Ana was starting to wonder if she just attracted bad luck everywhere she went. Ever since she arrived in Charming, there's been rape and death and now, apparently, bombs.
Who would want to hurt Chibs? Who in the world had something against the lovable Scot?
Then again, it probably wasn't just Chibs they wanted to hurt. They wanted to hurt the Sons, and so far, whoever it was, they were succeeding. She'd overheard Jax talking about some guy named Otto losing an eye in Stockton, and mentioned something about Zobelle.
Zobelle rang a bell in her mind, but she couldn't place it at the moment. All she was worried about was if Chibs was going to die.
"He's stable but critical," Ana heard Tara say. Gemma sighed in relief.
"Critical?" Ana asked, confused. "Why?"
"Well, there is a bleed on the brain, and we have to make sure it doesn't get worse."
"If it does?" Gemma asked.
"We'd have to go in, relieve the pressure," Tara replied, sitting next to Ana.
"Crack open his head? Jesus," Gemma said. "Thanks, Tara."
They sat in silence for a while. Ana couldn't believe that a man who she cared for so much was now laying up in the hospital with his brain bleeding. She really couldn't believe that there had been a fucking car bomb to begin with. This was Small Town, USA, not the Middle Fucking East.
"You and Juice looked pretty cozy before all this shit went down," Gemma finally said. "He help get your mind off things?"
"For a minute," Ana said, remembering the almost kiss. She still got shaky thinking about what would have happened had that bomb not gone off. "I don't know what to do here, Gem. I like him a lot, but what if this bomb was a sign or some shit?"
Gemma sighed and tapped her fingers nervously. Ana and Tara shared a look, and Ana knew that Tara was thinking the same thing, but about her and Jax.
"It wasn't, sweetheart. You like Juice, the boy adores you, but I'd understand if you wanted to take some time to think about this. I'm sure he would, too," she finally said. "Ah, speak of the devil."
Juice rounded the corner to see Gemma, Tara, and Ana waiting in the hall.
"Any news?" he asked as he reached them.
"He's stable, but critical," Gemma said. "Nothing much they can do now but keep an eye on him."
"Good," Juice said, quietly. He was closest to Chibs than he was to anyone in the club, and this whole thing was screwing him up inside. He looked over at Ana, who looked the same shell shocked way she did the day she found out her father died. Instead of relief on her face, though, there was dread. "Ana, you alright?"
Ana's head snapped up at his voice, and nodded automatically.
"Yeah, I think so. Just...still processing, I think," she said.
Juice knew it was fucked up to think about while Chibs was laid up, but he couldn't help thinking about the moment right before the explosion. He was going to kiss her, she was about to let him. He didn't know if it was some seize the day bullshit, or just an adrenaline rush, but he wanted to see what would happen if he tried kissing her again. He was sure Chibs wouldn't mind. Other than Gemma, Chibs was the most eager to get them together, and he sure couldn't disappoint the man now.
"Come walk with me," he said, reaching out his hand. Ana took it without question, knowing that Gemma would have her ass if she didn't.
Juice led her to the elevator and once the doors closed, he put his arm around her and pulled her to him.
"Juice I-"
"Don't," he said, right before he kissed her softly.
Her lips tasted better than he had imagined. He felt her freeze up for a moment before moaning softly and giving in. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he ran his hands down her back, smiling slightly as she shivered a little. He pressed his lips to hers again, a bit more eager this time, kissing her a little more passionately as her fingers stroked the back of his neck. His lips moved from her mouth to her neck and she whimpered as he hit a sensitive spot.
She felt his lips curl into a smile as he kissed the spot again before pulling away as the doors opened. He shot a cocky grin to a couple of doctors getting on as he took her hand and led her off the elevator and into the atrium.
"What was that?" she asked, sitting on a bench.
"It was a kiss, Ana," Juice said, sitting down next to her, still grinning like a guy who just got laid. Hell, if he had kept it up in the elevator, he would have done just that. "It's that thing two people who like each other do sometimes."
Ana rolled her eyes but grinned at him anyway. "It was good, but doesn't change that I need to think about a lot of things," she said.
