Juice sat on the edge of his bed, his heart feeling heavy as he watched Angela pack her carry on bag full of necessities. She was leaving behind her check in bag and a lot of the clothes she'd packed in it. Some of it was neatly tucked into the bureau he'd bought for them. He loved that she was leaving stuff behind since it was proof she was going to come back. Still...he didn't want her to go. Not when they'd just spent the past two weeks in complete heaven living the normal kind of family life he'd always craved. No looking over their shoulders or jumping every time a motorcycle passed by; they'd just been blissfully boring. They'd even taken to waking up early together to go for a run just the two of them. They'd run around the neighborhood a few times before he chased her into the house, up the stairs, and had his way with her on the bed. All before either of their kids woke up. He stared at her back, smirking at the dark bite mark on her shoulder, a souvenir from their run that morning. Looking at his feet, he spotted her running shoe on the ground nearby and reached out his foot, dragging it under the bed to hide it away; if she couldn't find the sneaker, she couldn't leave.

"I don't want you to leave," he admitted aloud. He knew saying it would only make it harder for her to go, but he couldn't help it. She had to know her absence was going to kill him. After having the house filled with so much noise and love, the silence their departure would leave was going to hurt like hell. "Hate being alone. 's too quiet."

She turned then, her dark eyes worried as she looked him over. "A week, Juice. That's it. One week, and we'll be back," she promised him, taking a step closer. "And you're not alone. Jo and Dino are right next door, goof. You want some noise, go over there. That place is never quiet with those two Ninja Turtles runnin' around."

" 's not the same," he replied, grabbing her hips to pull her in close. He pressed his face into her shirt, smiling when he felt her arms drape over his shoulders, her lips pressing a kiss into his hair. "Don't go."

"I can leave Evie here," she offered, her fingernails scratching gently at his scalp. "She'll keep you company."

He sighed, tempted by the offer. He'd love to have some one on one time with his daughter, but he knew it would look strange to their old friends in Charming. If she was going to pull off the charade he was still dead, she'd have to keep Evie close. No way anyone would buy her leaving her baby girl in a different state with extended family. Plus, he wanted her family to have a chance to say goodbye to her before they made their big move. "Nah," he answered, tilting his head back to meet her gaze. "She should go too. See her grandmas and uncles again 'fore you move."

She snorted, taking a step away from him again. "Think Dia and my Ma would kill me if they didn't get to see her once more," she said around a laugh as she picked up one of her running shoes off the ground and put it by her bag.

"And Hap?"

"Hap can go fuck himself," she muttered, walking around the room in search of the other shoe.

"He let me go," he reminded her.

Angela sighed, raking her hand through her hair. "He betrayed me."

"No, baby, he didn't. He saved me. He saved us," he insisted, watching her twist at her wedding ring around her finger. He noticed she was missing one of her usual rings. A tan line encircled her middle finger where the ring Happy had given her used to be. She never took that thing off. Could she really be that angry with Hap? "Would you just talk to him? For me? Please."

"We'll see," she said, dodging the question. "Have you seen my other shoe?"

Juice shook his head. He saw the subject change for the diversion it was, but let it happen anyway. He didn't want to fight with her before she left. "Nope," he lied, feigning innocence. "You look downstairs?"

Angela furrowed her brows together before walking out of the room. He heard her shout down the stairs asking Kenny about the missing sneaker. There was a pause before Kenny shouted back his response. She shouted a thanks before walking back into the room. "Not downstairs. Which makes sense 'cause the other one was here. You sure you haven't seen it?"

He tried to hide his big, guilty grin but couldn't stop it. "Positive."

She saw right through him. "Juan Carlos Ortiz, I know that face. Where's my sneaker?"

"No idea," he replied on a shrug, trying his best to keep a straight face. "Maybe if you c'mere you can refresh my memory."

Angela gave him a naughty smile, stepping closer to him. She slid her fingers through his hair, using her hold on his longer locks to tilt his head back to gain access to his mouth. "I love you, and pretty soon, I'm going to move here to be with you," she murmured, her lips moving against his. She kissed him before giving his hair one good, sharp tug. "But first I need to pack up our old shit, and if I have to spend a week in Charming without running, I'm going to lose it. Now give me back my shoe. It's the only thing I got left to pack."

He squeezed her hips, holding tightly to keep her from moving away. "No," he replied stubbornly.

She stroked the back of her hand over his cheek, her look softening a bit. "I'm coming back."

"Not soon enough."

