ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

trigger warnings for: suicide, blood, guns

January 9, 2018. It'd started out like any other day, their alarm clock going off at 0600 hours sharp, the shrill sound alerting them that it was time to begin their day. Jason hit the snooze button and pulled his wife closer, the couple savoring the few moments they knew they had to themselves before their door opened and their two year old daughter, Gabriella, came running into the room with her camouflage clad teddy bear wrapped securely in her arms, climbing up onto her parents' bed as she asked what was for breakfast. It would be another half an hour before their son came crawling out of his room to almost fall asleep in his cereal bowl before heading off to catch the bus to school. It started off as a day just like any other, and if you asked Savannah now, eight months later, if there had been any signs of what she'd find in her backyard that afternoon she'd both be able to name so many but so few at once. The kiss she'd given her husband as he left out into the grey morning, his uniform causing him to bare a strong resemblance to the teddy Gabby had tucked beneath her arm at the breakfast table, was far too short to be good enough for goodbye. However, looking back, it was longer than their usual forehead kiss and hurried 'I love you's as he flew out the door, breakfast sandwich and protein shake in hand as he headed to base.

That morning it was a lingered kiss, a longing stare, a quiet and purposeful 'I love you', before he gave each of the children their own, seemingly sentimental goodbye. If they hadn't already been running late maybe she would have picked up on it, but if JJ didn't leave within the next two minutes he would have missed the bus and Gabby was still wearing her PJs, a cause for concern since Savannah herself had to leave the house within the next fifteen minutes in order to drop her daughter off at daycare and make it to work on time for her first client of the day. Looking back, she regretted not noticing his subtle nuances, because maybe if she'd taken a second to actually look at her husband she would have seen the way he paused in the doorway, looking back on his family with a sad smile as they went about their lives. He'd already made his choice and made peace with it, a choice that Savannah wouldn't have been privy to until later that afternoon.

1237 hours. 'Hey, was able to get away for lunch. Meet me at the house at 1, I'm getting your favorite. I love you.' The text had elicited a wide, excited smile to form on Savannah's features and she finished with the client currently in her chair hastily before grabbing her purse and keys from her drawer and running out of the doors of the salon, simultaneously telling the shop manager she'd be taking an extended lunch as she unlocked the doors to her 4Runner and climbed in. If the lights cooperated, it was a 20 minute drive from work to the home they'd made eight years ago after their return stateside from Germany, and as luck would have it she hit every single red light on the way there.

1314 hours. She pulled into their driveway, the lifted black Silverado already neatly tucked into the right side of the concrete space. Traffic was horrible and she now only had 30 minutes to spend with her husband and eat lunch before she'd have to venture back out onto the road to finish her shift. Rushing through the unlocked front door, she called his name and was met with silence. The smell of Proletariat's 'The Favorite' pizza wafting through her nostrils as she entered the kitchen. There was an envelope on the counter with her name on it, set nicely down on top of the pizza box, but she didn't notice it. "Jason?" His name left her lips for the sixth time since she'd walked through the door, a hint of panic beginning to creep into her tone and her gut. She spent the next ten minutes looking all over the house for her husband of 10 years, only finding his green beret set neatly on their bedside table. She has a faint memory of the words 'this isn't funny anymore' leaving her lips as she descended the stairs, heading for the kitchen once more, hoping to find him standing at the counter, piece of pizza in his hand and a wide grin on his features. So when she reentered the kitchen and found it, once again, empty, she could feel her stomach drop. Call it women's intuition or a simple gut feelings, as soon as the brunette's gaze turned towards the french doors leading to the backyard she felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

1339 hours. The sounds of sirens filled her ears as the police and EMS came racing down their street, the first responders listening to the instructions she'd provided just minutes ago to a 911 operator to simply come through the unlocked back gate. She was on her knees, blood stained hands gripping at her thighs as she watched paramedics move in what appeared to be slow motion. If she'd been rational she'd have known that anyone could see that the man she'd loved for the last 10 years had no sign of life, the handgun that lay still half in his hand having taken him away minutes after he'd sent the text. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

