Chapter 31: You're dead!
The sun was setting as Liv walked up the driveway to the little brick house in Portland that she was going to call home along with three other students. From what she understood from the Admissions Office the people that she would be living with were all in different programs in the school and were also from out of town. It made her feel a little less apprehensive about starting over. She was a bundle of nerves and had a hard time comprehending why; she had been through hell and back so meeting new people should have scared her so much. Liv took a deep breath as she rang the doorbell; she stood there fiddling with her hair when a tall, muscular brunette with cream linen pants clinging to his waist and no shirt on answered the door.
"Hey." He raised his eyebrows at Liv as he studied her with his dark green eyes. "You must be Olivia?" He smiled as he stepped aside letting her in.
Liv walked in and then turned back to the brunette, "Please call me, Liv." She held her hand out to the man.
"Chase." He shook her hand, he had a firm grip and charismatic nature instantly made Liv feel a sense of relief. "Let me show you to your room." He smiled and led the way up the stair case and down a hallway. "So what program are you going into?"
Liv enjoyed the ease of Chase's conversation, "I'm going into counseling; I'd particularly like to help battered women." She smiled. "What about you?"
"Psychology and Drama. If one doesn't work out I will have the other to fall back on." Chase gave Liv a cheesy grin as they reached the end of the hallway and to a closed door. "This is you." He pushed open the door revealing a small room with a bed and a desk the only redeeming factor of the room was the two windows that would allow in natural like during the day. "I thought about moving in here after Madi moved out because of the natural light but decided that it would be far too much work. So this room is all yours! Well I better go and let you get situated." Chase stopped in the doorway and turned back to Liv. "We usually have dinner once a week as a group and it happens to be tonight so don't be late we'll be eating in about an hour or so after Brianne and Sam get home."
"Thanks Chase. I will definitely take you up on that." Liv smiled at him as he left her room alone, it was the silence she needed.
Her week had been filled with the aftermath of her confession to Juice. He couldn't comprehend the meaning of 'I need space'; he had called and texted her daily. The calls were left unanswered and most of the text without replies. It made her heartache for Happy, why couldn't he have at least sent her a text or a message through one of the Sons or even Lyla. But then again she could have done the same thing but she wasn't the one who said she didn't want him. He didn't want her at least that was what he said but his goodbye to her didn't say that…it said stay. It wasn't worth dwelling anymore, their paths went different ways.
The one thing she did dwell on was the strain in her relationship with Natalie that hadn't been there before. She couldn't get it out of her why she was pushing her away but Natalie was putting distance between them. Liv wondered if it was because Nat thought she was leaving her behind, she would never do that to her. Natalie meant more to her than anyone else in the world and she didn't want her to think she was running from her because that was the furthest thing from the truth. Liv picked up her phone and sent Natalie a text letting her know that she missed her and she couldn't wait to see her in three weeks when she gets back home, they needed to plan a girls' night. For so long it had been Liv and Juice, Liv and Happy or Natalie and her latest boyfriend….it hadn't been just them. Now that they were both single again, it could be just them and she couldn't wait.
Liv walked out of her room and heard laughter coming from the first floor, it must have been her other housemates, Brianne and Sam. She made her way to the dining room where the smell of pizza made her stomach rumble loudly. She couldn't remember the last thing she had anything to eat, it might have been breakfast with Tig at one of the local restaurants before he left to go back to Charming. Liv asked him to send her love to everyone. Tig smirked at her and asked if she had any special messages for Happy now that she was unattached again. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she thought about it. She knew what her father was doing and it wasn't going to work so she teased him and told him to go and give him a nice juicy kiss for her. He laughed and said there was no way in hell, he was going to do that. Liv got her point across.
"Hey, you must be Olivia," a female voice pulled Liv out of her thoughts. She looked up into the face of a girl who was equally as pale as she was but she had thick auburn hair and brown eyes.
"I am and you must be Brianne," Liv smiled warmly at her housemate.
"Call me Bri." She smirked as she pulled out the chair next to her, Liv sat down.
