I sobbed, trudging down the sidewalk. I was heading for Wilkinson Bridge at the end of Fourth Street Hill. I could feel the eyes of passerby as they heard my tears choke out of my throat, but no one stopped to ask if I was alright, nobody stopped to comfort me, so I kept moving. I didn't need comfort. I was tired of pity.

The bridge sat at the bottom of Fourth Street Hill. After the bridge, the road made a hard left and became Old Rim Rock Way, winding out into the country side. Not very many people came out here past the top of Fourth Street, as there were no other roads and not many people lived out this far.

That's why the bridge was perfect. It was almost fifty feet from the water, which wasn't enough to do any real damage, but it was the time of year that the river below was low enough you could see the rocks through the water.

Looking down at the water made my heart speed up and my brain screamed at me that this was a bad idea. But I remembered my reason for coming. I reached up to touch my cheek, feeling the long cut that wasn't even an hour old. It'd come from my fiancé's ring as he back handed me. I told him if he hit me again, I'd kill myself. He'd told me to go ahead; he'd go sleep with that hooker at the bar in town instead then.

He didn't look shocked like I'd hoped as I stormed from the house. He'd called over his shoulder from the couch as I made my way out of the house, telling me he hoped my death was slow so it hurt more. I'd cried all the way here; almost five miles. But now my tears had run dry. It felt like liquid plastic on my cheeks where the tears had dried up.

I glanced up and down the road, wondering if anyone would cross my path out here in the middle of nowhere. The sun was setting as I turned to look back at the rocks below. They were sharp and smooth, being beaten down by years of wear from the river. I remembered the last person who jumped out here.

His name had been Bobby Jefferson. He'd been a senior in high school at the time. He jumped because he was being bullied at school. He was a year older than me. He'd jumped and broke his spine. Bobby had pretty much become a vegetable. He couldn't feed himself or go to the bathroom himself. He had to have around the clock care provided for him.

I shook my head, considering Bobby. If it had been my kid, I'd have asked someone to put him down. That wasn't a life. He'd been unhappy before. What made anybody think Bobby was happy being spoon fed apple sauce at the age of twenty-seven? Nobody would be happy with that. His parents had been selfish for letting him continue on that way.

Taking a deep breath, I looked up, trying to find a place to crawl up on the railing. I grabbed part of the metal structure that jutted out from the side a little to deter people from driving too close. It took more effort than I would have thought, but I sat on the edge of the railing for a moment, my feet dangling over the side of it. I watched the water move around the rocks and wondered what it would look like as the water made its way around my body.

I took hold of the metal side, pulling myself to my feet on the railing. Another five feet would help, right? There was a noise somewhere behind me, but I shook out my shoulders. I could hear the water rushing below me and that was all that mattered. I took a deep breath, trying to make myself step away from the railing.

"You can do this, Kelsi. Don't be a pussy ass bitch. You made a promise. You keep your promises." I muttered to myself with a nod of my head. My pep talk distracted me enough that my feet moved forward on their own as my hand let go of the railing.

I only fell a few feet before there was a hand on my arm, catching me. Panic flooded my system. Of all the times for someone to reach out and help, it had to be this time? No. I thrashed against whoever had my hand, trying to wiggle out of their grasp.

The man above me yelled something over his shoulder that I couldn't hear over the hammering of my heart in my ears.

"Let me go!" I screamed, fighting against his hand before another hand grabbed at my side. I battled against them as they hauled me up and over the railing. I still wrestled against the arms wrapped around me as we fell to the metal floor of the bridge. "You should've let me die!" I screamed at him, trying to get out of his grasp.

He held me tightly against his strong chest. "Calm down, lass. I ain't lettin' ya go 'til ya calm down." His heavily accented voice spoke up.

Suddenly, I was too tired to fight him, falling limp against his chest. Tears flooded my eyes again. "You should've let me die."

"Calm down, lass. It's okay. It's gonna be okay." He told me, trying to coo in my ear.

A sob was ripped from my throat. "I wanted to die."

He readjusted his grip on me, pulling me closer to him and I wrapped my arms tightly around his torso, clinging to him. "It's gonna be okay." He cooed, rocking me back and forth.

It took a long time before he stopped rocking and looked down at me. I'd been staring at the field on the bottom of the bridge for however long it'd been since he'd stopped talking to me. I knew there was a motorcycle parked somewhere close and another man sitting at my feet, blocking me from the bridge railing, but that was all I could gather.

