A little less than a week later, Collynn was finally starting to readjust to her life. Her trip to the Twilight Zone had rocked her. The day she returned home she shared a silent car ride with a prospect named "Rat." He seemed nice enough, but she just didn't have anything to say. She'd had a teary goodbye with her dad but was fairly disappointed that she wasn't able to say anything to Chibs before she left.

Collynn had decided that she would have to play the part of worried fiancé in her personal life. The more that she thought about the relationship that she had with Trent, the more she saw that it was a relationship of convenience for the both of them, and that something had been seriously pressurizing any tension between the two of them leading up to his death.

The same day that Collynn had made it back home, Collynn summoned the nerve to call Celia back. She shared in her emotions and promised her that if she heard anything that she'd call her immediately. One of the most interesting parts of their conversation was that Celia had noticed something being off with Trent in the previous months as well, even going as far as asking if Collynn had noticed him being involved in any kind of substance abuse.

Collynn had been taken aback, but that definitely could have had something to do with his increasingly intense behavior. It was definitely something to mull over. She had set up a lunch date with Celia in the next week and had already begun to prepare her poker face.

Trent came from old money and is family liked things a certain way. There weren't chatty phone calls, there weren't any spontaneous visits, and there most certainly weren't any chips in the perfect family façade. Collynn knew that if Celia had only invited her to lunch, then there wasn't any suspicion coming her way. Lunches were one of the least trepidatious of all of the meetings that Celia could have requested from her. If she was in trouble, she'd have been invited over for "drinks."

Assimilating into their family had been an odd experience. Collynn hadn't come from a lot, so being welcomed into the world of excess was an adjustment. She reflected on all of the long nights that she had spent with Trent, almost like she was cramming for a test, preparing for a family event.

Collynn had never been ashamed of her own family or background, but it hadn't been something that she gave many people access to. Thankfully, when they'd first started dating, her mom had just married her current husband, a manager at a small credit union, who was one of the more normal stepfathers she'd had in her life.

She had really weighed whether or not to introduce Trent to her dad before they got married. She just knew that they wouldn't have gotten along, which should have been a warning sign. Well, hindsight really is 20/20.

Even though it hadn't been long since Trent was gone from her life, a lot of her mind had been focused on the flaws in their relationship. Collynn had always kept her head down regarding finishing her undergrad, then law school, and finally getting a decent job, that she missed out on a lot of her own life. Even more so, she missed out on how much of a mismatch she and her fiancée had been. It wasn't until the past few weeks when he started to pick more fights with here that she'd even considered that maybe their getting married wasn't the best idea. Now, looking back, she could see their miscommunication, irritation, and avoidance like a giant crack in the center of a mirror.

More and more, Collynn had to physically push the intrusive thoughts out of her mind, picturing a blissful, still, blank screen. It was the only way she could get a handle on the constant rampaging worry and doubt she'd added to her life.

She hadn't been into the office yet in person but did appear in court with Caleb at his competency hearing and pre-trial. It was almost as if the universe was on its head and nothing made sense anymore.

The judge handling Caleb's case refused to allow him to be charged as a minor, or to take into account his mental instability. Naturally, there was a security video of Caleb setting the fire that took out the building. He had sat next to her, as stiff as a robot, and hardly uttered a single word during the entire time they were together, either before or after the hearing.

Maggie was thrilled to have her back. The dog had hardly left Collynn's side the entire time she'd been home. Collynn reminded herself that she would need to write a thank you note to her neighbor along with a 6-pack of the expensive craft beer he liked.

This particular morning was an important one for her. It was an early Saturday morning, and she'd be making the drive back to Charming to get the stitches removed from her forehead and ear.

Her injuries had improved since she returned home. She'd taken great care in icing down her nose, and there were only the slightest yellow shadows still under her eyes, which were easily covered with concealer. The same could be said about the marks on her neck and collarbone. When wearing her glasses, the only obviously visible remainder were the black threads in her forehead and earlobe.

Collynn dressed comfortably in a pair of blue jeans, a gray t-shirt that hugged her in an appealing way, and her usual red Converse sneakers, which was pretty much her uniform for any time not spent in court or in the office. Rather than throwing her hair up into a bun, she scrunched her curls, letting them tumble over her shoulders in a lion's mane. She also took the time to carefully apply concealer to her bruises, some quick eyeliner and mascara, and rose-tinted lip balm.

