Disclaimer: I own nothing. Doing this for fun. No profit made just people (hopefully) entertained.
A/N: There's a little bit of jumping around in this chapter, a lot of stuff happens. Things are about to take a turn for Madeline and Happy. Will they come out stronger or not make it through at all?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
She was married. Madeline stared down at the ring on her finger for a long time before she got out of bed. There was a persistent and pretty painful ache between her legs but she wasn't going to complain. Over and over again they'd consummated the marriage and hadn't managed to get a lot of sleep, that was why she was extra careful to slip from the bed without waking him.
Madeline put on her robe and headed out of the bedroom to see what devastation had happened to the house the night before and to check on Eve. She made her new mother-in-law the first stop. "Ma?" She rapped her knuckles on the door and was surprised when Tara opened it. "Tara?"
"Hey, I was just about to come and wake you guys."
"What's wrong?" All the joy that she'd had inside of her fled and was replaced by fear. "Tara?"
"Destroyer had me come in last night when her stats started dropping," the woman explained. "I managed to get her comfortable and she woke up and threatened me if I interrupted your wedding night." A sad smile crossed her face, "I think that she's hoping you made her a grandchild last night."
"How much time does she have Tara?" Madeline ignored the grandchild comment.
"No one knows that Maddy but if I had to guess, I'd say that it'll be soon."
"I need to wake Happy up." Tears clung to Madeline's lashes as she darted out of the room. She ran down the hall to the bedroom and the door opened before she could get inside. "Hap."
Happy took one look at her expression and knew that something was wrong, knew that there was only one reason that she'd have that look on her face just minutes after she'd slipped out of their bed with a wide smile. "Is she dead?" His voice sounded strange to his ears.
"No but Tara's with her, she doesn't think that there's much time left. I am so sorry Happy." Madeline moved forward and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry."
He held her against him for a moment. "Not your fault," he said finally. "Don't look at me like that Mad."
"Like what?" She questioned.
"Like you fucking pity me," he replied. "Gonna go and see her."
Madeline exhaled as he walked past her. She'd known that this moment was coming but there was no way to prepare for it, not twelve hours before they'd been completely wrapped up in one another happier than they'd ever been and now she could almost feel the distance starting to grow between them.
Eve's words replayed in her mind over and over like they were on a loop. No matter what happened she couldn't let him push her away. She was his. He was hers. They would get through this together.
Happy shot Tara one look as he walked in the door of his mother's room and the doctor hastily excused herself. He pulled over a chair, sat down and took a good hard look at the woman who'd raised him, given him everything and still loved him despite how fucked up he'd turned out. "Ma." His voice was deeper than normal, emotions that he wasn't comfortable feeling had his chest feeling tight. It was hard to swallow, shit it was hard to breathe.
There was no response from the woman on the bed so he reached out and took her hand. Several minutes ticked by and then he heard the door open again. "Get out." He said without looking over at the door.
The door shut and he sighed. "Fuck Ma, just get up," he told her. "Open your eyes." It was a plea, a dream that he knew wasn't going to happen. He jolted at the feeling of a hand settling on his shoulder. "I said get out."
"I'd like to stay," Madeline told him softly. She took his silence as agreement and ran her hands over his shoulders.
"She won't wake up." His voice cracked so he didn't say anything else but he brought his hand up to cover hers. "The fuck am I supposed to do?"
"I don't know," Madeline admitted, "but I do know that she'd like that you're here. She loves you Hap, loves you so much." On the last word her voice shook, Happy turned his head and saw tears flowing down her face.
"Come here." He waited for her to move to his lap and help her tight against him. "She loves you too, made her real happy to know that I found someone."
"I'm here Hap. I'm not going anywhere, ever." Madeline focused on the bed and watched Eve's chest rise and fall shallowly. "We're here Ma. We're right here." She leaned over and ran her fingers over Eve's hand.
Happy sat without saying a word as his wife continued to talk to his mother as her breathing became slower. He couldn't even be sure what she was saying but there was comfort in her voice and he could only hope that his mother felt that as well.
