The storm waged on well past midnight. Crackles of lightning punctuated the rolling thunder throughout the night, even after the rain stopped. Ophelia opened her eyes to another cloudy, dismal day, but she welcomed it. It matched her mood. She rolled over and reached out for Lucius, but he was gone. She sat up for a moment, and when she heard the shower running, she fell back against the pillows. Part of her wished he'd already gone downstairs. She needed time to think.
Thoughts of Delylah rushed over her. Opie couldn't get the image of Lala and Victor out of her head. To her, it made no sense. Victor was closer to thirty than he was to twenty, and he was a soldier. Lala's plan was to run off to New York and live a beautiful and fabulous life while she attended college. Are you going to give that up, Lala? It was a question that plagued Ophelia, because after the events of the last couple days, she didn't know who or what she was, much less where she was heading in life.
Her plan was to attend Duke University in the fall, but so many questions filled her mind. Do I use my Witness Protection name or my real name? Ophelia Teller. It was so exotic and otherworldly. It was a far cry from Cait Morgan, and it was eons away from Opie. Do I change? She felt like she should. She felt like, with the name and the legacy, she should be different somehow. She closed her eyes and pictured herself in head to toe black, most of it leather. Her long, copper hair was loose and wild. She almost wanted to laugh aloud at the image, but a slight giggle left her lips instead. That's not how she saw herself. Ever.
"What's so funny?" Lala's voice penetrated her imagination and brought her crashing back to reality. She sat up quickly and saw her twin standing in the doorway.
"Can't you knock?" Opie asked. Annoyance edged her voice as she pulled the blanket over her camisole covered torso. Her gray eyes were cold as they met Delylah's.
"I figured that, if you were fucking, you'd have the intelligence to lock the door," Delylah drawled. She walked towards the bed and plopped by her twin. She was surprised to see Opie slightly recoil. "I mean, it's not like you have to hide anymore. Hell, you didn't really hide it all that well to begin with, but now with all the insanity going around, he's not gonna give a fuck about your boyfriend."
Opie coldly smiled. "I guess you're adopting the same philosophy with your traveling soldier?"
Delylah had the decency to blush, but her eyes were distant as she stared at her sister.
"Victor and I aren't together," Delylah stated coolly.
"Of course not," Opie sarcastically replied. "You don't have to worry about Mama and Daddy walking in when you always have the intelligence to lock your door. I mean, that's all you do with men anyway. Fuck em and leave em."
Delylah felt as if she'd been kicked in the ribs. Her chest physically ached, but she would allow tears to form in her eyes; instead, she scowled in aggravation.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Op?" Delylah saw the change in Ophelia the night prior, when Opie walked on Victor and her. "You're all over the fucking place."
"Aren't you all over the place, Lala?" Opie flung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. Her skintight camisole and tiny gym shorts left little to the imagination her endless ivory legs strode towards the windows. Her long, unruly red curls fell messily down her back as she stared out at nothing in particular; she was just searching for something to distract her from the anxiety and worry that filled her chest.
"Why would I be?" Delylah countered. She didn't move from her seat.
"Because we're not who we were raised as. We're not Morgans, we're Tellers." The last word was covered in disdain. "Mama and Daddy lied to us our entire lives. I'm named after a criminal, and you're named after his wives, for God's sake. They lived a whole other life—one with murder and mayhem and—"
"We aren't who we were raised as," Delylah softly admitted. "But to me, it makes sense. Daddy never asked to be born in SAMCRO, but he accepted it, and Mama just—she loved him. She fucking loved him enough to stay, and he loved her enough to run. It's actually quite beautiful, if you think about it."
"Beautiful?" Opie barked. She turned and faced Delylah. "What is beautiful about the lies? Every single day of our lives we were told to be good and humble people. We were taught the importance of your word—it's our bond, right?" Delylah opened her mouth to answer, but Opie began speaking again. "Daddy taught us about honor, but he never followed it. This whole time, he was hiding this horrible secret."
"Is the secret all that horrible, Opie?" Delylah questioned. "Because that, to me, was the only lie. Everything Mama and Daddy taught us was true: they taught us about hardwork and honor. They tucked us into bed each and every night. They were there when we started driving, when we graduated—and they'll be there when our babies come too. The only lie, Ophelia, is the package those truths were delivered in, and to me, that's nothing. That lie kept us alive."
