AN: You guys are absolutely wonderful! ~Enjoy!

Burnt and Purged Away

Pt. 3

Alex stood in her bathroom at home staring into the vanity mirror. Her face was pink, her makeup smeared from rubbing her eyes, her eyes themselves swollen and red, and tears stained her cheek. She winced and groaned as she unbuttoned her shirt and slid it off. Her brows came together at the sight of the white patch on her shoulder. She sighed and began to lightly pull on the gauze and tape to get it off. She bit back each hiss when the stitches were pulled, the skin going taught from the adhesive. She welcomed the pain this time.

Alex scowled at her wound. It was pink and swollen for obvious reasons, but healing. The dark, black, threaded stitches were in stark contrast to the color of her skin and just added to the horrible sight. She sighed her disappointment, running her fingers through her hair before turning to the shower.

When the water was finally as hot as she knew she could stand, Alex shed the rest of her clothing and pulled free the bandages on her leg. She knew the water was going to sting the barely scabbed injuries, but she felt dirty. Without doing anything, Alex felt disgusting and wanted to rid herself of the feeling as quickly as she could.

As steam billowed from the showerhead, Alex pulled the glass shower door open and stepped inside. The water burned her skin and made her wince, turning her fair flesh pink the instant it touched her. But she didn't move away. She didn't step aside or add cooler water. She stood beneath the showerhead and let every ounce of the scalding liquid saturate her from head to toe. Alex had hoped it would help her feel, but in the end it didn't. She was too numb from everything to feel the burn.

Alex finally rested her back against the cold tile wall opposite the showerhead and began to slide down. She slid until she was sitting on the floor of her shower and brought her knees to her chest. The cut didn't pull like she thought, then again if it did she didn't notice. Alex cradled them to her chest and buried her face into her knees when the tears began again.

It took Opie longer than he thought it should to get out of the house. Like he said, Lyla had come to pick him up. He told her to take him to the shop for his bike, but that was all and it was getting on her last nerve.

"Tell me what's going on, Ope." She snapped halfheartedly.

"I need a favor."

She found herself glaring lightly at the man.

"What?"

"I need you to look after the kids until I get home tonight. Mary's pissed." He said in a low, emotionless voice.

"The hell's going on?"

This time her words were more desperate than angry. After picking him up from the hospital with a hole in his arm, Opie had done little -if any- talking. In fact, this seemed to be the most he'd offer in ways of conversation.

Opie sat in his spot wondering if he should say anything at all. He didn't want to. He didn't want to tell her about Piney or anything Club related. He kept Lyla in the dark for a reason. It was bad enough he was going to have to tell everyone about it tomorrow. He was already going to have to call his remaining family, ironically those at his house now, about Piney's death.

So, he lied. He lied to her like he had their entire relationship. He told her something that a few days ago would have been true, but not anymore. Now, it was his scapegoat.

"Alex's old man paid her a visit a few days ago." He said somberly. "Beat the shit out of her."

"Oh my god." She gasped as she turned into the driveway.

"I just want to check in on her, make sure she's alright."

The story was true enough, but again it was a couple of days ago and the threat was already dealt with. But Lyla didn't need to know that. In his mind, she didn't need to know anything that had happened when she wasn't around.

Eventually, Lyla pulled up to Teller-Marrow, but before they could pull into the lot, Opie told her to stop. His brows pulled together curiously at the sight of his bike pulled up to the curb before the gates. Lyla slowly pulled over to the side of the road and parked.

"I'll be home in a couple hours." He told her, opening the door to leave.

"Yeah. Okay. Just call me."

Opie nodded and closed the door before getting onto his bike. He wondered briefly how it had gotten out onto the street and figured Unser must have moved it so he could get it back without the crime scene twenty yards away. Maybe he'd remember to thank the man, but probably not.

Turning the bike on, Opie made his way towards Alex's house. He hadn't lied about that, only the reason. He had to talk to her, to try and make her understand. In his crumbling world, he needed his rock to stay strong and not turn her back on him, too. He couldn't bear the thought of her leaving him, too.

Opie pulled up to Alex's house a few minutes after leaving Teller-Marrow. He pulled up nearly to her front porch and turned the bike off. She was home, evidence of it everywhere. Her front porch light was on, a few lights in the house were on too, so he knew she was here. Her car was gone, but he assumed Jax still had it.

Cautiously, Opie stepped up onto her front porch. He didn't knock at first, instead putting his ear to her door to see if he heard anything within. The TV was on, another indication she was home. Steeling himself for the fight he knew was coming, Opie knocked. Nothing. He knocked again and like before there was nothing. And he meant nothing. There wasn't rustling from behind the door of someone peeking through the peephole. There wasn't a muting television or someone turning it up. There wasn't even the sound of someone approaching the door. There was literally nothing on the other side.

