Author's Note: So, this is just to get the ball rolling on the story. The time frames are not going to match up perfectly because frankly I'm not sure what years Erin's story took place and I want her and George back in charming right where season 4 picks up, so they can be there when the shit storm really starts brewing. I've got so many ideas for this story and how I'm going to wedge George in with Clay, JT, Piney, Jax, Tig, and the rest of the guys- his back story will be in the next chapter. Needless to say it will put him and Erin at the center of the storm!
The title of the story are lyrics from a song "Beautifully Broken" by Gov't Mule. You guys should listen! It really embodies ol' ladies and MC relationships for me.
Please review xo
Life had turned on it's axis and Erin found herself exhausted, ecstatic, and simply trying to catch her breath.
The lawsuit involving PG&E had taken everything out of her. Alternately, she had never felt so purposeful and charged up in her life. Sure, things she had done had had their meaning; her children, her marriages. But she'd never taken her drive to heights like this. It had awoken something inside of her, taken her to a place where all the power she had was finally pointed at an inherently good cause rather than surviving hand to mouth and well disguised self-pity.
Of course all that time and power had it's downfall. She'd lost him. She'd been too caught up in her fight to think of anything else, and frankly, giving anything up for a man let alone the thing she considered most important to her at the time seemed like a fool's ride to take. It had broken her when he'd left, the words he spoke so harshly hurting all the more because they were so damn true. But she'd pushed that shit way down and continued fighting. He'd left, gone off to god knows where. She never knew where he went when he left. She imagined him like Peter Fonda in Easy Rider, camping out worshiping the lines on the highway. But George was too practical for all that. There was a fire in his eyes that belonged to a part of his life she had no idea about, but she was no idiot. There was something there that she was too damn caught up to take a good look at. All that mattered was him at home, with her and her kids. Anything else about his life could lay on the back burner until she had a good two minutes to dissect it.
She had earned so much money from the lawsuit that she still hadn't even had a second to think about spending it. The check sat in her jewelry box, a heavy weight and reminder that her and her kids would never want for anything again. She would never skip another meal to feed them, never become a cartoon version of herself in interviews, metaphorically on her knees begging for a way to earn. She could very well support them for the rest of their life on the money she'd earned. But she didn't want to stop working. As soon as PG&E had settled in court, another case against them emerged in Kettelman Hills. Kettelman Hills was basically an expanse of farmers with a post office in town and a zip code. But it was so far north she didn't know how the hell she was going to manage it from where she was at in southern California. George was back, he hadn't been able to stay away. Showing him everything she'd accomplished by fighting for the people whose lives had been ruined by PG&E had given him a new perspective on where she stood. His opinions and his hurt and hadn't changed, but he was ready to work things out. She hated herself for it but she was ready to give herself to him; to surrender and be humbled. She loved him too damn much. It all became clear to her when she wanted him around even though he didn't support them and she could afford a babysitter. She needed him because she was a damn fool in love. She wanted him around because his presence and love was her redemption and her saving grace. She wanted to come home to him every night, to give him another baby. Whatever would keep him stationed with her.
So that's where she was right now. Standing over her dresser and peering at her check from the law firm as though she could divine answers from it about what to do next, a sheen on her skin from the afternoon California sun and from the heated hour she'd just spent between the sheets with George. Life had finally righted itself after being tossed on troubled seas for so long. But, she had to figure out her next move. Ed wanted her to handle the case in Kettelman Hills solely, and that meant she had to be over there. With all this money the possibilities were endless and daunting but she knew one thing for sure- she couldn't be away from her kids and neglect them anymore than she already had. The cycle had to end.
Walking back over to the bed she sat cross-legged and facing George, a smug look painted across his features. She knew what he was smiling about but the felt the urge to hit him all the same.
"This new case in Kettelman Hills..." She began, before George nodded and cut her off with a stare like an animal cornered. He had come back to her, sure. But it was under the unspoken presumption that things had to change. He was sick of playing Mr. Mom. In fact if Erin only knew how sick and out of character it was for him, she'd understand why his head was always spinning.
"I think we should move over there. You, me and the kids. Buy a big house. I can finally get them out of the city and give them a childhood they deserve. Big yard, small town... It feels like a new beginning. We can set down roots. I can take it easy on this one, I can be home every night. Nine to five like a normal girl."
George smiled. She was trying to convince herself as much as anyone that should could be Betty fuckin Crocker, but George knew that was bullshit. And that's what he loved about her. She was dark and wild, there was something burning below the surface with her that was magnetic and hypnotic. Nothing like other women. She was a force to be reckoned with. As long as she did right by her kids, he wanted her to keep that passion. That's all he ever asked of her. But like clockwork, Erin tended to throw herself off the deep end when her passion turned into obsession.
"I'll follow you anywhere, darlin." George grabbed her hand, rubbing the backs of her fingers earnestly. And truth be told, he would. Life had been an endless disconnection since he went Nomad, running from the problems in his world that seemed to gape and expand like a black hole. That is until he met Erin. She came into his life screaming in his ear and turned him right side up with the ease of flicking her wrist. But his problems didn't go away. Going Nomad had only put distance between him and his real life. And one day it would catch up with him. But for now, he was content on running; the highway keeping him sane. And a big house with his girl and her kids to come home to wasn't so damn bad at the end of the day. "Let's go. Those kids deserve a fresh start. They're young, you can still make everything up to them."
Erin kissed him slowly and deliberately, relief washing over her. How had everything turned out so well in the end? She'd expected her life to be spent loveless and clawing up through poverty day to day. She had resigned herself to it. And then everything had fallen right into her lap. She didn't believe in God too much, but this was enough to make her rethink it all. If there was a God he shined down upon those with the initiative to help themselves, that much she knew for sure.
Settling into the crook of his arm, she rubbed his chest absently. "I love you, George. We'll go up there next week. Get out of this piece of shit house." She looked around cynically. "I already drove over there a couple of weeks ago to get a feel for the place. We won't be moving to Kettelman Hills, that's for damn sure. But there's a town about a half an hour away. It's perfect George, small and happy. We won't have to worry about finding jobs. That's what brought me to the city in the first place. But this is a place to start a life, a real one. I stayed at a hotel there and I fell in love with it. It just felt right. It's called Charming, it's about an hour outside of Stockton."
George's entire body tensed up. Yeah, he knew his past would come around to haunt him, but he was hoping it wouldn't be so damn soon. That place was like Hotel California- he could check out but he could never leave. He stopped her hand on his chest and looked at her with worry and sincerity and his eyes. "We gotta talk, Erin."