He'd give anything to have her around longer, would happily trade places with her. Eve had never had an easy life. She'd had shitty parents, left home as a teen only to end up pregnant by his loser father who took off when things got tough. After that she'd had her hands full with him. Just the thought of the shit that he'd put her through shamed him and it hadn't just been a rough teenage phase. She had to have been disappointed when he started to prospect with the Sons but she'd never said a word against it. All his life she'd let him make his own decisions and stood by him no matter what the outcome. Now all he could do was sit here and wait for her life to end.
At least she had gotten to see the wedding, it had been in some ways more important to her than him. Honestly, if she hadn't given him the ring and a little bit of subtle pressure about making the union legal he would have been content to let things go on as they were. He didn't need the ring or marriage license because he knew that Madeline was his.
"You want to take a break? Get some air?" Madeline looked over to him, her eyes wet with tears once again.
"Nah, you can if you need to." He ran his hand over her back.
"I'm good. I don't want to leave her or you." She sniffled and buried her face against his neck as he drew her closer.
Hours passed and they remained there. Tara came back in from time to time to check Eve's breathing and to make sure she was comfortable but aside from that she didn't interfere with the vigil that the two were keeping.
They were both surprised when Eve's eyes fluttered open. "Happy?" Her voice was weak but her words were clear. "Maddy?"
"Right here Ma. Right here." Maddy shifted off of Happy's lap so he could reach his mother easier.
"Heard you... such a good girl." Eve's eyes focused on them and she smiled softly. "I'm ready for this. I'm tired of hurting. Come closer Happy, sit with me."
"I can leave you two alone if..."
"No." Eve shook her head. "I want my family with me, my son and my beautiful daughter." Happy moved to sit on the edge of the bed and Madeline went to the other side. "I love you both, I love you both very much."
"Love you too Ma." Happy took her hand and held it gently. He was sure that he was going to hurt her but she just continued to smile.
"Me too Ma." Madeline began to sob softly.
"Shh." Eve reached out and patted her leg. "It's all going to be okay." Her eyes fluttered closed again, one hand remained on Madeline's leg and Happy took the other.
They sat there, together, for a long time until Eve's chest no longer rose and fell. Happy noticed it first. "Ma." He shook her arm, harder than he would have dared if he didn't know that she was gone. He'd seen death before, too many times.
"Oh God." Madeline reached up and smoothed Eve's hair down. "Hap?" Her voice shook with restrained emotion and he knew that she was going to start crying.
"Go get Tara." There was nothing that the doctor could do and as much as he hated to admit it even to himself he wanted to spend just a minute alone with his mother. Once the door shut he lowered his head to the bed and allowed the tears that were burning his eyes to finally fall.
He couldn't remember the last time he cried but it had to be when he was a kid, getting hurt on the playground or some shit like that. He knew what his mother had done though, knew that she'd have comforted him, held him and told him that she loved him. "I love you Ma, I fucking love you."
14 14 14
Happy hadn't said a word in hours. Tara had come into the room and checked Eve's vitals. She'd confirmed what they knew and left to make arrangements for the body. He hadn't wanted to think of his mother as a body even though he could already feel the way that her skin was cooling down. Soon she would be completely cold to the touch, her muscles would harden and then they'd stick her in a box and sink her in the ground.
There mere thought of it sent him into a rage, so much so that when Skeeter and the other guy from the funeral home had showed up he'd lunged at them. It had taken Opie, Jax and Tig to pull him back. All of his Brothers had shown up and they were all still there, he could hear their voices through the walls of the guest room but he'd just gone back and sat in the chair. The chair that he'd been in when his mother died. He didn't know where Madeline was and that pissed him off.
She was his fucking Old Lady, his wife! Her place was at his side. The anger grew and grew inside of him until he couldn't take it one second longer. He got to his feet and stalked into the living room. She wasn't there.
"Yo Hap, I'm so fucking sorry Man." Juice rose to his feet and tried to approach him but stopped at the glaring look sent his way.
