Hi Everyone! I missed you!

Sorry this took so long. I took a break after Call and Answer to sort of recharge my batteries. And not gonna lie, I was super intimidated to start this story; not only because there are already a million Happy fics out there, but because I know he's basically everyone's favorite character. He's complicated and wonderful and VERY hard to write, and I just wanted to do him justice. So, long story short, it took me a while to get this off the ground, but I've created a story that I'm really falling in love with, and I hope you do too!

P.S. As of today, my Juice story A Charming Life has over 400 favorites. I never, ever, ever thought that I would receive such a beautiful response to any of my fics and I just wanted to say how grateful I am to each and every one of you for all the amazing support. Love you guys.

OK, let's do this! I can't wait to hear what you think. Hope you enjoy it and please, please review!

*Trigger Warning- Attempted Sexual Assault

Chapter One

That Friday started out just like any other day in Sarah Franklin's life. When her alarm went off at 7:30 in the morning, she groaned and stretched before slowly dragging herself out of bed. Then she showered and threw on whatever business-casual outfit happened to be hanging in her closet, which today was a simple black pencil skirt paired with a plain white button-down. Once she was dressed, she put on just enough makeup to hide the dark circles around her gray-blue eyes, tied her still damp shoulder length brown hair into a messy bun, and slipped on her ballet flats before heading downstairs for a bowl of cereal. Then, after her daily five minute hunt for her car keys, she walked out of the house and over to her decade old Toyota Corolla, driving out onto the road and towards downtown Bakersfield.

Sarah spent the next eight hours behind her desk at Blakely and Sons Insurance Company; answering phone calls, typing letters, and filing documents, just like she'd done almost every weekday for the last four years. She didn't love being a secretary, but she didn't hate it either. The job was too damn boring to demand that kind of emotional response. She didn't know if her indifference was a good thing or a bad thing, so she just tried not to think about it much. As far as Sarah was concerned, it was just a paycheck.

Since it was a Friday, she joined a few of her coworkers for happy hour at a bar around the corner from the office, where she drank her usual gin and tonic and listened politely while the accountants and insurance salesman with went on and on about their investments, their families, their new cars, or their upcoming vacations. Then, after putting in just enough face time to keep her bosses happy, she walked to the parking garage, climbed back into the Corolla, and headed home.

Usually once Sarah got back to her little three bedroom bungalow, she would change into something comfortable, order a pizza, and watch TV until she fell asleep on the couch. But for some reason, and she had no idea why, that Friday night was different. Because as she sat in the driveway staring up at her house, still seated behind the wheel with the engine idling impatiently beneath her, she just couldn't make herself get out of the car.

Sarah let her forehead fall against the top of the steering wheel while she allowed herself to think about the predicable, monotonous broken record she had permitted her life to turn in to. God, when did I become this woman? I used to be fun. Legitimately, undeniably fun. But now? I don't even recognize myself. Suddenly, a restlessness she had never experienced before washed over her, and she knew that nothing short of a bomb going off could get her to go into that house, and sit on that couch, and play out the same tired scene for the hundredth time.

She was anxious. She was uneasy. But more than anything, she was just so fucking bored. And I just can't do it. Not tonight. I need to do something, anything, different. Anything…She thought about calling a friend to see if they wanted to go to dinner, or maybe seeing if her sister wanted to go the movies. But instead, Sarah just backed out onto the street and drove a few blocks, stopping at the very first bar she found. Because she didn't really want to see the sister she always talked to or the same friends she always hung out with. She wanted something new, she wanted something unexpected, and she sure as hell wanted another drink.


Happy knew he should've gone back to Charming that night. There was nothing left for him in Bakersfield. But as he looked around at the boxes that contained all of his mother's most precious belongings, he just couldn't make himself leave. It had been more than three weeks since her funeral, but he still couldn't believe she was really gone.

So instead of riding home and partying with his brothers, he decided to spend one extra night at his mom's house, the house he was raised in, where he could still feel her presence, even if only through his memories.

He spent most of the night packing up her bedroom, trying to figure out which of her things to donate, to keep, or to simply throw away. And after several hours, he determined that her clothing and books were going to the Salvation Army and almost everything else was going in the trash. Only the few nice pieces of jewelry she'd owned, along with the photo albums that he hadn't yet brought himself to look through, were going with him back to Charming. He didn't need a bunch of material shit to remember Teresa Lowman. She was in his heart and always would be.

