*I do not own anything you recognize*
Hey all, thanks for all the reviews and support. I really apologize about the long update delay. Unlike some of my other stories I'm actually still writing the bones of this one not just editing before posting and with school back in session things are moving slower than usual. I do plan to finish it and I have outlines for the next seven chapters so just bear with me. I really appreciate your patience. The response to this story has been overwhelming and it's just absolutely heartwarming.
I really hope you enjoy.
"Explain."
Happy stares down at her bright liquid eyes and he can feel all his rage slowly melting. She looks so deliciously helpless trapped against the old wood door, he can see the pulse point in her neck jumping above her scarf and he wants to lean down and sink his teeth into the soft flesh and silk. There's a sudden pounding from the other side of the wood and her eyes go even wider in fear.
"Happy open the fucking door. You're not going to kill that girl in my clubhouse." Jax is being an ass as usual. The younger man seems to be on a roll since he'd taken up the gavel.
"Not gonna kill her prez, just need to have a chat." Tia gulps up at him and she lets out a soft whimper. The realization that he's got his hand wrapped around her already bruised throat hits Happy like a ton of bricks and he releases her stepping back immediately. There's a scuffle outside the door and Happy can hear muffled voices.
"Tia, doll, you alright there?" Tig's voice comes through wood sounding far too soft and Happy loves the way she looks to him for permission to answer. He nods.
"I'm okay, we just need to talk about Mrs. Lowman's new medication. Thank you Tig." Happy grins, bitch can't help but be formal as hell.
"Go away, I'll explain it all later." Hap growls out the words and he hears more muffled movement.
"Chapel, one hour." Jax's voice holds all the authority of the presidency.
"Got it." Hap shouts back, his temper is rising again.
"Oh, and tell yer lass we've got her eye. Yeh know when she wants it back." There's a bark of laughter followed by the sound of booted feet retreating down the corridor.
As though the sudden departure of his brothers gives her permission Tia sinks down against the door, her head falling into her hands. Happy stares down at her for a long moment completely unsure of what to do. He's torn between her lack of breakdown earlier and his uncertainty in the face of her being in the clubhouse. In his world. She's supposed to be his escape from all this darkness and now she's here, touching it, sitting in it, drinking with it. He wonders how long it'll take before it stains her like it's done the rest of them.
"I told you to use the gun not fuck up trying to unload it." He decides gruff is best, he's good at gruff.
"It scared me." He feels his resolve crumble when she looks up from her hands and there are big tears hanging from those impossibly long lashes. He hates when girls cry.
"What happened?" Time for a new approach. He crouches down in front of her so he's on eye level and tries to look comforting. Conversation will be a whole new level for their relationship and he has no idea where to start.
"What do you want to know? He left, I woke up and he was gone with the two grand I keep under the bed and the prepay you left. The eye showed up in my mailbox a few hours later. Your mom said I should come here." Tia lets out wet laugh and Happy has no idea what's funny about this mess. "I guess I should have just used the gun. He's dead now anyways, I could have at least made it painless."
"Jesus Christ." He leans back on his heels. "You don't mean that." She's not allowed to mean that, his Tia doesn't murder people. "They won't kill him until they get their money and they know you can pay. He's still alive, although probably missing a few parts." He means this news to be comforting but he knows immediately he's made a mistake as she lets out a new sob.
Happy leans back further and ends up on his ass in front of her feeling utterly ridiculous. He's a killer, he's murdered women who've been crying harder than this before but for some reason the sight of Tia sobbing on his dorm room floor has him feeling all out of sorts. He wants to pull her forward and hold her until she stops but he has no idea how that would work. They're not lovers, they're not even really friends. If he's honest Happy will admit he knows more about some of the croweaters than he does about this woman he's been fucking for a year. Fuck, he hadn't even known she had a twin.
"Stop crying." He snaps the words before he's even completely thought through the action. The sound of her soft sobs had been grating on his last nerve. She lets out a few sniffles and looks at him.
"I don't know what to do here Happy." It's the first time she's called him by his club name and he's surprised at how awkward it feels.