"Kelsi?" The man holding me asked quietly.

I didn't know how he knew my name, but I nodded slowly, feeling his leather jacket rub against my rough face.

"Why did ya jump?" He asked quietly.

I was quiet for a long time, considering maybe the possibility my voice had left me. "I told him if he hit me again, I'd kill myself." I told him, barely above a whisper. The tears I cried stung my cheek, but I could hardly feel it over his arms wrapped around me and his leather jacket on my opposite cheek.

"Yer boyfriend?" He asked quietly.

"He proposed and I said yes. I thought he'd stop if I said yes." I said, feeling like if I moved my eyes from the field at the bottom of the hill, the world would crumple and never be able to fit back together.

"Ya live with 'im?" He asked.

I pulled away from him quickly, crawling back towards the other side of the bridge, startling him and the other man. "You can't take me back! You can't make me!" I stopped, being pressed against something rubber and I felt the tire for one of the motorcycles against my back.

He turned, watching me carefully as he held his hand out, motioning for me to stop moving. "I ain't takin' ya 'nywhere near tha' monster."

I got my first real look at him. He had salt and pepper in his hair and beard. There were two long scars on either side of his mouth. Some might have thought he looked intimidating, but I could see the kindness in his eyes.

My eyes darted towards the other one, who had stood when I'd moved away from the older one. The one standing was younger and blonde with a hoodie under his leather jacket and baggy pants around his legs. The one who had been talking to me wore the same jacket he did. It looked like it was for a motorcycle club or something.

"He told me to die slowly." I said, looking at the older one. "I can't…"

He slowly moved closer to me. I wondered if he'd ever dealt with someone who'd been abused before. He didn't raise his voice or move quickly like most people did. He kept eye contact, showing me he meant me no real harm. But I still didn't know if I could trust him. "I want ta protect ya from that, lass, best I can. But ya gotta trust meh."

I watched him for a moment before my eyes flickered to the man standing, blocking my access to the bridge railing. He looked barely older than Danny and I didn't know. He had a look on his face I couldn't place and I didn't know if I trusted him, even if I trusted the older man.

"I'm Chibs. This here is Jax. He's a friend. We're in the same club together. A brother." The older man told me, reaching for his leather vest and fluffing it so I understood.

I bit my lip, looking back at Chibs. "Will he hurt me?" I asked quietly, like somehow, the other man wouldn't hear my words.

Chibs shook his head slowly. "Ain't nobody gonna hurt ya ever again, lass. But you gotta trust me. Can ya trust me?"

I watched him for a long moment. Something in my brain registered that Chibs would do me no more harm and without much thought, I nodded.

Slowly, very slowly, he got to his feet, shuffling closer to me and holding his hand out to me. I watched it for another moment, trying to make my arm move and grab his hand with mine. When I did, he easily pulled me to my feet without any help from me and Jax, the blonde one moved closer.

"Ya ever rode a motorcycle, lass?" Chibs asked.

I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest against the cold. I'd expected to die; I hadn't planned on still being alive after it got dark. Jax threw his arms out behind him and I cringed, raising my shoulder, expecting a blow. But one never came. Chibs gently touched my shoulder, telling me to relax.

"Can't have ya freezing, darlin'." Jax said in his rough voice and I realized he was holding his zip up hoodie out to me.

"You… don't have to." I told him quietly.

Chibs took it from him, moving to drape it over my shoulders. I ducked my head, sliding my arms into the holes and mumbling a quiet thank you. "All ya have to do is hold tight to me and lean with the bike. I do all the rest." He said, climbing on the bike.

I glanced back at the bridge, wondering how cold the water was between the rocks.

"Lass, come on. You're better than that." Chibs said gently.

I looked over at him. No one had ever told me I was better than anything. I'd always heard how I was white trash, good for nothing, waste of space. "No I'm not." I told him, sliding onto the bike behind him. I jumped when he kicked it to life, but the rest of the ride was smooth.

Once the bike started moving, I pressed my cheek to Chibs' back, closing my eyes. I didn't care about the scenery; I didn't care where we were going. I just didn't want to go home. I didn't want to see that terrible man again.

