Nora sat in her dorm room with various study notes scattered around the large mahogany desk. Her hand rested against the side of her temple while the other held a pencil rhythmically tapping against the desk, letting out a soft sight she glanced up at the clock. "Seriously?" she mouthed; it had felt like hours of her studying, instead it had only been a half hour.
She needed a coffee, or something to keep her alert. Dropping the pencil she pushed herself away from the desk and stood up. Even a five minute break would refresh her and she could continue to study. That was the plan. Grabbing her black hoodie that draped across the bed, and her purse that sat just beside the closest, she slipped on a pair of black flats and went out the door.
The hallway was occupied by other students who needed to study but refused to study in their room of fear that nothing productive would be done. Throughout the sea of people Nora spotted Brad sitting on a large plush chair with his laptop open and books spread around him. The artificial light casting an almost a dull grey against usual tanned skin, and his black brown hair was a disheveled mess instead of the long faux hawk he sported regularly. Standing at 6'0 his dark denim clad legs stretched far in front of him as the laptop sat firmly against his lap. For a brief moment she thought about how her own appearance. She hadn't looked at herself in a mirror and even though she was just going to grab a coffee she still missed the ritualistic mirror check. Hoping her newly dyed chocolate brown hair still remained in the high bun, the mascara she'd worn the night before hadn't streaked across her face and the choice of outfit didn't seem too frumpy. All she wore was a pair of tight dark blue jeans and a black zip hoodie and her black flats that really didn't go with the outfit, but who would really notice. Focusing back towards Brad she could see that he was grinning to himself and like the fool she was walked over to him "Doesn't really look like you're studying." She mused sitting on the arm of the chair.
Jumping slightly he blew out a curse before shifting to the side "Jesus Nora, are you a fucking ninja or something?"
"Maybe." She laughed softly, bending over towards him trying to get a glimpse of the screen "What'cha looking at?"
Before she could see what caught his attention he closed it quickly and frowned "Nothing, don't worry about it." Letting out a frustrated sigh "Shouldn't you be studying?" he emphasized the 'you'.
Sitting up straight again, she laughed "I need coffee. Want to come with?"
"Ah…Well…" Brad began to say looking down at his laptop "I don't know. Got lots of studying still."
"Mmhm" Nora rolled her eyes, took his laptop off his lap and grabbed at his hand to pull him up to stand "we'll be like five minutes."
Smirking Brad towered over her as they stood in the hall "five minutes." He raised his hand indicating five minutes, and then bent down to put his possessions into his messenger bag.
"Five minutes. I promise." She nodded before smiling triumphantly, it had usually taken her three or four tries before he reluctantly agreed to go anywhere with her. Not that she'd gone far from the campus, she'd actively avoided exploring the town, so the coffee shop, study hall, quad and gym were the only places she'd ventured. Making a quick stop to her room so Brad could drop off his bag they walked down the hall to the outdoors. The quad was vast, trees scattered the yard where students sat underneath to block from the high sun, and the buildings while old still held an aura of importance. Like the stories would come spilling out if given the chance. It was like the university was from a movie how perfect it was. Expect she was not the popular one that owned the school and instead had her small group of friends as she tried to keep her head hung low to avoid any unwanted visitors.
The coffee shop was about a block away and as they walked through the campus Nora noticed slight bags were starting to form under his green eye. "Everything okay?" she shaded her eyes to look up to him.
"Fine." He sighed, running a hand through the black strands to put it back into place "Just tired and stressed. My Mom has been on my ass about school." he paused to shrug "I don't know. It's not important I guess."
Nora had never personally met Brad's Mom but she had heard stories. Stories about how in high school he wasn't allowed to go out on weekends because his Mom wasn't satisfied with his ninety five grade point average and how instead of asking the hot chick to prom his Mom had handpicked his date. That being his Mom's best friend's daughter who in his words "was an easy eight" it still wasn't the girl he wanted to take.
Placing a supportive hand on his forearm, she looked up at him "Don't worry about her. You're far enough away that no matter what she may say you don't have to listen. Hell if you really think about it you're an adult. She can't bully you."
"You say that but you're not the only that she texts every minute to make sure you're studying, or thinking about studying and not out with friends like now." he said running a tired hand through his hair.
"You could always put your phone on vibrate" she pointed out which he granted a snort of laughter before nodding his agreement.
When they finally reached the coffee shop, Brad's stressed demeanor had passed and he was now smiling bright and laughed along with her stupid jokes. It was abundantly clear that not only did she need a coffee but Brad as well.
