Chapter One

How many times have I prayed, that I would get lost along the way?

Addy cursed. It was the only reaction she thought acceptable. It was either that or to kick her piece of shit car. But she had bruised too many toes to do that again. Instead, she pulled out her phone from her pocket. She frowned as she stared at the smoke floating around her car as the phone rang. The woman's robotic voice spoke, as Addy rolled her eyes. At the beep, she pulled on a fake smile, knowing well no one could see it.

"Hey Jakey," she sang into the voicemail. "It's your favorite sister. Lancelot died on me again. Don't ask me what happened 'cause I have no idea. Just… call me back. Please." Addy sighed, ending the call. She scrolled through her contacts, stopping at another name.

"Teller-Morrow." Her fake smile turned genuine as the woman spoke.

"Hey, Gemma."

"Addy? Again? You were just in last week."

"I know. Lancelot's draining me here."

"When are you going to get rid of that damn thing?"

"When I'm cold and in the ground."

"Well just don't make that anytime soon. Where are you, sweetheart?" Addy rattled off the closest intersection, hanging up shortly after. She hopped on the trunk of her car, leaning back on the window. She tried to ignore the sound of her car dying and the scent of the smoke surrounding her.

Addy closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the sun distract her. A small smile grew on her face. She loved the feeling. It was her original intention of going out. Her favorite thing in the world was to just lay down in the sunlight. No talking, nothing to distract her.

She loved California. The sun, the beach, it was nothing like Minnesota. She had to practically beg Jake to agree to come here. He didn't want to leave their home, but at the time they had no choice. He eventually agreed, but grumbled the whole way there.

The silence was the break she needed from her grumbling brother. Every moment she was home, she felt that she was on edge. Hiding from his friends, from her old ones that still hung around. She found the only true safe place for her was when she took her rust covered car to some secluded area and just stopped thinking.

Yet today was not a day for that. Apparently, the universe didn't want her to have a quiet day, and instead made Lancelot break for the fourth time this month. She loved her car to death, the small piece of junk the only thing left from her mother, but it was constantly draining her of money that she just didn't have.

She sensed the tow truck before it turned the corner. She blamed that on having to call them far too much. She sat up, lifting a hand to shield the sun from her eyes. She grinned widely as the driver hopped out of the now stopped truck.

"I think it's time for a new car." Addy hopped off the car and pulled Jax into a hug.

"You know me too well to know I would never get rid of my baby." She rubbed the side door of her car, then immediately wiped her hand on her pants. Jax just chuckled, whistling back. The other man Addy didn't notice before hopped out of the car getting to work with hooking her car up. Addy looked him over quickly, recognizing him from her many trips to TM but not knowing his name.

"Where's Kip?" she asked turning her eyes back to Jax.

"He pissed off Tig so he sent him on some run for something that doesn't exist." She hid her laugh behind her fingers.

"Poor guy." Jax just winked at her and moved over to her car. Addy leaned against the passenger door of the truck, admiring the view of two not bad looking men working in front of her. Her head tilted as she watched the stranger. Her mind shifted through names, trying to place his but nothing came to mind. Addy probably only said a total of six words to him since she moved to the town of Charming, but she still felt bad for not knowing.

Her eyes narrowed in on the patch on the back of his vest, and that was all she needed to know about him. Addy wasn't dumb. She knew who Jax was, and who the Sons of Anarchy were. Though they played it off as just a simple motorcycle group, she heard her brother talk about them in unpleasant ways that almost made her blood cold. She was careful, while she considered herself friends with Jax, she tried not to interact with anyone else strolling around the lot of Teller-Morrow.

It was shit she didn't need to involve herself in.

"When you're done checking me out, wanna get in the truck?" Addy grinned at the man's Scottish accent, pushing herself off of the truck and pulling the door open. She hopped inside, sliding to the middle.

"I'm Addy by the way. I don't think we have officially met." He nodded as he jumped into the truck.

"Chibs." He grinned, pushing his sunglasses to his forehead. The action near his face made her eyes fall onto the scars that lined his face. She quickly lifted her eyes back to his, hoping he didn't notice.

"Chibs. Right."

She had no idea what that meant.

"You have reached the voice mailbox of 612 87-" Addy was going to kill him. She let out a groan, resisting the urge to throw the phone onto the ground. Instead, she made her way to Jax who was currently bent over the engine of her car.

"What's the damage? And say it in a way I can understand."

"Lancelot's gonna have to stay for a few days. I'll fix the problem but I'm gonna do more work so you don't come back here." His voice was partially muffled by the car. When he stood, the look on his face made her shoulders drop. Shit, it was going to be more than she could afford.

"And I thought you liked my visits. How much is this gonna cost me?"

"I'm only charging you for one thing. Think of the rest as a gift from a friend." He smiled that damn smile that Addy was sure had girls flinging themselves left and right. Hell, there were moments where she herself had impure thoughts of the man.

"You're a doll, you know that right?" Addy patted his cheek, laughing as he swatted her hand away.

"And don't you forget it." He pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. "Go meet up with Chibs. He'll give you a ride home."

"I'll just wait for Jake." Jax gave her a knowing look before shaking his head.

"Go find Chibs." Addy sighed before nodding once. She gave him a final wave before turning out to the lot. Chibs was off to the side straddling his motorcycle talking to another guy with a shaved mohawk and head tattoos. He had helped her out a few times when Jax wasn't around. She always thought he was too friendly to be part of the secret evil outlaw group. Juice, she was thankful she remembered his name, waved as she moved closer. Chibs looked over at her. His sunglasses were covering his eyes again, but she could see his eyebrow lifted. Addy bit her lip, suddenly feeling shy.

"Alright there?" Chibs asked.

"Uh yeah, you think I can hitch a ride with you? If it's a problem you don't have to. I can just wait for my brother. I called him a few times and he should be - "

"Woah now. Take a breath." His eyebrow raised as Addy took a moment. She felt her face turn red as she looked up shyly at him. She hated new people. The last time she was a bubbling mess was when she met Jax for the first time. He still didn't let her live it down. "Come on." He patted the spot behind him. "I'm not gonna bite," he laughed. Addy swung her leg over, awkwardly putting her arms around him, saying her address when he asked.

Her hands clenched when she saw the familiar red truck outside of her home. When the bike turned off, Chibs stood, helping her as he did so. "Alright?" Addy's eyes never left the truck as she nodded slowly. "Y'don't look it." He turned and looked at the house himself, but from seeing no warning signs, he looked back to her.

"'m fine." She finally tore her eyes from the truck and smiled over at him, unconvincingly. "Just... do you mind waiting a minute? If I don't wave to you from that window, call Jax." Chibs nodded once. Addy smiled weakly before moving inside.

The door was open slightly, so she gave it a slight push. She looked back at Chibs once before closing the door behind her.

Jake was asleep on the couch, one arm over his eyes while the other lay limp on the floor, the all-too-familiar needle gripped in his fist. Ariel was asleep on the armchair, in a similar position.

Addy let out a breath before hurrying up the stairs two at a time. She locked her door behind her, opening the dark curtain. Chibs turned and look at her, nodding when she waved. He waited a moment, but then jumped on the bike and rode away. Addy waited until he was out of sight, and let out a shaky sigh, the small feeling of safety leaving with him.

So! I wrote this story forever ago, hated it, then deleted it. But I've been thinking about this show recently and decided to rewatch. As I've been doing that, this story popped in my head again. Luckily, I had it saved so I've been editing it and making it much better. I have a few chapters already written that I need to fix. Let me know what you think!