With eyes as wide as golf balls, I stared with my mouth almost completely hung open. Trying to wrap my head around what was going on, I turned my attention back to the Sons, or more specifically to Jax. He was wearing his typical skull cap helmet and a pair of dark sun glasses. As soon as he turned his head into my direction, as they all parked in the driveway and on the grass, he sent me a smirk.
Looking away from Jax, my eyes stopped on the bikers who parked distinctively further away from Samcro. The first person that held my glance was my father, mother and my three brothers. I hadn't really looked at the rest of the Deadly Rogues until a short time later. I was a little shell-shocked. There, getting off their Harley's in front of me was my own family.
Eying my father off at first, I noticed as he pulled off his skull cap helmet. He looked much the same since I had seen him last, but he looked to be wearing newer looking clothes. The black long sleeved shirt, beneath his kutte, dark blue denim jeans and finally his biker boots that had definitely seen better days.
My mother that was getting off of the bike behind dad, wore the same type of helmet. But instead of a kutte of course, she wore a dark blue denim jacket with a bright red top underneath, matching it with dark blue denim jeans and small pixie boots. Yeah, she wasn't the best In heels. Every heel she would wear, always gave her a cramp in the calf muscle.
My brothers looked to be wearing almost the exact same as my father, but instead underneath his kutte, Scotty wore a blue singlet whilst Kurt and Jeffrey wore a normal white shirt.
They all had the typical biker look about them, especially my dad. He looked the part the most, especially with how rugged he looked.
Leaving Gemma and Donna's side, I slowly trudged towards my family. Walking over to them cautiously, as if I was waiting for something to either go wrong or for it all to be a dream.
Whilst they all got off their bikes, stretched their legs, I noticed that they had all managed to have their backs facing me. Revealing the back of their kuttes. In big bold letters it said DEADLY ROGUES. Below had their symbol. A crocodile in a curled position with it's jaws hunt open, revealing it's razor sharp teeth and of course a blade that was just as big as the crocodile between it's teeth. Underneath wrote N.T, AUSTRALIA.
That was my father's club, their colours. It wasn't something you could easily miss, it was very distinguishable.
Stopping directly behind my father, I watched as he turned around, hanging his helmet on the handle bars. As soon as his dark brown eyes met mine, a large smile appeared on his face. Before I could say anything or do anything, he had me wrapped in his arms, in a tight fatherly hug. One I had missed.
"Hey sweetheart. Haven't I missed you." He continued to hold onto me, my face buried into his shoulder.
"I've missed you too! What are you doing in Charming?!" I exclaimed, pulling back and staring at him in shock.
"To discuss this fucking proposal. Couldn't do it over the phone now could we? Besides, I ought to come see my beautiful girl." He held onto my shoulders, looking at me with a very pleased expression. I had to say, it was the happiest I had seen him look.
I sighed and nodded my head. "You know you didn't even have to consider it right?" I crossed my arms over my chest, noticing the crease lines in his forehead, how age was definitely showing up on his appearance. The greys were starting to come through his slicked dark brown hair and his eyebrows were starting to go crazy.
"I know sweetheart, but for the club? We need it." He retracted his hands, a slight frown appearing on his face now. "But we will discuss that later, after dealing with them." His eyes flickered towards Samcro.
"Alright, Dad." I nodded.
"There's my beautiful girl." Mum's voice squeaked from behind Dad, pushing him out of the way so that she could get through.
"Mum!" I exclaimed, feeling myself being tugged into her arms as she kissed my cheek a numerous amount of times.
"Just look at you! You're all grown up." She cupped my cheeks, looking me up and down with a sweet smile. "I've missed you."
"Not really, I haven't changed much." I smiled. "And I've missed you too, Mum."
"Yes really. You're looking so much more mature." Her hands slid down and gripped my shoulders this time.
But before I could reply, Mum was almost tumbled over by the weight of my three brothers tackling me into a hug. Almost literally.
"There's our little sister. Ethel, haven't you gotten old." Kurt smirked.
"Little? I might be smaller than you, but I sure as hell am older than you." I teased, shoving his side whilst my other two brothers had me sandwiched.
"You sure haven't changed much, except for those greys appearing." Scotty pulled back, picking at my hair.
"Shut up Scotty." I rolled my eyes.
"As you can see, he's still an arsehole." Jeffrey joked this time now, making me laugh.
"Doesn't surprise me." I took a step back, my eyes drifting from the three of them. They all looked so different since the last time I had saw them.
"Aussie is missing you." Kurt stated, smirking.
"Yeah, well that's because I was the only one who paid some attention to him." I poked my tongue out. We were referring to the club's pet crocodile. Aussie was in fact a salt water crocodile, but he acted like a dog. Literally. He would wag his tail and everything, he loved attention and he would be more of a guard than a dog would be. But still, as much as his characteristics were canine-like, you still had to be very weary around him. He could still potentially eat you. Intriguing isn't it though? A crocodile who thinks it is a dog. It sure always amused me.
