This one-shot was inspired by Rascal Flatt's "Pieces." Gaby, I hope you enjoy this one –it's a bit angst-y but in the end, it'll be all it's meant to be.

Everyone who reads, please feel free to leave a review. Enjoy!

QUIL AND CLAIRE

There wasn't much in life she regretted –choices, actions and reactions, it didn't matter, Claire always had been careful with it all, understanding the consequences affected more than just that one moment in time.

She had been a careful child although, in retrospect, there had been no need what with having Quil in her life, always ready to rescue her or take the blame. Like the one time, back in high school when she had made the choice to disobey her father concerning a party –she had snuck out of her room to meet her friends down the road.

She hadn't told Quil about the party, hadn't even mentioned it once but she knew, without a doubt, he would be close by and to this day, she thanked her lucky stars because had it not been for him, the senior swim team jock she had been crushing on would have taken more from her than she had been willing to give.

He had held her while she cried, snuck her back home with her parents none the wiser and she had learned from the experience, never to repeat it again.

He had been in her life as far back as she could remember –her playmate, the one to look out for her as a child and as she got older, he was the one who she went to when she felt misunderstood by the adults in her life.

He had been her best friend, the one she always turned to until that regrettable day –the one choice she'd made without all the facts before her and even now, six years later, the regret stabbed at her constantly.

Turning the ignition off, she leaned back into the leather seat of her Miata, staring out the window as the pain washed over her in waves. She had been eighteen, out of high school and so excited about going to UCLA, where she would be pursuing a degree in art and computer graphics.

Having Quil coming along –he had been accepted into the Master's civic engineering program –had taken the edge off the fear from leaving her family to move so far away.

Her best friend was coming with her and she had been so happy –she didn't think, didn't contemplate the secrets revolving around him…around them. Without once asking herself the obvious question –why had she grown and changed but he hadn't –she had moved their friendship into the field of relationships.

The day his grandfather died, she had been with him, held him and gave him comfort in the one way she had not been able to before –one kiss led to a second, then a third but he never pushed for more. She realized then she loved him –always had and for that reason, she made the first move and as always, he followed.

Their first five months in Los Angeles had been the happiest of her life but then, it happened. She learned of the secrets she hadn't been aware of –his truth spread out from one end to the other for her and she had run scared.

Scared of what he'd shared, of what it all meant –for someone who was careful of every choice she made, the realization of knowing the most important choice she'd ever made hadn't been a choice at all frightened her.

No…it had been predestined, taken away from her before she even knew it wasn't hers at all.

Six years of running, not able to let him go but unwilling to give him what he wanted –what he needed from her.

It didn't keep her from taking, though –he was still the one she went to when she was hurting, when another failed attempt at finding love on her own terms chipped away at her illusion of love freely given. He always gave her what she needed even though she could see how much it cost him –the pain of her unwillingness was visible and she knew it weighed him down, the pain and disillusionment he shouldered along with hers stripping him of the joy in life she'd always seen in him before.

Every time she came to him, she wondered if it would be the last time, if he would finally say enough. She kept pushing and pushing, wondering how much it would take for this imprint love to reach a breaking point.

It was the crux of the matter –she couldn't see how a compulsion like imprinting could weather past the storms that came with relationships, couldn't understand how not choosing to love, to commit, to stick with it could possibly have love last past the newness.

Letting out a sigh, she removed her keys from the ignition, stepping out of her car and closing the door, the locks engaging themselves as she stood where she was, staring at the teal colored door for an entire minute before she moved up the paved walkway.

She couldn't keep herself from fearing that maybe this was it –maybe this time around, he would finally break and ask her to let him go.

He'd been preparing for days, much like batting down the hatches for an incoming storm to make sure he survived through it…and at this point, all he could really do was try his best to survive.

As the days passed, his anxiety increased along with the stabbing pain in his chest and tightening in his gut –she thought he was only aware of her pain when she brought it to him but in all reality, he felt her dreams shattering at the same time she did.

He never told her –never once told her how he hurt for her, cried for her long before she came around to seek him out. What it was she wanted from him other than what he had to offer, he had no idea but he couldn't turn away, couldn't turn his back on her no matter how much it hurt to have known what loving her and being loved by her was like…to have it now be something of the past.

