A/N: don't own don't sue
The lyrics at the beginning are from 'One More Night' by Maroon 5
Set after Season One, before Abel is kidnapped and Gemma is raped and Jax turns into a jerk and the whole club hates each other. Generally back when the show had fun and all the coolest characters were still alive. Because I can, it's called artistic license.
One More Night
Chapter Two
You and I go hard at each other like we're going to war
You and I go rough, we keep throwing things and slamming the door
You and I get so damn dysfunctional, we start keeping score
You and I get sick, and I know that we can't do this no more
But baby there you go again, there you go again, making me love you
Yeah, I stopped using my head, using my head let it all go
Got you stuck on my body, on my body like a tattoo
And now I'm feeling stupid, feeling stupid crawling back to you
So I cross my heart and I hope to die
That I'll only stay with you one more night
And I know I said it a million times
But I'll only stay with you one more night
Try to tell you no, but my body keeps on telling you yes
Try to tell you stop, but your lipstick got me so out of breath
I'll be waking up in the morning, probably hating myself
And I'll be waking up feeling satisfied, but guilty as hell
But baby there you go again, there you go again, making me love you
Yeah I stopped using my head, using my head let it all go
Got you stuck on my body, on my body like a tattoo
And now I'm feeling stupid, feeling stupid crawling back to you
So I cross my heart and I hope to die
That I'll only stay with you one more night
And I know I said it a million times
But I'll only stay with you one more night
Yeah baby give me one more night
Juice and Tig were arguing with the rather spry elderly lady whose car they were re-possessing when he saw her again. One minute he'd been working the controls to load up the car, the next he'd been clocked by a purse bigger than most suitcases and twice as heavy.
"Ow! Fuck!" He yelped indignantly, rubbing the lump at the back of his head.
Tig didn't help matters any by immediately bursting out laughing. The old lady swung for him again, a can of cat food flying out of the open zipper and bouncing off down the street.
"I'd say you were out-matched." An amused voice sounded from behind them.
Her vivid hair was tied back in a messy plait and she had on the mirrored aviator glasses that hid her distinctive eyes but it was definitely her. No one else in this town had legs like that. The old lady was still hollering all kinds of abuse at them as Tig finished loading up her car.
"Still here?" Juice asked, rather pointlessly given that she was standing right in front of them.
She exaggeratedly patted the stomach of her pretty yellow sundress, then her shoulders and her head, then she nodded.
"Guess so."
"What're you doing around here?" Tig asked a little suspiciously, eyeing the mainly residential area around them.
"Besides enjoying the show?" She lifted her eyebrows at Juice in amusement and he grinned embarrassedly. "Looking for the diner that sells the best shakes in California. So I'm told."
"Billy-Rae's. A few blocks that way." Tig interrupted. They stared at him in amazement. "What?" He shrugged.
"Thanks." Frankie smiled and he winked at her.
His phone rang and he moved away from them to answer.
"So when you're not fiddling with bikes, you're depriving old ladies of their beat up old junkers?" She commentated slyly, eyeing the old lady who had retreated to her porch to shake her walking stick at them from a distance.
"Old ladies who don't pay their bills." He corrected as Tig rejoined them, tucking his phone into the pocket of his jeans.
"I have to do something. I can take this back to the shop. You know, if you have something else to do. Whatever."
Tig looked from one to the other. Frankie rolled her eyes.
"Wow. Subtle." She teased. "Well come on if you want a shake, I'm buying."
As Juice ran to the cabin of the truck to grab his cut, Tig leaned around Frankie to yell after him; "Just watch yourself, princess. You've got a reputation to maintain."
Frankie laughed as Juice clambered down and threw a vague punch at Tig's arm. Tig clapped an arm around Frankie's shoulders.
"Hey be gentle with him. He's an innocent flower."
Juice went bright pink and glared at Tig. Frankie looked him over from top to toe, taking her time to examine how his t-shirt was sticking to him with sweat in the heat.
"I don't know how to be gentle." She deadpanned and Tig licked his lips wickedly.
"Let's go." Juice bustled Frankie away, glaring over his shoulder at Tig who made a vulgar gesture at him with both hands and most of his hips.
"I'm sure he's a sweetheart really." Frankie grinned.
Juice shook his head ruefully, glancing back over his shoulder.
"Nah. He's really not."
They walked in silence for a while, their feet falling into step and their arms brushing every now and then. Juice could feel his blood thrumming in his veins. The silence was dragging out and he searched for something to say that wouldn't sound ridiculous.