When the bike stopped moving and Chibs turned it off, I opened my eyes and let go of his waist. He slid off gracefully, holding his hand out to me. I took it, struggling off the machine. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. Chibs and Jax had parked their bikes in a long line of similar looking black bikes. Across the parking lot was the name of the town body shop and closer to where we parked was the sign, showing the clubhouse for the Sons of Anarchy. It was the name on their jackets.

"Ya alright, lass?" Chibs gentle voice broke me from my trance.

I nodded.

He set a gentle hand on my shoulder, telling me to start walking. He led me into the clubhouse, making Jax go first so he wasn't at my back. I was grateful and I wondered if I could ever convey that to him.

Chibs moved me through the main part of the clubhouse quickly. There was yelling and things being thrown at the TV, making me cringe without thinking about it. Chibs led me down the hallway that held a bunch of different rooms before opening one of them. It looked kind of like a hotel room. There was a bed and a couch and TV on the side of the room closest to us. I could see a bathroom through the cracked door on the other side.

The room was clean, save for a pair of jeans on the floor and a skin mag on the bed. Chibs closed the door behind him, heading for the bed. He stashed the magazine in the dresser on the left of the bed and threw the jeans in the dirty clothes basket near the bathroom.

"Ain't much, but it's home." He told me with a smile.

I didn't know what he wanted me to say, so I just looked around the room, taking in the little details. He had a big movie collection next to the TV and I noticed there was a place for everything. Danny had kept the bedroom a mess. Every time I'd pick something up or move something, three other things would take its place.

But Chibs had everything sorted out. There was several sets of stacking drawers around the room, all with labels on them like 'Cars Mags' and 'Project Ideas'. There was a full bookshelf on the wall the bathroom shared. There wasn't an empty space on the hunk of wood and I wasn't entirely surprised.

"Ya can sit on the couch. I've got to go talk to Clay, he's the president of the club. I can send someone in to talk with ya, if you'd like." Chibs said kindly.

I bit my lip, thinking about it. "Just… not Jax. He looks like Danny." I said quietly, hoping I didn't offend him.

He smiled a little. "Jackie boy is a bit brash, as well. Best to not have you two cats in the same pen. I'll have someone else sit in with you, alright, lass?"

I nodded. "Th-thank you." I stumbled over my tongue, feeling stupid.

"Don't thank me, lass." He said with a smile, moving past me and closing the door behind him.

I didn't want to sit on the couch as the back of it was to the door. I didn't want to panic when the person Chibs sent came in. So I sat on the bed, looking around at the SAMCRO banner above the bed and smiled a little at the smell of fresh sheets and cologne.

It was only five minutes before there was a gentle knock on the door. "Chibs sent me to sit with you. Is it alright if I come in?" A strong, male voice asked.

I nodded before realizing he was on the other side of the door and couldn't see me. "Yeah." I squeaked.

The knob turned slowly and the door opened at the same speed to reveal a man a few inches taller than me. His black hair was shaved into a Mohawk, showcasing tribal tattoos on both sides of his head. He was strong and tan and his leather jacket framed his shoulders nicely. He smiled gently at me, seeing me watch him closely.

"You're Kelsi, right?" He asked, a little loudly. I cringed, hating myself for it. "Shit, I'm… I'm so sorry." He said, looking pained. I just watched him, moving back a little farther on the bed, pulling my knees up close to my body. "I'm just… gonna close this okay?" He asked softly, gesturing loosely to the door.

I bit my lip, nodding. He didn't look like he'd hurt me, but I knew guys could change their minds at the drop of a hat.

"I'm Juice." He said softly, pushing his hands into the front pockets on his jacket.

"Kelsi." I said quietly, watching him.

He smiled at me. "That's a good start, I think. Is it okay if I sit on the couch?" He asked, gesturing to it.

I nodded. He lived here, I was just visiting. I didn't know why he was asking me.

"So…" He said, trailing off, glancing around the room. "We could watch a movie? I mean, if you're okay with being on the couch with me. If not, you could watch from the bed. Or if you don't want to watch a movie, we could talk about something."

I bit my lip, smiling a little. He was trying so hard. Nobody had tried that hard to make me comfortable in a long time. "We could… we could watch a movie, I guess."

"You wanna pick one out?" He asked, throwing his arm towards the shelf packed with movies.

My teeth caught my bottom lip again. "I'm not usually allowed to." I told him, glancing away from him. I didn't want to see him judge me.

"Well, how about you pick something out and I'll watch whatever it is." Juice suggested.