August 27, 2018. The new normal, if you could even call it that. Her alarm went off at 6:30AM, but she was already awake, cradling Gabby in her arms as another sleepless night came to a close and she was forced to begin a new day. It was JJ's first day of school and her parents were coming over at 7:00AM to pick up Gabby so that Savannah could take him. This was the new normal, she had to remind herself as she climbed out of bed and made her way out into the small kitchen of her houseboat to continue with a tradition that Jason had started four years ago on JJ's first day of kindergarten. Waffles on the first day of school. It'd been four months since the grieving family had moved from their spacious Seattle home to the small houseboat in Wrightsville Beach, one that Savannah's parents had occupied years prior while their home on the beach was being built. JJ had wanted to stay in Seattle with his friends, but Savannah had uprooted the children due to her inability to stay in a town that held so many painful memories, and now, as his alarm went off in the bedroom upstairs, Sav knew that the somewhat new routine they'd cultivated since their move was about to be tossed about once more. This was a day they'd all feel his loss more than they normally did, a day where Jason Bishop should have been there but instead of his presence they had the dog tags that hung around Savannah's neck and the patch JJ kept nestled snugly in his pocket at all times.

7:05AM. Her parents knocked once before walking onto the small houseboat, all smiles as they greeted their granddaughter with excited hugs and kisses. She was the least affected by this day, still not understanding the gravity of the words 'Daddy's not coming home'. But as JJ slowly descended from the spiral staircase, dark circles under his eyes and backpack dragging slowly behind him, Savannah knew that she had to put her own feelings aside and put on the brave face she'd mastered eight months ago as she picked her son up early from school to deliver the news that had torn both of their worlds apart.

7:32AM. The waffles sat untouched as she put her arm around her son's shoulders, the 10 year old softening for a moment as he leaned into his mother's embrace. "It's just school." He said as he pulled away from her to climb into the passenger's seat of the SUV.

There were few other people alive permitted to call him ‘Sammy’, and live to tell the story, and he hadn’t known until that very moment Greer Kingston was one of them. He found it horribly juvenile, and like his father, Samuel always did take himself too seriously. “Don’t worry. I assume if it’s you and Cass handling the finances, it might take me a while to wrap my head around it.” He joked, cerulean hues watching with interest as the younger woman stowed the horse back in her stall. He’d never been more than a dog person, not that he’d ever had time for one. 

“Good advice.” Sam stated warily as he dodged the same potential disaster, electing to follow Greer precisely where she’d just stepped on their way to the office. While he’d considered himself aptly prepared before he’d seen the state of the desk and ‘organized chaos’, Samuel was wrong. Hoping his expression didn’t give too much of his shock away, he’d wave a dismissive hand. “Walk me through your process. I’m sure I can figure it out.” He promised, stepping around to lean over Greer, scanning the documentation. “And then, maybe a double whiskey.”

“Oh, shut the hell up.” She said with a laugh, shaking her head as she began to shuffle some of the papers around, doing her best to sort through the mess in front of them. She knew that the books were a mess, especially once she’d taken them over from her brother. She did her best, but she was in over her head, especially after Bailey’s death. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, as much as both her and Cass didn’t want to admit it, they needed Sam and his help. If it weren’t for him finally agreeing, things for the ranch and the b&b could have gone downhill... fast.

At the mention of the whiskey, a wide grin came to her features as she leaned over and opened up the bottom drawer on the desk to reveal a half empty bottle of Gentleman Jack. “Way ahead of you on the whiskey front. How else do you think I got through any of this stuff?” She asked with raised brows, chuckle leaving her lips before she closed the drawer. “As for my process... well... I’m not sure if you can tell but there isn’t really one?” She said, brows furrowed as she looked over her shoulder to look at him with an apologetic frown. “So, this stack is the expenditures for the B&B, this one is...” She paused, looking through the second stack of papers, “Oh, this one is the B&B’s cost reports for the last few months... and then we use QuickBooks for the, I guess “adventures” side of everything... the trail rides, boat rentals, riding lessons, etc. Let me get you logged in...” She trailed off, shaking the mouse to her right to wake the computer up and logging in. “What else do you need from me?”

