A/N: So that was kind of a fun chapter. Aside from Dani's doctor, everything went fairly well. Jax teased his sister as any good brother would do. And Opie was all about Dani. Seriously, I might be jealous of my own OC for getting Opie kisses. I need some of those in my life lol.

Anyway, thank you to all for continuing to read this story, I hope you take a moment to leave a review and let me know what you think. I love for your feedback, it keeps driving my creativity with this story.

Ghostwriter- I'm so glad you love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you! More is coming, literally right now.

KS- I guess that makes two if us… but I exercised mentally… that counts right? lol.

Ok, now let's get our read on.

Chapter 19

The shifting of the covers and the bed woke Dani, and she opened her eyes to see Opie settling in bed next to her. "Hi." She said softly as he laid down facing her and his hand came up to rest on the side of her rib cage. "How was the rest of your day?" she asked.

"Who knows," he told her. "All I could think about was getting up here to you." He leaned in and kissed her. As their tongues met, his hand slid down past her waist to her hip and he froze. Pulling back, he asked, "Are you not wearing any pants?" As he said this, his finger edged along the elastic waistband of her underwear. Dani flushed red and shook her head. Opie groaned, burying her face into her neck. "God, baby, you have no idea what you are doing to me. You're making me crazy."

Feeling bold in that moment Dani replied, "If that makes you crazy, what does this do?" As she spoke, she hitched her leg up over his hip and pulled him closer as she grabbed his face and pulled it to hers to capture his lips with hers again.

Opie's hand moved to her knee and he pulled her closer. Dani could feel his growing erection pressing against her center, but she could also feel his hesitation. No doubt he was recalling the morning they woke up on the sofa and her reaction then, and she knew he was concerned about her comfort level. She rotated her hips moving against him, the friction eliciting small sounds of pleasure from them both. Opie caressed her neck and let his hand trail down her chest to cup her breast. Squeezing slightly, he began massaging her breast, his thumb tracing circles around and flicking across her nipple, teasing it into a tight peak.

Dani broke away from his kiss with a gasp, whimpering in pleasure from his ministrations. Opie took the opportunity to trail a series of hot kisses down her neck as his hand left her breast and skimmed down the side of her body to palm her ass, pulling her even closer and increasing the friction on the movement of their hips as they ground into each other.

Opie began skimming his way under his shirt, trailing a path up her back. As soon as his hands reached the bare skin of her lower back though she froze. Her hands immediately went to his shoulders and she pushed on them. Opie removed his hands and shifted back right away. She was breathing erratically and was still stiff, despite her attempts to tell herself to relax.

"Baby, what happened? Talk to me." Opie said, his voice filled with concern. He reached out his hand but stopped short of touching her, but Dani reached out and grasped onto his hand. He whispered soothing words to her until her breathing evened out before he asked her again. "Were we going too fast?" he asked.

Dani shook her head no. "It's not that. It's… your hand was… it was touching my back where…that word is. You're the first person besides myself to touch that scar. I know you've touched some of the scars on my shoulders but that scar…that word… it bothers me more than the others. I know it isn't true, that I'm not—I feel so…"

"You feel what, Dani?" Opie prodded gently as he wiped a way the few tears Dani hadn't managed to hold back.

"Shame." Dani whispered, the admission causing more tears to escape.

"Baby, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You never did a thing wrong. It's not your fault."

"It's disgusting. It makes me feel like I'm disgusting." Dani confessed.

"No baby, no. You are so gorgeous. When I was touching you I wasn't thinking about your scars, I was just thinking about touching you, about how fucking beautiful you are," he told her and from the look in his eyes she could tell he was being honest. She nodded, though it did little to relieve her own self-doubt. Opie placed a sweet kiss on her cheek. "Why don't we get out of here. Let's go for a ride, maybe get some dinner?" Dani nodded again and Opie told her he was going to wash up and went into the bathroom.

Dani got out of bed and quickly pulled on her pants, shoes, and her jacket, then sat on the edge of the bed, waiting. A few minutes later Opie emerged, and Dani looked at him, her vulnerability evident in her eyes. Opie returned her gaze with a soft look and he held out his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up and into his arms. He held her against him before pulling back and pressing a sweet kiss to her lips.

"You ready?" he asked her, and she nodded. He pulled her into his side, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the room.

Opie took for a long ride on his motorcycle, weaving through backroads in the evening air. They stopped for a casual dinner of gyros in a small Greek restaurant before heading home and curling up together on the sofa with a movie. When the movie was over, Opie gave her a kiss goodnight and they each retired to their rooms. Dani sat staring at the ceiling for an hour as she lay in bed before she got up and tip-toed across the house into Opie's room and crawled under the covers, quickly falling asleep.