Juice scoffed, pretending to be offended. It wasn't good. It was fucking amazing and if he had his way, there would be more of it going on. More kissing, more touching, more everything. Kissing her was like giving an alcoholic a sip of wine, some of the sweetest fucking wine he'd ever tasted.
"Good, huh?" he asked her. "Not the words I would use."
"Well, it was good for me," Ana said defensively.
Juice cracked up. "It was for me too, babe. It was more than that, it was awesome."
"I still-"
"Gotta think about things, I know, I get it," Juice said, leaning back and stroking her hair, that was starting to be more wavy and less straight. He realized she'd had to have been up a whole day without sleep when he noticed how light it was outside. They were both content with not talking for a while, so he let Ana nod off as he dealt with what was running through his mind.
He knew the bomb would be a huge setback for him and her, relationship wise, and he did owe her the thinking time. He wasn't about to be a dick and tell her to be all in or not at all. Not after what just happened in the elevator. He knew she could adjust, but it had to be on her own time.
He sighed and nudged her awake.
"Ana, you need to get home and get some sleep," he said.
"Don't you want to talk about us?" she asked drowsily.
"Like I said earlier, you do what you have to do, babes," he said, kissing her cheek. "But when you're ready, let me know. Because trust me, I'm all in, here. And I'll wait."
They sat in silence for a moment before Juice's phone rang.
"When I said I'll wait, I meant metaphorically," he said, looking at the phone. "Got to take care of club business. You stay safe, gorgeous," he said, dropping a kiss on top of her forehead. "I'll call you later."
Ana just sat back with a bemused expression on her face. This was definitely new coming from Juice, and she actually liked it. Sure, she loved when he treated her like a friend, but now he had a swagger about him, a confidence she hadn't seen before, and it was one hell of a turn on.
And that kiss. That kiss was hotter than anything she and Gavin or Casey had shared. He had her wanting to press the emergency stop when he found that spot on her neck, and thinking about it now made her want to take a cold shower.
Great kissing aside, there was still the matter of the club to think about. Would they accept her being with Juice? Did that put her as someone the club held in esteem? Would she be in danger once the news broke that she was with Juice? Would the club let her get hurt?
These were all questions she needed to ask him, when he called that night.
So she went home not long after he left, and decided to get some sleep while she waited for him to call as he promised her he would.
But he never did.
Juice rode in the back of the van in between Happy and Tig. He had a bad feeling about this whole thing, but Clay wasn't in the talking mood. He knew this was less about revenge and more about one upping Jax, as it had seemed to always be about these days. The whole club saw it, but no one seemed to want to tell Clay that this was a bad idea. Juice had a feeling they were walking into a trap, but he knew that the club needed him, so he went with them.
Now Juice was holding his gun between his legs as he was doing more research on the reason Ana was fired. He'd hacked into the district's email servers and was now reading emails between Jacob Hale, the superintendent, and Zobelle's daughter, Polly. It turned out that when Ana was in Seattle, Polly Zobelle was the substitute. After Ana got back was when the emails started, Polly saying she feared that Ana's close relationship to a SAMCRO member was putting the school in jeopardy and she felt it would be safer if Ana was no longer teaching.
Juice swore and slammed the computer shut.
"Fucking bitch!" he yelled.
"What?" Happy asked.
"Zobelle's daughter. She's the one who got Ana fired," Juice said angrily. "She was the substitute while Ana was in Seattle."
"Now they're fucking with someone outside of the club," Tig said darkly. "Ana and me don't get along much but the girl doesn't deserve that."
Juice seethed as they got closer to the church. "This is complete bullshit," he said to Happy. "I don't think we need to be doing this."
Happy clapped his shoulder.
"Chill out, man. I got your back."
"Jax and Ope's up ahead guys," Clay said. "Get ready to kick some ass."
So I tried to put more narrative in this one. Not much but as their romance heats up (and it will, trust me), there will be less dialogue and more other stuff. Sorry, it's nearly 3AM when I finished this. I'm rewatching everything and my mind is in overdrive.
As always, cool points to the reviewers and followers. You are all buckets full of awesome sunshine
