Three Hearts One Love
Daddy's little Girl
Daniel Parker was never one to spy on his daughter. Haley having never give him reason to. She was a great kid. He still couldn't believe how good she had turned out considering he had been both mother and father after Elsie- Haley's mother- passed.
Daniel still remembered the look in his four year old daughters eyes when she approached as he sat hunched over in the middle of hallway moments after his beloved had breathed her last breath on this earth.
"Don't cry Daddy."
Those three simple words had crushed him in even harder than he could have ever imagined.
Moments before he had broken, begging his wife not to leave him not to leave their daughter. That he couldn't do this without her. His beautiful wife had simply smiled at him – the smile he still saw from his daughter everyday- before finding strength and resting a frail hand on his stumbled cheek. "Our beautiful angel loves you. You've got this Danny." They were the last words his wife ever spoke to him or to anyone. He had cradled her lifeless body in his arms as he sobbed willing her to come back to him. When the Doctor Rollins finally rested his hand on his shoulder, a comforting gesture as he softly told him that they needed to check over his wife, Daniel nodded and pressed a kiss to her bluing lips as he laid her gently back onto the hospital bed. It was then he walked outside and dropped to the floor as his legs finally gave out. And it was only when he heard his innocent daughters tiny voice that he looked up.
Haley was the mirror image of her Mother and that moment it broke his heart- it still does sometimes but mostly now he likes that he can Elsie in her – and it was the fact that the resemblance was so clear that he had waivered on doing the right thing moments before with his wife. But when his little girl had started wiping away his tears with her tiny hands as she called him a stupid daddy with a little giggle Daniel knew that he had to be strong for his daughter. He had pulled her into his arms, hugged her so tightly before looking down the hall where Gemma Teller stood as stotic as ever as she watched the scene in front of her. He gave her a nod and with understanding Gemma nodded back before grabbing her bag off the blue plastic chair and walking away. In that moment Daniel knew that he had to do this. It was just him and his little girl now. Just the two of them.
And that was how it had been. It hadn't been easy there had been some hard moments along the way but they had come this far. Just the two of them. Gemma had tried helping over the years, tried to step into the empty shoes she felt were left by Elsie but Daniel had always respectfully turned down the offers. Haley was his daughter and although he did not mind Gemma and the rest of the Sons, nor did he mind the friendship Haley had developed with Jackson and Samuel -at the time- Daniel did not want he daughter getting pulled deep into the Samcro fold.
Haley was a good girl. She had excelled in her schooling. The head of the school had advised Daniel that when Haley reached highschool the likelihood of her staying in the grade above were slim but his little girl had excelled and had kept her place in the grade above, she had even achieved valedictorian.
Daniel couldn't be prouder of his daughter. She had worked so hard and she deserved everything she had achieved and more. Which is why he was snooping. He knew that she should have started applying for colleges but so far Haley had been tight lipped on anything college related and it started t make him a little more that suspicious. So when he had heard the shower click in he took advantage. He didn't have to look far before he found a brown envelope, along with several others hidden under the knitted patchwork blanket at the end of her bed. With a glance over his shoulder he pulled out the paperwork.
Harvard, Cambridge, Berkeley, Yale, Stanford, UCLA, and Chicago. She had been accepted into all of them and with scholarships. Daniel let out a small chuckle as he eyes welled with tears. Tears of joy.
He took a seat on the bed pulling the Harvard acceptance letter onto his knee along with the brochure. Harvard...an Ivy league school wanted his daughter and all he could think was that they would be dam lucky to have her.
He was trying lo understand why his daughter was keeping this from him but as he flicked through the brochure he got his answer.
At the back of the brochure was the list of fees and next to that was his daughter handwriting with another figure a much smaller figure.
Daniel ran a hand over his face as it hit him. She was worried about money. It was like a punch to the gut. He grabbed the other brochure and went straight to the back page. He did it to all of them and with no surprise to him every single one of them had the same figure he had found in the Harvard brochure. He ran a hand under the blanket looking for something when he found it. Pulling out the final brochure his heart plummeted. California state of University and there at the top of the page, highlighted in pink was the figure that was he had read several times.