Sometime after midnight, Happy walked out onto the porch with a fifth of Jack Daniels in his hand. Then he sat down on the front steps and took a deep breath, comforted by the warm breeze that still blew against his skin, even thought it was nearing the end of October. He was used to staying up all hours of the night and wasn't even a little tired, so he planned on spending the next couple of hours there in peaceful darkness, smoking a few Marlboros and getting just drunk enough to relive all the beautiful memories he had of his mom. And maybe, just maybe, he would figure out how to finally say goodbye.

But when Hap reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out his pack of cigarettes, he rolled his eyes and silently cursed. Shit, how do I only have one left? He knew he didn't have any in his kutte, which was hanging up inside, or in his saddlebags. And he also knew that one smoke wasn't going to get him through the rest of the night. Hell, one's not gonna get me though the next ten minutes. So he just stood back up and sighed when he realized his quiet night under the stars was going to have to wait a while. He opened the front door just wide enough to set his bottle of liquor inside before locking it up tight. Then he stepped off the porch, lit his last cigarette, and took a long, slow drag before heading down the sidewalk to the convenience store a few blocks away.


Not once in the last four years had Sarah ever gone to one of the bars by her house. She knew she didn't live in the best neighborhood and it wouldn't be the safest thing for a single woman to be out late drinking alone. But after sitting on the same barstool for over three hours now, she was far too drunk to care about the consequences.

She wasn't quite sure how many gin and tonics she'd had, but after draining the most recent one, she slammed the glass back down to the bar and giggled. Well, Miss Franklin, you've drank all the Tanqueray in Bakersfield. And yes, you're going to have the hangover from hell, and you've spent a ridiculous amount of money, and you broke the seal too early and had to go pee about a hundred times…but you're 33 fucking years old, and you actually went out on a Friday night instead of sitting at home along in your pajamas. Well done.

She smiled to herself for a few more minutes, swaying in her seat to the slow, Spanish love song someone had put on the juke box. Then she raised her bleary eyes to the guy behind the bar. "Can I get one more?"

The bartender just grinned and shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart. You said 'one more' five drinks ago. I gotta cut you off before your ass hits the floor."

For a second Sarah thought she should be annoyed, but his words only made her smile wider. "You know, this is the first time I've had to be cut off since I was a junior in college! Is it weird that I'm a little proud of myself?"

She stood up from her seat and tried to stand, but quickly reached out to the bar to steady herself. Ok, I'm either shitfaced or this bar has a spinning floor…

"Hey, are you ok? Do you need me to call you a cab?"

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, finding her balance, before glancing back up to the bartender and shaking her head. "Nope. I'm good. I swear. I only live a few blocks away. I can walk."

He raised a disbelieving eyebrow and frowned. "Are you sure?"

She just nodded, her head bobbing up and down a few more times than she'd intended. "I'm sure." Then she grabbed her purse and took a few big, deep breaths before making her way unsteadily towards the door.


When Sarah walked out of the bar and stepped onto the sidewalk, the first thing she did was glance over at her car parked across the street. She knew she was too wasted to even attempt the short drive home, but she was seriously considering crawling into the backseat and sleeping. No, Sarah Marie Franklin. You know that's not safe. Just nut up and walk home to your big, comfy bed.

So she turned from the bar and did her best not to stumble as she made her way home. But after at least fifteen minutes had passed, she looked around the nearly empty street in confusion. That's weird. I should have been home by now…I think. Then she looked up at the street sign she didn't recognize and accepted that she had no idea where the hell she was. Oh, shit. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. As she looked around with hazy, drunken eyes at the unfamiliar houses she also realized that, not only did she not know how to get home from here, she didn't even know how to get back to the bar. Fuck…fuck, fuck, fuck.

She reached into her purse and dug around the bottom until she found her cell, and wasn't even a little surprised to find the battery dead. Because I'm an idiot and this is my life. Nice job, Drunky McDrunkerson.

Out of ideas, she was about to go up to one of the darkened houses and ask to use a phone when she happened to look down the block and see a small convenience store sign at the end of the corner, still lit up even though it was close to one in the morning. Oh, thank God. I'll just call a cab from there. And maybe get some Twinkies. Twinkies sound really good right now.

Sarah did her best to walk in a straight line as she made her way to the end of the block. But just as she was making her way past the back of the building, her heart stopped as a voice called out to her from behind the nearby dumpsters.

"Hey, pretty girl. What are you doing out so late all by yourself?"

