24/
Kate returned to the states with Happy and the others later that week, perhaps even more broken than she had been previously.
The months wore on and Kate's emotional state continued to crumble. More and more she gravitated toward Kozik, seeking his emotional support. Happy found himself not caring so long as it was his bed she shared each night.
He watched her deep in conversation with Kozik on one of the sofas in the Tacoma clubroom. For once tears weren't rolling down her face and he actually saw half a smile creep to her face. Even when they fucked she hardly ever smiled. He knew she was hurting and knew that despite Kozik pulling her emotionally from the carnage going on inside of her, she needed him also.
"Kate, you busy babe?" He asked approaching the pair.
"No not really." She answered glancing toward him.
"Go put jeans and boots on then. I'm taking you out for a ride." he said eying her skimpy shorts and tank top she wore as the weather began to warm.
"Okay." She said with a small smile, he knew glad that he was taking an interest in her other than in the bedroom, their relationship having taken on a purely physical aspect since they'd returned from Australia.
"Where you taking her?" Kozik asked as they waited for her to return.
"Outta this clubhouse. I'm sick of seeing her moping around it." Happy answered somewhat shortly.
"She's hurting bad Hap." Kozik said.
"Don't ya think I know that Koz? She cries herself to sleep most nights."
"Shit. I didn't know that."
"She might rely heavily on you for the emotional stuff Koz, but I know my girl and how much she's hurting."
"I don't doubt it Hap." Kozik said as Kate returned to the clubroom in jeans and boots, her leather jacket thrown over one shoulder.
"Where are we headed Hap?" she asked noticing the tension between the two men.
"Away from here for a while." He answered her as she followed him out into the Tacoma lot and towards his bike. He passed her the spare helmet that he and Kozik shared between them whenever they took her somewhere and waited for her to put it on and climb on behind him.
Once he felt her arms wrap around his waist he brought his bike to life and headed out of the lot towards the highway. It wasn't long before he turned off it and headed up a coastal road. Kate rested her head against his back watching the scenery fly by, the wind whipping through her hair.
He came to a stop by the side of the road and motioned for her to get off before leading the way down a small path to a clearing in the trees. "Wow." she murmured as she looked out across the water and back towards Tacoma.
"Nice eh?" Happy said from beside her as he sat down in the grass.
"Yeah. Real nice." She said sitting down beside him.
She rested her head against his shoulder as he pulled her toward him. "Why'd you bring me here Hap?" She asked.
"It' somewhere I like to come when I wanna clear my head of stuff." He answered her. "I know you've been struggling these last few months Kate and I know you've been relying heavily on Koz to help get you through, but I want you to know I'm here too."
She turned to face him. "I know you are Hap."
"Do you?" He asked doubtfully.
"What's this about Hap?"
"It seems we do nothing but fuck and then you cry. You do all your talking with Koz."
"Hap, I told you before I find him easy to talk to."
"What and you can't talk to me?"
"Yes Hap I can. I just often find you close off when it comes to emotional stuff and a lot of the time I do too. I think that's why I find Koz more helpful when it comes to the emotional stuff. He draws it out of me in a way that no one else can. And in a lot of ways he reminds me of Jas and the way I could tell him anything."
He ran his thumb down the side of her cheek and wiped away a lone tear that had begun to fall across it.
"I know you miss him Kate."
"More than you know. I guess in a way knowing that I'm the sole survivor of the Grazer family has brought it all back, how I felt last year when Dad told me he was gone. It's just me now Hap."
"You got me now Kate and Koz, and everyone else that frequents the clubhouse. They're all family."
A small smile spread across her lips at his words.
"You know I haven't seen you smile, like really smile, in months?" he said running his hand down her arm.
"Not a whole lot to smile about Hap."
"Yeah there is. There's making you're fresh start here and there's me and what I intend on doing with you once we're back at my place."
She smiled the same small smile again, "Well let's head back there then."
She lay content in his arms later that afternoon, the sex they'd just had far more intimate than any over the last few months. "That's where I connect emotionally with you Hap." She murmured as she traced her fingers around his tattoos.
He smirked at her in response.
"So about me staying here Hap..." She started and then trailed off.
"What about it?" He asked.
"My visa runs out in December and I want to figure out permanency sooner rather than later."
"You know you're welcome to stay living here with me and as far as your visa goes you can always renew it."
"But I was hoping to able to get a job and I can't do that on a tourist visa."
"You can always switch it to a work Visa."
"Or I could apply for a green card."
"How you gonna do that when you got no one who can sponsor you?"
"I can apply through marriage too." She said somewhat apprehensively.
"Kate I ain't the marrying type and I'm not gonna marry you just so you can stay in the country." He said.
"Fine. Well I guess I have to extend my visa then." She said shortly as she pushed herself away from him and headed toward the bathroom.
"Kate..." he called after her.
"Forget it Hap. Forget I even brought it up." She said knowing he could hear the tears in her voice despite her refusal to let them fall.
"Kate, you know why I can't marry you right?" He asked as they sat in the clubhouse later that afternoon.
"Yeah you said you're not the marrying type."
"It's not just that Kate. A green card marriage gets scrutinized from the word go to make sure we're legit. That's not the kind of heat the club can take."
"Whatever Hap. I get it. You don't wanna marry me." She said shortly.
"Don't think that it means I don't want you at all Kate. My name is still right here where I inked it." He said pulling her close and brushing his hand across her hip.
"Yeah. No chance you'll ever ink my name on you though is there?" She said brushing his hand aside.
"Kate, that's not the way we do things around here." he said as the clubhouse began to fill up with the guys beginning to arrive for church.
