𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝙰𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 // Happy Lowman x OC

02.

"Everything okay?" Laz asks, him and Auro exchange glances before they look back at her, now on the porch.

"Nicky got shot last night at the Prospect's wake, that's all I know." She starts to pace, look around the foyer, "SAMCRO better have some answers."

••••

"You can go home now, Happy." Adeline steps out of Nick's hospital room, arms crossed, "Ryder will be here any minute now."

Adeline wanted to keep Ryder's cover and though, the man had been so much help in the time her daughter had been gone, she needed him to go to prevent any friction with the club. Plus, she knew Ryder would share her truth on her terms. Happy knew of Ryder, as did everyone, but the finer details were pretty much nonexistent. He knew it wasn't his place to ask any questions, either, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious.

"Are you sure?" He questions, looking at the older woman as she looks down the hall, keeping an eye for her daughter.

"We'll be okay till then, shouldn't be long now." She continues to look, avoiding his gaze.

Giving in, he replies. "Alright. Get some rest, keep the club updated on the kid." He gives the woman a gentle side hug, before slowly walking off.

"Thank you," she mouths to him before heading back inside the room.

Just outside the building, Ryder props up her motorcycle in the St. Thomas parking lot. Looking around, she notices another bike parked a few spaces away, It must be Happy, she thought. It was the least SAMCRO could do; checking up on my family, as they just couldn't tell me my brother was almost murdered. Ryder had opted against wearing her kutte to avoid raising any red flags to her family's visitor, or anybody else for that matter, she'd save that for tomorrow. Right now her focus was making sure her little brother was going to be okay.

She unclips the helmet from her head and places it on the handlebar. Fixing her hair, Ryder dismounts from her bike and starts making her way inside. Her boots clicked against the ground as she walks. The elevator just inside the entrance gets her to the third floor and she approaches the nurses station where a woman, dressed down in blue scrubs and wearing a slick bun was sat typing away at the computer.

At the same time she approaches the counter, Ryder sees a man, who she assumes to be Happy, in a Sons of Anarchy kutte walking in her direction. He wore jeans, chains hanging from his belt and despite the white baggy t-shirt underneath his kutte, his arms were clearly covered in tattoos. He sported the bald look and his deep brown eyes matched his dark demeanor. She recognized him, those eyes, but she couldn't put her finger on where she'd seen him before. Ryder didn't have time to give it much thought, as she quickly redirected her attention to the nurse, who told her to check in on the clipboard.

Happy eyed her up in return, passing by as she started filling out her information on the clipboard. Ryder wore a grey cropped long sleeve and black skinny jeans to match. Her straight black hair fell just to her waist and her peach colored skin complimented tattoos of her own peaking out from her shirt. From what he could see, the ink covered her neck, ribs and the tops of her hands. Ryder looks back up from the clipboard, only for the two to catch each other's gaze again. This time Happy saw the warm hazel tint of her eyes as and the scar that ran across her left one. The eye contact was once again interrupted by the nurse in front of her. Her head turns instantly, only giving the man a brief glimpse at her face.

"Who are we seeing tonight?"

"I'm here to see Nicholas Graham? I'm his sister, my mom should be in the room with him already." Ryder responds in a hushed tone. He overhears the information as he continues to pass but brings himself to a complete stop.

"Yeah, he's gonna be right this way," the nurse got up from her chair, going around the counter, instructing Ryder to follow.

"Thank you," she walks beside the nurse and the two head down the hall. The woman begins updating Ryder on Nick's status as the pair make a left down the hall. Happy quietly follows behind, watching them walk towards Nick's room.

The women stop and the nurse knocks on the door. Adeline opens it and immediately throws her arms around her daughter's neck. He watches the exchange intently before choosing not to engage. Happy takes a moment to admire the sight of the two embrace before turning back in the opposite direction. Once he's outside of the hospital, Happy spots the other bike a few spaces from his own, knowing it wasn't there when he had arrived. It was then that he starts to connect the dots. "Well shit," He mumbles to himself.

Meanwhile back in Nick's hospital room, the mother and daughter sat bedside, discussing Ryder's arrival in Charming.

"I think it's time for me to come home, for good." She's staring at her brother's sleeping body. His arm was bandaged and put into a sling. "This right here, it's my fault. If I wasn't so selfish, worried about me, keeping my identity a secret, this could have been avoided." Ryder leans forward in her chair, elbows sat on her knees.

"You're part of this family, too. Keeping you safe is just as important. There's nothing you could have done-"

Ryder pushes herself to stand, "I could have taken that bullet, mom, or better yet I could have put a bullet in the motherfucker who did this. I come home and I have to see my kid brother laid up in a hospital bed because I asked the club to take care of you guys. That's my job, not theirs."

"Ryder," Adeline says just above a whisper. She closed her eyes as her daughter continues.

"People I care about keep getting hurt or dying, mom. Jones and Dirk are dead, Rome can't ride anymore, Abel's missing, Nick could have died, I-" Ryder paces, her hands at the top of her head, pulling her hair back.

Adeline stands and grabs her daughter hands from her face, pulling her into another embrace, "You're here now."

Reciprocating the hug, Ryder places her forehead on the shorter woman's shoulder. It's only after a moment she looks up and gently pulls away saying, "I'm going to talk to Clay tomorrow. I'll see about Charming being permanent. I can't spend anymore time away from you guys."

"Aren't you worried how everyone's gonna react?"

"This. Here. Matters way more to me. Every single moment the last year has been pushing me right back to Charming and honestly," she pauses. "I'm tired of running away."

_________
Unedited