Hope two in one day makes up for the shorter length of the chapters recently! Thank you for the support!

Chapter 10

"Well, if it isn't our own little outlaw." Gemma said, greeting me with a hug as I climbed out of the back of Lohen's Lincoln. I groaned but gave her a hug, she was the one that bailed me out and sent Lohen after all. "Opie, help the girl with her stuff."

"I can get it, Gemma." I shook my head but she wasn't hearing it. Opie grabbed both of my bags and headed towards the clubhouse.

"Sweetheart, you look like hell. You need to get inside, take a shower and go to bed. We can talk later." She waved me on to follow Opie before turning to speak to Lohen. Despite the sleep I got on the way back to Charming, I was still exhausted and a shower sounded wonderful. Opie dropped my bags off in Happy's room.

"Uh, Opie? That's Happy's room." I said, twisting my mouth. It was a dorm like apartment, not his house but it was still his place. I didn't want to be in there without him.

"Yeah, he was pretty clear on you staying in his room. He said he'll call you tomorrow." Opie said with an apologetic smile. I sighed, dreading the hypocritical lecture from the man that would be calling me from a prison payphone.

"Thanks for carrying this in." I said, stepping into the room as he walked into the hallway. He nodded with a warm smile. I closed the door and looked around the room. It was pristine, just like it had been every time I had seen it. I made a mental note to try and keep it as neat as possible.

I relied on muscle memory and self automation to take a shower and get into the bed. I was too tired to really think about what I was doing. The bed was much more comfortable than the thin mat in the jail cell and the backseat of Lohen's car. Even though I knew the sheet were clean, the bed still seemed to smell like Happy. It was oddly comforting.

"Hi." I didn't bother looking at the phone screen before answering the call. I knew Trinity wouldn't be calling me at that time and Opie had warned me that Happy was going to call. "Your bed is a lot bigger without you in it."

"Glad you didn't lose your sense of humor in jail." He grumbled. He didn't seem amused. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

"Don't you lecture me from where you're sitting, Happy." I sat up in the bed with a scowl. "I wasn't driving. I was just sleeping in the car and those assholes arrested me. I guess I would have been better off driving shit-faced."

"So you'd rather be dead than arrested?" I heard him sigh and I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry about the legal fees. I'll cover it."

"Absolutely not. I'm not owing you money, Happy." I said, throwing the covers off and getting out of the bed. I started pacing the room. "I did this. I'm an adult. I'll take the consequences and handle things myself. I don't need your help."

"You're being a stubborn bitch. She's the club's lawyer. Don't waste your money, Skye. You need it." He was really starting to get on my nerves.

"Stop speaking to me like a child, damnit. I know what I need. I can even manage to wipe my own ass and make sure I don't starve. It's amazing." I snapped.

"She won't take your money so stop bitching. I got to go. Don't be a bitch next time I call you." He growled. I jammed the end button on the phone before throwing it on the bed. He was the most infuriating man I'd ever met, even more than Elijah. I scowled at the phone for a minute before going into the bathroom to fix my hair and brush my teeth.

"Rough morning?" Tara asked as I walked out into the main room. I grunted and sat down on the couch across from her. She was giving Abel his bottle and looking at her phone. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what? Happy being a hypocritical jackass?" I grumbled. She looked up at me. "Sorry."

"No, I get it. I was talking about what happened though." She said with a sad smile.

"There's not much to say. I went to see my Dad's old base, I couldn't get past the gate, I found a bar and drank some whiskey and then slept in the car. You know the rest." I assumed Gemma had already told her everything else.

"So, that's why you went to the bar?" I shrugged, not interested in talking about what had led up to the drinking and eventual arrest. "I'm sorry, Skye."

"It's not your fault." I offered her the best smile I could muster but I could tell it wasn't very convincing. "I guess I should go talk to Gemma. See if I can't squeeze all the bad conversations I can into one hour."

"Don't forget, Jax is her son. She's used to helping him out of trouble." Tara said with a laugh. I smiled and stood up, giving Abel a little wave when he glanced over at me. I made my way across the lot to the garage office where Gemma was doing paperwork. It was Sunday, so the garage was closed but I knew there was probably a backlog of paperwork.