My eyebrows drew together as I looked back up at him. "Anything?"

He nodded with a little smile. "Anything."

I shook my head. "No. You pick something." I told him quietly.

"Are you sure?" He asked, slowly moving around the couch to the shelf unit. "There's a bunch of cool movies over here. Weekend at Bernie's, The Princess Bride, Fast and Furious." He spoke up, leaning over to read the titles of the movies.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, not wanting to say anything. He seemed like a nice enough guy; I just couldn't tell for sure like I could with Chibs. I wanted to stay quiet in case I said something to make him snap.

He glanced over at me and seemed to frown a little. "Nothing sounding good?"

I bit my lip, shaking my head and looked down at the mattress.

"How about you tell me the kind of movie you wanna watch, and I'll pick something out? Is that fair?" he asked, watching me.

I nodded, still looking at the comforter Chibs had on the bed.

"Action?" Juice ticked off. I shook my head. "Horror?" I quickly shook my head. He chuckled a little. "Romance?" I paused, thinking about it before slowly shaking my head. I didn't want to watch a love story I knew wasn't true. "How about Fantasy?" I looked up at him, considering it for a moment.

"How about this one? It's called The Mummy." Juice said, reading me the description.

I gnawed on my lip, liking the sound of the movie, but not wanting to speak up.

Juice kind of smiled. "Ya know, I haven't seen this movie in ages. I'm just gonna put it in." He told me, flipping on the TV and putting the disc in the slot that pulled out from the DVD player. He glanced at me before sitting on the far end of the couch.

I stayed where I was, watching the previews start. Juice hit a button on the remote, skipping them and pushing play as the menu screen came up. The movie started and he glanced at me again. I watched for a few minutes before deciding the couch would be better overall. Slowly, I stood up, moving to sit on the opposite end of the couch as Juice.

He didn't say anything, but I saw his lips quirk, showing a ghost of a smile.

The movie played for nearly a half hour before the door sprung open and I nearly jumped out of my skin, cringing away from the piece of wood and metal, pushing myself against the arm of the couch.

"Oh lass. I'm so sorry." Chibs voice spoke up, but I could barely hear him over the hammering of my pulse in my ears. Chibs appeared in front of me on the couch, looking pained. "I forgot, lass. Forgive me?" He asked softly, gently setting his hand on my leg.

Out of instinct, I pushed it away. Every time Danny had done the same gesture, he'd wanted me naked and I couldn't do that here.

Chibs looked hurt as he slowly fell back onto his butt on the floor. I felt my eyes darting around, looking for an exit that I wouldn't have to climb over bikers to get to.

"Kelsi." Juice softly said from next to me.

I looked at him out of desperation, just wanting something to anchor me so I could calm down. He laid out his hand on the couch, just barely out of reach for me so I'd have to move if I wanted to hold his hand. "You're safe here. No one here will hurt you." He said barely above a whisper. My hands shook as I moved to touch his and I realized how much darker his skin was than mine. His fingers were callused, but the good kind that gave your skin goose bumps as they dragged across.

When I looked back up at him, he was smiling at me, showing off pearly whites. "See. It's alright."

I looked over at Chibs who was watching us closely. "I-I'm sorry. You… you said you wouldn't hurt me. Danny… he touches me like that when he wants sex." I told him, pulling my legs closer to my body, hoping I could just shrink into the couch and disappear.

"I'm sorry, lass. I won't ever do it again." He told me and I could hear the honesty in his voice.

"What'd Clay say?" Juice asked, looking at Chibs.

"She can stay a bit, but we need to find this ingrate." Chibs said with venom in his words. "Ya think ya can help with that?" He asked, turning to me.

"What…" I stalled out, considering if I really wanted the answer to my question. "What are you gonna do?"

Chibs shrugged. "What all did he do to ya?"

I ducked my head, glancing at Juice. He smiled at me. "We can't help if you don't tell us." He said, giving a little squeeze to my hand.

I nodded, looking down at the couch cushion under my legs. "I don't know what's bad that he did besides hitting me."

"First his name." Chibs said.

"Danny West." I murmured.

"Did he hold you down or force himself on ya?" Chibs asked, watching me intently. I bit my lip, nodding, but trying not to remember. "He ever throw things, cut ya up on purpose?" Chibs asked.

"This is from his ring." I said, fingering the long cut on my cheek. "He threw me into a mirror one time." I said meekly. "I couldn't even get all the little pieces out of my side."

