Hi Everyone! So, I started this story back in 2014 (I think), but never finished it. I'm not sure if anyone that read this before is still around, but if you are I apologize for letting everyone in limbo. Sons ended and I lost my inspiration plus I went and had another kid (kid #4) and life got incredibly busy. Somewhere during this pandemic, I found some writing inspiration again so I have vowed to finish this story. I started re-watching Sons because this was to be the first of three stories about Juice and my OC (along with other characters) so I'm hoping my inspiration continues. After this chapter there will only be two more. I have the next one written, but need to tweak it a little bit and have it edited so I should have another one for you by the end of the weekend. Hopefully everyone enjoys!

June

The crickets were chirping in the background as Abby leaned against the railing, watching the road, jumping every time she saw headlights. She had been standing outside Juice's apartment for twenty minutes, hoping he would make his way back there soon. The two had barely seen each other over the last week. There was a lot going on with the club, so he'd been back and forth on 'business.' Bobby was staying at the club most nights, so she went back to his house to stay in order to keep studying for the California bar exam. Juice had talked to her earlier in the evening and said he was going to come back to his place for the night, so she rushed right over.

Since Bobby had found out about their relationship, things had become awkward between Juice and Abby. Abby pretended like she was fine since the kidnapping, but that was far from the truth. Living in Charming, she rarely locked her car doors and would sometimes find that she forgot to lock the doors in the house. That wasn't the case now. Now, she found herself checking the locks in the house several times a night and the first thing she did when getting in and out of her car was lock the doors. Opie called to check on her several times a day and even Jax was popping up more than normal. Bobby was barely talking to her, but when he did it, she could tell his voice had less anger in it and more concern. Juice had tried to talk to her about it a few times, but she brushed it off. Despite what had happened, she was still one hundred percent committed to staying in Charming to be with Juice. Tara would be back in a few weeks which soothed some of Abby's negative feelings about the choice she made.

As she stared up at the dark, clear sky, she heard a motorcycle approach. She plastered a smile on her face and took a few steps in Juice's directions. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest, taking in his scent. Bringing her eyes back to his, she smiled. "Why do I feel like I haven't seen you?"

He chuckled, brushing her curls out of her face. He kissed her forehead and answered, "Because you haven't. I'm hoping this doesn't become a pattern. Things have been wild."

Abby took his hands in hers. "No matter, let's put all of that behind us and focus on our time together." She pulled him toward the stairs leading up to his apartment, putting all thoughts of the mess that was the Sons of Anarchy out of her mind.

She rolled over, watching as Juice stepped outside to smoke and check in with the guys. Sighing, she flopped back down on the pillow and began flipping through the channels on the television. After ordering Chinese food, they had been dozing on and off while a baseball game played in the background. For the most part she felt at ease, but there was this underlying feeling of unease too. Juice had been a lot quieter this evening. When Abby asked, he chalked it up to not getting a lot of sleep lately. Part of her wanted to ask what was going on with The Nords and Mayans but thinking about the feud happening right now turned her stomach. She always knew the people she cared about the most were always putting themselves at risk of terrible consequences but having something happen to her really made that seem more realistic.

As Juice stepped back inside, Abby smiled and pointed to the television. "You caught me; I turned off the game to watch Sex and the City."

He slid into the bed and laughed. "Are you taking over the television?" He wrapped his arm around her and tickled her side as he playfully tried to get the remote from her. They agreed on The Waterboy as they settled into the plethora of pillows and thick comforters on Juice's bed.

Abby could feel herself drifting off as Juice snickered a little at the movie. Sleep was difficult for her lately. She would try to drift off and would find herself going over the bar stuff in her head or she would see flashes of the events of the night when the Sons saved her from the Nords. Finally, she found herself relaxed enough that nothing was going through her head and she could get some decent sleep.

"Abby," Juice whispered.

"Hmm," she managed to get out.

He cleared his throat. "Abby, I've been thinking. Maybe you should leave Charming for a while."

Abby could feel her body tense up as his words echoed in her ear. She shot up and looked at him. "What?" She stared at him, watching his eyes get wide and as he began to shift around in his seat.

"Abby, um, I just thought…" he trailed off and rubbed the top of his head. "I was just thinking that maybe it's a good idea for you to go to Chicago for a while. You know, just until things blow over with the Mayans and Nords."

Abby shifted herself up to a seated position, keeping her eyes on Juice. "First, I can't just join the law firm in Chicago and then abruptly leave when things blow over. Second, with the Sons, once one thing blows over there's something else that takes its place. It's never ending."