"How do you cope with it?" She asked suddenly. "The quiet." She clarified when he looked at her blankly.
"You from somewhere loud?"
He couldn't believe the stupid question had even come out of his mouth. She looked at him with that half-smile again and he felt his own lips curling in response.
"Not by this country's standards I guess. London." He whistled appreciatively. "Yeah. Good family, good schools, good money. And I still managed to make a mess of my life."
She turned away, peering at the houses with neat little lawns they were passing.
"Come on, you're too young to have messed up completely." He tried to laugh it off and she gave him a sad smile.
"Quit my job, dated a scumbag who cheated on me and broke my heart, got kicked out of my place because my best friend slash roommate wants to shack up with some guy she's barely known for three months. Pretty sure I'm hitting the trifecta. And that was before my parents died."
They walked down to Main Street and Frankie didn't miss the respectful wary looks people passed the cut as they walked. They lapsed into silence again as they reached the diner and found a booth near the back.
"So." Frankie started as they perused the menus. "I've had my little pity party, now tell me all about Juice."
"You don't want to hear about that." He shrugged, feeling her intent blue eyed gaze on him as he stared at the sticky laminated menu.
"Cute and modest. Well aren't you just adorable?" She kept her gaze on the list of shakes but she knew he was looking at her. "Can't hold your own against old ladies, though. You look like you can't hold your liquor either."
He scowled at her.
"She could throw one hell of a punch!" He protested sulkily. "And on straight liquor I'd have you on your back."
"Ahem." He gaped at the waitress eyeing him distastefully and Frankie hid her laughter behind her menu.
Juice was still sulking as the waitress took their orders and retreated.
"Don't be so petulant." Frankie teased. "She didn't know you were challenging me to a drinking contest instead of taking advantage of my fragile person."
"Drinking contest, huh?" Juice looked at her consideringly. "You'd have to hang around for that."
Frankie dropped her gaze, staring down at the scuffed counter. He watched her hand playing absently with her knife and fork, the purple polish on her nails flashing in the fluorescent overhead lights. She looked nervous all of a sudden and he frowned; he wasn't too good with women, had he said something to upset her? She looked up at him suddenly, her dark eyes skewering right through him until his body twitched. He couldn't quite get over how hot she was. Being a Son meant dealing with beautiful women on a daily basis but there was something different about her.
Every time she turned those wicked eyes on him he flashed right back to that night at The Bad Penny. He didn't know if she recognised him or not, if she even remembered what had happened. She kept giving him these looks that made him sort of think she knew exactly who he was and how often he'd thought about her since that night. If she did remember, she wasn't letting on. And if she didn't remember, he sure as hell wasn't embarrassing himself by bringing it up.
"Earth to Juice." She was squinting at him in amusement. "You spaced out."
Juice shrugged sheepishly, spared from replying as the waitress returned with their food. Frankie thanked her sweetly as the waitress practically threw the plate at Juice. Frankie swirled her straw around in her milkshake before taking an experimental sip. She seemed to swirl the milkshake around her mouth thoughtfully, her pretty lips pursed. After a few seconds, she swallowed and Juice was distinctly aware that he was watching the motions of her throat without being able to tear his eyes away.
"Good?" He asked, hoping to distract her from his blatant staring.
"Very." She nodded, gulping it down greedily.
Juice wolfed his burger, realising how hungry he was as he watched her methodically dip her fries in a small pile of salt and then a puddle of ketchup before consuming them. She finished most of her fries before tackling her burger. She carefully swirled ketchup onto the bun before taking a surprisingly huge bite. He was staring again. He blinked and looked away, out of the window towards Main Street.
"You're quiet." Frankie swiped at her mouth with her hand as she chewed.
"Sorry." Juice grinned brightly but she continued to study him in silence as he fiddled with his unused knife and fork.
"You don't have to be so nervous." Frankie lifted her eyebrows, her mouth twitching into a smile. "I won't bite."
Juice could feel the fading love bite she'd left on his chest tingling and, unless he was very much mistaken, her cheeks had turned pink too. She avoided his eye and continued to demolish her burger.
"Well, Juice." She chewed her lip to prevent herself from laughing and Juice found himself grinning. "Thanks for lunch."
