Brothers In Arms

Chapter 18

Opie really didn't know what to do. He sat, shocked in his own right, on her couch as Josie stayed locked away in her bedroom. All he knew was that she wanted him there, she had begged him to stay when they got there. Now, after a few hours, he was about to find out why.

"Josie?" He crept up the steps and called her name softly. "You alright?"

He heard a few sniffles from outside her door then the knob locked clicked. "Come in." Opie entered the room and quickly shut the door behind him. "Babe," he sighed as she turned to him with a red face. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she laughed sorrowfully.

"You need anything?" When she shook her head, her arms crossed over her chest, he could see she was cracking. Her nails were bitten bloody and he could see she'd been scratching up and down her arms. "Babe," he tugged her closer for a hug. "It's okay."

"It's not," she whimpered. "I started using and drinking cause I lost him and now he's back and all I wanna do is blackout. I don't want to deal with this."

He squeezed her tighter. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I don't...I don't know what to do."

"Me neither," she burst into tears. "I loved him. I loved him so much and he just...he did this. That's not Aaron, not my Aaron. Is it?"

Pulling away, she looked up at him and Opie just shrugged. "I don't know." He'd be lying if he said he wasn't angry about the lie and scared of losing her, not that he actually blamed Josie.

"My life is different now, you know? I'm not her anymore," Josie began to pace. "I think about it, the constant traveling and the stress and I just," she paused to find the words. "It's like my whole body tenses, my stomach churns and just, I panic."

"That's, okay, I guess," he stammered. "Babe, you're the head shrinker."

"Trauma changes people," she tried to focus and think clinically. "I like Charming. I like the club and I like Jax. I love Abel and, I love you, Harry."

"Jos," he smiled sweetly, almost embarrassed, and reached out to her. "I love you too."

"But, Aaron is alive," she sighed. "This changes everything."

"You're still his wife," Opie said dejectedly.

She nodded, "Technically, yeah I am."

"You gotta think about this," he sighed.

"I want to know what you want," she grabbed his hand as he moved to leave her room. "This doesn't just impact me."

"I want you," he said angrily. "It was hard enough with all Jax's bullshit and now I gotta watch some needle dick Fed take my old lady back to Virginia."

"Harry," she sobbed. "You would let me go, wouldn't you? If it was what I chose to do?"

"Yeah," he huffed. "But I wouldn't fucking like it."

"Big bad softie," she laughed and buried her face in his chest. "I love you."

"Yeah, I love you too," he wrapped his arms around her. "I don't think I should be here though."

"Maybe you're right," she said woefully. "I can't really think about this if I'm distracted." She walked with him down to the front door. "I love the distraction but I don't have the option of ignoring this."

--

"Alive?" Jax gasped, speaking in hushed tones as he and Opie met in his kitchen after Abel and Tara had gone to sleep. "No one would tell us shit about what happened or if you guys were okay."