"I'm Sam." A Native American man sitting across the table from her introduced himself just before he shoveled a piece of pizza into his mouth.
"I hope you don't mind cheese pizza too much." Bri pulled the box away from Sam, who was grabbing his second piece. "Hey…save some for the rest of us." Bri scolded at him. Sam mumbled something that was not distinguishable due to his mouth full of food.
"Liv!" Chase's boisterous voice called out from behind her. He was carrying four glasses of a liquid that looked like a light beer. "I have the beer!" Liv gladly took the glass from Chase; she like him. He had an easiness about him that made her just relax and enjoy herself.
That was the start of Liv's new living situation. In the weeks following Liv became close friends with her roommates. She found so many things about them, like Sam and Bri were dating, that Chase had the most beautiful boyfriend it made Liv jealous. At first she didn't know how she felt about being surrounded by couples but soon found that her housemates didn't treat her like a third wheel, which was a very welcome feeling. It felt as if she had always been there. It was getting close to the start of classes so Liv decided she should head she was going to head back to Charlotteville for a few weeks; she needed her car and some more things before things got to hectic. Jax had graciously offered to take her home after his visit to Portland with Wendy and the boys.
Liv was so excited to see Abel and Thomas, she felt as if it were ages since she had seen them. She was of course looking forward to seeing Jax and Wendy as well. She was going to meet them at one of the local play areas so the boys could run off their pent up energy from the drive. Liv pulled on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a light blue sweater, she slipped on a pair of flats and made her way down stairs where she heard the chatter of Chase and Bri.
"Hey guys!" Liv smiled as she walked into the kitchen in and poured herself a cup of coffee.
Chase whistled at her, "And where are you going looking that good?"
Liv blushed, "I am just meeting my friends and their kids." She hadn't realized she looked better than normal but it made sense she was actually sporting some make up and her hair wasn't up in its normal messy bun.
"Friends? Or Friend?" Chase air quoted the last friend.
Liv almost spit out her coffee but she managed to choke it down, "Friends…Jax and Wendy."
"Oh sweetheart, we will end your dry spell someday soon." Chase smirked at her as she rolled her eyes at him.
Liv shook her head at him, "I am perfectly happy being single and dry."
"And is that why your phone is blowing up from texts from that Juice guy?" Chase happened to be around one night when Juice had sent Liv about ten text messages in a row, she vented to him and told him about her Juice drama. Chase had made it his new mission to find Liv a rebound guy. Liv humored him for the time being.
"Like I told you before he doesn't get that I need space. I feel like he is clinging to what we used to have and doesn't understand that we will never have that again. I need to go, I don't want to have them wait for me after they came all this way to see me." Liv made her way out of the house and to the park to meet Jax and his family.
The air had a crisp bite of the upcoming fall, Liv loved it and invited it happily. She arrived at the park just as Jax was pulling Abel out of the back of Wendy's SUV.
"Liv!" Abel squealed as he ran to her.
Liv lifted him up into her arms and embraced him, "Hey, little man!"
"I've missed you! I never thought I would see you again." Abel said sadly into her ear.
Liv placed him down on the ground and knelt in front of him. "Listen here mister, just because I don't live in Charming doesn't mean you won't see me ever again." Liv ruffled his hair as she stood up; Abel placed his hand into hers and pulled her towards the rest of his family. Seeing Jax and Wendy made her miss, Charming more than ever; she missed her home and her family she had built there.
Chase and Liv were sitting in the dining room enjoying their coffee, it would be their last coffee together for a few weeks while Liv was in Charlotteville situating things before classes started. There was a loud knock on the front door; Chase grinned from ear to ear knowing it was a man for Liv. He bounced out his chair and went to the door. Liv rolled her eyes, it was just Jackson; he was there to take her back to Washington. She was pretty sure Chase thought that she had something with Jax but it couldn't be further from the truth. Jax was really a big brother figure to her, even if she couldn't deny his beauty.
Chase returned to the dining room followed by Jackson. Liv smiled, "Hey Jax. Care for a coffee before we hit the road?" She asked.
