I Love You So

Part 46

Shane knew better. But deep down, he couldn't convince himself to care about his morals at the moment.

So, Shane did what he does best- he lied. He knew Amanda slept the entire time to the oil refinery, so he decided to keep Amanda away from Alexandria and most importantly Rick.
He drove in the opposite direction of where they came from, until the motorcycle ran out of gas.

Amanda and Shane found an old mom and pop boutique, where they decided to stay the night.

Amanda was lying on the ground while Shane stitched up her stomach with some thread and a needle he found. Amanda was on her side, her eyes closed as she tried to focus her attention away from the pain. She inhaled deeply before she exhaled, looking down as she felt Shane tugging on the thread

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to tighten it up." Shane said, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Amanda said, shifting back onto her side, "It felt like we were on the motorcycle forever." She noted

"Yeah, I took a longer route back to the cabin. I was afraid those freaks were following us." Shane lied. Shane yearned for normalcy. He knew Amanda was capable of taking care of herself, and wouldn't need much from Shane in terms of protection and survival. He also knew Amanda was low maintenance, so she would be easy to travel with. In Shane's mind, this was all fate. He had prayed to God to bring him someone to fill the empty parts of his heart. To bring him someone to love, to care for, to start a family with. He felt content knowing Amanda was back in his life.

"Oh." Amanda said, "That makes sense, I guess." She said, but looked unsure

Shane smiled as he nodded at Amanda, trying to offer some reassurance. He finished stitching her up and he helped her stand up, "You should go look around, see if there's any girlie clothes you might like." He said

Amanda looked at him for a moment before she nodded, walking to look around the store. She found a pair of jeans and a long sleeve t shirt, and a pair of brown boots that fit her.
She walked out of the dressing room, jumping when she saw Shane sitting on an ottoman, waiting for her, "Oh, Jesus, Shane."

"Everything alright?" Shane asked, giving her a smile

"You scared me." Amanda said, looking at him with wide eyes

"Sorry. I was just waiting for you." Shane said,
putting his hands up in surrender, "I think we should go explore the area a bit before sundown."

"Yeah, that's fine. We don't really have any weapons, though." Amanda said

Shane held up his hands, "We've got these." He said, giving her a cheeky grin, flashing his dimples

"I guess." Amanda said, her face stoic, "Let's just go, yeah?" She said, walking towards the back, towards the alleyway

Shane trailed behind her, "You haven't changed much, you know." He said

"That's good." Amanda said, not wanting to feed into him too much. She trusted Shane as far as she could throw him - and knew typically he was up to no good.

"What's wrong, Mandy?" Shane pressed

"Shane, I wanna go home. I wanna see my baby. I wanna see Rick. I wanna see Carl." Amanda said, opening the alley door, "I thought this was gonna be a quick trip but it's been more than I would've like it to be." She admitted, "I want to go home."

"Home? Home." Shane chuckled, "Amanda, c'mon, I'm trying here. I'm sorry this trip isn't what you had planned - but I'm trying to keep you safe."

"Shane, please. Let's just find whatever we can and leave." Amanda said, not wanting to give him the time of day