Chapter 13: Two Can Play This Game
Liv's birthday party couldn't have gone any better. She got to spend some time with her new family; well at least she was starting to consider them that way. Her big dysfunctional, sex crazed, motorcycle loving, gun toting, leather wearing family. She was overwhelmed by the outpouring of their gifts, well-wishes and the fact that anyone had even shown up for the party. She was yet again blessed to be surrounded by people who cared for her and made her life a little brighter. Jax and Wendy had brought the boys to the party for a short time. Liv bonded with Abel quickly, knowing that he had lost his mother at a young age just as she did. Abel made Liv a picture, it was of Liv and Abel standing together holding hands and their mom angels in 'heaven'. It warmed Liv's soul and it made her love the little blonde haired boy all the more. She was planning on getting the picture framed so she could hang it in her house but until then she would keep it safe. Jax had confide in her after Wendy and the boys left that he was glad she was there to help Abel through this tough time in his life and that Abel adored her. It made Liv wonder how she was going to leave Charming after the war with August Marks was over. Even if she had lost a lot in the past few months she had also gained an equal amount if not slightly more.
Liv smiled, Happy's kiss still lingered on her lips and as she thought about it she found herself touching her lips. It surprised her how soft his lips were against hers. The kiss was gentle and wanting, the kind that made her weak in the knees. She longed to have his lips on hers again; she couldn't wait until they had another stolen moment together. As grateful as she was for the party, but she was glad it was coming to an end so she could spend some more time with Happy. They hadn't even talked since their encounter in the hallway; just the exchanging of longing glances. Natalie knew Liv too well, she recognized the wide dreamy eyed look on Liv's face. She got that same look after she went on her first date with Matt and when she met Juice.
Natalie leaned in close to Liv and whispered. "Who kissed you?" Liv looked at her, she hadn't realized Nat had noticed. If she had seen she wondered if anyone else had as well. A smiled spread across her lips as she shook her head, for some reason she didn't feel the need to tell Natalie about Happy. It was probably because what they had was still so fragile. Come to think about it Liv hadn't told Nat about the amazing sex that they had prior to her visit either. There was something different about the thing she had with Happy.
Natalie shoved Olivia playfully in the shoulder, "Oh come on…I know you far better than that. Was it Jake? He is so unbelievably hot." Natalie would have melted into mush at Jake's feet if paid any interest in her but she saw the look in his eyes when he gazed at Liv. It was plain and simple the porn star liked her. The only way it would have been more obvious is if Jake had a flashing sign over his head.
"No. I have to go and get my things. I will be right back." She smirked at Natalie. She knew as she walked away it was killing Natalie not knowing and she would push her until she broke down and told her. Liv made her way back to the dressing room where her clothing she wore to the club were waiting for her. The room was quiet, it was nice to get a bit amongst the drunken laughter that filled the warehouse. As she was gathering her stuff she heard foot steps behind her. She stood up quickly and turned around expecting to see Happy. It wasn't him, it was Jake. She hoped that her disappointment didn't show across her face, but then again she didn't know if Jake would have noticed.
"You're a hard lady to get alone tonight." He smiled as he stepped closer to her. He was now close enough to smell the alcohol on his breath, there wasn't a point all night when Liv hadn't seen him without a drink in his hand.
"Yeah, I guess that is what happens when you're the guest of honor." She had been surrounded by club members and many of the stars of Redwoody all night. She smiled as she started to leave the room. She wanted nothing more than to go home and be with Nat and Happy. The thought of being alone with Happy made her stomach clench with need.
"I wanted to give you one more thing for your birthday." Jake took Liv by the hand as she passed. His hand was warm and clammy; through all of his cockiness he was nervous.
