Disclaimer-Can we talk about how far away September is? No? OK, well I'm not Kurt Sutter. But I do own NOMA, my OCs, and a lot of supportive readers. Well I don't OWN you guys, that would be illegal, but you get the picture.

"Donut said this guy's the best, it'll be fine." Happy leaned into the passenger side of the truck, rubbing his hand up Ace's leg. "Come on."

"I don't see why he couldn't just take my stitches out, he did my staples last week." Ace grumbled, letting Happy pull her down from the truck.

"Because he's a paramedic, not a fuckin doc, and your eye needs to get checked out." He dropped his arm across her shoulders, pushing her toward the medical building's doors.

"It's fine. I can see, it hardly hurts, what else is there?" Ace tried pouting, but the only reaction she got was Happy laughing at her.

"Quit being such a pussy, this is nothing." He chided her, but stopped and turned her to him anyway. Burying his hand in her hair, he drew her face up and kissed her, not giving a fuck about any of the people streaming around them. When she gave in and leaned against him, Happy took the opening and backed her into an elevator, laughing when she punched him in the stomach.

No Other Man Alive

Having been x-rayed, prodded, and un-stitched, Ace lay back on the exam table as the doctor pressed gauze to stop the little pinpricks of blood that welled up. From the corner of her eye, she could see Happy holding up the wall, arms crossed over his chest, scowling. It may have been true that no one was going to hassle Ace in any of Happy's old haunts, but here in a medical building the combination of his right hand cast and her left eye injury had led to all kinds of dirty looks thrown his way.

"Everything looks like it's healing right on schedule, Miss Perez." The doctor murmured, removing the gauze and eyeing the wound critically.

"Missus." Happy corrected gruffly. The doctor glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow, and Happy rolled his eyes.

"Bruising should subside within the week, and as long as there are no other problems, you're all set." The doctor rolled his stool back and tossed his gloves in the trash. He held his hand out to Happy for a handshake, but Happy only glared at him, not moving an inch. The doctor retreated from the room without another word.

"I'm buying you a fucking ring." Happy told her, giving her a hand up.

"No, thanks." Ace shrugged, leading the way back out of the office.

"What do ya mean 'No, thanks'?" Happy asked, following her into the elevator. "That wasn't really a question, Ace."

"You don't wear one." Ace pointed out, bitch brow raised, and Happy looked down at her, mouth open in surprise.

"Really? You're gonna go there?" He asked. "I told you not to expect me to wear a fucking ring."

"I never asked you to." Ace answered, walking backwards through the parking lot, hands twisted in the fabric of his hoodie. She bit her lip, enjoying goading him, and wasn't even surprised when he backed her into the side of the truck, pinning her there.

"How is everything else feeling?" Happy asked her, changing the subject entirely. His left hand slid straight down her stomach, leaving no illusions what he was asking about, though he stopped short of actually groping her in public.

"A little sore, but not bad." Ace answered, a little mesmerized by his dark gaze. So much of his focus on her lately had been clinical, she missed being looked at like a woman. He dropped his head so that his mouth was right next to her ear.

"Let's get back, yeah?" Happy breathed, and Ace felt her skin break out in gooseflesh. She shivered, and shoved him playfully when he grinned, pleased with himself. "I've got Church in an hour."

Ace felt absurdly disappointed at that, climbing into the truck when he opened the door. She watched him walk around the front, asking herself if she really thought she might be ready to step off that bridge with him. He'd been steadily pushing her boundaries, spending time each day getting her semi naked and running his hands over her. He hadn't really tried anything, beyond an occasional boob grope after he'd fallen asleep, but she could tell that his patience was wearing thin.

"What's with the face?" He asked her, starting up the truck. "Fuck, I won't miss this thing when I can ride again."

"Just trying to figure out what we're doing, that's all." Ace replied, watching him as he navigated the streets.

"We're going to go back to Tacoma, I'm going to Church, and then I plan on getting you a little bit drunk and a lot naked. Sound good?" He grinned, and she couldn't help smiling back.