"Dad?"
"Haley..." Haley tightened her pink fluffy robe as her eyes fell to what lay on her Fathers knee. Her heart started racing. She rushed to grab the papers from him but her Dad was to quick and was already on his feet clutching the forms Haley so desperately wanted out of her reach.
"Dad..."
"What are you doing Haley?"
"Please Dad.." Daniel's heart broke as his daughters voice cracked. Her sadness clear. He ran a hand over his salt and paper hair as he sat down in the space he had just vacated on her bed.
"Is this because of the money?"
Haley had only applied to those collages because Mr Johnston -her English teacher- had persuaded her to. Haley had done it to please her favourite teacher. She never thought she would actually get in to any of them. Plus she had already got it straight in her head that Sacramento was were she was going. But when the acceptances started rolling in all she actually allowed herself to dream. What if. But then as always reality hit. She did the math. There was no way it was possible, even with the scholarships, pulling all the money from her part time job, her Dad. They could never afford it. And now seeing the look on her Dad's face, this is exactly why she had hidden them from him.
"Come here." Daniel motioned to the spot next to him and Haley begrudgingly took the seat next to him as she fiddled anxiously with the end of the tie on her robe. She sighed deeply. "You know you don't need to worry about any of this. The money it's not your concern..."
"But Dad it's so expensive. To expensive. It's..."
"Not your concern." He wrapped his arm around his daughter pulling her closer. "Now which one."
"Dad..." He shook her head silencing her pleas.
"Sssh...Forget everything. Which one?"
"UCLA." Haley croaked wiping her eyes.
"Then that's the one sweetheart."
"But Dad..." Daniel shifted so that he could look at his clearly upset daughter. She really was a good kid. But he was sick of her taking on responsibilities that were not hers to take on.
"Now I know that it may not seem like it all the time but I'm the adult here Sweetheart. Which means all you need to worry about is which one you want and I see you have already decided that, so now all you need to do is let me worry about the rest."
"Dad I can't it's to much we can't..."
"Haley." Daniels tone hardened as he stood to his feet. He was growing tired of the conversation. "Enough." Haley sighed, her head bowing as she stared down at her feet.
"Sorry Dad."
Hating that he was upsetting his daughter, when she was only trying to do something good, he crouched down in front of her. His hand coming up to tuck a strand of her damp hair behind her ear. This causing Haley to look at him.
"I didn't mean to shout. But you deserve this and I know that I haven't been able to give you everything you have wanted over the years but I'm going to give you this Sweetheart. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Good." Daniel lent forward and kissed his daughter on the forehead. "I love you kiddo."
"Love you to Daddy."
Sam caught the ball before tossing it up in the air again, an action he had been doing for the past 10 minutes as he lay on his bed. He looked over at Haley who was sat across from him at his desk. Something wasn't right with her. Even when she had entered the Teller residence she had seemed...well she had seemed off. He had asked her if she was okay but she had just nodded and told him she was fine before quickly pulling out various papers from her backpack and placing them on his desk. With a quick mumble of how long he had to complete the mock exam. Now he was watching her mark the test but on more than one occasion he had seen her attention stray to his bedroom window where she blankly stared outside. Haley didn't day dream when it came to studies.
"How did I do?" No answer. "Hales..."
"Hmm..." Haley spun round to face him. A false smile forced on her lips. "Um..." She turned back to the papers in front of her. Sam caught the ball one last time before leaning on his elbow while turning his body as he watched as she totted up the scores of his test.
"So..." Haley spun round in the chair and this time there was a genuine smile on her face. That was like it Sam thought as he returned the smile.
"87. You passed. Well done Sammy." Haley got up and showed him the papers but instead of taking them Sam grabbed Haley by the wrist and pulled her down on the bed with him. Haley let out a giggle.
"Sam." He ignored her pleas and tucked her against him.
"So Hales. You gonna tell me what's really bugging you?"
Haley sighed. She wasn't sure what to do about college. Even though her Dad had basically put in stone that she would be going to UCLA Haley just couldn't get her head around it and she also couldn't stop herself feeling guilty. It was to expensive and she hated to think of her Dad struggling to. She could just as easily study English at Sacramento for a fraction of the cost. It was selfish and that just didn't sit right with her.