"So Aussie missed me, but you three don't? How disappointing." I rolled my eyes again, smirking at them all.
"Of course we did, sis. We got nobody's arse to kick." Scotty smiled.
"Excuse me? I could knock you on your arse in two seconds flat." I frowned, trying to hide my smile but it was impossible.
"Fine, no one to have a fair fight with." He corrected.
"You're still wrong. Compared to me, you still suck." I giggled, watching Scotty roll his eyes.
"Nah, when I'm up against these two bastards, I've definitely got the upper hand." Scotty side looks both Jeffrey and Kurt.
"Think want you want to think old cock, I have you squealing like a bitch before you can throw your first punch." Jeffrey chuckled. "And well Kurt? He's improved a little I guess. He doesn't squeal like a little girl, so that's a start."
"Fuck off." Kurt retaliated.
"So, little brother. When did you get patched in?" I raised my eyebrows.
"Not long ago, proud of me sissy?" Kurt puffed out his chest and placed his hands onto his hips.
"Maybe." I smiled. "Good on you, about time you became a Deadly Rogue."
"Yeah." He grinned.
My three brothers all had their similuaries. Scotty being the eldest, he didn't pick up the dark hair like the rest of us, he took more after Mum. It was lighter and quite wavy, completely the opposite to the rest of us. But he did have brown eyes that was almost reflective of Dad's. Scotty was the most rugged looking between the three, but he was also clean shaved. Which was something I never really understood, but I suppose he got that from Dad as well, that was including his height. He was the tallest between Jeffrey, Kurt and I.
Jeffrey was completely different, not being as tall, he had a short beard growing, as dark as his own slicked back hair on his head. He showed the most similarities to Dad, especially with his hair, eyes and overall appearance. He was the biggest shit-stirrer between my three brothers as well, but he sure could take it as much as he dealed. Luckily.
Lastly, Kurt. He was the youngest of us all, he looked it too. Kurt was a big boy, he was a solid boy and even though he wasn't as tall as Scotty nor Jeffrey, he had the weight against them all. If he really wanted to, he could knock them on their arses without packing a sweat. Kurt didn't have the brown eyes like Scotty and Jeffrey, instead his eyes were exactly the same as our Mum's and mine. Bright blue. It suited him too especially with his dark long hair and growing beard.
"Tell you what, Dad was easy on him. He was barely a shit kicker!" Jeffrey crossed his arms over his chest.
"That's because Dad knows how much of an arsehole you'd be. Big brother." I rolled my eyes. "Even I know it."
Kurt didn't say anything he just smiled, eyes glistening as he looked down at me.
"So, which ones the boyfriend?" Scotty asked with a very stern expression.
Looking over my shoulder, I noticed Jax and Clay talking to Dad, every so often Jax's eyes would scan across to me. Turning back to face my three brothers, they waited patiently for an answer.
"The one talking to Dad." I replied grinning.
"What?! That old fucking creep?" Jeffrey almost yelled, looking like he was about to rip his hair out.
"No!" I laughed. "That's I suppose I can say, is the in law. The blonde next to him, Jax." I felt my cheeks heat up as I spoke.
"Yeah, right?" Jeffrey scratched his chin.
"Come on." Jeffrey gestured both Scotty and Kurt to follow.
"Touch him and you'll be dealing with me." I stated, which had the three of them snickering.
As soon as they left me, I was automatically tackled into several hugs yet again. This time, it was a few other members. But sadly, it wasn't the rest. Obviously a lot never came along.
Being greeted by Jimmy, Bon, Stewy, Axl and finally Ernie, I couldn't remove the smile from my face.
The five of them had been in the club for many years. Except for Stewy and Axl, the rest of them had almost been apart of the club since I was a baby, they were the same age as Dad. But Axl and Stewy were only a couple of years older than Scotty.
"Well just look at you, haven't you grown up." Ernie grinned. "Not a little girl anymore."
"Of course not. It's good to see you all!" I flickered my eyes between the rest of them. "So I'm assuming you guys were the lucky ones. The rest stuck back home?" I tilted my head to one side as I questioned.
"Baby, you know we are the favourites. So of course, we were tagging along." Axl winked, which made me smile wider.
"Yeah, the rest of the blokes had to stay behind. Make sure shit doesn't hit the fan." Jimmy nodded.
"Yeah, makes sense. Much problems with the Goers lately?" I again questioned.
"Ethel, it never ends." Bon shook his head. "But how about we talk about them later?"
"No worries." I agreed.
Once I had been greeted by everyone, I felt a pair of arms snake around my waist, pulling me in and wrapping their arms around my waist.
