Fighting Back

Chapter 20

As she rummaged through the belongings of her bag, it didn't take her long to realise that she had left her car keys on the bar. Not wanting to step back inside the Clubhouse she decided to walk. She didn't care that it was getting dark, or that she had no idea where she was heading all she knew was she couldn't stay there, she couldn't be around them.

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20 minutes he had been sitting in the black BMW that he had stolen when he made his escape, he didn't care how long he had to sit and wait for her because he was determined to get to her before Zobelle's guys did. He owed her that much.

After 20 minutes of nothing, finally something happened. He saw her. She was walking out of the gates and she was alone. He was about to make his move, his hand was already on the handle but as he went to open the car door he stopped.

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They all stood in complete silence as they let everything that had just happened sink in.

Jax had come to her to try and get answers but all he ended up with was more questions. Questions once again he needed answers to. He turned on his heels to go after her, first to apologise and second to get some of them answers.

"Where are you going?" Opie questioned as he stepped into his path. Opie knew he was going to go after Nicole there was no question about it. But he also knew that it would not be a good idea, considering the mood she had stormed out in. Jax would be the last person she would want to see.

"After her."

"Don't think that's a good idea bro."

"So what, your saying we should just leave her?" Jax loved Opie like an actual brother but if he didn't move out of his way, he was going to make him.

"I think were probably the last people she wants to see. Just give her some time to cool off. Talk to her in the morning." Piney told him gaining a scolding look from the younger biker.

"No." Jax tried to push past him but Opie placed his hands his chest stopping him once again.

"Ope." He said warningly.

"She'll be fine. She needs the space." Tig said as he walked behind the bar grabbing a bottle of Scotch. Jax just gave him a look of disgust.

He didn't need any advice on how to deal with his cousin from him. Jax went to push past Opie but he once again he stepped in front of him. Opie knew they had to go and find her but he still didn't think that Jax was the best person to go. Although she was probably pissed at them all but he was a better option right now.

"I'll go." He left before Jax could argue.

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After hearing that she was pregnant by him of all people Happy didn't bother staying around to listen to any more.

He had known Nicole for a long time since she was kid, Christ she still was a kid. At barely 25 she had been through more shit than most people did in their entire lives. Yes she had made some fuck ups along the way, drugs, alcohol, fighting, men and that was all before her 17th birthday, but he had never judged her by this but after hearing that she had gotten herself pregnant by Ryan, he was finding it very hard not to.

He walked into his dorm room walking over to his bedside table where half a bottle of Jim Beam rested. Opening the bottle he took a swig. He rubbed his eyes trying to help his mind focus, trying to figure out why he was letting this bother him so much. She was an adult, entitled to make her own decisions, but he just couldn't understand why she had do it, why she had gone back to him, why did she always seem to be running back to him, what did he have.

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Nicole barely made it 10 feet before she heard the familiar rumble of a Harley approaching her from behind. She picked up her speed even though she knew she could never out run him.

"Nic." She ignored him and continued walking down the street wiping her tears as she went. "Come on Nic."

"Just go away Ope." Opie cut off his engine. Getting off his bike he jogged up behind her taking her by the elbow.

"Come on Nic it ain't safe for you to be out here alone."

"Why because of Ryan? I'm the one who set him free remember. Why would he come after me?" She snapped pulling herself away from him as she walked away. Opie once again caught up to her, this time he stood in front of her blocking her path. "Don't touch me." She scolded as she saw him going to reach for her. Opie raised his hands in a surrendering motion.

"We fucked up."

"Damn right you did."

"And I know your hurting right now, but we only did..."

"If you say you only said what you did because you love me I swear to god I'm gonna hit you." Opie never said anything because that was exactly what he was going to say. He watched as her head dropped and he knew she was trying to fight back her tears. "He never even gave me a chance to explain." She sobbed. Opied placed a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off. "Don't." she warned him again.

"Sorry. Look why don't we go for a little chat and you can explain to me what really happened." She shook her head. "Come on Nic. Please."

"Fine but I'm not going back there. I can't be around him."

"We'll go back to mine, come on."

