Chapter 3: Outsider Idiot

Hannah had her books firmly pressed to her chest as she made her way inside the clubhouse. They weren't particularly heavy but she held them with such force they might as well have been bricks. It had become a usual pattern of hers now, going to the motorcycle club hang out after school to work on her homework and wait to hear from her uncle. She'd learned fast that even if she was able to reach him every hour of the day, she never really knew where he was or what he was doing, and the thought of him putting himself in dangerous situations had her worrying. Plus, at the clubhouse, she was always sure to find someone while always being able to work quietly in her uncle's dorm room, unbothered but still in the loop of things.

They clubhouse was empty except for Jax and Bobby, the two men clearly waiting for something, in between actions. Their eyes met her lean figure as she kept on walking, used to sharing the place with different SAMCRO members. It was their place, after all, and she was only a new addition to the various ties of the group. They were home, and she was just passing.

"Hi Jax, hi Bobby," she greeted them, her backpack bouncing on her lower back as her steps quickened towards the corridor. Even though she much preferred being here than alone confined in her uncle's house, she was very careful not to intrude or disturb whatever was going on with the club, and learned to stay away unless she was directly asked to stay.

"Hi Hannah," the two men responded in unison as she reached the hallway, her body disappearing behind the wall, her ponytail waving at them as she strode away.

Bobby let out a short snort as he went back to his drink, obviously finding the girl rather odd, and wasn't the only one. Jax shot him a look and went back to where Hannah had been, a smile tugging at his lips. She was weird, that was true, but he liked that about her. She was nothing like any girl he'd ever seen hanging around the club, and not only because she dressed in a reserved fashion and didn't throw herself at the first sight of a leather jacket, but she was so damn... quiet. She was clumsy, easily embarrassed, always stumbling over words when she succeeded in getting them out. She had nothing to envy, yet she seemed completely unbothered at the strength and hard attitude that characterized people around her, like she didn't envy anyone else either. Odd.

"Jesus Christ," Bobby sighed, and Jax's attention went back to the older man.

"Calm down, he's not even late yet."

The bearded man watched as the Vice President sat himself next to him on one of the couches, letting his head rest on the back of it. He was tired from lack of sleep and improper work hours, his eyelids growing heavy as he forced himself to sit upright. Now was not the time for resting.

A knock on the front door brought the two men in a standing position, but they didn't need to move as the newcomer let himself in slowly, his head appearing from behind the wooden door before the rest of his body.

A large goofy grin spread across his face as he caught sight of the two club members, and was welcomed by the same attention from the blond man.

"Juice. Glad you came, man," Jax told him, reaching the Puerto Rican man in a manly hug, the two of them clapping each other's back like old friends. Truth was, they didn't know each other that well, Juice had in fact only moved in Charming a couple months ago, but they had grown into liking each other over too many beers and restless nights.

The V.P. was well aware their meeting was nothing of a coincidence, and Juice's desire to be part of the MC blasted through his eyes every time he glanced at the patch at Jax's chest.

"Shit, of course," Juice answered matter-of-factly, like the thought of not coming at Jax's request hadn't even crossed his mind. He shook Bobby's hand, having met the man once or twice but not enough to call him a friend just yet.

Jax waved towards one of the couches, sitting himself to where he'd been before greeting his guest. Juice obliged, positioning himself in front of the two members, facing them with a serious expression, to which the blond man smiled.

"What' you need, man?" Juice asked after a moment, his eyes going between Bobby and Jax.

"I need a favor."

"Sure, anything."

Jax shared a look with Bobby before going back to Juice's face, clearly having told the Elvis impersonator all about his clear desire to join in.

"I need you to access through the state police system," he said, his head moving with his words, emphasizing how truly important this mission was. The whole time Juice only nodded. "I need names, records history, shit, anything you can get me."

"Yeah, no problem. Piece of cake," the darker man answered, and Jax let a grin appear on his face.

"I also need you to clear off some things in Bobby's record," the blond man added, and it took a little longer for the other one to reply.

