A/N: Another rough chapter for Dani, but OMG, he finally kissed Opie. I have been waiting for that moment to come, and I hadn't thought it would show up quite just yet initially, but it felt right in that moment and a happy little moment to end an intense couple of chapters.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and following my story, I'm so grateful to you. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story—feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. To my current reviewers, thank you thank you thank you! Your reviews inspire me to push forward and write as fast I can to keep the updates coming as fast as I can!

Ghostwriter- As one of my most loyal reviewers, I'm so glad you loved the last chapter, I hope you love this one as well!

Eduardathianedias123- Thank you for your review! I'm working on updates as fast as I can, I promise! I'm glad you love the story and really appreciate you taking the time to leave a review!

Kisses N' Cyanide- OMG! Thank you for your kind words, you have no idea how much this review means to me. To hear this is becoming one of your favorite stories is so flattering to me. I have so many ideas planned for this story and am putting them down to post just as fast as I can! As another repeat reviewer, thank you so much for continuing to share your thoughts with me about this story!

Occasional-episode- Thank you for the review! I'm happy you are loving the story; I have some good things coming up so keep reading!

Guest ks- Yeah, Dani had another rough chapter, but she has found an outlet with Jax and Opie. You are one of my other regular reviewers that I am always excited to hear feedback from so thank you for continuing to share your thought with me!

Ok, Now on to the next chapter. I'm going to try and keep this one a little lighter after some of the heavy stuff we have been dealing with. Happy reading!

Chapter Thirteen

Dani sat there in Opie's arms, taking comfort in his warmth, in the strength of his arms. She had never felt quite so safe than she did just then. She could tell by his slow, even breathing and the way his arms had loosened around her that he had fallen asleep. It would be easy to let herself drift off as well, but she was worried about the dreams that might follow her slumber, so she cautiously climbed out of Opie's lap and gently draped a throw blanket over him.

She started the coffee pot, went into her room and grabbed her journal. Returning to the kitchen she fixed herself a cup of coffee, sat at the table, opened her journal to the first blank page, and, putting pen to paper, began scribbling away.

Dani sat there writing and sketching for hours. She found the process both daunting and cathartic. Occasionally shedding tears, she filled page after page, pausing to take an occasional sip of coffee and read over what she had already written.

She had been sitting there for a few hours when she hear Opie stir, and she finished her thought and closed her journal and looked up to see Opie entering the kitchen. "Hey. I didn't wake you, did I?" She asked.

Opie shook his head no as he came up to her and held out his hands to her. She put her hands in his and let him pull her to her feet. Dani wrapped her arms around Opie's middle, burying her face in his chest and took a deep breath, breathing him in. Opie's arms wound around her upper back, giving her a quick squeeze before one hand moved to rest at the small of her back, the other moving to stroke along her jawline before coming to rest underneath her chin. He gave her a nudge, guiding her to look up at him and gave her a slow, sweet kiss. He pulled back and his eyes searched her face.

"You get any sleep?" he asked, his voice low and gravelly, still full of sleep.

Dani shook her head, looking up at him. "No, with all the shit that's happened in the last two days, I know as soon as I close my eyes that I'll have one of those dreams again. The night ended on a pretty good note, and I didn't want to spoil it." Dani blushed slightly as she finished speaking.

Opie chucked and ran the back of his hand over her cheekbone, making her blush further.

"You should try and get some rest," He told her.

"I can't," Dani said, shaking her head again.

Opie gently pulled her back into the living room, saying "Come and lay down with me. We'll find something to watch on TV, just try to relax. If you fall asleep, I'll be right here. I'll wake you up if it seems you're having a bad dream, but you need to get some rest."

Dani hesitated but nodded. Opie stretched out onto the sofa and scooted back to make room for her. She sat on the edge of the sofa and took the remote that Opie handed her. She skimmed through the channels, settling on an old show, Bewitched, and turned the volume down low before carefully laying down next to Opie, her back resting against his chest. He grabbed the throw blanket she had covered him with earlier and covered them both before gently wrapping his arms around her, pulling her a little closer.

"Ok?" he asked her.

Dani had never willingly allowed a man to be quite so close to her, but this was Opie, and she knew she would be safe with him. She nodded. "Ok." She snuggled further back into him to settle in for the night.

Dani was surprised when she woke up the next morning. She didn't remember drifting off into sleep, but what was surprising to her was that not only did she not have a bad dream, or no dream but dreamed she was laying in a field of wild flowers, looking up at a blue sky and picking out clouds shaped liked animals while being warmed by the sun.

She was warmed, not by the sun, but by Opie, whose heat radiated into her. She let her fingers trail up and down Opie's arm that was still wrapped around her, following the lines of his muscles. She smiled to herself and began to stretch when she suddenly froze. She could feel something hard against her back and realized it was… Opie. She suddenly could not breathe. Feeling the sudden need to escape, she jerked Opie's arm away from her and tried to stand, but her legs were caught up in the blanket and she tumbled to the floor gasping for breath. The sudden movement caused Opie to jerk awake. He sat up and took in her state on the floor.

"Are you ok?" He asked, starting to reach out for her.

Dani scrambled away, climbing to her feet. "I'm fine." She said quickly. "I just—uh—I need to go to the bathroom." She turned and hurried towards her room, ignoring Opie as he called out to her. She shut her door and leaned against it. "Breathe." She told herself.