His brows pulled together as he knocked again, much harder than before and called her name. As the two previous times, there wasn't a response. Opie began to worry something might have happened. She was angry when she left, beyond mad and he feared what might have happened in the meantime. If she wasn't home, that was another problem all together, but if she was here and everything inside was deathly silent… he didn't want to think about what that'd mean.

The only thing he could think of that would help calm him -if even a little bit- would be to call the young woman's phone. He didn't expect her to answer, but even if she hung up on him, it meant she was okay.

As the phone in his hand rang, Opie heard the faint ringing coming from within the house. She was home. There was no denying it now. None of them left to go anywhere without a cell phone. They couldn't afford to, and Alex was no different. But as it rang on without interruption, Opie let his mind wander, soon filling with fear.

Unwilling to keep waiting, Opie hung up and plunged his phone back into his pocket. There was a spare key around there somewhere, one he knew she kept at all times. His hand came up and searched the top of the doorjamb and felt nothing. He glanced in the mailbox nailed to the brick wall and there was nothing in there either. Fear was bordering on panic. The image of her from the last time he'd seen her was prominent in his mind and it made him worry she'd done something stupid.

Opie was ready to break down the door if he had to. Sure she'd be angrier with him for the damage -only adding to the laundry list he seemed to have going- but he would rather know for sure than let his imagination keep taunting him. Though, in a stroke of genius he'd applaud himself for later, Opie tried the doorknob first. It was unlocked. He internally thanked that one iota of common sense that voiced itself before he took the door off its hinges because he would have without hesitation.

The large man barreled into the house and saw nothing. Alex wasn't sleeping on the couch, she wasn't in the kitchen and when she didn't charge into the living room to yell at him, he began to worry again. For a moment, no matter how brief, Opie feared Emmett had gotten a hold of her until he remembered he put a bullet through the man's skull.

As he struggled to figure out where he should look for her first, Opie noticed the sound of running water. Slowly the young man walked towards the bathroom and sure enough, she was inside and in the shower. Steeling himself for even more yelling, Opie knocked lightly.

"Alex," He called. Silence. His brow tensed. "Alex." He called again, this time louder.

Like before, she didn't answer. Opie tested the doorknob and realized it wasn't locked, either. Hardening himself for what may lie behind the stock wooden door, he opened it slowly.

He expected a couple of things. He expected more yelling for barging in on her, but she didn't. He had expected to be hit in the face with steam, but he wasn't. There was nothing but normal air in there which meant the water wasn't hot. Worry began to surge through him as he stepped in, her shower just behind the door. Alex was sitting beneath the stream, curled into herself as the water hit her in the head and her body was shaking.

He could see her trembling beneath the stream of water. Ordinarily, Opie might have been more apprehensive to be staring at her while she was naked, but to be honest, he didn't see anything indecent. Alex was covered more than most women wearing a bathing suit, shielding her body beneath her long raven hair and with her knees at her chest. But, regardless of whether or not he could 'see' her, the scene was terrifying.

"Jesus," He muttered to himself, stepping forward quickly.

He swung open the glass door and touched the water. It was icy cold, long since having lost any heat she might have begun with. Opie turned it off quickly and stepped to his left to grab a towel. He threw it over her shoulders while Alex continued shaking intensely from the cold. She was still crying into her knees.

When he put the towel over her shoulders, she managed to look up. Her eyes were red and if she wasn't sopping wet, he knew he'd have seen the evidence of crying left behind. Alex's brows were pulled together tightly as she shook. It was like she'd just spent the passed day or more in a freezer. Her lips were tinted a pale shade of blue. The cold water added a horrifying hue to her whole body, but never more evident than in her face.

"Shit," he sighed, leaning in and picking her up. "Come on."

He struggled not to drop her when he stood on the slick tile floor before he grabbed hold of her well enough to move. Opie navigated his way out of the bathroom and towards her room, knowing he had to get her warmer as soon as possible. He bit back the pain of picking her up with his injured arm, more determined to help her than worry about the gunshot wound.

When he made it to her room, Opie sat her down gently on the bed with her legs hanging off the side and immediately reached for the other side of the blanket, pulling it over her body. She was trembling intensely, her teeth chattering while every muscle stood on end. He probably would have enjoyed her being naked in his arms if he wasn't so worried about her.

Opie tucked her in as tightly as he could as Alex sat on the edge of her bed. He rubbed her arms through the blankets like she might keel over from hypothermia any second. To be honest, her bluish lips didn't inspire much confidence. His hand came up and cupped her cheek, trying to feel the temperature of her skin. It was cold, not cool, cold.

"Fuck, Alex," he muttered, trying to force her to look at him. "What the hell were you doing?"

She looked at him as well as she could, still shaking intensely from the cold. Sadness took hold of her features instantly and she began to cry. She buried her face in her blanket-covered hands and just kept crying. It was the only thing her body let her do, it seemed. Opie's heart broke for her.

