After breakfast Opie helped clear the table before he slowly made his way down the hall. "Where are you going?" Gemma asked him as she followed him. Opie turned to look at Gemma. "I'm going to see Summer," Opie replied, "I'm worried about her." "Opie, don't cause her anymore stress than she is already under," Gemma said, trying to keep her frustration in check, "I know what's going on and no I'm not going to lecture you about it. But please, keep her best interests in mind. You have a perfect family and one day she would like that too. You need to let her go." Opie was caught off guard when she told him straight out that she knew about them and if it was someone other than her, he would have flat out denied it. But he knew for a fact that she knew everything and she could see through you if you were lying. "Gem, I made things very difficult for her last night," Opie replied, looking down at his hands, "I just want to apologize to her." Gemma gave him a quick look and then motioned for him to keep going. "Make it quick," she replied and then went back into the dining room.
Opie quietly opened the door to Abel's room and let himself in. Summer slowly rolled over and groaned when she saw him. "Opie, I don't have the desire or energy to fight with you right now," she mumbled, "I haven't stopped puking in two hours and the last thing I want to do is deal with your hang up about why I ended things with you." "Summer, I'm not here to fight about wanting you back," Opie replied, "I'm here to apologize. I'm so sorry for not seeing this situation the way you see it. I'm sorry for being selfish. I can't deny you the opportunity to be happy and find love." Summer sat up and looked at Opie. "You really mean that?" she asked hopefully, "Can you just be friends with me?" "I really mean that Sum," he said quietly, "It's going to be hard to just be friends with you, but I need you in my life, so I'm going to have to try." She smiled up at him and he smiled back.
"I won't bug you anymore," Opie said after a moment, "Rest up and get better. I just wanted to let you know, that this time I really am letting you go. It's not fair to you." "Thanks Ope," Summer replied, "That really means a lot." He waved at her to go back to sleep and then quietly let himself out.
A couple hours later Summer woke up feeling rested and her stomach had settled. But most of all, she felt at peace. She had been very thankful to Opie that he had pulled his head out of his ass to see that this wasn't just about him and that there were others involved. She stayed curled up in bed a little longer and didn't move until she heard another knock on the door.
"Come in," she called as she sat up and leaned against the headboard. "Hey," Chibs said quietly, "How you feeling love?" "Better," she replied, smiling at him, "What time is it?" "3:00," he said, "Club business is done for today and another rager of a party at the clubhouse is being planned as we speak." Summer put her hand up and shook her head. "I don't think I can participate in another party this weekend," she mumbled as the nauseous feeling came back. "Just come and hang out," Chibs said, subtely hinting that he wanted her there, "You don't have to do drink if you don't want to." "I'll see how I feel in a couple more hours," Summer replied, smiling at him, "Will you come get me if I decide to come?" "Absolutely," he replied with a smile.
"Guess who came to apologize for how he has been acting?" Summer said after a moment. Chibs looked up at her hopeful. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest just by the way he was looking at her. "He also said, officially, that he is letting me go," Summer continued, "He admitted that it wasn't fair for him to hold onto something that wasn't actually his." "Do you think Ope means it?" Chibs asked quietly, "Didn't he say that the first time you tried to end it?" "I think he means it this time," Summer replied, "I don't think that he thought I was very serious the first time." "Well I'm glad to hear it," Chibs replied, "You deserve to be happy and he can't give you deserve. Not while he is married to someone else." "I agree," Summer replied quietly, "Who can?" She looked up at him and judging from the look on his face, she had caught him off guard. "Who can what?" he asked, unsure of what she was really asking. "Who can give me what I deserve?" she asked.
Chibs got up from the bed and ran a nervous hand through his greying hair. "I know what you want me to say," Chibs replied in a flustered tone, "But Clay will have my balls on a stick if I come anywhere near you." Summer jumped up and stood in front of him. "Why do you care what he thinks?" she questioned, grabbing on to the lapels of his Kutte, "What happened to the guy that I was talking to last night? The one that said that something different was happening between us? What happened to him?" Chibs looked into her eyes and she had never seen him so confused in the time that she had known him. "What happened to the one who didn't want to complicate things? The one who just wanted to take a break from the drama of relationships and love?" he shot back, pulling away from her, "Less than 24 hours ago, you had no idea what you wanted and now you seem so sure of everything!" "I guess sometimes things just happen out of the blue that you weren't ever expecting," Summer replied with a scowl, "They come out of nowhere and catch you off guard. You get confused and scared and you maybe say something in the moment, that once you think about it afterwards, you wished you hadn't said it. You can't tell me that that hasn't happened to you..." Summer trailed off and took a deep breath looking down at her hands. She was nervous and she hadn't expected to say all that, but once she got talking, she had to say everything that was on her mind.