She stopped and faced him, expecting him to give her a gift. She was already overwhelmed by the gifts she had received from everyone but by far her favorites were from Natalie, Happy, her dad and Lyla. Tig had found a photo of her mother, himself and Liv as a baby and had it framed for her. The look on Tig's face was priceless when she opened her gift. Later she found money in the bottom of the box but the photo was so wonderful she could have cared less about the money. "Jake, you didn't need to get me anything…"
"Where's Liv?" Happy asked Natalie, Redwoody was clearing out and he was ready to go home. He wanted to have some time with Liv alone, which of course wouldn't happen until Natalie fell asleep but the thought of having Liv in his bed again made him hard. He couldn't wait to peel her little black dress off of her and spend time worshiping the birthday girl's body.
"She went to go get her clothes out of the dressing room." Natalie waved her hand towards the back hallway as she helped Lyla gather up Liv's gifts so she wouldn't forget any of them. Liv had really made a haul, she always seemed to get an outrageous amount of gifts when it was her birthday or Christmas. It made Natalie slightly jealous but Liv was usually willing to share the gifts she wouldn't use or want. She wished that Liv would share Jake with her, she thought jokingly but then realized she really did want her to share.
Happy walked towards the dressing room, maybe he would have her alone for a moment. He had been such an idiot for the past few weeks, he knew she was struggling and he shut her out. He didn't deserve her forgiveness and she seemed to be willing to do so. Throughout her birthday he caught her gazing at him, when he noticed she would blush and then turn her attention back to whatever was going on around her. Happy was about to walk into the room when he saw, Jake and Liv intertwined in a kiss. His blood was boiling and he needed to leave before he beat the living shit out of the porn boy. He turned quickly on his heels and stormed towards the front of Redwoody. How could he think that Liv would have forgiven him, the kiss earlier in the evening must have just been her way of thanking him for the gift. The kiss obviously meant more to him than it did her. How could she have wanted him after what he had put her through, he ignored her cries for help in the night, yelled at her for waking him up when she was struggling to hold herself together and treated her like she was just a job to him when in reality she made him want to care. He had done this to himself, he had shoved her right into the arms of Lyla's porn whore. He shook his head, he needed to blow off some steam and Diosa seemed like the best place to go.
"Chibs?" Happy walked up to the Scot.
"Aye, brother?" Chibs was one of the only other sober members of the club that wasn't preoccupied by the croweaters.
"Do you think you can get the girls to my place and stay there until I get back? I need to burn off some steam at Diosa." Happy was impatient, he didn't need Liv coming out with that dick head and rubbing it in his face. He knew if that happened he would beat the shit out of the blonde.
"Aye, the birthday girl givin' you blue balls brother?" He joked. But he didn't realize how true his words were.
"Something like that. I'll be home later." With that Happy turned and made his over to Diosa.
Liv pushed Jake away, "Jake stop, please." Jake had a confused look on his face. "Listen you are believably hot and so wonderful but, I just can't." Liv quickly grabbed her stuff and rushed out of the room. She wandered out to the bar and looked around for Happy. She didn't see him anywhere. "Hey." She walked up to Natalie who had just finished putting all of Liv's gifts into a large bag. "Have you seen Happy?"
Natalie looked around, "He was just here a second ago. I thought you would have seen him when he walked back to find you."
What? He had went to look for her? "Fuck!" Liv blurted out loudly. He probably seen Jake kiss her. She hadn't returned his kiss; as pleasant as it was. Jake wasn't the one she wanted kissing her.
"You lasses ready to go?" Chibs walked over to Natalie and Liv.
Liv frowned at him, "Where's Hap? I thought he was bringing us home?" She didn't even try to hide her disappointment in the situation.
"He had some…business to take care of." Chibs said as he picked up one of the bags of gifts. "You ladies have me tonight."
He had seen. Liv shook her head in dismay. He should have stuck around and found out what was going on, but no instead he stormed off. Why did he do that? Liv would have been happier if he would have he would have stayed even if it meant a fight, at least he didn't run off. Happy was tough but when it came to dealing with what was going on between them he was weak and gave up too easily. It looked like it as going to be a sleepless night for Liv, not that she had been sleeping much anyway. She was going to wait up until Happy got home so she could tell him what happened and if he wanted things to work between them he needed to stop running.