“I’ll do my best.” Sam would reply as his arms briefly wrapped themselves around Greer’s figure, having to stoop down in order to do so. He’d never realized before how short the woman was, it was misleading when he’d really only ever seen her atop a horse. “You’re giving me something to do. I should be thanking you.” He smiled, natural charm ever so convincing on the man. Samuel had always liked Greer - she and the other girls had always taken good care of his baby sister, and, part of his agreeing to come and help her out was in gratitude (and perhaps some debt) for her kind heart. He wouldn’t admit to Greer that it had taken all sorts of bargaining and threats to get him out here, mostly because, she likely already knew.

“Why don’t you show me what I should be looking at, and I’ll have everything sorted for you.” If there was one thing that Sam liked, it was work. While he’d come to the end of his rope while working for his father, Sam would always have the sort of personality that flourished when his mind was challenged. He wasn’t suited to sitting around all day - and a recycling bin full of empty beer cans could attest to that fact.

Giving him a gentle squeeze, Greer held on to the older man for a few moments. “That’s all I ask, Sammy.” She mused, finally releasing him and taking a step back, smile never leaving her features as she looked up at him, Greer shook her head with a soft chuckle. “Honey, trust me. When you see the state of these books you’re gonna wanna strangle me.” Placing the brush she’d had strapped to her hand down on the stool she used to be able to reach the top of the horses. “Let me just put Cheyenne here away and I’ll take ya back to my office, alright?” She asked, more rhetorically than anything as she untied the lead from the pole and led Cheyenne back to her stall.

Once she ensured the door to the stall was shut and locked, Greer began to walk down the length of the barn, motioning for Sam to follow her. “Watch your step.” She warned, side stepping a pile of horse poop on the way to her office in the back. Once she was through the door, Greer made her way behind the desk and fell back into the chair. Motioning towards the mess of paperwork strewn about the desk, the blonde made a slight face. “Sorry it’s... messy. But I swear it’s organized chaos, I promise. Think you could work your magic, here?”

Samuel Dryden wasn’t usually the type to turn down a friend who asked for help. Except Greer wasn’t so much his friend as his sister’s, and said sister’s nagging was what had dragged him out of his home to stop by the Kingston Ranch on a Saturday afternoon. He didn’t have much of a taste for going out, in recent weeks. Sam was recovering from the sort of blow that only healed with time. And in the midst of his heartbreak, determined to shut himself off from the world entirely, he’d quit the family business. Not without quite a bit of friction in the family unit, of course.

But, despite saying no not once, not twice, but three times, he was still pulling up at noon on the dot. As he closed the door to his Maybach and took in the serenity of fresh air and relative silence, his line of vision would be drawn towards the horse barn, the silhouette of an all too familiar figure garnering his attention. He didn’t call out - he instead walked over, hand shielding his eyes to discern it was, in fact, Greer. “Hey, stranger.” Sam greeted simply, arms folding across his torso. “I’m here to cook your books.”

Greer was a prideful woman, often taking on too much and instead of reaching out for help she suffered. Self medicating with a bottle of whiskey and some special brownies she’d force Syd to come and make with her, but this time... this time it was different. She was drowning, drowning to the point that she had to reach out. She was only one person, after all, and with her focus being pulled in about twenty different directions, she was about to snap. So she’d reached out to Beth asking (more like begging) her to reach out to her brother, see if he’d be interested in helping her sort out the books for the B&B while Cass was off with his woman on a much needed vacation. She knew from speaking with Beth that Sam was going through something, but the blonde was so desperate she’d pushed a little harder than was probably necessary, relief flooding through her when she’d finally gotten the confirmation that he’d agreed.

“Make sure you make us extra rich, okay?” She replied, turning away from the horse she was currently grooming, wide smile on her features as she took a step forward and greeted the older male with a hug. “Thank you so much for comin’, honey. You have no idea just how much you’re savin’ my ass.”

      Friday Night and the bar was hopping. Quite literally there was no other way to put it ― there was a line in and out the door with tables filled at every corner, trays of beer flowing, and plasmas blasting the latest NASCAR trophy results. Give or take another hour and the TVs would turn to mute and the music would blast, followed by the beat of weathered boots  on top of a bar. It was almost the night to be at The Beer Stein when it was that packed. Matthew, while he was the proud owner and had a good relationship with the place, hadn’t frequented the bar often on the weekends other than to do a simple check in. Most days he left that up to the high paid mangers, but alas, there he found himself with a tooth pick stuck between his chompers and a beer in one hand, zig zagging to and from behind the counter so he could dodge his employees. He wasn’t the life of the party that night, no, but he sure as hell was making the effort to meet and greet as many as he could before occupying a space behind the bar.