"Hey darlin'." Jax whispered in my ears before kissing my cheek.
"Hey." I smiled, resting the back of my head against his chest. "Did you know they were coming?" I turned around in his grasp, resting my hands against his chest as he continued to hold onto me by the waist.
"Nah. Not even Clay knew. They turned up before I arrived, apparently it almost started a fucking massacre. Everyone misunderstood each other, was a completely mess." Jax answered, a small smile appearing on his face.
"No one got shot, right?" I frowned.
"Nope." He shook his head.
"Good." I nodded.
"So you've obviously met my family than?"
"Briefly, wouldn't know who's fucking who though. Can't miss your father though, he sounded as rugged as he looks." Jax chuckled. "I can see where you get it all from. You resemble your Mom a shit load, but that attitude all comes from your father." He smirked, leaning down and giving me a kiss.
"I can be scary when I wanna be." I giggled, snaking my arms around Jax's neck.
"Baby, I know. But you wanna know something?" Jax pulled back, his blue eyes sparkling.
"What?"
"It's a fucking turn on." He growled, one hand slipping from my waist and grabbing a hold of my arse, giving it a squeeze.
"Behave Jax, Dad and brothers are around." I smirked one of my hands reaching down and gripping onto his genitals.
Jax grunted slightly, his smile widening as I had grabbed him.
"You might wanna remove your hand if you want me to behave, otherwise I'm sneaking you into the house." Jax flirted, making me giggle.
"I might enjoy that." I bit my lip, slowly letting go of his ol' fella.
"Come on baby." He let go of me and grabbed my hand, leading me around the back, following both clubs.
Once we got around the back, Jax turned to me and kissed me, before he strutted off towards Opie who just happened to be talking to Scotty.
I stood where I was, by the kitchen door, staring at how the two clubs interacted with one another. I could definitely see the caution both clubs had for one another, they were all very on edge, but still trying to have a good time and socialise. It was obviously they were all very unsure of each other, not knowing when one was joking or not. But I assumed they would all figure it out one way or another. I just hoped it wouldn't end up in a shooting. I cared about both clubs, very much.
"He's a looker." Mum caught me off guard as she stood beside me, her arms crossed over her chest.
"You haven't seen anything, trust me." I smirked, my cheeks heating up yet again.
"Oh my, Ethel! What happened to you?" Mum exclaimed, spotting the bullet wound in my arm.
"Oh it's nothing Mum." I said before using my hand to cover it up, so she could no longer see it.
"It's nothing? I will tell your father, have you been getting into trouble? Did those blokes do it to you?!" She automatically assumed Samcro was to blame.
"Don't tell Dad." I rolled my eyes. "And no, it wasn't the club. They've been really protective of me, considering with what's going on."
"What has been going on Ethel?" She gave me a stern look.
"Someone's out for me. They have been putting a hit on me, that's where this came from." I mumbled, removing my hand from the wound. "Don't worry though, Samcro is all over it."
"Your father has to know." Mum exclaimed, she was not impressed.
"No don't." I grabbed her arm, stopping her from going anywhere.
"Why?" She glared.
"Because I don't want problems surfacing between the two clubs. Look at them now! Someone is just waiting for the wrong move, to grab their gun. I'll tell Dad, alright? But for now, dont say anything, not until Deadly and Samcro know where they stand between one another." I explained. "Mum I care about both clubs, I don't need to see a shooting or have to stand there and pick a club. I'm with Jax, remember?" I added, which seemed to have sunk in.
"Fine. As long as you tell him after this all." Mum nodded.
"Yes, I will." I gave her a small smile.
Standing there for a moment, I spotted Gemma appear from behind the scattered men.
"Mum, I want you to meet somebody." I say, grabbing her hand and leading her across the yard and towards Gemma.
"Hey Gemma." I say catching her attention.
Gemma turned her head and gave me a smile, her eyes landing on Mum beside me as we stopped directly in front of her.
"Gemma this is my Mum. Mum, this is Gemma. Jax's Mum, wife to Clay and of course the one who keeps Samcro in-line." I smiled, looking between Mum and Gemma.
"Anna, it's a pleasure." Mum held her hand out for Gemma to shake.
Of course Gemma was a little cautious, but she took her hand and shook it, her eyes flickering from my mother to me.
"So you're the famous momma-bear I've heard about." Gemma stated.
"I am." Mum smiled in return.
"I hear Jax's your boy." Mum murmured, which had Gemma smirking.
"He is."
"He's a very handsome man." Mum noted, making me blush.
"Thanks."
Almost as if I felt someone watching me, I looked over my shoulder to see another member of Dad's club walk in. It was one I hadn't seen for a very long time, good thing too. We definitely weren't a great mix, Cheek and I shared a past.
