Fate Misunderstood

Since the past couple of days had been so eventful and she hadn't been able to get any rest, Juliette was surprised when she woke up the next day to find that she had slept for sixteen straight hours. She had gone to bed before it even got dark and now the late morning sun was pouring in through her bedroom window, right into her eyes. After just lying there staring at the ceiling for another hour or so, she finally slid out of her bed and went to take a shower.

She slipped into some jeans and an old band tee shirt that she'd cut the sleeves off of. Once she pulled on some boots, she grabbed her keys and headed out to her car. She had decided to go back to the clubhouse and do some much needed cleaning, including washing the disgusting sheets that she'd been reminded of the night before in her talk with Kozik.

She stopped by the diner to grab some lunch on her way through town, but she quickly learned that that was a mistake. Most people didn't know that she was back in town so that was cause enough for all of them to start gossiping. But, on top of that fact itself, it was the circumstances that had caused her to leave in the first place that just sent Charming residents over the edge. Every eye was on her as she walked up to the counter and ordered her food to go, so that she wouldn't be there a moment longer than she had to. The cook had mercy on her and had her meal out in less than ten minutes, enabling her to get the hell out of there.

Almost no one was at the compound when she arrived. Piney waved at her from the garage and she smiled and waved back before heading into the empty clubhouse. She turned on one of the tvs and sat down in one of the comfy chairs to enjoy her lunch. Once she had finished eating, she threw away her trash and immediately got to work.

The first thing she did was go around to each of the rooms to pull the sheets off all the beds and take them to the closet that hid a stacked washer and dryer. She had to wash them one set at a time because the washer was so small, so she put the first set in, using a little more detergent than necessary, and went back into the main room. She spent most of the time between loading and unloading the washer cleaning other things. She went around to all the tables and wiped them down with clorox wipes before moving on and doing the same thing with the bar.

While she was working on sweeping the floors, the guys came in and Clay stopped in front of her while the rest walked past him, heading straight into the chapel. "Shit's really backed up in the office since your mom left. Think you could take a look at that?"

"Of course. I'll just finish cleaning and get right on it."

"Thanks, baby." He kissed her temple before following the rest of the men into the chapel and closing the doors.

She was finishing up sweeping when the clubhouse door was pushed open and three women walked inside, laughing and talking with each other. They were all scantily clad, overly tan, and heavily made up, obviously crow eaters. Juliette ignored them as she put the broom away and went to put some sheets into the dryer, taking the dry ones that were previously there and going back to the room they come from, quickly making up the bed before going back out front.

The three women were now all huddled up on one of the couches, watching her suspiciously as she went around behind the bar and started sorting through the alcohol selection. There were empty bottles everywhere so she started gathering them up and putting them into a box so that she could take them to be recycled later.

The sound of high heels on the hard floors echoed through the clubhouse but Juliette didn't turn around, instead keeping herself busy with the alcohol. She could feel the crow eater's presence behind her, the woman's eyes boring holes into her back as she picked up the nearly empty whiskey bottle and turned it up, drinking the last few sips so that she could recycle the bottle.

"Are you someone's old lady?"

"Nope," she replied, setting the empty bottle into the box at her feet.

"New sweetbutt then?"

Juliette snorted and shook her head. "No."

"Then who are you?"

"What's it matter?"

The woman scoffed. "How old are you, sweetie?"

Juliette finally turned around to face the woman, her hand on her hip as she looked at her closely. She was probably only a few years older than Julie, with long blonde extensions and glossy pink lips. Her black skirt was short and her pink tank top barely contained her breasts. She was sizing Juliette up with a scowl on her overly tan face and Julie knew it was because she felt threatened. "Really? Are you really gonna play this with me?" The woman blinked in surprise but she didn't say anything. "Which one are you after?"

Most of the crow eaters had a specific member that they liked the best and because of that they would get attached to those members. But the whole concept of a sweetbutt was that they were there for all the members, anybody who wanted to have a turn. Most of the women had slept with all the members, which meant that none of the men would ever consider them as a serious possibility of an old lady. Although apparently these ladies didn't know that.

The woman crossed her arms over her plentiful chest with a smirk. "Juice."

