The past few weeks working at TM were great, I was able to spend time with Bobby & Juice as well as really getting to know the other guys. We all got along like a house on fire, we'd work all day drink all night & I was certain it couldn't get any better than this.
"Hey" juice said to me from above the car I was currently under.
I slid out & smiled at him, he chuckled. "you've got grease-" he gestured to my face "well everywhere." he said. I laughed & pointed to the rag that hung on the toolbox, he handed it to me & I wiped my face.
"better?" I asked.
He shook his head "no." he said with a laugh.
"what's up?" I asked standing & grabbing my cigarette packet from the tool box, sticking one in my mouth & lighting it.
"that guys back." he said scratching his head.
There was a guy who came in with his friends to get his car serviced & I had decided that I'd take it, it's just a service what could go wrong? Well the kid who owned the car -cody- I had learnt his name from the paper work could be come totally infatuated with you & show up everyday to 'thank' you for the service. I rolled my eyes & began to walk over to him.
"Cody!" I called as he & his friends pretened to look the other way. He turned & faced me with a smile.
"Ace, weird seeing you here." he said.
"oh yeah, it's so weird that you came to the club house & mechanic lot that my family owns & randomly I should appear. Go home, Cody." I said crossing my arms over my chest.
His eyes wandered over my tight black singlet & baggy blue jeans even the boots I wore, causing me to roll my eyes again. "I'm serious Cody, go before Ope gets back." he pouted at me.
"c'mon, Ace. He's way older than you, you need someone your own age." he said taking a step forward.
"mentally I am his age & mentally you're still twelve." I said, taking a drag of my cigarette.
His friends laughed at my comment which made Cody blush.
The rumble of bikes tickled my ears as Jax & Ope sped into the lot.
Cody visibly stiffened as they hoped off their bikes & walked over to me.
Ope kissed me dramatically, it was a deep passionate kiss as he pinned me to the fence. That earnt whistles from the boys in the shed. I laughed at him as I straightened myself.
"beat it, kid." Jax said lighting a cigarette.
"or what?" Cody protested. I raised my eyebrows at him as Jax laughed.
"or I'll tear you a new one, get outta here & don't come back again. Last warning." Jax warned blowing smoke from his lungs. Ope stood in front of me so Cody couldn't look at me.
"& if I catch you around my old lady again, I'll cut your fucking heart out." Ope threatened, I heard Cody gulp as he & his friends backed away.
Ope turned to me slinging his arm over my shoulders & leaning down to kiss my forehead.
"this isn't over!" Cody yelled. Wrong move. I thought to myself as Ope stopped in his tracks along with Jax, they wirled around Ope storming up to a very scared looking Cody & grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, Jax moved behind them standing in front of his friends who made no move to help him.
"it's over." Ope spat as he shoved Cody to the ground & stalked back over to me. I turned to see Juice standing directly behind me & made a noise of surprise.
"Juice." I said letting out a shocked breath, he smiled at me.
"just making sure you stayed put & out of the way." he said "you're a bit of a troublemaker aren't you?" he said with a wink.
I chuckled as I felt Ope's arm snake around my waist "wouldn't have it any other way." Ope said with a smirk.
I kissed his cheek & walked back to the shed to get back to work on the car.
Later that night I was walking out of the clubhouse after a fair bit of drinking with the guys & was making my way to my suv when I heard the sound of footsteps, I stopped suddenly & quickly moved to the shadows so I wasn't seen. The likely hood of it being one of the boys or a croweater was high but I didn't take chances when around TM.
Cody & his friends rounded the corner whispering amongst each other.
"shit." one of his friends said "they're still here."
Cody nodded "we'll have to get them back another night." he said. Rage bubbled inside me as I stepped out of the shadows.
"& what exactly do you dipshits have planned?" I seethe at them, dropping my backpack as I shaped the group up. I had no doubt in my mind that I could take them or at least a couple of them.
"shut it, bitch." Cody spat at me. I narrowed my eyes at him as I took a step closer & balled my fist.
"what did you say?" I asked, daring him to repeat himself.
"I said, shut. it. bitch." he repeated. I drew my fist back & clocked him right in the eye. He hissed as he moved back clutching his eye. His friend moved forward to attack & I kicked his knee backwards hearing a satisfying crack followed by his cry of pain. Just as the third friend moved to attack, the sons ran from the clubhouse hearing the commotion & they broke up into groups grabbing each of the boys & holding them down.
"what the fuck is going on?" chibbs asked confused & annoyed.
