Hello, my beautiful and lovely readers. This chapter was very difficult to write, I seriously wrote three different versions before deciding on this one. I loved all the reviews and they were all helpful and inspiring.

Rusty stood in the doorway of his sister's room watching her sleep. Sharon had called him and very diplomatically told him what happened in a way that was supposed to make him worry as little as possible. However when Sharon said that Riley was not going to the hospital but Sharon was taking a week off to stay with her, Rusty knew something really bad must have happened. As long as they had been with Sharon she had never taken a full week off for anything. When he arrived home and found Sharon and Andy sitting with Nicole and Phantom, he knew it was more than bad. This wasn't a headache.

Nicole was sleeping on their couch, unwilling to leave until she had a chance to talk to Riley and Andy was trying to convince Sharon to get some sleep. The only one actually sleeping in the condo was Riley.

Sharon wouldn't tell him what happened to her, just that she really needed some sleep. Nicole stayed quiet and Andy seemed to busy himself with making tea and keeping Sharon occupied. They were acting like someone died so he knew something really bad happened.

Riley's face contorted in her sleep, her eyes squeezing shut and her nose scrunched up. Rusty stood up straighter as Riley started to shake her head. She was having a nightmare. It was her nightmare face that he knew sadly well. Daring to step into her room, he took sat on the edge of his sister's bed.

"Rye," he whispered running his hand over the top of her golden hair. "We're home, remember? Sharon and Andy are home too and no one can hurt us anymore." He had done this many times before. It was just a part of their life as children and though it wasn't a common occurrence anymore, he knew how to handle it.

Sharon stood just outside Riley's door, one hand over her mouth as she listened to Rusty try and comfort his sleeping sister. Nicole was at least pretending to be asleep now and Andy was waiting for Sharon to come to bed. She had only gotten up to check on Riley again before she laid down with Andy.

"It's different now," Rusty assured his sister as he kept stroking her hair. "We have a mom who does what moms are supposed to do. She loves us and tries to protect us a little too much and cares about us a lot and we love her back. Remember Rye?" His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "We're safe. We have Andy too and Lieutenant Provenza. We have siblings now too, and soon everyone will see Sharon as our Mom. Isn't that what you want Riley?"

Riley whimpered and Rusty gently shushed her, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. "Rye, you're okay."

She wasn't though. Despite all of it, Riley was not okay. Sharon bit down on her index finger to try and keep herself from making a sound. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her shoulders shook. Finally no one was looking and she could at least cry quietly.

Hand taking hold of both her upper arms made her yelp as she looked up to see Andy kneeling on the ground in front of her. She hung her head as she felt her tears come harder and her body shake. She wanted more than anything to help Riley, but she was scared and unsure how to help.

"Mom!"

Riley's terrified screams made Sharon jump up. In a moment she was on the other side of Riley's bed, wrapping her up in her arms. Rusty looked horrified as Sharon realized Riley had kicked off most of her blankets and the dozens and dozens of cuts were bleeding through her pajama top and her legs bled onto her sheets.

Riley's whole body convulsed as she fought against Sharon's arms for a moment, showing more strength and power than she had in weeks before finally falling into Sharon's arms and letting her tears roll.

"Mom… Mom…" Riley whimpered in her sleep.

Sharon rocked her back and forth as Rusty slowly moved out of the room. He wasn't sure what to do. He didn't know how to handle it. This wasn't Riley. Sharon closed her eyes as her own tears kept their flow. "I'm right here, Riley baby. I'm right here."

The next morning she woke up with a headache from hell. It pounded heavily in her head, but it wasn't unbearable. She had experienced much worse.

She drug her bare feet down the hallway into the kitchen. She had no idea where her phone was and no idea if she was up really early or really late. It just seemed weirdly quiet. As she stepped into the living room, she found Sharon sitting on the floor drinking a cup of tea as she seemed to be reading something.

"I'm glad you were able to sleep in," Sharon said with a small smile as she stood up from the floor. "I think you probably needed it."

There was nothing Riley could think of to say. She just stood there, her arms wrapped around herself. Sharon placed her cup on the counter and beckoned Riley to join her. "How are you feeling?"

Like she had just cut open her legs and gone without sleep for so long she was mentally unstable and literally passed out from exhaustion. She was in pain, she was ashamed, she hated herself more than she had ever hated herself and she really hated herself for her mom having to take the day off to take care of her. There was a look of worry still lingering in Sharon's eyes despite her desperately attempt to keep her expression neutral.