"Where's my shoe?"

"I dunno," he said, drawing her in closer and burying his face in her cleavage. He pressed a kiss to her sternum before turning his head to nip at the side of her breast.

Angela laughed, pulling his hair again so she could see his face. "Juice! Where's my shoe?" she demanded, her dark eyes lit up with mischief as she squished his face between her palms. "Dude, I got like an hour before we gotta go! Where is it?"

"I don't know!" he insisted, his hands moving to her ass. "Just stay here!"

"Under the bed!" she exclaimed, as if it had just hit her. She moved away from him, bending down to check under the bed. He stood up and grabbed her around the waist from behind, hauling her up before she could see it. She grabbed at his arms as she screamed. "Put me down! That's my shoe! I need my shoe!"

Juice kept one arm banded around her waist as he used the other to tickle her sides, grinning as her laughter filled the air. He set her down on her feet and turned her in his arms, capturing her lips with his own as he pushed her towards the bed. The backs of her knees hit its edge, and she lay back as he climbed over her. Her eyes were bright as she smiled up at him, making his heart skip a beat. Dipping his head, he kissed her nose. "I love you."

Her hands framed his face again as she nodded. "Love you too, goofy," she murmured. He nuzzled her neck, kissing his way down her throat. She ran her fingers through his hair, a heavy sigh leaving her lips. "I don't want to go either."

"But you have to," he murmured, realizing he'd totally flipped his stance, but he hadn't expected her to give in either. One of them had to be the strong one; he was used to it being her. If her resolve was faltering, he had to make sure she remembered why she was leaving in the first place. He rolled off of her, lying down next to her. "That way you can come back, and we can start over."

"And what do I call you then, huh? Juan Carlos?"

The way she rolled the 'r's in his name sent shivers down his back, igniting a fire inside of him. "Baby, you call me that on the daily, and I'm not gonna be able to keep my hands to myself," he answered, brushing a stray hair from her face. "Just...call me Juice."

"Really? Thought we were starting over. Juice is your club name. Don't want to bring back all those memories."

He mulled over her words. They might be starting over, but he couldn't remember a time when she'd called him anything other than 'Juice'. It'd feel wrong. It wasn't even his club name. It was a name he'd gotten long before he'd ever even seen a Reaper. "Baby, I was Juice way before I got into SAMCRO."

Angela's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?"

He nodded, smirking a bit. "Since high school, actually," he admitted with a small smile. "I never told you that story?"

"I believe when I asked about it, your answer was 'You don't wanna know'," she replied, her fingertips skimming over his cheek. "So I dropped it."

It made sense. Hap had instilled in Angela that being told 'you don't wanna know' meant 'don't ever ask about it again'. He hadn't known that when he'd said it to her teasingly on their first date at the sandwich shop. "It's a dumb story," he admitted, thinking back to the moment it happened. "My Ma was with this drug dealer, Pablo, when I was a freshman. He actually loved her 'n' cared about me 'n' Jo. Closest thing to a steady family we had for a couple years. Anyways, he dealt a lot a shit, but his big money maker was steroids."

A knowing smile spread across her face as she made the connection between his nickname and the street name for the drug. "Juice."

"Uh-huh," he said on a laugh. "Blo's biggest client was my high school's football and baseball teams. So he gives me this box of 'roids 'n' tells me he'll pay me a hundred bucks if I deliver it to the athletic director's office since me bringin' it over would look less conspicuous than if he brought it over. Me bein' student 'n' all."

"Right." Angela nodded, her fingers playing with his hair. Lately, she couldn't keep her hands out of his hair, and he loved it. A part of him wished he'd grown it out sooner.

"So he told me to take it straight there, hand it to the director, 'n' say, "I'm Juan. Here's the juice" since the guy was expecting me. I get there, nervous as hell, and say, 'Hi, I'm Juice, here's the Juan' instead. Whole football team was there. They laughed their asses off. Been Juice ever since. I was a fuckin' rockstar to them though. Helpin' them win championships and shit. I wore that name like a badge of honor."

She laughed, a proud look in her eyes. "That's what was so bad I wouldn't want to know?" she asked incredulously.

He shrugged a shoulder, giving her a big grin. "Was our first date. 's not the greatest story in the world. I mean, I was selling 'roids to kids."

"You were a kid," she reminded him, leaning forward to kiss his nose. "What happened to Pablo?"

