A/N: I do not own anything about Sons of Anarchy. It belongs completely to Kurt Sutter, and I am just so glad to be allowed to play in the wonderful world he created.
I went back in and added an outdoor table set as one of the housewarming gifts that Gemma brought in chapter twelve. I wasn't thinking ahead.
Chapter Thirteen
Charlie opened the door and found Tara standing there holding Abel, and Jax was standing beside her with a smirk on his face.
"Really, Charlie? At family dinner?" Jax asked with laughter in his voice.
Charlie scoffed and replied, "Yeah, and I'm sure that you and Tara were just hanging out together in the bathroom at the pizza place during my eleventh birthday."
Tara's cheeks went red at the memory and she headed down the hallway towards the dining room without a comment. Jax just shook his head, grinning at Happy as he exited the bathroom behind Charlie. Jax followed after Tara, and Happy pushed on Charlie's lower back to get her to walk down the hallway.
"I'm going, geez, chill out." Charlie turned around and glared at Happy, who gave her a blank look and he continued to nudge her down the hallway. They emerged into the dining room where everyone was sitting down and chatting, and no one paid much attention to their entrance. Charlie surveyed the room quickly, avoiding eye contact with her father, and after counting the people and the chairs, she realized that there wasn't enough room for everyone.
"I have an idea." Charlie said as she went over to the fridge and grabbed a beer from it. "I'm going to eat outside, maybe put my feet in the water, enjoy the nice evening. Anyone want to join me?"
"Sounds like a great idea, lass." Chibs said as he filled his plate with food. "I'll get ye a plate if ye get me a beer."
"Sounds like a deal." Charlie turned back to the fridge and pulled another bottle out, then headed outside quickly and sat down at the table. Chibs came and sat down beside her a few minutes later, as did Happy, Juice, and Bobby. They ate their dinner and made light conversation, mainly about one of Bobby's upcoming Elvis gigs. After they finished, they all walked down to the pool and stood around, talking and drinking beer.
"So the truce with the Mayans," Charlie said as she took a sip of her beer. "What's that looking like?"
There was a look exchanged between the men, and no one said anything immediately. Charlie rolled her eyes and bent down to start pulling off her boots and socks. "Guys, I'm going to find out from you or someone else; just tell me. It's not like I have friends outside of the club to talk to."
"Pretty cozy with Tully and Hale." Happy said, flicking his eyes over at her before returning his gaze to the pool and taking a sip of his beer.
Charlie gritted her teeth glared at him coldly. She was confused. He was hot and heavy for her not an hour ago, and now he was bringing up Tully and Hale; she couldn't see the reasoning behind his tactics. The rest of the men watched her reaction, but their understanding was limited to the belief that the two were on fairly good terms with one another.
"Not like you could get information from your dad, either."
Charlie clenched her hands into fists and popped her neck as she attempted to restrain herself from lunging at Happy and strangling him to death.
"Well, Hap, what got your panties in a twist?" Charlie responded, cocking her head to the side. "Blue balls that rough on you?"
Bobby, Chibs, and Juice looked from Charlie to Happy and back again to the young woman; it was clear that Charlie wasn't going to lay down and take his criticism tonight.
"Why would Happy have blue balls? None of the crow eaters…" Juice trailed off at the hard look that Chibs gave him, and he shut his mouth.
Charlie stuffed her socks into her boots and began rolling her pant legs up. She then sat down on the edge of the pool and stuck her feet in the water, leaning back on her hands and closing her eyes, turning her face towards the setting sun.
"Hap?" Charlie asked nonchalantly as she splashed her feet lightly in the water. "Why are you being a little cunt for no reason?"
Juice choked on the beer he was drinking and Chibs whacked him hard on the back. Bobby laughed outright before covering it with a cough when he received a dark look from Happy. With a growl, Happy stomped over to her, grabbed her underneath her arms, and hoisted her to her feet.
"That's not a very nice thing to say, Charlie." He whispered into her ear.
Charlie shivered and was about to respond, but before she could, Happy gave her a shove and she fell face first into the pool. Charlie's head popped out of the water and she angrily wiped water from her eyes.
"You son of a bitch! I had my phone and my gun on me!" Charlie yelled as she dug her phone out of her pocket and threw it at him. Happy ducked and it soared over his head and into the grass. She had felt the Makarov dislodge itself as she fell into the water, and she looked around until she found it on the bottom of the pool. Charlie dove down and grabbed it, pulling it from the water and placing it on the side of the pool beside Happy's feet. He squatted down with a smirk on his face, taking his hand and pushing some of her hair out of her eyes.
"The next time you call me a little cunt, I'll drown you." He whispered, and Charlie swallowed hard. He had a smirk on his face, but his eyes were hard. She believed him. Happy moved his hand down to her lip and swiped his thumb across it before standing up abruptly, turning around, and heading towards the deck. Bobby, Juice, and Chibs all three watched him climb the steps onto the deck and enter the house, and then they turned their gaze to Charlie.
"What the fuck was that?" Bobby asked incredulously.
Charlie sighed and then heaved herself onto the side of the pool, then stood up. "It's complicated."
Charlie was standing on the deck smoking a cigarette in dry clothes later that evening. Chibs had run Tara up to the house to pick out some dry clothes for Charlie since everyone refused to let her on their bikes or in their cars soaking wet. Most of the guests were standing or sitting outside enjoying the beautiful evening and relaxing; the club, and by extension their family members, had had a rough few months, and a nice evening with nothing to worry about was much needed for everyone.
"Charlotte."
Charlie closed her eyes at the sound of her fathers' voice. She took a long draw off her cigarette and was very sad that it wasn't a joint.
"Charlotte, can I talk to you?"
