Hey there everyone! Sorry this took so long to update, but at least it wasn't a year this time right? lol! Alright so here is the next chapter. I started re-watching SOA to get back into the mood with writing and it sure worked!

I wanted to let everyone know that my notifications aren't working for some reason. So if you need me or want to chat (I would love some people to chat with since i'm sitting home most of the time!) I am on Instagram as maiihemm and tiktok under the same name. I answer on those super quickly (I'm not sure if i can get messages on tikotk unless we're mutuals so just let me know in a comment or something and i'll add you back).

I hope you all enjoy!

Even though I was unsure of actually being locked in the cabin with Opie, I found myself getting comfortable. We woke up next to each other and ate breakfast together. He would then go outside to work on stuff for Piney while I caught up on work. There were a few times that I had to field phone calls for work but for the most part I just worked on my computer. It felt almost domestic.

"So, some bad news babe."

"Nope. This cabin is a no bad news space."

"Fae."

"I said nope."

I smirked up at him and he cracked a smile.

"I need to head back to Charming."

I sighed and crossed my arms.

"Who is going to be here to babysit me?"

"Don't put it like that."

"How do I put it then? They can't have anyone know that I'm here. I apparently look just like my dead mother and your connection to the gun trade recognized me. I know none of you are going to leave me alone, even if it's because you don't trust I won't run back there."

He ran his hand down his face and sat next to me.

"They're sending someone down from Tacoma. It's all hands-on deck in Charming."

"Please tell me it isn't going to be Happy."

"I thought you two talked?"

"We did but I don't want to be locked in a cabin with him for however long Clay decides he needs you."

"It won't be Hap. Probably Kozic."

"Aww Koz!"

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Should I be worried?"

"No! No of course not. I mean.. back before I left maybe but I never did anything when we were together. You know that."

"Is there.. never mind. I already know the answer."

I laughed and put my hand on his arm.

"I only want you, Ope. I'm not that crazy wild child anymore. I hope you see that."

"I do. Not going to say I don't worry sometimes."

I dropped my hand from him and sighed.

"I understand. I just.. do you trust me?"

"I do."

"Only if you're around though."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't need to."

I stood up and shut my laptop.

"I'll go pack your things up. I know you don't have a ton of clothes and I'm sure you'll need to get changed if shit goes sideways."

I walked into the bedroom and calmly put his clothes back into his bag. I didn't want him to go but saying that would only make it worse.

"You don't need to pack my shit."

"I know I don't need to."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"It's what old ladies do, right?"

"Is that what you are?"

I stopped what I was doing and turned to look at him. He was leaning against the door frame with a stern look on his face.

"I mean we didn't exactly talk about the title but I-"

"You can't be my old lady and give me attitude every time I have to leave."

"I don't think I was giving you attitude, Ope. I know you need to go when they call. I can dislike you having to leave and still be supportive."

"You don't need to tell me you don't like it. I already know."

"I really didn't say much until you even brought it up. What is this about?"

"This is about you needing to play the part if you want the title."

I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"I don't need your damn title, Harry. I've lived this life just as long as you have. Don't treat me like I'm some bitch you pulled into the life and you need to teach me where my place is. Better yet, how about you leave and not worry if someone is here with me. I can work and stay away from your damn club to make sure my dad is safe."

"You don't need to worry about all of that."

"No, I really do. Your little club has my father locked up for life and my dad in danger because I exist. I'm not some stupid bimbo, Opie. Now you can pack the rest of your shit yourself. Or better yet go get one of the hang arounds to do it for you. I'm sure they would beg for the chance."

"So now you're going to run away?"

"I'm not running. I'm walking away from you because if I have to look at you for a minute longer, I'm going to punch you in the nose."

I brushed past him and directly out the door. I knew I couldn't exactly run away or leave the cabin, but I needed to be away from him before I said something stupid.

I huffed the smoke out of my lungs and watched the ash fall of my cigarette. I was glad that Opie hadn't followed me. When we were younger, he used to try to and it only made me even more pissed off. When I walked away from a situation, I needed space. I wasn't sure if his change of tune was because he recognized that or because I couldn't possibly go very far.

I wanted to be furious with him. I wasn't stupid and I knew where my place was. No matter how much he loved me or wanted me around, the club would always come first. It did bother me a little bit but I sure as hell wasn't going to turn my back on him because of it. I grew up in the shit just like he did. The only difference was he joined, and I ran away.

I found that I was only really mad at myself though. I had a habit of running. I had a habit of turning tail any time things got rough. I wanted to say things were different, but it was still my go to. I wanted to run when I was shot. I wanted to run when I found out that Chibs was actually my dad. That was probably why I was so okay with going to the cabin. It was like running away without the consequences.

The club was never going to treat me kindly. It wasn't the club that I loved though. I loved the men within the club. Two fathers, a best friend and a boyfriend. Not that I didn't care about the other guys too but there were four of the most important men in my life all wrapped up in it.