"I don't know." She admitted.

"Get outta your head, Ace." He warned her, still smiling.

No Other Man Alive

Ace had come out to the clubhouse for a short time while the guys were in the Chapel, but the scrutiny from Tacoma's old lady brigade proved to be too much, and she quickly retreated back to the room she shared with Happy. The overly concerned fawning had just made her feel even more like an invalid, even though she was arguably well on the mend. Ace had been down to see Maryanne a few times, but other than that, she'd managed to stay clear of the old ladies. She'd never figured out how to peacefully coexist with other women. In Bakersfield, she'd been on the outside due to her half Irish heritage, and from there, she joined the boys club of tattooing, so she hasn't really needed to learn the ins and outs of girls in groups. One or two, and she was alright, but after that, they just made her twitchy.

"Knock knock." Ace's stomach dropped at the sound of Cat pushing her way into the room. She sat up, though, she wasn't about to deny the president's old lady.

"Hi, Cat, what's up?" She asked, sitting cross legged on the bed.

"Just wanted to check on you, make sure you were doing alright." Cat sat next to her, and cupped her cheek, getting a good look at her face. "Face seems to be healing up pretty well."

"Yeah, not bad. Happy will be relieved when people stop giving him the stink eye when they see it." Ace pulled back a little, enough to get Cat to drop her hand.

"Poor Hap." Cat smiled, chuckling. Ace just shot her a weird look, not sure what was funny about Happy being uncomfortable with taking the heat for her injury. Cat tucked a strand of hair back behind Ace's ear. "Listen, honey, what happened to you? Really messed up. I know a good head doctor if you want her number."

"Uh, thanks, but I'm good. Therapy isn't really my style." Ace pushed the sleeves of Happy's thermal back up over her hands.

"OK, well if you change your mind, let me know. Bowie and I are really thrilled that y'all decided to come here. We always knew Hap would come back to Tacoma." Cat leaned forward and squeezed Ace's knee familiarly.

"Hey. Wondered where you disappeared to." Ace was relieved when Happy came through the door. "Bowie's looking for you, Cat."

Cat hugged Ace tightly, and headed back toward the clubhouse. She paused to hug Happy on the way out, wrapping her arms around his neck. Ace watched Happy accept the embrace, her head tilted to the side, still trying to figure out what their relationship really was. Happy closed the door behind her, and Ace leaned back on her hands, a little wary.

"Did you tell her we were going to stay here permanently?" Ace asked him suspiciously, and was relieved when he looked surprised.

"No. Did she say I did?" He asked, leaning back against the door.

"Not exactly, just sort of implied that you'd committed to it."

"Can't commit to anything until I can ride again." Happy held his cast up as evidence. "But I wouldn't do that without at least telling you first."

"OK." Ace smiled, pleased to hear that she'd rate above Cat at least on the information ladder.

"You coming back out?" Happy asked her. "I told you I wanted to get you a little bit drunk tonight."

"Are you going to ditch me with the scary girl herd?" Ace asked, making a face.

"No, you can chill with me. Watch some fights." Happy held his hand out, and Ace pushed off of the bed.

No Other Man Alive

Ace sat on the bench between Happy's knees, watching Tacoma's Sons beating on each other. He'd kept her glass topped off, so she wasn't really sure how much she'd consumed. She did know that Happy wasn't drinking at all, despite the bottle at his hand.

"How ya doing, baby?" Happy nudged her with his heel, looking down at her. Ace rolled her head back into his lap, and smiled. "Yeah, you're feeling good."

Ace pouted a little as Happy took the glass out of her hand. He downed the last of the Jameson and set it aside. He let his hand wander, stroking her crazy mass of curls, rubbing down to her collar bone, sliding under the collar and down across the tops of her breasts. She didn't shy away, just stayed put, watching him.

