Since family dinner, things had only gotten better between Macy, Shane and most of the family. Even Tara liked him, in her judgmental kind of way, and despite Jax's annoyance as well as the optics surrounding Shane's job, he was around more often than not.
Macy looked at the date on her phone that morning, waking up before Shane, and felt her heart quicken. It had been three tears, to the day, that Opie started his sentence, and that meant he'd be up for parole. She wanted him home, she wanted him safe and happy and healthy but Macy really wanted Opie far away from her.
"Hey," Shane said with his gravely morning voice.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled, "Morning."
"What time is it?"
"6:30."
"Goddamn it," he complained.
"Mm-hmm," she laughed. "We should ditch work, go to the beach or something."
"Both of us calling out on the same day, they'd know that's some bullshit," Shane chuckled. "How 'bout this weekend?"
"Yeah," she said with obvious, albeit mild, disappointment.
"Don't pout," he said, pinching her chin between his thumb and first finger. "You could make me do just about anything with that pout," he said softly, his southern accent more prominent while still so exhausted.
Macy smiled sheepishly, "God, I hate you."
"That's a shame," he said sitting up. "Cause I've been thinking 'bout how hard I fell for you."
"What?" She asked, watching as he strolled toward the bathroom.
"You said you hate me, I'm not gonna go all mushy on you now."
"Shane," she snapped. "You are fucking mean."
He winked at her and disappeared into the bathroom. There was no way he would tell her that he'd fallen in love with her with Opie possibly coming home. Shane was attempting to protect himself from heartbreak by keeping the secret. Opie's possible parole was also a factor as he didn't want her to think he was only saying it to keep her.
--
That day came and went, as did the week, and Friday evening Macy was at the clubhouse while Shane worked overtime. They had plans to leave early the next day for Laguna Beach for a luxurious weekend courtesy of an associate of Shane's, or that was what he called the man.
"Mace," Clay called to her from the bar. He tapped on the wood and she knew that meant he wanted to talk with her.
"Hey," she smiled. "What's up?"
"Got word from Rosen," he said, "Opie got parole, he's coming home on Monday." Clay frowned deeply despite his own personal joy over the news. "I know this might be a problem."
"No problem," she said quickly. "I'm an adult. He's an adult. It's been three years since he cut off all contact and refused to speak to me. No problems from that at all."
Clay grimaced. "Macy," he grumbled.
"Dad," she shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it. I'll probably stay in Laguna longer. I don't want to get home the same time he is."
"Your mom and I think you should come back with us until you find a new place."
"No," she snapped. "It'll be fine. I don't wanna move and unless he asks me to leave, I'm staying. I've lived there for years, Dad. It's my home."
Nodding, Clay gave Macy a hug and hoped things would work out as smoothly as she suggested.
"I'm proud of you," he told her. "You really got your shit together."
Macy laughed a little, "You could have stopped at proud."
"It's true, even the last part."
"Oh I know," Macy agreed. "I'll see you next week."
—
"Opie!"
The lot exploded in cheers and applause when Opie, Jax, Tig, Kyle, Clay, and the others pulled in. The time of day, mid-morning, didn't matter as beers and joints were passed around. A round of hugs and shots later things settled and Opie found Jax by the kitchen with Tara.
"Hey," Opie said. "Can we talk?"
Jax nodded and Tara swiftly made her exit. "You good?"
"You sister around?" He asked immediately.
"No, Laguna Beach for a few days," Jax replied, his beer inches from his lips. "Whatever that shit was before, it's done, man. She's been dating some deputy for a while now."
"A fucking cop?" Opie snarled.
"He's one of Trammel's guys, so he's a fucking dirty cop," Jax explained.
"He took her to Laguna?" Opie asked, less annoyed by Shane's profession than Jax was. "Pricey."
"Yeah, I think wherever they're staying it's off the books," Jax told him. "Forget about her. Whatever little fucking crush you guys had is done," he said, purposely making light of the feelings and dramatics surrounding them.
