I Love You So

Part 7

Amanda woke up the next morning and climbed into the shower. She brushed her hair and her teeth before joining everyone in the kitchen.
Dale smiled as he saw Amanda, "Good morning!" He said, pulling the seat out besides him, "How did you sleep?" he grinned at her. Dale had taken a paternal liking to Amanda, due to her kind nature. Amanda was open and kind with Dale, always happy to have a conversation with him. Amanda smiled as she sat down next to Dale, her eyes slightly swollen and red from having cried not long ago. Dales smile faltered, "Let's talk later, yeah?" He whispered to Amanda.

Amanda nodded, "thanks, dale." she said softly as she rested her head on his shoulder, "I read the book you recommended to me last night."

Amanda said, shifting in her seat to look at him, "I understood absolutely nothing about it." She admitted

Dale laughed, rolling his eyes, "your malnourished, your brain isn't working." He laughed at her, watching as T-Dog walked over with a tray of eggs.

"Good morning!! Powered eggs but I make them better than anyone else." T-Dog said happily.

"You must be use to powdered eggs, huh?" Dale asked amanda.

Amanda laughed softly, "Kinda. When we would deploy, the people who worked in the DFAC (dining facility) would make powered eggs. they were always wet but dry at the same time. But you're so starving, you don't even care. Just add some sriracha on top and you hardly notice." Amanda said

"How many times have you deployed?" Glenn asked Amanda, serving himself some eggs
"Three and a half times." Amanda said, "One of them I don't really count, it was only for a few weeks. But i went to Iraq for six months, Saudi Arabia for six months, Afghanistan for 3 months and Africa for three weeks." Amanda said, tucking her hair behind her ears

"Ya ever kill anyone?" Daryl asked, looking up at amanda, "I've seen you shoot before. You got decent aim." He said in a gruntled voice

"I don't think that's appropriate talk for the table in front of children." Lori spoke up, glaring at Daryl.

Daryl looked at Amanda, waiting for a response.
Amanda inhaled deeply, looking at Daryl with soft eyes. Her silence spoke volumes.
Daryl nodded, "hear you loud and clear." he said, handing her a water bottle.

Dale rubbed her shoulder, "Anyway, about this book! I can't believe you didn't understand it." He laughed at Amanda, scratching his stubble.

"I felt like i was trying to read gravel like it was brail." Amanda admitted

T-Dog let out a loud laugh, "Man, i've ben there." He admitted, nodding at Amanda.

Amanda laughed softly, feeling a weight of guilt and stress lift from her shoulders.

Shane shook his head, "Don't let that woman fool you. I don't know how many times we've argued while playing scrabble. She's putting down words I had never even heard of. We had to play with a dictionary next to us, to keep us from fighting." Shane admitted, looking up at Amanda. He had a faint hickey on his neck, but had attempted to cover it by wearing a hoodie.
Amanda smiled softly as she played with her food, "Remember you got upset because I put the word Pocket? You threw the board and pieces went everywhere. I was finding random letters all over my house for days." Amanda smiled fondly at the memory
"Pocket. Who thinks of that word?" Shame grumbled.

Rick watched Amanda, his heart heavy with guilt and jealous. He would do anything to be with Amanda, doing simple things like playing board games.

Amanda played with her glass of orange juice, looking up as Jenner walked in.

"Good morning." Jenner said
Dale sat up, "Doctor, I don't mean to slam with you questions first thing in the morning." He began

"But you will anyway." Jenner sighed as he poured himself a cup of coffee.