Sorry this is a day late! Bit on the poorly side this week so I've not been writing :( Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter!

It was the Monday after Happy, her dad and Georgia had left, she was getting ready to go back to work finally and she kept glancing at her phone. She was undecided about messaging Happy.

They had a date for whenever he got back, being Nomad meant that he never had a timetable so he'd be back when he was back. Could be a couple of days, could be a couple of months but he would be back. She couldn't believe he'd kind of asked her on a date. It just seemed too mundane a thing for Happy. In her imagination if she and Happy had ever got together it had been something like what had happened at the party with the pool table but he'd kiss her or something. Even that seemed too mundane though. She couldn't wait, she felt like she was walking on sunshine and all those other ridiculous metaphors that actually applied to her right then.

Lip between her teeth she tucked her phone in her back pocket. She'd wait until she actually had something to say. Stepping out on her porch the early morning sun up Bella went back in and exchanged one set of keys for another. She would ride to work today, it had been months since she'd been on her bike. Maybe later she could take the long way home, enjoy a ride in the sunshine, enjoy her freedom.

She smiled as she pulled into Teller-Morrow and parked in her usual spot. She didn't think anyone would appreciate her ratty dirt bike next to the three perfect Harley's. She stepped off and pocketed her keys before starting to walk to the garage.

"You can't ride that to work!" Kip hissed at her, he was sitting on the picnic bench in his work shirt, a cigarette in hand.

"Good morning to you too Half-Sac, I'm so glad to be back, thanks for asking," Bella rolled her eyes at him as she went to head for the office to see what she had on that day and to make coffee.

"You can't ride that bike to work," he said again, his voice hard and angry.

"Well, as you're not my dad, nor my boss you don't have any say in what I do or don't do," Bella said. She wondered what had crawled up his ass. They didn't have the greatest of relationships but he'd never been this much of an ass before.

"I'm a Son, you should have some respect," he glowered at her.

"No, you're a prospect," Bella clarified, she wasn't into club business but she knew he shouldn't be calling himself a Son. Not yet. He still had six months to go before it was even debated.

"Which puts me higher on the ladder than some glorified mechanic," Half-Sac shot back.

Bella ignored him and walked into the office. Gemma wasn't in yet but her work orders were waiting for her and the coffee was on. Pouring herself a mug she went to her bay and collected the keys for her first job.

All day the prospect picked at her and by lunch she had enough. It was like her first week all over again. He was saying she was working wrong, that she should have stayed off and let the boys handle the work. Just things to piss her off.

On her break she sat at the picnic table alone and pulled out her phone.

Okay, you need to tell me. How did ya get the prospect to leave you alone? Bella

She sent the message to Happy wondering when he'd get to answering her back. She assumed he'd be on the road. She wondered where he was going this time. He must have seen most of the country on the back of his bike. She thought it sounded like a wonderfully freeing way to live.

She had just finished her salad when he messaged back.

Threatened death. He giving you a hard time?

Smiling, she started on the slice of cake she packed and messaged back.

Don't think he would be bothered by threats of death from me. He's just throwing his weight around trying to tell me I can't ride my bike and he's the boss of me. Nothing I can't handle. I am tempted to throw a wrench at him though.

Bella chuckled as she sent the message and finished her lunch. It was so strange to her being able to eat outside in the sunshine again in October. Two years of cold had made her miss the sun and she was enjoying every moment of it in California.

Throw it hard. And take a video.

Bella laughed as she read Happy's message. She could imagine his raspy voice and his frown even as his eyes shone in amusement. If it got to the stage of throwing wrenches at the prospect she would video it. She hoped it wouldn't though.

The afternoon repeated itself much like the morning. Snide comments were constantly thrown from the prospect, Lowell just ignored them and got on with it thankfully.

She was under the lift when things came to a head. Bella had had her arms raised for the past thirty minutes working on an exhaust, it was starting to pull on her shoulder though and the pain was getting worse. Stepping away from the car for a moment she stretched and went to grab some water.

