It was winter. Long, cold, snowy days. Except, in Georgia... it didn't always snow. It was cold, but it never snowed. At least, that's what it seemed like. It was cold, nonetheless. It didn't stop people from doing their jobs. Their duties. Especially Andrea Harrison, who always seemed to get the job done. No matter what. She came through everything. Amy? She had to fight, but she came through it. Losing the group? She came through it. But The Governor? She still got nightmares. Nights when she was alone in the watchtower, even if she wasn't on watch. She'd stayed up there, not wanting the others to hear her cry to sleep. To hear her think about Amy, letting out a tear because she's human. It was okay to cry over someone who dies, but Andrea? Everyone thought she was tough. She thought she was too. She knew it, but every once in a while, you put your walls down. The nightmares of even the Governor still torturing her, or even worse... Amy. She couldn't remember Amy's voice. Her screams in the nightmares were inaudible. A missing audio file, almost. Gone. Vanished. She knew Amy since she was 12... how could she forget her voice in such a short period of time? She still remembered the other screams from that night of the fish fry. Andrea got tears just from that. Andrea was strong. Physically, and emotionally. She knew it. She was alive.
She couldn't trust anybody. Her old friends that she remembered from the farm were distant, by now. Shane was gone. Her one true friend. Though she was shocked by what he tried to do, it didn't surprise her. She was in disbelief at first. She knew he was a good man, but he'd lost himself. Andrea was scared that she'd do the same. It was so much to worry about... she sometimes wished she stayed at the CDC. That is, until one night. One night that changed everything.
Andrea finished her tray of food. She hadn't eaten much, like always. She was scared of what was going to happen. What she would dream of. Maybe that it'd become true. She grabbed her blanket, the small, thin, torn blanket as she made her way to the guard tower like always. It was her safezone. Her safe haven, almost. After all the pain that she went through... Amy. Jacqui. Sophia. Shane. Her seperation from the group. Milton. The Governor. Everything. She could remember everything... but she could live with herself. She climbed the ladder to the tower, humming to herself. She opened the hatch that led to the top, and climbed up. She set the blanket to the side. It was almost a test for her. To see how long she could take sitting in the freezing temperatures. To see if she could still survive if she had to. Like she knew that she would end up in another bad predicament someday.
She stood up quickly as she heard the hatch open. She turned around to see Rick, standing there, looking at her. Holding a bigger, more thick blanket. He walked over to her, feeling her skin. Cold. Frigid. He looked into her eyes and saw the deep blue color under the moonlight. Full moon. Her eyes had something. Tears. He'd only seen Andrea cry a select few times. She tried to hide her face, but he wouldn't let her. Rick was their leader, and it was his reponsibility to know what was going on with everyone. He kept his stare into her eyes. The tears reflected in the moonlight.
"Andrea." He said in a breath.
She tried to ignore him. Like he wasn't there. Turned her face away, her blonde locks following. She tried to hide her face. She didn't want the tears to be seen. Especially by Rick. Her leader. And if she was being honest... she'd admit that in the nightmares of the Governor torturing her, she'd think of Rick. Rick would always be the one to save her. Not Daryl, not Carol, not Maggie, not Glenn. It was always Rick.
Rick moved his hand to her eye, slowly. Wanting to make sure that she knew it was coming. She stood there, frozen to the blanket. Frozen from butterflies, or frozen from the cold? It could be either, she thought. Her skin was cold by now. His finger wiped her eye, taking the tear along his skin. He took the tear away. The sadness. He was the one that made the tears disappear. She could see her breath. Why was it so damn cold, she thought.
He moved the blanket over her shoulders, but he did one thing that surprised her. He was under the blanket too. It was a big blanket, she first thought. Then she realized, this was Rick. Her saviour in so many situations. He smiled faintly, thinking about her. How he'd have dreams about her too. The visions of Lori were gone. Lori didn't want Rick. Lori wanted Shane. And Rick wanted Andrea.
As she turned to him in the blanket wrapped around them, she didn't know what to think. Rick slowly leaned in, and kissed her lips softly. They were cold. Cold as could be. He made sure to kiss them well. Heating them up. She didn't pull away. She accepted it.
"Rick..." She said after a while, when he pulled away finally.
She didn't know what to think. A milliion thoughts raced through her mind, when suddenly one stood out clearly. Kiss him back. Kiss him back, because she loved him too. She leaned in, and kissed him on the lips, going on her toes a little to do so. He deepened the kiss, as she continued to kiss. His arms wrapped around her, holding the blanket to her as they kissed. And after kissing for so long, she was finally warm. He brought her back. He brought her back from Woodbury. He brought her back from her sea of depression. And she brought him back, Rick thought. After Andrea came back, there were no more visions of Lori. He was at peace. She was at peace. Everything was right.
