A/N: So introduced in this chapter is the first of what will be several flashbacks of Tig and Kat's past and what led them to where they are now. I'm going to try to keep them chronological and try to fit them in with Kat's current thinking or situation and how she may be feeling about either the present or the past in any particular moment. Thanks for your thoughts and support on this story and please continue to let me know what you think ... :)

3/

The 'cleaner guy' as Mom had called him was certainly strange, creepy in fact. I could tell he even irked Tig so I knew that was saying something but he did what we paid him to do. There was no trace left of Amelia. I didn't want to even think about how that was possible.

I sighed and excused myself from the lounge room after he'd left and made my way to my old room. Tig's blood still stained the sheets. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before pulling the sheets from the bed and taking them to the laundry. Damn it. Why was I letting him get to me like this? I'd ended things years ago and I'd made it clear I had no intention of letting him close ever again.

I picked up my cell from where it lay on the nightstand and saw I had a missed call from Happy. I sighed, wondering why he'd have called. There was more to my relationship with Happy than meets the eye. He was there for me when I ended things with Tig and it hadn't been long before I found myself in his bed. It was casual, no strings attached sex. I'm sure most of the club knew about it but they said nothing. And I know Tig knew.

I toyed with my phone in my hands before returning Happy's call.

"Hey Babe." He answered. I didn't realize until I heard his raspy voice on the other end how much I needed to hear it.

"Hey Hap. You called?" I said trying to hide the relief from my voice.

"Yeah. I wanted to see if you were okay. Heard about Tig. He who Gemma wanted you to patch up?"

"Yeah."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I know you still think about him Kat. His infidelity? Having it thrust in front of you like that ..."

"I'm fine Happy." I interrupted him, my voice catching in my throat. The truth was I wasn't fine and Happy knew it. Despite any relationship we had being just about sex he knew me better than I'd ever realized. "Are you coming up here tomorrow?" I asked changing the subject.

"Yeah I'll be there." he rasped.

"Well I'll see you then I guess."

"Hang in there Kat."

"Yeah I will."

I ended the call and placed my cell back on the nightstand before unfolding the sheets I'd fetched from the linen closet on my way back to the room. There was a knock on the door as I began putting the new sheets onto the bed.

"Kitty Kat?" Came Tig's voice through the door. "Are you in there?"

I sighed at hearing him call me that. There was a reason I'd made a point of staying away from the clubhouse in recent times. I knew how much I had loved him and Happy was right. I couldn't stand seeing him with anyone else. I also didn't trust myself left alone with him.

"Yeah. You can come in Tig." I answered him knowing that being the current predicaments that faced the club I was going to have no choice about getting dragged back in. I also knew that meant Tig I would need to address our past.

"Listen Kat, I wanted to say thanks, you know for patching me up and all."

"You're welcome." I said quietly as I sat on the bed. "Thanks for taking care of a dead body for me."

"You're welcome too." he said with a small grin.

"Look Tig, I know that's not all that you came in here to talk about."

"I miss you Kitty Kat."

"Were you thinking about how much you missed me every time you banged somebody else?"

"That's not fair Kat."

"No what's not fair is how you treated me Tig. I believed you when you said you loved me. I thought I could trust you. You told me I was the only one and then you threw it all back in my face."

"Kitty Kat I did love you. I still do baby girl."

"That didn't stop you from trampling all over my heart did it?" I answered him trying hard to push back the tears that came along with the memories he was forcing me to address.

"I never meant to hurt you Doll."

"Well you did and you know it; time and time again." I said turning my head away from him. I knew it was only a matter of time before my tears spilled over.

He took my hand in his and traced his thumb up and down the back of it. "Words aren't enough to tell you how sorry I am Katherine." he said quietly, his lips so close to my ear I could feel his breath hot upon it.

"Don't Tig." I said quietly turning to face him, a tear trickling from the corner of my eye. Only in our most intimate moments together had he called me Katherine.

"I still remember that first day you showed up back on the lot Kitty Kat. You changed my life."

I turned to face him, I swallowed back the lump in my throat and pulled my hand away from his. "Go please Tig." I said quietly.

"Kat, I ..."

"Tiggy please? Just leave." I said fighting back my tears as best I could.

He did as I asked and rose from the bed but before he left the room he stood in front of me and chipped my chin up to meet his gaze. "I still love you Kitty Kat." he murmured before turning and leaving the room not looking back.

With the door now closed behind him I finally let my tears fall. I loved him. God damn it. I still loved him but had he ever really loved me?

I'd been a little nervous about my return home. I had after all been gone eleven years and as much as my parents hated to admit it I wasn't a little girl anymore.

I took a deep breath and bit my lip as I threw my leg over Jax's bike and placed it down onto the tarmac of the lot. He got off and placed an arm around my shoulders before lowering his lips and kissing the top of my head. "Clay's in the clubhouse waiting for you. Stay out of trouble alright?"