"Leave him be Juicy." Chibs spoke softly, sadly. "Anything we can do Brother, we're here."
Happy could only nod. He left the living room and found the women in the kitchen, well most of the women. Madeline wasn't there. She wasn't in the backyard either. He checked their bedroom last and found her sitting on the bed just staring at the wall.
"Hap." Her voice cracked and she shot to her feet. Before he could react she was on him, her arms around him tightly. "Tell me what to do."
He didn't answer, couldn't answer. What she could do? What the fuck did she think that she could do? She couldn't bring Eve back. He knew that his anger was misdirected but it was so all consuming that he couldn't stop it. It had taken over him.
Madeline let out a squeak of surprise as he grabbed her chin roughly and tilted her head back. His mouth crashed down on hers and there was nothing soft or sweet about it. She realized he wasn't being driven by love or even grief, it was anger that fueled him. His hands dug into her skin and she hissed. "Hap."
He ignored her soft plea and grabbed for the waist of her pajama pants as he walked her backwards towards the bed. Roughly he pushed her down and covered her body with his. "Hap!" Madeline felt her heart race hard as he grabbed her hands and pinned them to the bed.
Again he took her mouth, roughly shoved his tongue in before he bit down hard on her bottom lip. His hips moved against her, the rough denim of the jeans he'd pulled on against her soft warmth. He gripped her hands tighter and began to thrust harder against her.
"Happy. Baby. Please." Madeline struggled against his grip. "Baby, please." She went still and stiff beneath him and he responded with a growl. When he released her arms to relieve himself of his jeans she immediately brought her hands to his chest. "Hap?"
He saw her through the haze of his anger, her eyes wide and not with arousal but fear. It gave him a moment of pause as he continued to stare down at him. "I love you Hap." Madeline whispered the words and brought her hand up to cup his face. "Please, talk to me."
His eyes were as dark as she'd ever seen them, the look in them sent a chill down her spine. She'd expected anger, had actually anticipated that he would trash the house or punch holes in the walls; do something to physically release what he was feeling. His hand moved down to her hip and he tapped her hard, almost a hit. It was a familiar unspoken signal, one that he often did when they were intimate.
It meant that he wanted her on her knees, so that he could take her from behind. For a moment she didn't move but then she sat up so that she could press her lips to his. She didn't understand this as part of the grieving process but it was his grief to deal with. If a round of rough sex was going to help him deal better, she wasn't going to complain. "I love you." She wasn't sure if the words registered with him as she shifted to get on her knees in front of him.
She cried out when he entered her without warning, hard and fast. One of this hands was at her hip with a grip strong enough to make her squirm, the other was on her shoulder and held on just as tightly. Each stroke brought him deeper and deeper inside of her and unlike every other time they'd been together he showed no concern for her comfort.
This wasn't sex or making love, it was something primal. It was anger not love that fueled his strokes and as Madeline held on to the bed to keep from falling face forward she felt a brief moment of fear. It passed quickly because no matter what was happening, he loved her and she trusted him. Her body quickly grew used to his pace and she began to work her hips against his.
Once they were moving together there was no stopping the orgasm that built deep inside of her. The fear she'd felt, the anger that he was feeling just seemed to heighten everything and when she finally felt her stomach coil it was the most intense feeling that she'd had in a long time.
Madeline collapsed forward, unable to hold her weight any longer, as he continued to pound in and out of her relentlessly. His release came along with a strangled moan as he slammed his length into her several more times.
The only sound in the room was their breathing as Happy slid out of her and laid back on the bed. Madeline moved to his side and rested her head against his chest. He reached out and ran his hand down her side. His anger had faded, it was still somewhere beneath the surface but the hold over him was no longer complete. He looked over when she whimpered that was when he saw the marks that were already forming on her hips; angry red welts that were in the exact shape of his fingers. He sat straight up and got off of the bed. His eyes moved over her body, saw that her shoulder was also red. Fuck, he'd hurt her. He couldn't even remember grabbing her in either place. He really didn't even remember how they'd ended up on the bed.