Juice toed the ground with his boot, his hands thrust into the pockets of his jeans as he looked anywhere but at her. He was terrible with women, and the constant image of him thrusting into her writhing body beneath him that kept flashing across his brain, was not helping any. He could feel his blood heating up just thinking about her beneath him. She'd cocked her head to the side and was watching him with an inscrutable look on her face. His body was thrumming with heat, his fingers were itching to touch her. A sharp knife of desire was arrowing its way through his body.
The sound of a bike roaring shattered the moment and they both turned towards the road. Two bikes pulled up beside them and Frankie blinked at them. The one she thought was Jax leaned back on his bike and surveyed her from head to toe, a bone melting smirk curling his lips. Frankie looked away. The second biker had lifted his glasses from his nose and was peering at the two of them in something like amusement, the scars on his cheeks only emphasising his wolfish grin.
"Let's go, boy." The Scottish burr made her blink and he winked at her as Juice shuffled awkwardly besides her.
Juice's cheeks were flaming as he waited for Jax and Chibs to leave. Obviously they didn't. They leaned back on their bikes and watched in amusement as Juice tried to stammer out a goodbye to Frankie. She took pity on him, ignoring the giggling bikers and brushing her lips against his cheek.
"Thanks for lunch. See you around."
She smiled again, moving past him and leaving a tantalizing trail of scent behind her. Juice watched her walking away, her hair swinging slightly with the movement of her hips.
"Come on, Juicy. Let's go." Chibs called, his glasses flashing in the sunlight as he surveyed him in amusement.
Juice took a step towards his bike, parked up behind Chibs, then he paused. She was almost at the end of the street, a few seconds and she'd disappear around the corner. He had no idea what had come over him but he'd called out to her before he even knew his mouth had opened. He tried to ignore Chibs and Jax catcalling behind him as he jogged down the street after her. She'd stopped and turned to look back but she didn't move as she waited for him to reach her. Juice came to a halt a little too close to her but she didn't move away. Now that he'd caught up he had no idea what he was doing.
"I… er—" He scratched the back of his head, peering down at her green Converse. "You wanna go out?" He mumbled, squinting up at her. "With me, I mean." He added in a rush. "Together."
She smiled at him in amusement, he was so cute. She seemed to be mulling it over, thinking very hard about his offer. For a long horrifying moment, he thought she was going to say no and he was going to have to spend the rest of his life hearing from the guys about the time the hot redhead shot him down.
"Okay." She said slowly, sounding as if she was still undecided. "Let's go out." She dug in her purse and pulled out a black pen. "Here." She took his hand and pulled it towards him, scrawling her number along his forearm.
Juice could not keep the grin from his face as he jogged back towards the guys still jeering at him.
"You call that broad yet?"
Juice jerked his head up, pink lighting up his cheekbones. Jax was leaning one foot on the seat of the picnic bench Juice had been eating his lunch on. His sandwich lay forgotten, ruined by the sun as he stared at his phone intently. It had been three days since he'd had lunch with Frankie and he had yet to call her and ask her out again. Every time he dialled her number, he chickened out before she could answer. He had no idea what he was doing.
"Jesus, Juice." Jax chortled, pushing his hair out of his face. "That girl was fine." He handed Juice the end of his cigarette. "Look man, she wouldn't have given you her number if she wasn't up for it."
Jax laughed and shook his head, walking away from Juice as Gemma emerged from the office and beckoned him over. Juice stared at the number on his phone screen. Jax had a point. He rubbed his hands over his head, feeling like a complete fucking idiot. He jumped so hard when the phone vibrated that he nearly knocked it off the table. A text message. He clicked to open it.
You gonna ring long enough for me to answer? F x
Juice jerked his head up, staring around the lot suspiciously. No one was paying him the slightest bit of attention. He scratched at his earlobe as he texted back.
im working on it
Grow a pair biker boy! x
Juice snorted, then hurriedly looked around again. Opie and Tig were standing nearby but that was it. He stared at the words on the screen.
If I call will u answer?
Juice stared at the screen, waiting for a reply. A minute turned into two, turned into three. Shit. The phone vibrated loudly against the scratched wooden picnic table and he fumbled to grab it.
"Hello?"
He could hear her laughter down the phone, bright and pretty.
"Mount up biker boy, we're going bowling tonight."
Juice managed to stammer out an affirmation before she laughed again and hung up the phone.
"What's with the grin?" Bobby asked as he passed by, a tyre slung over his shoulder.
"Nothing." Juice said quickly, shoving his phone into his pocket.
"Yeah." Bobby said slowly, disbelief written all over his face but he merely lifted his eyebrows and carried on his way.