"What do you want to do?" Should he hug her, or maybe she wants to fuck until she forgets about everything.
"Should I go to the police?" He realizes they're talking about two different things. She's still stuck on what to do about her useless brother.
"No, police. It'll make things worse." Not to mention it might lead back to him and the two murders he's already committed to protect her. "You said he took the prepay when he ran? The prepay and the money from under your bed?" She nods, wiping at her eyes with the back of one hand. He loves the way the action smears her mascara across one cheek, if he could just get her hair pulled down she'd be just the way he likes her.
"Yes." Her soft voice forces him back to reality and Happy nods once.
"Then we'll call it. I'm sure they'll have a list of demands or some shit. I'll get the boys together and we'll go take care of shit." He has no idea if the boys will agree to help but Tig at least seems taken with her. That's going to fuck with Happy's head for days but he pushes the concern away.
"Your in a motorcycle gang." It's not a question and he loves how innocent she sounds about it. Like she's telling him he's wearing a nice shirt.
"It's a club, motorcycle club." She nods in agreement.
"I've seen Gangland, I know it's not a club." He laughs out loud at that, harder than he has in months. She just looks so fucking cute in her little suit telling him she's seen a TV show that explains his whole life.
"Yea zorra, it's just like that." He doesn't know where the teasing tone of voice comes from but it finally seems to be the right thing because she scowls at him. Frustrated is better than sad.
"Don't patronize me." There's a sudden harshness to her voice that catches his attention.
"Don't ask questions you don't actually want the answer to. Stop crying, get up, get undressed, and get into bed. I'll be back." He pushes himself off the floor ready to leave the room.
"No." Happy actually has to do a double take on the word. She's pushing herself up off the floor clumsily, trying hard to maintain her modesty in her tight little pencil skirt but her eyes are hard and Happy is immediately frustrated.
"What did you say to me?" He takes a threatening step forward and feels like an ass when her eyes widen in fear but she doesn't back down.
"I said no. I want to know what's going on. You can't make me stay in here while you go off and, and" she's struggling for words now, "do things!" She finishes on an indignant note and it would have been funny if Happy wasn't so angry with the situation. Thirty minutes in the fucking clubhouse and she's grown a backbone, Happy can feel his escape of the last year slowly crumbling.
He's just about to snap back at her when there's sudden shouting from the main room, he barely spares Tia a glance as he pushes her out of the way and rips the door open, stomping out into the bar. Phil is leaning against the bar, Chibs in front of him holding a bloody rag against his shoulder with force. The Scot is talking quietly in the other man's ear and Happy takes in the scene with a sinking stomach, with Tia in the back the last thing he needs is club drama.
"What the fuck happened?" Jax is speaking from behind the bar where he's carefully setting up the club's first aid kit.
"These white fuckers Jax, they came out of nowhere. If they'd seen me when they pulled up I'd be dead. Only got away because I made it to my bike first." Phil is gasping out the words and when Chibs pulls the cloth away from his shoulder Happy can see the familiar point of entry for a small caliber bullet wound.
"You're telling me you ran away from an attack on our gun warehouse?" Jax's voice is deadly cold and everyone is suddenly tense.
"They would have killed me man. We can get the guns back, I came straight here." Phil is looking around for support rapidly. The gentle-giant biker had only recently received his full patch and he still has that new brother nervousness on his face.
"Then you should have died!" Jax's voice fills the room and he lashes out suddenly sending the contents of the first aid kit flying across the room.
"That's out of line Jackie-boy." Chibs' voice is calm but firm as he addresses the younger man.
"I'm really sorry. I panicked. They looked like Nords or something." Phil gasps out the words as Chibs attempts to apply more pressure to the still leaking wound.
"Please tell me you don't have a bar rag pressed against that man's open wound." Tia's got her nurse voice on and it has Happy spinning on the spot. He should have told her to stay in the fucking room. Although, if the look on her face is anything to go by he doubts she would have listened. He has no idea what happened to the Tia he knows.