Juliette's eyebrows shot up and she shook her head, trying her best to hold back the smile tugging at her lips as she turned back to the bottles. "Good luck with that." She set two more empty bottles into the box before picking it up and walking around the bar to go into the small kitchen and rinse them all out.

When she walked back out, the guys were coming out of the chapel, all of them scattering in different directions. Most of them went outside, while Juice grabbed his laptop before situating himself at one of the tables. Juliette knew that whatever he was doing on the computer probably had something to do with her nephew so she grabbed a beer and headed over to where he was sitting. She stopped at the end of the table, directly in front of him as she popped the top on the can and took a sip.

"Found out anything else on Abel?"

"We got Hayes in Vancouver four days ago, but nothing after that. We have to get some money together to get a tracker on him. We're all headin' up there once we get this thing settled with the Irish. Sanwa judge wants a new hearing about some shit that went down awhile back, so we'll be in some trouble for skippin' out, but it's gotta be done."

"Shit," she sighed heavily, dropping into the empty chair in front of her.

"Don't worry, Jules. We're gonna find him."

She nodded, taking a large gulp from the can in her hand. "I hope so. I'd like to meet the little guy." She held out her beer to offer him some and he took it from her before turning it up and drinking over half of it at once. He handed it back to her and she rolled her eyes as she stood up from her chair. "Asshole."

He just laughed as he watched her walk back over to the bar and finish off the can before throwing it away. He quickly finished up what he was doing on the computer before putting it away and walking over to where she was now straightening up the remaining bottles and all the glasses. He couldn't help but notice how the cutoff tee shirt she was wearing was practically split all the way down the sides, giving him a nice view of the red lace bra she wore. "You gonna be around later?" he asked, unable to help himself from staring.

"Probably. I don't think I'll ever be finished cleaning up around here. You guys are pretty much pigs."

"Hey," he whined, faking offense.

She waved her hand, shooing him away. "Go on, go do your club shit. I have work to do."

He chuckled, hitting the bar lightly with his palm. "I'll see you later then. Don't get into any trouble while we're gone."

"Can't make any promises," she retorted. He grinned as he turned on his heel and walked out of the clubhouse, leaving her to finish up what she was doing at the bar before heading to the garage's office. Juliette had completely forgotten about the three crow eaters until she walked toward the door and saw them still sitting on the sofa, all giving her a glare. It occurred to her then that they had probably seen her talking to Juice and that was why they were all scowling, especially the blonde in the middle.

The office was a mess. Since Gemma had been away, the guys had just been bringing in paperwork and dropping it carelessly onto the desk, not bothering to actually do anything with it. Juliette quickly got down to work, organizing and filing the papers in their appropriate places and then making some calls and paying some bills. Just when she had managed to get the desk mostly clean, one of the mechanics came in and set another huge stack down in front of her. She groaned while the man just looked at her apologetically before going back out into the garage.

She had just started working on the new pile when the phone began to ring. Juliette grumbled to herself as she dropped the papers she was holding onto the desk and leaned forward to grab the obnoxious piece of plastic. She wasn't in the mood to be polite, but she did it anyway. "Teller-Morrow. How can I help you?"

"Hey, uh, I'm lookin' for Half Sack. Is he around?"

Juliette felt like she was going to be sick. "Um, no he's not. Who's calling?"

"My name's Cherry. I used to-....We were-....Well, we had a thing awhile ago. So do you know when he'll be back?"

"He won't," she croaked, her throat suddenly feeling dry and scratchy. "He actually was killed a few days ago."

The woman on the other end of the call gapsed softly and when she spoke again, it sounded like she was crying. "What happened to him?"

Juliette wasn't sure she should explain the whole story because honestly, she didn't know the woman at all. But she figured the pieces that were common public knowledge were okay to tell. "He tried to stop some Irish guy from kidnapping Jax's son, but he was stabbed."

"Cammy Hayes?"

"Yeah, actually. How'd you know?"

"I live in Belfast now. I, uh, know someone who knew him." The line was quiet for a moment and Juliette could hear the other woman sniffle before she spoke. "Look, is there anyone around there I can talk to? It's important."

"What's it about? Maybe I can help."

"I doubt it, honey. Could you please put one of the guys on?"