"Shit. Why?"

Jax stiffened, clearly having not expected to be asked questions. When someone wanted in they should always do whatever the members told them to do, and they didn't need to know why. If not, they'd never make it through prospecting. Juice seemed to get the vibe, letting his wondering expression fall.

"Look, I just need you to do this as a favor to the club. If you do, I'll let you prospect."

Juice's eyes widened, his heart doing splits in his ribcage as he leaned forward, making sure he'd heard him right. The excitement in his face got both men to smirk.

"Really?!" Juice heard himself ask, but he was somehow too stoked to even realise it.

"Yeah," Jax nodded, and the other man smiled broadly.

"Thanks man. Really."

"Oh don't thank me."

Bobby let out a laugh, knowing full well that what the Puerto Rican man was getting into wasn't the best part of being in the club, for sure. Being a prospect was being the club's bitch, cleaning after everyone and doing the jobs no one wanted to do. Getting bossed around, tending the bar instead of drinking from it, taking care of the Old Ladies. Hell, it sucked, big time. But was came afterwards was the real thing, the pride of being a member of the Sons of Anarchy. Redwood Original. Being part of the club, protecting it, making it your own. Being a family.

"No, really. Thank you," Juice said again softly, and Jax grew serious.

"You sure you want to?" he asked him, and the other didn't hesitate half a second to nod his head.

"Absolutely. This is what I want."

"Good."

Jax let out a sigh and stood up, to which Juice and Bobby followed suit. The blond man presented his hand to the one facing him, and Juice took his hand firmly before being pulled in another hug, the two men clapping each other on the back.

"I'll get started, just gotta get my stuff from my bike," Juice said when they pulled back. Jax nodded and watched him walk away, turning to Bobby with a smirk once the man was gone.

"Really? That idiot?" Bobby asked, shaking his head.

"Can be useful. That guy can work a computer like no one I ever met."

"Still an idiot. A brown outsider idiot," Bobby continued, not entirely satisfied. Jax only shrugged.

"I trust him."

The older man met Jax's eye as they shared a look, Jax having his eyebrow raised high, like he usually did when having a silent argument with someone. I'm right, it said. And I'll prove it. Bobby shook his head yet again but decided finally to also shrug it off, trusting his V.P. enough to wait until proven wrong.

"Cool Mohawk."

When Hannah let herself out of her uncle's dorm room, it was nearly eight o'clock, and having gotten no news from Chibs, she figured he must have been busy with club business. Again. She's waited long enough, she thought, and her stomach seemed to think so too, growling loudly to let her know how hungry she really was.

When she arrived in the wide area where the bar stood, silence welcomed her, but she knew right away she wasn't alone. Further in the room, propped up on one of the high tables, a man was deeply focused in what was happening in front of him, his rather big laptop computer flashing different shades of color on his darker face. Hannah made no noise to announce herself, and instead stayed still by the hallway, confused as to why a man who wasn't a club member would be left alone in the clubhouse. He wore no cut she could see, and he didn't look like the others did. His face twisted in confusion in a ridiculous way, his eyes scanning the screen as if looking for answers he couldn't find, his tongue curled up on his upper lip from the effort. Contrasting with his muscled body and broad shoulders, his face was somewhat childish, making him seem younger than he really was. He didn't look like someone who would get involved with the club at all, Hannah thought. But she could be wrong.

Either way she wouldn't stick around to find out. Pressing her books yet again to her chest, the young girl made her way towards the door, her eyes focused in front of her, refusing to look at the man. The sound of her steps must have betrayed her presence, though, because she heard him curse beside her, and stopped right away, glancing back at him again. He was looking at her now, a hand on his chest, panting, like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Jesus Christ, you scared the shit outta me," he told her as she sensed a slight accent, but couldn't pin from where.

Sorry, she thought, but couldn't say it. She didn't deal well with strangers, especially with men who were as big as him. He wasn't very tall but his shoulders were clearly twice as big as hers, and she didn't need to stand beside him to know that.