"For how long?" Opie retaliated. "How long, now that they've found us? What if there's this huge score to settle, and we're the pawns they'll use to win?"
"Are you saying it would have been better to be raised in SAMCRO than it would have been to be raised like we were?" Delylah was incredulous.
"At least we'd know our enemy, Lala," Opie said, crisscrossing her arms over her chest. "The devil you know is better than the devil you don't."
"But we're going to be okay," Delylah calmly stated. "Victor is going to stay with us as long as he can. You have Lucius. From what Daddy said this morning, Althea Jarry is calling in reinforcements for us too. Mama and Daddy are in more danger than we are, for sure."
"When did you become the optimistic one?" Opie fired back. "Just a couple of weeks ago, you were partying yourself into oblivion, fucking everything in sight. I couldn't tell you anything—you knew it all—and you didn't care about anything. How did we switch places so fast, Lala? How did I just stop caring?"
"I don't know," Delylah responded. It was the truth. Things just felt different now. As Laura Morgan, nothing made sense. The wildness in her soul couldn't be explained. She felt like an outsider in her perfect, suburban family. Knowing pieces of her history, hearing stories of Jax and Tara, of Opie and Chibs and Tig and Gemma—it made everything make sense. As she stared at Opie, Delylah felt guilty for the peace her parents' revelation brought; it was obviously ripping Opie apart. She stood and walked towards Opie. Carefully, she took her twin in her embrace. Delylah wasn't the least bit surprised when Opie's hot tears soaked through the thin blouse she wore.
"Whoa, I'm sorry—" Lucius voice registered surprise as he stepped out of the bathroom. Delylah's eyes fell on her sister's boyfriend. Lucius appeared tall and lean in clothes, but as he crossed into the room, Delylah was surprised by how muscular he truly was.
"Don't be sorry," Delylah said as Opie broke free from her embrace. "I just came up to let y'all know Mama and Daddy are leaving in about an hour. You may want to say goodbye, Op." Wiping her eyes, Opie nodded.
"I'll clean myself up and come down," she said. Delylah nodded, somewhat relieved. She took comfort in the fact that, no matter how angry Opie was at Tara and Jax, she still loved them enough to put it aside and see them off.
"I'll see you downstairs," Delylah said quietly as she showed herself out. The door clicked shut behind her.
"What was that all about?" Lucius asked. A towel was swathed across his hips, and as he stared at her, his fingers struggled to keep it on. Goddamn, Op, you're beautiful. He loved this girl. Memories from the courtyard infiltrated his mind. I can't find forever in anyone's eyes. I want to find myself first.
That was before they found Chibs in the courtyard. In the almost forty-eight hours that had transpired since, Opie seemed to have done a complete one-eighty. She clung to him at night now, and she'd begged him numerous times to stay with her, no matter what. It's nice to be needed, he thought.
"I don't know," Opie said. "Lala just came in to talk, and I just went off on her." Regret shadowed her eyes as she sank into the bed. Her face was a mask of heartbreak as she met his eyes. "There's been so much goddamned change, and I'm not doing well with it, Lucius. I'm just not." Her face crumpled as Lucius sat beside her.
"Baby, I'm here," he whispered as he kissed her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere. We're going to get through this together. I promise."
"I'm lucky," Opie said low. "I'm lucky you want me at all."
Lucius stared at Opie, mouth agape. "Why do you say that?"
"You fell in love with Cait Morgan, not Ophelia Teller," she responded.
"Baby, you're more than a name," Lucius countered. "I fell in love with you—your beautiful ginger hair, your sweet smile, your kind soul, and your courageous heart. A few typed letters on a birth certificate can never, ever change that."
Opie wanted to believe that, but her mind raced with a million different thoughts. She stood once more and walked towards the door. Turning the massive lock, she thought of Delylah. When she turned to face Lucius, all she wanted was for the ghosts that resided within her to stop their madness. Rushing back to her lover's side, she kissed him deeply.
"Show me you love me, Lucius," she mumbled against his mouth as the fell backwards into the mattress. "Show me."