The Little Bird Café was a quaint little coffee shop that university students would come to study, write or just get away from the campus. Unlike most coffee shop it wasn't a Starbucks where it had the more corporate feel. Instead of steel everything there were small white tables with blue and green gerbera daisies centers pieces and blue chairs that sat nestled against the painted egg shell coloured wall. The counter though small still had an abundance of freshly baked muffins and cookies in the glass display cases. It was a cute little coffee shop in a sort of country chic way. Even the Baristas dressed in blue plaid quarter length sleeve button ups with the 'Little Bird Café stitched across the breast.
"Hello Doll. What can I get you?" the baristas whose smile could light up a room beamed at her.
"Hey, can I just grab a black coffee?" Nora asked with an equal amount of happiness just as the barista had. There was something intoxicating about her and not even Brad could contain his happiness as he held the exact same smile. Potential hooked up, Nora thought to herself.
"You bet, it will just be a minute and what about you handsome?" her tone changed slightly as she placed a hand on top of her hip as she gave a lingering stare.
"Same." He beamed like a child all the while he eyed her just as she had him.
"You got it." She nodded then turned her back towards the two as she hurriedly poured their coffee.
As they stood waiting for their drinks the sound of a motorcycle growled outside, it wasn't uncommon to hear bikes around town so both Nora and Brad ignored the menacing sound as they continued with their small chatter between each other. When the bike had cut and the sound of the door hit the bell both turned more out of sheer curiosity to see who it was that road the bike to begin with.
To Nora's surprise a tanned skin well-built man no taller than 5'11 with a strip of brown buzzed hair running down the middle of his head followed by two intricate tribal tattoo's marked the smooth sides walked in. Glasses shielded his eyes, but his smile made her melt even if it wasn't directed to her and was actually meant for the barista. As her stare lingered down she noticed the tight black shirt that stretched over his muscled chest and leather vest with the patch 'Sons of Anarchy' across his heart. Her eyes widened when she took in the name, spinning around in fear she cursed to herself. If anyone had known she was here it would destroy her cover. Destroy all the work she had done to avoid getting caught - to avoid going back to that lifestyle.
Brad took notice of how she lowered her head to avoid any eye contact from the person who just walked in. Thinking it was because she'd never actually seen a member of SAMCRO he shrugged it off and took his and her coffee once the barista placed it on the counter and walked towards the station where cream, milk and sugar sat.
Nora listened carefully as she heard the man's voice, it was smooth almost carefree in a sort of terrifying way. She could only imagine the scary things he done. But for whatever reason she was enthralled by his voice and the hearty laugh he gave as he spoke to the barista.
"Nora…" Brad said for the second time before she had caught on.
"Hm? What?" she sounded dazed but shook it off as she cleared her throat.
"You want sugar? I mean, I know I don't have to ask, but you look zoned out." He nudged her playfully before handing her the container of white sugar.
"Yeah, sure and I'm not." She laughed along with him while pouring a heaping amount into her cup. Brad continued to talk on and on about how the barista wrote her number on the sleeve of his cup and how he may actually take the plunge and call her. As he yammered on Nora hadn't noticed the person beside her until she caught the sound of someone clearing their throat and then a "When you're done with that can you pass I it over." He smiled a bright white smile once she turned her attention to him. He had his glasses off and were now resting on the neck of his shirt. Nora couldn't help but gape up as she looked into his brown eyes that held just a hint of honey coloring swirled between the dark brown. They were soft and friendly - like he wasn't a gang member.
'Get your shit together Nora, he's just asking for the sugar,' she told herself.
"Yeah…sure" she fought out. It was hard not to look away when he smiled as she handed him the glass bottle of sugar. Unsure if it was on purpose his fingers grazed hers causing small sparks to spread across her hand like she'd touch a light socket.
"Thanks." He tipped the sugar in her direction and smiled before pouring a heavy amount of sugar into his cup, just like she had with hers.
"For sure." She replied then turned on her heels to see Brad giving a wicked grin as he motioned his chin towards the man beside her. Rolling her eyes she stormed past Brad and left the coffee shop. It was one thing to see SAMCRO, but it was another thing to even speak to a person from that club.
"What was that all about?" Brad asked from behind her as he ran to catch up to her.
"What was what all about?" she asked casually like she wasn't on the verge of running back to her dorm.
When he finally caught up he placed a hand on her shoulder to spin her around "Nora, Jesus. What the hell is wrong with you?" he tried to catch his breath he'd been surprised just how fast she'd be walking.
Shaking her head she didn't want to tell him, didn't want to explain why she needed to get out before he'd recognize her. Not that he would. But, there was always that fear that maybe he would squint and see that she was Nora King daughter of Roman King the notorious Northern Angels MC President.