Apparently, she wasn't as strong as they had all thought. She couldn't handle another father dying. She couldn't handle someone else she trusted being his murderer. She couldn't handle the hell that was raining down on her and she couldn't handle being alone. Rationally, she knew Opie had it worse, probably felt worse, but she wasn't rational at the moment.

"You can't do this shit." Opie suddenly snapped.

She looked up in confusion at the giant over the edge of her blanket. She didn't understand his outburst.

He leaned forward and dropped to his knees at her feet, burying his face in the thick blanket covering her lap. His arms snaked around her waist and held her as he started shaking.

"You have to tell me what to do." He said.

She couldn't tell if he was crying or close to it, but it seemed to be enough to snap her out of her own tears. Her body was relaxing and she was starting to warm up so her mind was following. She was suddenly aware that Opie was breaking down just like she had.

Maybe she should have wondered how he got there. She probably should have been concerned about him storming into her bathroom too, but she wasn't. She'd been sitting under the water in her shower for so long, part of her wondered if she would have been able to get out if he hadn't shown up. And Alex probably should have still been mad at him, but she wasn't. She didn't know what she was, other than numb.

And yet, as numb as she was, seeing Opie break woke her from her own self pity. Alex sat up a bit, enough for Opie to look up at her. She took his face in her hands and forced him to meet her eyes. They were both sad, they were both lost and she wanted to make him feel better. It was the only thing she was really good at, comforting people she cared about when they were hurting.

"Hey," she whispered sweetly. "It's okay."

Tears slowly moved down his cheeks before disappearing in his beard.

"I don't know what to do." He told her in a breaking voice.

Slowly, Alex slid off the bed and to the ground in between her bed frame and Opie. He barely moved, only enough for her to fall into his lap as she settled, pulling the massive blanket down along with her. Any anger she felt for the man about not telling her Piney had died, was gone. The only thing she could see now was Opie tearing up in her hands.

Alex leaned forward and kissed his forehead. She held her lips to his skin, her eyes closing as she cried a few more tears. Her heart broke for the giant, for her friend, for her brother. She loved Opie and seeing him this way was almost too much to take.

She pulled back and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Just breathe." She told him softly. "Just breathe." Alex's voice was wavering as she wrapped her arms around Opie, encircling him within her blanket like it would protect them from everything, her forehead gently pressed to his. "It's all we can do, just breathe."

She felt him nod, his hands snaking around her waist and holding it firmly in his massive palms. Alex fought the wince from his cold hands on her bare skin, but didn't let go of him as she trembled with sorrow again.

"I'm sorry." She found herself muttering. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Opie shook his head forcing her to stop apologizing. But she did feel bad. All of the things she thought, the things she called him, they were only out of anger. Now having him back made them all go away.

Eventually, Alex pulled away from Opie, putting mere inches between them so she could look him in the eyes. She refused to let go of the man, her arms still looped over his shoulders while he held her waist, and stared at him. They were both broken.

The young woman found herself staring into his worn and saddened face. It was unbearable. As selfish as it sounded, part of her was glad she hadn't been here for him when Donna died. She didn't know if she could take it.

As Opie stared at her with the same look he received from her, he felt Alex's hand come up and tenderly cup his jaw line, her thumb moving along his cheek as reassuringly as it could. His brows came together a bit tighter than before.

"I'm so sorry, baby." She whispered, the words barely leaving her lips.

Opie barely shook his head again, silently telling her none of it was her fault. He didn't know what she was apologizing for, but it meant she felt guilty. He didn't think Alex had anything to feel guilty about. But there was something he wanted to say, something he wanted to tell her and make sure she understood.

"Don't ever scare me like that again." He told her sternly, amazed his voice worked despite scolding her. After watching her walk away from him, Opie wanted to ensure she wouldn't do it again. "You hear me?"

"I won't." Alex answered quickly.

He breathed easier, if even a little, and leaned forward again to connect their foreheads. It was intimate and endearing, being closer to her than he would have been ordinarily and something they just always did. He never knew why, only that it became a thing. And now was no different, their eyes closing from the contact as they leaned into one another.

"I need you." He muttered before he could stop himself.

Sh breathed a gentle, relieved sigh.

"I need you, too." She replied in the same soft tone.

Opie's grip on her waist tensed marginally. The action caused Alex to gasp from his proximity to her scar and the ribs that were still bruised. In that split second, Opie moved. When Alex gasped, she took in a sharp breath, her lips parting briefly before Opie closed the distance between them and kissed her.

Alex's heart began to race frantically within her chest at the sensation of his lips pressed against hers, his beard tickling her chin. A bolt of electricity shot through her body, tensing every muscle she possessed, forcing her to sit a bit straighter than before. Alex all but froze when it happened but slowly, realizing who it was, she relaxed into his grip. This was Opie. This was her Opie.

Opie began to pull her into his lap, securing her as close to his body as he could and refused to let her go. He wasn't going to let her go despite the young woman unwilling to leave. All he knew was that he wanted this, he needed it.

Hmmm... How far should this go? Let me know what you guys think!