Roxy's next day at work was slow. She'd caught on from Juice that Opie, Donna and the kids were missing and it wasn't looking good. Seemed to be ATFs doing. Juice was super suspicious but Roxy was doing her best to convince him that Opie would never rat.
Unfortunately all the evidence pointed that he did. Juice didn't want to believe one of his brothers would turn against them all but it was a worrying thought. If Opie tried to save his own family's ass then all the rest of them would be in jail. For a long time.
And the way Juice was starting to feel about Roxy, he didn't want to be away from her. Not even for a day.
xxx xxx
Luckily by Saturday everything with Opie seemed to have cleared up and everyone was gearing up for Abel's coming home party.
The little guy had made huge leaps in his recovery and Roxy just couldn't wait to dote on him. Eventually she would love to have kids of her own. Roxy had always wanted a big family. Growing up SAMCRO meant there was always people around and though Roxy did enjoy her solitude these days she still wanted family in her future.
Setting up for the party with her mum and Wendy was awkward to say the least. Roxy hadn't lied to Tara when she said she held no hard feelings there and she had essentially given her blessing to Tara for whatever would happen with her and Jax. But with Wendy back on the scene and her mum orchestrating everyone's moves Roxy could tell things wouldn't be that simple. Hopefully no one was hurt in the process. Wendy was still fragile and on the road to recovery and Tara, well, Tara and Jax had history. Long history. And that wouldn't go away easy.
Wendy left to clear the air for a bit and Roxy took her chance.
"Ma stop meddling in Jax's shit. It's just gunna end badly."
She huffed. "Me meddling is the only thing keeping his head on straight. He's all twisted up right now and with those two hanging round him he needs someone to look out for him."
Roxy rolled her eyes. This conversation would go no where. When Gemma Teller Morrow got something in her mind that was it.
"Ok. But I just think you're playing with fire messing around in his love life."
Gemma raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "Rather I mess around in yours?" Roxy stiffened, holding the balloons she was arranging. "I know you blew off Jack last time."
"Yeah well. Things just weren't what I wanted I guess."
Gemma moved over and gave her daughter a sympathetic shoulder pat. "Don't worry baby. It'll happen soon."
Roxy smiled at her mum and nodded. Little did she know.
xxx xxx
By the time everyone got there for the party Roxy was exhausted. Minding everyone's opinions and Jax's love life all day was a minefield. But she had survived and there was food, drink and decorations so her job was done.
Roxy was ecstatic to hold Abel and finally have a sense of being an Aunty now he was home. Juice was currently stood next to her looking at the cooing baby in Roxy's arms.
"Wanna hold him?"
Juice backed up "hell no! I've never held a baby. Ain't gunna happen."
The guys laughed, and Tig shouted out "I wouldn't Roxy. He'd probably drop him!"
Juice nodded in agreement.
Roxy laughed and handed Abel on to the next person waiting for a cuddle.
After a couple more drinks Roxy sat next to Juice and Tig and on the sofa, Tig was a bit distant so she had Juice mostly to herself.
Sitting next to Roxy but not being able to touch her was killing him. He started off not wanting anyone to know about them so they could figure this shit out themselves. But now every time they were around others he had this desperate need to claim her and let everyone know she was his.
Roxy noticed his hand tense. She nudged him and nodded her head to the front room and left to go get another beer.
A couple seconds later she met him there, just out of everyone's view.
"What's wrong?" She walked over to him as he was leaning against the wall in the dark room.
"Nothing." He ran his hand down her arm.
"Seem a bit wound up?" She took the spot next to him against the wall and handed him the other beer.
"Just struggling with the whole not touching you in public thing." He grinned.
"Well maybe we can re-evaluate the status of our 'relationship'. See what happens?"
Juice squeezed her hand. "Sounds good."
He gave her a quick kiss and moved to go back to the lounge room where the party was.
They rounded the corner and bumped into Tara and Jax. Tara just glared at Jax and stormed out the door.
"Do me a favour. Make sure she gets home safe?" Jax nodded to Juice who was looking at the red mark on his cheek. "Don't ask."
Juice agreed, passed off his beer and took off after Tara.
"So. Things with Tara are looking up then?"
Jax rolled his eyes at his sister.
"Not you too."