"I'm tired," Opie complained. "I just wanna crash out in my own fucking bed."
"And miss the party?" Jax asked with a hearty laugh.
"We don't need a reason," Opie said to Jax, his eyes on Kyle across the room. "We got some shit to handle soon."
"Yeah, it looks like it," Jax said ominously. "Right now we should celebrate it before shit gets dark."
"And bloody," Opie added. "I'm heading out."
"Ope," Jax said sternly.
"I'm good, I'm good," he assured Jax. "I wanna take a ride and sleep. Really, man, I'm good."
The two hugged before Opie happily raced out of the lot without a goodbye to anyone else.
He did take a ride, a short one, before going back to the house. It smelled nice, not musty and gross like before and Macy had completely overhauled the place. A fresh color on the walls, a new couch and actual curtains in the windows.
Immediately, Opie went for the kitchen. He grabbed a beer and leftovers from the fridge. Sniffing them first, he reheated the platter of spaghetti and quickly ate every last noodle.
"Fuck. I missed real fucking food," he said to himself.
Tossing the dishes in the sink, he trudged up the steps but didn't go directly to his bedroom. He waited outside Macy's door warring with himself, half wanting to snoop and the other knowing he shouldn't. Opie did though, he knew he would despite also knowing it was wrong.
The room smelled like Macy and Opie felt his heart quicken and a bulge grow in his pants. He missed her, every single day he missed her, and now that he was home it was exponentially worse.
"Goddamn it, Macy," he whinnied as he sat on her bed. "I'm sorry." The mattress squeaked under his weight as he leaned over and opened the drawer of her nightstand.
There were some pictures, only one of him which was more than slightly disappointing, and tissues, lip balm, hand lotion, and condoms. Macy never kept condoms when they were together, she always seemed more innocent than that or at least the version of her he held in his kind was. At least she was being safe, he tried to tell himself, but really he was painfully jealous.
Angry, he got up abruptly and went into his bedroom. He found the room was recently tidied, fresh sheets were on the bed and there was a note on his pillow.
"Welcome home, Ope. I gave the room a once over, no one wants to come home to a dusty old room. I'll be home Tuesday, I think, and we can just keep our distance until we both settled into this. Enjoy your freedom - Macy"
—
"How do you think it's all gonna go when you're home?" Shane asked, his fingers laced with Macy's, as they walked through the promenade.
Macy shrugged, "I really don't know."
"You can crash with me for a few days," Shane offered. "That just kind of pushes off the inevitable, though I guess."
"Yeah," she sighed. "I just want to get it over with I have no desire to move, at all, at least not now."
That was the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear from her. "It's a nice place, I don't blame you," he lied.
"I don't know," Macy groaned. "Maybe I should?" Looking to him she stopped and lead him away from the foot traffic. "We've been together for a while now. Does it bother you?"
There was a long pause before his lips turned into a shy smile. "Would you believe me if I said it doesn't?"
"No, but if I did it would mean I don't think you were fully in this relationship, so I guess that's good," Macy laughed.
Shane laughed and nodded.
"I'll look for a place," she relented. "It's probably better for me, you and him to be honest."
"Probably, it is kind of weird and fucked up," Shane admitted. He saw her jaw drop a little and quickly tried to back peddle. "You know what I mean, the whole mess is fucking messy and you're so hellbent on staying. It's kind of weird, Mace."
"I'm nothing if not proud and stubborn," she admitted.
"Something you get from both of your damn parents," Shane remarked.
"You have no idea," she groaned. "They're a nightmare of pride and stubbornness and insanity."
Shane nodded. "So, you're exactly like them, then."
"Dick," she said, punching him playfully. Macy was about to pull him back to the path when Shane gave her a tug in the opposite direction.
"Shane," she giggled.
"Shh," he said, laughing a bit himself. In the shadows, he pulled her into a cobblestone alley that lead to the back of the shops. "Just a few minutes," he whispered before kissing her. "I can't go too long without kissing my girl."