Sons of Anarchy - Fan Fic Requests - Special Characters

The One That Almost Got Away III

Cathy POV

A week later, Opie and I were dropping Cheyenne off at school. I'd arranged to push my start date back a day so that I could take her on her first day. Opie had wanted to join me, so we'd made a big deal of it. I smiled as I gave her a hug, then watched as she hugged her dad and bounded into the school. The kid was fearless. She had no qualms about moving to Charming or starting up here. It made my job as mom so much easier. As she stepped through the doors, I sighed with a pleased smile and turned to Opie.

"Thanks for coming, Ope." I said and he nodded, a serious look in his eyes.

"Can we talk?" He asked and I gestured to a bench at the park across from the street. We hadn't worked out how the parenting time would be split, and now was as good as any to do so. As we sat at the bench, I looked over Charming. I'd missed the town. It was good to be back.

"You heard about Donna?" Opie asked and I nodded, sadness coming to me.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about that, Opie. I know you really loved her." I said and he nodded, a faraway look in his eyes. Donna had passed about eleven months ago in a tragic shooting.

"I've come to terms with it." Opie said and I nodded, waiting for him to continue. "I never felt like you and I had closure over what happened between us." He said and I shook my head.

"Water under the bridge, Opie." I said with a smile. "We weren't in love. We both know that." I commented and he nodded.

"Maybe not." He agreed as he looked over to the school. "Maybe the new job is a second shot. A chance to get things right this time." He said and you could have pushed me over with the barest of breezes. I hadn't thought this was what the conversation was going to involve at all. I was stunned. I swallowed, thinking for a minute as to how I was going to word this, before I spoke.

"We can't let the past repeat itself, Ope." I said. "When we got married," I noted with a gesture between us, "it wasn't because of love, but because of Cheyenne." I continued. "We were trying to force something there that wasn't. We were always better as friends." I finished and he nodded, a sad look in his eyes.

"I wish that weren't true, Cathy." He said and I gave a small smile.

"I know. I wish I thought of you like that, too. It would make things so much easier if we did. But," I said as I looked over the streets of Charming, "we owe it to ourselves to be with the people who bring us joy – not just comfort and stability." I said and he nodded.

"Alright." He said as he stood and moved toward his motorcycle. "You're a good woman, Cathy. Any man would be blessed to have you." He said and I smiled.

"You're a good man, too. It'll come, Ope. When it does, you don't want someone you're tied to because of convenience." I said and he nodded and walked away. I sighed as I looked around. I had a day to kill before picking Cheyenne up and no specific plans, so a walk around my old hometown sounded just about perfect.

---

Several hours later, I walked up to my apartment complex to find Jax waiting for me. He looked agitated. He was pacing around as he smoked, seemingly lost in thought and occasionally talking to himself. As I got closer, I called out and he tossed his cigarette on the ground, stubbing it out with his foot.

"What's up, Jax?" I asked, my stomach flipping at seeing him again. I'd long ago accepted that my feelings for this man were never going away. They'd only gotten stronger as the time had worn on, but I was very good at hiding them. At least, I thought so. He never gave any hint that he knew.