The way she said honey gave Juliette the impression that the woman thought she was talking to some crow eater, but she didn't bother correcting her. "They're not here," she grumbled. "So unless there's something I can help you with-"

"I need a number to reach Gemma Teller."

"What for?" Juliette didn't even have a number to reach her mother; why would this strange woman need it?

"It doesn't matter why. I just need you to give it to me."

"Well, I don't-" She stood up and walked over to the door, opening it to look outside, and she saw a short, halfway bald man walking around the lot. She yelled at him to get his attention and he immediately turned his head, coming straight over when he saw her. "It's Chucky, right?"

"Yeah! That's me. Something I can do for you?"

"Did one of the guys by chance leave a number for Gemma anywhere?"

"Actually, I think I saw it on a post-it note somewhere around here." He walked over to the desk and started moving papers around, but she'd already gone through most of the papers that had been there. He eventually unearthed a small yellow slip of paper in the top left drawer. "Yep, here we are."

He handed it to her as she sank back into her chair and she read off the number to Cherry, twice just to make sure she got it correctly. Cherry only muttered a half-assed thank you before hanging up and Juliette scoffed as she pulled the phone away from her ear.

"Thanks, Chucky." She dropped the receiver back into its spot and he sat down in the chair across from her. Juliette furrowed her eyebrows at the man, wondering what the hell had happened to him that he only had two out of ten fingers. On top of that, he had a sling on his arm. "So I gotta ask, what's with the hands?"

"The Chinese cured me of my compulsive masturbation."

"Jesus," she muttered, shaking her head. "Um, how's your arm?"

He glanced down at his sling before looking back at her with a shrug. "It's not so bad really." Chucky had been hit by a stray bullet at Kip's wake and had just gotten out of the hospital that morning. Juliette knew he must be in pain; after all, she was very familiar with what a bullet wound felt like. But he was pretty good at acting like he was completely fine. He was a rather happy guy for someone who had most of his fingers chopped off and had very nearly missed death a few nights before.

"Yeah right. I know how much gunshot wounds suck."

"You do?"

She sighed and nodded, pulling her cutoff sleeve over just a few inches to show him the pink-colored scar on her left shoulder. "Happened about five years ago but it still hurts sometimes."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said sincerely and she smiled in return. "Can I help you do anything in here?"

"That'd be great if you don't mind."

"Of course not." he took half of the stack and she took the other half and together they finished going through all the paperwork in less than an hour.

Once they finished everything in the office, Juliette headed back into the clubhouse to finish drying the last of the sheets. She put the wet sheets into the dryer and took the dry sheets back to the room they came out of. She shook them out and started stretching them out to fit over the mattress. Juice, having just gotten back from the mess with the Chinese, walked down the hall looking for her and when he walked into the room, he saw her leaned over, her back to him as she pulled the sheet over the corner of the mattress. He took a moment to enjoy the view before going over to help.

She looked up in surprise when he walked around the other side of the bed but then she smiled. "Back already?"

He tucked in the sheet on his side before he stood up straight. "What do you mean already? It's been like four hours."

"Shit, I didn't realize all that damn office work took so long." She thought back to the office, which then reminded her of the call she'd taken earlier. "Hey Juice, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course."

Juliette sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed and he sat down next to her, watching her intently. "Can you tell me about Cherry?"

"Cherry? What do you mean, cherry?"

"Kip's.....I don't know, girlfriend?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Where did this come from?"

She just shrugged, looking down at the floor. "She called earlier, asking for him." Juice sucked in a breath as he ran a hand over his freshly shaven head. "She told me she used to have a thing with him and then I had to tell her he died."

He slid his arm around her shoulders. "That's really shitty, Jules."

"Did he love her?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good," she nodded. "I'm glad."

"I'm sorry, babe. Anything I can do?"

She finally looked up at him, noticing that since he'd put his arm around her, his face was much closer to hers, only a few inches separating them. She wasn't sure if it was the emotional exhaustion and vulnerability or just the fact that she'd always had a thing for him, but she slowly closed the space between them and pressed her lips to his. He kissed her back at first, but after a few seconds, he gently pushed her back.

He was wondering the same thing. He wanted to believe she was kissing him because she still had those feelings she told him about before she left, but a big part of him felt like she was probably just upset about Kip again. "Jules-"

"Shut up, Juice." She kissed him again and this time, he reacted immediately by grabbing the back of her neck with one hand and running his hand down her side to her hip with the other. The heavy makeout session lasted a good fifteen minutes before she broke away from him, completely breathless. "Lock the door."

