A/N: Thank you again to everyone who is reading, following and favoriting this story!

A quick shoutout to my reviewers:

Ghostwriter- Thank you again for your review! Jax is definitely trying, and they're both a bit awkward, but I think he and Dani are starting to get their footing with the whole brother-sister dynamic thing.

Foreverkee- Thanks for your reviews! We are definitely going to see Opie and Dani get to know each other more and seeing more hints at what their relationship could become.

Now onto the story, there are going to be some key moments between Dani and three very important people; Opie, Jax, and Gemma.

***WARNING*** This chapter contains mentions of abuse.

Chapter Six

Shopping with Opie was interesting. His presence, with his large build and leather kutte, was intimidating enough that the other shoppers kept their distance, though he was incredibly patient with her as they shopped. He seemed intrigued by the way she inspected the produce, testing each item she picked up for its firmness or softness before deciding to add it to the cart or reject it in search for a superior tomato or cucumber. Opie helped her find all the items on her list, occasionally tossing random additional items in the cart as they caught his eye. When he held up a box of Apple Jacks cereal to get her opinion on, she told him se had never had it. "That's a travesty." He told her adding it to the cart. They filled the cart with kitchen staples, which included three different kinds of ice cream.

"I never want to live in a house with less than three kinds of ice cream," she told him seriously, before breaking into a smile and pointing out all the random things he was getting. The cart was practically overflowing at this point, so they made their way to the checkout counter, still joking with each other about the various items in the cart. Together they loaded everything onto the conveyor, and when everything was totaled, Opie had paid before Dani even had time to think about reaching for her purse.

Once everything was loaded into the truck bed, they jumped in the cab and headed back towards the house. "Hey Opie? Thanks." Dani said softly.

"For what? The ride? We needed the groceries, though I still say two flavors of ice cream would have been plenty."

"No not for the ride, though that too, I guess. For everything really, For the room, for caring, for—I don't know, for being a friend, I guess. I don't really have any friends, except Alice, and its kind of sad to say that my only friend is a 70-year-old semi-retired vet/farmer. Even if Alice is pretty awesome. But anyway, the point is, that it seems like we might be friends, and, well it's nice, so… thanks."

Opie took his eyes off the road for a moment to glance over at her. "Yeah, we're friends. You don't have to thank me for anything though, kid. That's what friends do."

Dani nodded. "Hey Opie? Please don't call me kid. I haven't been a kid since I was four years old."

The rest of the ride was spent in a silence that bordered on that line of uncomfortable. Once they had arrived, they each took a bag and walked inside. Dani set her bag on the counter and turned to Opie, not quite meeting his eye. "Uhm, if you bring the rest of the groceries, I'll get everything unpacked. You mind if I toss the takeout in the fridge?"

Opie watched her for a moment, but when she continued to avoid eye contact, sighed and nodded. "Yeah that's fine." Opie turned and went back outside.

Dani quickly dumped the containers of food and got to work putting away the groceries. It took Opie three trips to bring in all the bags. When he set the last of them on the counter, he grabbed the now full trash bag and took it out of the can. He came back inside a final time, replaced the garbage bag, grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat at the dining table to read the newspaper.

Dani finished putting everything away, then pulled out a couple of tomatoes, a cutting board and a knife and began dicing the tomatoes. After a couple of minutes, Dani was still feeling a little awkward and began speaking without looking away from her task just to cut the silence. "The produce at that store was not the greatest. Do you know if there are any farmer's markets in the area?"

"Not sure. Gemma would probably know."

"I'll ask her when I call her later. It might be nice to get ahold of something a little fresher. Guess I got used to farm life. Alice had a big vegetable garden, I loved walking outside to pick veggies to use for that night's dinner. Alice taught me how to take care of it. It was kind of nice, taking care of the soil, the plants. Gave me something to do when I started getting too much in my head. I think that's why she taught me to cook too. Gives me something to focus on so I don't lose get lost in my thoughts."

Opie didn't respond right away, and Dani kept working as she transferred the diced tomatoes into a pan. She grabbed a can of tomato paste and began rummaging through the drawers for a can opener. She had just found one when he spoke.

"Plenty of space in the back yard if you want to pick a corner; plant some shit."

"Really?" Dani asked, a hopeful tone in her voice as she fumbled with the can.

"You live here now. Carve out some space, make it your own."