Typically, Collynn loved to layer on a full face of makeup, complete with a bold lipstick, but she just hadn't been able to bring herself to put in the effort recently. Makeup was her creative outlet, and she was feeling anything but creative lately.

Sighing, Collynn grabbed her purse, her overnight bag, a bag of Maggie's food, and Maggie's leash. As soon as Maggie saw her leash, she barreled full-tilt into her, jumping and barking happily. Collynn was incredibly happy when her dad said that she could bring her along this time. Most of the time, Maggie was her only true companion. The statement has only gotten truer with her current circumstances. Her hyper mutt was more of a person than a dog, Collynn was convinced of it. There had to be a tiny little person stuck inside there somewhere.

"Okay, girl, Jesus. If you be still, we'll go." Maggie immediately stilled, sitting patiently for Collynn to slip on her harness. Collynn had gone to great lengths to train Maggie, but it was worth it. "Be still," was like an off switch for Maggie, and it came in handy.

"Good girl," Collynn whispered and stroked Maggie's head. "Let's go."

Maggie led the way out to Collynn's beat up 2005 Ford Shelby Cobra. At the time of its conception, it had been a nice car, but she'd been driving the mustard yellow monstrosity since she was in high school and the fucking thing would not die. Her dad had bought it from a friend as a favor just in time for her to get her driver's license. It was a sentimental piece of junk, but a piece of junk nonetheless. She was only waiting for it to die to justify upgrading.

Collynn was jittering with nerves about going back to Charming as she merged onto the freeway. It had only been a few days but felt like years.

Even though she wouldn't admit it to herself, she was the most excited to see Chibs again. The thought of having his gentle touch on her face again gave her butterflies. Internally, she rolled her eyes at herself.

As excited as she was to see him, she was equally hesitant. The last time she'd seen him, he'd had to take care of her while she was having a breakdown. She felt so conflicted regarding what happened that night. On one hand, she was absolutely mortified. On the other, her body warmed remembering how safe and secure she felt in his arms.

Collynn was someone who rarely ever felt small or delicate. The few men she'd slept with were all around her height and all much smaller than she was. Trent was only an inch taller, but she had at least 50 pounds on him. She didn't notice the difference until Chibs had engulfed her. He had a solid dad bod, but hands-down gave the best comfort. His arms had cocooned her in a way that not too many had ever been able to.

She had to blink herself out of the memory and focus on driving. The previous summer saw her air conditioning go bust, so she was constantly blotting her face with an old fast food napkin she found in her dash. Maggie was sprawled on the bench seat behind her, content to snooze with the windows down. Collynn groaned when she realized what it was going to do to her hair.

Collynn idly flipped through radio stations until she settled on a station playing the oldies. It bounced from Elton John to Paul Simon to The Band and she sang her heart out. She had grown up on her mom's vinyl collection, which her dad had mostly amassed for her, and could never get enough of the old soft rock.

The countryside flew by. It was that golden California sun that lit up the sky making everything seem like it was in technicolor behind her sunglasses. It was days like this that she enjoyed the sepia tone of her sunglasses, it made her feel like she was in an indie movie. The four-hour drive to Charming went by surprisingly quickly, stopping only once for a cup of iced coffee and to stretch their legs.

It was barely noon when she pulled into the TM garage parking lot. Maggie was positively shaking with excitement to explore her new surroundings. Collynn let her out on her leash, and they meandered through the dusty parking lot, searching for signs of life. The sun was unbearably powerful, making her squint as she scanned the place.

She finally found a line of cycles in front of the clubhouse and spotted her dad's Fatboy in the mix. Giving her hair a smoothing comb through, she approached the door and welcomed the scent of leather and tobacco upon entering.

Maggie gave a curious sniff as they made their way through to the lounge area, finding Bobby, Tig, and a few others sprawled over the couches, completely dead to the world asleep. Maggie lunged against her harness, wanting to tackle Bobby, but Collynn pulled her back gently. No one had noticed her entrance, so she decided to take it all in for a moment.

Bobby was asleep on his back, an arm over his face, and snoring loudly. Tig was curled like a baby around a balled-up sweatshirt and looking significantly less menacing than he previously had.

