Oh shit, what do I do now?

I was talking with a close friend last night and with someone who didn't know my sitution very well. The latter asked me who the people I mentioned in my notes on Facebook were, and so I went into this huge explanation about who they were and what was going on and by the end of the conversation, she asked me about one of my long-distance close friends redeeming qualities and all I could do was stare at her.

"She's loyal", 'What, is she a dog?'
"She cares about her friends", 'Who -doesn't- care about their -friends-?' And I didn't know what to say.
"She's funny and can put up with me?" 'All of your friends do that. So why her specifically?'

And then they asked 'Is it because you feel like she depends on you? Everyone likes to be needed, I get that.'

I thought about it, and I couldn't come up with an answer. Why was I friends with her? She's done some shitty things, so have I, but my friends can't make sense out of it and I need a better answer than 'because I want her'.