"Can't handle an exhaust replacement. We need to replace you," Kip said loudly enough for her to hear.

"I can handle it, however I was shot less than two weeks ago. How about I shoot you and then bitch about how much work you've got done?" Bella yelled across to him. "Considering I've got a bullet wound and had the shit kicked out of me I'm still getting more work done than you! Concentrate less on what I'm doing and more on what you're doing, yeah?"

"What's going on here?" Jax asked as he came into the garage, he frowned between Kip and Bella.

"Nothing," Bella said, getting back to work and ignoring the pain in her shoulder once more.

"Prospect?" Jax asked with a snap to his voice.

"Yeah, nothing," he agreed, sounding sulky.

"Uh huh, sure. Who's bike is that out front, the red dirt bike?" Jax asked as he went to his bench in the garage and started going through his tools.

"That's mine," Bella admitted, wondering if he was going to tell her she couldn't ride as well. She was interrupted by the sound of her phone going off though. She couldn't get to it right then.

"You want me to get that darlin'?" Jax asked as she finished tightening a bolt.

"Please," Bella said through gritted teeth, her shoulder was getting worse but she was not going to give Half-Sac the pleasure of seeing her as weak.

"It's Happy. Why is Happy calling you?" Jax said but didn't wait for her reply as he answered. "Hey Hap, everything okay…? Yeah sure… She's under a car right now…"

Bella wiped her hands off on a rag she had on her bench and went to take her phone but Jax danced away from her with a chuckle.

"Jax, give me my phone," she sighed, rushing after him to get it.

"Really? Nope… Just got here… There was a row going on when I got here… Really…? Yeah, I got it man, no worries…"

"Jax, give me my damn phone!" Bella yelled running after him now as he kept dodging her with a chuckle. He even went so far as to stick his tongue out at her.

"I'll get her to give you a call back," Jax said down the phone before he hung up.

"What the hell Jax!" Bella groused, Happy had called her, she could have been talking to him.

"You and Happy hey?" He raised his eyebrows at her and she tried not to blush.

"Phone, now," she demanded, not answering his question.

"He had some interesting things to say," Jax said, lighting a cigarette as they were outside now. "Wanted to know if you'd thrown a wrench at Half-Sac yet?"

"I haven't!" Bella defended herself folding her arms in front of her and trying to hold in a winch at the pulling of her shoulder.

"Why would sweet ickle Bella do something so violent? Is Happy rubbing off on you that quick?"

"He's just pissing me off today," Bella shrugged and reached again for her phone.

"How?"

"By being Half-Sac," Bella shrugged again. She didn't need Jax getting involved; she had it.

"Come on, tell Jackson everything now," Jax said in a mocking voice with a smirk on his face.

"It's nothing I can't handle," Bella insisted, leaning against the wall and stretching her shoulder out again.

"On that I've no doubt darlin' but you're part of this family and if he's being a dick we need to know," Jax raised his hand to stop her from talking as she opened her mouth. "Nah darlin' you are part of this family and that prospect… We will depend on him to have our backs, depend on him to protect us all and that includes you. So start talking."

Bella frowned but understood what he was saying. So she told him all that had happened that day. He said nothing and just listened. He chuckled as Bella told him about how she had threatened to shoot him though. In her defense she had been really annoyed and wouldn't have really done it. She was almost positive.

"Leave it to me darlin'. He gives you any more shit feel free to throw the wrench, but give me a heads up, Happy asked me to record that shit," Jax chuckled as he put out his cigarette and kissed her on the forehead. "So, for real, you and Hap?"

"He's taking me out when he gets back," Bella said, not able to help the smile on her face at the thought.

"Like on a date?" Jax asked, his eyes getting wider.

"Like on a date," Bella nodded.

"I don't think Happy's ever been on a date. Like ever. He must like ya Bells," Jax said.

"Well I'd sure hope so. I don't want him to ask me on a date if he doesn't," Bella chuckled, taking her phone from Jax's hand. "Now go away. I've got a call to make."

"Send Happy a kiss from me," Jax chuckled as he walked away. Bella rolled her eyes as she laughed and called Happy back.