She didn't recognize the other two that were with them. One had a mohawk and tattoos on either side of his head and the other was much older and had an oxygen tank. It was almost cute. Almost being that they had most likely passed out here last night and had never moved.

She wrestled with herself briefly, conflicted over whether or not she should let Maggie attack, but decided against it in the end. They were all sleeping so peacefully, and her dad had really gone out on a limb for her in the past week. For that, he could rest. Nodding to herself, happy with her decision, she shuffled Maggie back out toward the garage. She wouldn't yet admit it to herself, but she was scanning the lot for Chibs' Dyna. She was starting to get disappointed when she finally spotted it.

Just knowing he was here gave her a little rush of nervous anticipation. She squashed it, reminding herself that she was a hot fucking mess with no business dragging anyone else into it. Collynn looked down at Maggie, who only returned her look with a cocked head.

"Thanks for the pep talk, mutt." Collynn muttered under her breath and decided to go poke around the garage and see if she could find anyone a little more awake. Her sneakers crunched through the fine gravel of the lot as she trekked to the garage. The sun was beating down relentlessly, and she knew that it was only going to get hotter as the day went on.

The garage was quiet except for the trill of a radio in the corner and the clang of metal against metal. There were about a half dozen cars parked in the garage, a few on lifts but the rest just on the shop floor. She peered around and didn't see anyone standing, so she knelt to the floor and spotted Chibs lying on a creeper underneath a dusty sedan a few cars down from where she was standing. The scent of motor oil reached her nostrils and she was so grateful to have her sense of smell back.

As quietly as she could manage with Maggie in tow, Collynn crept over to where Chibs' legs hung out from underneath the old Camry. She figured that she'd just quietly have a seat near the front of the car, out of his immediate line of vision, and wait until he noticed. It was her turn to sneak up on someone for a change.

Maggie, however, had other ideas and let out a happy anticipatory whine and Chibs' legs jerked, startled. Collynn winced as she heard a muffled clang as his head connected with the undercarriage of the Camry he was working on.

"Oh shit!" She blurted, "I am so sorry!" Collynn cringed as Chibs wheeled himself out on the creeper, a smirk on his face.

"Well, hello to ya too, love." His brown eyes glittered with humor as he rubbed the spot on his forehead that had made contact with the car. He had to pause for a moment because she looked like an entirely different person. Her face had so much more life and her hair was positively wild. His mouth went dry as he took her in.

Chibs couldn't take his eyes off of her mouth as she worried her bottom lip nervously. He wanted to know what her lips tasted like. They were probably delectable, so plump. He had to blink himself out of his own head to end the mental torment.

"Are you okay? I am so sorry." Collynn continued to anxiously chew on her bottom lip. Guilt flooded her.

"I'm fine, love." Chibs gave her a big smile and reached a hand up to her. He was still lying on his back on the garage floor. She returned his smile, practically beaming, and took his hand to pull him to his feet. Collynn was pleased that he had reached up to her, as odd as it sounded. She was glad to see that the macho biker thought she was capable of hauling his ass off the floor of the garage.

They looked at each other for a long moment, enjoying the companionable silence. Collynn nearly sighed out loud as she stared into his deep brown eyes. His shaggy salt and pepper hair was pushed out of his face by a pair of safety glasses, giving her the opportunity to sweep her eyes over his face. He kept his goatee well trimmed, but spotted a bit of scruff on his cheeks. She had to choke back a sigh as she imagined what that scruff would feel like pressed against her own cheek. She vaguely noticed that his hand was still grasped in hers. It was rough and warm and nearly engulfed her smaller one.

"It's good to see you again," Collynn said softly, a little shy under his gaze. Her cheeks reddened a little and she ducked her head.

"You too, lass." He gave her hand a little squeeze, letting go. Her cheeks reddened even further, and she was almost relieved when Maggie wiggled so hard that she bumped into her side.

"Um, well, this is Maggie. She's thrilled to meet you." Collynn let out an awkward laugh and gave Maggie a scratch behind the ears.

Chibs crouched down to pet the dog, letting out a deep laugh when Maggie slathered his face with kisses, snorting like a gremlin the entire time.

"Your face looks really good, lass." Chibs looked up at her, rolling his eyes at himself. "Your forehead is healin' up real nice."