"Come on, let's go." Happy slid her off the bench and hopped down next to her. She was still pretty steady on her feet, just hopefully tipsy enough to get out of her own head. He tucked her under his right arm, and felt her hand slide up under his shirt, holding onto his belt. He chuckled a little at her and kissed her. He followed her up the stairs, clocking her stride, and taking a moment to check out her ass, which was still pretty great, even though she'd been steadily dropping pounds over the last couple weeks.

She slowed a little bit as they weaved through the crowd in the clubhouse, but he kept pushing through. There were the usual hold ups with brothers wanting to talk, but he shook his head anytime someone tried to actually halt their progress. He knew he had Ace in a really good place, and didn't want to risk letting her sober up at all. He turned her to face him when they got to the hallway, kissing her while walking her backwards. The cast on his hand pissed him off for the billionth time, because he really wanted to pick her up and wrap her legs around him, but knew he couldn't manage it.

"Still good, baby?" He asked, kicking their door shut, and locking it.

"I think so." She hummed against his mouth, and he immediately started to regret his plan not to let her touch him. He raised a brow and slid his hands under the thermal she'd snagged from one of his drawers, she lifted her hands up and he peeled the shirt off and tossed it onto the dresser. He groaned at all the exposed skin, more of her tits than he'd gotten to see in a while. She'd been sleeping weird, up sometimes in the middle of the night, and sleeping late during the day, and making a point to get changed when she knew he'd be out for a stretch. He knew she expected him to go straight for her tits, and he was sorely tempted, but he just continued his assault on her mouth, moving her back toward the bed.

"Eyes open." Happy told her, when she hit the edge of the bed. Ace boosted herself up on the edge, and Happy pulled her boots off one by one, not taking his eyes off of her. She leaned back on her elbows, eyes wide as he unzipped the hoodie and stripped off his holster. He checked her expression again, then pulled his shirt off, too. Getting any more naked would be a bad fucking idea, he only had so much will power, and what he already had planned was going to take all of it.

Happy went around and lay down on his back, waiting for Ace to come to him. She did, moving with all the coordination of the slightly drunk, cozying up to his side, curling her leg around his. He pulled her on top of him, willing himself not to push her down on his dick. He enjoyed watching her snake her hand across his chest, tracing little bits of ink. She flipped her hair back over her shoulders, and returned her attention to his face, licking her lips. He pulled her face back to his, forcing her lips open and losing himself in the taste of her.

"Hey." He pulled back, getting her attention, and rolled her onto her back. "This is all about you, baby. Let me make you feel good."

Breathing hard, Ace nodded, and watched as Happy peeled the jeans down her legs. He sat back on his heels, rubbing his hand up and down the inside of her legs, waiting for her to relax again and stop trembling.

"Eyes open." He reminded her, when she let her eyes fall shut, and she immediately obeyed. "Good girl."

Happy pulled her legs up over his spread knees, and skipped up over the miniscule black booty shorts and spread his palm over the tight skin of her stomach, easily spanning the distance between her hipbones.

"You need to eat more." He told her, sliding his hand just to the bottom of her breasts, barely grazing them, then stroking back down. She started to tense up, her breathing getting short, so he backed off, rubbing her knee. She started to shake her head, and push an elbow under her to sit up.

"Hey. This ain't a big thing." Happy leaned over her and went back to kissing her, cutting off any self deprecating comments she'd been about to make. He slid down, resting his chin on her chest, and grinned when she finally opened her eyes again. He brushed his face across the tops of her tits, and licked his way between them when she arched into him. "That's right, Ace."

Happy popped the clasp of her bra free, but left it where it was, going back to work on the sensitive skin on her neck and shoulder. He was pretty pleased with the way she was responding so far, it was worlds apart from the way she had been, but so far she hadn't flipped out on him, even seemed to be enjoying the attention.

"You still good, girl?" He checked in, grazing his teeth along her neck.