It was three days later, and Dani and Jax had just returned home from a morning run. They had been running every day, and even though it had only been a few days, she already felt her endurance increased and her legs felt stronger.

Dani went into the kitchen and grabbed them each a water before she sat herself on the living room floor, sitting cross legged and took a long drink of her water.

Jax dropped into the armchair and reached out to tug playfully at her ponytail. "Dani, I think today needs to be the day." He told her.

"The day for what?" She asked him.

"You have got to talk to Gemma today," he said "or else I have to. When the club goes to church tomorrow, we need to put it all on the table."

Dani had been dreading the conversation she would need to have with Gemma, but she knew Jax was right, and she could not put it off anymore. She nodded. "Yeah, ok." She hesitated before she continued. "I just—what do I say to her? Should I just tell her I gave you everything I knew about the people who've hurt me, asked you what to do and you're taking it to the club? Or do I actually try and talk to her again? I just don't want to put myself out there again for another slap in the face, literally."

"I don't know what to tell you. Gemma is stubborn as hell. I don't know why she is so guarded about how she handled you going missing. I'll be there when you talk if you think that might help," he offered.

"No, just be nearby. There is something else you can do to help me with this though." She said.

"What do you need, darlin?"

"Talk to Gemma about coming here after work. I don't really think another important conversation at the garage is the best way to go."

Jax nodded. "I'll get her here." Glancing at the clock he continued. "I have to get to the garage, but I'll call you when I know what time she'll be here." He mussed up her ponytail as he said goodbye and left.

Dani got up off the floor and made her way into the kitchen. She cut up some potatoes and carrots and put them in a crock pot along with a roast and some beef stock and set it to cook on low so it would be ready that night for dinner and went out to work in her garden for a while.

Jax called her later in toe morning to confirm that he and Gemma would be by that evening, and when she hung up the phone, she began to clean in order to stay busy and keep her nerves at bay. She dusted, swept, mopped, and vacuumed. When she was done she took a shower and made herself some lunch.

Not knowing what to do with herself, she went into her room with the guitar Bobby had lent her. She quickly grew bored, only knowing three chords, and was too distracted to even try and play those well, so she set it aside. She didn't want to bake anything and dirty the kitchen she just cleaned, so she made her way back to the living room and curled up on the sofa. She turned the TV on to a random channel and sat there, half paying attention, but mostly letting her mind wander.

Would Gemma stay closed off, leading to a very short conversation, should she even bother to try and talk to her about anything other than what was going to happen the next day?

The sound of a motorcycle engine pulled her from her thoughts. It was only midafternoon, so she was surprised when Opie walked in the door.

"Thought you might want some company," he said simply. Dani launched herself off the sofa and into his arms, causing Opie to chuckle. He returned her embrace and everything that was frazzling her was soothed away.

"Seriously, how do you do that? How do you know that I'm sitting here making myself go crazy and then you just show up and make everything better?" she asked looking up at him.

Opie just smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "I just know." He told her. "Now, what do you need?"

"Nothing now." She said.

"You sure?" He asked and she nodded. "Cause I have a few ideas on how to distract you…" he said leaning down to kiss her softly.

"What did you have in mind?" Dani asked in between kisses.

A few minutes later, Dani found herself sitting in a folding lawn chair in the garage, her feet propped up on a cardboard box. She accepted the hard cider he handed her as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "This is not what I expected," she told him.

Opie smirked at her as he popped the hood on his truck. "What did you expect?" When Dani just blushed Opie laughed. "Not that I would mind distracting you that way, but we should probably tackle one issue at a time." Dani nodded. Since the night in Opie's dorm, he had been affectionate, freely kissing her and holding her, but neither of them had attempted to move further than that again. Dani wasn't sure how to get past their current physical barrier just. "This way, I get to keep you close, talk to you, and the truck gets fixed at the same time."

Opie began telling her about his day, drawing her into conversation. Watching Opie as he worked and spoke, Dani was inspired by the confidence he exuded. Every move he made, every word he spoke was deliberate and easy. Dani wished she could be so sure of herself, she thought briefly before she focused back on the conversation. After a while she got up from the chair and moved closer to watch what Opie was doing as he worked. She had no idea what he was doing, of course, but she was glad to hand him a wrench when he asked for one.

Opie's distraction was effective, as before she realized it Jax was pulling his motorcycle into the drive as Gemma came up behind him in her black car, parking at the curb. Dani felt her nerves return full force. Opie reached out and took her hand. "You got this," he told her.

Dani squeezed back and held onto his hand until Jax walked up, she let go to give him a hug. When she stepped back from her brother and turned to see their mother standing there. "Hi Gemma," Dani said. "Thanks for coming. Let's head inside." She gestured for Gemma to go ahead of her and as she walked past, Jax moved to follow but she held out her hand to stop him. With a glance to Opie, she looked back at Jax and said. "I've got this."

