A/N: Here's chapter 14 for ya! It's short and sweet, hope you'll like it! Again, no promises on when I'll post next, sorry!
Clean again and no longer smelling like she bathed in athlete's sweat, Natalie hopped on the back of Juice's Harley and together they drove to the BBQ lunch the club was throwing her for her victory.
Reeling from the win, she was relishing the wind blowing in her face on this hot summer's day. Today really was a good day and she was going to enjoy every second of it. She had really stepped up and proven herself to Lumpy, the guys, but most importantly: to herself. She beat a guy bigger and stronger than her in a fair fight. Somewhere in the back of her mind, not going to the Olympics popped up, but even that couldn't stop her from feeling great. Regardless of everything that had happened these past 3 months, she was better than she ever was. That was a reward in and of itself.
Realising she was truly content in this moment was a surprise to her. She had learned a lot during her time in Charming and it had really helped her calm down and get a clear mind. Smiling to herself on the back of the motorcycle, she allowed herself to feel and appreciate this moment. Things would be all right.
The bike ride was too short for her liking, but by the time they made it to the clubhouse the smell of BBQ was already filling the air, right besides the boisterous laughs of the SAMCRO men. When they came into view, everybody gathered round and cheered Natalie on, making her grin and even blush a little with embarrassment. She wasn't used to people cheering her on like this, but it was a feeling she could get used to.
Juice parked his bike in line with everybody else's and they both got off, Tig and Piney walking up to them with 2 extra beers in hand, one for each of them. "We've decided that your victory over that no good nancy was well worth a big brawl, so we called in some of the nomads in the area and any other chapter members nearby. Now how do you feel about some ribs girl?" Piney asked, grabbing her by the elbow and dragging her to the grill.
Natalie had never paid much mind to it, but now that she was able to have a close up look, she was thoroughly impressed with the attention to detail that had gone into making it. 'SONS OF ANARCHY' was carved out on the side of it, making the grill at least 3 feet wide, while the flames licked the letters, lighting the words quite literally on fire. It was a piece of beauty. Adding the wonderful smells coming off of it to the mix, Natalie suddenly realised how hungry she was.
"Ribs sound amazing Piney. Although I'm sure you could feed me raw potatoes right now and I'd still gladly eat them, I'm starving!" Natalie gladly grabbed a plate from the pile and walked up to Bobby, who was in charge of the grilling.
"Hey Bobby, smelling good. But isn't this a job for Half Sack? Being a prospect and all that?"
Bobby looked to her and chuckled. "This is a man's job, darlin' and Half Sack doesn't know shit about cookin'. No, you leave this to me. I even have some organic muffins in the oven as a dessert."
Natalie's eyes lit up. "Blueberry?" "You know it doll. Now here's some ribs, grab some potato salad off of Gemma and sit down and enjoy your beer. We all know you deserve it."
"Aye aye captain." Natalie happily obliged this order, holding the plate near the grill so Bobby could stack it with meat.
When she got to the table with the salads and side dishes, she was served by Gemma, who was looking quite smug, even for her. "So, I heard you kicked Tyler Jackson's ass. He couldn't have liked that." Not able to hide her grin, Natalie shrugged. "That's his problem. I was better." "Nobody likes a know it all," Gemma grinned. "Here you go, some well deserved potato salad and greens. Fill up, you might need it." Natalie raised her eyebrow and Gemma's suggestive remark but didn't have time to ponder it over because Half Sack emptied her hands and carried her plate, cutlery and beer to one of the picnic tables. She was nearly being treated like royalty, she grinned to herself. It was weird, but she kind of liked it.
Happy's eyes never stopped trailing her. He was glad he planted the idea inside Half Sack's dense head to carry her things for her. He could see she secretly enjoyed the attention and warmth they were bestowing upon her, and well deservedly so. In return, she had made an effort to fit in into SAMCRO by dressing the part. A lacy black top with a bustier to amplify her rack and show off her toned stomach and arms, tight white jeans and high open toe wedges. Her hair was loose and she was sporting some light make up to highlight her features and make her eyes stand out. But out of everything, it was her mouth that really caught his attention. To Happy, they looked ready to be devoured.
For now though, her lips were doing the devouring, as she sat across from him, ignoring him completely and digging into her stacked plate of food. She must be starving, he thought. "Pig." He said. Natalie couldn't be bothered to look up and stop eating so she raised her left hand to flip him off. Grinning to himself, Happy quickly pondered what it would feel like to get between those lips before he got up and got some food for himself.
As the BBQ went on some more sweetbutts and croweaters joined on the lot and after about an hour of content eating and talking, Jax, Opie, Clay and some nomads Natalie had never seen before showed up. The whole gang seemed to be complete and ready to party, because they hadn't even removed their helmets yet or the music was cranked up and sweetbutts swarmed to fill some laps.
Moving to a quieter corner on the yard, Natalie stood with Juice and Chibs against the wall of the clubhouse as they oversaw the festivities. "I'm proud o' ya, lass. Ye really held yer own. That Tyler dinna stand a chance." "Thanks Chibbie," Natalie said as she gently bumped her shoulder into his. Chibs raised his eyebrow at the nickname. "What?" She asked innocently, throwing them both a look of feigned ignorance. Chibs ruffled her hair in retaliation. "Hey!" Natalie protested, but neither of the men gave in and both chuckled at her lightheartedness. It was such a change from when she first came to Charming and both men enjoyed seeing her happy.