"What's Cheek doing here?" Mum questioned, obviously noticing where I was looking.
"What do you mean? He's here with you lot, isn't he?" I frowned, snapping my head back to face Mum.
She looked awfully confused and Gemma? She looked very sussed over it all, especially over what she had heard about Cheek just now.
"No, he's been out of town visiting family. We haven't seen or heard from him for weeks, possibly even a month or so." Mum explained, she didn't look impressed. She didn't like Cheek, especially after all the shit that went down. But Dad? He was iffy about him, he was too soft on him. Something I wished he hadn't been. Somehow, regarding how much Cheek had put me through, Dad still called him with open arms.
"So you're saying he didn't come over to Charming with you's?" I frowned, turning around and crossing my arms over my chest.
"No, he didn't." She shook her head.
"So, how did this 'Cheek' find out where you went and Jax's house?" Gemma interfered this time, having both Mum and I to look at her.
"I don't know." She furrowed her eyebrows. "I'll ask your father to make sure." Mum announced leaving Gemma and I alone as she headed over to Dad.
"So who is he?" Gemma asked, putting her hands onto her hips, an eyebrow raised as she watched him walk into our direction.
"A member of the club." I state bluntly.
"You don't sound very fond of him." She turned her attention back to me.
"That's because I'm not." I replied.
With Gemma on my tail, we wandered towards Cheek who had exchanged a few words with Bon. Dad and Mum doing the exact same, they reached Cheek before Gemma and I did.
"What are you doing here, Cheek?" Dad questioned, a very stern expression across his face.
"I heard the club was in town." Cheek smirked, his eyes leaving Dad and landing on me.
Cheek and I didn't have a great run, I didn't like him, but even I knew for Cheek, he was acting strange. Well technically I didn't know how he had been acting 'lately', revolving the club, but for him to show up here unannounced with no contact with the club, and to know where we were exactly, was a worry.
"By who?" Mum pushed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Some mates." Cheek answered, a very unusual smile plastered across his face.
I stared at Cheek, trying to figure out what was going on in his head. But it was like staring at a brick wall, I couldn't figure out anything. Just thinking about the past, about what happened back then between us, was something I wasn't very pleased about remembering.
Taking my eyes from Cheek for a moment, I noticed how both clubs seemed to gravitate towards us. Dad's club looking especially confused and sussed, especially when they noticed Cheek standing there.
Noticing Jax wander over to me, I felt him push in between Gemma and I, wrapping an arm almost protectively around me.
It was at that moment too, that Cheek immediately looked at me. His all so calm expression changed and a stern looked casted across his face. From the glint in his eyes, he looked pissed off. At what? I wasn't entirely sure. If it had something to do with what happened in the past, I would be surprised. It happened a long time ago.
Cheek's eyes darted to Jax and for a moment I noticed him clench his jaw. He sure looked to be staring daggers at Jax.
But Jax? He kept his cool and held a blank expression towards Cheek. No visible emotion running through his face or blue eyes.
Soon enough, everyone walked off, continuing their mingling from before Cheek's arrival. Although, the only people who stayed put was my parents and Jax. Gemma had left my side and approached Clay, an uneasy look about her.
"Ethel. Hello." Cheek finally spoke, a small smile appearing on his lips.
"Cheek." I nodded my head, trying to act calm and collected. I did not trust Cheek, not one bit. Especially not after everything. He was a real arsehole.
"Come on darl, no hard feelings. I've changed, I'm a better man." Cheek's smile seemed to have grown, giving me a sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"Well that's good, I guess." I mumbled, moving closer to Jax. I was so uncomfortable, I wanted him just to disappear.
"Come here, I won't hurt you." Cheek opened up his arms, gesturing for a hug. One I wasn't all too keen about.
Looking at Cheek for a little while longer, I hesitantly moved from Jax's embrace and took a step forward.
Cheek wrapped his arms around me, but I refused to hug him back. I didn't want to, I didn't even want to be in the same town as him.
Cheek rubbed his hands awkwardly up and down my back, which gave me unwanted goosebumps. God I wished I was anywhere but there.
"I'm glad you're still alive and walking around." Cheek whispered in my ear.
What was that suppose to mean?
"But darlin', if you knew what was better for you, you'd leave Samcro. After all, that shoot-out could have killed you." Cheek whispered again, his tone of voice wasn't very friendly, of anything it made me want to run away. Not only that, but his grip around me grew uncomfortably tight.
I was completely puzzled, and honestly? Kind of scared. I didn't like the feeling I got around him. Yeah, like I said, we didn't have a great past and I didn't like him, but this was a completely different feeling. Besides, how the hell did he know about the shooting and what was that suppose to mean?
Whatever it was, and how he knew, the gut feeling I got from it all wasnt good. Something was wrong and whatever it was, it ure was slipping right under our noses.