Juice shot out of the bed and grabbed his cigarettes. "I'm just trying to protect you. I don't want anything to happen to you and the only way to guarantee that is for you to go to Chicago for a bit." He turned and headed for the door. As he opened the front door, he heard Abby call behind him. "Then you can come with me."

With a sigh, he looked over his shoulder. "It's not that simple, Abby."

"No, Juice, it really is that simple. We can go to Chicago and then neither one of us has to worry about anything happening to the other. We can start a new life together, without any of this bullshit."

Juice let his head flop down as he let out another sigh. "Abby, I love you and I want to be with you, but I'm nothing more than a criminal thug. I don't know how to be anything else."

She watched as he shut the door behind him. The words 'criminal thug' rang in her head. Those were the same words that Jax used when describing the club members and why Juice moving to Chicago to live a 'normal' life with her wouldn't work. She groaned into the pillow. The last thing she wanted was for Juice to put himself in the same category Jax had placed himself in. She wanted a different ending for her and Juice. She wasn't going to leave Charming until he was right beside her.

Opie pulled into Bobby's driveway and shut off his bike. He stalked across the driveway and to the backyard. Ever since the showdown with the Nords resulting with Abby in the hospital and Jake Darby in a body bag, Opie had made it a point to check on Abby several times a day by phone then at some point in person. What happened to her had rattled him. Not only was Abby the closest thing to a sister as he could get, it reminded him that even if Donna wasn't a continuous fixture within the club, something could happen to her and the kids at any given moment. Donna didn't say much about the situation with Abby. He figured it was because she had given up on beating a dead horse, but he could feel that she was even more distant in their marriage. Abby was really the only person Donna made a point to keep in touch with and other than that, she threw herself into the kids.

He rounded the side porch and stepped into the backyard. Abby was sitting in the middle of the yard, stretched out on a blanket, staring up the night sky. "You're not asleep, are you?" he asked gruffly as he approached her.

"Nah," she answered, not looking away from the star she was fixated on.

He grabbed a chair from the porch and plopped it down beside her blanket. He watched as she raised her head up and looked at him. "Are you too good for sitting on the blanket with me?"

He chuckled. "I don't want to get dirty."

She laid her head back down and went back to staring at the sky. "You know, you don't have to keep coming by to make sure I'm not curled up in a corner somewhere."

"Maybe I enjoy your awesome company," he joked, kicking her with his foot.

"You know Tara will be back in two months," Abby remarked. "What do you think Jax is going to do?"

Opie groaned and stretched his legs out in front of him while crossing his arms around his chest. "Self-destruct," he answered. "He's pretty sure that Wendy is still using so that has him on edge all of the time. He can't prove it because he's been so wrapped up with the club, he hasn't been able to keep tabs on her. Tara is just going to add another layer of shit to his life."

"Well, I don't think Tara is too excited about coming back. For starters, she has to deal with her father's estate. I'm sure you remember how tumultuous their relationship was." She stopped and heard Opie grumble, "yep." "Second, she certainly won't admit it, but she's still in love with Jax, so bumping into him isn't going to be easy on her. I'm glad I'll be here to help her out."

Hearing her say that caused Opie to sit up, leaning forward on his knees. "So, you haven't changed your mind about leaving?" He watched her as the faint light from the kitchen window gave just enough that he could see her shake her head no.

"He won't leave so I'm staying here," she muttered, not moving from the spot she had been in since he showed up. "I'm not changing my career path just where I'm doing it. It might not be what Bobby wants or what my father wanted, but I'm not a child anymore. When you love someone, you make sacrifices. That's what I'm doing."

Opie flopped back in his seat, her words swirling in his head. It was no secret that Donna was making sacrifices for him. Donna hated the club. She spent every day worrying about him and had mentioned on more than one occasion, what would happen to the three of them if something happened to him. He always blew her off because being the tough guy that he was, nothing would happen to him, but more and more he was starting to realize something could happen to any of the them at any given minute. Did he really want to keep doing this to his family? He stood up. "I'm going to head out." He thought she said goodbye, but he couldn't say for sure. He was too busy thinking about going home to spend some quality time with his family.

Juice sat at the computer, staring at the screen, but he wasn't actually doing any work. After reading the same two sentences repeatedly, he had given up, but needed to appear as if he was doing something. He didn't want any of the guys asking him any questions as to his demeanor. The discovery of his relationship had finally blown over. Sure, Bobby still wasn't talking to him, but he wasn't giving him death stares whenever they were in each other's presence, so Juice considered that progress.

