Small Town Hero

Chapter 7

She was right. He took her to their clubhouse where it looked like a raging party was happening. As soon as they'd climbed off his bike, he grabbed her by the arm, making her squirm and try to get out of his grasp, and walked her straight into the clubhouse. He found Chibs and asked the medic to take a look at her face. Chibs quickly got up to get his med kit before telling her to have a seat on the couch. She rolled her eyes and once again told them she was fine.

"What 'appened t' ya, lass?" Chibs inquired as he turned her head to look at the scrape across her cheek.

"It got a little rowdy at work. That's all. Now can that asshole take me home so I can go to bed?" She stated making Chibs chuckle at her feistiness.

No one talked to or about Happy in such a way and didn't wind up hurt for it. The fact that Happy was letting her get away with spoke volumes. As did the fact that he actually volunteered to drive her to work each day.

"I don' think this is very bad. I'll clean it out then put a butterfly bandage over it." Chibs told her, "I'll send ya 'ome with a few so you can change them out as needed."

"Thanks." She told the Scot.

"What all 'appened at work?" Chibs inquired as he cleaned her wound making her hiss.

"Things got rowdy. Bar fight broke out. Couple of us got stuck in the middle." She shrugged, "Was slapped across the face and pushed down if you want to know how my night really went."

Happy growled making her look up at him with a smirk.

"That really is hot when you growl like an animal." She stated making Chibs laugh.

"Alright, lass. All fixed up. Animal over there can take ye 'ome now." Chibs stated as he stood up.

"Good." She retorted as Chibs handed her a few butterfly bandages as promised.

"Let's go." Happy demanded making her roll her eyes at him.

She followed him back out to his bike and waited for him to climb on. The ride back to her new rental home was spent in silence as it usually was. He parked in her empty driveway and waited for her to shut the door before he left. It was his way of making sure she got inside safely. Feeling sure she was going to be ok, he headed back to the clubhouse. "That really is hot when you growl like an animal." kept playing in his head. Did she mean it? Was she messing with him? Was that her way of flirting? She'd said something similar a few days ago at the clubhouse. It confused the Killah and he didn't know what to do about it.

The look on his face when she told him how hot it was when he growled was amusing to Noelle. It was true for her but his reaction was still amusing. She wondered if it pissed him off. Did it bother him? Did he think she was flirting with him? Was she flirting with him? How did she actually feel about this grumpy man who was going out of his way to take her to and from work? Leaning back on her bed she sighed. Letting him get too close was a huge mistake. She couldn't let that happen.

Happy drowned himself in the bottle when he returned to the clubhouse. Took a blond crow eater back to his room. He was so rough with her she was walking funny when she went to leave the following morning. Happy didn't care. He needed to get his sexual frustrations and anger out. So what if some slutty crow eater took the brunt of it? He took a quick shower then headed out into the main room to get some coffee. Juice was monitoring the house like Clay asked him to. All she did was what normal people did.

She got up, made some coffee, then made herself some breakfast. Afterwards she cleaned up her kitchen and walked down the hall. A little while later she emerged fully dressed looking like she'd taken a shower. She sat around the living room watching TV. It boggled the biker leader's mind at what this girl was running from. She didn't seem to want the club's help in whatever it was. She didn't seem to even want to stick around Charming. Gemma did some shopping and picked up a few outfits for the petite young woman. Hearing a knock at the door made Noelle tense up. Juice wondered why she was so tense when someone knocked on her door.

She looked through the peephole and noticed it was the woman from the auto mechanic shop. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked and opened the door. Gemma smiled at the young woman and asked to come in. Noelle moved aside so she could enter. Noelle noticed a couple of bags in the older woman's hands.

"I thought since you're having to stick around Charming for a while, I'd be nice and welcome you properly. I was out shopping the other day and found a couple outfits I thought you might like. If they don't fit, let me know and I'll exchange them." Gemma told her.

"Oh no, I can't accept that." Noelle quickly stated.

"It's a gift, sweetheart, just take it." Gemma urged.

"Why?" Noelle questioned.

No one did nice things unless they wanted something in return. That was one of the many lessons she'd learned from her mother and her mother's...acquaintances growing up.

"I found them and thought you'd look cute in them. That's all." Gemma smiled at the clearly suspicious young woman.

"Uh, ok. Thanks." Noelle stated as she took the bags Gemma was handing her.

"How are you liking Charming so far?" Gemma inquired.

"Not too bad I guess. Work got a little rowdy last night." Noelle shrugged.

"Is that what happened to your face?" Gemma asked.

"Mostly. I was attacked walking home two nights ago. That's where the busted lip and black eye came from. The scratch to my face happened last night at work." Noelle cautiously told the older woman.

"Damn. Sorry to hear that. Are you ok?" Gemma asked.

"I'm fine. Happy actually somehow came out of nowhere and took care of the creep. Then last night he took me to y'all's clubhouse where Chibs looked over my new wound." Noelle explained.

"That's good. Well, I gotta run. Have a good day." Gemma stated before making her way to the door.

"You too." Noelle simply replied.

She shut and locked the door with a sigh. Why couldn't these people just leave her alone? Moving to the couch, she opened the bags to see what Gemma had brought her. To her surprise, she did like the outfits the older woman bought for her. They were cute and she couldn't wait to wear them. She took all the clothes and the shoes back to her bedroom so she could put them up. She'd have to thank the older woman whenever she saw her next for the clothes. It was a nice gesture although she was sure there was an ulterior motive behind it somewhere.

Juice watched his screen all day. She mostly lounged around watching TV. She made herself a light lunch around noon. Around five she made herself dinner then cleaned up the kitchen. A little before 5:40, she left the house and locked it to await Happy. Juice told his Prez all he'd noticed making the white-haired biker even more curious. She wasn't acting like she was running from something or someone yet she told Jax she was trying to get as far away from her hometown as possible. It was very suspicious.

At exactly 5:40, Happy pulled up in her driveway. She climbed on, wrapped her arms around his waist, and waited for him to back out of her driveway. The drive was short, or so it seemed to her, and before long they'd come to a stop at the bar. He reached out and grabbed her arm before she got to far away. He asked for her phone so he could program his number into it. She eyed him suspiciously not wanting to give it over but then realized he already had her number so it didn't matter anyways. She did as he asked and waited to get her phone back.

"Call me if anything happens. If you don't feel safe, call me." He forcefully stated.

"I'll be fine." She rolled her eyes making him growl, "Seriously. Last night was just an off night. Everything will be fine."

He couldn't help but worry about her although he didn't know why. He never got attached to people like he was beginning to with her. All he cared about was his ma, his aunt, and his brothers. This young piece of tail was getting under his skin with her defiance and mouthiness. He watched her walk into the building before taking off back to the clubhouse. There would be another party that night but Happy wasn't interested. When he arrived, he found Chibs sitting on his bike. "Want to go to the pub tonight?" Chibs asked him. Happy nodded and revved his bike.

A/N: Please review and vote below!