The One That Got Away (SOA Fan Fiction)

Chapter 22

February

The seatbelt light went off as Abby unsnapped and relaxed into her seat. She despised flying, but hated the idea of getting in her car to drive to Chicago even more. Thankfully, she splurged for a ticket in first class and was enjoying the vodka being poured for her.

Closing her eyes, she thought about the last twenty-four hours in Charming. She spent some time hanging at the Winston's; discussing her itinerary in Chicago with Donna while playing Sorry with the kids. Opie popped in for a bit before heading back to the clubhouse to wish her luck and safe travels. Gemma made her a huge dinner while throwing in comments about how much nicer Northern Cali was over Chicago. Her uncle managed to come by the house with Clay before going to their warehouse. His demeanor was much different from the past few weeks, but Abby knew it was because he was ecstatic over her heading off to take the bar exam. After they left, she told Gemma that she needed to get a good night's sleep before heading to the airport in the morning. She grabbed her bags from the house and jetted over to spend the night with Juice.

Yawning, she shut her eyes and let a smile spread across her face. The evening had been perfect which made leaving in the morning extraordinarily hard. Juice had offered to take her to the airport, but she declined the offer feeling his presence there would make it difficult for her to get on the plane.

She was looking forward to having some time with Tara. Abby knew she would confide in her friend about the relationship she was having with Juice, but she was still debating on whether she would tell Tara about Jax. Jax and Abby had barely spoken to each other since their little blow up a few weeks earlier. It wasn't like they talked every day like her and Opie, but definitely a couple times a week. She knew he had a lot going on with the whole Wendy thing. He had told everyone about the pregnancy. Gemma reacted a lot calmer than anticipated, but Abby had a feeling she was stewing on it. In addition to the pregnancy bomb, he also said that they were going to have a quickie marriage by the Justice of the Peace. That upset Gemma more than the pregnancy. Opie had suggested Abby reach out to Jax, but she wasn't sure what to say to him. She decided she would get through the bar exam then touch base with him when she returned.

As she began drifting off, she couldn't help but wonder what Juice was doing. Even though they couldn't see each other every day, they found ways to communicate. Abby was realizing that he was becoming an important part of her life and the closer it got to her having to make a decision about the future, the more anxious she became. She didn't want to disappoint anyone in her life. She had to find a way to stop worrying about everybody else and think about what was best for her.

**

Opie walked into the clubhouse and looked around. It was a little after ten and the place looked like a war zone. Clearly, some of the members decided the Friday night party needed to be slightly more wild than normal. He was glad he stayed at home with his wife and kids.

Pouring some coffee, he slid onto a bar stool and ignored the mess. It wasn't his job to clean this pig sty up; that was the prospects job.

He heard the club door slam shut. Looking up from the steam coming off the top of his mug, he saw Jax looking around with a smirk on his face. "Wow, things got way out of hand after I left," he commented, grabbing a cup of coffee before plopping down beside Opie.

"You skipped out on the debauchery?" Opie asked sounding surprised.

Swallowing his coffee, Jax nodded. "I went to check on Wendy." Running his hand through his hair, he sighed, "I'm not sure if she can handle being pregnant."

Opie didn't say anything. When Jax told him about the news, he had that same thought cross his mind. Wendy loved her heroin and there was uncertainty as to whether she could love the growing life inside of her more. He knew that was weighing on Jax like a ton of bricks. Nobody wanted to think about something harming their offspring; unborn or not.