After a minute of not talking, the man let out a laugh, revealing his pearly white teeth in a goofy grin to her, and she felt her shoulders relax. He couldn't be all bad if he smiled like that, she told herself, but still made to movement to leave, or to speak either.

"You good?" he asked her, clearly wondering if she'd just frozen there.

Hannah nodded, her tongue curling behind her teeth but her jaw staying firmly shut. She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to get her body to function again as she cursed herself. It's wasn't like that never happened. In fact, it happened every time she was amongst people she didn't know or wasn't comfortable with. Going into a complete shutdown wasn't foreign to her, yet, she still hated it just as much every time it happened.

"You sure?" he asked again, and she nodded again, having only that to carry the conversation. "You look like you're scared I'll eat you," he laughed, but she didn't seem amused even a little bit.

Swallowing, that was good; she was able to do that again. Soon she might be able to open her mouth. Maybe. For now she only stared at him, finally getting some sense into her legs as she made a move to walk the remaining steps towards the door.

"I won't!"

Hannah stopped moving again, her stare still fixated on him. She raised an eyebrow, confused, and still wondering why she'd stopped again.

"Eat you, I mean," he explained, but seemed to think he shouldn't have said anything the second after saying it. An awkward silence settled in again, and Hannah couldn't help but laugh a little. Her body was less tensed now, and it felt good to have it vibrate like it did through her chuckling. Juice seemed to ease up on his chair as well, thinking he'd scared the girl so much she was running away from him. "That sounded kinda weird, sorry."

As an answer, Hannah only shrugged. And smiled. Juice's goofy grin appeared on his face again as he let a leg hang low on the stool he was in.

"Not a big talker, are ya?"

Hannah shook her head softly, feeling her cheeks warm up. She could tell where his accent was from now, somewhere around New York. It sounded very rough and strange to her, but she'd her it before, and always thought it had an appealing sound to it.

"That's cool."

Not being a big talker was an understatement, she thought, but she was getting better. Spending time around the club had made her more comfortable in bigger crowds, and she was now able to talk to a few of them, the ones she remembered from when she was a kid. She was okay around Jax and Opie mostly, and could afford a word or two with Tig. She was getting used to Bobby now, too, and she said hello to him when they met. And with her uncle, well, she was actually a normal person.

"I talk too much," he continued, snapping her out of her thoughts. She concentrated on his face, watching him as he repositioned himself on the chair. "I swear, you get me started and I won't stop. Mindless shit, you know? Doesn't make sense. I should learn to do that," he said, pointing at her. "You know, not talk. Like you."

"You wouldn't want that."

Juice stopped himself, clearly surprised of having heard her voice after five minutes of her being completely silent. He smiled at her, expressing he liked it. Her voice was smooth and soft, exactly how she looked.

"Woah."

Hannah's cheeks turned to a bright shade of pink, looking down at her books. She didn't even know how she'd managed to let a word out, let alone four. Plus, his reaction made her nervous.

"Why not?" he finally asked. Clearly he'd been too surprised by her talking to even understand what she had said.

"Because... you seem to like talking."

Her response made him laugh, but he nodded, shrugging. She had a point there, he thought, but didn't continue. There was no need to prove her right and show her another example of how much he couldn't shut up.

"I like when you talk," he commented, a new kind of smirk appearing on his face, the kind that made girls giggle and blush at boys in the hallways at school. Hannah felt a weird sensation in her stomach, one she couldn't remember feeling before, and felt her cheeks warm up yet again.

"Why?" she asked, her heart rate increasing too fast for her liking.

"I like how your lips move."

Instinctively, Sarah pushed her lips together, hiding them away from his view. The action only got him to widen his smirk, completely unbothered by how unfamiliar a situation like this was for her.

"I have to go."

Her fingers curled tighter around her books as she spun on her heels and made a run for the door, a habit she knew well to run away from an uncomfortable situation if she had the chance. She could barely understand how she hadn't done that before, wondering why she had let the dark stranger keep her there for so long. He hadn't said anything of particular interest, and hadn't been someone she liked or wanted to know better, either. He was just there, with his goofy grin and rather handsome face, getting a reaction out of her even though she'd given up on getting comfortable around men a long time ago.

