The guys stood around the dead body on the floor that was covered in blood, laying in a pool of his blood. It was already dried and it would be almost impossible to get the stains out of the carpet, which meant they had to either rip the whole carpet out or use a good amount of bleach and whatever to clean it. But that was up to Happy and Tig, they were the ones knowing most about that shit and what would be the best solution.

“Damn.” Tig looked impressed as he walked around the dead body, his hands on his hips before he pointed at Steven, chuckling. “Bet he didn't see that coming.”

“Well, I guess our famous killer and her are the perfect match”, Jax added with a simple shrug. He was shocked to see how, but that bastard deserved it and he was glad Madison found a way to get outᅳ even though it ended in a bloodbath.

“She literally gutted him from the inside out”, Bobby pointed out, the only one who had to cover his nose a few times because of the smell.

Happy just stood there and looked down smirking, his chest filled with pride. His woman did this, Madison gutted that fucker and saved herself.

Steven didn't deserve anything less and his girlfriend had done a great job. Besides all the stab wounds, it wasn't easy to pull a knife from the pit of the stomach up to the chest. Even if the knife was sharp, you needed strength to do it. Or an adrenaline rush.

His grin faded, replaced by a bitter expression. He was proud, but it also showed how much anger Madison had been holding in. Anger at the things Steven had done to her for a while month. If he had just locked her in a room, she probably wouldn't have stabbed him so often. But as disfigured as the bastard was, there must have been a lot of fear, frustration, and anger in Madison.

If Happy could wake people from the dead, he would do it just to torture the fucker and then kill him again.

“We have to get rid of him before he starts to stink even more”, Happy finally said, his voice laced with disgust and his tone menacing. “Tig and I will handle it, the rest of you guys take care of the carpet.”

“Sounds like a plan”, Tig nodded eagerly and looked at the clock on the wall. “Most people should be asleep. We better get him out of here quiet and quick.”

“Yeah, better now than later. The earlier he's gone the faster Madison can recover”, Jax nodded in agreement and put on his black leather gloves. “Make sure no one's gonna see you. And find a good place where no one can find him.”

“I know how and where to bury bodies”, Happy grunted before he crouched down. Steven was heavier than expected, which the SAA noticed after he threw his limp body over his shoulder so he could carry him down the stairs.

“At least I'm not getting dirty now”, Tig said with a smirk and slapped Jax' back. “Call if you need anything. Otherwise we'll see you at the clubhouse tomorrow.”

Jax grabbed Tig's arm before he could follow Happy outside and kept his voice low. “Keep an eye on him, not sure how he's handling all of this.”

“Always, brother”, Tig assured the younger man, following his brother outside after Jax had let go of him and gave him permission to leave.

Not only Jax but also the rest was worried about their SAA. He couldn't let out the anger he felt towards Steven and had to swallow it, which could mean that Happy might act a bit impulsively for the next few weeks. Everyone knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt the club, the heavily tattooed biker would rather die. But Jax had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that Happy wasn't over the whole kidnapping thing yet, even though Madison was back.

ᅳ

Happy stormed into Madison's apartment only to find her sitting on her bed with a book in her hands. Tara had given him a call while he was out in the woods to bury Steven's body to let him know that Madison released herself from the hospital.

“What the hell is wrong with you, woman?”, he, greatly worried  about her, growled after she had put the book down and looked up at him silently. “You should have stayed in the hospital a few days longer!”

“Happy, calm down”, she spoke in a soft voice, patting the bed next to her as she saw how upset  her Old Man was. She didn't want to stay in the hospital any longer and wanted to be with him, the person she felt safe with.

“You want me to calm down?”, he asked with a snort, rubbing a hand over his face while letting out a deep sigh. He understood that she wanted to be home and he also preferred having her with him so he could keep an eye on her. Still, there were enough things that could still happen to her and the hospital wasn't around the corner.

“What if you have another heart attack? You just had one two days ago, dammit!” It was difficult for him to stay calm and it showed. His voice sounded sharp and harsher than he intended, but Madison could also hear the concern in it.

Before the brunette could get up, which she was about to do, he gave her a warning look and sat down on the bed with her to keep her seated. He hadn't missed the pained look that crossed her face.

“That's what I mean”, he added grunting before finally reaching for her hand, which he gently cupped in his calloused one, sighing. “I'm just worried about you.”

“But you don't have to”, she assured softly, looking at him empathetically. It hurt her to see him so worried and worked up. He didn't even let her get up, he was so scared that more could happen to her. “I had an extensive conversation with Tara. I know what I can and can't do, what else to watch out for and what's okay for me to do. I just wanted to be home, Hap.”

Happy, on the other hand, just grunted in response, not quite satisfied with her answers yet. Even though Tara was a doctor, she couldn't 100% guarantee that nothing would happen to Madison at home.

