𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝙰𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 // Happy Lowman x OC

03.

"It'll all make sense soon, Telford." Auro states as he follows behind me. I make a b-line for Jax as I saw him step away from the wooden table, a grin inching across his face.

"Ryder!" Jax exclaims, reaching out for a hug as I approach. Lifting my arms, we embrace for a moment. I ruffle his blonde hair as we pull apart. He looked exhausted, eyes heavy, like he hadn't had proper rest in days. Which he hadn't. All his time had been spent trying to find Abel and god knows what other club drama they had going on.

"You look like crap, Teller." I say, earning a chuckle and a nod. I turn to Clay and greet him as well.

"It's good to have you home." Clay steps forth, pulling me into a hug as well, then exchanges quick words with Lazarus and Auro.

"We gonna talk about the obvious or what?" A shorter man with long curly hair interrupts our reunion, motioning a finger towards me, as his eyes looked between the men surrounding me.

"I have a name." I retort, the small smile on my face drops, turning to the man. "Ryder Villenueva. That ring any bells for you?"

"No kiddin'? Actually? No one ever mentioned you were-"

"Yeah, that's on purpose," Auro responds. He too was used to the reactions, always had a quick response to come to my defense, knowing I've grown tired of giving the same response.

"Look, I'll be happy to answer all of the burning questions you gentleman have later, but right now there's some business that needs our attention." I look amongst the men receiving a few nods before turning to Clay and Jax.

"Let's take this inside?" I say in a more hushed tone.

"Let's go," Clay says, motioning his head towards the clubhouse doors. I look to Auro before turning and walking to the door and he tails behind me, Jax and Clay following up behind us. Laz stays behind and continues to exchanging hellos with the other SAMCRO members.

"Just the way I remember it," I say walking past the bar area, pool table and to the chapel doors. I try to quickly breathe it all in again, closing my eyes. Looking at the wall next to the chapel I see an old picture of the First 9, my dad included and I laugh to myself, letting out a breath.

"Feels like home, doesn't it?" Clay says with a smile as he opens the chapel doors. I look to him with a half smile as he turns to walk into the Chapel. The three men walk in and start to settle down as I close the chapel doors behind me. Clay at the head of the table, Jax to his left. I sit down in the chair to his right and Auro plops into the chair next to me.

"Wasn't expecting you to drop in unannounced. Thought we were gonna continue to keep things quiet." Clay sets his sunglasses down on the table, raising a brow.

"Yeah, well it just didn't seem worth it to me to sit around waiting on the next move. Plus, you have a little explaining to do."

"Hit me."

I lean back in my chair, "I want to know why I was the last person to find out my brother was shot and almost killed? I should have been the first call." I cross my arms over my chest looking at Clay, brows furrowed. I glance to Jax who is looking at Clay in confusion.

"Look, I don't blame you for being on edge. Piney and I wanted Adeline to tell you as soon as you got into town and Jax didn't even know you were coming. There was no ill intent keeping that from you. We spent yesterday finding out who set up the attack and you're going to be there to handle it with us as long as you're comfortable." Clay suggests. He looks at me and my face softens.

"You forget who you're working with?"

"Just making sure." Clay cracks a smug smile.

"What's there to know about these pricks?" I ask.