Liv sat in the kitchen with a cup of tea while Chibs snores filled the house. They had only been back for an hour but Chibs and Natalie had both fallen asleep, Liv assumed they were both alcohol based comas. She sat there with Nat's phone in front of her debating whether or not to try to call Happy. Biting her lip she got up and walked out to the back steps and dialed Happy's number. It rang…and rang…and rang, Liv was just about to hang up when the phone picked up.
"Hap?" She said quietly into the phone. There was no answer, maybe he was just pissed off and just picked it up because he was going to hear what she said. "Listen Happy. The kiss you saw meant nothing, I pushed him away…Happy…I only want you to kiss me." Still nothing, she should hear something it sounded like movement. "Happy?"
"Oh god, Happy!" There was a woman's voice on the other side of the line. Liv's stomach was in knots. Then she realized what the movement sounds were, it was a bed. Liv's eyes filled with tears, she couldn't hang up the phone; she was too shocked.
There was a groan and then Happy's voice filled her ears, "Fuck yeah, right there." There was no mistaking his voice. Liv slowly pulled the phone away from her face and hit end. She knew that they were not in a committed relationship but that just topped the cake. He ran off to go have sex with someone else. He made her think she meant something to him and only to prove it by having sex with someone else.
It was a slap in the face. Happy fucking birthday Liv, she thought to herself. Liv sat on the hard cement steps and sobbed loudly, she didn't care who heard her or if she woke up the whole neighborhood. It wasn't long before the back door opened and Natalie walked out. She was rubbing her eyes as she sat down next to Liv; she hadn't seen Liv like that in years, not since the whole Matt-wedding-cheating fiasco. Natalie pulled Liv to her. "Livi, what happened? Did you have another nightmare?"
Liv let out a snort. "I wish I had a nightmare at least they don't really happen." Natalie noticed that Liv had her cellphone. "I called Happy." She handed her back her cell. Natalie couldn't understand why this would have upset her so much but then it hit her, Liv wasn't kissed by Jake earlier in the evening it was Happy. She had a thing for Happy, how could she have not told her? "Nat, I heard him having sex with another girl." Another round of sobs racked Liv's body she felt so betrayed by Happy. " I think he saw Jake kiss me and he ran to another woman. I can't catch a break, I just want…I want…" What did she want? "I want to be happy. I want my freedom. I want to go home!" Then quietly she said, "I want Juice." But that was impossible, so she tried not to dwell on it.
Natalie waited it out, "it's okay Livi…it will all work out." Olivia had lost so much in such a short time, it made Natalie feel so helpless. "If things don't work out between you two, you will always have me."
Olivia laughed slightly at her friend, but that was the truth, she would always have Natalie. "I know." Liv snuffled as she placed her head on Natalie's shoulder. "I love you, Nats."
"I love you, Livs. Why didn't you tell me about Happy?"
Liv sat there for a moment trying to find the right thing to tell the one person she told everything to. "I don't know." She shrugged. "Things just happened between us, at first it was just sex. Incredible sex. But something changed before you came for your visit. I started to care. I cared even when he treated me like I didn't exist. Today he was changed, he was the man who had saved me from the room and my nightmares again. Nat, I didn't mean to keep anything from you. Things between Happy and I have been so fragile and I obviously thought it was more than it was." Liv shook her head in dismay as tears fell down her face again.
The girls sat there in silence, holding on to each other. This is what their friendship was about, holding the other up in her time of need and it was Liv's time of need. The sound of a Harley pulling into the drive way fractured the silence and roused the girls. Liv felt extremely anxious, how was she supposed to face Happy after what she heard. "Nat don't say anything to him, it will only make things worse." She looked over at Natalie, who she had just noticed had the worst case of bed head that she had seen. Liv started to laugh.
"I won't…what?" Natalie gave Olivia a dirty look.
