A/N: Hello. I've had such a crap day. This might just seem like a silly little scene but it's the base for the Georgia story, if that make sense! Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed - love you all!

Sarah x

June 19th 1994

Serena woke up in Georgia for the first time, surrounded by unopened boxes and her husband's strong arms. She didn't really know what she had been so afraid of; she was in the best place she had been in years. She had a potentially brilliant job. She had a loving husband. She had a large, comfortable home. She had money in her bank account. Her position was enviable, and she knew it, but she felt like it could fall apart with the slightest touch in the wrong direction.

She sighed and fell into him, her blanket of the world, protecting her from the hard ground below. She had been wary of moving to Macon; part of her wanted to go home, wherever that was. She had spent so long in America that it now felt like her home, but she knew where her family was, and it wasn't here. It was back in Britain. But her life was here now, and nothing was going to change that.

The sun poured through the curtains as Serena kissed her sleeping husband's temple. She was lucky he put up with her madness, and she didn't know how he did it half the time. Some of her mood swings were more than she herself would put up with.

She was not a soft person, nor was she weak, but she found her eyes stinging with tears. Perhaps she was just tired. Or perhaps she was actually frightened of what lay ahead. She could not shake the feeling that this was just too perfect to be real. There was a shadow looming over her and she couldn't work out what the darkness was.

With that in mind she allowed her eyes to shut, still trying understand why she felt so badly about this move. It wasn't Edward – if anything, she needed him with her. It wasn't the job – that was a walk in the park. And it wasn't the distance from her family – she'd learned to cope with that years ago. But it was there and it was making her chest feel tight as she stressed over it all. Whatever it was.

She felt Edward stirring and so feigned sleep knowing that he would only get out of bed if she was; they both needed the rest after all the packing and the driving and the almost-unpacking. They had given up after an hour last night, opting to just make the bed, get a takeaway and go to sleep.

"I love you," she heard Edward whisper, obviously thinking she was sleeping. She didn't open her eyes, deciding instead to let him get off his chest whatever he was thinking. "I don't understand why you married me, or what you see in me, but I'm so glad you do. I don't know where I'd be without you."

She felt his face against her neck, his breath warm against her skin. He was warm while she became more frigid, trying to dissect what she was so wary of. She tried to force logic on the situation but it only sent her mind spinning in and endless circle of 'who, what, where, when, why.'

If she was to say anything to Edward again, he would only try and talk her out of it. He might even succeed. But caution had always been a friend to her. Though it had always served her well in the past, sometimes it had simultaneously got her in trouble. And while she was good at getting into trouble, she often struggled to get out of it.

Regardless, she wrapped an arm across Edward's stomach and laid her head on his chest, wanting the comfort of knowing he was there for her without the danger of him convincing her to dismiss her worries. She would not dismiss it, just in case there was some, any, basis to her anxieties.

His fingers fell into her hair and she let out a soft sigh. She could have lay here all day, but there was a house needing unpacked and an unfamiliar area they needed to become familiar with. She reluctantly opened her eyes and found Edward's immediately. "Good morning," she sighed.

"Morning," he smiled, pressing a kiss onto her lips. His smile soon faded; it was clear he had seen her frustration in her face, and she should have known better than to think she could hide it from her husband. He knew her too well for that. "What's up, hmm? You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders."

Serena looked away, trying to find the words that wouldn't make her sound like a coward or a fool.

In the end she settled for a demand. "Just promise me, Edward, that if anything happens to us – ever – we'll stick together. Promise me you'll stand by me," she asked of him.

"Do you even need to ask that?" he challenged. "Of course I would."

She allowed a little pained smile; she was not very good the whole marriage thing. It was founded upon trust, something that never had come easily to her. It was a promise to uphold and rely on one another, the latter of which she was unfailingly terrible at. "Thank you," she said.

He was unflinching in his promise, and his grip on her was firm but soft, his arms warm around her body. She didn't understand why he had married her in the first place; he had always been out for good fun and, while she could have a good time, she always put a stop to it before it got out of hand. But Edward loved it when it all kicked off, police and all. The number of times the police had been called to the bars he had been drinking in was unreal, and he was always innocent. So he claimed, at least. She was willing to bet he was often anything but innocent.

But he had married her, and he loved her. She knew that. She just couldn't help but wonder how long it would take him to get bored of being settled. It was silly and if she said it aloud it would probably sound mad, but she was scared of losing him to his ways. The things she loved most about him were scaring her to death, because she knew how powerful these things were within him. Were they more powerful than whatever love he felt for her?