"Caught Ma stealin' from his stash of oxy one too many times, so he bounced," he replied on a sigh. It'd been his junior year of high school, and he'd been devastated to lose the first 'father figure' type guy he had in his life. "We kept in touch since I kept dealin' for him. Blo's the one who got me into the mob shit. Recommended me as a dealer soon as I got outta high school. Can you believe that shit? I got a job recommendation to be a drug dealer."

Angela smiled, her dark eyes warm and turning his insides to mush. "I helped Alvarez deal H outta his record store for a summer or two."

Juice raised his eyebrows in total surprise. He'd known Angela had grown up with the Mayans, but he'd never thought Marcus would let her deal for them. Marcus seemed too protective of her to get her mixed up in his drug trade. "Are you serious?"

"Mmm-hmm. They hid the baggies in the cassette tapes and CD cases. Marc and E didn't think I knew, but I wasn't an idiot. Too many white boys came in asking for Mariachi music and Raffa's mix tape," she explained on a smirk. "I opened one up one day and found the little baggie tucked away inside the fake tape. Brilliant idea, but a total waste of CDs and cassettes. Soon as I found out, I told Marcus he should leave a drop off box in the back so the druggies could recycle the stuff 'n' they wouldn't lose money on it. He loved the idea but fired me from the job. Didn't want me to actually become a dealer. Guess it was fine when I didn't know but not if I was going to actual push it."

"My badass chola," he commented on a chuckle. Hearing stories like that about her past made him think about what a good Old Lady she could've been if they'd both stayed involved in the club. She was smart as hell and savvy to boot. He had no doubt she could think of a lot of good ways help SAMCRO's different business endeavors. Legal and illegal. But that wasn't their life now, he reminded himself. Now, she was going to strictly be a mortician working a nine to five job as soon as she could find a funeral home there in Texas. He sighed softly. "How come we been together almost five years now 'n' we didn't know this shit about each other?"

She shrugged a shoulder, her finger running down his nose. "We had a lot of other shit going on. And then you died. Remember?"

"But I came back," he pointed out, kissing her again. "I'm here, baby. You're stuck with me now."

Angela swung her leg over his hips, straddling him before leaning over to kiss him. "Good," she murmured, her tongue slipping into his mouth.

He slid his hands underneath her shirt, skimming over her warm skin as he stroked her tongue with his own."Love you so much," he murmured against her lips as he went to tug off her wifebeater.

"Wonka! Angie!" Jo's shrill shouting sounded from downstairs.

Angela pushed her shirt back down, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout. "Damn. Thought we'd get one more quickie in 'fore I left," she said, kissing him again before getting off of him. "Be there in a minute, Jo!" she called back.

Juice's eyes followed her as she ran to their ensuite bathroom. He leaned over and pulled her sneaker out from under the bed. "Hey Cinderella!" he called, smiling at her when she walked back in, toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. He presented her with the shoe, held out in his palm. "Almost forgot this."

She rinsed out her mouth, putting the toothbrush back before walking over to him. "My Prince Charming," she commented, kissing him again as she took the shoe. "Okay. That's everything. You driving us to the airport?"

He shook his head slowly, frowning a bit. "I wish. Jo said it's a bad idea. Thinks it'll freak Evie out if I take you guys there and don't come with. At least this way, she's got the car ride over to calm down," he explained sadly. It'd broken his heart when Jo had told him he couldn't see off his girls, but he knew she was right. Angela had vividly described the hell she'd gone through with Evie on the plane, and he didn't want to contribute to that for his own selfish reasons.

She looked a little crestfallen as she nodded. "Yeah, makes sense. I hate those airport goodbyes anyway. Too cheesy and...final."

Juice smiled a bit, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. "Just a week, Angel. Right?" he asked, needing to hear it once more to assure himself.

"Ticket's roundtrip, baby. See?" she said, showing him the confirmation on her cellphone. "One week and one week only. Just going to get our shit, say by to my Ma, my Aunt, the funeral home crew, and the Alvarezes, and then come back to you. Promise."

Juice knew she was purposefully leaving Happy off the list. A part of him thought it was because she wanted him to convince her to talk to her cousin. He had a feeling she missed him more than she was letting on. He grabbed her hand pulling her to him. "One more promise," he requested. She gave him a reluctant look, so he squeezed her hand. "C'mon, baby. One promise for your dead husband."

She smacked his shoulder, scowling at him. "Don't say that shit," she scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. "What?"

"Talk to Hap. Please. Don't leave without hearin' him out," he begged, squeezing her hand again. "You love him, Angel, and if anythin' happens to him while you're on the outs, you'll never forgive yourself."

