A/N: I hope this ties you guys over for a few days. I want to wrap up my other stories and I have New Year's plans so I can't promise that there will be a new chapter until the 1st but I will try.
Jax and Happy sat on Leylani's porch, each of them smoking a cigarette and watching the sun set.
"Where the hell is she?" Jax wondered out loud. After the meeting, Leylani said that she would meet the guys up at the cabin. She had an hour head start and yet, the boys still managed to make it to her house before her. They each looked up when they heard a car making its way up the cobblestone driveway.
Leylani hopped out of her truck and whistled towards Scuttle who ran straight to Happy. Happy tried to ignore the dog but Scuttle did not ignore easily. The dog continued to rub against Happy until he finally relented and petted the dog. Leylani grabbed a few bags from the truck before walking up the porch steps to open the door.
"I don't get much company so I figured I'd head to the store and pick up some supplies." Leylani walked towards the kitchen. "You guys eat fish? I picked up some salmon. I figured I could whip us a quick meal." Both of the men nodded and Leylani motioned for them to follow her in the living room.
"Here's the remote. There are 500 channels of shit so good luck. I'm going to change my clothes and get started on dinner. There's beer in the fridge if you want some." Leylani looked down at Scuttle who was still following Happy's every mood. She snorted to herself as she walked out the room.
Leylani changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. She took her long hair out of the tight bun and pulled it on top of her head. She grabbed her slippers and made her way into the kitchen. She turned her IHome on and lowered the volume to not disturb the boys. Leylani always loved to cook since Honey had given her an EZ Bake Oven when she was four.
Back when Leylani still had innocence and hope, she would envision herself married with a bunch of kids, filling a house with laughter and love. Holidays filled with home cooked meals and traditions that Leylani and her husband would make. She wanted to be the type of mother that her children would still want to come over and have Sunday dinners with.
However, that was not her lot in life. Any little bit of innocence she had died around the age of 6. Leylani could still remember spending her days at school trying to fit in while knowing that she had to go home and take care of her mother, whether it meant cleaning up vomit or putting her to bed. By the time she reached her teen years, Leylani decided that the idea of family was overrated and fully abandoned her dream of being anything more than a one night stand.
Leylani knew from a visual standpoint, she wasn't bad on the eyes. She figured most of it had to do with the D breasts she was given when she was a teen. Due to her looks, she never had trouble getting a man in her bed. It was keeping one there that seemed to be the problem.
She was currently involved in a…situation with a guy named Joey. It wasn't so much a relationship as it was blackmail. Joey was one of the few people that knew what Leylani did and where she lived due to his undeniable charm and Leylani having a moment of weakness when she decided she wanted to be loved. She quickly learned that Joey had ulterior motives. Once Honey passed, Joey made it known that he had every intention of profiting on the meds.
Leylani stood her ground and things got pretty violent. She was able to hold her own for a while but eventually the fifty pound difference was proven to be too much for the small woman. What resulted was a black eye and a nasty cut on her back that she prayed would heal.
Joey told her that either she got on board with his idea or he would send the Peckwoods or anyone else straight to her front door. When Leylani thought about that, Charming wasn't starting to seem like such a bad idea.
"Smells good." The voice startled her and pulled Leylani from her thoughts. Leylani turned back and smiled at Jax. "Been a while since I had a home-cooked meal." Jax wasn't lying. His mother hadn't had a family dinner in well over a month and while Tara was skilled in a lot of things, cooking was not her specialty.
"Dinner should be ready soon." Leylani said as she pulled on her mitts to grab the baked salmon out of the oven. She laid down three place settings and popped open two additional beers while grabbing herself a can of Diet Coke. She called the guys into the kitchen and the three of them sat down. For awhile there was no talking, just the noise of fork hitting the plate and chewing.
"Damn this is good." Jax exclaimed while he all but devoured the salmon, asparagus and diced potatoes. Leylani couldn't help but blush. She hadn't been complimented on her cooking since Honey was still alive. It felt nice.
A while later after the kitchen was cleared, Leylani made her way back into the living room.
"There are two extra bedrooms down the hall on your left hand side. I put a few extra blankets on each of the beds. It can get chilly here at night. I figure tomorrow I will go to the storage unit and pick up some boxes, start figuring out what I need to take now and what can stay. Then I guess I will just take it from there."
"Any deliveries tomorrow?" Jax asked and Leylani shook her head.
"No but the rest of the week will be pretty crazy so I figure I should deal with home shit tomorrow." Leylani looked down and noticed that Scuttle had no intention of leaving Happy's side and Leylani groaned softly to herself. She normally needed Scuttle to fall asleep but she didn't want to come across childish, so she just bid both men good night and headed upstairs to her room.
Around three in the morning, Leylani woke with a start. She had spent a few hours tossing and turning before she fell into a restless sleep. A recurring nightmare woke her up and Leylani knew that trying to go back to sleep would be pointless. She swung her legs over the bed and opened her dresser drawer. She grabbed her gun and padded her way downstairs towards the kitchen to grab herself something to drink.
She shut the fridge and cracked her neck when she heard a noise. It was a faint one but it was still there. As quietly as possible, Leylani took the safety off her gun and took a deep breath. She whirled around and pointed her gun at the figure at the shadow figure in the doorframe. Leylani fired a warning shot in the wall next to the figure.
"Jesus Christ. Put that shit down before you fucking kill me!" The familiar voice made Leylani reach over and turn on the light. Standing in front of her wearing nothing but a pair of jeans was Happy. If it had been any other time, she would have taken a moment to appreciate the view in front of her but considering that her heart was pounding in her ears, she didn't think it was a good time to be drooling.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Leylani exclaimed as she put her free hand on her chest.
"Me? What the fuck is wrong with you? You almost shot my fucking head off!" Happy roared as he pointed to his bald dome causing Leylani to roll her eyes.
"First of all, considering our height difference, that would have not been the head I blew off. Secondly, who the hell walks through a house filled with wooden floors and doesn't make a single sound? Somebody should put a fucking bell on you!"
"What the hell is going on?" Jax ran in, shirtless with a gun in his hand.
"That bitch almost killed me!" Leylani gritted her teeth.
"Call me a bitch one more time and I will kill you." Happy trained his angry eyes towards Leylani.
"I'm not the one to test, little girl."
"Okay, both of you just calm down." Jax tried to reason as he turned towards Leylani. "Why are you walking around in the middle of the night with your gun?"
"Are you kidding me? I have men staying at my home and I don't even know your last name. I intend to bathe with this fucking gun until I'm sure that you are not going to tie me up in a basement, and start telling me that I rub the lotion on my skin or else I get the hose again." Happy and Jax glanced at one another before looking back at Leylani.
"Don't look at me like that. I live alone in the fucking woods; my mind has a tendency to wander." Leylani grabbed her bottle of water. "Whatever. I'm going to bed." A few minutes later, Happy and Jax heard the sound of a door slamming. Happy turned to look at Jax who was fighting hard to hide his amusement.
"That bitch almost shot me." Happy exclaimed with disbelief as Jax let out a small chuckle.