For the past two weeks or so, Chibs has been taking Talia to Lumpy's to train professionally after her schoolwork was done and he even got her signed up for two fights. When she heard the news, she decided to cut her hair to a boyishly-short length and it was hilarious to see the Sons look at her like they didn't know who she was. She won both matches and split her pay with the Club, but she kept her hair trimmed short, so she was in a masculine mindset for however long her hair was cut.
Within that time, she's also been in contact with Hayliegh. When she and her bandmates played Charming's Sweetheart Festival for Valentine's Day, she gave Hayleigh a rose and they've been talking over the phone. Talia even invited the blonde to one of her fights and was surprised when she showed up.
"What up, fuckheads?" Talia greeted the trio of boys waiting at her locker as she unlocked it. "Anybody gotta PopTart? I could really use one right now."
"Who are you and why are you opening Talia's locker?"
She remembered she got a haircut and that she was probably still in guy-mode, so her voice must've sounded different to them. "I am Talia."
"And I'm Gandhi, nice to meet you." Josh snarked.
Talia rolled her eyes at Josh, but knew that it was going to take forever to convince the boys that she was who she said she was without her long hair to back her up, so she grabbed Dylan's hand and made him cup her right breast.
"Dude, wha- oh my God! I'm touching boob! That's totally a girl's boob!"
"Talia?" Ethan questioned and she nodded, grabbing her books from her locker. "What the hell did you do to your hair?"
"I dyed some of it invisible." She smirked as she punched Ethan in the arm for asking such a dumb question, but sighed when she saw the dopey look on his brother's face. "Dylan, stop smiling like an idiot."
"…you've got awesome boobs." He complimented with blushing cheeks. "They're really nice, Tal. Be proud of them."
"And you're sure he's not a virgin?"
Ethan shook his head. "I don't question it anymore."
~SOA~SOA~SOA~
"Stop smiling at me, Dibs." Talia scolded Dylan again as they sat down to eat lunch. He's been grinning at her like a dope since this morning.
"I can't help it."
"You won't be able to smile at anything if I knock your teeth out, so cut it out."
"So, how's this whole act like a woman, look like a guy thing going for you, Tal?" Josh asked as he peeled open an applesauce cup.
"Other than confusing my teachers, things have been awesome." She smiled. "I've been getting ass thrown at me all day. It's been nonstop."
"And how many girls have you banged in the closet today?"
"None." She answered and the boys all verbally disagreed with her statement. "Call bullshit all you want, but I never juggle more than one girl at a time. Shit gets messy."
"You mean this mysterious Hayleigh nobody's ever seen before. Right, right." Ethan nodded.
"You idiots were the ones that brought her to my attention. How are you questioning her existence?"
"Pics or it didn't happen." Josh demanded and earned another eye roll from Talia, but she pulled her phone out and pulled up a picture Hayliegh sent her. "Damn, she's hot."
"And she's mine." Talia reminded.
"Wait, isn't that Beanie Babe from our shows?" Josh questioned and Talia nodded. "Dude, no way you hooked up with her."
"Does she know you're a girl?" Dylan asked.
"Yes, she knows. I wouldn't lie about not having a dick."
~SOA~SOA~SOA~
Talia was telling the boys about the new Hellboy DVD she watched yesterday and the boys were trying to plan a slumber party, but Talia knew that Happy wouldn't allow her to house three boys over the weekend at their house…at least, while he was there. All she had to do was wait for him to go upstate for work and she could have the boys over.
As they were walking to her car, someone put their hands over Talia's eyes and that made her stop.
"Guess who?"
"It better be someone I know or there's gonna be a bloody murder."
The hands lifted and there Hayleigh was, beaming at her girlfriend. "Hi, lovebug!"
"Halo, what're you doing here?"
"I thought we could hang out after you got outta school." She told her before blushing. "And I kinda missed you...a lot."
"Aren't you cute."
Before Talia could even attempt to give Hayleigh a kiss, a round of obnoxious coughs and hacking sounds came from behind her. With an eyebrow raised, she turned to Josh, Ethan and Dylan and they were smiling like perverts.
"Tal, aren't you gonna introduce us to your super-hot friend?" Josh said with a grin.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"That's cold."
"Halo, unfortunately, these reprobates are my bandmates." Talia began introducing the boys with a sigh before pointing to Ethan first. "Ethan's our drummer, his little brother Dylan's our bassist/pianist and Josh is our guitarist/backup and dirty vocalist."
"Killzone-5." Hayleigh smiled at the boys. "I've been coming to your shows for a while, since Oliver was singing."
"Seriously, since Oli?" Ethan asked and she blonde nodded.
"Yup. Favorite performance had to be that acoustic show you guys did a year or two ago. You covered Avion Roe and Ken Andrews."
"That was the Soundless Sessions in Fresno, right before Josh and Oliver had their lover's quarrel." Dylan reminded them. "I'm sure we would've recognized you, but I've only seen you since Tal joined."
"I never stayed to talk or get pictures, guess I was too shy." She smiled, but pulled her beanie down over her ears. "You guys are probably one of Charming's best hometown bands."
