Copper Heart (Coco Cruz x OC Fanfic)

Chapter 4

Penelope stood at the window of her kitchen as she watched Angel muck around with Rajah on her front steps. It had been over a week since Bishop had come to Pea to ask for her help. And about a week since she had last seen Coco. Angel seemed to make up excuses for him – he's doing work across the border with EZ, something to do with what she had stored on her property but she didn't want to know anymore - which is why Pea hadn't seen much of him lately either. But Pea was convinced that it was because he just didn't want anything to do with her and Angel was trying to save her feelings from being hurt. But they weren't hurt at all. At least that's what she told herself. In reality her heart felt kind of bruised for some reason. On one hand she wanted to slap herself, tell herself to snap out of it, he had spoken one word to her, they hardly knew each other, why was she letting herself feel like this? But on the other hand, she couldn't understand what the hell she had done to him to make him seem to hate her so much. The way he had looked at her when she had her little outburst at him was as if she was merely a piece of shit on the bottom of his shoes. She shook herself out of her trance and brought the drinks she was fixing for her and Angel out onto the porch, taking a seat in the little outdoor dining set she had.

"Dost thou know who shall be keeping guard this fine evening?" she asked in a mocking posh accent. Angel laughed at her as he took a sip from his drink, Rajah jumping into his lap and curling up immediately. Angel had been the person who spent the most time as Pea's "protection", and the two had struck up a friendship quickly, even though Angel had spent his first two shifts flirting mercilessly with her. He soon realised she wasn't interested and considering his current situation with Adelita, he knew it was best to keep things as they were anyway. "Got no idea. I'd say Riz probably," he answered. Pea just nodded. She didn't mind Riz he was nice enough and usually didn't really bother her overnight. Like every night, she felt her heart sink thinking it wouldn't be Coco, and again she nearly had to slap herself at her own behaviour. She hadn't realised Angel had been watching her the whole time she was quiet, how her face turned into a slight frown and her eyebrows furrowed as she got lost in her own thoughts. "You know," he started, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You just gotta let Coco warm up to you. He can be pretty standoffish with new people. Especially those he finds attractive." Angel nearly laughed as he watched every different emotion pass over Pea's face. Confusion, embarrassment, anger, shock. All within a second on two.

She sputtered and scoffed, turning her face away from Angel's hoping he didn't see the blush beginning to creep up her neck. "Well I don't know where that came from, god we weren't even speaking about him in fact I actually can't remember which one he is- ", Angel cut her off with a scoff and a roll of his eyes. "I know you think about him. You've asked every one of us at least once what the deal is with him," her ears started to heat up, she hadn't realised she had done that. Her eyes burned with embarrassment and a lump formed in her throat. God they all probably thought she was a maniac. They probably told Coco and that's why he hadn't come out for a protection shift. Angel watched as she began to shift uncomfortably in her seat, her eyes glazing over with tears. Immediately he realised he'd made her feel embarrassed and he quickly left his seat, kneeling in front of her as he took her hands in his. "Hey, hey Pea, no don't cry, I was just teasing," he explained. She turned her head, wiping her eyes and swallowing thickly, forcing a smile onto her face. "I know, I'm fine," she lied. He gripped her hands tighter, willing her to look at him. When she met his eyes, he gave her a sorry smile. "I didn't mean to make you feel embarrassed or anything Pea. I'm sorry. You know, he's asked EZ about you. A few times actually," he confessed.

Her eyes lit up quickly before she tried to compose herself, acting as if this news didn't make butterflies erupt in her stomach. "Really?" she asked. Angel nodded. Pea shook her head and laughed. "He literally said one word to me. And it was his name," she explained. "And then he acted like he didn't give a shit if I was hit by the next bus coming down the freeway or not." Angel chuckled, standing and returning to his seat. "It's like I said Pea. He's a real weirdo when it comes to new people he's attracted to." A little smile graced her face as she pushed her hair behind her ear and looked down at her hands in her lap. "You think he's attracted to me?" she asked. He nodded slowly, looking out over her front yard. "I've known Coco long enough to know how he gets with girls he's attracted to. And not just physically attracted either. Like 'I-wanna-fuck-you-over-this-table-and-also-find-out-what-your-hopes-and-dreams-are' attracted," he explained. She pulled a face at his bluntness.

The sound of an engine racing down her driveway made them both look away from each other. Pea sighed as she and Angel both stood, expecting it to be a quiet night in with Riz sat on her couch and they talked about whatever they could think of to fill the silence before she went to bed. Angel ruffled her hair before he bounded down her porch stairs. "See ya later kid," he teased. She flipped him off. "You're not that much older than me pendejo," she laughed. Then she froze as the identity of the other club member became clear. Pulling his bike into her yard, Coco switched off the engine as he pulled his helmet off, throwing a quick glance at Pea before he looked towards Angel, nodding a greeting. Angel just nodded back before he sat on his own bike, giving Pea a sneaky thumbs up before he drove away. She grimaced, looking anywhere but at Coco before walking into her house, not even sure what she would say to him if she had the courage.

Coco was mentally arguing with himself to get off his damn bike and speak to her. He had been pissed when he realised Bishop had pulled him from protection duty at Pea's house. It made him realise that he probably lost his chance to ever get to know her, and he knew he had no one to blame but himself. So as soon as he overheard Bishop telling Taza he couldn't find anyone to do tonight's shift he jumped at the chance, pretty much running to his bike before Bishop could even protest. And so here he was. Not even knowing what to do, thinking that no matter what he said to Pea, she probably didn't want anything to him anyway. Taking a deep breath, he swung his leg over his bike and slowly made his way towards her front door. When he reached it he nearly turned on his heal and ran back to his bike again. But he somehow steeled himself, knowing he would regret it if he didn't take this once chance. He knocked on her screen door with a shaking hand, cursing at how sweaty his palms were. Slowly the door opened, and Pea stood there, confusion written plain all over her face. "Hi, uh, sorry I don't know if you remember me but I'm- " "Coco, yeah I know," she cut him off with a small face on her face. "Yeah. Um do you mind if I take up your offer of the couch tonight?" he asked, wincing as if she had already said no and told him to fuck off. "Of course," she said, so quietly he thought he must have misheard her at first. "I don't have good tv reception though, so I hope you don't mind listening to the radio!"