It occurred to Sharon before it did Riley that she wasn't going to answer. She just couldn't.

"I called Dr. Joe. You have an appointment with him at noon," Sharon informed her daughter dejectedly. "But I was just wondering if there was anything you wanted to tell me before we went."

Only that she was sorry. Really sorry. Sharon was probably completely freaked out and really she had the situation under control. She was just so tired. Sharon just came home early. She wasn't supposed to be home for hours. Also she didn't cut often, only when she really needed it, which just happened to be more often than she ever had in these recent weeks.

Still, Riley didn't speak.

Sharon nodded. "Okay. Why don't you go get ready for the day and we can grab lunch on our way."

Riley wasn't sure if she was pleased that Sharon allowed her to escape so easily or upset by it. She turned around hesitantly and walked to the bathroom. "Riley, honey?"

The girl turned back around to see Sharon looking less than sure of herself, which pretty well never happened. "Honey, please leave the doors unlocked."

A hot blush came to Riley's cheeks as she turned back around. She had lost her mother's trust. Tears stung at Riley's eyes as she walked away. What if Sharon didn't want her anymore? What if Riley had just finally broken one too many rules? What if Rusty wasn't going to get adopted too?

She flipped on the hot water and stripped off her clothing. For a long moment her eyes just surveyed the damage as she peeled off what was left of the bandages. She had truly done a number on herself. It was a day she would have to wear a dress because shorts would be too short and pants would rub.

The moment the hot water was beating against her skin she felt her knees buckle as sobs suddenly shook her. She sat inside the bath tub, her knees pulled up to her chest. It was the first sound she had made all day and of course it had to be tears.

Twenty minutes later she was dressed. Her hair was still damp and curling wildly, but she didn't care what it looked like at the moment.

Sharon knocked on the door frame as Riley frowned at herself in the mirror. "Are you ready?"

The doorknob turned to reveal Riley, her eyes distant and sad. The quietness was not just a state of exhaustion then. Sharon nodded. "Okay, let's go."

The car ride was silent except for the sound of rain tinkering against the windows. Both of them were too caught up in their own thoughts to even notice the radio wasn't even filling the dead space. Sharon wanted Riley to talk, speak, make some sort of sound to communicate in any way. She could handle even something not completely communitive. Perhaps humming along to the radio or even a disgruntled snort of her disapproving of someone's outrageous outfit would suffice. But no. Even her features were unresponsive, always a step away from crying or contempt.

The girl just wanted to be able to turn off her brain that was screaming at her for her level of stupidity. Could she do anything right anymore? It seriously didn't seem likely with the way thing had been going for the last several months. Everything she did continually blew up in her face.

The girl sighed and Sharon dared to glance at her as they came to a stop with traffic. Lunch hour traffic was just starting to hit, but they were already fairly close to the LAPD. For a moment she studied her daughter's features as they sat the red light. Sighing was at least a sound.

In the corner of her eye she saw a car in the review mirror going much too fast to stop. With a quick gasp, Sharon's arm went out to Riley as brakes squealed. The girl just turned to her when the impact had them both yelping in surprise. They were immediately thrown in the opposite direction when the front end of their vehicle collided with the car in front of them. Immediately their airbags went off.

The grip Sharon had on Riley's arm only tightened as the airbags deflated. Riley's nose was bleeding down her chin and Sharon could feel her own nose dripping. She tried to blink away the stars in her vision from having the wind knock out of her.

"Riley?" she called carefully as she wiped the blood off her face with the back of her free hand. She wasn't able to steal a glance at her child yet, still in too much shock and pain to move yet.

Still, Riley didn't speak, only grasped onto Sharon's hand tightly. The fear was definitely there but she knew Sharon was too. She turned to her daughter after another long moment. It wasn't a serious accident, but it was enough to shake both of them up on a day that was already less than ideal. The silence was once again painfully loud as they both tried to catch their breath. Sharon knew she should get out and check on the people in the other cars, but she needed a moment to just hold onto Riley even if it was just her arm.

The tapping on Riley's window startled both of them. A man wearing a grey business suit appeared in the glass.

"Are you two alright?" he asked through the closed window.

Riley remained silent and passive, but with a quick glance Sharon decided her daughter didn't seem in any immediate need of a doctor. "Yes," she answered for both of them. The man nodded and moved to the next car.

Sharon released Riley long enough to unbuckle her seat belt and noticed Riley followed her lead. As they stepped out of the car, Sharon assessed the damage with a sigh. She looked up to find Riley awkwardly standing on the sidewalk with her arms wrapped around herself, completely oblivious to the blood running down her chin. A woman on the sidewalk immediately took notice of her, but Sharon was rushing around the vehicles before too much interaction could occur.

