sinful | s. walsh

VI.

"I will protect you. Always."

VI.

Once we said our goodbyes to the group heading back out to the city some of the women decided to go down to the quarry. I had tagged along wanting to wash some of my clothes and even Shane's, I also wanted to get my mind off the fact that my dad left and the possibility of him not coming back was present.

"I'm starting to question the division of labor around here." Jacqui says as she sits by us with her clothes. She was talking about Shane messing about in the water with Carl. I frowned at that. Shane was the leader they all looked up to, whether they knew it or not he was having a hard time making all the calls. Although he didn't like talking about how stressed he was I could see it in his eyes. After the guys had left to go get Merle, I knew Shane was not too happy with me. I could see it as he looked at me and sulked off. I was going to go after him but I figured it'd be better to give him some space to cool down.

"Are those Shane's?" Amy nods to the shirt and pants in my hand. Everyone's eyes were on me.

"Yeah. Just thought I'd wash them for him." I say.

"Mhmm." Jacqui smirks.

"What was that for?" Amy questions me and Jacqui.

"Nothing." I shake my head.

"Wait, are you and Shane..." Andrea's eyes get wide and she has a smirk.

"Oh shit, you're with Shane?" Amy laughs.

"No!" Like denying it will help now.

"Damn, isn't he your dad's partner? Best friends or something?" Andrea asks.

"Yes, he is."

"Dude, does you dad know?" Amy asks with a smile on her face. They all start laughing. This was a completely different reaction as opposed to when Dale found out.

"Look, no one knows. Keep it quite. Please." I beg them and they all nod.

"Honey, secrets are safe here. Besides, there's no more rules." Carol speaks out this time. I send her a smile.

"Thanks, Carol." She smiles back. We wash our clothes in silence for a few minutes.

"I miss my Maytag." Carol sighs as she scrubs a shirt against the board.

"I miss my Benz, my sat nav." Andrea says.

"I miss my coffee maker with that dual-drip filter." Jacqui says.

"My computer and texting." Amy pouts.

"I miss my vibrator." Andrea says making us all break out into laughter.

"Me too." Carol says which only makes us laugh harder.

"What's so funny?" Ed says coming over to us from where he had been watching us. He never left Carol's side, he was always watching her.

"Just swapping war stories, Ed." Andrea tells him. He walks around behind us.

'Problem, Ed?" I ask and turn to look at him.

"Nothin' that concerns you" He tells me then turns to Carol, "you oughta focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club. He continues to stand there watching us wash our clothes.

Andrea seems fed up and stands up, "tell you what, Ed, you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself." She throws a wet shirt at him, "here."

He throws it back in her face, "ain't my job, missy."

I stand up ready to come to Andrea's defense if she needed me.