"Just go into church Hap." She said walking away from him she knew unnecessarily moody with him. Hell she hadn't expected for a second that he would agree to marry her so she could stay in the country; she wasn't even sure if that's what she even wanted but she hadn't expected him to brush her off the way he had earlier that day. His shortness had made her question everything they had and where they were headed. She even wondered whether she had been too quick to agree to have his name inked onto her.
"Everything okay with you two?" Kozik's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Yeah. Yeah, we're fine Koz." She answered she knew unconvincingly. "Don't you have church?" She asked watching the rest of the Tacoma charter disappear through the doors of the chapel across the other side of the room.
"Yeah. We can talk later if you want." He said meaningfully.
"It's okay Koz. I'm fine." She said knowing that despite her tendency to unload her emotions on him she'd never discuss any of the problems she and Happy had with him.
He rose and headed toward the chapel with the others his eyes lingering on her.
"You're gonna end up getting yourself in trouble with those two sweetheart." Grace Lorca said from where she sat at a table a short distance across the clubhouse.
Kate sighed. "I don't intend to Grace. They're both just so intensely jealous of the relationship the other has with me that it makes it hard."
"Don't expect that will ever become any easier Katie." Grace answered as Kate took a sit opposite her.
Kate sighed again. "Can I borrow your car Grace? I need to get out of here for a while."
"Sure." the older woman answered pulling her keys from her bag where it sat on the table between them. "You okay sweetheart?"
"Yeah. I just need to clear my head of a few things." Kate answered accepting Grace's keys from her.
"Don't be too long and make sure you have your phone or the two men in your life will worry once their out of chapel."
"Thanks Grace. I'll be fine." Kate smiled as she rose and made her way out of the clubhouse. She had on occasion borrowed the older woman's car in the last few months and had grown in confidence in driving over here. She needed to clear her head and rid herself of these feelings she was having that moving over here had been a huge mistake. She knew that her father's death and the way tangs had been left with the club back home was a huge part of it. She also knew that Happy's reluctance to commit to her wasn't helping either. Sure he'd inked his name on her and she knew that for him that was a huge deal but a number of times over the last few months when she'd voiced wanting him to get a tattoo for her he'd brushed it aside time and time again.
She found herself driving back to the lookout point that Happy had taken her to that afternoon. She had to admit the water, the clear view out across the bay and the now twinkling lights of Tacoma across it's other side was somewhat calming. She could see why he liked coming here.
She watched as the descending dusk gave way to darkness and began to wonder why she let his aloof nature get to her so much. She knew how he felt about her and she knew he was capable of telling her that when he needed to. Hell he had just today when he'd brought her here.
She didn't think anything of it when she heard the approach of what could only be a Harley in the distance. She assumed it was either Happy or Kozik come to track her down and find out if she was as okay as she tried to assure them, until she heard it come to a stop and realized it didn't have the same distinct sound she'd come to recognize as either of their bikes.
"Finally lost the tail Katie Bear." She heard Wombat gravel through the darkness.
Kate flew to her feet and turned to face him. "Wombat? What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Just cleaning up a few loose ends." He said as he moved toward her.
She backed away from him. "Don't fucking touch me Wombat."
He let out a long over dramatic sigh as he continued toward her. "You didn't really think we were going to let you get away that easily did you Kate?"
"We? You mean what's left of the club? Get away? Away from what?"
"Katie, Katie, Katie. Me and Barry were never gonna let you get away with what you caused to happen to the club and besides kiddo you still got his name on you. You'll always belong to him."
Kate couldn't help but smirk as she continued to back away. "That's where you're wrong Wombat. I had his name covered over."
She gasped as she lost her footing and he lunged for her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her effortlessly toward him and into a stronghold grip facing away from him. He tugged her shorts down her hip to gaze upon where he knew his brothers name had once been inked by his own hand.
"You little bitch." He growled as his eyes spanned across the intricate skull and rose design that sat now in it's place. One word etched below it made his blood boil, Happy. "Barry's gonna be spewin' when he finds out about this."
"Get off me Wombat." She cried desperately trying to get away from him.
"Quit struggling bitch." He said pulling her up from the bank and slamming her against the car she'd borrowed from Grace. He wrenched her arms behind her back and tied them with a rope she hadn't noticed he held in his hands.
He turned her to face him and pressed her up against the side of the car, his breath hot on her face as he brought his closer to hers. "You know I always wanted you right? Your mother was just the second choice when Barry snagged you?"
she pulled away from the grip he had on her hair and spat in his eye.
"Bitch." He growled pulling her from the side of the car and dragging her toward it's trunk. She squirmed as he fished around in her pocket to find the keys and unlocked the trunk once he pulled them out.
She screamed as he swept her off her feet and dumped her into it slamming the lid down.
"You asshole!" She screamed, kicking her feet out against the trunk closed above her. "Fucking let me out of here!"
"I found her." She heard him say presumably down his phone.
"Yeah. Bit more of a handful them we thought."
"Yeah. That's her you can hear." He said as Kate continued to kick and scream from inside the trunk.
"Alright Baz. I'll see you soon brother." He said flipping his phone shut.
Kate felt tears begin to sting her eyes as she continued her desperate and futile attempts to kick her way out of the trunk.
"Cool it in there Katie Bear. Barry will be here soon. I'll let you out then." She heard Wombat's voice as the trunk shook, as he no doubt jumped up to sit on it, lighting a cigarette.
He heard her screams turn to whimpers as she grew tired, and no doubt scared, as she began to give up.