Half Sack had been clearly instructed to accommodate in Natalie's every need, so she was never without a drink for long. By nine, she was dancing with one of the croweaters that had also helped at the fair, completely forgetting about her usual need for propriety. She was letting go for one night, she was happy and a little bit drunk.
As time passed, the party became louder, the men more rowdy and the activities more handsy. Natalie was having a great time, really allowing herself to enjoy the moment. She had danced with Half Sack, Juice and one of the nomads, until his hands had started to wander a bit far south. Before she even realised what was happening, Chibs was standing in front of her with his back towards her, being protective of this fierce woman he had started to grow fond of.
"Thanks Chibbie. That was a lot more tactful that how I would have handled that." She said, the uncomfortable incident waking her up from her warm and fuzzy trance. Chibs chuckled. "Go sit and have some water Natalie, before you get too drunk and do something you'll regret." Natalie nodded and walked inside the clubhouse to grab a glass of water from the kitchen.
She bumped into one or two chairs along the way, the alcohol having messed with her balance, but she felt fully aware of her surroundings again. She couldn't let herself go like that in the clubhouse, there were too many men around who didn't know about her and her status in the club. She needed her wits about her.
That was easier said then done though, when she walked into the kitched and found Happy shirtless bent over the sink with his T-shirt in his hands. Damn he's fine... Happy groaned, as though he was annoyed by her presence. This ticked Natalie off. She would give him something to get annoyed about.
"What happened Mopey? The wittle kids on the pwaygwound messed up youw shiwt?" She taunted,with mocking look on her face. She could drown in those abs, she was sure of it.
Happy groaned again. "Half Sack ran into me with a plate full of ribs. Shit got everywhere. Gonna kill that mother fucker. This is my good shirt. For my mom on Sundays an' shit." Natalie rose an eyebrow at that confession. "Why were you wearing your one nice shirt to a club rager?"
Happy could feel his jaw clench. Fuck. He had not meant to say that. He did not want her to know he wore that shirt because of her. Hell, he refused to admit it to himself. He simply told himself it was his last clean shirt because Half Sack had fucked up his laundry. Which Half Sack had done and it was his last clean shirt. But he could've simply worn the shirt he wore to the Lumpy's today. Yet he chose to wear his good shirt, because ... Well he couldn't say it out loud now could he.
Natalie decided to ignore the tension rolling off of him in waves and moved towards him. "So you got grease in there? Put some baking soda on the wet shirt and rub it together. That should help. Not that you would see a grease stain on a shirt that black. Wow this must be a brand new shirt. Who did you want to impress tonight?" Natalie joked. When she noticed it did nothing for his tension, she walked to the pantry and grabbed the package of baking soda. "Move over, I got this."
Reluctant to move from the sink, Natalie had to literally push Happy aside as she took over his shirt and sprinkled the white powder royally over his shirt. Scrunching up his shirt with the soda inside, she held it under a stream of hot water and quickly started rubbing the fabric together. After about half a minute, she opened up the shirt and held the powdered side under the faucet. Happy watched her as she delicately took her time to save his shirt. It seemed silly now how his was fussing over a shirt, but he hates messiness and dirty clothes.
When she was done with his shirt she handed it back to him. "It'll need to be properly washed in a laundry machine, but this should've gotten the grease out." When Happy didn't respond or grab his shirt from her outstretched hand, she looked up to see him staring at her intently. It was also then that she noticed his chiselled torso. It almost seemed to call out to her, begging to be touched.
Before she really knew what hit her, her left hand had reached his pectoral muscle and her fingertips lightly brushed against his warm skin. She could feel goose bumps rising up in the back of her neck as she struggled to tear her eyes away from his perfect form.
A sudden bang woke them both out of their trance as she jumped around to see Half Sack stumbling into the kitchen with Cherry around his neck, laughing like two drunken idiots. "Oh hey man, sorry about your shirt. So you want me to fix it?" Sack slurred his words and Natalie could feel the tension rising behind her. "You better go Half Sack. I got this. Get yourself a room, yeah, and don't come out of it anytime soon or Killer here behind me will forcibly remove your left over nut with his bare hands."
Half Sack visibly nearly choked on his own breath and didn't know how quick he had to leave the kitchen.
"And you're welcome again." Natalie joked as she turned around once more. When Happy didn't respond again, she sighed. "What crawled up your butt and died? Be careful or I'm gonna start calling you Mopey full time. Everyone might be scared of ya, but I'm sure it'll stick eventually."
"Why are you being nice to me. It's weird." Happy grunted. "I like you better angry." "Well too bad. I've had a great day, I'm doing really well and for the first time in a long time I feel happy." Natalie smiled a big silly smile, feeling genuinely content. "I'll go back to being bitchy again tomorrow. Besides, you looked genuinely upset with that shirt. Everything okay there? Your mom okay?"
"Yeah, fine, mom's fine..." Happy started. But he didn't have the energy to pretend at this time. Natalie frowned when he didn't continue, but she decided to wait patiently for once and let him come to her if he wanted.
"Actually, not so fine. My mom's sick and getting worse. "Every dollar I make goes to her and her medical bills, but it seems like a bottomless pit." Happy sighed, taking the wet and crumpled up shirt from Natalie's hands.
She could feel his calloused fingers touching her own, reigniting the goose bumps in her neck. Happy hesitated to remove his hands but he seemed to regain consciousness and stepped away.
Without another word he quickly walked out the kitchen, leaving a thoroughly confused Natalie behind. "What the fuck just happened?"