"Oh, sweet pea, you're bleeding!" Riley startled and retreated when the woman grabbed for her, only for Sharon to jump in.

"It's okay, I've got her. She's my daughter," Sharon told the woman as Riley slid into her arms and away from the woman. She hated attention from strangers unless she was performing. A stranger talking to Riley on a good day would result in a polite smile and a quick escape and it was not a good day.

However the woman didn't really take the hint. "Ma'am you're bleeding too!"

Sharon sent the woman a polite look. "I just need to make a phone call." The other people from the car accident were also on their phones, probably calling their insurance agent while Sharon dialed Andy's number. It was just a day she needed his presence.

He arrived on foot, nearly jogging down the block to two of his favorite girls on the planet and pulled them into his arms not caring about the smeared blood that they both had attempted to clean off with spare tissues from Sharon's purse. He pulled them back only long enough to inspect both of them. Sharon couldn't hide her smile while Riley looked as awkward as ever, trying to wiggle out of his grip.

"Andy, dear, it was a fender bender," Sharon assured him as he unwillingly released Riley and his hands found Sharon's face, inspecting it closely. Her nose was still just barely dripping with blood as his thumb gently stroked her jaw. He gentle pressed his lips to her forehead before returning to a more standard position of having his hand gently on her lower back.

"How about you, kiddo?" he asked as his attention fell back on Riley. "Anything hurting."

She didn't even look at him. Instead kept her attention focused on the string of cars piled up in front of her.

Andy frowned, but before he could say anything else Sharon shook her head sadly. "Riley, honey, I don't want you to miss your appointment with Dr. Joe so Andy is going to walk with you there while I deal with this."

But Riley didn't budge. Her hands clenched and released as she stared at the damaged car. Sharon sighed and Andy glanced at her in confusion. He took a step toward the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Kiddo, your mom's talking to you."

Still, she didn't move unless he wanted to consider the tensing in her shoulders at the contact. Andy spun around to see Sharon looking contemplative and sad at the sight. "Is she in shock?" he asked gently tugging her closer, but she didn't want to move to him. After a moment she shrugged away from him and Sharon shook her head. The only person Riley was willing to even have touch her at the moment seemed to be Sharon.

"She's hasn't spoken since, well, yesterday I suppose." Sharon lowered her voice. "I wouldn't count her nightmare last night." There was a slight change in Riley's posture again and Sharon frowned. "I'll call Dr. Joe and explain the situation. I'm sure he'll be happy to have his lunch hour back anyway."

All Riley did was stand there, seeming as far away as possible even though she was just a few steps. Sharon found herself searching for Andy's hand which he happily took. He intertwined their fingers and watched Riley as Sharon spoke on the phone. They both knew Riley was probably still listening and Sharon tried to give as much to Dr. Joe about the situation that was going on with Riley without upsetting the girl further.

After all insurance information was explained and Sharon talked to the officer, she turned back to Andy. "I need to take Riley home. Can I borrow your car?" Her cheeks tinged pink at the question. Asking for things like that always made Sharon uncomfortable but he couldn't understand why.

"Absolutely. I'll have Provenza drop me by-" But Sharon shook her head before her eyes fell back on Riley.

"I think tonight it should just be Riley and me," she said softly turning back to Andy's gaze. Her daughter needed her and Sharon knew the only way Riley would open up was if she slowly pulled it all out of her alone. Plus, Sharon could see Riley's recent hesitation around men reappearing. Mentioning that to Andy, however, would only hurt him.

Slowly Andy nodded. He walked with them back to the LAPD, one hand entwined with Sharon's the other constantly trying not to reach out to Riley. Several times he found Sharon glancing back to make sure Riley was still behind them. She just traveled a few paces back, but Sharon wanted her right beside her tucked under her arm, especially with the way Riley was acting.

Andy took his car keys off the ring and dropped it in Sharon's hands. She wrapped her arms around him as Riley got into the car.

"I love you," he whispered against her hair. She nodded against him as tears built up in her eyes. "Our kid needs you."

She looked back and felt a few tears slide down her cheeks. Riley was their kid. Rusty too. Andy was invested completely in not only her life but theirs as well. For Riley especially, Andy was their father. Yet she had to ask him to walk away from his child in a moment of need because Riley was so shut down.