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Not being able to stay in the clubhouse any longer Jax left. When he walked into his house he went straight for the bottle of Whisky. He deeply inhaled the cigarette he had lit while he poured himself a large drink. At that precise moment he hated himself. He had once again let himself get over taken by the burning rage that lived inside him since the moment he realised his son had been taken. It was the same rage that had taken over him at his Grampa's house when he talked to Tara, the same rage that made him smash that Calaveras face into the ground. And now it had finally turned on the one person who had truly been there for him. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a sweet voice from behind him.

"Everything okay?" Jax knocked back what was left in his glass before turning to face Tara.

"Not really." Tara went to him. As she got closer she could see the sadness in his eyes. She ran her hand through his hair before resting it on his cheek.

"What's happened?"

"Ryan's escaped and I accused Nicole of doing it." He admitted sadly. Tara tilted her head giving him a sympathetic look. "I messed up. I just... Tig found the test in her bag and after hearing..."

"A pregnancy test?" Tara asked as her hand dropped from his face. Jax nodded. "What did she say when you asked her about it?"

"Denied it. Said she never slept with him. But..."

"But you don't believe her?" Tara tried to keep her tone calm even though she was panicking on the inside, panicking about being caught.

"No. She said he...she said he tried to rape her."

"Oh my god." They stood in silence for a while. "But I don't understand. Why would should she go and visit him if he had tried that."

"That's what I don't...Wait how did you know she went to visit him?" As her eyes locked with his again Tara swallowed hard at the look that was now in his eyes, it was a far cry from sadness it was anger.

"I..I..." Jax stepped closer to her.

"How did you know? HOW?"

"I saw her. I saw her leaving his room." She admitted nervously.

"And you didn't think to say something."

"I tried to speak to her about it but she shut me down."

"You should have come to me." He spat angrily.

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever." He went to walk pass her but she grabbed his arm.

"Jax please." She begged.

"No, were done here."

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Lyla sat on the couch, Ellie wrapped under her arm as Piper and Kenny played on the Nintendo Wii. Even over the laughter of the two boys she heard the bike pull up the driveway. Moving off the couch she went towards the back door to greet Opie only she noticed that he wasn't alone. She saw Nicole walking behind him, it was clear she was upset. As Opie walked inside he ushered Lyla back towards the living room as Nicole stayed in the kitchen.

"Is she okay?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"Not really. Need you to take the kids to yours the night."

"Course." She answered as she kissed him.

Opie returned inside after seeing off Lyla and the kids. When he entered the house he saw that Nicole was now sitting on the couch a bottle of wine in front of her a glass in one hand and cigarette in the other. Two things caught his attention, one was that she was drinking wine something she never did and two was the fact that she was drinking and smoking.

"You sure you should be doing that?" Nicole looked over to him as he stood in the doorway pointing his finger towards her glass of wine.

"Well I couldn't find good stuff, so wine will have to do." Opie shook his head before walking past her and disappearing into the kitchen. A minute later he returned carrying a bottle of vodka, a bottle of Whisky and two glasses. He took a seat next to her, placing the items on the coffee table.

"You know that wasn't what I meant." He said pouring himself a glass of Whisky.

"I'm not pregnant Ope." She knew 100% that the test didn't belong to her and was 90% sure it belonged to Tara but before she could say anything she had to make sure. So she played along. She downed the glass of wine quickly refilling it. "False positive."

"Back at the clubhouse you said Ryan tried to rape you he..."

"I said tried Ope as in he didn't succeed." She snapped taking another large swig from her glass as memories of that day started to sneak into her mind.

"Then who.."

"Ope I'm not pregnant so it's no big deal."

"Okay."

"Look I don't mean to keep snapping at you. It's just..." Nicole turned away from as she took a drag from her cigarette. Opie saw the tears in her eyes.

"Your hurt."

"How could you think I'd betray you all like that." This time she was unable to stop her tears.

"We just don't understand why you went to see him, why you tried to have the charges dropped. Especially after what he did, what he tried to do. Why would you want him out?"

"I don't that's the last thing I want."

"Then why did you do it?"