"I'd like that. Thanks." Dani said and she felt the awkwardness disappear as she continued prepping her sauce much more peacefully. She added the tomato paste to the diced tomatoes, gave them a stir and put them on the stove on low heat. While she was adding some seasonings, she pulled her phone from her pocket to call Gemma.

She explained to Gemma her need to go shopping and the woman agreed to pick her up the following afternoon to pick some things up. The conversation felt a little stilted but went easier that Dani had anticipated.

Dani went back to working on dinner, browning some ground beef and adding it to the sauce. She grabbed a loaf of garlic bread and turned the oven on to preheat, filled a large pot with water, added some salt and left it to boil while she threw together a quick salad. She put the garlic bread in the oven and had just tossed the noodles in the boiling water when Jax arrived.

"Something smells good." He said as he gave Opie a pat on the back in greeting and came into the kitchen. "Hey Dani girl." He said, giving her a hug. "How you doing?"

"Good." Dani replied returning his hug briefly before returning her attention cooking. "Dinner's almost ready if you want to wash up."

Jax stood at the kitchen sink washing his hands and asked "How did everything go today?"

"Pretty good. Gonna start a vegetable garden in the yard."

"Ok." He nodded and she nudged him out of the way as she grabbed the pot of boiling noodles brought it to the sink to strain. Jax helped her bring everything to the table and everyone dished up a plate. Dani waited and watched while they each took a bite, flushing slightly at their compliments on her sauce and she was even more pleased when they both helped themselves to seconds.

They sat around the table talking, Opie and Jax telling her stories about the shenanigans they got up to growing up, Dani telling them how she almost set Alice's kitchen on fire the first time she was teaching her to cook.

After dinner the guys grabbed a couple beers and they all moved into the living room to watch some movies. After the second action flick, Dani yawned and decided to go to bed. Jax told her he would be crashing on the couch if she needed anything as he gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head. She and Opie just looked at each other for a moment before each offered a small smile and said goodnight.

"Diana!" the angry man called. "Diana you stupid girl, come here!"

"My name is Dani!" the little girl screamed. "I want to go home!"

"Stupid little girl, this is your home. You had a dream your name was Dani, and you lived someplace else, but this is your home and your name is Diana! Say it! Diana!"

"Dani! Dani! Dani!" The little girl was yelling at the top of her lungs.

The angry man slapped her and picked her up. "Do you know what we do with stupid little girls who don't know their names?" He said as he carried her into another room and opened a door to what turned out to be a closet and he tossed her in. "Now you'll stay in here until you come to your senses, Diana." He shut and locked the door, trapping the girl in the dark closet.

The girl scrambled up and began banging her fists against the door. "Let me out! I want to go home! Mommy! Daddy! Jax!" The girl cried out again and again. After a few moments, the girl realized she was trapped in pitch black darkness. She did not like the dark. She scooted in the nearest corner and pulled her knees up to her chest as she began to scream.

Dani sat straight up in bed as the scream fell from her lips. She brought her hand up to her chest and took in a gasping breath. That same moment Jax and Opie barged into the room scanning it for threats. When they found none Jax took a step forward and sat on the edge of the bed. "Dani what's wrong?" he asked.

"Dream," Dani gasped. "It was a dream." She pushed back the covers and stumbled out of bed towards the bathroom.

"A dream?" she heard Jax ask as she splashed some water on her face, then patted it dry with a towel. "What kind of dream has you screaming bloody murder?"

"A really fucking bad one." Dani choked out as she flew past both him and Opie and began pacing in the living room. They both followed her and Jax went to take a step towards her.

"I really need you to not touch me right now. And to-and to move as little as possible please." Dani said in a hysterical tone. "Hands. Hands are good. Do something with hands." She told herself as she darted into the kitchen. She turned on the coffee maker and then stumbled around the kitchen gathering ingredients.

Jax watched as she scooped some flour and some other white shit into a bowl and asked "What the hell are you doing, Dani?"

"Making fucking biscuits." Was her short reply.

"Making bisc—" Jax moved forward to try and get her to stop, but Opie put his hand out to halt him.

"Just give her a couple minutes, brother." Opie told him. He gestured to the dining table and they both sat sown slowly. While they watched her as she whipped up a dough Opie told Jax what Dani had said earlier about working with her hands helping her focus.