Sam gave her a nudge. "Come on Hales."
"My Dad found my college applications. He wants me to go to UCLA." She felt Sam stiffen beside her.
Sam felt like he had been hit, the wind knocked out of him. He always knew that Haley was destined for bigger and better things all outside of Charming but after the numerous conversations where his best friend had told him repeatedly that she was going to the California State of University in Sacramento Sam had to admit that he was more than a little pleased with the knowledge that he got to keep his best friend around. But to hear that her Dad had found the papers and was now fully aware of her options Sam knew that there was no doubt that she would be attending UCLA- her first choice-meaning that there was going to be 400 miles between them give or take.
"Sam..."
The young Teller was torn right now. Torn between his own selfishness and what was right for his best friend.
He shifted onto his side resting on his elbow as he looked down at her. Now that he was staring into those hazel eyes he could see the internal struggle she was having. She was feeling guilty and the last thing Haley needed was to shoulder his feelings on the matter. Haley never liked to disappoint the people she cared about. So pushing aside his own feelings he rested his hand on her soft cheek.
"He's right. What ever he said he's right. You deserve this Hales. You really do." That smile of hers really is infections Sam thought as he couldn't stop the curl of his lip as he returned her smile.
"Thanks Sammy." Haley nestled herself closer to Sam as she hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss this." Haley whispered quietly hoping that her words were lost as she buried herself closer to her best friend. It wasn't just her Dad that she was having doubts about she didn't want to leave Sam...leave this. Sam was the only real friend she had ever had. He meant everything to her – more than maybe he should for a friend- but the thought of leaving this security all behind terrified her. What if she didn't fit in? What if there were girls like Christie and Lizzy? What if everyone hated her? These were all the thoughts that plagued her when college applications were first brought up at school. Academically she was made for further education, but socially she was a huge failure.
Sam heard her loud and clear although he never responded. He would miss this to. He would miss her. She always seemed to keep his head straight and he knew he would probably need that during his prospecting year, but again not wanting to be selfish he kept quiet. Instead he pulled back and placed a kiss on the bridge of her nose as he whispered his own words of support that she had to do this.
"Sam have..." Gemma paused in the doorway, the laundry basket resting on her hip as she lent against the door jam watching as the two kids in front of her scrambled out of their embrace. She cocked her brow at her son as he scowled at her before shouting at her that she should have knocked first. Haley stood blushing in the corner.
"My house." Gemma simply quipped at her Sons objections. "Now any laundry."
"No." Sam snapped, his mood clear to everyone. Gemma shook her head before turning her attention to Haley.
"You should probably head out sweetheart. I'm sure your Dad's expecting you for dinner." Haley looked like a deer caught in the headlight. Her eyes darted from Sam to Gemma and back again before resting on Gemma.
"Um...yeah... He is actually."
Gemma watched her from the corner of her eye as the young rushed to grab her belongings. Her main focus however was her Son. Of all the girls. Gemma was in no least surprised that Haley and Sam were- by the looks of what she had just witnessed- getting closer. She had seen it coming for a long time and although she loved Haley and knew that she was exactly the type of girl his Son needed rather than a little jumped up tart like Christie Carmichael. But nothing in the Teller life was ever that easy and Haley Parker defiantly did not come without her own troubles. Mainly her Old man.
"Clay's just heading out. He'll drop you off baby."
"That's fine he doesn't have to."
"Yeah he does." Gemma cocked her head towards the stairs. "Go on. And tell Clay I said so."
"Thanks Gemma." Gemma smiled a genuine smile at the girl as she brushed passed her. When she heard the muffled voices downstairs followed by the front door Gemma only then turned her attention to her Son who was now pulling on a clean t-shirt and grabbing his jacket of the back of his chair.
"Sam."
"It wasn't what it looked like Mom."
"You think I was born yesterday?"
"Your way off base." Sam went to exist his room but Gemma stepped into his path. "Mom."
"Don't Mom me Sam. You know she not just some girl..."