A brief dream –a glimpse of paradise snatched away from him, only to have it taunt him every time she tried finding it with someone else. To have it within reach every time she failed then snatched away again broke him just a little more.

It was a cruel game of keep away and had he been a different man, were he not tied to her tighter than the earth to gravity, he would have said enough was enough.

Instead, he sat on his couch, legs stretched out as he stared at the blank screen of the plasma television mounted up on the living room wall. The silence of his three bedroom, two bathroom house echoed around him as he felt the anxious energy increasing, wondering if this time, it'll finally rip him apart.

The soft knock at his front door was a crack of lighting accompanied by a boom of thunder, completely destroying the walls he'd built since last seeing her in an attempt to keep his heart sheltered, his lungs seizing for a second too long, leaving him gasping for air as another knock sounded again.

Turning on the TV –he didn't want her to see his life for what it was, a big blur of nothingness between home and work–he set the remote on the cushion beside him before standing up, running his fingers through his hair as he made his way to the front door. The terra cotta tiles were cool under his feet, the refrigerated air conditioner he'd installed two months ago keeping the hot California heat outside where it belonged.

Fisting his hands to stop them from shaking, he took another deep breath which hitched as a sharp pain pierced his heart, a third knock, this time much softer, an echo of his thumping heart.

Turning the doorknob, he opened the door, the smile he had wanted to give her not appearing as he looked at her for the first time in months.

She was beautiful –oh god, she was so beautiful with dark, dark eyes whispering of promises he had once thought belonged to him, a glow under her lustrous copper toned skin having his palms tingling with the memory of its feel, her exquisite face framed by the short hairstyle she was now sporting, the hot afternoon sun causing blue highlights to appear in the black silk brushing her jaw line.

Her smile was shy, the sadness visible in her trembling full lips as she shifted where she stood, "Hi."

He nodded once, unable to do anything other than move back to let her enter his home, his voice husky as he said the one word that defined everything he was, "Claire."

He couldn't deny her, even if he gave it a try –that's why he'd let her go, why he had stood back and hadn't chased after her. His happiness was contingent on hers and because of that, he was miserable –if only she would find that happiness, even if it wasn't with him, he could perhaps be able to breathe easier, at the least.

Her heels clicked against the tiled floor, eyes downcast as she moved past him into the open living room, the sounds of a basketball game filling the throbbing silence reigning at the moment.

Fisting his shaking hands at his sides, he moved tentatively into the living room, his eyes devouring the sight of her as she stood uncertainly beside one of the cream colored armchairs, "Would you like something to drink?"

"Uhm," Claire bit her bottom lip, hands clutching at the strap of her shoulder bag, "Wine, if you have it."

Nodding, he moved into the kitchen, able to feel her move despite the distance, closing his eyes at the sound of her finally sitting down, setting her purse on the carpeted floor beside her feet. Opening the fridge, he pulled out her favorite bottle of wine, along with a bottle of beer for himself. Taking a glass from the top shelf of the cupboard he kept them in, he filled it halfway before popping the cap off his bottle and taking both drinks into the living room.

She was looking around and he knew what was going through her head –she had, after all, been with him when he bought this house the first month they had moved to Los Angeles. She had been with him every step of the way, from looking at houses, to signing the papers, to buying the furniture and coming up with a color scheme for each room. She had helped him paint the rooms, had convinced him to paint the living room walls an oatmeal color so the dark cherry wood furniture would stand out –he was surrounded by her in his home despite her absence from his everyday life.

Being a freshman, she had been forced to live on campus but he still remembered their plans for her to move in as soon as she finished her first year –plans that never happened.

The silence continued to stretch as they sipped their drinks, Claire's knee bouncing slightly, causing the dark blue straight skirt she wore to inch up her thighs. Closing his eyes, he took a deep swallow of his beer, barely getting his breath when Claire spoke up.

"David and I broke up."

He gave a nod, not looking at her as he turned to set his bottle on the bar that separated the open kitchen from the dining slash living room, "He wasn't good enough for you, anyway."

"According to you, no guy is good enough for me."

Gripping the edges of the granite, he dropped his head, his shoulders hunched as he worked at keeping control of himself, "And one by one, you're finding out its true."

He couldn't see her but he knew she was looking down at the almost empty wine glass in her hands, her long fingers twirling the stem back and forth, "He was cheating on me."