"He threatened me. Told me If I didn't drop the charges then he was going to tell police that it was Hap who shot him and not Hale. I couldn't let him...I couldn't." At this point Nicole lost it and started crying uncontrollably. Opie wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer. "I couldn't let that happen..." She spoke in-between her sobs. "After what he did for me...I..I was scared...I couldn't let him go to jail...I just couldn't..."

"It's okay, that's not gonna happen. Hap ain't going nowhere, none of us are."

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The next morning Nicole was up surprisingly early. She carefully manoeuvred out of Opie's hold and headed to the bathroom. Her and Opie had passed put on the couch together after finishing the three bottles of alcohol and a couple of joints. Picking up one of Ellie's hair ties she pulled back her long dark hair into a pony tail as she washed her face.

She was in the kitchen making coffee when Opie finally stirred. "Want some?" She asked as took a sip of her coffee.

"God yes." She smiled to herself as she poured him a cup. "So why you up so early didn't think you'd surface till mid afternoon."

"Couldn't sleep. Plus could really use a shower and a fresh change of clothes."

"You know you can shower here and I'm sure Lyla has something you can borrow." Nicole laughed.

"You have seen your girlfriend right. I probably couldn't even fit one boob in one of her tops." They both laughed.

"I'll go and get changed and I'll take you back to the clubhouse." As he got up from the table he saw her smile fade.

He knew what had happened at the clubhouse had hurt her, he also knew as much as they all apologised for jumping to the wrong conclusion it was going to take a long time for her to forgive them, or at least forget.

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Happy woke with a pounding in his head. Not only had he finished off what was left in the bottle of Jim Beam he'd also polished off a second one. After taking a quick shower to try and wake himself up he decided that he couldn't stay in his room, he needed to be occupied.

He decided to make a start on the work that was once again piling up in the garage. But it seemed Happy wasn't the only one who was up early that morning, Piney was already in the office.

"Where do you want me to start?" Happy asked as he leaned against the door frame of the office door.

"The red truck in bay three." Piney said as he got to his feet. Happy nodded.

Opie pulled into the parking lot. Nicole leaned to the side of him as she tried to see if Jax was there. She was happy to see that his spot was empty. Opie held out his hand as she climbed off his bike.

"Thanks for last night Ope."

"Anytime you know that." She went to walk away from him but he grabbed her hand. She turned to look back at him. "You know Jax needs to know what you told me last night."

"Yeah but don't expect me to tell him, because right now I don't even want to look at him. You tell him if you want." She pulled away from him and walked into the clubhouse.

Opie turned around and saw that Piney and Happy were in the garage. Piney noticed him and waved him over. Opie slowly walked over to his father.

"Pops."

"How is she?"

"Not good."

"She tell you want happened?"

"Yeah. She admitted that she tried to get the charges dropped." Opie looked behind him when he heard Happy huffing. "You should probably listen to this." Opie said gaining a look from Happy. "She did it for you."

"What?"

"He threatened to tell the cops you were the one that shot him unless she dropped the charges." Happy threw his wrench in frustration.

"And the kid?" Happy asked.

"Isn't one. False positive or something."

Happy took off in the direction of the clubhouse. Opie went to go and stop him, knowing that he was angry and that the last thing Nicole needed right now was another argument with a Son. But Opie was stopped by Piney.

"Leave it."

"What?"

"Leave them, they need to have this out."

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Nicole wrapped a towel around her body as she stepped out of the shower. She grabbed another one and quickly towel dried her hair before brushing her teeth. Applying some moisturiser to her face she walked out of the bathroom.

"Jesus Hap." She said taking a deep breath. The last thing she expected to see was him standing in her room, especially when she was only wearing a towel.

"Is it true?" He snapped.

"Take it you've talked to Ope?"

"Is it true?" He asked again. She walked further into the room, dropping eye contact with him. "I asked you a question." He hissed.

"Yeah, it's true." He let out a small laugh as he rubbed his hand over his shaved head. Even though she heard him laugh she knew he didn't find this funny in fact he seemed pissed.

"Why?" He asked closing the gap between them.