"they were planning to get some kind of petty revenge, I heard them talking." I told him, he turned to Cody & threw daggers at him with his eyes as he drew his fist back & hit him in the eye that I hadn't. Cody groaned.
"fuck!" he shouted, letting his head fall back.
"take them to the shed, call Clay & Jax." Chibbs ordered to Juice who nodded & began to reach for his phone. Happy, Chibbs & Tig escorted the boys to the shed as I turned to Bobby with a frown.
"I would have never asked this question before but what are they going to do to them?" I asked Bobby. He walked over to me & placed a hand on my shoulder looking me in the eyes.
"don't you worry your pretty little head about it, darlin'. they're just going to-" he paused "rough them up a bit." he said. I nodded not wanting to know the details anyway, just feeling slightly guilty about handing them over to the sons.
The guilt only grew when Clay pulled into the lot followed by Jax & Ope. I swollowed as they made their way over to me.
"where's the kids?" I asked Ope.
"asleep. what happened did they hurt you?" he asked looking me over. I shook my head.
"no but she took down two of them & was about to take down the third when we came out." Juice said proudly.
Ope nodded & Jax laughed "you're a teller alright." he said.
Clay hovered over me before speaking "they come back because of this afternoon?" he asked me. I nodded.
"yes sir." I said. He nodded & headed to the shed Jax & Ope followed behind him. Ope stopped to look back at Juice & I.
"Juice follow Ace home & hang out there until I get back." he said. Juice nodded & he ushered me towards the car, I winced as I heard the muffled cry of pain from one of the boys inside the shed.
I sat at home in the dark drinking a glass of whisky.
"you're awful quiet over there." Juice said.
I looked up at him "yeah." I said. He nodded.
"you okay?" he asked.
I didn't answer him for a moment because I knew my answer, it was a resounding no. I'd be lying if I said that handing those boys over didn't trigger something in me.
It reminded me of the days in which I was a debt collector & a lot of the time it involved handing bad people over to even worse people, I used to think I was doing the world a favour even when those people went missing. I was numb to it. Though it would seem now I have a problem with what I just did...what I have done, even if it was to protect my family from their petty revenge.
I took a deep gulp of my whisky & looked up at Juice offering him a tight smile.
"I'm good." I said. He nodded. the comforting rumble of Ope's bike broke the crushing silence & I inwardly sighed.
He walked through the door & turned on the light, I winced at the sudden brightness. Ope looked seriously pissed but that wasn't what worried me, it was the small droplets of dried blood that splashed across his knuckles staining them a crimson red.
Juice stood & began to walk out the door "I'm beat & I'm probably clean up crew so I'm going to head out & get that sorted." he said waving a goodbye to us as he exited the house.
Ope looked at me worry etched on his face.
"Ace you're really pale, are you okay?" he asked. I sucked in a sharp breath & faked a smile.
"yeah I'm fine, just tired." I said with a nod.
He looked at me & frowned as he walked over to me.
"I'm going to clean up, you coming?" he asked.
I nodded downing my drink before letting him lead me to our bathroom.
He helped me with my clothes & then began to work on his own. I reached for the shower tap only to have my hand shooed away.
"oh no I don't think so missy. you shower with the fires of hell." he said turning the tap to the temperature he likes it.
I huffed "I'm just preparing myself for when I arrive there." I joked. He laughed as he moved into the shower.
I stepped under the water letting it engulf my hair, Ope curled his fingers in to the tangled mess & began to massage my scalp. The scent of acai & flowers filled the air as I realised he was washing my hair. "you're gonna get blue dye on your hands." I warned. He shrugged.
"it's not much." he said unphased. I let him rinse out my hair & turned to him grabbing his hands. I starred down at them blood still speckled across his knuckles. He tried to pull them back but I held them firm as I began to run my fingers over them, I rinsed off the blood & looked up at him, he stared at me emotionless. "you didn't have to do that." he said. I nodded.
"I know but I don't mind." I admitted as he nodded his head. We finished our shower & went to bed. I snuggled into his warmth & sighed as I let my eyes drift closed.
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I awoke with a groan as I turned to hit the alarm clock, it didn't shut up though its taunting beep continued to assault my ears I hit it some more before picking it up & throwing it across the room causing the cord to disconnect.
I heard a laugh from the doorway & saw Jax leaning against the frame "morning princess." he said with a cheeky grin. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"piss off." I retorted. He raised his eyebrows as he shook his head playfully.
"time for work, darlin' up & out the door in ten." he said before turning & walking down the corridor, I mimicked what he said in a high pitched tone. I know it's petty but I was in a mood this morning already.
