A Raven Among Crows

Chapter 81: Rude Awakening

Sorry for such a delayed update... I couldn't tell you how much grief this mf chapter has given me 🤦🏼‍♀️ 

https://aravenamongcrows.tumblr.com (ask and submissions are open!!)

General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.

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Tig trudged up the front steps to Sydney's house after a long and unsuccessful night of attempting to drown his newfound demons in liquor, but he had learned the hard way that these beasts could swim. No matter how drunk he'd tried to get, there was no amount of alcohol that had been able to silence the sobering scene that played over and over in his mind: watching himself fumble the perfect opportunity to perfectly execute the perfect plan - the perfect plan that he knew would've played out properly if Sydney had been allowed to partake in it.

It wasn't that the Sergeant couldn't see the benefit of the outcome - the way that they had inadvertently bought themselves even more deniability by unintentionally handing Laroy the opportunity to double-cross them the way that he had - it was that he had only realized the benefit of the outcome after he'd choked, eliminating the excuse that he so badly wished he could fall back on to ease his guilt-ridden conscience. With each sip of whiskey, he came closer and closer to the unavoidable truth: that he had allowed himself to feel for the man who had saved his life - a kind of softness that he knew he wouldn't have experienced a few months ago. It was a softness that he had buried deep under his leather kutte years ago; a softness that came from being in love, a softness that had stopped him from doing his job, a softness that this life had no room for.

But the second that the door creaked open to the dark house at the late hour, the angry voices in his head seemed to get a little quieter. He felt his body become instantly as the familiar scent wafted towards him and invaded his airway - the soothing warmth of the vanilla candles that Sydney loved to burn mixed with the sweet smell of her perfume and the comforting smell of cigarette smoke. Lighting candles was something that the biker would never think to do for himself, but it was something that he appreciated her for doing - for creating a place that for the first time in decades he felt like he could call home.

He inhaled deeply, no longer wishing for a lethal level of intoxication as the comforting scent reminded him how much he'd not only fallen in love with her, but how he'd also fallen in love with being her old man - having the privilege to not only care for her, but be cared for by her in return. This life wasn't supposed to have room for this kind of softness, but maybe he could make room. He just needed to find a way to marry the two - the Sergeant, and the old man - something that he'd never been able to successfully do in the past, but knew that if he was ever going to do successfully, it would be with her.

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Sydney laid in bed with her heart pounding against her chest as she felt her eyes beginning to flutter again, taking a deep breath as she opened them and stared up at the ceiling fan - having repeated the action countless times since Tara had left. She hadn't been able to sleep - anxiously awaiting the news that Opie had been killed, knowing what it would mean for the club, for her, for Tig... But as she heard the sound of the front door unlocking downstairs, she no longer cared about what had happened or what it meant - she was just glad to be able to see him in this moment.

She felt her heart beating even faster as she listened to him creep up the stairs and into her room, quietly stripping down to his boxers before crawling into bed behind her. "Hey, princess." He whispered, pressing his lips against her neck as she squeezed the hand that he had circled around her waist, letting him know that she was awake. "Sorry to wake you up." He apologized as she turned in his arms.