"Why what?" She shouted in frustration. Happy said nothing. "You mean why did I do it?"

"Yeah."

"He was going to send you to prison Hap."

"So."

"So I wasn't about to let that happen." She told him sharply.

"I don't need you rescuing me." He growled as his temper finally reached boiling point.

"Well I don't care, I wasn't about to stand by and let that happen."

Even though she was still in her towel she didn't care she just wanted to be far away from him or any son for that fact. She was really growing tired of having to defend her actions. Why was it okay for them to save her but not the other way around.

Happy could see that her temper was raging just as much as his was. He knew this meant two things, either she was going to argue with him till she was blue in the face or she was going to run. And when he saw her eyeing the door behind him he knew was going to run whether she was wearing just a towel or not.

Happy caught her arm in his hand as she moved passed him towards the door. He pulled her back so she was standing in front of him. He was surprised when she didn't argue and just stared at him.

"You didn't need to put your ass on the line for me. I ain't scared of doin a little jail time." He told her firmly. As he locked eyes with her he saw her sadness.

"I am." The thought of not having him near her every day did scare her. Before she could think about her next move, she was leaning onto her tip toes and pressing her lips against his.

The kiss only lasted a second or two before he pushed her away. Nicole instantly felt embarrassed, she'd made yet another mistake. Covering her blushing face with her hands she went to back away but Happy stopped her. Looking from beneath her eyelashes she found herself once again in a staring contest with him.

Happy would be lying if he said he wasn't taken aback by her sudden advances, hence why he pushed her away. But as his mind finally caught up with the situation everything became clear. He wanted her.

Pulling her against him with one hand as he buried his other hand in her long damp hair he leant down and kissed her. The kiss was anything but romantic it was rushed, needed. He wanted her, wanted to taste her and by the way she was kissing him back she wanted him just as badly.

Nicole could have died and gone to heaven. The way he kissed her, the way his tongue explored hers was godly. She felt like she was about to exploded, she could have climaxed just from his kiss. But she wasn't going to let herself, she wanted to explore more of him. If his kisses could do that god knows what else he could do to her.

Nicole's back hit the dresser as the stumbled back. The hand that was wrapped around her arm moved to her thigh as he lifted he sat her on top of the dresser. His lips moved from hers as he kissed his way down her neck and across her collar bone, he was stopped from going any further by the towel that was still wrapped around her.

Nicole bit down on her lip as she tried to stop her screams as Happy kissed his way down her neck. Her enjoyment was suspended when she felt him stop. Opening her eyes she saw him looking at her, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. She followed his eyes as they left hers. She watched as his fingers pulled at her towel revealing her naked figure.

Although she was pretty confident about her body, it didn't stop her feeling nervous as she watched Happy take her in. It was one thing to confidently strut around in tight fitting clothes and a pair of Daisy Dukes but it was another to be completely laid bare in front of a man who had probably had hundreds of women. She knew it was silly but she was afraid she wouldn't measure up.

Happy eyes grew as he took her in. It was obvious that she had an amazing figure, himself as well as his brother had often admired it from afar as she walked around the clubhouse in her tight fitting outfits, but the outfits didn't do her justice. Unable to keep from touching her any longer, he slid his hand from her thigh and up her body before cupping her breast as his thumb rubbed over her already hardened nipple. Hearing her whimper, his used his hand that was buried in her hair to pull back her head as he nibbled on her ear.

Nicole didn't know how much more she could take, she wanted him inside her, this fooling around was killing her. Taking charge she cupped his face with her hands and pulled him away from her, planting her lips against his. Knowing she had him hooked she moved her hands away and started tugging at his cut. He dropped his arms from her allowing her to remove it. As she threw his cut to the floor Happy took the opportunity to remove his t-shirt.

She closed her legs around his hips pulling him back to her. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his one hand rested on her waist and his other hand on her thigh. Keeping their lips locked, he lifted her up and carried her over to the bed.

As soon as he lay her down Nicole's hands were on his belt buckle as she frantically tried to undo it. However just as she managed to get it undone and started unzipping his jeans both of them turned their attention to the door as it swung open.