He could only recall grabbing her chin and kissing her, the way that she'd given herself over to him completely as she always did. He grabbed for his jeans and shoved his feet back into his boots. What had he fucking done?
"Hap? Where are you going?" Madeline scrambled for her pants as he slipped his jeans back up and zipped them. "Hap."
Happy reached out and grabbed the pants from her hand. He pulled her to her feet and saw confusion on her face. He stared at the bruises, the proof that he'd hurt her and he knew that wasn't the only way he'd hurt her. Her body had been too resistant when he pushed inside of her.
Fresh pain surged through him as he dropped to his knees in front of her. His mother would be ashamed of him, hurting the woman that he loved. "I'm sorry." He said the words so low that she wasn't sure she'd heard him right but became sure as he pressed his lips tenderly to her hip bone. She drew in a quick breath as his hand moved between her legs. "Fuck." He all but roared the word as he felt how swollen she was in her most sensitive spot.
"Hap, I'm fine."
"I'm sorry." He repeated with one last kiss as he rose to his feet.
"Hap, I'm fine." Madeline repeated. "Where are you going?"
He didn't answer, instead he opened the door and walked out of it. He'd hurt her. He'd hurt his girl and she'd stood there and told him that she was fine. The anger returned but this time it was directed inward.
14 14 14
"Madeline?" Tara spoke from the front door and looked at the woman where she was sitting on the top step of the porch. She'd been there since Happy had stormed out an hour earlier. "Honey, you need to come inside."
"He left." Madeline spoke for the first time and looked over at Tara. "He left." She repeated.
"He probably just needed to cool down." Tara came and stood over her. "You've just got to give him some time."
"She's right." Gemma stepped out on the porch followed by Luann and Lia. "Sometimes you've just got to give them a little space. He'll go for a ride, clear his head and then he'll be back. You need to get up and get dressed, got a lot of plans to make for Eve's service. I was thinking..."
"No." Madeline shook her head. "I know what she wanted, she told me." Eve had been a simple woman and she'd wanted to be remembered in a simple way. A nice service and then being cremated and having her ashes scattered near her favorite place, a small wooded area in Bakersfield with a lake where she'd taken Happy often as a child.
"Alright," Gemma said evenly as she held her hands up.
"I'll be inside in a minute," Madeline looked away from them all and back at the street. All she wanted to see was Happy turning the corner on his bike, coming back to her. Eventually the women went back inside and she continued to sit there and wait.
14 14 14
Happy got on his bike and just rode. He had no destination in mind only the open road. He could still feel the anger inside of him at himself and at the world because his mother was gone. For years she'd been all that he had. Now he had Madeline, or he used to have Madeline, how could she stay with him when he'd hurt her? And after he'd done so she just stood there and told him that she was fine.
It wasn't fine, not by a long shot. She deserved better than a man who could easily hurt her without even realizing it. He should just keep on fucking riding, head away from Charming because it wasn't a mistake to love Madeline, but it had been a mistake to think that he could be with her and not get her hurt.
He was so lost in his own shit that he didn't notice the other motorcycle when he blew past it but it certainly did catch his attention when it switched lanes to ride behind him. Too late he realized that he'd ventured into territory that didn't belong to the Sons.
The bike behind him bore an insignia that was burned in his brain. It had been spray painted all over the walls of that fucking house! With a roar that he heard even over the engine Happy switched lanes and willed the other bike to follow him.
14 14 14
Hours later Madeline was still on the porch. She didn't want to think about the fact that her ass was asleep or that the temperature was dropping like a stone. She just continued to sit and stare, her mind never stopped thinking. Eventually she'd have to get up, to plan Eve's service and before even that to deal with the people still inside of her house. She loved all of them but she wished that they would just go the hell away and that Happy would come back.
"Hey Doll." Tig spoke from behind her. "Whatcha doing? Shit, it's freezing out here." She felt the warmth of something being draped over her shoulders. "Got them all freaking out in there."
"Why?" She looked over to see he'd draped a sweatshirt over her shoulders. "Thanks."