I let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm not going to be any trouble Jax." I said to my older brother who had taken it upon himself to come and collect me. He had been patched in last fall and as the end of summer approached was nearing a year as a fully patched member. Opie also. I knew my dad had let it fall to them to look out for me upon my return.

"Yeah right. I heard all the stories of the trouble you caused Grandma."

"That's because she wouldn't let me go anywhere."

"Whatever. Just go see Dad." He said with a quick tightening of his hug before dropping his arm and heading off toward the garage as mom's car rolled into the lot. I knew she had all my belongings and would expect me to accompany her back home soon but dad had insisted Jax bring me to the lot first and I was glad he had as I spied Chibs coming out of it.

I smiled as I headed toward him.

"Kat darlin'. I'd heard you were comin' home. It's been far too long sweetheart." he greeted me, enveloping me in his arms.

"Hardly my choice to not be here." I answered knowing that the controversy surrounding my birth had been swept aside in the years I'd been gone.

"Still it's good to have you back." He said ruffling my hair like he had when I was a little kid. He caught the scowl I gave him. "You're still a kid in my book Kat. Stay out of trouble."

I sighed as he stepped away. Why did everyone keep saying that I thought as I pushed open the clubhouse door and that was when I saw him sitting at the bar next to my father. He had a mop of untamed dark curls, perfect facial hair and those eyes as he met my gaze; they were the most tantalizing shade of blue I had ever seen. I knew he hadn't been around before I was shipped away and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by this dark and handsome stranger.

"Kat baby!" Dad greeted me as he rose from his seat at the bar and pulled me against his chest. I breathed in the familiar smell of leather and cigarettes that I'd always associated with my father. "It's so good to have you back baby."

"Is it really?" I couldn't help but ask as I drew away from him. I knew it was only at my insistence that he had agreed for me to return home.

"Of course it is sweetheart. It's not such a great time around here at the moment but of course we're all glad you're back. Your mother and I missed you."

I smiled. "I missed you both too Daddy."

He placed his arm around my shoulders and steered me toward the bar where the dark haired man I was so intrigued about still sat, his beguiling eyes still on me. "Kat, this is Tig. Tig my daughter Kat."

I couldn't help but blush a little as he extended his hand toward me. "Tig's my Sergeant at Arms." Dad continued as I took Tig's hand surprised at the warmth of his grip. "His duties extend to looking out for you now that your back."

"Oh? I thought that would be Jax and Opie." I commented as I dropped my hand from Tig's grasp and stole another glance at those eyes.

"Nah." Tig was the one to respond. I swallowed and bit my lip at the sound of his voice. "they're still young. They're not up to the task of watching the President's daughter." He answered with a smirk. I thought I caught an insinuation in his voice.

"I'll let you two get acquainted." Dad said with a meaningful glance at Tig. "I gotta go find Bobby."

I climbed onto the bar stool that Dad had left empty as Tig motioned for me to sit. I took a moment to admire his features again before I spoke breaking the awkward silence that had descended between us.

"So you've been tasked with watching the President's daughter huh?" I asked with an intentional smirk.

"Sure have. Been watching out for your mother for years; now that extends to you." He answered, the timbre of his voice deep, slightly raspy and ever so beguiling. I blushed as I noticed him look me up and down. Despite the growing ball of heat in the pit of my belly I knew I was nothing compared to the women that flocked the clubhouse. My long blond hair was pulled back into a school girls ponytail, my features flawless but young. The only thing that set me apart from other girls my age was my breasts; large on my petite frame. I caught his eyes lingering upon them.

"You like what you see?" I flirted hoping I didn't sound like a desperate kid.

"They may all see you as a kid Kitty Kat, but you're far from it." He answered.

I sucked in a breath at the meaning behind his words. He didn't see me as a kid which was exactly what I wanted. And that name Kitty Kat. No one had ever called me it before and I liked the way it rolled off his tongue so naturally.

"So is that why you were staring?" I asked quietly, suddenly feeling shy.

"You remind me of someone that's all." He answered looking away.

"I remind you of someone? Or my boobs do?"

"You do." He said becoming serious all of a sudden. "Someone I used to know. You look so much like her."

"Is that a good thing?" I asked quietly not sure of the closed emotion I was being met with.

"Yeah it's a good thing. Makes it easier to watch you." he answered meeting my gaze again.

"Just how closely are you gonna be watching me?" I asked with an edge of flirtation to my voice.

"It's my job to keep you safe. Nothing else." he said pushing away the glass of scotch he'd been nursing and rising from the bar.

I sighed knowing he had chosen to ignore the point of my question. Despite whoever it was I reminded him of he still saw me as a little kid. I knew in that moment that I was determined to make him see past that. I wanted to be more to him. I didn't want to be the innocent, doe eyed President's daughter. I wanted him to notice me and I wanted him.

I pushed away memories of that first day. He'd told me more about the mystery woman that I reminded him off as I'd weaseled and clambered my way into his heart and made him see there was more to me than the child everyone saw. He'd loved her perhaps more than he'd ever loved anyone.

I wondered if I'd been naive to ever believe I could mean more to him than her.