The thoughts clouded her mind as she pushed on the door and let the warm air of charming hit her face. Taking a deep breath, she slowed her pace and took a moment to replay the conversation in her head. That man had been flirting with her, she realised; trying to get her cheeks as red as they had been and make it hard for her to think on purpose. A frown appeared on her face and she took her usual way towards her uncle's house, glad that by the time of year, it wasn't completely dark outside yet.

Men only flirted with women they thought were attractive, often with sexual intent and desire. Surely the dark stranger couldn't have felt this way about her, she thought. She was just a teenager, a very plain one at that, with conservative clothing, who didn't dress to impress such men. Men like him. Handsome ones, who could get any girl that they wanted.

The whole thing didn't make sense and she found herself shaking the thoughts away as she made her way further down the street. Boys didn't look at her that way, never had, and she had almost made peace with the fact that they never would. No one had ever told her she was beautiful other than her mom, and sometimes, her uncle Chibs, who would have basically done anything to make her happy. To bring her back to the girl she used to be before eight years had separated them. Nothing, in the way things had been, could have made her feel anything more than a plain looking normal girl. Maybe the stranger simply needed glasses.

Either way, she decided that, for her sake, it was better she didn't run into him again.

The house was obviously empty when Hannah finally got there, and she lingered on the silence for a moment as she stood in the doorway, welcoming the familiarity like an old friend. Her house had always been this silent when she got home back in Seattle, whether her mother had been there or not. Her presence was like one of a ghost, the person she had once been only a memory engraved in her daughter's head. The rest had only been flesh, bones, and tears.

She had probably been there for two minutes when the rumble of a motorcycle filled her ears as well as the entire neighborhood, getting the teenager to turn around and wait for the engine to make its way towards her. As expected, her uncle's Harley appeared in front of her seconds later and Hannah felt her body ease up, only realising now how tensed she had been. Not knowing where her uncle was did that to her, even if the dependence they both had on each other wasn't good for either of them.

"Sorry 'bout the time," Chibs told her once he'd parked his ride and taken his helmet off, reaching her side on the front porch.

"It's okay," she told him in a small voice, shrugging it away. She closed the door behind them as her uncle let go on a long sigh, passing a hand through his short hair.

"No, it's not," he said, his tone harsh, but not at her. "I should'a called ye."

"I would have liked that," Hannah admitted, but she didn't add anything else. Instead, she walked towards her room to put her books down on her desk and drop her school bag on the floor. Her uncle followed her watched as she placed her things, his shoulder keeping him standing and he rested on the door frame.

"Ye went waiting for me at the clubhouse, didn't ye?"

Hannah's eyes met with his face only for a moment before she went back to her bag, taking the remaining books out of it to put them with the others.

"I like doing my homework there," she explained, but Chibs jaw only tightened as he sighed deeply. He seemed to be the only one to blame himself for leaving her alone so much, while she always insisted to tame the guilt building in his chest every time he tried apologizing to her.

"Hannah..." his voice trailed off, and that was enough to stop her from moving around and get her to settle down and look at him clearly. He looked exhausted, his small eyes red and tired, big purple bags hanging underneath them. His face was serious, betraying the helplessness he felt when it came to her. She was a grieving child living miles away from what had once been her home, quiet, lost, caring for him in the way he should be caring for her. He'd tried slowing things down to make room for her, to make her feel welcomed in his home, to support her in her sadness after losing her own mother.

But everything was so complicated and Hannah was left to take care of herself and go to school while worrying for wherever he was and how dangerous the situation could be. His culpability towards it all was one of the main reasons he'd never settled down with a woman ever since stepping foot in America. Having those pleading eyes watch him leave in the morning, wondering if he'd ever come back, was more haunting that anything the club had led him to do.

"I'm sorry."