Sarah gasped and spun around only to see a blond guy, maybe in his early twenties, stalking over in her direction. Ignoring him even as her heart was racing, she took a few more steps forward towards the front entrance of the store. But she didn't get very far before the man ran in front of her on the sidewalk and blocked her way.

"You looking for a good time, baby doll? Cause I got your good time right here." Then he smirked as he reached down and held himself between his legs.

Sarah swallowed the bile in her throat as fear bloomed in her chest, and she tried like hell to make her voice sound stronger than she felt. "Get out of my way." She went to move past the guy, but he just grabbed her arm and pulled her close.

"I don't think so."

When he tightened his grasp on her arm, Sarah reacted on instinct and raised a knee to the guy's groin as hard as she could, while using her free hand to punch the side of his face. And his grip loosened just long enough for her to wrench her arm free and make a run for the convenience store.

But she hadn't even taken three steps before she felt his arms wrapping around her from behind and dragging her back towards the dumpsters.

"No!" She screamed and kicked and scratched with as much force as her drunken body was capable of, but before she even knew what was happening, he had backhanded her across the face, thrown her down to the concrete, and clamped his hand over her mouth.

Then, as he whispered disgusting things in her ear and tried to lift her skirt to her waist, Sarah finally felt tears on her cheeks. But she never stopped fighting or praying for someone to help her. "God, please…please…"


Hap paid the clerk for his carton of Marlboros and was just walking back outside when he heard it…the unmistakable sound of a woman screaming for help. And within a split second, he dropped the cigarettes and was running.

He rounded the corner to the back of the building and over to the other side of the dumpster where he found some asshole trying to get his pants off with a struggling brunette underneath.

The blond guy seethed through gritted teeth. "Stop moving, you little bitch! I'm gonna…" But no one would ever know what he was about to say next because the next moment, Happy pulled him up by the back of the neck, turned him around, and hit him square across the face; keeping a tight hold on the front of his shirt so that he could land two more lethal punches in quick succession, both of them paired with the sickening sound of shattering bone.

And it was only when the bloodied, unconscious bastard fell to the ground with no hope of ever getting up again that Hap turned his attention to the woman who sat frozen on the pavement, huddled against the side of the dumpster, staring up at him in horror.

She's beautiful. He couldn't help it. He knew it wasn't the time, but that was the first thought that came to his mind. Cast in the dim yellow glow from the single light pole that illuminated the back parking lot, with a cut on her forehead and an ugly, red bruise forming on her pale cheek, blood running down the side of her smooth, slender leg, with tears and fear and pain filling her eyes...even with all that, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

He took a few cautious steps towards her and knelt down, wishing that he knew the right thing to say to stop her from trembling. Then he just whispered. "Hey…hey, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you. Are you alright?"

She was shaking so badly, he could hear her teeth chattering as she tried to find her voice and finally spoke. "I…I don't know. I think so." Happy glanced down at the hiked up skirt and dreaded the answer to the question he didn't want to ask. But she followed his gaze and, after quickly pulling down her skirt a few inches, shook her head. "He didn't…You stopped him before he could…"

Then her eyes traveled over to the piece of shit that attacked her, lying motionless just a few feet away. Her voice was so quiet he barely heard her. "Is he dead?"

Hap lifted his hand towards the woman's jaw and, hesitating for just a moment, placed his fingers gently on her cheek and guided her eyes back to his. "He can't hurt you again. That's all that matters."

For a few moments, he was lost in the pretty blue eyes staring up at him; the fear gradually fading and being replaced with something that looked remarkably similar to trust. But then she closed her eyes as a few relieved tears trickled down her face and onto his hand. "Thank you."

He didn't know quite what to say in return, so he just stood there in silence. Then he let a few wordless minutes pass, neither one of them venturing to move. But eventually the woman wiped the tears from her eyes and, with Happy's help, tried to stand.

She was unsteady, and Hap hoped it was more from the liquor he smelled on her breath than the blow to her head. He kept a soft hold on the bottom of her elbows as her hands wrapped around his biceps, supporting her while she took a few deep breaths and got her bearings. And only then, when her quiet cries had subsided and she could stand up straight, did she meet his eyes once more. "I'm Sarah."

No one but his mom had ever looked at him the way Sarah was looking at him in that moment. Like he was good, like he was safe…like she needed him more than she'd ever needed anything. So when he opened his mouth to speak, Happy stunned himself by saying the name that his mother had given him, the name he never used, the name he'd believed no one would ever call him, ever again…his real name.

Never taking his eyes from hers, he held her just a little tighter and nodded. "I'm Benny."

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