SUNLIGHT | JUICE ORTIZ

❦.♱ʚ sixteen | the pull ɞ♱.❦

1x08 'the pull'

THE IRISH GUN DEADLINE WAS DRAWING NEAR. It was what fronted Juice's mind the past week. As much as he hated to say it, he was thankful that it seemed like Aislin had been busy most of the week, leaving a few of his texts unanswered. Or maybe she was just avoiding them. Avoiding him.

He had almost kissed her. He came so close. If Faith hadn't knocked on the window, would he have been able to stop himself? No. He knew it. He liked to think that maybe he would have come to his senses and remembered all the shit that was going on with the club and realized they didn't needed the extra added bonus of Chibs and his daughter- who he had sent to a whole other state in order to protect kissing a Son. Kissing him.

This was still on his mind as he rode in the passenger seat of the tow truck, phone open in his hand as he looked at the last text exchange they'd had. Half-Sack, desperate to get his mind off of something other than Faith, Cherry, the baby, or his top rocker, found himself glancing over. He couldn't see the text but he saw the name. He saw Juice's furrowed brow gaze.

"Shit man..." He breathes "you must really like this girl huh?" he asks. Juice snaps the phone shut quickly, tucking it away with a sigh.
"Don't you have your own love life to sort out?" He retorts in response, leaning his elbow against the open window. Half-Sack falters at that, his gaze flickering out the windshield. Juice did feel a little bad, it wasn't long ago that he too had been a Prospect, only Half-Sack was dealing with personal shit and Club shit mixed all in one. He'd had the luxury of avoiding that during his MC education.
"Yeah, I like her. That's been established" Juice mumbles, deciding to humour the Prospect. Half-Sack smiles, out of everyone, he'd gotten pretty close with Juice the past couple months.

"Damn right..." Half-Sack nods "you're down bad or what?" He asks, eager to engage in 'chick talk' like the other guys did. Juice sighs, gaze flicking out the window.

"Yeah...yeah, I am. It's fuckin' awful. When I'm doing shit with the Crows, all I think about is...her. It's fuckin' weird. I thought if we were friends it might fizzle out but...it hasn't. It's bad man, clubs got enough shit going on without me thinking about the one girl I'm not supposed to be getting too deep with" Juice vents. Weirdly enough, it felt good to vent to the Prospect. He may have worn a different patch, but if he went full patch this would be his brother. "Tig thinks we should just hook up and get it out of the way, no feelings or shit. But she's like, one of my closest friends. I don't wanna fuck with her head just by lovin' and leavin, Ash isn't that kinda girl, and even if I did, I'm not sure it would work"

"Does she like you?" Half-Sack asks, glancing at Juice. He pauses, giving a little shrug.
"Yeah. I think she does...it's hard to tell, cus she's so nice to everyone. Can't get a read on what she feels about the situation though...we uh...something might have almost happened...after your boxing match, in her car. Technically nothing, almost something."

"Technically nothing, almost something...seems to sum up your whole sitch man. I don't blame you for the car thing, she looked pretty hot throwing that punch" Half-Sack comments, earning a look from Juice, a scowl eclipsed by his sunglasses.
"That's a fucked up thing to say man" Juice states, leaning back in his seat. Half-Sack falters, returning his gaze out the windshield. Juice's jaw flexes slightly "I dunno man, a part of me thinks I should just...leave her be. Cus when I'm around her, I can't stop myself from wanting to keep being around her. It's like...crack, honestly"

"So, what? You just gonna avoid her every time she comes to the garage?" Half-Sack asks as they turn a corner. Juice pauses. He knew that would hurt her too. It felt like nothing he could do was right. If he took Tig's advice, he would either get it out of his system but hurt her or end up wanting her even more, if he stayed friends with her he'd still constantly be thinking about her, if he ghosted her completely he'd lose a close friend and hurt her, and if they actually started something he risked upsetting Chibs and pulling Ash that much deeper into the life.