"What would you know about it? We still don't know what the fuck you're doing here." Jax snaps the words and Happy is mildly impressed at Tia's lack of reaction.
"Doesn't really matter why I'm here considering I'm a registered nurse and probably the only person in this room who can patch him properly." Well, Happy thinks, that new backbone is really making itself at home.
"Fine. Tig, Hap, Chibs, with me. We need to find out what's going on." Happy nods, he has no idea what's been going on with his president that last few months but he's a club man and he'll follow Jax wherever the younger man leads.
"Be right there brother." Jax just lifts a hand in acknowledgement and keeps walking for the door. "Stay here, don't leave and don't talk to any of them." Tia just stares up at him.
"I'm going to have to talk to the one that's shot." Hap runs a hand down his face and he can feel his frustration reaching epic proportions.
"Fine. When you're done go back to my room." She just nods and he doesn't stay to make sure she's going to do as told before following his brothers out of the clubhouse and into what is certainly one more problem he doesn't want to deal with.
Tia watches Happy's back as he walks out the door and for a long moment she wants to call him back, beg him not to leave her in this dirty room with a bleeding man she doesn't know. But her voice fails her and the door slams shut. Tia is left with Bobby, the mowhawked man, the bleeding giant and no idea what to do next.
"Ma'am, you said you were a nurse, do you think you could help me now?" The man's words snap Tia back to the reality of the situation and she look around at the scattered contents of the first aid kit.
"Yes, you'll need to take off your shirt and vest." Tia bends down and starts gathering up bandages and packaged alcohol wipes.
"It's called a kutte." Bobby's voice comes from far too close and Tia snaps up to face the portly biker. He's holding out two shots of whiskey and she shakes her head.
"What? I don't need another drink." The biker shakes his head.
"The vest is called a kutte and these are for your patient. We don't have any painkillers." Tia just stares at him incredulously, years of medical training rejecting the notion that booze is a replacement for proper medicine. She looks back to the now shirtless giant and shakes her head, when in Rome.
"Fine, have him drink up then. I need to find enough alcohol wipes to clean the wound and we need to find something to remove the bullet." She keeps picking up wipes and bandages before glancing up at the mowhawked biker. "You can help you know." The young man looks oddly familiar and his open-mouthed nod of assent reminds her of someone but in the stress of the moment Tia can't place the face. She pushes the concern aside and finally turns her attention to the bleeding man at the bar.
"Is it really bad? I've never been shot before." The big man is soft spoken and has a surprisingly kind face for a man in a biker gang. Tia feels an immediate surge of sympathy for this gentle giant.
"You'll be fine but you'll have to move to one of the chairs so I can see your shoulder properly." He moves to stand and she's surprised to find him taller than Happy, she has to crane her neck so far it's almost painful. He smiles weakly before settling in a chair at the nearby table.
"Drink up Filthy Phil." Bobby slams four full shot glasses down in front of the injured man and Tia winces as he downs them without complaint.
"Your given name can't possibly be Filthy Phil." She moves to stand in front of him dropping the medical supplies from the floor on the table.
"That boy's a dirty fuck, don't let his sweet face fool you." Bobby bounces on his feet next to her and Tia just shakes her head and starts to examine the wound. She has to stand on her toes to peer at his back but she feels her shoulder relax when she realizes the bullet went straight through.
"You're going to be fine. Entry and exit wounds are clean. Lucky too, I don't know if I would have been able to dig out the bullet." He nods and he's biting his bottom lip, it's a move so reminiscent of Ernie she feels tears well up fast. She turns away to look for a pair of gloves. "Are there gloves?" She's barely finished the question when the mowhawked man is holding out a sterile package of gloves.
"These should work right?" He smiles at her and he's handsome when he's happy.
"Those are hospital issue, you're very prepared." She takes the gloves and works at pulling them on. "Do you have any—"
"Iodine." The mowhawked man is holding out an unopened bottle complete with a logo and Tia raises an eyebrow. "St. Thomas is the local hospital right? Do you buy the supplies straight from the admin?" She turns back to Phil as she talks and carefully pulls away the dirty rag pressed to the entry wound. The bullet must have been very small, the bleeding has already stopped.