"I know love," Chibs responded quietly, "And I didn't say that this hasn't happened to me... because it has. And like you, I have no idea how to process the information or deal with the situation." "Then let Clay, and the rest of the club for that matter, deal with it," Summer said, moving close to him again and running a hand through his hair, "Because we both know that some of the guys won't react well to 'us'." "No, they won't," Chibs replied, "Who really got through to you?" "This morning a very wise woman told me that you were good for me," Summer replied with a small smile, "I'm thinking she may be right..." "This woman is very wise," Chibs said quietly as he put a hand on Summer's waist and lifted the other hand up to brush away a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail, "I like what she has to say." Summer giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "We will figure this out together," she stated, "We'll take things slow and we can feel out the club to see how they will react to us." "I like that idea," he whispered into her hair, "Let's take things slow."
A few hours later Summer was doing her make-up when Gemma knocked on the door. "Baby, you coming out to the clubhouse tonight?" she asked, peaking her head in the door. "Yeah, I think so," Summer replied, smiling at her, "You can come in." Gemma pushed the door open and sat down on the bed. "Chibs was in here for awhile earlier," Gemma said with a raise of her eyebrow, "Should I be filled in?" Summer giggled and put down her mascara. "Some times you are too curious for your own good, I think," Summer laughed, "But the short version is that we want to see what this is or what this could be and we are going to take it slow. He is mainly afraid of how Clay is going to take it." "Don't worry about Clay," Gemma said with a wave of her hand, "And don't worry about the rest of the club either. They will get used to whatever transpires between you two. And as for taking it slow... that'll only last so long..." Summer tried to glare at Gemma, but it turned into a smile faster than she could blink. "Well, it is the thought that counts," Summer replied, "We will try our hardest." She winked at her mom as she undid the clip from her black hair and it fell down her shoulders in loose curls. "Beautiful sweetheart," Gemma stated as she stood up, "Do you want a ride?" "Thanks!" Summer exclaimed, "And no, Chibs is picking me up." "This should be good," Gemma stated, rolling her eyes, "The club is going to love this." They both laughed and then Gemma kissed Summer on the cheek and left the room.
Summer pulled on a purple tank top and covered it with her pink plaid button up top and then pulled on a pair of denim capris and finished it off with her black converse. She was a casual girl and she was ok with that. She would rather wear jeans and a t-shirt than have to wear a dress or some slutty outfit to get attention. She put on her favorite lip gloss and smiled at herself in the mirror. She was ready for a good night.
Summer and Chibs pulled into the Teller Morrow parking lot and he parked in his usual spot. She was sad that the ride was over already. She enjoyed being able to hold onto him and trust him to protect her. He turned the bike off and Summer hopped off and stood in front of him. He stood up and he undid her helmet and took it off, smiling down at her as he did so. He ran his hand through her hair and his fingers gently brushed against her cheek. She shivered as the goose bumps appeared on her arms and neck. "You're absolutely gorgeous love," he whispered before leaning in and kissing her on the forehead. She could feel her cheeks get warm and she could feel herself unravelling at every word he spoke to her.
Before she had much of an opportunity to process what was happening, Chibs had pulled away and started walking towards the clubhouse entrance. She followed behind and admired him from a distance. She had a feeling that this relationship was going to be challenging to say the least.
When they walked into the clubhouse the party was already in full swing and Chibs had left her alone the moment they entered. Her heart felt sad and she knew this was a big mistake. She knew he was scared about the relationship and how the club was going to take the news once it came out, but the way he was treating her was unnecessary.
"Hey," Tara said as she walked up to Summer and hugged her, "It's great to see you. I missed you." "I missed you too Tara," Summer said quietly, hugging her back. "Why do you look so sad?" she asked, following Summer's gaze across the clubhouse to where Chibs was talking with Clay and Tig. She stared at the group for a moment and then looked back at Summer in curiosity. "I don't get it," she said in confusion, "There has to be something I'm missing here..." "Clearly your husband hasn't talked to you yet," Summer replied, "There might be something going on between me and Chibs." "No shit!" Tara exclaimed, her eyes getting wide, "How long?" "Not very," Summer replied, "We started feeling differently towards each other a couple months ago... we talked earlier today and decided that we were going to take things slow but we were going to be together. He is sweet and sexy and perfect when we are behind closed doors, but now... he is completely ignoring me. He asked me to come to this damn party and now he has abandoned me." "Well, I think it would be awesome to see you two together," Tara replied, smiling at her, "But you have to admit, with the age difference and all these guys knowing you since you were in diapers, it would be kind of intimidating to admit that you were seeing the President's daughter." "I'm terrified too," Summer snapped, "But I thought we could do it together." Tara put her arm around Summer's shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. "I understand how it could hurt too," Tara replied, "I can see both sides. I don't think he is even aware of the fact that he is hurting you right now. Honestly, in the last little while, I've seen how he looks at you and how he reacts when your name is mentioned...he really does care about you."
Summer smiled slightly at this, but she was still hurt by his behaviour and she no longer felt like partying or being there. "I don't feel like being here right now," Summer said quietly after a moment, "Just let everyone know that I went home. If they ask why, I'm still not feeling well." Summer gave Tara a quick hug and then left the clubhouse.