Chibs nodded. "That's enough then. Thank ya lass." He said, moving slowly towards me and kissing me on the forehead.

At first, I was confused. And then there was warmth spreading in my chest and I ducked my head, smiling.

"What?" He asked, standing up. I shook my head, burying my face in my knees. "Speak your peace." Chibs said and I couldn't see his face, but I could hear his smile.

"Nobody's ever kissed my forehead before." I said quietly.

Chibs chuckled. "Ya stick around; you'll get all the forehead kisses yer pretty heart can handle." He said, leaning down to tilt my head up and kiss my forehead again before moving around the couch and out of the room.

Juice smiled at me and hit the play button on the movie, which took off exactly where he'd stopped it. "Do you mind if I smoke?" He asked after a long few minutes of silence.

I shook my head. He lived here, not me. I couldn't understand why he kept asking things like this. I watched the movie, seeing his lighter spark out of the corner of my eyes.

"Did you want one?" He asked, extending the pack towards me.

"Not allowed to smoke." I told him quietly.

Juice grinned. "You can if you wanna. You don't gotta take orders from anybody."

I watched him for a moment, pulling one out of the pack. He passed the lighter over to me and I remembered how I smoked a pack a week in high school. I stuck the strike between my lips, sparking the lighter and breathing the cherry to life.

"How's it taste?" Juice asked as I coughed out my first breath.

I groaned, leaning forward a little. "Like I haven't done this since high school." I said, covering my mouth as I hacked again.

Juice grinned widely, like I was amusing him. "It's a good hurt though, right?"

I nodded, rubbing my chest like that would somehow help the smoke go down easier. "It's not being thrown into a mirror, that's for sure." Juice's smile melted away a little and I saw concern dance on his features. "Sorry." I said, taking another slow breath of the cigarette, feeling guilty for the comment.

He shook his head, taking a deep breath to fill his lungs with the smoke before blowing it back into the room. He stood slowly, moving around the couch to prop the window open. "My step-dad used to beat me."

I looked up at him sharply as he sat back down. I'd been watching him since he came in the room. He didn't flinch when the door was flung open; he didn't glance at me every three seconds to make sure I wasn't going to hit him. But his eyes did flitter across the room every once in a while, like he thought someone might randomly teleport into the room.

He cracked a smile a little. "I know I don't look it. Getting better is a lot harder than staying broken."

I nodded. His words were true, and I knew that. Staying broken hurt, but it was easy. You didn't have any decisions to make; there was no initiative to take. I finished the cigarette and snubbed it out on the tray in front of the couch.

A hard knock on the door made me jump, made my heart race. Juice stood and moved around the couch to open the door. "Clay, hey." But I heard the catch in Juice's voice. This man scared him. "Kelsi, come here."

I stood, slowly, moving around the couch so that I could see the door, but Juice was between us.

"She's uh… skittish." Juice told the older man with gray hair and a square jaw.

"I can see that, Juice." He said, with a hard tone that left no room for argument. "Kelsi, right?"

I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest and gripping the sides of Jax's hoodie that still hung from my shoulders.

Clay's eyes roved over me and I hated the way it felt like they were grating down my body. I bit my lip, looking away from him as I pulled the hoodie closer to me, trying to cover up as much of my body as I could.

"You want me to step outside and we can talk?" Juice offered.

"No, I don't." Clay said, giving him a hard look, before looking back up at me. "Tig and I have it covered. Just watch your little toy." He said, before moving away from the door.

Juice watched him leave down the hall before turning back to me, seeing how I was standing. "You alright?"

I nodded.

Chibs showed up a minute later, looking almost winded, glancing between Juice and I. "We're rollin' out. Need ya to watch the lass."

Juice glanced at me. "I'll be right back, okay?"

I nodded, knowing they needed to talk. I didn't really want to hear what they had to say anyway, so I sat on the bed, pulling my knees up close to my chin again. Juice closed the door behind him. I could hear Chibs and him whisper to each other through the wood, but I couldn't make out any of the words. It was only another minute before Juice came back in, closing the door behind him.

He glanced at the clock showing it was near midnight. "It's late. Do you want to get some sleep?"

I shook my head. I was tired, but falling asleep somewhere unfamiliar with unfamiliar people wasn't my idea of a good time.