Sharon held tightly to him for another long moment before she pulled away, quickly wiping her eyes before Riley could see. They exchanged one more long look before Andy shoved his hands into his pockets.

This time the dead space in the car was filled with some fairly awful music from Andy's CD player. Not even Sharon was sure what it was, but it was better than silence and actually managed to pull her mind off of things every now and then by the horrendousness of it.

It wasn't until they were both back in the condo that Sharon was done playing this silent game.

"Honey?"

Riley stopped in mid step on her retreat to her bedroom. There was something in Sharon's tone that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Sharon moved to the couch and Riley watched her. She patted the cushion beside her but Riley didn't move. Letting out a deep sigh, Sharon spoke. "Please sit down with me."

The girl took a step then glanced down the hall as if considering making a break for it, but in the end she moved toward the couch.

Sharon's whole body was turned to her daughter who nervously ran her hands up and down her thighs. "Honey, your sisters," mentally Sharon wondered when she decided Nicole was Riley's sister too, "told me what you said to them yesterday."

There was not even the slightest change in Riley's demeanor but her eyes slowly started to become bloodshot as a tear trickled down her cheek. She didn't move to wipe it away, she didn't look away from the hole her eyes were burning in the wall, she didn't even blink.

"You want to make a doctor's appointment?" Sharon continued. "I can help you do that. You seemed to like Dr. Fawn alright. We can make an appointment." There was the slightest shake of Riley's head. "We will make that appointment whenever you're ready, honey."

Another tear slid down Riley's cheek and Sharon wanted desperately to brush it away, however she kept talking. "Nicole also told me that you took the morning after pill, which I'm glad you did." Her daughter's chin quivered as she tried to take a deep breath. "You are a very brave girl, and I am very proud of you."

At that a sob broke Riley's silence as she turned and looked completely disbelieving at her mother.

"Why?" Riley asked, her voice a hoarse squeak.

The question seemed completely ridiculous in Sharon's mind. She was proud of her daughter for being able to find the strength to take care of herself even after something awful had happened. She did the terrifying thing of going to a pharmacy and purchasing something that many people would judge her for.

"Because you are a strong young woman," Sharon told her firmly her hand closing around her daughter's.

Riley stood up looking completely disgusted. She raised her dress high enough to reveal the angry red cuts from the previous night. "Does this look like a mark of strength, Sharon?"

The use of her first name had the mother flinching slightly. Riley called her mom. She had for months. Carefully reaching out, Sharon tugged the end of Riley's skirt back down before encouraging the girl to sit again. "It looks like the marks of someone who had tried to hold everything in for too long."

The heavy silence covered them again as tear continuously streamed down Riley's cheeks. The sadness in her expression gone leaving only frustration and fury.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Sharon startled as she realized the question she had been asking herself since Nicole walked into her office finally escaped her lips. Riley however looked even angrier at the question. "There is nothing to tell! Teenagers do not discuss their sex lives with their parents."

For a moment Sharon was torn between shaking some sense into her daughter and crying about how completely off track she seemed to be. "That boy hurt you," Sharon insisted. "You had been drinking-"

The level of pain and shame that rolled over Riley's features seemed to make her mother soften.

"He took advantage-"

"How did you know I was drinking?" Riley asked immediately. The girl's features were flashing through so many emotions so quickly that it was no wonder she seemed to be in complete tatters. Finally, rage seemed to win out. A frustrate growl erupted from Riley that was punctuated with a stomped foot. "I hate them! I ask them for one thing and they can't do it! They promised they wouldn't say anything! They promised!"

Her hands went to her hair dragging through it forcibly. Sharon stood up and watched as Riley paced the floor. The emotions were suffocating her. She couldn't get them out, she couldn't say what she wanted to say. Suddenly her hard breathing became ragged as she stopped walking, instead grabbing the wall for support as she tried to catch her breath.

It took Sharon only a moment to realize her daughter was hyperventilating. Immediately her hands were on her daughter's shoulders, searching Riley's wide terrified eyes. "Honey, I need you to breathe with me." Those blue eyes only turned to daggers as she looked at her mother ready to push her away. Sharon's eyes narrowed as she saw the thought cross her child's mind. "Riley, breathe with me." This time she was more forceful about it and felt Riley's breath start to even out.

As all started to calm, Sharon wrapped Riley in her arms. "Feel better?"

Riley shrugged her away and headed straight for her room leaving Sharon alone on the floor. She let out a long sigh. This was not the way she wanted this to go.

I am already working on the next chapter. Thank you all so much for your support. Please review.