When Dani tossed some flour on the counter and transferred the dough out of the bowl onto the counter and began working it with her hands, Opie asked "You more focused yet, Dani?"

Dani nodded and Opie and Jax sighed with relief. "Dani girl, can you tell us what's got you upset?" Jax asked.

Dani had the dough patted out into an even layer on the counter and was using a round cutter to cut out the biscuits. "I-, it's" Sani sighed and started again. "I had a dream. It was the first thing I remember after being kidnapped. There was a man. He kept calling me Diana, told me I dreamed being Dani. Dreamed our family. Told me I was stupid for being confused. He tried to make me say I wasn't me."

Dani took a beak from speaking. She had cut all the biscuits out and was reshaping the dough scraps to cut out more.

"Instead I started screaming my name over and over, so he slapped me. Locked me in a closet in the pitch black. I was banging on the door, screaming to let me out, to take me home. I screamed out for Gemma, for our dad, for you. I kept calling out over and over." Dani paused as her eyes stated to water and she forced back the tears and refocused on her work. All the biscuits cut and on baking trays, she turned the oven on to preheat, and pulled out some ground sausage to start browning.

"I realized then that I was locked in a closet in the dark. I was fucking terrified of the dark, and that's when I started screaming and woke up." Dani stopped talking at that and poked at the meat in the pan as it browned.

There was silence for a while as Dani kept working, putting the biscuits in the oven to bake and made a sausage gravy. She went to grab mugs for coffee and that's when Jax finally spoke. "That actually happened to you?" he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

Danni nodded as she set a cup in front of each of them and poured them all some coffee. "Yeah, that really happened." She said. There was more silence as she brought dishes, utensils and the food she had made to the table.

When she sat down Jax cleared his throat before he spoke again. "Do you remember what happened after that?"

Dani paused in slicing a biscuit open and replied in a whisper "in the dream I just woke up. In reality, I was locked in there for two days." Dani had lost the ability to hold back her tears any more and began to sob Jax reached out hesitantly and Dani went to his arms willingly.

Jax started to ask her another question but she shook he head wildly and begged "Please Jax. I can't, no more. Not now, please."

"Ok Dani, no more, it's ok now, you're here." He soothed her until she stopped crying. Dany sat up and wiped her face.

She looked over at Opie and reached out and squeezed his hand. "You sure you still want my crazy ass here?" she asked him.

"You do this every night?" Opie asked.

"No. Sometimes I wake myself up before I scream. Sometimes I don't sleep at all. Every blue moon or so, I'll actually sleep through the night." Dani answered honestly. "I know it's a lot of trouble, I can find some place- "

"Your crazy ass is staying right here." Opie told her. "Now talk to me about this biscuit and gravy situation here."

Dani gave a small smile "Biscuits and gravy are the most comforting comfort food in the world. So I made them, and we are going to eat them." And so they did.

They had sat up for a little over an hour before they all decided to try for a bit more sleep. The next morning, they were all weary and sat around drinking coffee until they each had to get ready for their respective days.

Gemma had picked Dani up at noon and the two had left for their shopping trip. They had clashed at every opinion though, Gemma liked dark colors, where Dani liked bright colors and patterns. Gemma had suggested more fitted clothing, where Dani liked flowing layers. Gemma wanted to try on in store, Dani just wanted to take it home if she liked it and deal with a return if it did not work. Finally, they had called it a day, stopping only to get coffee on the way back. While they were waiting for their drinks Dana asked. "Why is this so hard for us? I mean, Jax and I have been getting along from the moment we reconnected, but this, with us, it feels strained. I know you feel it too. I just wonder why it cant be easy for us too?"

Gemma nodded. "Part of that is regular mother-daughter crap. Part of it is you have so much of your father in you, and part of it is that you have a lot of me in you too." Their drinks were up so they took their coffees to the stirring station and doctored them to their liking. Dani had noticed that Gemma had skipped the creamer as had she, and they were both adding excessive amounts of sugar. Gemma had noticed this as well. "Black, lots of sugar." Gemma said.

Dani nodded. "Same here."

Gemma put her arm around Dani and said "See? Something we can agree on and hell didn't even freeze over" as she guided her out of the shop.

Dani knew it was such a small thing but could not help but feel that this one thing had caused a crack to form in the wall between she and her mother, and that maybe someday, they'd find their way through.