"Marry her." Josh advised Talia while the brother were looking at her like she was an alien from another world that just started speaking a comprehensible language.
"Alright, quit drooling and lower your boners." Talia commanded as she tugged Hayleigh closer to her. "Are we going to my house or what?"
"Can you drop me off at home, Tal?" Josh requested and they began walking to the school parking lot to her Challenger. "My Moms-"
"Your super sexy Moms whom I would like to have a threesome with." She cut him off with a purr that he recoiled at.
"Same here." Ethan agreed.
"Both of you are pigs."Josh scolded them both. "They're taking me to Guitar Center for some equipment."
"Shotgun!" Ethan claimed when Talia's black and white ride was in sight.
"Hayleigh rides upfront with me. Get your ass in the back." Talia sternly told Josh and he pouted at her, but she was unmoved by his sad expression. Talia clicked the unlock button on the keyfob. Josh got in first, then Ethan with a little too much feet on her backseats, so she reprimanded him, "Easy on the seats, moron!"
Their first stop was Josh's house since he requested a ride home, leaving Ethan and Dylan in the backseats. As Talia drove off and to her place, she would pull Hayliegh's hand up to her face to kiss it. The act of affection made the blonde smile every time and the brothers were intently watching the pair from the rear seats.
"So…you two gonna make out or what?" Ethan asked.
"And give you perverts something to jerk off to tonight? I think not." Talia denied them, making the boys groan in protest. "Besides, I'm in a mood and kissing ain't gonna be enough for me right now."
"Saaame." Hayleigh chimed.
"Halo, you're pushin' it."
"Dear God, please push her." Dylan begged.
~SOA~SOA~SOA~
After an hour, everyone was done with their homework and the boys were in the living room eating pizza rolls with grape sodas while Hayleigh and Talia were in her room. Talia wanted to change clothes and Hayleigh picked something comfy for her to slip into.
"Hey, lovebug." Hayleigh called from the corner next to the reach-in closet and she was holding her Mother's guitar. "This is beautiful. Where'd you get it?"
"It was Juliana's, my biological mother. She made it herself. I remember her playing for me all the time. I learned by watching her." Talia answered as she pulled on a pair of fuzzy sky-blue lounge pants.
"You learned how to play guitar by watching?" Hayleigh asked and Talia nodded. "God, Tal. You're a purebred virtuoso."
"Mom was a great teacher." Talia praised.
"Play for me?"
Talia, knowing how much Hayleigh likes Death Cab For Cutie, plays Talking Bird. Hayleigh shifted from standing to laying on her back with her head next to Talia's knee as she listened to the song, her eyes fluttering shut.
"…I love that song." The blonde mumbled when Talia finished. "And I love it even more now that I've heard you sing it."
"Careful, Halo. I'm a Siren. I could have you under my spell." Talia teased as she traced Hayleigh's cheek with her finger.
"Wouldn't bother me." She smiled.
Talia paused for a moment, thinking, before she asked, "You really like me, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Before I met you, well, before I moved back to Charming, the girls I messed around with didn't ask me to sing for them or to play their favorite songs on the guitar for them. I didn't have a guitar when I was in Oregon, but it didn't matter because they didn't even know I could play or sing."
"They sound shallow."
"They were and I knew it." Talia admitted. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I've never been with a girl who was really my girlfriend. Those girls in my past, they weren't anything like how you've been."
"They never took the time to learn who you were?"
"Why would they?"
Hayleigh slowly sat up and stared at Talia. "Tal, am I the first person you've had a real relationship with?"
"…I don't know, Hayleigh." She shrugged.
"Have you ever been with someone just because you liked them?"
"Yeah."
"Liked them for something else other than they were attractive and the sex was good?"
"Oh. Then, no."
"I blame your Dad for why you're like this." Hayleigh shook her head before she grabbed Talia's hands, looking her in the eyes. "Tal, a real relationship is when you're with someone because you're attracted to all of them, not just their face or the sex. You like spending time with them and you wanna know everything about them and you learn their habits and you call just to hear their voice and…well, you just care about them and wanna make them happy."
Talia looked confused by her words. "That sounds…It sounds like…I dunno, like one of those boy-meets-girl movies. Kinda…weird and unrealistic."
"Oh yeah, I've got some choice words for your Dad."
"Is that how you feel about me?" Talia asked and that made Hayleigh blush again, but she nodded.
"Yeah…after all this time, I found something that really makes me happy...and it's you."
"Why do I make you happy?"
"Because…" It wasn't that she couldn't find a reason why Talia made her happy. The difficult part was that there were so many reasons and she didn't really know where to start. "You're just really good at putting up with me."
"Putting up with you?" Talia laughed. "Halo, you're the cutest thing ever and all you ask for is food, what's there to put up with?"
"I know I can be clingy sometimes, with me wanting your affection and attention a lot."
"I don't mind that. When you ask for hugs or when you just grab my hand or nuzzle into my neck when you want a kiss, that doesn't bother me at all."
"I don't nuzzle into you." She mumbled with a smile.
"You do. You've done it twice today." Talia pointed out. "You also wrap your arms around one of mine and kinda gently headbutt me when you want forehead kisses."
"I don't headbutt you!"