He was still holding her tightly when she remembered she was to start her new job tomorrow morning. That didn't bother her. Not in the slightest. She knew her place in a hospital. It was just unfortunate that she was never able to find her place in any other situation.

"We have to get up," she moaned unwillingly. "Come on," she added with a pat on his chest. "The house can't stay like this forever, now, can it?"

He grumbled something about nagging wives so she threw her slipper at the back of his head. "Ow!" he protested. She just grinned and wandered through to figure out how the shower worked.

An hour later, they were drinking coffee and eating toast, Serena trying to plan the day out in her head. But it was one of those days, where a plan was useless and would probably be abandoned within an hour. So she gave up as she washed her plate under the tap.

"Why don't we go and meet the neighbours? See if they're going to terrorise us," Edward grinned. How could he be so relaxed and smiley after moving halfway across the United States? She was exhausted and uptight; it wasn't fair how he could just smile his way through life while she struggled to make much sense of the world around her. He let the breeze take him wherever it wanted while she pushed against the wind in an effort to force a path for herself.

She sighed but followed him to the front door, dodging stupidly placed boxes as she did so. Whatever logic they had used last night had clearly been flawed.

They stepped outside, the sun hotter than she had been expecting. She looked around; they were at the end of a row of detached houses. Next door was obviously a family, if the swings and slide and pool were anything to go by. Just then, out stepped a young redheaded woman with a full laundry basket and two little girls – twins – in tow.

"Ginger ninja," Edward whispered with a wicked smile. Serena slapped his stomach with the back of her hand.

"One of these days, you'll say that to someone and they'll knock your head off your shoulders," she warned him.

"Let me guess," Edward smirked. "You'd let them do it but catch my head so it doesn't hit the ground."

"No," she replied. "I'd help them."

"Well, Mrs. Campbell," he said in mock outrage. "That isn't very nice!" She felt his hands wandering to her sides and realised what he was going to do and tried to wriggle away. But she was not quick enough and his arms wrapped around her, squeezing her back into his front as he kissed her neck.

She had to laugh at his childishness. "Edward!" she tried to tell him off, but it came out in a rather undignified squeal. The young woman turned around and smiled slightly before going back to hanging out the washing. She had to be about twenty-five or so, her skin radiantly pale, her eyes bright blue and her red hair thick and curly. She turned again at the sound of her child's laughter, again with a smile.

She walked up to the fence and asked, "You guys just moved in?" Her accent was thick and sweet.

"Yeah," Serena smiled. "I'm Serena. This idiot's my husband, Edward," she added, though she smiled when she said it.

"I'm Tammy, and these are my girls, Trisha and Kayla," she replied with a smile. "You'll love it here. Really quiet. My husband works at the hospital – he's a junior doctor there," she explained.

Serena laughed disbelievingly. "I'm starting there tomorrow. General surgery," she smiled.

"Oh, that's what Callan is doing," Tammy said. "You might have to work with him. I'll warn you, he likes a joke. Plays pranks on the newbies." Edward laughed, but Serena wasn't keen on this idea. But the how bad could one young man really be? She could handle him.

"Believe me," Edward chuckled. "He wouldn't dare. Junior doctors hide from Serena. They build underground forts and sound alarms when she's due on the ward," he joked.

"I'm not that bad," Serena quickly defended herself. Edward liked to make her out to be evil dictator material, but she was really just trying to help the young ones grow a backbone and a thick skin – that way they could deal with just about any patient when they remembered they had qualified under Serena Campbell and survived. So yes, she could make their lives a nightmare, but she did it for the right reasons.

Tammy was laughing. "I'm sure you're not, Serena," she agreed. "You've got a kind face."

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. "Finally someone who believes me and not him," she jabbed her thumb at her husband. "Right, we had better deal with all this unpacking. If you hear screaming, don't be alarmed. It'll be because I've killed my husband."

"Can you tell she hates unpacking?" Edward added.

"Little bit," Tammy grinned. "OK then. You guys need anything, just ask!" With that she returned to her children and laundry, smiling to herself at her new neighbours. What was she thinking? Serena couldn't help but feel that Edward had made her sound awful, but Tammy seemed not to believe him, thankfully. Ugh. Husbands.

"Such a good first impression you make," Serena grouched at Edward.

"True though," he pointed out as they walked back inside out of the sun. "You're terrifying," he teased her, holding her from behind, his hands resting on her hips.

Serena smiled. "Shut up."

Hope this is OK!
Please feel free to leave me a review and tell me your thoughts!
Sarah x