He glanced up at the clock and saw it was almost eleven. He hadn't seen Abby since the topic of her leaving Charming came up. June was coming to an end. Abby would be heading to San Diego soon after the Fourth of July to take the California bar exam. The law firm she was going to be joining in Chicago had a small office in Oakland so she would be working there once she passed the bar exam. Juice knew he should be ecstatic about her decision to stay in Charming to be with him. He couldn't remember the last time someone who wasn't involved with the Sons had made such a sacrifice, but no matter what, he couldn't shake the sick feeling about her decision. He loved Abby more than anything. He knew being patched in would always put him at risk but putting someone he loved at risk wasn't something he had to ever think about until Abby. It wasn't until she had been kidnapped by the Nords that he realized the dangers the club put her in. He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her. Not to mention, Bobby would kill him with his bare hands if she was ever put into danger again. He didn't have the heart to break up with her. For starters, he didn't think he could even verbalize anything of that nature to her and make it believable. He didn't know what to do to keep her safe.

Pushing his chair back, he made his way over to the bar to grab a beer. He popped open the top of his Miller Light and plopped down on the bar stool. Most of the guys had left, but Clay, Bobby, and Jax were sitting around the reaper table surely discussing how to get in the middle of the Nords and Mayan alliance. He saw Jax stalk out of room, nodding at Juice as he disappeared into the parking lot. Juice knew Jax had a lot on his mind with Wendy being pregnant and Tara soon to return to Charming, but it didn't deter from his responsibilities with the Sons. Juice was trying to pull from Jax's ability to keep personal life and Sons life separate, but he felt like he wasn't doing a great job of that.

As he turned his attention back around, he felt his heart pick up the pace as he saw Bobby steps ahead of him. He was approaching Juice with a stern look on his face. Swallowing, Juice took a swig of his beer, trying to look unfazed by his presence.

"Juice," Bobby said gruffly as he sidled up to the bar.

"Hey, Bobby, what's up?" Juice asked, trying to push all nervousness out of his voice.

Bobby cleared his throat. "So, I owe you an apology."

Juice stood up taller, noticing that Clay was pulling a stool up to the bar next to Bobby. "What do you mean?' Juice asked.

"Shit don't be stupid, Juice," Bobby spat. "You know why I'm apologizing. Maybe I've been a little too harsh on you and Abby. Everything I've done has been to protect Abby and keep her far away from this lifestyle, but she is a grown adult, so I need to let her make her own decisions."

Juice rubbed the top of his head, his eyes growing wider at this unforeseen apology. "Wow, Bobby, I don't know what to say. You know I didn't do this to upset anyone. Abby insisted we not tell anyone because she didn't want to cause any problems within the club. Neither one of us wanted that."

Bobby shook his head. "I know, I know. Abby can be somewhat hardheaded so it's hard to convince her to change her mind on some things."

He must have let out a laugh because he heard Clay ask, "What was that for, Juice?"

Juice glanced at Clay and then back at Bobby. "I told Abby that she should leave Charming," he blurted out. He watched as Bobby raised his eyebrow and looked at Clay.

"Really?" Clay asked, continuing to lock eyes with Bobby before turning to Juice.

"Ever since the shit with Jake Darby and the Nords, I have been unsure about her staying here. I don't want anything to happen to her again, but she is determined to stay put." He shifted his eyes between the two guys who were watching him intently. "I love Abby more than anything and want to protect her. The best way to do that is to send her to Chicago like she planned, but she isn't hearing it." He took a swig from the beer bottle and let his head fall. He couldn't believe he was divulging this to Clay and Bobby, but it just came out. He could talk to Opie, but Opie would just back Abby even if he thought she was making the wrong decision. Jax was too caught up in his own personal drama that he couldn't talk to him and Gemma didn't want Abby leaving. Bobby was the only person he could talk to about this.

"Juice," Bobby began, lowering his voice. "I'm glad you're telling me this. I can tell that you really love Abby and you want the same thing I do, to keep her protected." He stopped and looked at Clay.

"Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get Abby to leave?" Clay asked, tapping his fingers on the bar.

Juice shook his head "yes." Even though his stomach was churning because he had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was going to be purposed to him, he knew he had to do something to keep Abby safe. He locked eyes with Clay and asked, "What should we do?"