"You're hair. It's…well you should just look at it." Natalie felt the side of her head and was glad that something so minor could cause Liv to laugh. She need to laugh.
"You know you're jealous!" She smirked as she got up from the stairs and held out her hand for Liv.
Happy walked into the house, he felt better after he took his aggression out on a few of the girls at Diosa. Chibs was sitting on the couch watching TV. "How was everything?"
"Fine until about an hour ago when Olivia's sobs could have woke up the whole of Charming." Chibs rubbed his face. "The only one she didn't wake up was that friend of hers, took me a few minutes to even wake her up."
"Nightmare?" Happy questioned Chibs.
"I don't know brother, she was outside. I don't remember ever seeing her go to bed." Truth was Chibs turned on the television and he was out within five minutes of arriving.
"Where are they now?" Happy asked with concern, he was going through such an internal conflict when it came to Liv. He wanted to let her in but she obviously didn't feel the same way about him and would rather be with the pretty porn boy.
Chibs stood up, "They are still out back, haven't come in yet. Did you have a good time?"
Happy nodded and gave him a smirk. "I'm feeling better."
Chibs laughed as he put his cut on and started towards the door. "Aye, brother. I will see you tomorrow."
Happy made his way to his room where he removed his cut and holster with his gun. He heard the laughter of Liv and Natalie as they came into the house. It made him glad to hear her laugh with someone else other than the cocky blonde. Happy walked out into the kitchen where the girls were standing. He saw Liv stiffen as he walked out; she was mad at him. Natalie said something that he couldn't hear to Liv.
"No, its fine." She shook her head, Natalie had asked her if she wanted her to stay with her since they both knew Happy would say something. As Natalie walked passed Happy, she threw a dirty look in his direction. He didn't even notice he was too busy looking at Olivia. Liv stood there silently; her arms crossed awkwardly in front of her. She was still wearing her sexy little black dress, but her makeup was no longer pristine and her face was tear stained. She didn't want to do this, this was not how her birthday supposed was going to end.
"Did you enjoy your party?" Happy asked with some smarminess behind his question.
What was this Happy Lowman was making small talk? Liv thought to herself. "It was pretty much perfect until about an hour and a half ago." Liv bit back at him. "When I called you and got an earful of you having sex with someone else." She fought back her tears. She was so angry with him.
He hadn't even heard his phone ring, he must have been really into what was going on at the moment Liv called. Happy actually felt bad that he had sex with the girls at Diosa but he wasn't the one who started it. Liv was kissing that douche from Redwoody, after she made him think there could be something between them. He could feel his rage level rising as he thought about it. He knew if he said anything to Liv, he would regret it in the morning.
Olivia shook her head at him. "You're silence is everything Happy." She started to walk away from him but turned around and forcefully revealed, "I called you to tell you that I knew you saw Jake kiss me. If you would have stuck around for two more minutes you would have known, I didn't kiss him back because of you! Because I wanted you and not him. Fuck Happy, you are so hot and cold, I can't handle it. I have been through too much I need someone who is stable and knows what they want. And now after tonight, all I can do is think about what I heard. Your moans and voices fill my head!" Tears fell freely from Liv's eyes. "I can't do this anymore. Whatever I wanted us to be…isn't going to happen." She turned her back on him and hastily walked to the bedroom where Natalie was waiting to hug away the tears and tell her everything would be okay and that she would get through it because she was the strongest person she knew.
Happy rubbed his hands over his face and head. He had just fucked up big time. Lyla was right, he was going to push her away and he had just pushed her over the edge. He didn't want to lose her. He was going to do whatever he could to earn her trust back no matter how hard it was for him to show her. He didn't know why it was just easier for him to try to not care than to care. He fucked up, and it might have just cost him the woman he wanted to so desperately to love and have love him back.
A/N: Thanks for your support! Sorry it took so long to get out, it would have been sooner but it wouldn't have been as long. I would like to hear what you think about this chapter.
Chapter 14 should be out early next week…Enjoy!