"We have a connection that helps us out." Bobby is back behind the bar as he speaks and Tia just nods. His tone of voice doesn't invite more questions and she knows from experience with Happy not to keep asking.
"This will hurt a bit Phil. I'm sorry about that." She preps the iodine pads, soaking sterile cotton in the red liquid before turning back to the big man.
"It's okay ma'am." She smiles indulgently at him.
"Tia. I've never really been a ma'am. Ms. Connery if you feel formal." He just nods thoughtfully and Tia uses his distraction to press the pads to both sides of his shoulder. He hisses in pain and she jumps as he lurches forward.
"Sorry."
"It's okay." She works at cleaning the wounds before turing back to the table to open the pre-prepped suture kit. It takes six stitches on each side to close up the bullet holes and Tia is out of practice so the whole process takes longer than it should. When she finishes she carefully tapes gauze over everything before sinking into a chair. "You shouldn't get those wet for a few days and you'll need to see if your connection can get you some antibiotics. It must have been a small gun, you're very lucky." Phil nods and Tia jumps as Bobby slams a bottle onto the table in front of her before he and the man with the mowhawk take the remaining chairs.
"So what's your story baby doll?" Bobby is pouring healthy measures of whiskey for everyone and Tia shrugs as he levels his gaze at her.
"Yea, who's eye was that?" The mowhawked man sounds far too excited.
"My brother's." There's no point in lying about anything. She enjoys the way their faces fall at the statement just a bit too much. "What's your name?" She stares across the table at the younger man absently playing with her glass.
"Juice and I'm sorry about your brother. What happened?" He takes a sip of his drink and she shrugs. How does she explain everything that happened to Ernie.
"That's not for us." Bobby pipes up suddenly and Tia looks up at his thoughtful face.
"Why not? I might as well tell you, I'm sure Happy will anyways." She's feeling a bit lightheaded from drinking so much on an empty stomach. The last time she had a drink was over a year ago and she hasn't eaten in a day.
"Well," Bobby drains his glass and leans back in his chair, "the way I see it you're Hap's. Whether by choice or I don't know but you are and I imagine he'll want to know what's going on first. Besides, if he can take care of you on his own more power to him, this club doesn't need anymore trouble." Tia lets this new bit of information sink in before pushing herself to her feet. It's got to be close to time for bed and if these men can't help her then she's got nothing else to say.
"Happy told me to wait in his room. Is that okay?" She has no idea why she's asking permission.
"Baby, me not wanting your trouble doesn't mean you're not still welcome. You do what you need to do and let me know if you need anything at all." Bobby smiles at her and Tia nods.
"Juice, it's been lovely to meet you and Phil you shouldn't drink too much. The alcohol will thin your blood and make things worse. I guess…" She trails off not really sure how to end a night like this. "I guess I'll go wait for Happy then."
"Oh, before you go." Bobby stands quickly moving behind the bar he ducks down and comes up holding a glass jar. "I picked up your brother's eye. I don't know what you want to do with it but umm… it's here." He looks appropriately awkward as he puts the glass jar filled with water, the eye bobbing in the middle on the wooden bar top.
"Thank you." Tia can feel Juice and Phil's eyes on her back as she moves forward to take the morbid object, she ends up hugging it to her chest. "I really appreciate the thought."
"No problem baby, you let us know if you need anything. It'll be okay." Bobby gives her another indulgent smile and a nod before turning to grab a handful of rags. "Time to clean up boys. You too Philly, fucking bleeding all over my goddamned clubhouse." Tia is still entirely unsure about the nature of these men but they've been nice to her so she just drifts down the hall to Happy's room, jar clutched to her chest. She hopes tomorrow starts better than today.
Reviews are always welcome and thanks for reading either way.
You should expect the next update sometime after the weekend.
Coming soon: A club discussion and Happy and Tia try to figure out what they're doing together.