"Mmm, yeah." Ace answered, and pulled his mouth back to hers. He hitched her knee higher on his hip, and felt more than heard her moan. It probably would have been a smarter move to have rubbed one out before starting on her, because his dick was painfully hard. But fuck, it felt good having her rubbing on him again. She managed to surprise him when she started to wiggle out of the bra on her own. Propping himself up on his right elbow, he drew the fabric off of her, but kept his eyes on hers. He loved the way her tits felt pressed against his chest. Moving slowly, he bent his head to her breasts, curling his tongue around one of her hard, perfect nipples before he closed his mouth on it. When he'd treated the other one to similar attention, Happy backed off of her again.

"Are you stopping?" Ace asked, pushing up on her elbows to watch him. He was sitting back on his heels, hand stroking over her stomach. He could see in his mind the additions he planned to make to her tattoo, but knew that she wasn't ready to hear it.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked, knowing he'd be disappointed if she said yes.

"No, I'm alright."

Happy grinned at her, and let his hand drift further South, flirting with the edge of her panties. He barely touched her, just traced patterns across her spread thighs and over the scrap of fabric covering her pussy. She'd tensed up again at first, but the non threatening petting and stroking had her laying back against the pillows.

"Uh-uh, eyes open, baby." He reminded her. "It's just me and you, got it?"

Happy slid his hand up her leg and under her panties, continuing his easy exploration. It was all he could do to keep his eyes on hers, and not on the pretty picture his hand under her panties made. He withdrew his hand, and stuck his two middle fingers in his mouth, wetting them before sliding them back under the panties and down into her folds. He stayed clear of her slit, concentrating on rubbing slow circles on her clit.

"Feeling good, yet?" He asked her, nasty grin on his face, because he knew she was. It soothed his pride that she trusted him enough to do this, and he loved the look of her, spread out on the bed, hands fisted in the comforter. She reached for him, and he kept up his work on her while he leaned over her to kiss her again. "You gonna let me make you cum, baby?"

"I don't know if I can." She whispered against his mouth, but he shook his head and shushed her.

"Get out of your head. You don't have to do anything, just let me make you feel good." He told her, and slid his hand down enough to dip a finger in her. She was wet, and he thanked God and Jameson that this was working. He laid on his side, next to her, and she rolled to face him. He added a second finger to the first, using his thumb to continue the circles on her clit.

"Relax, baby." He told her, and bit her bottom lip. Her hand was gripping his hip just above the waistband, and she was alternately pulling him in and pushing him back. "God, you feel fucking perfect."

Happy rested his forehead on hers, drinking in the sight of her. Her eyelids were heavy with Jameson and the orgasm he was working on, but she kept her eyes on his. Ace was panting now, and starting to move back against his hand.

"Hap, oh…" She breathed, rocking her hips, and he could feel her getting even slicker.

"Yeah, that's right." He drawled, trying to ignore the effect that her saying his name had on his dick. He let her work herself on his hand, not wanting to break the spell when she was so close to cumming. Her lips were parted, and he couldn't resist shoving his tongue back into her mouth. She kissed him back desperately, then her breath caught and she gave in. He felt her cumming on his hand, and couldn't help the big cocky grin on his face.

"Good girl." Happy told her, and kissed her sweaty forehead. When she'd come all the way down, he drew his fingers out of her, and sucked them clean, keeping his eyes on hers. He pulled her closer, drawing her on top of him so he could wrap both arms around her.

"You're so perfect, baby." He murmured, stroking her hair and back. It wasn't really a surprise to him when she started crying silently into his neck, but he'd really hoped that wouldn't happen. Juggling her, he managed to pull the comforter out from under them and cover her with it. He figured it was at least a good sign that she clung to him instead of pulling away.

"Hey, what's going on in your head?" He asked her when the worst of it seemed to be past. She yawned hugely before answering.

"I don't know." She mumbled and he pulled back enough to see her face. Her eyes were closed and he could tell she was halfway asleep.

"Alright. Get some sleep, Ace." He let it go, staring at the ceiling, mind racing to seek out all the ways this could backfire on him in the morning.

"Hap?" Ace asked, voice slurred by sleep and whiskey.

"Yeah?"

"I love you, too." She said, eyes still closed.

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