind their hands.  My face flamed hotter as each of them either winked or made a funny face at me…Thank the God’s Glenn and Carol were too messed up to remember last night. 

But it was Daryl’s entrance that finally let the cat out of the bag.  It only took seconds after he swaggered in for him to notice Shane’s new battle scars and he immediately commented, and commented loudly I might add. 

“Damn girl, what ya do to’em?”  He said, squeezing my shoulder as he passed.  “Hey Chinaman, how’s the head?”

Glenn just groaned and muttered something about “never drinking again” but Rick’s eyes went wide and darted between Shane and I for a second before a cocky grin appeared on his face.  The bastard was really gonna give me hell about this. 

Trying to hide my blushing face, I reached forward for my juice glass.  Lori’s fork clattered loudly to her plate and she started choking hard.  Afraid for her wellbeing—Rick darted up and started smacking her back, but Lori was hitting his arm and pointing to…me? 

What the Hell?

“Is that…” she gasped.  “Is that…” she started again, but kept choking.  Fed up with Rick’s attempts to find out what was wrong with her, she stood up and leaned directly over the table to grasp…my left hand.  “Is that…?”

Rick’s eyes finally followed what Lori was pointing out and his eyes got as big as saucers.  “You got engaged!”  He stated loudly and once again, ever eye turned to me. 

Shane smiled warmly as he threw his left arm over my shoulder.  Rick’s zeroed in on the ring also adorning Shane’s left hand and he spluttered.  “You-you got married?!” 

“We’re together, if that’s what ya mean.”  Shane said, tugging me a little closer. 

“It’s not like there’s a minster here to do the actual ceremony or anything,” I told him, defending our union to anyone who wouldn’t understand.  “Besides, you know how I feel about weddings.” 

Lori—having finally gotten herself under control—smiled and nodded in agreement.  Everyone else just cheered in happiness—except for Daryl who growled and turned his head away—and Andrea who scoffed.  Why was she such a bitch?

“We should do something tonight,” Dale commented, “to celebrate.” 

Most hummed in agreement but I could see the anger growing in Andrea’s face…if she wanted to start something…

“Good morning,” Jenner greeted as he made his way to the coffee pot. 

Everyone hummed their hellos but Dale piped up, “I’d hate to bombard you first thing in the morning—

“But you will.”  Shane finished and I smiled at the familiar comment.  Was it really just a few days ago that we had found each other again?  I guess it was, but with all the chaos…it felt like a lifetime ago.