Closing his eyes, he fought back the anger, wanting to beat the crap out of this David but he couldn't –she never let him meet any of her boyfriends, merciful on her part, really, not forcing him to see her with another man.

The silence was heavy, rife with unspoken words and oozing emotions from hearts split wide open.

"Aren't you going to say something?"

"What do you want me to say," Quil swallowed down more beer, leaving the bottle almost empty as he turned to look at her, "Why don't you just tell me so I don't have to guess?"

Claire's arched eyebrows rose –he knew she didn't pluck or wax, they were just naturally perfect like the rest of her –an inquisitive gleam in her eyes, "Are you mad?"

"What do you want me to be," Quil drained the last of his beer, moving around the bar to toss the bottle into the glass recycling receptacle, "I've told you before, I'll be whatever you want. If you want me to be sorry, I am. You want me to be angry at the bastard, believe me, I'm fucking pissed. You want me to listen, baby, I'm all ears but I'm sick and tired of having to guess what the hell it is you want from me."

The look in her eyes had his heart fluttering and his stomach flipping because he could still read her, could still hear what she was saying without her saying it out loud.

Moving within an arm's length from her, he stared into her eyes, wanting to hear what he was seeing, "What do you want, Claire?"

Her bottom lip stayed tucked between her teeth as she looked up at him, seeing what he'd never hidden from her, seeing what she had always yearned for, "Love…I want someone who will love me past the excitement of something new, who will love me through the hard times when it feels like everything is falling apart…I'm looking for the one…the one who'll…who'll…"

The tears finally escaped, rolling down her face and he couldn't keep away from her anymore.

Taking one step closer to her, he took her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking over her wet cheeks, "You have him, Claire. You've always had him."

Gripping his wrists, she stared into his dark chocolate eyes, her breath shallow as she asked with a sob, "Do you love me because you want to, Quil, because you choose to do so?"

Pressing his forehead against hers, he breathed in her very essence, her hair silk sliding across the backs of his hands, "So much better than that, Claire. I love you because I'm meant to love no one else."

She closed her eyes, sniffing just before he covered her mouth with his, the kiss flooding both of them with a sense of homecoming as she tilted her head back for a tighter fit, his tongue sliding over hers in eager exploration of what had once been theirs.

Her body curved into his, his large hands moving down her back, stroking small circles against the silk of her champagne colored blouse. Lightly racking her nails across the back of his neck, she moved her other hand down to his waist, pulling his t-shirt up to slip it under.

Feeling her fingers spread against his hot skin had him gasp, both of them panting as he dropped his head to kiss her neck, pulling her blouse out of the waistband of her skirt as he slowly walked her backwards.

Neither stumbled as they made their way towards the back bedroom, having both done this dance together before and although it had been years since the last time and now, it felt like they had never stopped.

Her blouse ended up over a lamp beside the couch, her shoes and his t-shirt left behind in the hallway. As they entered the bright and airy master bedroom, her skirt dropped at her feet. She slid her fingers into his hair while his large hands spanned her waist, her toes barely touching the floor as he lifted her up to, his mouth eagerly closing over a hard nipple, the pink sheer lace of her bra hiding nothing.

Instinctively, she pulled her legs up to wrap them around his waist, the feel of him hard against her center pulling a long moan out of her as he moved one hand down to cup her ass and grind her against him.

They tumbled into bed together; soft moans and groans with whispered words of love the only sound in the bedroom. His cargo shorts were tugged off, her pink lace panties tossed without care to where they landed.

Rolling her onto her back, he kept his weight on his elbows as he stared down into her eyes, his hands stroking her hair away from her face as they both worked to catch their breath.

"I've missed you, baby," he pressed a soft kiss against her mouth, "So much. You're everything, Claire…my everything. Without you, I have nothing and nothing I have matters."

He kept dropping soft kisses on her face –his lips gentle against her nose, her eyes, her cheeks, her chin…he covered every inch of her face, his fingers tangled in the silk of her hair.

"I love you, Quil," she whispered into his ear, her hands stroking his broad back as he moved his lips over her jaw and down her throat, "I do, I really do. I want to love you –I choose to love you…because I don't know how to do anything other than love you."

