That's The Way Love Goes

A Walking Dead Fanfiction by Sassy Lil Scorpio

Summary: He's hotheaded and never sugarcoats anything. She's persistent and determined to find her place. A collection of vignettes, one-shots, ficlets, and drabbles, showcasing the relationship between Shane and Andrea. Most writings are set in the first two TWD seasons and from the events during and after "Ride or Die". {LiveJournal writing community 50LoveQuotes.} {Shandrea}

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Shane Walsh, Andrea Harrison, and all other TWD characters in this fanfiction belong to Robert Kirkman. This author claims no ownership. No monetary gain is being made from this work.

Author's Notes: 50LoveQuotes is a LiveJournal writing community that challenges the writer to write about the given prompt: a love quote. It can be written in the dialogue or be the underlying theme of the fic. Being that Shane and Andrea are my favorite TWD ship and because they are so underrepresented in the fandom, they are the pairing explored for this writing challenge. (Several stories in this collection take place in the "Ride or Die" universe. It is helpful, but not necessary to have read "Ride or Die" to fully understand them.) The title of this fanfic is based on Janet Jackson's song "That's The Way Love Goes".

Dedication: For Tiara and Corey, for being so supportive of my writing. For Laurie Holden and Jon Bernthal for doing such a fantastic job portraying Andrea Harrison and Shane Walsh.


Love Quote #1 - "I would go anywhere to get to you, so why is it that all you have to do is smile to get to me?"

That Mischievous Smile

Andrea Harrison was a proud woman.

Contrary to what many believed about her, she didn't fawn over men easily. Before the outbreak, she was content living the single life. She dined by herself and traveled around the world on her own. Her career as a civil rights attorney had taken off and she was making good money. She was saving up for a condominium when the dead became the undead. After the outbreak, the world grew darker as the dead consumed the living and civilization went extinct.

She had picked up Amy just in time and they had met Dale on the road when they were searching for their parents. It was just the three of them until they ran into Shane, Lori, and Carl, who had been camping out with Ed, Carol, and Sophia. Glenn and T-Dog joined them—they meant to stay for only one night and ended up staying for good. Jim and Jacqui came back with Glenn after he found them hiding in an abandoned grocery store while on a supply run. The Dixon brothers stumbled into their camp one evening while out hunting. Morales' family had offered to share their supplies and they became part of the group.

Then one day Glenn brought back an unexpected visitor to the camp during the supply run and the entire dynamics of the group changed forever. Andrea was astounded to find out Rick Grimes was Lori's husband and Carl's father—and she was also surprised to find out he was Shane's best friend. She didn't think much of it at the time. She was just grateful to return alive to see Amy and the group again.

Being with the makeshift family they had formed helped her to stay afloat. She enjoyed spending time with the other women and had once joked with Jacqui and Carol that she missed her vibrator. That same day was the first time she truly noticed Shane. Before that, he had been the unofficial leader of the group. She got along him with just fine, but they had only spoke to each other sparingly. This time he made his presence known after beating the hell out of Ed. Andrea reasoned that Ed deserved what he got after constantly heaping abuse on Carol and yelling at Sophia. He had tried demeaning her too, but Andrea wasn't afraid to stand up to him.

Back then, Andrea's only fear was of losing Amy. So it didn't matter that Ed got in her face and called her a "college-educated cooze". Ed was all mouth and she had no problem telling him off, but Shane used his fists to make a point. After bloodying up Ed's face, Andrea had watched him get up like nothing had happened. She was shocked that he'd beaten up the man as though this was an everyday occurrence. Maybe it was for him, since she later learned that he and Rick had been partners as deputy sheriffs. Back then, Shane scowled at her as he stalked off.

She didn't think much of Shane back then, although she was glad he put Ed in line. After losing Amy, she didn't think of much of anyone in the group. Amy's death happened when the camp was attacked during a moment when the group let their guard down, so Andrea decided it was best to keep her guard up. She didn't want to get close to anyone after that and Dale wanted her to live for him, but not for herself. Andrea was tired of losses and losing, so she hid behind a rocky exterior. The depression she suffered from losing her sister was wearing her down every day. She isolated herself from everyone and wanted to keep it that way until Shane planted himself across from her in Dale's RV and offered to show her how to clean her gun.

Andrea listened as he talked, at first not fully interested, but the more he showed her, the more she found herself emerging from her cocoon of pain. It was the first real conversation she had with anyone since her suicide attempt at the CDC. The CDC was on the verge of exploding and she wanted to stay in the building with Dr. Jenner and Jacqui as it went up in flames. Dale was the only one who knew she had tried to end her life. If Shane knew, he didn't mention it. He simply disassembled her gun and flashed a smug smile in her direction as though proud to share his wealth of knowledge with her.

Later that same day, she overheard the conversation between Lori and Shane at the church. She wanted to keep shutting out everyone, but it made her feel less lonely to know that Shane wanted to venture out by himself. The same thought had crossed her mind after the CDC. They could go at it alone…just leave the group forever and do their own thing… He brushed her off when she had first suggested they leave the group together. She was disappointed by his initial rejection, but there was something about Shane's self-assured smile that made her feel alive. It revealed an unbreakable self-confidence in himself.

As time went on, she observed that Shane never wavered or waved the white flag, even when he was the only one speaking his mind against Rick or the rest of the group. Maybe, Andrea reasoned, that's why she was drawn to Shane. The group was put off by his aggressive manner. Shane had good ideas and made the right choices, but as she told him bluntly: his presentation needed work. His bullheaded nature had almost turned her away in the cemetery, but she was determined to connect with him, because out of everyone in the group, he was the most real to her. That's what she needed: realness. Authenticity. The group was not vacationing in Disney World—they were fighting to survive every day and Shane was the only one who saw things for what they were.

Even if they were on the same page in how they viewed their new hellish world, Shane still put distance between them. He wasn't going to "hold hands and sail off into the sunset" with her and she agreed that they weren't going steady. But she wanted to leave the group and so did he—and so they did. One day, under the guise of going on a supply run, they left Hershel's farm and never returned.

It was the best decision they made for themselves. Life was uncertain, but at least they had each other. Andrea was open and Shane was closed. It didn't matter. She would follow him to get to him, to bulldoze through his fortress walls. He didn't have to do much…just let her make her own choices without guilt-tripping her, work on his presentation, and most of all, flash that mischievous smile when she least expected it.