Free Falling

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Walking into the clubhouse, Gemma comes running as soon as she sees me and so does Jax. "Shit, baby. Are you okay?" I just nod my head. "Gemma will you take her to my room please?" Koz asked and Gemma puts her arm around me. As we walk away, Gemma tells me, "You're safe here." We walk into his room and put my bag down and we sit on the bed. "You wanna talk about it?" Gemma asked. I take a deep breath and say "He's been beating me and...uh...raping me. Daily." I say. "Shit baby. We would have helped you." she says. "If I would have said something, he would have killed me." I tell her as the tears start falling again and she just holds me.

In the main room, Koz and Jax are talking. "You wanna tell me what's going on?" Jax asked. "Her boyfriend's been beating her and raping her, man. I couldn't let that shit keep happening. I gave her a gun and my phone number and told her if he came at her again to shoot and then call me. Hap and Tig are there cleaning up now." Koz says. "Fuck. She okay?" Jax asked. "I don't know brother but no one touches her but me." Koz says and Jax smirks. "You claiming her?" Jax asked and Koz says "Yeah. I am." Jax smiles and pats him on his back and says "Go take care of your girl."

A few minutes later, Koz comes into the room and Gemma kisses my temple before walking out. Koz kneels down in front of me but I won't look at him. "Look at me baby." he says softly. I wipe the tears that are still falling and don't look up. "It's okay. He can't hurt you now. Look at me, please." he says again. I look up at him and he says, "You did good babe. You protected yourself. But no one will hurt you like that again. I talked to Jax and let him know you are with me. Everyone here will know that you are my girl and won't hurt you okay?" he asked. "I killed him Koz. I'm just so messed up." I say as I start to sob. He stands up and takes his kutte off and lays down on the bed, pulling me down with him. He wraps his arms around me and I let him. I feel safe with him. He let's me sob while rubbing my back and telling me it's all going to be okay. I dozed off finally, still laying with my head on his chest and his arms around me.

I wake up the next morning and he's still holding me. I stiffen up when it hits me what happened the night before. I killed Jeremy. I get up and run to the bathroom getting sick and he's right behind me, holding my hair back and rubbing my back. I rinse my mouth out and Koz leads me back to the bed and sits down next to me. "Are you okay?" He asked. "I don't know. I killed him Koz. I killed someone." I say softly. Kneeling in front of me again, he takes my face in his hands and says "You protected yourself. That's what you did. Do you know how strong that makes you? I'm proud of you baby." he says. "Why do you call me that?" I asked, looking at him. "What? Baby?" he asked. "Yeah." I say. "I care about you, Charley." he says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. He gets up and sits next to me again and asks me, "Will you tell me what happened?" I take a deep breath and say "When you confronted him, he took me home and followed me inside. He slammed me into a wall and was accusing me of sleeping with you. With all of you. I remembered the gun you gave me and grabbed it. I aimed it at him and he starts telling me that he owns me and started coming at me so I pulled the trigger." I say. "How long has he been doing this to you?" he asked. "We have been together for two years and it's been almost the entire time. He knocks me around and kicks me in the ribs while I am down and then rapes me almost daily. He's the only one I have been with." I tell him. "Shit. You know I won't treat you like that, right?" he asks. "You don't have to take care of me. He can't hurt me now." I tell him, looking down at my hands. "I want to. I told Jax what happened. Him and Hap have both asked me if I was laying claim on you as my girl and I said yes." he says. "Koz, you don't have to..." I start but he cuts me off. "I want you to be my girl. I have for a while now." he tells me. "Will you be?" he asked, knowing I am still in shock. "Okay." I say simply. He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles and says "Get in the shower and we will go out there and get something to eat. Need to make sure my girl is taken care of." he says smiling and I can't help but smile a little.

I get some clothes out of my bag and head to the shower. I get in the shower and clean up the best I can, wincing as I rub the washcloth over my bruised ribs. Getting out, I brush my hair and teeth and head back to the bedroom. Koz is sitting there waiting on me. When he sees me come out, he stands and takes my hand and pulls me to him. "You look beautiful babe." he says before kissing me softly on the lips. It's been a long time since someone has been this gentle with me.

We walk out to the main room and I see Tig and Happy sitting at the bar. I walk over to them and stand between them and say "Thank you both for helping me." I hug Tig and then Happy. "Why didn't you tell us what was happening? We would have helped you." Tig asked. "I know but he had me convinced that if I said anything he'd kill me." I said looking down. "You're safe now. We are proud of you Doll Face." Tig says and I hug him again. I walk over to one of the tables where Koz was talking to Jax and Gemma and sit in one of the chairs. One of the croweaters shows up with a plate of food and some orange juice for me. "Thanks Carrie." I say. Most of the croweaters know me and are nice to me. Carrie just places a hand on my shoulder to show her support and walks away. I start picking at my food. I am not used to being allowed to eat this much. Koz sees this and whispers in my ear, "Eat. It's okay." I take a deep breath and start slowly eating what's on my plate. I almost emptied my plate before Koz asked Carrie to come get it. "Can I get some coffee please?" I asked her and she says "Coming right up." Koz has his arm around me and I just lean into him.

It's time to head to work but Gemma stops me. "You don't have to work today." she says. "I need to. I need to stay busy." I tell her and she nods her okay. I walk into the office and start working on invoices and getting the repo list together and for the first time, I don't feel like I have to watch my back. Koz comes in and I hand him the repo list but before he heads out he leans over and kisses me softly. "You gonna be okay?" he asked. "I will now." I tell him and smile softly at him. "I'll be back soon. I'll pick up some lunch for us." he says. I just nod and he kisses me again before walking out the door. Gemma walks in and says, "Looks like he isn't mad at you anymore." I smile a little and say "Guess not." He was still in earshot and walks back in and asked, "What made you think I was mad at you?" I look down at my hands and say "When you gave me your number, you seemed like you were mad at me because of what he was doing." I say. "I wasn't mad at you baby. I was pissed that someone else was hurting the girl I wanted to be with." I look at him shocked. "That's why I told you to call me and gave you that gun. I wanted to protect you." he says. I stand up and hug him tight. It's the first time I have initiated any contact with him. I kiss him softly and say "Thank you." He caresses my cheek before kissing me again and walking out the door to get to work. I sit back down and Gemma starts looking at me smirking.