      He had just taken over the bar with covering someone’s break when he was twisting around and colliding with another. “About time you showed up. I’ve basically been swooping in and scooping up your tips for ya.” He joked as soon as he spotted the blonde, one that came in hell bound but rushed and a bit out of breath. He wasn’t upset by any means ― she was as reliable as they came, but more so amused over the immediate fear of her manager rather than him. “She’s around here somewhere, but if you hurry up and change, she won’t know a thing.” Matthew smirked smugly. “You’re only gonna get out of this one if you tell me you were actually writing this time and have a new song to show for it.”

Placing her hands on her hips to help her catch her breath, an amuse grin spread across the blondes lips as she rolled her eyes. “So you gonna hand ‘em over, then? I’m thinkin’ I need ‘em more than you.” She teased with smirk, her eyes breaking away from the man in front of her to glance around the growing crowd of the bar as she searched for the manager. If she took a moment to think about it, being afraid of her manager more than the actual owner and her employer was ridiculous, yet there she was. “That I can do. Cover for me if she asks, yeah?” She asked, taking a few steps back away from him as she headed towards the back. “So, I have been writing... but the thing is, nothin’s ready yet. Gimme a week or two and I’ll get back to you, though.” She winked with a grin, turning on her heel and taking off towards the back to get changed.

       The wood bar stool proving a seat for the teacher screeched every single time he moved and it almost acted as some sort of glaringly obvious reminder how out of place Seth was in this bar. He was not some frequent flyer of places such as this, but with much encouragement from his older brother and sister across the way, getting out of shy barrier was done best in a public populated place. A bar was the first thing that popped up in his head when he made the plan to get out after work with a co-worker, but with drinks being cut short with the other teacher dragging his tipsy self-home with a stranger, it left Seth to nurse the remainder of his beer on the corner of the bar until he had a good enough excuse to get out of there. Those excuses seemed to come rare when he was only one drink in and the best he could do was pop off some suggestion to a beautiful stranger nearby. 

      Of course, she did not hear him the first go around. Almost out of rapid instinct, the tops of Seth’s ears grew a little red and he had to clear his throat to break up the lump that formed in his throat. “Oh, uh ―,” He ran his hand through the thick dark hair, gripping the back. “I said there’s this great place just around the corner. Open twenty four hours, isn’t littered with truckers and bikers, and has the best bunch of waffle and hash brown plates you can devour in seconds. They’re that good.” He cleared his throat. “That’s all.”

Her eyes fixated on the man for a moment after he finished speaking, her silence hanging in the air as she mulled over what to say. She’d forgotten that her question, while directed at the bartender, could be overheard by anyone around and his suggestion had caught her off guard, even if only for a few seconds. “Is it really a good 24 hour diner if it’s devoid of truckers, though?” She asked, small smile tugging the corners of her lips upwards as she stayed rooted to her spot across the bar. “How far is around the corner, though? I’m finding that my idea of a block over and other people’s ideas of a block over are a little different.” Her smile growing every so slightly with amusement at her own words, Savannah shifted her weight as she slid the cash she’d been holding in her hand into the billfold that contained her check. 

— @sierramused

Sitting at the bar, nursing a glass of white wine she’d had since planting herself on the stool an hour earlier, Savannah let out a slow sigh. She had no idea what she was doing there, one hand gripping the dog tags beneath her shirt as she finally finished off the sweet, almost clear liquid. She was ready to throw in the towel, unsure of why she even got a babysitter for the kids and forced herself to go out, alone, in a brand new town. The family of three had finally gotten off her parents’ house boat and found themselves in a small two bedroom house planted firmly on land. If you’d asked her now, she still wouldn’t have been able to tell you just how she’d picked their current location, the small east coast town of only 1,500 residents just calling to her. They’d been in the home for two weeks, their new furniture still waiting to be delivered, the family had been spending their nights in the living room in sleeping bags. Neither of the kids wanting to sleep in their rooms without furniture, without beds.