"Yeah I know."
"Do you?"
"Yes." Sam practically shouted as his temper grew. He really didn't need this shit right now. Not after what he had just been told. He managed to squeeze past Gemma and run down the hall.
"Sam...Sammy..." Gemma started following in her sons steps. Unfortunately his 16 year old body moved a lot quicker than Gemma and by the time she had reached the hallway she heard the familiar sound of the front door slamming shut. "Shit."
"What's going on?" Jax asked. He was just entering the house when his brother coming blowing past him practically shoving him out of the way. Sam hadn't even acknowledged him. Then Jax had entered the hall and seen Gemma just as she cursed under her breath. Just another family domestic Jax thought with a smirk as his mother slammed the laundry basket onto the large maghoney dining table, before she started practically throwing the clothes out of the basket as she tried to sort them.
Jax shook his head heading for the kitchen and grabbing a soda. He heard the sighs coming from his mother and knew that Gemma had something she needed to get off her chest. Knowing that if he ignored it what ever was pissing her off would hit his little brother full force when he came crawling back home Jax walked back over to his mother, pulling out of of the heavy wood chairs that matched the table, so he was sat opposite her. Hoping to do some damage control.
"So..."
"You put that soda on this table without a coaster i'll kick your ass into next week." Jax tried to surpress his laughter. Sam had really fucked her off this time. Leaning back Jax grabbed a coaster off the sideboard before placing both it and his soda on the table.
"What did he do?"
"It's not about what he did, it's about what they were going to do before I busted their asses."
"They?"
"Sam and Haley." Jax stopped laughing now. His brain trying to put together the words his mother had just spoken it's about what they were going to do before I busted their asses with the names of his brother and Haley thrown in. This was new. Well on Sammy's part this was new. Haley's feeling having always been clear to Jax.
Shit. Was all he thought as he pulled his smokes from the inside pocket of his cut, quickly lighting and inhaling the nicotine.
Gemma stopped her sorting and sat across from her son accepting the cigarette that was being offered.
"You..uh... really think they were about to get into it?" Jax asked against his better judgement.
"Looked that way. I like Haley. Love her. But..."
"Her Dad." Jax said filling in the gap. Jax was well aware of the rift that had been growing between the Parker and the Tellers as Haley grew up and became closer to Sam. Hell even Jax had felt some of the backlash of her fathers over protectiveness. He like Sam took it in his stride because they all had a common interest here and that was Haley.
"He'd shit a brick if he knew about this."
"He's just looking out for his daughter." Gemma eyes hardened on her Son.
"And I'm just looking out for my Son." Jax raised his hands in a mock surrender.
"Hey no need to blow up at me."
"Sorry...I just. She'd be good for Sammy, but her Old Mans just to stubborn to see past all the shit." Jax shrugged. "You don't agree?" Jax took a hit, inhaling deeply before he let a stream of smoke escape from his nostrils.
"Sammy's to busy being a kid. He's to into the Carmichael pussy to even see Hales for everything other than his friend."
"And what's your excuse for burying yourself in cheap pussy?" Jax laughed, as he lent back in his chair.
"I'm mending a broken heart." Jax remarked as he hand came to rest on his heart.
"Don't remind me." Gemma took a drag of her own cigarette. "So you think I'm over reacting?"
"Probably."
"Something was defiantly going on Jax, I didn't imagine that shit." Jax shrugged.
"How bout I talk to him. Test the waters." Gemma smirked.
"Thanks Baby." Gemma stubbed out her cigarette. She got back onto her feet and grabbed the laundry. She headed for the washer room dropping a kiss onto her oldest head before leaving him alone.
Jax ran a had over his face. When he had asked his Mother what was wrong he hadn't expected to hear that shit. Haley and Sam. He knew it had always been a possibility but for some reason hearing it just didn't seem to sit right with him and he didn't know why. He sat there in silence as another 5 minutes passed. He had come to the conclusion that it was because he was worried about Haley. Worried that his little brother would mess her around. He thought of Haley as a sister. That was why none of this was sitting right with him. He cared for her...as a sister that's all this was.