She knew that Opie had been asleep, that he wasn't trying anything, he'd had no control over…that. But in that moment, she was no longer in the safety of Opie's arms, she had flashed back and it was other men's' arms, trapping her, other men pressing their hardness against her, and she had to get away from the situation. She cried out in frustration and thumped the back of her head against the door. Taking a moment to collect herself, Dani stepped away from the door and went into the bathroom, she used the facilities and then took a shower, turning the water as hot as she could stand. She scrubbed at her skin as if she were scrubbing away the memories. She scrubbed at her scalp equally hard as she washed her hair. She looked at the redness of her skin and slowly turned the water to cool, letting herself relax as she felt the excess heat escape her body. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped her towel around her and brushed her hair and teeth, washed her face, applied moisturizer. She did this all while her mind focused on one thing; what to say to Opie. She felt like she had ruined something that hadn't even started.

She pulled her hair over her shoulder and quickly braided it. She pulled on some underwear before dressing in a pair of shorts and a black, flowing racerback tank. She grabbed a lightweight, semi-sheer sweater that she would normally wear over a tank like she had on but paused. Opie had already seen her scars, and if she was going to talk to him, honestly talk to him, then she could do so as herself, without the mental security that having the extra layers usually provided her with. She carried the sweater in one hand and with the other grasped the doorknob. Giving herself a mental pep talk she opened the door and went out into the main room.

She could smell coffee and as she rounded the corner to the kitchen, she could see Opie leaning against the counter by the coffeepot, cup in his hand. It appeared he too, had gotten ready for the day, dressed in a clean pair of jeans, a dark shirt, and his ever-present beanie.

"Hey." She said quietly, draping her sweater nervously over one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"Hey." He returned. "Coffee?" He asked holding out a second cup of coffee.

"Thanks." She reached out and took the cup from him. She made eye contact with him briefly before her eyes began darting around the kitchen awkwardly. She wanted to talk to him but wasn't sure where to begin.

Opie spoke first. "Look, this morning… I'm sor—"

"Don't." Dani interjected. "Don't apologize, you didn't do anything. That was me, my shit. I'm the one who should apologize." Dani paused and took a breath. "I feel like I messed this up already." She confessed. "I'm a fucking mess. I like you, Opie, I really do, but I don't know if I can be…enough. I don't know if, or when I could ever offer more than this. I'm just a broken girl who likes to kiss you but will occasionally freak out when you try and touch me."

Opie shook his head and set down his coffee. "You're a strong woman, whose had a hard life. I've known that since you came back. I believe you can get past this; I know it will take time, maybe a lot of time. I'm not asking for anything. I'm not going to push you. I like you; I like kissing you too. And I'm not asking for anything else right now. I like being around you. That's enough for me. When you are ready for more, I'm ok with that too." He finished with a smirk. Dani chuckled and gave him a small smile. "Look you like me, right?" He asked. Dani nodded. "And you like being around me?" Dani nodded again and he took a step closer to her. "And you said you like kissing me?" He reached out ant gently put his hands on her hips and pulled him closed. She nodded again, flushing slightly. "Can you let that be enough?"

Dani nodded one more time. "Yeah, that's enough," she said looking up at him. Opie brought his hands up to her bare shoulders and she shivered at the touch. He leaned down and captured her lips in a sweet kiss.

"Good." He said when he pulled back. "Did you have anything you wanted to do today?"

"Not really. Don't you have work today?" Dani asked.

"Nope. It's Saturday, don't have much going on with the club right now. Thought we could go for a ride on the bike. Then, maybe later we could get a fire going in the pit in the back yard. Pick up some beers, invite a few of the guys over, maybe throw some burgers on the grill, and I think I recall you saying something about smores the other day."

"The ride sounds like fun, the burgers the fire the smores, all fun. I am a little nervous about seeing the guys again." When Opie looked at her with concern, she continued. "It's just that… they all know now. I'm not used to people knowing what happened to me. It makes me nervous; I keep thinking will they treat me differently, what must they think of me, stuff like that."

"Give them a chance, for me. I know they won't treat you any differently. They know you're a Teller; strong, stubborn, can overcome anything."

"Ok, we'll have them over." Dani nodded, giving him a smile. "Who knows, maybe I can even go the whole night without spazzing out in front of everyone." She joked.

"You'll do great." Opie told her, kissing her again. "Go get your shoes and we'll go for a ride."

Dani gave him a real smile that time and hurried to her room, slipped on a pair of canvas shoes and came back out to see Opie sliding on his kutte. She grabbed her sweater and pulled it on, meeting him at the door. Opie grabbed his keys off a hook, and they walked out to his bike. As usual the helmet was given to Dani, and she snapped it on and climbed on the bike behind him.

Opie asked her if she wanted to go anywhere in particular and she just shook her head. "I just want to feel the wind. The scenery is so beautiful here we could drive just about anywhere, and I would be fine."

Opie nodded and started the bike. Dani wrapped her arms tightly around him, and he put his hands over hers, giving her hand a squeeze before pulling out onto the road and driving off. Dani rested her cheek against Opie's back and smiled as they flew down the road out of town. Dani let the feelings of joy, excitement, and the content feeling of being close to Opie and she hoped that she would never lose that feeling.