He watched her jaw clench, knowing she was mulling it over. Taking a deep breath in, she let it out slowly. "Whatever," she answered noncommittally. He gave her a stern look, and she nodded. "I'll give it a try, but if I end up killin' him, its on your head."

----------------

"She's coming back tonight, you know," Chloe's statement threw Happy off guard. He'd been sitting on her couch with a beer, blankly staring at the TV while they watched some insipid TV show she loved. He didn't really give a shit about the show, he actually welcomed the distraction. It had taken his mind off other things...thing like his little cousin. It'd been two weeks since he'd last spoken to or seen her; the longest time they'd ever been apart. Even when he was in jail, and she was dating that Mayan punk, he'd see her or at least talk to her once a week. His Ma had made sure of that. Now, even his Ma had agreed with her decision to alienate him.

But he'd done the right thing! And it was killing him that no one understood it. He'd gone against every instinct, every belief he had when he'd let Juice live, and yet he was still being punished for it as if he'd actually killed him. How was that fair? Angela had been in Texas for two weeks, had known Juice was alive for two weeks, and still hadn't reached out to him like he thought she might. How could she still hold Juice's death against him when the idiot wasn't really dead? It didn't make any sense. "You talk to her?" he asked as he took a sip of his beer.

"A bit on her layaway," she answered on a small smile. "She sounded good, Hap. Really excited. She's planning on moving out there. I was actually going to head over there later to help her pack. Spend some time before she moves far, far away."

Happy had expected her to move, but the reality of it hit him like a punch to the gut. Texas wasn't close by any means. He couldn't just ride out to her when he was having a bad day and needed to vent. She was going to be officially unreachable. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes, shaking his head a moment. On the plus side, she and her kids would finally be safe from the club and all the bullshit it brought with it. "Good."

"Want to come with me?" Chloe offered, her hazel eyes holding just the slightest bit of hope.

He shook his head. "Nah. She don't want to see me," he muttered, thumbing the label on his beer. "Woulda called if she did."

She frowned, running the backs of her fingers over his scruffy cheek. "No, she wouldn't have called, Hap. She's just as stubborn as you in that respect. But I know she misses you. You just need to apologize and she'll get over it," she suggested. He snorted at that; he didn't apologize. Ever. A smirk tugged up the corner of her lips. "You can apologize you know. Doesn't make you less of a man to admit you did wrong."

That ruffled his feathers a bit. He still didn't see where he'd gone wrong. He'd done everything to ensure her happiness. Where was his mistake? "Didn't do anythin' wrong," he insisted stubbornly. "Let him go. Kid should be thankin' me."

Her eyebrow rose as she gave him an incredulous look. "Seriously? You don't think anything you did leading up to it that merits an apology?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Did everythin' to keep her safe."

"Yeah, but you hurt her in the process," she pointed out, a bit of frustration in her voice. "Hap, if you don't get it..."

"What was I s'posed to do? Tell her? Know what happens then? Jax woulda woulda found out 'n' come after me 'n' Tig 'n' the kid woulda lost everythin'!"

"She did lose everythin'!" Chloe exclaimed, her eyes wide. "She lost Juice, she lost you, she lost her whole family except those kids and they're kids! Ken and Bones did their best, but at the end of the day, the only people she had were the Alvarezes! People you worked half her life to keep her away from!"

Happy clenched his jaw together; she was right. In trying to keep Angela safe, he'd successfully alienated her from everyone she'd thought of as family. He'd sent her right back to the Alvarez family who probably took a hell of a lot better care of her than he had in the months before. "Alvarez was the one who turned the idiot in."

"Which, I'm sure, he apologized for. The guy paid for their whole trip to Texas, and he definitely didn't know Juice was still alive like you did," she stated, raking her fingers through her hair "And that doesn't even matter, Hap. Before Juice came around, you were her everything. She looked up to you. Hurting her like you did cut her deeply. That's something that's not easily fixed. But you should at least try to fix it. You might not get the chance again."

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "She's movin' not dyin'."

Chloe pressed a kiss to his temple, dismissing his last comment. "I know you'll do the right thing, Lowman. You always do."

----------------

Angela took a deep breath as she walked around her old Charming house. Bones had done her a big favor and offered to show Jo around town with Ken and Evie in tow leaving her alone to pack up their little house. She hummed to herself as she walked down the hallway, her finger dragging along the warm yellow walls. It wasn't a pretty color by any means, but neither she nor Juice ever bothered to paint it despite the hours they'd spent discussing what color to use. They'd talked a lot about updating the house, actually. Something that would never happen now. They had a new house to decorate and make their own. She honestly couldn't wait.