"Sure, hopefully it's better than the stuff at the hotel, could have tarred a road with it." Jax smirked.
Liv started to get us to get the coffee when Chase interjected, "I've got it." He passed behind Jax and turned back to Liv and silently mouthed…He's HOT! Liv laughed at her enthusiastic friend.
Chase turned and head towards the kitchen just as Jax turned to see what Liv was laughing at. Jax raised an eyebrow at her, "Do I want to know?"
Liv shook her head, "No, you don't. Thank you so much for bringing me back up to Charlotteville. You really didn't have to do it."
Liv watched as Jax smiled, his blue eyes gazed at her, "I know I don't have to, but your family and we take care of our own. Plus I have some business with Tacoma, I can take care of at the same time. How are things going between you and Juice?" The one question she didn't want to have him ask her. Jax was hoping Liv would say they weren't because he was still hoping that she would eventually find her way back to Happy. He was just not the same man that he was when Liv was around; he was more irritable than he had been prior and seemed to be making his way through the girls from Red Woody and Diosa quickly. Jax had tried to tell him to go after Liv but he ignored his advice.
"I am surprised my dad didn't tell you." Liv frowned but was grateful that Tig had not told any of SAMCRO about what happened between Juice and her. Jax furrowed his brow and looked like he was about to say something but didn't because Liv continued, "Juice and I are no longer an item…even though he doesn't seem to understand that. I miss Happy." Liv confessed, "I wanted him, not Juice."
"Give it time, maybe he'll come around. He's such a stubborn bastard; he won't admit he misses you but he did hunt down Jake for months." Jax said as Chase gave him his coffee. "Thanks, man." Jax nodded at Chase, who would have worshiped at his very feet if he asked him to.
"What time are you guys leaving?" Chase asked after some brief, idle chatter between the three of them.
"It takes about four hours to get to my home town so probably soon. It's hard to believe that I have already been here almost a month. I am going to miss it here…but thankfully when I get back I won't have to rely on the bus or taxi to get me around." Liv couldn't wait for the freedom of having her car again. This way if she wanted to head down to Charming or back home for a long weekend she could.
"I'll miss you, Oliver." Chase called her by his pet name for her. It came up one night when the roommates were all drinking. Chase kept trying to say Olivia but it came out Oliver. Olivia adored her new roommates, they took the sting of being away from her families away.
It was close to six o'clock in the evening when Liv and Jax pulled into the roadside café where Liv has spent most of her teen and adult life working at. Before they had left Portland, Liv had offered to buy Jax dinner at the café and a place to stay for the night if he didn't want to go straight to Tacoma. He had taken her up on dinner but they were expecting him in Tacoma later that evening. Liv didn't say anything as they pulled up and she saw Juice's Harley was sitting in the parking lot.
"Looks like Juice is here, you okay with that sweetheart?" Jackson asked he got off his bike. Jax recognized Juice's bike immediately, he would have known any of his brothers or ex brothers' bikes. He was okay with seeing Juice but by no means had he made his peace with him, fuck he would never make peace with the man who knew how his wife had been murdered and could have prevented the actions Jax and his club took thinking it was the Asians, who betrayed them. He could have prevented the backlash; he could have prevented his own misery and most of all he could have prevented Olivia's pain.
"I'm fine as long as you are." Liv glanced over at Juice's bike and saw Nat's car was there as well. Good she would be able to set a time to get together with her, she was not getting out of hanging out with Liv.
"Perfectly fine with it." Jax placed his hand on the small of Liv's back and as they walked through the doorway.
"Hello welcome…oh it's just…" Dani stuttered as her eyes wandered from Liv to Jax. He was the most beautiful man that Dani had ever set her eyes on. "Hi Handsome." She smiled at him.
"Hello, darlin'," Jax humored Dani. He had a way of charming women.
Liv snorted, she knew exactly what Dani was thinking and it wasn't going to happen. "Where's Nat?" Liv asked in annoyance. Dani had never been her favorite person and she only tolerated her because they were coworkers.
