A/N: Updated 8/21/20

Chapter 16

Eliza POV

When I got home from visiting Abel at the hospital, I headed to take a shower before I had to be back at the clubhouse for a party. I had Kozik's words in my head. I had to move past it though. No matter what Opie was my future. My heart was with him. I had decided to wear a blue jean skirt and one of my SAMCRO tank tops. I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup when my cell rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was my friend Lexi from college. I answered it, sitting on the edge of mine and Ope's bed. "Hey girl." I said.

"Hey are you busy?" She asked me. I could hear worry in her voice.

"Not really. Just getting ready to go meet up with Opie and my brother." I said. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Not really. E, I need help." She said.

I knew that Lexi had been seeing this guy that I had a bad feeling about. I had this feeling that he'd been hitting her. "Where are you?" I asked.

"I did like you always told me. You told me that if I ever got into trouble to go to the SAMTAC clubhouse. That's where I am." Lexi said.

"Okay. I gotta go fill my parents, Jax, and Opie in on what's going on then I'm coming to get you. Okay?" I said.

"Thanks E. Can you bring me some clothes? I left without anything."

"No problem. I'll be there as soon as I can." I said and hung up. Great. Clay was going to just love this. I grabbed my boots and slipped them on quickly. I grabbed her some clothes and threw them in a bag. I grabbed my phone and keys and ran out the door. I hopped in my car and headed over to the clubhouse. When I pulled into the lot, Ma came walking out of the office and walked over to my car. She'd met Lexi once when she came to visit. I'd told her my thoughts about the guy that Lexi was dating. Ma would understand.

"Eliza, what's wrong?" Ma asked me when I got out of my car.

"It's Lexi. She left him. She's in trouble Ma." I said, closing my driver's side door.

She wrapped an arm around me. "Come on, let's find the boys." She said. I nodded. We made our way over to the clubhouse. Clay, Jax and Opie were sitting at the bar. "Clay." Ma said when we walked in. I'm sure that the way that I was feeling right now was written all over my face.

"Gem, what is it?" Clay said before looking at me. "What's wrong?" He asked me.

"It's my friend Lexi." I said.

"Your old roommate?" Clay asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. She's been dating this guy. Total piece of shit. Anyway, I've had a bad feeling about him since day one. I always told her that if I wasn't around and she got into trouble to go to SAMTAC, tell them that she was a friend of mine and to call me. I told her that they'd keep her safe till I could get to her." I told them. Jax handed me a bottle of water. I quickly drank half of it. "Clay, I gotta go get her before he finds her." I said.

He nodded, pulling me into a hug. Ever since my dad died, this had only happened a handful of times. "It's okay. Go, take Jax and Opie with you. Get her back here. We'll deal with the rest as it comes." Clay said, as he pulled back letting go of me. I nodded. "Take your car. No bikes." He said.

I wasn't sure why he didn't want the guys to take their bikes, but I wasn't objecting. The fact was he was letting them go with me was a miracle. The three of us quickly said our goodbyes and we made our way out to my car. I was driving, Ope was in the passenger seat, Jax in the back. All I knew was that I had to get to Lexi. She was my priority right now.

Gemma POV

Clay and I stood in the parking lot as I watched Eliza, Jax and Opie head out in her car to Seattle to get her friend. One thing that we did was protect our own and by extension of Eliza, Lexi was that. I looked over at Clay when they pulled out of the parking lot. "Why no bikes?" I asked.

"Mayans are looking to start a war. I don't want to risk the girls getting hurt." He said.

I kissed his cheek. "If anyone thought any better, they'd think you were getting soft in your old age." I said, turning and heading back into the office.

Jax POV

Eliza had mentioned her friend Lexi some over the past few years. They had been roommates throughout college until Lexi moved in with her boyfriend for their final year. I knew that Eliza had been worried about her. She had mentioned it to me. The couple times that I'd seen the girl, when I'd visited, I'd noticed a few bruises.

Once we'd gotten onto the highway and out of Charming, I knew it'd be okay to talk to her. "E, what's really going on?" I asked.

"For a while now, Lexi's been scared that this asshole was going to try and hurt her." She said.

"You mean, more than before?"

"Yeah. She's been worried that he might try and kill her. I told her that if she ever felt scared or that she was in danger to go to Hap at SAMTAC. I knew that he'd keep her safe." She said.

"You know he will."

"I know. Anyway, I was getting ready to head back to the clubhouse when she called me. She said that she was at SAMTAC. Jax, I gotta get to her and get her back to Charming before he finds her." She said.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "We'll get her and bring her back. We'll keep her safe and deal with this asshole." I said.

"Thanks, Jax." She said.

The rest of the drive was pretty quiet. Nobody really said anything. I noticed that Ope was holding Eliza's hand, rubbing the back of her hand to calm her down. The gesture was small, but for some reason it calmed the fears that I had been having about the two of them. It didn't seem that bad anymore.

Eliza POV

When I pulled into the parking lot at SAMTAC, I hopped out of my car and made my way inside, Ope and Jax behind me. Even though everyone here knew me, Hap was the first person that I found. "Eliza!" He said.

I hugged him. "Hap, it's good to see you." I said.

"You too." He said, shaking Jax and Opie's hands. "Listen, she's shaken up really bad. She said that she wouldn't be able to relax until you got here." Hap told me.

"Thanks Hap. I've been worried about her since she moved in with the asshole. I hated going back to Charming leaving her unprotected, but I knew that if I sent her here, you'd take care of her." I said.

"Yeah, she's a sweet girl. Always had a good time, when you'd bring her to the parties." I smiled, remembering the good times that Lexi and I would have at the SAMTAC parties.

"Thanks Hap. Where is she?" I asked.

"In my room." I nodded.

I turned to Jax and Ope. "I'll be back." I said taking off down the hallway.

Opie POV

Eliza used to party with SAMTAC? I watched her walk down the hall to go check on Lexi. "Liza, used to come party?" I asked Hap as we walked to the bar. I hadn't seen Hap since he did Eliza's crow.

He nodded. "Yeah, she'd come down on Friday night's with Lexi when they finished with classes and stay the whole weekend. I'd always give them my room and I'd sleep on the floor to make sure that nobody would mess with them." He said. Jax and I both nodded.

"What do we know about the asshole boyfriend?" Jax asked.

"Not much sadly. All I really know is that his name is Carlos and that he comes from a powerful family. He's got a brother in Chicago… works for the ATF. But there's something else that I found out. Not sure if you wanna know." Hap said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The brother? Was engaged to Tara." Hap said. Jax and I looked at each other.

Jax POV

"Seriously?" I asked, as the croweater behind the bar handed us each a beer.

"Yeah. Not really sure what happened. Found out they were together for about two years. Then out of nowhere she filed a restraining order and moved back to Charming." Hap said.

"Okay. I'll deal with that when I get back to Charming. Right now, we deal with this." I said. Was that why Tara came back? She thought that I would protect her.

"I'm working on getting some more information on Carlos for you guys before you leave." Hap said.

"Thanks man." I said.