Looking into her eyes, he removed the last barrier of clothing between them, his eyes dropping to her bared breasts, thumbs moving over the perked nipples with a touch of reverence, making her very soul quiver with the way he touched her…the way he worshiped her as he made love to her with his hands and mouth.

Claire moaned, her body arching into his as he reacquainted himself with the hills and valleys, the curves and planes of the one and only woman he had ever and would ever love. His tongue licked the soft skin under her full breasts, his nose tracing a line down her torso, his lips creating a pattern of kisses over her flat stomach.

A soft scream escaped her at the feel of his mouth on the inside of her thigh, the pain of his teeth sinking into her muscle mingling with the sharp pleasure streaking through her.

"No more running, Claire," his words brushed over her sensitive flesh, his mouth moving against her, teasing her, pushing her higher and higher as the coil inside her got tighter with every word spoken, "I'm done letting you run from me. You belong to me, baby, as much as I belong to you."

"Please," Claire let out a soft sob, her hands gripping his shoulders as he alternated between sucking and licking, her thighs trembling at the sensations crashing over her, "Quil, please –I need you…I want you inside me when I come…please."

He couldn't deny her, his body surging over her, legs and arms wrapping around each other as he pushed into her, their groans released simultaneously at their joining.

"God, I've missed you," Quil dropped kisses along her collarbones, his hands fisted in her hair as he moved deeper into her, "You feel so good, Claire…heaven, baby –it's heaven to be with you like this."

Claire nodded, running her fingers through his hair as she tilted her hips, the sensation of being spread open by him having her stomach quivering, her sensitive breasts feeling full pressed against his chest, the weight of him a welcome relief to the feeling of emptiness that had followed her for the past six years, "I love you Quil…you're the only man I've ever loved like this…the only one who's ever loved me like this."

He knew what she was trying to say, his heart soaring at the realization she had never given up on him. Even though she had walked away, had left him, she had never fully given herself to anyone else, had kept herself untouched by any man because she had always belonged to him and she had known it.

His heart thumping hard against his ribs, he covered her mouth with his, their tongues moving in tangent with their bodies as he rocked into her, her wet heat squeezing his cock with every inward thrust, her inner muscles rippling against him with each withdrawal.

She broke their kiss, gasping in air into her burning lungs, her fingers dragging down his back as she panted into his ear, "Harder…faster…god, Quil, please…"

Grabbing her thighs, he pushed her knees up into her chest, sliding in deeper as his hips thrust forward, groans and pants filling the room along with the sound of flesh meeting flesh, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she tossed her head back, the threatening climax rushing her.

Body arching, she let out a scream as her world splintered and shattered, pleasure sweeping her out of physical consciousness and into a plane of pure sensation.

Quil bit into her shoulder as he slammed into her, the hot tingling racing down his spine as his balls tightened the only warning before he spilled himself inside her, his own release spinning the universe around several times, his heart racing as stars exploded in techno colors inside his brain.

Collapsing on her, they both were breathing hard, still swimming in the silky waters of their mutual pleasure, their sweat slicked bodies glued together to form one, their souls melding as they stared into each others' eyes as their hearts slowly came down from their shared high.

Kissing her swollen lips, he moved his weakened body until he was on his back, her head resting on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, the post-coital bliss covering them both like a warm blanket.

Claire closed her eyes, feeling relaxed and at peace. It had been like their first time but so much better because, this time around, there had been no secrets, no undiscovered truths. This time, they had both been completely and totally exposed to each other, to the very smallest corner of their souls.

Quil stared up at the ceiling, his breathing slow as he stroked his fingers up and down her arm, his other hand caressing the leg she'd thrown over his hips, her foot tucked between his thighs.

"I'm sorry."

The soft apology broke into his contentment, his eyebrows lowering over dark brown eyes as he looked down into her own warm chocolate colored orbs, "What?"

"I'm sorry I caused you so much pain," Claire bit her bottom lip, the shame and guilt she felt showing in her eyes, "I'm sorry I wasn't willing to let go of you even when I was looking in others for something I knew I could only find in you."

He studied her face, the high cheekbones and long eyelashes, her nose straight and her lips fuller than usual. Cupping her face in his hand, he rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip before pressing a kiss against them, his words giving her the absolution she was seeking.

"If the outcome of all that pain and anguish is this," he kissed the tip of her nose before giving her a lopsided smile filled with joy, "I'd go through it again without a single complain."