Holly sat at the kitchen table, sewing the patches back on Jax's cut while he was in the shower, pausing to take a drink of her orange juice. Jax was kinda treating her with kid gloves, which is one of the things she was afraid of. She looked over when she heard Jax come in, cutting the thread as she finished sewing his patches on. She took Abel from him, giving him his bottle.
"You didn't have to sew my patches, babe. I would've done it."
"I don't mind. It gave me something to do with my hands. You hungry?"
"No. I'm heading to the clubhouse. Clay and I are gonna tell the guys. Why don't you come by later?"
"I don't wanna see the looks of pity on the guys' faces. I've been fine lately. I don't wanna be pitied. Or treated like I'm made of glass."
"What do you mean?"
"You've been tiptoeing around me since last night and I don't want you to. I'm not gonna break. It's not like the attack just happened. We've had sex plenty of time since then and I haven't freaked out when I've been touched. I'm fine Jax."
"I just feel bad that I couldn't help you."
"You couldn't help me because I didn't tell you. And it's my biggest regret. But you don't need to worry about me. Yes, it happened, but I made it through the other side stronger than before. I'm not scared of my own shadow anymore. I'm not a child. You don't have to be careful around me. Ok?"
Holly walked into the clubhouse just as the guys were coming out of their meeting, hugging them all when they came over, hugging Chibs last.
"I'm glad you finally spoke up, lass. It was time."
"I didn't. But it's nice to not have this weight on me anymore."
"Babe? What're you doing here?"
"I remembered something. A couple months ago, someone, I'm assuming Weston or one of his guys, left two of the masks they were wearing that night. David had been told by Wayne in an attempt to get him to stop working with Zobelle, and David came to me asking me to give him something that might help take Zobelle and Weston down. I gave him the masks. Stahl came by the other night with the DNA results from the masks. Weston and his men must've done time or something because their DNA is in the system. It was a match."
She handed the papers to Jax, watching the guys look over the results.
"I don't know what you guys have planned, and I don't ask for this kind of thing, but I want these assholes dead. Deader than dead."
Holly watched as Laroy pulled up to the park, watching him come over to her, handing him the bag of food she'd brought for him. He'd been keeping in contact with her since they last spoke, meeting up with her every now and then.
"How you doing, boo?"
"I'm doing even better now that Jax and the guys know."
"How'd they take it?"
"Jax is treating me a bit different and the guys are pitying me a bit. Even if they won't admit it."
"You hate that."
"With every fiber of my being. Things'll go back to normal eventually. But I kinda need a favor. If you can't help, I understand."
"After everything you've done for me, I'll do what I can."
"The guys are going after retaliation on Zobelle and Weston for what happened. They're being smart about it, but they don't have enough guns. I know things are pretty tight for you, but if there's anything you can spare I'd be appreciative."
"Does Clay know you're here?"
"No. No one does. They don't know I've been talking to you. Not that I'm embarrassed or anything, just hasn't come up. We've been dealing with a lot of shit."
"I hear ya. I wish I could help, boo. But we're using everything we have."
"I get it. I figured that would be your answer, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Thanks anyway, Laroy."
She got up and hugged him, kissing his cheek gently.
"You take care of yourself, ok?"
"You too, boo. Stay safe."
She nodded, clapping his friend's shoulder before heading towards her car.
"Hold up."
She looked back at Laroy, going back over to him, following him to his SUV.
"I can give you something to protect yourself and your kid. You know how to shoot?"
"Yeah, I do. But I don't need a gun for myself. I have one at home. But thanks, Laroy. I appreciate it."
Holly walked into Opie's room at the clubhouse, knocking to get his attention. She sat down on the chair by his bed as he sat down on the bed.
"Bobby told me what happened. Are you ok?"
"No, I'm not. I don't know what to do. The thing between Jax and Clay makes a lot of sense now. I could never figure out why they were fighting so hard and now I know. Jax knew. He knew why Donna died."
"We wanted to tell you, Ope. For a while, I thought I was going crazy. That night, I thought I saw Tig's eyes, but I let myself believe I was just in shock."
"How do I get right with this, Holly? Sharing a patch with Clay and Tig?"
"I wanna tell you, Ope, but I can't. I don't even know how I'm supposed to get right with anything anymore. I don't know how I do it. But whatever it is, it's a mask. I can smile and hug them, but in the back of my mind, I wanna kick their asses for everything that's happened. But I can tell you that no matter what you decide, I'm with you. Always."
Holly walked into the office and shut the door before sitting down, looking at Gemma. She took a breath before talking.
"I can lie and tell you that things are fine between us or gonna be fine between us, but I'm not in the mood to pussyfoot around with anyone. You're my godmother and the day has finally come where I can honestly say that I hate you. And I can't say if that'll ever change. You toy with lives like a baby plays with toys. As soon as you get bored you move on to the next thing. You totally disregarded what I was going through, telling me to continuously stay quiet about something that was literally killing me. I was put on suicide watch and you played on my need to keep Jax safe. If it weren't for Jax, you would no longer have any say in Abel's life. You are on ice so thin that you only need to breathe for it to crack. If and when that ice breaks and you fall into the icy waters below, you will never be a part of Abel's life or mine. I'm not someone that'll do this, but you have single-handedly pushed me to my breaking point. You continue to play with my life as if I'm a yo-yo, all I have to do is bat my eyes at Jax and you're done. And I won't hesitate to do it. Your reign of terror is soon to be over. You might be queen now, but your time is almost over. As soon as Clay steps down and Jax becomes president, you're stepping down too. No ifs, ands or buts. You're done, Gemma Teller."