"Thank you for helping me, Gemma." I stood in front of her desk and crammed my hands into the front pocket of my jeans. She looked over her glasses at me and I started rocking back and forth on my heels.

"You're welcome." She said, looking back down at the papers in front of her. I bit my lip and waited for a second.

"That's it? No lecture or anything?" I was expecting her to chew me out for waking her up at least.

"You're an adult. I'm sure there's nothing I could say that you haven't already said to yourself. Just don't skip out on your bail." She said, signing the bottom of what looked like an order form. "I'm almost done here. You can start working tomorrow morning."

"Okay, thank you." I said, turning to leave. I heard her move and I paused. "Yeah?"

"One more thing. You get anything more than buzzed from now on and I'm going to kick your scrawny ass." I ground my teeth together, wondering where she got off telling me how to handle my drinking. Still, this was her business and she could kick me out of the clubhouse if I didn't do as she said. I nodded and left the office.

After a few days, I settled back into the swing of things around TM. I spent most of my time working and hanging out with Tara. Happy and I eventually stopped being mad at one another and I started writing to him every week or so. I also came clean with Trinity and told her what had happened. I wished she had yelled or thrown a fit. Instead, she just sounded disappointed and sad. It almost hurt worse than knowing I wasn't going to be able to see the country like I had planned.

"Skye, do you have a moment?" I looked up from the computer to see Lohen standing in the doorway. I nodded and she closed the door behind her. "I may have some good news."

"I'm all ears." I said, leaning forward. We had been meeting once a week for the last month, trying to make the best defense possible.

"Were you Mirandized at any point?" She asked, sitting at the edge of the sofa. I furrowed my brow, wondering what she meant.

"Mirandized?" I repeated. She nodded and seemed to realize that I didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

"Of course you don't know what that is, I'm sorry. When someone is arrested in the United States, the officers are required to Mirandize you. You would be given your rights in a very specific way. It starts out with, 'you have the right to remain silent'. Did anyone say that to you? It's very important." Lohen said, speaking slowly as if I barely understood English. I racked my brain but couldn't remember a single time anyone said something like that to me.

"No. No one said anything like that. I told them I wasn't going to talk to them after Gemma told me to wait for a lawyer and that's when they sent me to booking and everything." I explained, remembering the officer's annoyed attitude when I refused to talk to them any further. Lohen smiled and rose to her feet.

"It may cost us a trip back down there but this case is all but dropped. You have citizenship here. You should have been given your rights. Without that, anything they asked you or you answered is inadmissible." Lohen was speaking quickly again, obviously excited.

"The didn't ask me anything after they arrested me. They just gave me my phone call and then took me to booking." I said, not understanding how what she was saying applied to me. She shook her head.

"Trust me, it doesn't matter. The law is clear. I'll be in touch." She said, strolling over to the door. I watched her leave, still a little lost as to how she was going to get me off the hook. She was the one that went to law school though.

"She looked happy." Kozik said, walking into the office and standing right in front of the fan to cool off. I nodded and leaned back in the chair.

"She thinks she can get the case dropped." I said with a shrug. Kozik smiled and nodded with enthusiasm.

"That's awesome, Skye. We should celebrate." He said with a wink. The day I got back to Charming, he'd asked me if Happy and I were together. After I assured him we weren't, he started dropping hints and flirting. I shook my head with a laugh.

"I'm not counting my eggs just yet." I didn't want to get my hopes up only to hear that the case was still open.

"Aw, come on. Lohen's good. She's got the club out of worse than a DUI and an unloaded 9mm." Kozik laughed. I smiled and took a deep breath. He was charming and sweet but every time I thought about taking him up on his offer for a drink or a date, something just felt off about it.

"Ask me again if the case gets dropped." I said to avoid shutting him down on the spot. He gave me a big smile and a wink before going back to work in the garage. I finished the orders and paperwork for the day and headed inside to get cleaned up for girls' night with Tara. I decided not to say anything about the talk with Lohen. I didn't want Tara to be let down when it didn't pan out.

"Hey, cute dress." Tara said as I got into the passenger seat of her car.

"Thanks, I've had if for a while." We headed out to Lodi for my new favorite Italian spot. "You're getting bigger, mama."

"That's not a compliment, even if I'm pregnant." Tara laughed. I rolled my eyes playfully. We chatted about a surgery she'd done earlier that day until our dinner came. "What's on your mind?"