I was mad at Opie, but I was even more mad at myself. My actions led him to feeling like that. Even since I had been back, I was still struggling with Ima. I was still having to convince myself to stay. I didn't give a fuck about Charming, but I cared deeply about the people in it.

The sound of approaching bikes snapped me out of my thoughts. I stomped out the cigarette but stayed where I was. I wasn't ready to face Opie if I didn't need to and I wasn't sure who was going to be on the bikes. I watched them park but only recognized the blonde when he pulled his helmet off. He said hi to Opie who only nodded and motioned over to where I was.

"Holy shit, Fae!? Is that really you!?"

I squealed out a laugh as he ran over and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I hugged him back and buried my face in his shoulder.

"I can't even believe it! They told me that I was gonna be here at the cabin watching Opies old lady. I had no idea it would be you!"

I pulled back a little when he set me down and tried to hide the frown from my face.

"Not sure about old lady, but yeah I'm here!"

He gave me a look but turned when he saw Opie walking over to us.

"Don't worry about a thing, Ope. She's safe with me."

"Yeah, I know. Can you give us a minute?"

"Yeah! Yeah, sure man. I'll go get my stuff set up inside."

He walked away and I crossed my arms over my chest, looking directly up at Opie.

"Glad to see you have a few guys to ride with. Though I'm guessing that means things aren't as good as you'd like me to believe."

"That's not-"

"My business. Right. Got it."

"You should already know how all of this goes."

"It's insulting to think you're doubting my knowledge of how shitty the club life is. It's almost like you forgot how much I've lost because of it."

"Then why come back?"

"Asking myself the same thing."

We glared at each other for a few awkward moments before he finally sighed and ran his hand over his face.

"Things are tense right now, Fae. I don't have time to sit here and hash shit out with you."

"I never asked you to stay."

"I know. I know."

"Then why even say that?"

"I just need to know if you're still going to be here when I can actually come back."

I dropped my arms to the side and turned my head away from him.

"That's what this is about then."

"What?"

I moved backwards slightly so I could sit on the log I was smoking on earlier.

"You're afraid that because we argued that I'm going to bolt again."

"I mean, can you really blame me?"

"No. I didn't say you were wrong to fear that."

I looked up at him and sighed.

"Opie, I'm not going to run away. Did you piss me off? Yes. Absolutely. That doesn't mean that I'm going to run. I physically can't for one and even if I could, I'm not going to let myself be like that anymore. I made a conscious decision to come back to Charming. I then made a conscious decision to start something with you. We both have a lot of history and past shit that we need to unpack. We've been taking shit slow and trying to figure each other out, but I know damn well that our past is going to affect us in one way or another. We have meant too much to each other and put each other through too much to just let the past die. It's unrealistic."

"Then what do we do?"

"We're going to need to sit down and hash shit out. There is a lot we need to genuinely talk about and work through. I know that it can't happen right now, nor do I think that either of us are really ready for that. It's going to take more than just sitting down once and figuring all this out. It's going to take time and effort."

"Is that what you want?"

"You know that is what I want. The real question is, do you? It's not just our past you need to work through. I don't know everything that happened between you and Donna but that conversation in there felt a lot more like you were talking to her than me. But it's fine. We're both figuring this out."

I stood up and walked to him, putting my hands on his chest. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate but I wanted to stay calm so he knew I meant everything I was saying.

"Take your time. Think things through when you have time to. I'll be right here at this cabin when you're ready to decide one way or the other."

"Why are you being so calm about this? It doesn't seem like you."

"I've grown up a lot, Opie. And I left you waiting for a very long time. I think I can manage waiting if it means giving you the space you need to figure this out. I want to know that you're all in with this. I meant everything that I said the first night we were here. I still do. However, I respect you enough to step back if you need it. I would much rather be crying and screaming right now, but that isn't what either of us need."

He cupped the side of my face and wiped at my eye. I hadn't even realized that my eyes had started watering. He leaned in close enough to me that only I could hear what he was saying.

"I love you, Aingeal."

I smiled and shut my eyes, leaning into his hand.

"I love you too, Opie."

"I'll message you whenever I can, okay?"

"Just be safe."

"I will be, beautiful. And you're right. There is a lot we need to talk about and hash out. But I want to. I am all in with this even if I need to work on some shit. Now go catch up with Kozic. I'll call you soon."

He kissed me passionately though it didn't last nearly as long as I wanted it to. I walked him over to his bike and smiled at him as he got ready.

"Try not to give Koz too much shit, yeah?"

"I'll try. No promises though."

Opie smirked at me and started up his bike. He led the rest of them down the driveway and I watched until I couldn't see any of them anymore. I sighed head back to the cabin. At least I was going to get to spend some time with someone I actually knew and liked.