She spent ten minutes on the phone with Happy. The whole time she was smiling. It got wider as he laughed as she told him about threatening to shoot the prospect. He told her he was back out at Tacoma for the day, before he was moving on. Bella asked him to say hey to the guys for her, she had liked the Sons in Tacoma, they'd all been really nice and welcoming to her. They ended the call as Bella had to get back to work.

Smiling, she walked back into the garage and was happily able to ignore the prospect for the last bit of her shift.

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Tuesday, just to prove a point, Bella once more rode her bike into work. Her phone was safely in her back pocket where it had been since Happy had messaged her that morning. Bella thought that at least if he didn't talk while on their date she could message him and get a reply.

"Hey! I thought I told you about that bike!" Kip yelled at her as she walked across the forecourt.

She ignored him heading for the office. Bella took note of the bikes already there. It seemed they had a full house that morning. She wondered why, most of the time if the guys had a meeting it was at night as far as she had seen.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" She carried on ignoring Half-Sac as she entered the office where Gemma was.

"What's crawled up his ass?" Gemma asked, obviously having heard the prospect yelling.

"He's pissed at me. For being a woman. For being a mechanic. For riding my bike. For being a woman, mechanic who rides a bike," Bella rolled her eyes as she poured a coffee for herself and one for Gemma.

"Don't let him boss you around, baby. Let him give you shit and you'll lose respect," Gemma informed her sagely. Bella nodded. She was hoping that the prospect would be cleaning toilets and doing the Sons grunt work for a few days instead of manning the garage with her, she was out of luck there though.

"Don't worry, I won't," Bella smiled as she went to get her bay ready for the day.

She was just getting her tools out when Kip came up behind her. "I was talking to you, you can't just turn away from me like that!"

"Yeah, well, looks like I can," Bella said, her hand temptingly over the wrench. She wondered if Jax was around to record it.

"Fucking dyke bitch," Kip mutteted loudly as he walked away from her.

Bella sighed, she would not let him get to her. She wouldn't.

"I'll take the Suzuki, you can have my Chevy," Kip declared later on as she went to fetch her first bike to work on. Usually others worked on the bikes, which she got, them being a part of a Motorcycle Club and all, but she was looking forward to it.

"Erm. No. It's in my work orders, so I'll be doing it," Bella said, she was not giving the bike up. Not over some macho power trip the prospect was on to prove he was man enough to the MC. No way. Yeah, she'd figured that out the night before when she was trying to work through why Kip was acting the way he was.

"Let's get things straight here dyke," the prospect started and Bella set her phone up recording while he rambled on. "When it comes to bikes, the only thing you can do with them is ride bitch."

Bella threw the wrench without any hesitation or remorse.

"What the fuck!" The prospect yelled as he dodged the wrench. "You fucking mad bitch!"

"I'm working on the bike, go fuck yourself," Bella said calmly as she went to turn her video off and send it to Happy.

"Tell me you recorded that," Bella turned to see Jax, Clay, Juice and Bobby all watching.

"Yup," Bella said, trying to control her blush.

"Prospect! Go with Juice and Bobby!" Clay barked, sending the prospect away but not before Half-Sac sent her a look of loathing. "Everything okay here sweetheart?" Clay then asked her.

"Fine, thanks Clay. How are you?" Bella asked with a smile as she grabbed the keys for the bike. Clay and Jax started laughing as she walked away to get the bike, wheeling it in to check the breaks.

"I'm good, thanks sweetheart. Quite the arm you've got there," Clay said as he passed her the wrench back with a smirk on his face. "Can we speak a moment?"

"Yeah, sure," Bella said. Was she going to be fired? Throwing tools at other staff members was sure to be a big no. She really didn't want to lose this job. Why had she lost her temper? Her dad and Georgia were going to be so disappointed in her. She would have to move, and she was fairly sure if she was sacked she wouldn't get a reference.

"Hey, chill out, you're not in trouble, Bells. We've all thrown shit at a prospect before," Jax said, reading her face better than she would have liked.

