A/N: I'm not really sure where this is going but I felt the need to write. To be honest, I enjoyed writing the characters more for just a one-shot but maybe I'll get inspired to continue this later. I don't know, tell me what you think.
/
The next time he saw her, he knew it fate and Murphy MacManus was not one to question the almighty decisions of the Lord above. Tired and reeking of the meat packing plant, Murphy welcomed the comfort of his usual barstool at McGinty's. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and lit it, then handed the lighter to his brother who did the same. Closing his eyes, Murphy took in a long inhale of smoke, feeling the tension in his shoulders start to ease a bit. He rested his elbows on the bar and rubbed his palms into his eyes. He really needed a drink.
And as if the angels had answered his pleas, he heard a soft voice from behind the bar, "Can I get you two anything?"
Murphy pulled his hands from his face to look at the woman before him. His heart skipped a beat as he realized she was the girl from a few nights before. She seemed to recognize him and her lips curled up into a smile.
"Hey, I know you! You're that guy from the other night, right?"
Murphy smiled a little and looked her over. She looked different. Instead of being dressed up with eye makeup and all that, she was wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans with an apron tied around her waist. To be honest, he preferred her this way.
"Yeah, guess I am," he replied.
She placed her hands on the edge of the bar and leaned toward him. "Guess I owe you a proper 'thank you,'" she said. "Sorry I left so fast I really do appreciate what you did though."
Murphy smiled and replies, "No problem, love." He could practically feel his brother rolling his eyes. "Didn't think I'd see you around here after that, though"
"Yeah, well, I left my wallet here that night. I came back the next day to get it back and ended up with a job. Guess Doc saw how little money was in the wallet."
Murphy laughed. "I'm Murphy," he said, extending his hand to her.
"Sadie," she replied, shaking his hand.
Murphy heard his brother cough next to him. Rolling his eyes he added, "Oh, and this is ma brother, Connor."
Connor flashed his charming smile and went to shake Sadie's hand. He noticed Connor held onto her just a little longer than was normal, probably just to piss him off.
"Well, can I get you boys something to drink? First round's on me, you know for savin' me and all."
The brothers smiled and, in unison, ordered a pint of Guiness. Sadie giggled and shook her head as she moved down the bar to get their drinks.
Yeah, this was definitely Murphy's favorite bar.
/
Sadie readjusted her bag on her shoulder as she stepped out of the freight elevator. Her feet ached and she must have looked a mess from being at work all day, but she didn't really care. At least it was St. Patty's day. She made her way to the apartment door and raised her fist to knock, but stopped herself when she overheard the commotion that was going on inside.
From the other side of the door she couldn't make out what was being said, but she did hear the telltale sounds of men yelling (and most likely fighting) through their thick Irish accents. Sadie rolled her eyes and quietly turned the doorknob, nudging the door open slightly.
The scene she was granted with immediately made her burst out laughing. The Irishmen were on the floor, both only covered in towels around their waists, with Connor holding his brother in a chokehold. Murphy was making a futile attempt at getting away from his brother, blindly smacking him in the face with his entire palm. The sound of muffled laughter brought them back to reality and they both stared wide-eyed at the young woman leaning against the door jam.
Sadie smirked at them, folding her arms across her chest. "You two are just a pair of overgrown children."
Connor laughed and pushed himself off the floor. "Yeah, but you wouldn't have us any other way, right?" he said, walking over to Sadie and placing a chaste kiss on her forehead.
She smiled and wiped the moisture from her forehead. "I don't know, I'm starting to rethink that."
Sadie moved into the apartment, getting a good look at the state of it. She toed a cube of ice with her boot and raised a questioning eyebrow at Murphy. He simply laughed and leaned back on the floor, folding his arms behind his head.
"So are you two going to tell me why there's ice all over your floor and why you're both wearing practically nothing?"
"Oh well, there was an incident involving Con being assaulted by a lovely woman and then a call from our mum," Murphy said nonchalantly from his spot on the ground.
Sadie, amused, asked "Oh yeah? How is old Ma Macmanus?" She carefully navigated around the ice on the floor to where Murphy was, offering her hand to help him up.
