Step one, you say "We need to talk"
He walks, you say, "Sit down it's just a talk"
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
The next morning, Josephine walked outside of the hospital to find Juice leaning against her Toyota smoking a cigarette.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked towards him, "And why do you have my car?" Juice shoved his hands into the pockets of his kutte as he stood up straight.
"You left your keys on the kitchen counter. I went by the house yesterday, the door was unlocked. Thought…I don't know. I thought I could drive you and the twins home and we could talk."
"Juice-" Josephine started, an exasperated look on her face and Juice took a step towards her.
"Listen Jo, I know this isn't an easy fix. Not after everything with the club. But I love you, and the twins. I can't imagine life without you guys. Please, can we just try?" Josephine stood silent as she took in the look on his face. The brokenness he felt was mirrored in his eyes as he shuffled on his feet. After a minute, she stepped towards him, pulling him by his kutte closer to her.
"Fine, but the minute your club tries to get involved, I'm out for good," she whispered, causing Juice to finally smile. He quickly dipped his head to meet her lips with his. After a moment, he pulled away to rest his forehead against hers.
"I'm not going to let this get fucked up again," he whispered before pressing a light kiss to her forehead. "C'mon, let's go pick up Rory and Ollie." Josephine didn't resist as Juice took her hand in his to lead her around the car to the passenger's seat.
Once they were on the road, Josephine kept her eyes out the passenger window, Juice's hand resting on the shifter.
"So, what do you want to know?" Josephine asked quietly. Juice glanced over at her before looking back at the road.
"What happened?" She let out a loud sigh, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Dialing a number, Josephine placed the phone to her ear.
"CeCe, hey. Any chance you can watch the twins for another hour or two?" After a moment of silence, Josephine smiled lightly, "Thanks CeCe. I owe you big time." Closing the phone, Josephine finally brought her gaze to Juice.
"Wanna get some breakfast?" she asked. Juice nodded, changing directions towards the local diner.
Once their food was ordered and the waitress returned with coffee for the two of them, Juice leaned back in the booth.
"Ok. Where to start," Josephine muttered before taking a sip of her coffee. She focused on the cup in front of her as she began talking.
"So, I'm not really from Colorado. And my name isn't really Josephine. I was born Alaina Elizabeth Brooks. I know, basic white girl name." Josephine let out a shaky laugh and continued, "I grew up right outside of Pittsburgh, being an only child. Went to Columbia on a full ride for nursing school. And in my sophomore year, that's when I met Anthony. We met at a café down the street from my college. And I thought he was just the sweetest, and he was, for the first year." Josephine's lip quivered, closing her eyes. Juice reached across the table to cover her hand in his, encouraging Josephine to continue.
"He beat me all the time, then would say he loved me in the next breath. When Samuel approached me about testifying, I didn't want to. I was against it. I broke up with Anthony and tried to get away from him. I just wanted to go on with my life. Samuel came to talk to me one more time before the case started, asking me to reconsider. Two days later, I took a pregnancy test and I knew I needed to testify to protect my unborn baby. So, I called him."
"Once the trial finished up, I wasn't even there for the end. Two days later before the jury was to read the inditement, my car 'blew up' and that was it. I was gone," Josephine finished with a whisper, "I left my family and friends behind. The only person that helped me get through was Samuel."
"I'm sorry Jo, for doubting you. For listening to Jax." Juice hadn't realized the tears were rolling down his face as well. Josephine shook her head, brushing the tears from her face with her free hand.
"It's fine. I just want to live in peace with my twins. I don't want the drama. It's bad enough I have to spend my life looking over my shoulder, I don't need the added bullshit."
"I never meant to cause a problem," Juice whispered as he wiped his face. Just then, the waitress walked over, placing the plates of food in front of them.
"Shit, look at us, crying before breakfast," Juice laughed lightly, causing Josephine to offer up a small smile. "So, if you left New York back in December, where did you go? Cuz you didn't get to charming until June?"
"Oh, I was in Florida. I liked it there. But when I gave birth to the twins, one of my nurses recognized me from nursing school. So, I had to leave again," Josephine sighed, placing her fork down. Suddenly her appetite had disappeared as she picked up her coffee.
"Jesus, Jo, I'm sorry," Juice said, before pausing, "So can I still call you Jo?" The smirk on his face grew, causing Josephine to laugh.
"Yes, because I always hated the name Alaina."
A few hours later, Josephine found herself laying on the couch against Juice's chest, dozing off. The twins were down for their afternoon nap, and the weight of everything had finally hit Josephine. She glanced up to see Juice staring off into space.
"You okay?" she asked quietly, reaching up to place a hand on his cheek. Juice finally pulled out of his trance, looking down at her.
"Yeah, just I'm sorry. I don't know to tell you how sorry I am," he whispered, before dipping his head to kiss her lightly.
"You don't need to keep saying sorry, I know you are." Josephine put her hand back on Juice's chest, before breaking the kiss and resting her head on him. "I don't know about you, but I need a nap." Juice chuckled, wrapping his arms around her.
"Get some sleep, babe."