Bad Medicine - An SOA Fan Fiction

Chapter 19

The usual sense of pride Opie felt when watching his handy explosive work didn't hit him as they coasted down the highway, smoke billowing into the sky from miles away. He had one more thing to do before he went back to Mae's, his promise to keep her safe didn't depend on their status as a couple, it would always stand.

The four of them were greeted warmly by their brothers when they arrived back at the club with rough hugs and cheers in celebration of the deaths of both Zobelle and Weston. Gemma waited quietly by the office, it was much deeper for her than anyone else.

Ignoring the others Opie jogged over to her, his surrogate mother, and kissed her cheek without a word. It was clear there was no celebrating for him when he jumped on his bike and left the club as quickly and quietly as he had arrived. Jax knew where he was going and where he'd end up, there was no question of that.

Opie arrived at Darby's as the sun was setting, it was a long day and he was exhausted as he lumbered up the path and banged on the door.

"Oh shit," Darby groaned as he saw Opie from the peephole. "What?"

"I just wanna talk." Opie assured him, hands raised. "I'm alone."

The door opened slowly and Opie only took a few steps into the house. It was a shit hole, as expected, and he looked around disgusted.

"You hear about Zobelle?"           

Darby nodded, his hands on his hips. "Everyone heard about Zobelle."

"You're about to hear the same about Weston." Opie said coldly. "You get the message?"

"I'm done, I'm out of Charming." There was no way Darby was testing the club any further.

"Good. Now, Mae doesn't owe you shit. She doesn't need protection from anyone. You contact her, try to sell to her, ask her for favors, even fucking think about her and I'll chop your dick off and let you bleed to death, yeah?"

The intensity Opie spoke with sent a chill down Darby's back, he agreed quickly. "I'll put the word out, no one sells to her." Opie nodded and took a step back. "I'm sorry about what Weston did, I didn't know he was planning that."

Slamming him back against the wall Opie snarled. "I still blame you. The only reason you're breathing is because you kept her safe from LaRoy. Don't make me regret this."

Even if Darby would have objected Opie didn't stay around long enough to hear it. He was back on his bike and on the way to Mae's seconds later. He pulled up to see Sack out front on the porch smoking a cigarette.

"She kicked me out." He said, pulling a face. "Hale came by, she got real pissed off and told me to wait out here."

"Jesus, Hale? What did he want?" Opie couldn't deal with another hitch, he didn't understand why they kept getting hit with this.

"Asking about Zobelle and you, she said she didn't know him but that you guys were hooking up. He mentioned her face but she shut that down fast, he left right after."

Opie had to smile at that, she'd make a proper old lady. "I'll get Clay and Jax to talk to Unser, Hale won't be back. Thanks prospect, you can go. It's all handled."

The skinny blond was relieved. He bounced back to his bike, his tires squealing as he raced away. Kip wanted to get drunk and pick a few crow eaters to go home with, it had been a long babysitting gig.

The front door was unlocked, Opie called out to her as he entered. Hale's card was still on the table, Opie rolled his eyes and pocketed it. Mae was seated at the kitchen table sipping on some tea while looking over the paper, Opie thought nothing of it.

"It's over," he said matter-of-factly. "You're safe. Niners, Nords, no one's coming after you."

When Mae looked up at him, she could hardly believe he had something to do with the grisly murder detailed in the news but really, there was no doubt. How could he be involved that something so gruesome? It just didn't make sense, the man she knew was so different than the one in that damn piece of leather.

"Yeah?" She slid the paper over toward him. "Is that because Ethan Zobelle's dead? Did you guys do this? I had a cop here asking about him."

"Guy had a lot of enemies." Opie said, unable to look at her. "I didn't do that, I didn't kill him. You're safe because Clay talked to LaRoy and I just left Darby's, they both agreed to leave you alone."

All the hurt and anger, the disgust over the things she was positive he was involved in couldn't change how she felt. Even now as he gave her veiled answers she couldn't stop feeling so strongly. Mae nodded, tears in her eyes, and looked up at him. "Thank you for that, Ope. You didn't have to do any of this."

"Of course I did." He laughed sadly and took the seat across from her. "I'd never let you get hurt after everything you did for the kids… and me."

"Look," she didn't know what to say. "I don't think I can do this."

Mae knew the look, his twitchy mouth and the awkward way he fiddled with his rings. He was gutted, suddenly the man she first met months ago, hurting and alone, was back.

"Lyla?" His green eyes darted to look at her for a moment. "Mae, I don't know how to fix that. Tell me what to do to make it better."

"You can't." Reaching over the table she stilled his hands. "You can't just say you're sorry and make me forget that you did that. It's more than just her, it's the fact that you were so lost in shit you can't tell me that you didn't see how I needed you that night. The embarrassment, how mortified I was the next morning seeing you two."

Taking his hands back Opie clutched his head, irate and heartbroken. "Mae, it'll never happen again. That shit, I was like, retarded before I met you. I went to her because I didn't know what to do but now, I know."

"You shouldn't have done it in the first place." She snapped. "I'm sorry, Ope. This is hard for me, this hurts me too."

"Maelynn, I love you. I can't do this shit alone, the club, my kids, I need you."

Mae couldn't look at him. Her heart was in her throat, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and tell him it was all okay, but it wasn't. She loved him and hearing him say those words to her was almost a dream, until she looked at their lives.

"I'm sorry, Ope. I love you, I do," Mae began to cry. "But I can't be with you. The trust, it's damaged and I don't know how to fix it." He stared at her, stunned silent, unwilling to accept her words. "You should go now."

Letting his pride get the best of him Opie nodded, his chest puffed out in some macho attempt to hide how hurt he was. The chair legs screeched as he pushed off the table and stood up. He nodded and walked out without a kiss goodbye or even a single word. That was it.

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I just posted the first chapter of Bad Medicine's sequel, Always in My Head. Hope you give it a chance! xo Thanks for reading.