Sighing, Savannah waved the bartender over to close her small tab, waiting until he got to her to ask her question. “Hi, I’m sorry if this isn’t something you do or know... but, is there like, a 24 hour diner around here or somethin’?” She asked with slightly pleading eyes as she pulled her wallet out of her back pocket to retrieve some cash. The bar scene wasn’t something she was used to anymore, but food... well, food she could handle. Food she’d be comfortable with. She was waiting for her answer and her check when a voice from the other end of the bar caught her attention, eyebrows raising as her head turned towards it. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

— @sierramused

Shit. She was running about fifteen minutes late as she jogged down Broadway, her combat boots thumping on the concrete as her sundress flowed around her in the wind and the large canvass bag on her shoulder flopping against her side. She knew the manager would be looking for a viable excuse for her growing tardiness, but the truth was she’d been struck with muse, getting off work and going straight home to write new songs. She’d been staying up later and in turn, sleeping later, and therefore... running later and later for work. It wasn’t an acceptable excuse, she knew that, so she hoped that instead of running into her manager first, she’d instead see the owner. If she could only make him understand, then the manager wouldn’t be able to chew her out.

So with that in mind, Bailey pulled the back door of the bar open and ran inside, slightly out of breath, as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting while searching for Matthew. She was looking right while moving left, her gaze readying to shift in the direction of her movements when she ran into something, or rather someone, solid. “Fuck! I’m sorry.” She said quickly, stumbling backwards half a step as her head snapped around to see who she ran into. Oh, well there’s the boss. “Matt, Jesus. Look where you’re goin’ why don’t ya.” She said with an out of breath laugh, bringing a hand up to run through her hair. “You seen Hilary, yet?” She asked, eyes scanning the room around them before landing back on the bar’s owner. “And before you say anything,” A coy smile grew on her features, “My uniform boots are in my bag.”

He was of half a mind to dump water on the rest of his coworkers as they kept laughing. He wouldn’t hear the end of it for the rest of the night, and he was worried that if they kept laughing they’d fluster the waitress even more, and he’d end up with his dinner on him, too. “Shut it, all of you, or I’m going to make damn sure y’all end up with wet pants, too.” He pointed at all of them threateningly, leaning back in his seat as the waitress approached again. 

“Really, it’s not a big deal.” He replied with an easy smile, kicking Dixon under the table as he continued to snicker on the other side of the booth. It was funny, how Dixon ended up being the biggest child out of all of them when he was the one that held the most responsibility. That had almost been Will’s life, once. He’d thought that he’d met the one, up until he’d found himself with a broken engagement and best friend that he no longer spoke to. “I’ll just do the special.” It was what they normally did - they barely tasted what they were eating, they just needing something to fill their stomachs so they could keep going long enough to get home and crash. Echoes of the same order drifted from around the table, and he offered the waitress another smile. 

She could hear the laughter even while gathering her drinks and she knew it was because of her, but she had to soldier on, no matter how embarrassed she was. “You’re sweet.” She said with a soft smile, eyes lingering on him a little too long before the rest of the table’s laughter pulled her out of her haze. She hadn’t noticed just how cute he was before, and now she was blushing for a whole other reason. “Alright, the special all around. Simple enough.” She said with an easy smile, her eyes finally moving from Will and drifting along to the other occupants at the table. “I’ll just get your menus out of the way,” Reaching out, she collected each of their menus, her fingers brushing along Will’s as she got his last, flashing him one last shy smile, “And I’ll put those orders in for you guys. They should be out shortly. Just flag me down if you need anything, alright?” She asked before turning and heading to the kitchen to put their orders in.

Once the orders were put in to the kitchen and the rest of her tables were taken care of, Amelia made her way back to the kitchen, waiting for the one large table she had’s orders as she chatted with one of her co-workers. “Um, Mellie.” Another waitress, Rachel, began, “Do you see how cute those guys are at your table?!” She gushed, causing a laugh to leave Amelia’s lips. “Maybe.” She grinned, shaking her head. “But if you didn’t notice, I spilled an entire glass of water all over him like a spazz, so.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “So?!” Rachel asked, “Girl, he’s cute! One of the perks of the job. Flirt with him!” The bell rang, signaling her order was up. “Ah, saved by the bell.” She grinned, grabbing a large tray and loading up the meals. “Talk to you later, Rae.” Picking up the large tray and balancing it with one arm, she made her way her way back to the table, grabbing a tray stand on the way with her free hand and setting it down once she got to their table. “I hope you’re all hungry.” She said with a smile, setting the large tray down on the stand as she began to hand out the meals. Once she got to Will, she wobbled the plate a little, pretending like she was going to drop it. “Oh!” She said before grinning and stabilizing the plate, setting it down in front of him. “Just kidding.” Chuckling softly, she gathered up the tray and the stand and surveyed the table once more. “Is there anything else I can get you guys?”