"Yeah." Charlie said, exhaling slowly. "As long as the word 'whore' isn't a part of the conversation."
Charlie looked over at her dad and immediately regretted her words. She saw the look of hurt on his face and instantly felt guilty for berating her father when he obviously felt bad about what he had said a few weeks earlier.
"Charlotte, I am sorry for saying that. I… you know that I just want what's best for you." Piney said quietly as he took a deep breath from his oxygen tube.
Charlie nodded and said, "I know. But you can't dictate my life." With a deep breath, she stood up straight and looked him in the eye. "I'm an adult. And it's not like the club treats women any better than Tully treated me."
Piney grunted and Charlie saw that he had his teeth clenched. "Dad, I'm done with Tully; I promise. But you can't hold this against me, and you can't dictate my life. I'm sorry, but I'm not your little girl anymore."
Piney smiled ruefully and said, "You'll always be my little girl." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing her on the top of her head.
"Hey!" Chibs yelled, stumbling slightly as he walked over to them and put his arm around Charlie on her other side. "Glad ye both worked it out. Family love." Chibs squeezed her shoulder and Charlie wrinkled her nose, looking over at him.
"You have beer leaking out of your pores, do you know that? How far in are you?" She asked with a smirk.
"We stopped counting after 30, Charlie!" Bobby yelled from the other side of the deck.
"Jesus. Bottles?" Charlie raised her eyebrows at Bobby as Chibs leaned onto her and downed the last of the bottle in his hand, burping loudly.
"Yep." Juice said, nodding his head with a grin.
"Fucking Christ, that's like ten tall boys… Pop, help me get him to one of the chairs. I'm not carrying his ass home, and he'd kill me if I drove his motorcycle." Charlie said as she motioned for Piney to grab his other arm. Together, they walked Chibs over to one of the chairs by the outdoor table and sat him down. Chibs immediately engaged in a drunken conversation with Juice and Bobby. Piney and Charlie went in the house to see if Gemma needed any help, and found the place spotless.
"Wow, Gemma, you did a great job with dinner. It was fantastic." Charlie said, walking over to Gemma, who was standing in the kitchen area. Charlie wrapped her arm around Gemma's waist and laid her head on her shoulder, and Gemma wrapped her arm around Charlie's shoulder.
"Thanks, sweetheart." Gemma said, looking over at Piney. "You two work everything out?"
Piney cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna head out to the cabin, actually. You need me, you know where to find me." Piney stepped over and kissed Charlie on the forehead and she squeezed his hand with her free hand. "Love you, kid."
"You too, pop." Charlie replied.
Piney left and Charlie detached herself from Gemma. "I'm going to see if I can hydrate Chibs a little before we attempt to go home." Charlie pulled a red solo cup out of the stack, put some ice in it, and filled it with water from the sink.
"Chibs is a grown man. They sleep on the floor and the bar at the clubhouse. If he ends up sleeping on the deck, then that's how it is." Gemma said, grinning at her.
"Yeah, whatever. I'm mothering him; he mothered me when I downed a whole bottle of Jack." Charlie shrugged and stepped back outside onto the deck. She walked over to the table and found Chibs with another bottle of beer in his hand. "Seriously?" She said, glaring at Juice and Bobby.
"He's a grown man." Happy said as he walked up, and Charlie sent him a glare.
"Yeah, but I have to listen to him piss and moan tomorrow when he has a hangover." Charlie said as she snatched the bottle out of his hand and replaced it with the cup of water.
Chibs growled at her and sighed. "Lass, this is nothing. Let me drink."
"Boohoo, Chibby. I'll see if there's still a crow eater around to make you feel better." Charlie said, rolling her eyes and taking a sip of the beer. She looked pointedly at Juice and Bobby. "Don't give him any more beer, understood?"
"Yes, mother." Bobby and Juice said mockingly.
Charlie turned around and walked away, searching through the people for one of the crow eaters from before. The crowd was starting to thin as people began to leave and head home, and Charlie wasn't having much luck finding a crow eater for Chibs. Charlie went inside and looked through the living room, then walked down the hallway and looked in the bathroom, but she didn't find any of the girls. Charlie turned around to head back down the hallway and shrieked when she saw Happy standing right behind her.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Happy!" Charlie shouted, punching him in the shoulder. "What are you, half cat?"
Happy didn't say anything, but walked forward so that she was forced to walk backwards down the hall. He guided her into a bedroom to the left and shut and locked the door behind him.
"Don't start with me, Happy. I don't want to hear it." Charlie said, rolling her shoulders and then crossing her arms. "I have to get Chibs home before he starts puking."
Happy stepped towards her, but Charlie put up her hand. "Nuh-uh. I told you, don't start with me. You brought up Tully, David, and my dad just to be a dick, so you don't get to try and get in my pants again. Honestly, right now, I'd be more inclined to punch you in the throat."
A corner of Happy's mouth lifted in a half-smile. "That's kind of hot."
Charlie groaned in frustration and stomped her foot. "Are you bi-polar? Is that it?" Charlie pushed past him and grabbed the doorknob, but Happy grabbed her arm and pulled her back around to face him.
"I want to have sex with you." Happy said bluntly.
Charlie let out a bark of laughter and shook her head. "You have a fucking awful way of showing it, Happy. Pissing me off is not the best way to get me in bed with you." As an afterthought, Charlie added, "As much as I love angry sex."
"So get angry again." Happy said, shrugging as he grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her to him.
Charlie pushed against him and wriggled out of his grasp. "Sorry; I have a child to get home and put to bed. Maybe you'll piss me off tomorrow." Charlie patted his cheek, smirked, then unlocked and opened the door, disappearing down the hallway.