Roxy held up her hands. "Soooo not getting involved. It's keeping Ma off my back so you can keep stuffing up your love life as long as you want."
Jax punched her shoulder gently and walked back to get another beer
xxx xxx
A while later Roxy was busy cleaning up the party with Gemma, Harley, Wendy, and a couple other crow eaters. Everyone else had gone.
Harley and Roxy were avoiding cleaning up as best they could by hiding out in the front room with their beers.
"So you and Juice are pretty cosy then?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah I guess. Think it might be getting serious." Roxy grinned.
"Well you deserve it. He is a good guy better than the rest of this lot." Harley laughed.
"What about you?"
"Rox I spend my days watching people have sex... Sometimes that kinda puts a dampener on your love life."
Roxy shrugged. "I s'pose."
"Hey I'm happy playing the field."
"Fair enough."
Just then there was a cry from the kitchen. The pair ran through to see what was going on.
Gemma threw her phone down on the counter.
"What's happened Ma?" Roxy ran over and grabbed her mum's arm.
"Uhm. It's Donna." Gemma braced her arm on the counter top. "She's dead. Someone gunned her down. Clay says we're here till someone comes to take us home."
"Oh god. Ma? Really?" Gemma just nodded and hugged her daughter.
The women stood round the kitchen in silence.
xxx xxx
By the time Roxy got home it was well after midnight. Sack had been tasked with following her back to make sure she was safe but she insisted he go home when she was inside. She wasn't sure if Juice would be over later or not.
How are you holding up babe? - R
Juice was at the clubhouse drinking with Chibs. He couldn't get the image of Opie cradling Donna's limp body out of his head and the feelings it evoked in him petrified him.
The image of him holding Roxy's limp body crossed his mind a couple of times and he shuddered. Terrified of feeling like that about her, terrified of losing her, terrified of being with her even.
As he took another shot of whisky he stated at the message on his phone and tried to work out what to do. He could feel the thoughts in his head beginning to race and he knew if he let it go much more he'd lose control of them.
Don't know really. Where are you? - J
Almost immediately he got a response.
At my apartment. You can come round if you like? - R
He waited a few before responding.
Sure. Be there in 10 - J
Chibs didn't seem to really notice that Juice said he was going home. Just patted his brother on the shoulder and left him to it. Juice ran to his dorm to grab some stuff for the morning, along with his weed stash, and made his way to Roxy's.
He probably shouldn't have gone on his bike after the Whisky but he decided he needed to be with her.
Roxy opened the door in grey sweat pants and a shirt of his he must have left behind, hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, eyes puffy from crying but to Juice she had never looked so welcoming.
She pulled him into her apartment and straight into a hug. They moved over to the sofa where Roxy had a bottle of whisky waiting with two glasses, it was as if she knew.
Juice pulled off his kutte and lay it on the back of the sofa before sitting down and pulling her into him.
"You alright?" She asked Juice.
"I dunno." He shrugged. "I didn't know Donna as well as you do, or Opie, I patched in while he was in Chino. But fuck, they got kids man." He rubbed a hand over his face.
"Yeah. Poor souls."
"What about you?"
Roxy shrugged. "Donna was a good woman. She really loved Ope. And he really loved her. I don't think he's gunna be able to get over this."
They sat in silence for a moment, Juice's hand rubbing up and down Roxy's forearm. She watched the light glint off his rings before moving to pour them some Whisky.
Juice downed his before looking over at Roxy. "Fuck. Tonight I couldn't help thinking what if that was you? Like what would I do? I'd never be able to forgive myself you getting hurt because you were with me." He looked down at his glass.
"Juice I'm daughter of the president of the mother charter. That's always going to be a possibility whether I'm with a member or not."
Juice sighed. She was right. Whether Roxy liked it or not she would always be a target.
"To be honest I think that's another reason my dad resents that Gemma couldn't give him a son when she gave JT two. He's always going to have me as a burden whether I have a man or not. At least if he had a son he'd be in the club and able to look after himself. But not me. I'll always be a liability."
She smiled over at him and squeezed his hand.
"C'mon. We can ponder our feelings and the meaning of life another time. But now we should sleep. I just wanna curl up next to you and forget this night happened."
Juice nodded. "Sure. Mind if I smoke some weed. Kinda need to shut my brain off."
