Mass Destruction

Chapter 36

Corrie sits alone on the swing set with nothing but a box of cigarettes and memories she shared with Opie and Donna.

A blonde girl sporting two pig tails bounces on her feet when she gets to school. It's her first day as kindergartener and she's extremely excited. Her brother is in the bigger school now, he's three years older than her and he never lets her forget it.

She sits down on the chair in the front of the pink and blue class room and grins at the brunette girl next to her.

"Hi! My name is Corrie. " she says. The brunette girl giggles and hugs her, "I'm Donna, want to be my friend?"

The three year old blonde smiles brightly, revealing her crooked teeth, "I'll be your best friend!"

**

Jax and Opie runs ahead of Corrie and Donna to the deserted spot near the cabin. The four friends have named that spot their spot. The boys gather up some wood for the fire as the girls get the snacks ready.

"So you and my brother huh? You two make such a cute couple" Corrie grins as Donna chokes on her water. "Opie and I aren't together"

"Yet" she sing-songs, "I've seen the way you look at him and he looks at you. Trust me, by the time we're 16 you two will be together and in love"

Donna smirks, "Yeah, like you and Jax"

The blonde scoffs, "No no. Don't turn this around – Jax is in love with himself as is all the girls in Charming. I'm just his friend."

Donna chuckles, "We'll see. You think the four of us will always be best friends?"

Corrie beams at her best friend of 11 years, "Don, one day when we're old and grey we're still all gonna be best friends."

**

A 16 year old Corrie Winston comes home after school, crying her eyes out. Opie's the first one to notice her. He hates it when his sister cries – she's the most important thing in his life – aside from Donna.
"What happened?" he asks as he gets closer to her. She wipes away the tears on her face and sniffs, "Nothing. I'm fine"

"Bullshit" Opie bellows, "Who hurt you? I'll fucking kill him"

"I thought he liked me Ope. He told me he likes me and he wants to be with me but then today we kissed and he wanted to do more. I stopped him, I told him I wasn't ready and he called me names."

Opie looks livid; his knuckles are turning white from the pressure of the fist he's making; his face is red from the anger. "Who?"

"Mike Rogers" Corrie whispers and starts sobbing again. Opie buries his anger and hugs his baby sister tightly. He'll kill the bastard that hurt her – but she needs him more now.

Corrie's full on crying by the time her mind stops wandering back to her younger years. She misses her brother; she misses her father and she misses her best friend. They're all gone – she's not sure she can cope anymore. She's not sure how she can survive without them.

Opie was supposed to give her away when she got married to Jax – Donna was supposed to be her maid of honor. How cruel can the universe be to take away the people she needs the most?

Her wails of heartache get interrupted when she sees a black van pulling in. Her heart beats loudly in her chest – she suddenly feels nauseous. Skeeter parks the van and the guys all help him unload the casket.

With all her tears dried up for now and her head hanging low, she makes her way to the club house.

"Hey, brother" Happy gently slaps Jax's arm to get him to notice his fiancé. The blonde president stops all conversation with Skeeter and focuses on his girl walking towards them.

"Take Ope inside" he tells the guys and meets Corrie halfway.

"Babe" Jax pulls her into his body as she sniffs softly. "I want to see him" she whispers and Jax nods, "Of course. Come on, I'll take you to him"

He grabs her hand and pulls her to the club house.

Jax subtly jerks his head to the side to let the guys know they need to leave. A fresh set of tears form in Corrie's green eyes as she prepares herself for this nightmare.

"Let's go" Bobby demands, "Give her some time"

The guys all show their sympathy for the young blonde artist with hugs and kisses to the cheek; they leave the couple alone.

"I'll give you some time" Jax whispers; he gets ready to leave when her hand grabs his in order to stop him. "Stay with me?" she asks

"Of course" he kisses her temple and remains by her side.

The dam breaks yet again when Corrie sees her brother; "Oh Opie. What did you do huh?" she whispers as she strokes his cheek, "I told you when we were kids to never be the hero, and look at you now. You're a goddamn warrior brother bear. I'm so damn proud of you." She pauses as a tear fall from her cheek onto his face. She pulls off the ring on her thumb – the ring belonged to Opie. He gave it to her the first time he went to prison; she was only 18 and was scared to death that her brother would never return to her so Opie gave her the ring as a promise that he'll always come back.

"I know you're happy up there now with Don and Pops. You're free. You deserve to be happy. Send love to Donna and Pops okay? Tell 'em I miss 'em. I miss you too. I love you brother bear." Corrie places the ring on Opie's pinkie finger and gives him a kiss on his forehead. "I love you."

Jax pulls her into his body; she buries her head in his neck and gives it a gentle kiss. "I know you're going to get retaliation for this; just promise me you'll make it out alive." Corrie murmurs; Jax looks down at her and nods his head. "I will."

"Promise me Jackson" she stresses; Lord knows she can't lose anyone else.

"I promise."