I threw myself out of bed to head to the shower.
When I walked out into the kitchen after throwing on some jeans & my singlet I noticed that the house was awful quiet. Ope must have taken the kids to school, I looked around for Jax but couldn't find him so I figured he'd be waiting outside & I was right. He was leaning against the porch railing smoking a cigarette.
"where is everyone?" I asked. He turned to look at me.
"Ope's at the clubhouse, I think the kids are at school." he said with a shrug, I nodded.
"let's do this." I said through a yawn as I walked towards Jax's bike.
"wait where's my car?" I asked with a frown as I looked around. Jax turned & snorted.
"Ope took it with him, he can't take the kids to school with a bike." he said, I nodded in agreement. As I continued to his harley.
When we arrived at TM, I noticed the guys already hard at work on the two cars that we had in. Chibbs nodded to me with a smile as I approached, I did the same. I gave Bobby a quick hug & a kiss on the cheek before heading into the office "mornin' pop" I called as I opened the door.
"mornin' darlin'" he called over his shoulder.
Gemma looked up from some paper work with a smile "Hey baby, sleep well?" she asked. I nodded.
"m'yeah ma, I suppose." I said & as if on que I stifled a yawn.
She raised a knowing eyebrow at me "you okay after last night?" she asked. I nodded "heard you kicked ass." she said with a proud smirk. I snorted as I flopped onto the couch.
"all in a days work, ma." I said with a chuckle.
"then why do you look so guilty?" she asked taking me off guard I looked at her with a raised eyebrow "I can read you like a book, baby. What's eating you?" she prodded. I sighed as I let my head fall back.
"guilt, as you said. I don't know, I'm starting to feel the weight of the demons I seem to carry & they're heavy." I admitted.
Gemma walked over to me & sat beside me on the couch "ah, baby. We've all got demons here but if there is one thing that I can say is don't let them eat you. You're stronger than that-" she placed her hand on my knee & looked me in the eye "-I know that we forget sometimes that you're just a kid you being with Ope & you're fire makes us forget these things, I mean you're only eighteen & hell...you've lived enough for ten life times lord knows but you're strong baby I know that look in your eye, it's the same look that's in my own, in your brother's, in your father's. Whatever is eating at you, kid. It'll pass." she said tapping my knee. I don't know what it was about Gemma but she always knew what to say to make you feel better or at least to give you hope that it'll be okay & for a second I believed her, that is until my eyes homed in on a speck of blood on the window. I swallowed before I stood.
"thanks, mum. I'm gonna get to work-" I nodded to the window "tell juice to do a better clean up job next time." I added before walking out the door. I let out a long breath as I headed towards the shed full of my new found family.
"aye lass" Chibbs said as I walked in "I've got a special job for ye today." he added. I walked over to him.
"top of the mornin' to ye too, Chibby." I said with a fake accent, he narrowed his eyes at me as Bobby chuckled.
"piss off." he said as he narrowed his eyes at me the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. I leant against the car he was working on.
"so what you got for me boss?" I asked with a smile, pulling my hair into a high ponytail.
"the TM credit card, I need you to pick up supplies." he said with a smile. It was my turn to narrow my eyes at him.
"one, that's not a special job that's the worst job you want me to go shopping? Argh.-" I sighed "second, I don't have the car Ope has it." I said. He shook his head "Tiggy?" he called over his shoulder. I groaned at him.
"Chibby no-" I wined "don't make me go with Tig." I pouted at him & he just chuckled as he took my chin between his forefinger & thumb.
"now ye will think twice before bein' a smartass to me." he said with a wink, I poke my tongue at him before turning to Tig.
"c'mon doll, it'll be fun." he said with a smile.
"can we make a stop?" I asked sweetly.
"sure, where do you want to go?" Tig asked.
"antique store." I answered innocently.
He frowned & took his arm off my shoulders "why?" he asked accusingly.
"wanna buy a doll." I said sickly sweet as I continued ahead of him to his bike.
He sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of his greatest & I'm pretty sure only fear "you're the devil." he said. I giggled as I hopped onto the back of his bike.
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(HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS CHAPTER, I'M SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED AHHH I'M SO DISAPPOINTED I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO UPDATE BUUT I REALLY HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THE CHAPTER & I HOPE YOU'RE EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER 'THE ADVENTURES OF TIG & ACE' BECAUSE THAT'S GOING TO BE ALOT OF FUN ;) AS ALWAYS DON'T FORGET TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT BY COMMENTING OR VOTING, I ADORE HEARING FROM YOU ALL!)