“Take off your clothes”, the brunette demanded with a weak smile as she saw all the blood on Happy's kutte, shirt and also on his jeans. It was dried, older blood, probably Steven's. “I'm trying to get the blood out.”

“Ah, fuck”, Happy mumbled with a sigh. He was so upset after Tara's call that he forgot to take a quick shower and change into clean clothes at the clubhouse before going home. Actually, he didn't want Madison to see him like that, especially with Steven's blood all over him. “I'll be right back. And you stay in bed!”

He looked at her sternly, then he took her hands off him with which she tried to take his kutte off and stood up. A moment later he disappeared into the bathroom and stripped off his clothes, which he let soak in the sink. He would give them a good wash later so Madison wouldn't have to.

After a quick shower, he walked back into the bedroom where a pair of boxers and sweatpants were already folded for him on the bed.

“I told you not to get up”, he grunted as he put his clothes on before looking at his girlfriend who sat quietly on the bed, her head bowed, playing with the fringed dark green blanket.

“I just wanted to help”, she murmured with a shrug. Why Happy didn't want her help was unclear to her. She might have been a bit unstable and emotionally drained, but she wasn't a hopeless case that needed to be treated like a raw egg.

Slowly she looked up as the bed gave in a bit next to her and Happy sat down with his back facing her, his elbows propped on his legs and his head in his hands while he rubbed his face with them.

“I don't know how to deal with you, what to say”, he eventually admitted, the desperation in his tone almost broke her heart.

Of course, all the events were still chewing on him. He hadn't heard from her in a fucking month, couldn't help her, didn't even know if she was alive. He might seem cold, and he was towards most people, but this event had broken a part of him and now that she was back, he didn't know how to comfort her when he was still struggling with his own dark thoughts.

He swallowed dryly as she wrapped her thin arms around him from behind. Her body nestled against his back felt cold, even through the thin shirt that was one of his, he could feel the how cold she wasᅳ which was probably due to all the blood loss and stress. In addition, she lacked all the important nutrients. Since she was back, sometimes he couldn't even look at her. Not because he found her ugly, she was still the prettiest woman he knew, but because it broke him seeing her like that.

Knowing how much she must have suffered caused a lump to form in his throat and he quickly wiped his eyes, even though she couldn't see them anyway. He didn't want to be a burden, but he also knew that his girlfriend was an empathetic person and would notice anyway if he wasn't feeling good.

“How about you just treat me the same way you did before, hm?”, he suggested, her voice almost angelic and holding a calmness that he needed right now. “Can you look at me please?”

“Not now”, he murmured, shaking his head and burying his face in his hands again, letting out a sound that sounded like a sob, whereupon he immediately cleared his throat to cover it up. “I can'tᅳ I just can't fuckin' look at you.”

“Happy please!” This time there was more strength in Madison's tone as she asked him to look at her again, tears forming in her eyes as she heard his voice crack. Desperation reflected in her eyes when Happy finally lifted his head and looked at her briefly.

A certain wave of guilt washed over the brunette when she saw his red-shot, glassy eyes. Seeing how hard he was trying not to shed tears only showed her how much he had really suffered from her disappearance over the past month. And right now she was glad she hadn't just stabbed Steven once or twice. For what he did to her and to Happy, he definitely deserved what he got.

Timidly, she took his face in her hands and carefully leaned her forehead against his. She snuggled up to him as close as she could, a relieved sigh escaped her lips as he wrapped his arm around her instead of ignoring her.

“We can do this together, okay? We both have to fix shit first and process everything. But we can do that together.” She looked at him pleadingly, hoping he wouldn't push her out swallow his feelings.

“Shouldn't I say that to you, little girl?”, he asked in a hoarse voice and finally looked into her eyes, which just held more hope in them than his.

“That doesn't matter now. We've both been through a lot, not just me”, she pointed out seriously, her fingers now laced behind his neck. “And we're going to struggle with that for a while, but it's easier to fix things together.”

“Do you know how fucking proud I am of you Madison?” He looked at her intensely after carefully pulling her onto his lap. “For fighting your way out of this on your own, for not giving up. You need a lot of strength for that.”

“I had a reason to fight”, she whispered with a shrug, visibly touched and overwhelmed by her own emotions. “You have no idea how much I've missed you. I thought about you everyday.”

“I've never been so scared in my life”, he admitted, his brows furrowed and his forehead wrinkled. “I love you, little girl. And I'll never let anything like that happen to you again. Steven is dead, it's over.”

Now it was her who pressed her lips together after a sob escaped her throat and shook her head rapidly. “I know, I know baby.”

And yet that dark, frightening feeling she'd been feeling for the past few weeks didn't quite go away. Silent tears ran down her pale cheeks as she buried her face in Happy's neck. His firm grip around her waist just became more possessive and protective the moment he heard her sobs echoing through the room. They were both broken and had to find a way to cope with all the shit that happened.