He watched me before slowly moving to sit on the bed, facing me. "I know you're scared. But you're safe here. Nothing bad will happen to you inside these walls."

I bit my lip. "Clay's scary."

Juice let out a nervous chuckle. "He scares the shit out of me."

I smiled a little through my teeth, feeling a little glad it wasn't just me.

"How about you lay down for a little while? I'll sit on the couch and watch TV; make sure nobody gets in here, okay?" He asked.

I watched him for a long minute, taking in the little details I had missed before. The gold rings on his fingers that looked heavy and I'm sure had blood in the little grooves that were hard to clean. The tattoos on his forearms trailing up, peeking out from the sleeves of his shirt, teasing that there might be more of them under the fabric. The way his eyes crinkled when he was concentrating on something.

"How did you get better?" I asked.

He looked at me, a little confused for a second. "After the beatings?"

I nodded.

He shrugged. "I joined the cub. Was the only real family I had anyway. I loved my mom, but she was more interested in pleasing a guy than looking after me." He said and I could feel the full weight of his words. "I knew when I went full patch, I had a family. Somebody who was willing to watch my back and look after me like nobody else had before."

I nodded. "That sounds nice."

"The club could be your family too, if you want it to." He told me.

I shook my head. "I'm no biker."

He grinned. "But I bet you look smokin' hot on a bike."

I blushed, ducking my head to hide the redness from him.

"Will you at least try to get some sleep? For me?" Juice asked, moving to the bed to pull the covers back.

"Can you um… can you give this back to Jax?" I asked, shrugging out of the large hoodie and holding it out to him.

He smiled and nodded. "His room is just down the hall. I'll go put it there for him and I'll be back in just a second." He told me, ducking out of the room and returning quickly.

I looked at the bed and felt the energy drain from my body. I sat on the sheet, rubbing my hand over the clean fabric. "You won't… leave me, right?" I asked, looking up at him with pleading eyes. I needed to know he wasn't going anywhere while I slept.

He smiled. "Definitely not. Here," He said, moving to the other side of the bed, closest to the door. He kicked off his heavy boots before laying on top of the comforter, facing me but putting himself between me and the door. "I'll even lay with you."

I smiled a little, ducking my head. "Haven't had a guy lay on top of the covers with me since Sophomore year of high school. You're giving me all kinds of trips down memory lane tonight." I told him quietly, sliding under the covers of the sheets, separating me from Juice.

He grinned. "Good. Sounds like you had a better high school experience than I did."

I shrugged. "I was average. Didn't get bullied, didn't bully."

"I got picked on, some. I wasn't a very tough kid." He told me honestly.

I smiled softly at him. "And look at you now, mister bad ass biker guy." I spoke quietly.

His grin split open his face and the skin around his eyes crinkled. "Somethin' like that."

I pulled the pillow closer to rest under my shoulder. "Thank you."

He gave me a sad smile. "Thank you for not jumping."

I ducked my head into the blankets to avoid looking at him and took a deep breath of the clean linen. "Goodnight, Juice."

"Goodnight, Kelsi." He told me softly as I closed my eyes, drifting to a restless sleep.

I woke slowly, like waking up from a dream. I blinked a couple times, trying to see the room. A brief moment of panic enveloped me as I didn't recognize the room I was in. I quickly kicked off the covers before my eyes caught sight of the SAMCRO banner above the bed.

Slowly, I remembered Chibs and Jax pulling me off the bridge and Juice watching The Mummy with me. I looked around. Juice wasn't anywhere in sight. The bathroom was empty and his boots weren't on the floor like they had been when he laid on the covers.

I pulled open the door, not feeling safe in the room by myself. I could hear arguing down the hall and paused, not wanting to get in the middle of a biker brawl when I heard Juice's voice, calling insults. I made my way down the hall and around the corner, pausing as the hall let out into the main bar area I'd been quickly shuffled through last night.

"Don't you fuckin' tell me what I can and can't do with my girl!" Danny yelled, standing close to Juice.

"I hope you're not allergic to nuts. Because I'm gonna kick yours into your throat." Juice spat back.

Danny's eyes moved over Juice's shoulder to me. Juice glanced over his shoulder to see me frozen before giving Danny a hard shove back. Chibs stepped up closer to Juice from behind the bar.

"You best be on your way, laddie." Chibs told him.

"Kelsi, get your ass over here." Danny called between the two bikers.