Roxy sat back down and curled next to him. "Sure."
He offered her some, which she declined, content just watching him in peace.
"You sure you're ok Juice?"
He was quiet a few moments, taking another hit before responding. "I think so. My minds just racing a bit. Just need to slow it down. Can't help it sometimes."
Roxy contemplated her next statement. She didn't want to intrude or make assumptions but at the same time she just had to ask. "You have OCD huh?"
Juice tensed briefly. "Uh. How'd you know that?"
"I'm a counsellor remember. Sometimes you say things or do things and it gives it away."
"Oh yeah." He shifted uncomfortably so Roxy sat up. She eyed him but he avoided her gaze.
"You don't take meds or anything?" She paused. "Sorry if I'm overstepping. I'm just curious."
He tapped the last of the joint he was holding. "You're looking at it."
Roxy hummed. "Probably not the best."
Juice shrugged. "I dunno. Helps when I want it to." He looked over at Roxy. "When my Ma left I was like 15. She just didn't come home one night. My sister knew where she'd gone and said she wasn't coming back. Then she left. Not like it made much difference anyways." He stubbed the joint out. "Ended up in Child Protective Services. Sent me for some testing because I was 'acting out'. Got given a bunch of bullshit reasons. One of them being OCD. Prescribed me some Meds and counselling but there was no way I was doing the therapy and I ran away from the home any chance I got so paying for Meds was least of my worries." He grabbed the bottle and took a long gulp. "Never told anyone that before."
Roxy pulled him in for a kiss. "Well now you've told me."
"Guess so."
"C'mon then. Bed time."
Juice was perplexed. "That's it?"
"Well yeah. I guess. Just if you ever want anything let me know. Especially if you're stressed out."
Juice nodded and followed her to her room.
xxx xxx
The next morning Juice got up early to go to the clubhouse. He knew there'd be a lot to talk about today and Roxy was planning on going round to Opie's to see if she could help.
They had a peaceful breakfast before Roxy walked him to the door. They shared a long kiss till a grunt in the hallway interrupted them. Roxy pulled her dressing gown tighter around her as two burly white guy's squeezed past Juice with a big box.
Juice eyed them carefully. "Who's that?"
Roxy shrugged. "New neighbours I guess. Apartment down the end there was up for rent for the last couple weeks."
Juice pulled her in for another kiss. "Just be careful."
He glanced back down the hallway as the two guys entered their apartment before turning to head for the stairs.
xxx xxx
Church that morning had been really tense. Everyone was on edge about Donna and there was a lot of shit to sort out between the Niners and then finding this witness so they could clear Bobby of any jail time.
But apparently the day was to only get worse. Rosen arrived on the lot to inform them that the witness' identity would be released that night and that they would be arresting Opie too. So the guys had to work fast to put this all to bed before it got worse.
Roxy pulled up then which made to brighten Juice's day a little bit.
She walked over to the group to chat to Clay about something. After a few minutes the guys moved off to discuss the plan of attack leaving Roxy alone with Rosen. Juice watched them as he tried following the conversation with the others. He noticed Rosen brush Roxy's arm and her smile in return before shaking her head. Rosen passed her a card before hopping in his car and leaving the lot. Roxy shoved the card in her pocket as they made their way back over to her, plan of attack in place.
"What were you and Rosen talking about?" Clay had a glint in his eye, couldn't do much better than having Rosen as a son in law, perhaps he'd look after the MC at a cheaper rate then. God knows they'd need it.
"Nothing much. Everything ok here?" Roxy did not want to have this conversation with her dad in front of Juice who already looked pissed.
"Nothin for you to worry about sweetheart." He nudged her. "Rosen's an alright guy, should take him up on his offer."
Roxy rolled her eyes. "Sure old man. I'll leave you guys to it." She tried to catch Juice's eye as she left but he walked off to the clubhouse.
xxx xxx
Juice was stunned sitting at his laptop at the bar. He'd just sent the Tacoma Killer, Chibs and Tig to kill a 17 year old girl. Sure he didn't know that at first. But he knew whoever the innocent witness was they'd be killed. It just made it worse when it was a kid. He knew what would happen. His first instinct was to call Roxy but Jax came over to see what was wrong.
"Uh that witness. She's a 17 year old girl Jax. I just sent them after a kid."