He practically lept from the bed and went to lock the door to the room before rejoining her. She kicked off her boots and stood up on her knees as he stood in front of her at the end of the bed. She ran her hands up his toned chest and under his cut, pushing it back off his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor before reaching for the bottom of his gray tee shirt and yanking it over his head. She couldn't help but let her fingertips roam over his impressive muscles. She'd always admired that about him.

His hands found her hips and he slipped them under the bottom of her shirt, running them up her sides and quickly removing her tee shirt from her body. He paused to take in the sight, now that he could see all of the lace he'd had a preview of earlier in the day. She leaned back to unbutton her tight jeans and she quickly slid them down her legs, revealing her matching panties. He bit down on his bottom lip as she moved forward to work on the button of his jeans.

He pushed them down his legs and kicked off his boots before stepping out of them. She grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him down next to her, connecting their lips again. She sighed into his mouth as his hands roamed across her skin, exploring her body like no one else ever had before she broke away to instead attach her lips to his neck. He sucked in a sharp breath when he felt her teeth graze the skin of his collar bone.

She rolled over on top of him and straddled him, slowly grinding her hips against his and causing him to let out a groan. She smirked and his hands went up to her chest, slipping them under the lace fabric and brushing his thumbs over her nipples as she gasped loudly. She quickly leaned forward so that she could pull her underwear off and she tossed them somewhere onto the floor before lifting herself up slightly to rid him of his boxers. She slid a little further down his legs so that she could take him in her hand and pump him, slowly at first but gradually increasing speed.

She stopped for a moment, breathing heavily and he automatically took it as her seeing her last chance to decide if she really wanted to do it. "Jules, are you sure about this?"

Instead of answering, she just slid back up to where she was before and reached between them to grab him so that she could line him up to herself. She moved both hands to his abdomen as she slowly lowered herself down onto him, gasping loudly and squeezing her eyes shut. He couldn't help but feel a little proud of her reaction. "You okay?" he asked, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Hey, you don't get to be an arrogant son of a bitch just yet," she told him as her blue eyes met his brown ones. He just grinned at her, but she quickly wiped it off his face when she started to slowly move.

She kept the slow pace going for a minute or two, but judging by the look on his face, it was pure torture for him. He grabbed her hips roughly, which stilled her movement altogether. "Jules, babe, you're killin' me here." She supressed a giggle as she said sorry and then she surprised him by quickly pushing herself down so that he completely filled her, earning a moan from both of them.

He was impatient so after not much longer, he flipped her onto her back and hovered over her, his hands on either side of her body as he positioned himself between her legs and slowly pushed inside her. Her eyes fluttered shut and she bit down on her bottom lip as his hips moved strongly against hers, the thrusts causing all sorts of pleasant sensations for both of them.

She could see tiny beads of sweat forming over his brow as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, allowing him to push himself even deeper inside her. She held on to the backs of his arms for a brief moment before her hands moved to the taut muscles of his back. Her dark purple nails dug painfully into his tan skin, but he was so aroused that it actually felt good to him.

He looked down at her, taking in the sight of the flush across her chest, her tightly shut eyes, and the soft gasps and sighs that spilled from her slightly swollen lips. His thrusts became rougher and faster and when he hit the spot inside her, she cried out loudly before sinking her teeth into her bottom lip to quiet herself. They didn't need someone out in the clubhouse to hear them.

Over and over, he pressed against the spot and she couldn't help the string of curses that left her mouth as she clawed at his back. She could feel the pressure building deep in the pit of her stomach and she let out a moan as one more thrust finally pushed her over the edge.

Her back arched off the mattress and her entire body tensed from head to toe as the pleasure that had been building up inside her finally exploded, flooding all her senses. He didn't slow his rhythm as her body bucked and shook against his and within the same minute, he let out a low, throaty moan as he reached the same release. They were both panting heavily as he collapsed next to her on the mattress, pulling the thin sheet over both of them as he slipped his arm over her waist and yanked her body closer to him.

"Okay," she said, trying to catch her breath. "I guess you can be cocky now."