When she countered back, he rolled his eyes. “I was a little kid back then and I’m not now. Things aren’t the same anymore.” Clearly she was drunk just by the way she was acting, at least that was how it seemed to JJ. Why was she laughing? He hadn’t said anything funny had he? He didn’t think so, he wasn’t one to crack jokes that often. “A motorcycle club and no it isn’t like the show.” There was another eye roll, and when she stumbled slightly and grabbed his arm, he held her balance the best he could. “Trust me when I say it isn’t, darlin’. A lot has changed since you ran away to what was it? Los Angeles?” When she let go, he dropped his arm back down to his side. “You honestly think I would let you fall off my bike? All you have to do is hang onto me very tightly.” He honestly wouldn’t let anything happen to her, even if she got onto the back of his bike like this. “And unlike you let things go, so to answer your question no I do not hate you.” He stated which was the truth. He didn’t hate her, he had no reason to keep up that kind of hate towards someone. Not unless they messed with his business or family. That was a whole another story. “So come on, Katie give it a chance and actually trust me.” @bethelwrites​

“Well clearly you’re not now,” She said, her words slurring slightly as she motioned to his body. It wasn’t lost on her how much he’d grown up through the years. “It is so like the show, you’re dressed just like them in your little costume!” She said stubbornly, stepping forward once more and reaching out, gently grasping onto his leather vest and pulling on it softly. With her head tilted back, she gazed up at him with a lopsided grin. “Why are you calling me darlin’?” She asked, her head tilting to the side as she questioned him. “New York, though. I went to New York. Not LA. Silly.” She pushed his shoulder with a laugh, the motion causing her to stumble towards him once more. “Shit.” She muttered quietly, holding onto his arm. “Alright, alright. Fine.” She said, leaning into him a bit more as the room began to spin around her. “Some fresh air might do me good.”

It wasn’t often that they all had time to eat together. Dixon and Archie had families, Steven was doing all that he could to make it through night classes, and Kelley and Wallace were the grandparents of the group. Once a month, if they were lucky, their free nights would line up and they could all take an hour to eat dinner and talk about anything that wasn’t work. They loved their jobs - they wouldn’t work there if they didn’t, but it was easy to admit that sometimes it was nice to talk about anything other than the horrors that they saw sometimes. 

All days weren’t like that - they’d had relatively quiet days that day full of traffic stops and returning lost dogs to their owners, and it was with smiles on their faces and laughter bubbling out of them that they settled into their table. Dixon’s foot collided with his ankle as the waitress made her way over to them with their drinks, and he barely managed to restrain an eyeroll. Dixon thought that since he had managed to get married and seduce his wife into a kid or two that everyone needed to have the same thing. He had barely been paying attention until the ice and water spilled into his lap, the laughter immediately booming out of all of his coworkers. “It’s fine.” He told the waitress, laughing himself as he accepted the napkins. “It’s not the worst thing that’s ever been dumped on me.” 

“God, I’m so sorry.” She continued to apologize, her cheeks burning red with embarrassment as she handed him some more napkins. “I’ll be right back with another water for you. I’m sorry.” His joke had been completely lost on her, unable to understand anything ore than her embarrassment in that moment as she turned and quickly walked away from the table to get him his new glass of water and take a moment to herself. 

Once at the drinks station, Amelia got a new glass and filled it with ice before pouring the man a new glass of water, pausing for a moment when the glass was full to close her eyes and take a deep breath. She had to get it together and finish her shift so she could go home to her daughter and crawl into bed to enjoy her day off tomorrow. So after a moment, Amelia picked up the glass and made her way back to the table, her cheeks still flushed red with embarrassment as she approached. “Here you go.” She said with a smile, carefully setting the glass down in front of him, “And I’m so sorry again...” She made eye contact for a moment before offering him a genuinely apologetic smile, pausing for a moment before scanning the entire table once more. “Are y’all ready to order?”