Jax could see the conflict in his brother's face and he did not like it.
"Shit!" He ripped off his kutte, handing it to Juice before taking off for the door.
Clay yelled after him but Jax was a man on a mission, he was not going to let the club stoop this low.
Clay turned to Juice now. "Grow a set will ya. Shit needs to be done. Can't handle it then fuck off." With that he stormed back into the Chapel and slammed the doors.
Juice groaned and let his head hit the bar top. Deciding he'd ignore Roxy's messages to come round he left for his place.
xxx xxx
Roxy was slightly worried that Juice hadn't responded for a few hours. He surely couldn't be that pissed off about Rosen. But then she remembered he'd been wanting to tell people about them for a while now and she was reluctant to set Clay and Gemma on him. She thought that Juice really didn't understand what he was in for there so she was protecting him as long as possible. She didn't want to get this far with him to have him freak out about that. At least not till their relationship was more solid.
She toyed with the idea of going round to his place for a while. She still had a key he'd given her before so she made up her mind and left the apartment.
Locking her door she turned around and bumped into one of the guys from that morning.
"Hello neighbour." It seemed like a pleasant enough greeting but there was something sinister behind his eyes. That's when she noticed some of the Aryan looking ink on his arms.
Roxy wasn't full bore on gang tatts but hanging around the club enough she had seen this style before. However, she straightened up and plastered a smile on.
"Nice to meet you."
She smiled again and stepped round him to head for the stairs, eager to get to the car park. Unfortunately if she told Clay, Jax or Juice about this they'd probably throw a fit about her staying here any more. And she loved her apartment. There was no way she was moving back in with her parents.
Pulling up to Juice's she decided on keeping her neighbour's identity a secret for now. Noticing his bike in the driveway she made her way to the front door and rang the bell a couple of times. A few minutes passed with no answer so she rang again. Still no answer.
She was starting to get worried now so, hoping she wasn't rude, she unlocked his door and made her way inside.
First sign that something was up was Juice's boots. They weren't on the mat by the door like they usually were but haphazardly left in the hall as if he'd just kicked them off as he walked.
Entering the house further the TV was on, playing some game's main menu and theme song over and over.
"Juice? Are you here?"
Nothing was out of place in the kitchen but she was really starting to worry now.
Looking down the hallway she noticed faint light coming from his bedroom.
"Babe it's me. Where are you?"
Roxy made her way into the bedroom, the light was off but the light from the ensuite was leaking under the door and she could hear the water running. Roxy could see his clothes littering the floor and made her way to the bathroom wondering what the hell she was going to find.
When she opened the door she immediately noticed Juice passed out sitting under the stream of water from the shower. There was an empty bottle of tequila on the vanity. She rushed over and turned off the water, kneeling down next to the bath she shook him.
Juice mumbled something and came round.
"What the hell Juice?!" Roxy was tugging on his face trying to get him to focus on her.
"Fuck. I did something bad Rox." He mumbled.
Roxy didn't really care at that point. He was frozen, the hot water long having since run out.
"Yeah ok we'll talk about that in a minute but can you get out of the bath."
He looked at her as if she was speaking a different language before nodding his head.
She helped him get up and passed him a towel, wrapping the other one round his shoulders. After helping him dry off she led him to the bed and pushed him under the covers, she removed her jeans and top and slid in behind him and tried to warm him up.
"It's so bad. Roxy."
She kissed his shoulder. Worried about what could possibly be making him act like this.
"What is?"
"I found the witness. Sent the guys to kill him." He let out a sigh. "But it was a girl. 17." This time he groaned.
"Hey, hey it's ok. You didn't know that babe." She tried shushing him and kissed his shoulder again.
"Plus you don't know what they're gunna do. The guys don't kill women and children. It'll be ok."
"Happy will kill whoever you tell him to." He shrugged. "S'ok. Your brother was super pissed when I told him. Just hope he wasn't too late."
"See there you go. Jax will have sorted it. All gunna be fine."
He murmured an agreement. Ready to pass out again.
"Except for your dad. He hates me now for feeling bad."
"He doesn't hate you. We'll worry about him later. Now it's time for sleep."
Juice mumbled again and snuggled into the blankets. Roxy kissed his shoulder blades again and tried to figure out what to do next.