"Hell, I'm surprised you lasted this long before ya did it, they make great target practice," Clay chuckled warmly and Bella felt herself relax a little, thankful she still had her job. Then why did they want to talk to her? "Nah, this is about the Mayans. Alvarez has asked to come here to thank you this afternoon. We'll be here, but we wanted to make sure you're good with that."

"Erm, yeah. Sure," Bella nodded, she didn't think he needed to thank her but she was also sure something bigger was going on. She would play her part without letting on that she knew anything was happening. Was she curious? Yes of course she was, but she was also sure that if she needed to know they'd tell her. She trusted them all enough not to get her in a situation that would get her hurt or worse.

It was her lunch break when she heard back from Happy and she was walking the streets of Charming looking for something, she just wasn't sure what yet. She was hoping it would jump out and hit her.

Her phone sounded a message and she went to read it, stopping so she didn't bump into anyone.

Good arm, better ass, those jeans are really working for you Spitfire. Shame he dodged.

Bella smiled at the message, her teeth taking hold of her bottom lip as a fire started burning in her lower stomach at his words. When she had been with Edward he had done everything but slap a chastity belt on both her and himself, Happy started a fire when he was halfway across the country. She was anxious about what he might expect from her, but she was also excited. She had no doubts whatsoever that he would not be putting the breaks on if they ever started a physical relationship.

Thanks, guess I'll have to make sure I'm wearing them when you get back here then. I'll get him next time.

Bella put her phone away and carried on walking, her eyes sliding to displays in shop windows. Despite living in Charming for six months now she still didn't know it that well. Her lunch break was almost over when she caught the sight of the perfect thing. Just as she had hoped it jumped out at her. Two minutes later she clutched her bag with her purchase in as she headed back to Teller-Morrow.

Bella carried on working until later that afternoon when the sounds of bikes filled the lot. Cleaning herself up she stepped away from the Dodge she had been servicing.

She watched as five Mayans rode into the lot and got off their bikes, greeted by Clay, Jax, Tig, Chibs and Bobby.

She waited and watched from the garage, not even pretending to work. Clay and Alvarez both looked friendly enough. The others from both gangs looked tense and ready even as they tried to project ease. She wondered what the history was between the two Motorcycle Clubs.

"Bella sweetheart!" Clay called over to her and she grabbed the bag she'd picked up earlier before heading over with a nervous smile. "You remember Alvarez?"

"Yes of course," Bella said, trying to keep a smile on her face before she asked sincerely, "how is Hector? Is he okay?"

"He is, thank you," Alvarez nodded in her direction.

"Erm, I got him this, I hope he likes it," Bella said, passing over the bag.

Clay and the other Sons of Anarchy looked confused at this as Alvarez slowly took the bag and looked everyone in the face, as though he was expecting the bag to blow up.

Carefully the leader of the Mayans opened the bag up and peered inside. He smiled at her as he closed it back up. "Thank you, Hector will love that." He nodded at her, she'd picked up a metal diecast motorcycle set for the boy, thinking with his stepdad he probably enjoyed bikes. "We have something for you as well. Something to show our thanks. My Old Lady picked it out for you." Alvarez took a small box out of his pocket and passed it over to her.

"You really didn't need to do that, but thank you," Bella said, meaning it. She opened the box and gasped. "Wow, it's beautiful. Your Old Lady has excellent taste. Thank you and please pass my thanks on to her." Bella looked again at the simple silver cross with a small diamond in the center, it really was beautiful.

"You're welcome. I'll tell her you liked it. If you are ever in Oakland and you need anything you call on us eh?" Alvarez said with a nod.

"I will. Thank you. Give Hector a hug from me. I've got to get back to work, the boss is here and all," Bella giggled as she nodded at Clay. "But really, it's beautiful. Have a great day."

Bella smiled at all the men present before she turned to go back to work, the jewelry box still in her hand.

Twenty minutes later and the bikes were roaring away as Bella was signing off the Dodge.

