A/N: This might just be the last chapter. I was planning to continue through the second season but I think it would be best to leave this story off when Kyle comes back. I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have :) xx Mariah

The next time Riley saw Kyle was when he was in her living room after she'd come home from a stressful and long day of work. Not only had she just driven over an hour in traffic to get home, but now she had to deal with her no good husband.

She smiled a little as she saw Katie and Travis laying with their toys just feet away from him, as he watched them and her silently. She saw Lacey was keeping a close eye in the kitchen on both Kyle and the kids too, which reminded her of how thankful she was for her friends and family during this time.

"Hey Lace," she sighed, setting her purse on the counter. "Could you take the kids to their bedroom? I need to have a chat with Kyle."

"Sure thing, Riley." her friend smiled, walking away. "Travis, Katie, c'mon let's go play with this in your room."

She watched as Kyle looked toward the kids as they left, walking towards her. What was he going to say to her?

What could he possibly think she'd have to say back?

"C'mon," he whispered, looking over at her. He was begging now, it was even reaching his eyes.

Was it enough to make her hard shell melt, not even slightly. The old Riley would've crumbled to hear him talk to her like that, to look at her like that, but not anymore.

She wasn't going to let him get to her. She was stone cold, staring right back at him and she had nothing to say.

"Please just talk to me, Riley. Something other than that look," he said, stopping just a few feet away. "Are you just never going to talk to me again? You haven't said more than two words to me this entire time since I've been back."

In all honesty, she hadn't planned on not talking to him. She had just never expected herself to be this angry with him. She had never planned on him coming back. On never seeing his face again.

"This hasn't been a piece of cake for me either, Riley." He scoffed, rubbing his forehead. "I've been all alone. I've had no one to talk to."

There it was.

The same self-righteous Kyle that he'd turned into after his football accident. Suddenly everything was her fault and she wasn't taking good enough care of him. He was constantly in pain and with two toddlers at home at the time, it wasn't easy to multitask.

And now he was the one who had it hard? He got to run away from everything.

She had to stay here and pick up the pieces of her heart in private so that she could act like everything was perfect. She had to lie to their children and the whole town about where he was and what he was doing until she finally came clean after it all became too much to hold in.

She stepped away from the counter, almost having the nerve to speak to him but then pushing it away with the shake of her head.

"Let's be honest, you're not the easiest person to come back to." He muttered, crossing his arms.

That was it. The mentos were dropped into the soda.

She ran at him, shoving him back. "You son of a bitch," she had to bite back her tears from how much it hurt to hear him say that to her. "You son of a bitch, you think what you had to deal with was hard?" She screamed. "Was it hard for you? Really?" She shoved her fists into his shoulder, only a few tears getting shed in the process. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to wake up every morning?"

He just stared back at her, his head lowering as he didn't have the balls to look at her in the face anymore.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to function every single day?" She cried, shoving him back away from her once more as Lacey ran out from the kid's bedroom and pulled her off of him.

"Hey, stop it you two. The kids can hear you," Lacey said, separating her from him completely and bringing her back toward the kitchen a bit.

She took the second to cool off and turned away from him, saying a small prayer to herself and taking a breather.

Lacey was right. Their kids shouldn't have to hear them fight.

"I'm fine," she practically hissed and ran her hands through her hair. She still needed to calm down. "I'm fine."

Kyle had barely moved, but as he stepped toward her, she noticed his hands were fidgeting behind his back. "I am really sorry." He was always like this when she confronted him. "I will do anything to make this right, Riley, please."

She held back as much as she could be her tears filled her eyes and she sighed, walking toward him. A much as she hated him, she still loved him just enough to make everything hurt as much as it did when he'd left a year ago.

"I am the same person you fell in love with," he pleaded, finally looking into her eyes.

"I am not the same," she admitted and walked past him.

She didn't know when the time would be, but she hoped there would be a time when she could stand to look at him again.