"It's nothing." I said, shaking my head as I took a sip of wine. Ever since Gemma's threat, I'd been cutting back on drinking and sticking to wine or beer. Tara pursed her lips impatiently. "It's stupid. Kozik has been flirting and wanting to go get a drink and stuff."

"He's a sweet one, Skye. If you tell him to stop, he will." Tara said. I shook my head and stabbed at my lasagna. "Is it that you don't want to go out with him or something else?"

"Both? I love him like a brother but even more than that, I don't feel right when I think about going out with him. I almost feel guilty." I admitted. Tara nodded slowly.

"You feel guilty because you have feelings for Happy, maybe?" Tara suggested. I had asked myself the same question but refused to answer it. I was trying to stay in denial for as long as possible.

"I don't know. I mean, we've had sex and it would just be weird to go out with his brother, even if they aren't blood." I said. It was the partial truth but deep down I knew there was more to it than that. Tara shook her head with a laugh.

"Just keep telling yourself that, sweetie." I waved her comment off, refusing to give the topic any more thought. Happy still had just shy of a year before he got out and that was dependent upon his good behavior. I didn't need to come to any conclusions any time soon.

"So, how are you and Jax?" I asked, changing the subject. Tara smiled and ran her hand over her stomach.

"As good as we can be with him inside. We've been talking a lot though. It's nice." She said, her eyes lighting up. We talked a little about how they met and some of their past issues before we headed back to Charming.

"Thanks for the ride." I said, aggravated that I couldn't drive or even try to get a license yet. Tara promised me that she didn't mind but I still felt like a mooch. She at least let me give her gas money sometimes. As I walked into the clubhouse, my phone started vibrating in my pocket.

"Happy? How are you calling me this late?" I asked, looking at my watch to see that it was almost eleven o'clock.

"Push-over guard. What are you doing?" He asked casually.

"I just got in from dinner with Tara." I said, opening the door to his room. I hung my bag on the back of the door where he normally kept his vest.

"Sounds fun. Think you could do me a favor?" It was the first time he'd asked me for anything since he'd been inside.

"Yeah, what do you need?" I asked, pulling my shoes off before lying on the bed.

"My mom is out of medicine. I need you to take her some money down there. Her insurance doesn't cover shit." Happy sounded annoyed when he mentioned the insurance.

"Yeah, I don't mind. She's a-" I cut myself off quickly. "I mean, she's your mom."

"She was at the restaurant when you went there, wasn't she?" Happy groaned. I refused to answer but apparently he took my silence as confirmation. "She thinks I don't know she's still working when she can. Just let Opie know to give you a grand out of my cut."

"Okay. Don't let your mom know I told you that she was there, please. She's sweet but if she can put up with you she's got to be crazy by now." I teased. Happy laughed, he genuinely laughed and I couldn't help but smile.

"You didn't tell me, remember. Thanks for doing this, baby." He still called me that from time to time. It bothered me less every time he said it.

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Happy." I said, getting ready to take a shower.

"Goodnight, Skye." I smiled and ended the call. It had been a pretty good day overall. I even started hoping that Lohen could work her magic with my case.

The next morning, Opie gave me the money Happy's mom needed and told me that he'd drive me down on Saturday. I tried to tell him it wasn't necessary but he wasn't having it. I had a feeling Happy had something to do with that. I was just leaving the office for lunch when I saw Lohen's Lincoln pull onto the lot. I felt butterflies start doing barrel rolls and dive bombs in my stomach.

"We're on the docket for Monday. They're dropping all charges and dismissing your case." Lohen said with a large smile. I covered my mouth to quiet my squeal a little. I couldn't help but run over and give her a hug. She laughed and gave me a little squeeze. "Come Monday, you're free to hit the open road. Just make sure to use buses or planes unless you get a license. We'll fly down Monday morning. That drive is a bitch."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Thank you." I watched her get back in her car and realized what she'd said. I would be free on Monday. I could go back to Belfast if I bloody wanted to. I wasn't tied to Charming anymore. I could get back to seeing the country like I'd planned. It was bitter-sweet. I wasn't sure if I was ready to leave the life I'd started making for myself in Charming. The town and my pseudo-family was really starting to grow on me.