Dani couldn't believe how impeccable Liv's timing was. Dani had just seen Natalie pull Juice back to their locker area. She knew something was going on between the two of them but she wasn't sure what. Dani couldn't wait for the drama to unfold when Liv found out. "Um, I think she went back to the lockers." She said with a fake innocence and sly smile.
"Jax, go ahead and have a seat; I need to go find Nat." Liv said. She wondering briefly where Juice was but didn't really care at that moment because she couldn't wait to see her best friend.
Liv heard hushed voices as she walked back towards the lockers. One of the voices was Natalie's, Liv smiled thinking about how much she missed her best friend and now she would have two weeks to spend time with her. They hadn't had much time together since all the stuff went down with Marks and Cartwright; she needed to reconnect with Nat.
Olivia was about to turn the corner but Natalie yelled, "I am pregnant, Juice! What am I going to do?" Liv stopped dead in her tracks, why would it matter to Juice, Liv took a deep breath and turned the corner only to see both Natalie and Juice pale when they saw her. That is when it hit her, Natalie was pregnant with Juice's baby.
"Fuck, Liv…what are you doing here?" Juice asked in shock. He had just got a huge shock to his system. Natalie had just told him she was pregnant and Olivia had overheard.
Liv took slow deliberate breaths as she tried to control her anger that was sizzling just under the surface. She didn't look at Juice she just stared at Natalie and her look of guilt and disloyalty was all she needed to see. Tears started to fall freely from Natalie's eyes. "Don't you dare cry!" Liv snapped at her best friend, "It's not going to work this time Natalie." Knowing Natalie tried to cry her way out of things and Liv's bleeding heart always forgave her. "When did you two have sex?" It had to have been with in the month for Natalie to be getting a positive test and just now telling Juice.
Neither of them said anything. "Listen Liv…" Juice started and he tried to touch Liv.
"NO!" She yanked her arm away from him. "You listen to me…I asked you a question and I expect an answer." Liv barked at him.
"God, I am so sorry Liv. It was…" Natalie cried, Juice glared at her. He still wanted to have a change with Liv but his future he saw with her was quickly slipping from his fingers because he made one bad decision in anger and fucked Natalie. "No, she deserves to know…it was when I told him about Happy." It all made sense to Liv, why Natalie was pushing her away. She felt guilty. "Please forgive me!" Nat pleaded, her brown eyes filled with tears.
"I can't…" Liv said with an uneasy calm and she turned to walk away before they saw her tears.
"Please…" Natalie begged and tried to grab Liv before she left.
Liv turned and glared with such anger, "I will never forgive either of you for what you did. You are probably thinking, I love Happy so why does it matter…what matters is you betrayed me. I don't have time for cheaters and betrayers. You are both dead to me." She turned to go again but another set of arms grabbed on to her. "Let go of me, Juice."
"How can you treat your best friend that way?" Juice asked her earnestly. The man who she had loved so deeply at one point in her life was now an ugly mistake.
"How dare you fuck her?" Liv hauled back and slapped him. "Both of you stay the fuck away from me." She stormed out of the back and towards the front door. She didn't even stop to tell Jax.
He must have sensed it though, because he was next to her within seconds of her reaching his bike. "What's going on?"
Liv gasped for air as she sobbed, the one person in the world she would have given up everything for just betrayed her. How could Natalie have slept with Juice when they were still dating? Natalie knew how she felt about being cheated on and there she was being the other woman. The one person she never thought would deceive her did. "Nat…Juice…baby." Was all she managed to get out, as Jax let Olivia sob into his chest. He smoothed her hair down and tried to sooth her, she was one giant leap closer to making her way back to Happy. Liv pulled back from Jax and said with a bit of panic in her sad voice, "Get me out of here."
A/N: So Natalie is having Juice's baby and Liv is hurt. There may be a considerably time gap in the next chapter but not sure quite yet…if there is Happy will be making a welcome appearance. I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think…PS I am sure you think it unfair of Liv to be pissed that Natalie and Juice slept together when Olivia really wants to be with Happy. But think about it how would you feel in the heat of the moment if you found out your best friend had slept with the guy you were seeing?