"That was good thinking, buying the kid a present," Clay said from behind her, making her jump a little, she hadn't realized anyone else was in the garage.

"It was just a toy, but hopefully he likes it," Bella said.

"You're a good girl," Clay said with a nod, he clapped a hand to her shoulder before leaving again. Bella watched him go wondering what that exchange was all about.

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The weeks passed quickly and mostly uneventfully since the Manyans had come around. Bella soon found herself in a routine again that suited her. And work had gone much better as the day after she had thrown a wrench at him, Kip turned up in a maid outfit with a sign reading 'Bella's personal bitch' stapled to him. For a week he fetched her coffee, passed her tools and got her lunch. She refrained from mocking him too badly as the guys did it for her. Asking her if they could borrow her bitch anytime they needed the prospect for anything. She also got her bitch to hang a punch bag up at her house for her so she could practice punching. She never wanted to be as weak or feel as helpless as she had with Matt. It was also the reason she had started self defense classes out at Stockton twice a week. One day was purely self defense the other day was kickboxing which she found she loved, even if she did end up falling over a lot during it.

For the four weeks that followed Happy and Bella messaged each other every day and he'd ring her at least twice a week, usually more. It was at times the highlight of her day. He'd been in Anchorage and then had to go to Utah to help out a charter there. He was insistent that he would be back soon though. They spoke about their days, movies, music, cars and bikes. He told her about stuff he'd seen on the road and she amused him by telling him about some of the customers they'd get in the shop.

She spoke with her dad and Georgia every few days too and had even made a friend.

Lyla was one of the crow eaters and a porn star from Caracara. Someone Bella hadn't thought she'd have anything in common with at all. But Bella had been coming out of the grocery store one evening to see the blonde almost in tears as her car refused to start. Bella had helped her out by jump starting the car and giving her a few tips. Lyla had insisted on taking her out for a drink to say thank you, something Bella had tried to say wasn't necessary but Lyla wasn't great with the word no. That night had been just what Bella had needed though, they talked about guys in general, lamented exs and talked about their jobs. Bella found out Lyla loved to read almost as much as she did and they both enjoyed horror movies.

The only downside that Bella had found to living in Charming had been that Deputy-Chief Hale had been down right stalking her. Every time he saw her, by accident or not he'd ask her about Matt as though waiting for her to trip up or change her story. That had started getting on her nerves.

One time he'd turned up at Teller-Morrow in his cruiser and stepped out as though he owned the place. Instantly the guys had stopped working and gone out to 'greet' him. He had however ignored them and walked over to her.

"So, you do actually work here. Huh. Thought you'd be working here as one of their 'special girls'," Hale had said, watching as she replaced a wheel on a crapped out truck.

"Nice to see you too, what can I do for you? Need an oil change? Spark plug replaced? You'll have to check with Gemma but I'm sure I can fit you in this afternoon," Bella said with a forced smile. He was an ass and he was bugging her something fierce.

"Just came to see if you'd heard anything from Matt at all?" Hale had asked her, watching as she carried on working.

"You really must think my dates are particularly memorable if you think the first person he would reach out to is me," Bella had said with raised eyebrows as she rolled the used up tire that was almost bald outside.

"What makes you think he hasn't reached out to someone else?" Hale said as though he was trapping her.

"Well why else would you be here, unless it's for that oil change?" Bella raised her eyebrows again. "Look, if he gets in contact I'll let you know. If you need work done on your cruiser you let Gemma know, otherwise I need to get on."

"I'll be around Ms Swan," Hale said, nodding at her as he walked back to his cruiser, a strut in his step.

"He's got a hard on for you sweetheart," Gemma said from next to her desk, a cigarette in her fingers.

"Well he can keep it in his pants and leave me the hell alone," Bella muttered. She hated police who used their badge to bully or belittle, it made her feel sick.

He'd 'bumped' into her a few times after that and even pulled her over a couple of times. A routine traffic stop or so he'd said. She wondered if she should make a complaint to the actual Sheriff but she didn't know if he was just as big an asshole as Hale or not.