“No one calls me JJ anymore, Katie.” Jesse told her, which was the truth. He hadn’t been called JJ in years. Glancing over his shoulder at his guys, he gave them a nod which meant to get lost and they did. Clearly he wanted to speak to Katie alone. Of course  he noticed that she was avoiding his question. Which meant clearly something bad happened in New York or where ever she had moved to was. Finishing up his cigarette, he put it out before his attention went back to her. “What? No. We are a motorcycle club.” Sighing a little bit, before he continued. “Listen darlin’, you’ve been gone for a very long time. This town isn’t the same as it once was before you left.” Of course he noticed how drunk she was. There was no smooth with her right now. “So how about I take you for a ride? Come now I promise to go slow. It will be one hell of a ride.” It was a small offer, and he honestly hope that she would take him up on the offer. @bethelwrites​

“I doubt many other people have seen you in a bathtub playing with My Little Ponies either, JJ.” She countered back with a smirk, arms coming up to cross over her chest as she swayed slightly and watched while the men he’d been previously speaking with walked away simply because he’d nodded his head. A motorcycle club made the outfits make sense, but the admission caused an incredibly loud laugh to leave the woman’s lips. “I’m sorry, what?” She asked, eyebrows raised as she stumbled slightly, grabbing onto his arm for stability. “Like that show?” She asked, grin on her lips as she tried to stop giggling. She wasn’t surprised about it, not in the least, but in her inebriated state she found the concept absolutely hilarious. “This town is exactly the same as it was when I left. We still have a Piggly Wiggly instead of a Whole Foods and Mr. Graham still runs the only cleaners in town. Nothing changes in small towns like this, JJ.” Letting go of his arm, Katie leaned against the wall as she sipped on her beer. “You want my drunk ass on the back of a motorcycle?” She questioned, even in her state she knew that probably wasn’t a good idea. “You still hate me that much, Jesse Morgan? That you want me to fall of your bike and die?” She was being overly dramatic, she knew that, but the image of her drunk ass falling off the back of a fast moving bike was flashing through her mind at the moment.

Having just finished waiting on a family of six, Amelia didn’t have time to take a breath or relax her aching feet as a table full of six police officers had been sat in her section. She’d plastered on her ‘work smile’ as her sister called it, and made her way over, greeting the table and trying to push her uncomfortableness at their uniforms aside. It wasn’t that she didn’t like police officers, in truth she had the utmost respect for them, but with that respect came a little bit of fear and nervousness. It wasn’t practical since every interaction she’d ever had with an officer had been pleasant, but she couldn’t help the way she felt. 

And it was probably that feeling of nervousness that caused the disaster that happened next. After taking and retrieving their drink orders, Amelia approached the table and began to distribute the full glasses to each of it’s occupants, getting down to the last one when she lost her control on the tray and the last glass fell over, spilling all of it’s contents onto one officer’s lap. “Oh sh-” She said as her eyes went wide, unable to stop the events as they happened. “I’m so sorry!” She cried out, cheeks burning with embarrassment as she pulled napkins from her apron and handed them to the man. “I’m so, so sorry. I’ll get you another one, I’m so sorry.”

“Ugh.” Emily sighed, standing outside of Ean’s bedroom’s double doors as she tapped her foot impatiently, the click of her heel echoing throughout the tiled hallway. “Was he up when you brought breakfast in?” She asked the maid standing nervously next to her, the meek woman simply shaking her head before taking her leave and quickly walking away from the obviously agitated personal assistant. “Alright, that’s it. He is not going to ruin my first day on the job.” She muttered quietly to herself, eliciting a smirk from Ean’s bodyguard that went unnoticed by the young woman. “Ean!” She called out, clipboard in hand as she pushed the doors open and came face to face with a sleeping Ean and his obvious overnight guest. 