Connor groaned and sat on the threadbare couch. "Fuckin' insane as ever she is." He twisted the top off his beer and took a long drink from the bottle.
Sadie turned and smacked him none too lightly on the back of his skull. "That's your fuckin' mother, Connor." With a cheeky grin she took the bottle from him and took a sip as well. "And more importantly, what's this about you being assaulted? Big bad Connor MacManus got beat up by a girl?"
Murphy and Sadie shared a hearty laugh at Connor's angered expression. Murphy pulled the towel tighter around his hips and took a sip from the beer in Sadie's hand. Connor crossed his arms and practically sulked in the sofa.
"Yeah, well if she really was a woman I wanna see some papers or something. She must have just been pre-operative."
Murphy leaned in to Sadie and added, "Apparently big angry lesbians don't appreciate Con's sense of humor. Kicked him in the balls."
Sadie laughed lightly and sat on the couch next to Connor. "And you didn't fight back?" she asked, amused.
Murphy took a long swig from the bottle and swallowed. "Oh don't worry, I stood up for my dear brother."
Sadie looked to Connor, questioningly. He rolled his eyes and clarified, "He punched her."
"Murphy," Sadie chastised him. "your mum would be appalled if she found out you go around hitting girls."
Murphy shrugged. "Nah, she probably would have done the same. Plus, I don't hit girls. Like Connor said, we're not entirely sure she really was a 'she.'"
Sadie rolled her eyes and leaned back into the couch. "Well you two seem to have already had a pretty eventful St. Patty's."
Connor stretched and put his arm over the back of the couch. "Yeah, well, now we have something else to drink to tonight."
Murphy laughed, "Yeah, your pulverized balls."
Connor narrowed his eyes at him and launched himself at his brother, playfully pulling him back into a chokehold.
Sadie sighed and smiled at the two. Not many people have been so constant in her life, but she was grateful to have these two, despite all their bickering. She sat back and watched as they argued like children, having a moment of reflection on how her life had changed since knowing the MacManus brothers. Sure, it involved a lot more drinking and bar fights, but she really did love them. If she had been blessed enough to have siblings, she thought, she would want brothers just like them.
But not all of her thoughts toward the Irishmen were the type you should be having about your brothers. She couldn't help it. They were both chock full of Irish charm and handsome on top of that. Over the year or so she had interacted with them from behind the bar at McGinty's, she had seen her fair share of drunk women throwing themselves at the brothers, much to her dismay. But even through having girlfriends and one-night stands, the brothers still loved and protected her as if she were their own kin.
"You two better get dressed or the rest of the Irish in Boston will drink all the Guiness before we get to the bar."
The brothers stopped fighting, seemingly to think over what she had said, and then both got up and began to pull clothing from the various piles strewn on the floor. Sadie looked down at her shirt, stained from a long day's work. Smears of brightly colored paint covered her shirt, as well as some other unidentifiable art materials.
"Can I borrow a shirt from one of you two? The third-graders went a little crazy with the art supplies today." As much as she loved working with the kids, they could really be a damn handful. Who ever thought having to deal with drink Irishmen at a bar would be a picnic compared to a classroom full of glitter-loving children.
"Yeah, sure." Murphy threw her a faded black t-shirt. She held it up and looked it over. Murphy raised his hands in defense of his own hygiene, "It's clean, I swear."
Deciding it was better than what she had on, Sadie thanked him and made her way over to the other side of the flat, pulling the shower curtain to obscure the view. By the time she emerged, the boys had finally pulled on pants and were standing in the center of the apartment, shirtless and barefoot.
Sadie sat down on the nearest mattress and watched as they pulled on their shirts and boots, nearly in unison.
Murphy held his hand out to help her up with a smiling, "M'lady?"
Sadie grinned and looked warily at his hand. "You're not gonna punch me, are you?"
Murphy gave and exasperated sigh but pulled her up when she placed her hand in his. He curled his arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the door where Connor was waiting for them.
/
A few hours and countless beers later, McGinty's pub was a lively, bustling haven for all of Boston's misplaced Irish (and people who drank as if they were Irish). At one point in the night someone had found a guitar from the backroom of the bar, tuned it up, and was leading the congregation of drunken patrons in a spirited rendition of "Whiskey in the Jar" with the help of another man keeping time on an improvised drum.