"You're just sitting out here staring at the street, ain't eaten nothing or drank anything. Hell, you haven't said shit."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Nine glorious inches," he replied with a lewd grin. "Oh, not that?"
"Asshole," Madeline informed him but a smile spread across her lips. "Thanks for that mental image by the way."
"Anytime," Tig grinned back at her. "Go on, ask away."
"Do you think that he loves me enough to stay?"
"Yes." Kozik answered as he came out on the porch.
"She wasn't talking to you." Tig snarled at the other man.
"Was your answer going to be different?" Kozik questioned. "Didn't think so," he leaned against the porch railing. "I've known Hap a long time Madeline, haven't ever seen him the way he is with you. I know Gemma told you to leave him alone, let him be but that's bullshit. She knows a lot but she doesn't know everything. You need to stay on him, don't let him forget what he's got to come home to."
Tig sighed loudly. "As much as I hate to agree with blondie, he's right."
"I need to find him." Madeline looked between the two men.
"We'll find him Doll. Don't you worry." Tig looked over at Kozik and his nemesis nodded, they were on the same page.
14 14 14
Many would have called going up against four men suicide but Happy simply thought of it as a nice way to release some of the anger inside of him. He was out manned, out gunned and not wearing a vest but those were the cards he had to play with so he did what he could to give himself an advantage.
All of his years riding Nomad meant he knew these particular freeways like the back of his hand so when he'd seen the sign for Gordan's Pass, he'd taken the exit and his prey followed just like he'd expected.
The winding roads were a challenge on a bike and made more so by the traffic coming in the other direction. One of the riders behind him went off the road after a close call with a mini van. Happy could only laugh and he gunned the bike harder. There was no maybe about it, he was being reckless and he didn't give a fuck.
Happy's mind raced as he tried to remember the area better. A maniacal smile crossed his face as he recalled the last time that he'd been here, it had been with Quinn and they'd needed to deal with a low level drug dealer who'd gotten too big for his britches. The man had never made the trip back down.
He took a turn fast and watched a second biker go down hard. There was no way in hell that the man was going to get up from a spill like that. The other two riders were still hot on his ass though. That wasn't a problem, unless things had changed majorly there was some sort of utility building up ahead, it was as good a place as any to bring this shit to a close.
The two remaining men hung back the instant that he pulled behind the building. Happy had been counting on that, with the building for cover he had this in the fucking bag. The two men were hunkered down behind their bikes and taking stupid shots. It was a mistake because they sure didn't have unlimited ammunition.
Happy decided that they'd wasted just about all they had, he stepped out from the cover of the building and started to fire. His shots hit where he wanted them to but he felt the familiar burn of a graze against the side of his head. Shit, that had been close too close. It was time to finish this.
He killed one of the men outright, no second thought about it. When he turned to the other he could feel the smile on his lips and the man on the ground knew he was in trouble from more than his shattered knee.
"The fuck?" Happy stopped dead in his tracks as he recognized the man. "Seriously?" Pissed he moved forward and kicked him hard in the ribs several times until the man spit up blood. "Start talking cock sucker and tell me what you know I want to hear."
It took time and persuasion for the man to finally speak, long enough that Happy started to wonder if he'd lost his touch. Of course he'd tried a little harder then, who'd have thought that Kyle was so attached to his fingers? "Talk." He growled the word, hoped that the man would keep his mouth shut. It had been too long since he'd done anything like this. "Why is your MC after the Sons?"
"Wouldn't believe me if I told ya'." Kyle spit out another mouthful of blood.
"Try me motherfucker." Happy slid the screw driver in his hand deeper into Kyle's stomach, "tell me."
"Lost the gavel, the club and then his Old Lady takes up with a pimp? Fuck else was he supposed to do? Can't let that shit ride, isn't our way."
Happy frowned. Dying men weren't known for lying but what he was saying was fucking insane. "Say the name," he ordered.
"Clay." The man managed a weak chuckle. "Your face is priceless right now." Being inches from death had apparently given him some balls. "Ain't gonna stop him, Charming is going to burn."