Pausing for a moment, Emily had to push the feelings of jealousy and anger aside as she moved further into the room and grabbed the corner of the blankets by Ean and pulled it off of the sleeping couple. “Rise and shine!” She called out with obvious fake cheer, “We have a busy day ahead of us and you,” She turned her attention to the now awake and obviously startled woman who was trying to hide her naked body from the intrusion. “He’ll call you, I’m sure.” She said with an overly polite smile before turning her attention back to Ean. “UP. Now. We have to be at the new Children’s Hospital in 45 minutes and it takes 20 to get there. Move.”

Why exactly was Jesse at this house party? Honestly he wasn’t even sure. He had other things to do but his buddies needed to unwind so here he was. Usually they had parties at the club house, but not tonight. Instead it was an old friends place. Getting a beer when he first got there, he took a small sip before joining his crew. They were talking about their next run and what all they had to do that week. It was going to be  a busy one, Jesse couldn’t deny that. For now it was time to not think about that and just enjoy themselves. Which was what he was planning on doing. Honestly it was rare when it happened, so he was going to take it while he could. 

Taking a drag from cigarette, he continued talking to one of his guys. That was when he heard someone call him ‘JJ’ that never happened. Turning around he was prepared to yell at this said person and threaten them. But when he seen it was Katie he was a bit surprised. “Katie..what are you doing here?” He had no idea she was back in town. Last time he seen her was her graduation. He ended up dropping out to get his GED, it was a lot more faster and easier. “And it isn’t JJ anymore, it’s just Jesse.” @bethelwrites

Giving the man a quick once over, Katie couldn’t hep the laugh that left her lips at him correcting her on his name. “We took baths together, hon. No matter how many tattoos you have or how much leather you wear, you’ll always be JJ. Always.” She took another drink from her cup, finishing off her beer as she looked around to the men that surrounded him, trying to think of a way to avoid answering the question he asked. What was she doing here? Well her husband cheated on her so she spent the last year of her life going through the divorce process while liquidating all of their combined assets, including the restaurant she put her heart and soul in to, all because he couldn’t bother to be loyal to his wife. And because of the expenses of the divorce and the loss they took on their restaurant, Katie couldn’t afford to stay in New York so she moved back home with her two children and was currently staying in a sub-par two bedroom apartment in what could almost be considered the bad part of town. No, she wasn’t going to say that, so instead she posed a rather snarky question. “So did you all plan to dress like Greasers or was this just a happy accident?” Smirking, she brought her eyes back to the blonde man in front of her and waited for an answer, her hand resting on her hip as she swayed, slightly unsteady on her feet from the alcohol. Smooth Katie, real smooth.

After that first cup of beer the night progressed relatively quickly and Katie found herself feeling like she was back in high school, playing beer pong and flip cup, taking shots and drinking entirely too much. So when she spotted Jesse Morgan across the room surrounded by men in leather jackets and a cloud of smoke, the brunette couldn’t help but to approach her old next door neighbor. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t little JJ all grown up.” @aj-rpsss

          Anger. Pure. Firey rage. It’s something he’s inherently used to seeing, though fear is something he usually encounters far more on runs like these. So Auckland is… slightly paused. And for a moment — a brief moment — he’s surprised she hasn’t shot him between the eyes yet. Though that thought is short lived as the small creak of shifting wood sounds through the small space. Through sheer reflex Auckland’s eyes flick briefly towards the noise, gun trailing after the woman as she moves. “Who else is there?” he barks, grip flexing around the handle of his gun.

          No amount of defiance can shake him, though there’s something about her — that look in her eyes, he’s seen it before a long, long, time ago — that eats straight through him. “You’re the one breaking the law,” he retorts. “Just turn yourself in now and this’ll be easy. You shoot me? And you’ll be hunted for the rest of your life. Spare whoever it is back there a life of running.”

As soon as his eyes flicked to where Deen was hiding, Dakota flinched in fear for her daughter, causing the gun to go off and a bullet to soar past the man’s head and into the door frame next to him. The loud noise of the gun caused the little girl to shriek in surprise and rise from her hiding spot, running to her mother and wrapping her little arms around her legs. ‘Mommy!’ Deen cried out, and with shaking hands Dakota knelt down to the floor and embraced her daughter. “It’s okay, baby...” She said, eyes daring to leave the man in front of her for only a moment so she could press a kiss into the top of the child’s head, her gun still aimed directly at him.