Murphy sat in his usual seat, leaning his back against the bar, sipping his whiskey slowly as he watched the scene before him. Sadie had joined the guitar player on the makeshift stage of a few overturned crates. Standing on one of the crates and wildly rattling a tambourine, Sadie belted out the lyrics to the Irish folk songs. She danced and laughed along with the crowd, looking as if she was having the time of her life. Murphy laughed to himself; she was probably going to regret this in the morning.
As the guitarist strummed out the last few notes of the song, the crowd burst into applause. Sadie gave a drunken curtsy and jumped off the crate. Laughing, she made her way through the crowd to the brothers sitting at the bar.
"C'mon, guys! You're Irish and it's St. Patty's, you should be doing some sloppy dancing and singing shanties or whatever you people do."
The brothers laughed at her slightly slurred speech. Sadie leaned heavily on Murphy's left side, latching onto his arm and pulling him into the crowd. She made a gesture to Connor to follow them, but he just shook his head and continued to sip his drink.
Murphy was pulled through the crowd of bodies to stand in front of the musicians. He reveled in the warmth of the woman pressed up next to him, her small fingers wrapped around his forearm. He looked down at her at his side and she smiled a big, goofy grin. She leaned her head against his shoulder and pulled him closer to her.
As the band started to play again, the guitarist motioned for her to come back and join them. Giving Murphy a soft smile, she released his arm and took her place back on the crate.
Murphy would be lying if he said he didn't miss the feel of her against him. He watched her from the crowd, seeing her lost in her full enjoyment of the moment. Her grin nearly split her face as she sang out loudly and shook her hips. Murphy crossed his arms over his chest and chewed on his thumbnail, engrossed in the display the woman was putting on before him.
She really was something else, he thought. He watched as she danced, her cropped brown hair flying wildly around her. The girl was smart and practical, but every once in a while he got to see this wonderfully free and happy version of her. Sometimes she really was fearless and he admired that.
His eyes trailed down her hips, admiring other parts of her. He couldn't help himself. He'd know her over a year and still got a little mad when the regulars flirted too much with her. He felt the need to protect her but she wasn't his. She wasn't anyone's. His eyes trailed up her legs to the flare of her hips as she twisted and sang with enthusiasm. Her slim arms extended from his T-shirt, which was probably 2 or 3 sizes too big for her. The sleeves hung low on her arms and the neck gaped a bit, but, wearing it, he thought she was beautiful.
"You gotta tell her, mate" Looking to his side, he found Connor offering him another beer. He gladly accepted it.
Trying to play innocent, he replied, "Don't know what you mean."
Connor rolled his eyes. Sometimes his brother could be so dense. "Just get it over with and tell her you fuckin' love her or I will for you, you idiot."
Murphy sighed and took a long drink from the bottle. "What if, ye know…" Murphy trailed off, nervously scratching the back of his neck.
Connor smirked at his brother and nudged him with his elbow. "Nothin' to worry about. She loves ye too, I'm sure."
Murphy looked back at the band and locked eyes with Sadie. She smiled and winked at him, not missing a beat, and continued to lead the bar in song.
Murphy looked hard at the bottle in his hand and took another long swig. Connor looked at him with understanding, clapped him on the shoulder, and returned to the bar. After taking one last glance at the woman before him, he turned to join his brother.
Hours later, the music had died down and the bar patrons began to make their ways home. Sadie pulled on her coat and placed small kisses on the cheeks of Murphy and Connor, as well as a peck for Doc. Murphy stood, offering to walk her home, but she refused, saying they should catch up with their friend, Rocco. She gave a short hug to the hairy Italian, waved good-bye, and left.
The conversation around him resumed, but Murphy was still focused on the doors Sadie had just left through. He sighed and turned back to the bar only to hear the sound of the doors being opened again. He head whipped around, along with those of the rest of the regulars. His smile and sarcastic comment about girls not being able to keep track of their things died on his lips when he saw the figures of three very large, angry looking Russians in the doorway.