Without thinking about it, I took a step forward, closer to them.

Juice looked angry. He gave Danny another shove, nearly knocking him off his feet. "Don't tell her what to do." He said before glancing back at me, telling me to stay without the words.

"You whore! I bet you slept with both these biker freaks!" He yelled at me.

Another man taller than Juice came up behind Danny, taking him by the shoulder and turning him around. He threw a strong right hook with his gloved hand, knocking Danny off his feet and making his wild hair bounce a little.

"If you ever talk about another girl like that again, I will not hesitate to chop your balls off and stuff them up your ass." The older, wild haired man said, leaning over Danny. "Now get your ass up and off my goddamn property!" He said, hauling Danny to his feet.

Danny fought out of his grip before looking at me from across the room. "Your ass is mine."

The other man pushed Danny out the front door and I didn't even notice Juice or Chibs had moved until they were right next to me. I could hardly see them through the tears running down my face.

Juice wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to him and I latched onto his leather jacket, crying against one of the patches, begging him to keep me safe.

I'd been living at the clubhouse in one of the spare bedrooms for little over a week now. Chibs had taken on the role of being my caretaker, getting me whatever I'd needed. He'd even talked Clay's wife, Gemma, into letting me help with the bookkeeping for the body shop. I was sitting at the desk in the main office when Tig, an older guy with wild hair, came in.

"Hey Kelsi." He said with a soft smile.

"Hey Tig. What's up?" I asked, looking up from the check register I was trying to balance.

"You seen Juice? He hasn't been in this morning." He said, sounding a little worried.

"Uh, he called me." I said, glancing at the clock. "Half hour ago? Said he was gonna be late because of working on his house."

"Oh, right, yeah, yeah." Tig said, like he just remembered. "You seen it yet?"

I shook my head. "He said something out it being not good enough for anybody to see yet." I said with a shrug.

"You uh, know he's fixin' it up for you, right?" Tig asked, glancing through the glass into the garage to make sure nobody was heading into the office.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What?"

Tig nodded. "He wants to ask you to move in with him. But you didn't hear it from me." He said, turning tail and leaving through the front door as Opie came in the side door.

"Kelsi, you got that paper for the Ford Taurus? I think this lady is lyin' through her teeth." The tall bearded man with the beanie said.

"Um… yeah." I said, glancing away from the door to dig through a pile of papers. " '02 Taurus." I said, handing him the paper. He thanked me and headed back for the garage, closing the door behind him.

It was almost an hour later when I heard a familiar motorcycle pull into the lot in front of the office. The rest of the club was either in the shop working, or not planned to be back for three more days. I stood from the desk, feeling the need to stretch and I pulled open the door and leaned against the frame to watch Juice back his Dyna into his spot.

He killed the machine and looked up at me, smiling like he was surprised to see me at work. I ducked my head back into the office, looking at the clock. "You're almost two hours late, Ortiz."

He smiled, bounding over to me and stopping within five feet of me. "I had my reasons."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "You ever tried explaining those reasons to Clay? Who came by half an hour ago, looking for you?"

His face fell and I smiled, letting him know I was lying. "You're mean." He told me.

I shrugged. "You're two hours late. I'm gonna give you shit."

"I told you, I had good reasons." He said, pushing his sunglasses off his nose and onto his head.

"Like?" I asked, knowing I was probing.

He shook his head. "You wanna move in with me?"

I cocked an eyebrow at him, not moving from my place against the door frame. "What?"

"You wanna move in with me?" He asked again with a smile on his face. "Clay is about to kick you out of the club house anyway, and Chibs is getting tired of us watching movies in his room. I've got a spare room with your name on it, and a killer surround sound system and a big flat screen TV."

I shook my head at him, wondering if he was crazy. But if I thought about it, it was logical. Clay hadn't directly told me to vacate, but every time he looked at me, I knew I was taking up precious space in his little clubhouse. I bit my lip, nodding at Juice.

"Really?" He asked, sounding like he hadn't expected me to say yes.

"Yeah." I said with a smile. "We'd be doing the exact same thing anyway, just not annoying everybody else. I can do that."

He grinned. "Good. I was kinda gettin' worried that Danny knew where the clubhouse was anyway."

I nodded. "Me too. You've got a Ford Fusion to work on." I told him, turning and making my way into the office.

"Ugh. I hate economy cars." Juice groaned, pushing the door closed.