Koz and I sat on opposite ends of the couch facing each other. My sides hurt from laughing and my face felt like it was going to be permanently stuck with a smile. I wiped the tears from my face and begged him to stop making me laugh. He laughed right along with me.

"Jesus, Fae. I missed this! I can't believe you're back."

"I know. Me too. On both accounts."

"The real question is, why do you need a babysitter?"

I sighed and sat back, still sporting a small smile.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to really tell you. I honestly doubt it will come up though so just don't say anything okay?"

"You know I won't say anything. I don't even go near Charming much because of Tig."

I rolled my eyes. The two of them used to fight something fierce. It was actually the reason why I slept with Kozic. It was 100% to piss Tig off and it absolutely worked.

"Well, I'm sure you know Otto was given life."

"Yeah I heard. Super shitty, man."

"Yeah. Well, he wrote me this huge letter explaining everything to me and come to find out him and Luann adopted me when I was a baby."

"Woah! No shit!"

"Yeah."

"Do you know who your birth parents are?"

"Well, my birth mom is dead. She was killed right after I was born. I've known my birth dad my entire life though."

"Who?"

"Chibs."

"What!?"

Kozic sat up straight and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Yeah. When he came over to escape Jimmy'O, I was with him. Jimmy killed my mom because Chibs was with her. Wanted to take me but a nurse caught him. So when we got state side Otto and Luann adopted me so no one would know I was Chibs' daughter."

"Jesus Christ, Fae."

"My name is actually Aingeal."

"Didn't Piney start calling you that?"

"He was one of the few that knew the truth."

"Shit."

He slumped back and put his hands on his thighs.

"That's insane. It doesn't explain why you're being kept out of Charming though."

"The guy they're working with recognized me. Well, he said I looked like my mom. Apparently, he knew her in Ireland and while he was drugged up getting a slug pulled out of his ass by Chibs he thought I was her."

"What the hell are the chances."

"SAMCRO deals guns with the Irish. It isn't that farfetched. I just hope that they figure shit out so I can get back home and to work. I've been doing all my work remotely pretty much since I was shot."

"THAT WAS YOU!?"

I laughed and covered my mouth.

"Yeah, that was me."

"I knew someone club related got shot but they didn't tell anyone who it was, just that they were okay."

"I was driving Opie's truck to Tara's so I could get the rest of my stuff. Stopped at a red light and happened to drop my phone. I reached for it and the bullets mostly missed me. Took one in the shoulder and lost a ton of blood but I pulled through."

"Man, everywhere you go there is just chaos."

"Tell me about it."

His face suddenly got serious as he sat back up.

"Why did you say earlier you aren't sure about being Opies old lady?"

I sighed again picked at the hem of my shirt.

"We had just gotten into it. He has a hard time trusting me after everything I put him through. That and I think he's still holding onto Donna taking off on him. He hasn't had a great track record with women treating him right."

"He was pretty messed up with Donna took off with the kids."

"He doesn't talk about it much."

"You know how he is. Likes to be the strong and silent type until something hurts him. The only time I've ever seen him worse off was when you left."

I frowned and nodded.

"I don't regret leaving because I really needed to find myself. I absolutely regret leaving the way that I did."

"Chibs was the only one that was adamant that you were okay. I mean I think we all knew you were just doing you but then when you didn't come back, we all got scared."

"I'm sorry, Kozic."

"Hey, don't be. You had to figure yourself out. Seems like you did a damn good job of it too. Way smarter than any of the rest of us."

I laughed and nodded.

"I missed him so much while I was gone."

"Why didn't you call?"

"I.. I was hoping that he moved on and was happy. All of you. I kept tabs on Otto. I set up an alert that I would get on my phone if he got released. I told myself when he got let go, I would call."

"But he never got out."

I shook my head and shrugged.

"I hurt a lot of people taking off like that. More than I ever could have guessed. I just figured that everyone was better off without me. I buried myself in my schoolwork and never made close enough friends that they would figure out the kind of life I came from."

"Surprised you didn't change your name."

"That would have been my third name, come to find out. Glad I didn't!"

He laughed with me stood up, grabbing our cups from the coffee table.

"I can make some dinner, Koz."

"Nah don't worry about it. I'm happy to cook. I don't usually get a chance to with basically living at the clubhouse."

"Don't have an old lady?"

"Nah."

"What happened with that girl you were seeing off and on?"

"I got clean. She didn't."

I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the fridge as he was digging through the spices.

"I'm sorry."

"Ah, it is what it is, Fae. Not everyone can be lucky like Opie and Jax. Landing two educated women that actually want to do something with their lives."

"You'll find someone."

He smiled at me as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He answered it and I watched as his face fell. He looked at me as he quickly answered and closed his phone.

"What's wrong?"

"There has been an explosion at TM."

"What? Who is hurt?"

"It's Chibs."