AN: Hi everyone! This is my first fanfic and I hope you all enjoy it. It's a little dark, and not very fluffy but SOA never is. Read and review please :)

Rach

She quickly crossed the room as she heard the distinct rumble of Harley's get louder. Pulling back the curtain just slightly, she took inventory of who was in the procession. Her question was answered when he caught her stare. Cursing silently she dropped the curtain back in place and shook her head. She should have known that he wouldn't pass the small ranch house without taking a quick inventory to make sure everything was as it should be; but he had no right. It had been six long months and she was desperate. No longer was she desperate for his touch, or his eyes that conveyed more than his words ever would. She was desperate to know that he was still simply alive, breathing, protecting his cause - even if it was no longer her. God how she loved him, despite the way everything had turned out. She thought that the ache would go away, that time would heal all wounds as everyone stupidly told her, but it had never gotten better. If anything it was worse, especially since she now knew that he was back in Charming, alive, and with no intentions of seeing her.

But then why had he looked? If he wanted to ignore her for the rest of their lives then fine, she could learn to live with that. But why had he found the need to look, and to make sure that her and her home were still in one piece? It obviously wasn't over for either of them. It couldn't be. If he truly meant those horrible words he had spoken to her that cold night then he wouldn't still be watching out for her. And it was then that it all fell into place. Jax hadn't just been "in the neighborhood" when he popped into her office with Abel. Juice hadn't just been helping out when he "ran into her" at the computer repair shop. He had them watching. He had them all following her, making sure that she wasn't as fragile and breakable as she seemed. He was making sure that she was safe, protected and cared for, even though he was no longer the one providing those securities. That thought was enough to shatter her, and it did - after almost five years, he had finally done it.

She flung her arms out knocking the frames off the delicate shelf behind her and proceeded to step on each one with such fury that the glass ripped the pictures. She threw everything that she could at the wall smiling as it shattered because if she felt that way then she wanted everything around her to reflect it. The two faces staring back at her from the floor haunted her, it was the only picture she had of them truly together. He was straddling his bike, and she was standing, hand on his chest and his on her stomach moments after he had finally come home after a long run. The ruthless killer had shattered the unbreakable doctor, and it was in that moment that she realized the truth that she had been running from all along. She would stop at nothing to get him back. Moving on was impossible, he would never let her be truly happy with another man and she didn't want to try and find someone who she would always consider to be a replacement. This wasn't over for her and it obviously wasn't for him as much as he tried to force her into thinking and believing so. He would never keep her under the protection of the club if he didn't still care, he wasn't that type of man. If he was done he would have tossed her away like a piece of trash and made sure that every one of his brother's did the same. As much as his return broke her heart she knew that it was fate's second chance. He had put in for a transfer, one that everyone was sure he would never ever get because honestly - what charter needed two of the most ruthless killers in the club? But here he was, and she would be damned if she let this chance pass her by, shattered to the core or not because he was the only one who could ever put her back together.

Pulling herself to her feet and stepping carefully around the glass she walked into her kitchen. She poured herself a glass of wine, picked up her cell phone, and set out her herself imposed mission impossible. As she dialed the familiar number she glanced at the destruction in her living room and prayed silently that they would make it through this, and that she was right.

"Gemma? It's Riley... no no. I'm fine... well kind of. I need you... Yeah I'm at the house... I know. I saw him today... Gem I need to make this right... Yeah I'll be waiting," she finished as she hung up the phone. With a deep sigh she set off to cleaning up the broken glass. A glance at the clock confirmed her worst fears - after 6 months he had managed to once again turn her whole world upside down in a short twenty minutes; fifteen minutes longer than it had taken him the first time she thought with a shake of her head. She couldn't dwell on that though. The past had to be let go and forgiven if she was ever going to get him back. The crow on her back didn't stand for nothing after all...