She's the younger sister of Tara Knowles and never once has Colbie tried to use that to her advantage; in fact, it's been one of her biggest downfalls. She's worked her ass off for what she has in life and she's not about to let her sister's return...
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Knowing that there was going to be a rather large gathering of people in and around the clubhouse later that evening, Colbie knew of only one thing that she could do to preoccupy herself from everything that was currently suffocating her in her own mind. Finding Gemma would be the perfect distraction, seeing as how the older woman would be able to give her numerus tasks to prepare for the gathering and keep her busy enough to stay out of her own head.
Finding the dark-haired woman in the office of the garage, Colbie leaned against the doorframe with a smile on her face. "Put me to work. I don't want to revel in my currently miserable life," Colbie spoke.
"You up to cooking or are you trying to go to the store to get the food and alcohol?" Gemma questioned.
"I don't think that the public is right for me just yet," Colbie admitted. "I don't mind cooking in my tiny little kitchen with no one around," she laughed.
"Trust me, everyone enjoys when you cook, so this will be a nice surprise for them," Gemma smirked. "You'll have them lining up with empty plates before the food is even ready."
For the following twenty or so minutes, Gemma and Colbie prepared a list of food that would be served later that evening, as well as the list of needed supplies from the grocery store. Finding a few prospects to be trusted at the store, Gemma and Colbie explained everything needed and that they had an hour to get there and back with everything on the list.
xx
While waiting on the prospects to bring back everything that she needed to get started with the food, Colbie grabbed a beer from behind the bar and made her way outside to the yard. Seeing Juice sitting at one of the picnic tables, the female made her way over to him and sat down on the opposite side.
"It's nice to be able to sit back, drink a beer, and people watch with you again, J," Colbie spoke to her best friend.
"I missed you, Colbie," Juice admitted. "I didn't want to push you into hanging out after everything that happened, so I just hung back. Even Gemma warned all of us not to bother you until you came to us."
"That was sweet on her part, but I probably could have used the distraction, you know?" Colbie spoke. "I just can't believe that he's gone."
Looking to his best friend, Juice knew that there wasn't going to be anything that he said that would help mend Colbie's broken heart, so he decided not to say anything. In lieu of words, Juice instead decided that he was going to pull Colbie into a tight hug.
Before she knew what was happening, Colbie felt her friend's arms around her. Giving into the hug, the female didn't realize just how much she needed his comfort or how powerful it was to help her heal. There was no guarantee, but Colbie had a feeling that Juice watched how it happened, whatever it was that had had happened to Austin. She knew that Juice was only trying to help her feel better and it seemed to be working wonders.
xx
"What is that glorious smell?" Colbie heard Tig question.
"That would be food for tonight," Colbie answered proudly.
"Need somebody to taste test?" Tig asked.
"I already have someone," Colbie spoke. "But, thanks for the offer."
"Who could give you a better opinion than me?" Tig retorted.
"Honestly, anyone. I love you, Tig, but you're always hungry and you'll eat just about anything," Colbie spoke with a soft laugh.
"You know, that hurts," Tig spoke, trying to act offended.
"Don't be a baby about it, Tig," Colbie chuckled. "That feature could be useful in certain situations."
"What kind of situations?" he questioned.
"That, I couldn't tell you. I can tell you, however, that there has to be situations out there for you to excel in with it," Colbie stated.
"Something smells good," Opie spoke, walking into the room.
"Yes, it's the food that you'll be served tonight," Colbie spoke. "No, I don't need a taste tester and no, you may not have any until it's served later."
"And here I thought that we were friends," Opie said with a laugh.
"We are friends, that's why I know that you can wait until later on tonight," Colbie spoke sternly.
"You're ruthless," Opie laughed. "But, you're absolutely right. I can wait until tonight," he added. "How much food are you making?"
"Gemma has me prepping to feed at least sixty people tonight," Colbie informed him.
"Are you going to be one of them?" Opie questioned.
"I'm probably going to grab food and go to my room for the night. I'm really just not in the mood for any sort of party or being around that many people right now," Colbie sighed.
"Come on, CoCo," Opie tried. "You have to join us all tonight. Donna managed to find a sitter and actually agreed to come tonight. You and I both know how rare that is," Opie spoke.
"While that is a rare occasion, Ope, I'm really not in the mood to be around anyone. If Donna gets tired of dealing with most of the shitheads that are going to be here tonight, she knows where my room is. She's more than welcome to come hang out with me, because I probably am going to need a friend tonight."
"I'm sure that she'll come knocking," Opie replied. "But, I'm always here for you if you need me," he added.
"I know, Opie. That really does mean a lot to me," Colbie spoke, turning back to the food that she was continuing to cook.
xx
Finalizing everything that she had prepped and cooked that afternoon, Colbie saw Gemma walking towards her.
"It smells wonderful, baby," Gemma commented.
"Thanks," Colbie said. "I'm just going to take a little of everything and bring it to my room so that I don't have to fight to get any later on. I already heard that there was a bunch of people outside."
"Yeah, there's a bunch of the Tacoma guys here now. Clay is trying to collaborate with them on something, so he invited them all down. Plus, they're a lot of Happy's close friends," Gemma added.
"Oh, good," Colbie spoke joyfully. "Then I won't be bothered by him whatsoever tonight."
"I don't know why you're fighting it," Gemma said. "I know that Austin quickly became a very important part of your life, but you and Happy are end game."
"Momma, it'll never happen. Besides, not that I've even thought about it, but it's not like he and I would ever be functional. He's too closed off and I don't like motorcycles," Colbie spoke. "Either way, I'm not interested in Happy like that, despite him becoming a decently okay confidant."
"Take some time to heal your heart and your mind," Gemma started. "Soon enough, both will be consumed with the Tacoma Killer."
Shaking her head, Colbie couldn't help but laugh. Everyone seemed to think that she and Happy had something that could eventually become something real, but Colbie couldn't see it and she knew that Happy didn't either.