"Thanks. I'm excited to not have to cover it anymore. My nose is still pretty sore, but I'll take what I can get."

"Are you doin' okay?" He stood from petting Maggie and motioned her to the garage office.

"I think I'm okay. There isn't exactly a self-help book for killing your fiancé. But I haven't been approached by the cops or anything." She shrugged, running her hand through her hair.

Collynn would have just about followed him anywhere, but the fact that the office was air conditioned made her groan out loud. When the crisp air hit her skin, it was bliss. Collynn sat in a small chair near the desk with Maggie curled up at her feet, panting off the heat.

Collynn nearly keeled over with happiness when she saw Chibs rummage through the cabinet, returning with a styrofoam bowl and a bottle of water. Looking back, she would tell herself that this was the moment that she fell in love with Phillip Telford—even if she didn't know his full name at the time. He knelt next to Maggie and poured a generous amount of the water into the bowl for her before coming to sit in the chair adjacent Collynn.

The grin that Collynn gave him in thanks nearly split her face in two. Her eyes nearly welled with happy tears. She had no idea what was getting into her. She didn't react to people this way. The only time she happy cried was when she was with her mom at Christmastime and watching bad Hallmark movies with too much wine.

"That's so kind of you. Thank you." Her smile softened and she could have sworn that she saw the a barely there dusting of redness on his cheeks.

"No' a problem, love." The more times that she was around him, the more she realized that he was a fixer, just like she was. He saw a problem, he fixed it. He saw someone or something in need, he helped them.

"I wanted to thank you for the other day, too. I wish I could say that I wasn't being myself when I melted down, but that would be a big fat lie." Collynn smiled sheepishly, reaching down to scratch Maggie between the shoulders, like a little kid reaching for her security blanket.

"I'm only glad I could help. You've been through a lot these past few weeks, an' if I can help at all, I'm glad ta." Chibs would probably take it to his grave that is ex-wife would have similar panic attacks, and he had learned quickly how to best navigate her through them.

"Well, between helping with my face, and that night, you've done more than I could begin to repay." The conversation was quickly becoming more serious than Collynn had intended and she needed to abort mission before she hopped in his lap for another addictive hug.

Collynn quickly, and not so subtly, changed the subject. "I've been meaning to ask. When did my dad stop being an Elvis impersonator in Tahoe?"

Chibs sighed. He didn't like his friend giving up a job he loved about as much as Collynn did. "He quit ta help over at Cara Cara. He's been keepin' things afloat over there for a friend of the club while her old man's in jail."

"Oh," Collynn sighed glumly. "You know, I used to brag that my dad was Elvis when I was a kid. He used to come to my birthday parties in costume when I was really little." She smiled at the memory. Having her dad there wasn't exactly her mom's favorite thing, but they made it work.

No matter how much they hated each other, they did joint holidays and birthdays until Collynn was old enough to understand the concept of divorce and acquiesced that she didn't have to put her parents through the misery.

Chibs smiled at the thought of how cute she must have been when she was a kid. "Your da has mentioned somethin' abou' tha'."

Blessedly, there was an interruption. Collynn had been on the verge of oversharing like she normally did when she was nervous. Not so blessedly, the interruption scared the ever-loving shit out of her and nearly caused her to piss her pants.

A couple had burst into the office, the door bouncing off the wall with the force. The woman had been hoisted into the air and had her arms and legs wound tightly around the large man holding her. It took Collynn a long moment of staring dumbly at them to realize that it was Gemma and Clay. Gemma, she recognized, and Clay she deduced considering how intensely they were glued together at the mouth.

The small yelp Collynn let out at the noise had frozen them in place. Chibs stood to shuffle them back out of the office at the same time Clay growled "Out!"

Collynn's face was as red as a tomato as she reentered the heat of the garage and Maggie wriggled excitedly at her side.

"So," she cleared her throat, mortified, "Is that a normal occurrence?" Chibs met her eyes and he couldn't contain his mirth. His rich laughter spurred hers, and they were soon leaning against each other, laughing and crying.

Collynn eventually had to get ahold of herself as her ab muscles were screaming in protest at being so rudely overworked with her laughter.

Chibs dabbed at his eyes as he righted himself. "Darlin', nothin' here is normal."