She followed Gemma through the garage door into the house and the two stood awkwardly in the living room.

"So you and Opie?" Gemma asked.

"That's none of your concern, Gemma." Dani replied coolly.

"See you've stopped calling me Mom."

"I called you that out of respect. You lost that respect the moment your hand connected with my face." Dani took a breath before continuing. "I do, however, still acknowledge the fact that you are my mother, and so I wanted to give you a heads up about something."

Gemma looked at her expectantly. "Ok."

"I gave some things to Jax and Opie the other day. Information, Everything I know about the people who had me. Names, faces, everything they did, everything I know. It may not lead to much, but I asked them what I should do with it. Jax is bringing the information to the club tomorrow to decide what to do with it. I just wanted you to know first."

"Why not just tell what know to the cops?" Gemma questioned.

"I didn't grow up here, but I'm not stupid. This family has a questionable relationship with law enforcement. If Jax comes back tomorrow and says to take it to them, then I will."

"That it, then?" Gemma asked her.

Dani sighed. "Yeah that was it." Dani paused. "What did I do, Gemma? What did I do to make you hate me so much that you won't talk to me, won't help me understand you?" Her tone wasn't accusatory, simply defeated and rejected.

There was silence for the moment and Dani was starting to think that Gemma was not going to answer her at all. "I don't hate you." Gemma finally said, moving to take a seat in the armchair. "I don't know you, baby. Blood only goes so far when it comes to trust."

Dani scoffed. "No offense Gemma, but that is a load of crap. If that was your only hold up, you wouldn't have let me out your sight until you did trust me. Whatever the truth is can't be as bad as what I'm left to think."

"You know I loved your brothers from the first moment I saw them, and they loved me t too, they needed me, always wanted their mama. When I found out I was having a baby girl, I was nervous. I didn't get along with my mom, and I didn't want the same for us. Then you were born, and you were so pretty. I couldn't stop staring at you. From almost the beginning though it was obvious you preferred your father and your brothers to me. They adored you, everyone did. I wanted to love you so much, but I could never connect with you like they could. I took care of you, but I never had that protective instinct like I did with Jax or Thomas, where I just knew if something was wrong. It was like just going through the motions with you.

"When they took you, I blamed myself. When my Thomas died, and then JT, it felt like I was being punished for not being able to protect you. I walked around with that burden and it my relationship with Clay, with Jax, everyone, so when enough time had passed I had you declared dead, and I let you go, let go of the burden and moved on.

"I really did think you were dead, baby. If I had thought you were alive, that you were out there, I wouldn't have done that. When you called me that day at the garage, I was shocked, angry. I didn't want to believe it was true, but then the DNA test came back, and I saw you and then I knew. The one thing I always wanted to be was a mother who fought for her children, the way I wish my mother had fought for me but didn't. As happy as I was to see you, I knew I had failed and all the guilt that I had locked away when you declared dead was back."

Dani sat there stunned, taking it all in. "You should feel guilty." She said eventually. "So, I was a Daddy's girl. So what? So, I loved my brothers. Did you ever think that the reason you never felt connected to me was because you were projecting your own relationship with your mom onto us? I don't remember a lot before I was taken, but I know I loved you. When they took me, yes, I wanted my dad, my brother, but I wanted you too. I screamed for you, cried for you while I was locked in fucking closet. When I got away, I wanted to find you. We had a second chance when I came back, but that day at the police station you pushed me away, kept me at arm's length. You didn't even try… why? Because you felt guilty, but about what? About not trying when I came back. About giving up on me? Or never loving me enough to begin with, cause that's what if feels like you're telling me."

Dani waited for Gemma to defend herself, to explain further, but nothing came. Dani felt like she had taken a punch to the gut. "You can leave now." She told Gemma softly.

Gemma stood up and started heading for the door. "I do love you, baby." She said, stopping at the doorway. Her tone seemed sad, defeated. Dani did not care.

"Just not enough, right?" Dani said bitterly. When Gemma showed no sign of moving, Dani stood up. "Go. Now."

Gemma left, and when she was alone Dani swallowed the lump in her throat, and she stood there in the living room, silent tears falling from her face. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to force the tears back. A hand was placed on her upper back and she opened her eyes to see Jax and Opie standing on either side of her taking in her appearance. Opie's warm hand was resting between her shoulder blades, and while it gave her comfort, she felt hollow and unworthy.

Jax put a hand on her shoulder drawing her attention. "You told her?" Jax asked and she nodded. "And I take you talked?"

Dani nodded again. "We talked. Now I wish we hadn't." She said, her voice cracking.

"Are you ok?" Opie asked.

Dani shook her head no. She leaned into Opie, and at the same time reached out to grasp Jax's hand. "No. I don't think I am."