His tone had been firm and Hannah felt a shiver run through her spine as the truth in his words stuck her. She could tell by his eyes just how much that was true, and the sight of it brought a wave of emotion so strong she had to turn away.

"I know."

Before she could go back to what she had been doing, Chibs had her in his arms, and Hannah had let herself fall on him in the same manner than her first night in Charming after her mother's passing. Those moments rarely happened; in fact, they didn't. Chibs had been very understanding in the past two months, and the way they acted with each other proved the strong bond they shared, but hugs and tears had been avoided as much as possible, mostly on Hannah's side than her uncle's. She had figured that shutting herself away and making the transition easier on him was the way to go, but her uncle didn't seem to feel the same.

"This is harder than I thought it'd be," he mumbled near her forehead, his cheek pressed up on it, and Hannah only smiled. "I wished ye were still a little kid and I could chase ye around the house and tiring ye out in front of a Disney movie to make it all okay."

The last part made her laugh and Hannah broke their embrace to look up at him. This was why she didn't want to make him feel guilty about being so busy and not being able to tell her about much. Chibs loved her in a way only family bonds could let you, through anything, and would literally do anything to make her happy. That was more than enough, and exactly what she needed.

"How about a stupid comedy and some popcorn?" she proposed, and her uncle's face finally turned into a grin.

"We have popcorn?"

"Since I do the groceries, yeah, we do."

Chibs chuckled and shook his head, silently admitting how impressed he was at his seventeen years old niece who did everything around the house he didn't have time to do, while being a full time student and the smartest girl he'd ever met.

"Alright. Comedy it is."

Hannah's face lit up in a heartbeat, supporting the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her. Maybe he wasn't so bad at this after all, he thought, as she practically ran her way towards to living room. He reached her a couple seconds later, while she had already chosen the movie and was leaving the room to go make popcorn in the kitchen.

"There's a message," she announced from the other room, seeing the flashing red light on the wall phone. "Should I get it?"

"Sure."

Chibs let himself fall down on the couch as Hannah grabbed the phone and composed pressed a button, waiting patiently for the machine to process. They rarely got called here, most of the phone conversations Chibs had were on his pre-pays, so the teenager was curious as to who could be calling them on the land-line. Her question was quickly answered when the machine beeped and the voice of a woman filled Hannah's ears.

"Hi, I'm Kathy Oliver, I'm calling to follow up on Hannah Telford's condition... She was admitted in our program a little over two years ago and we thought important to make sure she was getting the proper attention considering..."

Hannah's eyes snapped wide open as the words got lost through her thoughts, panic taking over the innocent glee she'd been feeling about sharing a nice evening with her uncle. No. That was the only thing she could think of saying. No. Not this.

Bile rose in her throat at the thought of her uncle getting the message before her, finding out about what made her so different from other teenagers. One of the good things about her moving had been that no one knew about this, not even Chibs, and she'd been able to pretend to be just like any other girl. Not anymore, she thought, if this woman was able to get in touch with her uncle.

"... we'd really appreciate if you could call us back. Though Hannah had been doing better in the last months, we fear the latest events might affect her."

Hannah took a deep breath and slammed the phone back on the wall, unable to hear another word. She was better, thank you very much, and needed that woman to put her smelly nose in someone else's business.

"What was it?" her uncle's voice came from the living room, and Hannah took a moment to compose herself before answering.

"Nothing," she lied, closing her eyes as she took calming breaths. "It was a wrong number."

Hannah pushed her shaking body towards the cupboard to take out a bag of popcorn, trying to forget about the sick feeling in her stomach. She'd be damned if she let her uncle find out about this.

"Hurry, I want popcorn!"

Her shaking fingers fumbled with the plastic wrap as she took a final breath, one sure to make her calm down. And it did. But when the last pop erupted from the microwave, Hannah's heart was still threatening to crawl out of her chest.

Hello! Yes, I know, this took a lot longer to update than I thought, but I did my best! I hope everyone enjoys this and thank you, again, for all the reviews and the favourites and the subscribing =) Means so much to me.

On that note, please review and happy holidays!