Queens, New York

Stephanie hated the fact that the apartment building had no elevator, especially when it meant that she had to haul her groceries up the three flights of stairs to her apartment. The more than generous amount of groceries she had was her own fault. She cursed herself for visiting the store whilst stoned, she'd never learn to knock that off. Growing up with a stoner as a father, it was barely a surprise that she would have a fondness for pot and having a stoner as a best friend and neighbour certainly didn't help much either.

She came to a stop as she rounded the corner, watching the strange man hammer away on her neighbours door. She'd seen him multiple times over the past few weeks, mostly loitering the buildings foyer but they had never so much as spoken. That wasn't so unusual, people rarely spoke to their neighbours in New York.
The tall, dark haired man ceased to bother the door when he saw the short platinum blonde watching him.
"Do you live on this floor?" He asked, earning a nod in reply. "You know the guy who lives in this apartment?" Her heart began to race as her mind whirred. This guy had to be bad news: either in the form of her neighbour's attacker or the cops.
"Not really." She lied, the very man in question was in her apartment, most probably still lounging on her couch. "See him in passing occasionally."
"You see him recently?"
"Why? No disrespect, but I don't know you. You a fed?" She knew he wasn't. Nobody who looked that shady was a fed- she'd met more than a few due to her families business. The stranger laughed suddenly.
"No sweetheart, I'm just a friend of his. He ain't picking up his phone. So, you seen him?" She bit down on her lip, forehead creasing as she pretended to think about her answer.
"Not for a while. At least a couple of weeks, anyways."
"Shit." They stood awkwardly watching each other, she hoped that he believed her.
"Look, I gotta go. I have groceries that need to go in the freezer. Sorry I couldn't help." She took a few tentative steps as she excused herself. Making it to her door, she scooped the three large bags into one arm, balancing them between her hip and the door frame whilst her free hand delved into her pocket to grab her key. She took one final look at the guy before offering another apology and entering her apartment.

She shut the door quickly making sure not only to lock, but to deadbolt the door. Putting the groceries on the floor besides her feet, she peeked through the spy hole to see if the stranger had chosen to loiter further. He hadn't, or at least as far as she could see.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh fuck." She spun around, hand hitting her chest. She scowled at Juice, taking a moment to get her breath back.
"Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me."
"Sorry."
"Don't be. I was just freaked out. There was some guy outside your place, looking for you." Juice's face dropped, it was his turn to worry.
"Who?"
"I don't know. He didn't tell me his name. He just said that he was a friend checking up on you because you weren't picking up when he called. Said he isn't a fed either, I believe him."
"Fuck. What did he look like?"
"Tall, black hair, creepy looking. He was one of the guys that almost killed you, wasn't he?"
"Sounds like one of them. Fuck, what did you tell him?"
"That I've only ever seen you in passing but that I hadn't seen you around for a couple of weeks." Juice had begun to pace, a hand rubbing his chin as he considered his options.
"I need to leave."
"And go where?"
"I don't know, anywhere. They're gonna keep coming back until they end me."
"You can't just up and leave without so much as a plan." The idea hit her almost instantly, the club could take care of him.
"I'm as good as dead staying here. What am I supposed to do? Hide out with you forever?"
"What about going to California?"
"What's there?"
"My family."
"I don't want to put your family at risk." She almost laughed and all Juice could do was stare at her in confusion.

He had no idea about her family, her old life. To him, she'd only ever been the neighbour who had re-located from a small town to go to college in the big city and become a nurse. He knew nothing of her upbringing- a dad that was in and out of prison due to his activities with his biker buddies and fellow club brothers, moving in and out of her surrogate mother's house. Living under the club's strict rules, despite not even being a member. When she left the small town of Charming she didn't tell people about her life there, they didn't need to know about it. To the new people in her life she wasn't the child of an outlaw, she was an average young woman. She was free from the club's laws and free to live her life how she wanted.

"My family aren't exactly average. They're, for the most part, a bunch of burly, loud, brash mechanics and Harley enthusiasts and one of the scariest women you'll ever meet. Just let me try, please." He considered it for a moment, nodding in agreement. It wasn't like he had many other options. He didn't have a huge family, just his mother, but he couldn't risk putting her in harm's way, he'd already got one person close to him involved and that was one person too much.

–-

Stephanie had talked to her family before she had handed the phone over to Juice so he could explain his side of the story. Jackson, who, it turned out wasn't a blood relative, but a childhood friend of Steph's, had grilled him about the activities he was involved in. He also had a few choice words about him involving Stephanie in his mess.

By the time Juice had ended the call and made his way back into Steph's lounge he felt like an asshole. She was in the kitchen area, making dinner, her back to him as she hummed along to the Journey song that was quietly playing in the background. She swayed softly as she finished chopping the veggies that were about to be roasted in the oven. She heard him padding across the lounge and turned to him with a hopeful smile.
"Not too painful I hope, I know he can be pretty full on."
"Nah, it was fine." He lied, returning a smile. "Look, I just wanna say that I'm sorry. I never, ever, meant to get you involved in any of this."
"I know that."
"Still, I'm sorry." Steph smiled softly, knowing full well that Jax had something to do with this.
"Did he take chunks out of you about it?"
"Kinda." Steph rolled her eyes, the club had pulled people into their messes for years. Jackson was certainly one to talk, she kept that to herself though.
"Sorry." She smiled sheepishly. "Why don't you go sit down, dinner won't be ready for a while."
Okay. And maybe you can fill me in about your family, yeah?"
"Maybe."