She sucked in a deep breath as she approached their bedroom. The door was slightly ajar as it usually was when one of them was home. Smiling to herself, she pushed it open and stood at the threshold just looking over the room. The place was a mess. There were clothes on the floor, the bed was unmade and her shoes were all over the place. Juice would've had a heart attack if he saw it. But he hadn't been there. She'd been the last one in the room, and yet, the smell of him still lingered. It was what made it so hard to be in the house when she'd thought he was gone.

Slowly, she started to pick up the clothes, throwing them into her hamper and making a mental note to do the laundry before she finished packing. The rest was relatively easy. She packed away all the bedding and clothes, hesitating only when she came to the jewelry box sitting atop their dresser. Taking in a deep breath, she opened the top of it. Rings of all shapes and sizes gleamed back at her. She and Juice had shared the box, half and half. Reapers, skulls, and spikes on his side, and gems, wings, and more delicate skulls on hers.

She picked up the small ring Happy had given her on her fifteenth birthday. It was such a simple thing. A little silver skull with wings on either side of it; Happy's design. Apparently, Tig had gone to great lengths to deliver the final design to the jeweler, pick it up, wrap it, and deliver it to her house all while Happy sat in a jail cell. A small smile crossed her face; she'd been so excited to find that badly wrapped present on her doorstep. The ring hadn't left her finger once since he'd given it to her. Not until the day he'd walked in and told her Juice was gone. As angry as she was at Happy for hurting her the way he did, she had to admit, she missed him. She'd never gone this long without talking to him. Not even when she was neck deep in Mayans. Happy was always her constant. The one person who she'd thought knew her better than she knew herself.

That had all changed when he'd shown up at her doorstep with Juice's rings in his hands. Gone was all of the trust she'd had in him. Yes, he'd saved Juice, but he'd made her suffer in the interim. He'd never even mentioned the possibility of Juice being alive, just watched as she went through hell.

Her fingers closed tightly around the ring, squeezing it. "Fucker," she muttered angrily. That's how her emotions always went when she thought of him. She'd go from missing him to wanting to strangle him all in sixty seconds.

She heard the familiar sound of a Harley as it neared. Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply. She knew exactly who it was. A part of her was tempted to run to the front door and deadbolt it. Pretend like she wasn't home. But she'd promised Juice she'd talk to him, so she headed to the living room to face him.

The door opened before she could get to it, though, and Happy strode in as if he owned the place. That pissed her off more than anything. Her anger built up inside of her seeking release in some form. She didn't expect the release to be in a right hook to Happy's face, but her body acted before her brain could stop her, her fist connecting with his cheek.

He reeled back a bit, clearly just as stunned as she was by the move. There'd been a handful of times where she'd been angry enough to throw a punch at him over the years, but she'd never actually landed one. The fact she had this time only served to piss her off more. He was supposed to know her better! He was supposed to have seen it coming and stopped her! How could he let her hit him like that?

"Stupid asshole," she growled, swinging at him again. Happy was ready for this one, catching her fist in his hand. She came at him with the other fist, but he saw that one too, deflecting it easily.

"Stop," he ordered, letting her go and taking a step back.

Angela didn't relent. She swung at him again and again, working through her anger in the best way she knew how. Tears filled her eyes as she moved, blurring her vision, but she didn't stop. "How could you do that to me?" she demanded through gritted teeth. "How could you hurt me like that? How could you?"

"Kid, stop," he implored, finally getting a hold of her wrists and using a tight grip on them to keep her from lashing out. "Listen to me!"

"I hate you!" she shouted before she could stop herself. She struggled against his grip, tears sliding down her face as she repeated the words. It hurt her to say them just as much as it hurt him to hear it, but she couldn't stop. "I hate you so much. I...I..."

He held tightly to her wrists, jerking her up so her eyes met his. "Had to be done, kid," he rasped, his dark eyes filled with misery. "Had to be done."

She shook her head rapidly, still struggling against him. "No. No, it didn't. You could've told me, Hap! I thought he was dead! I thought he was..." she trailed off, struggling for breath. "He means everything to me, and I thought I'd lost him because of you! You, who practically raised me, who taught me everything I know, who I loved like a brother, like a father! Do you have any idea how much that fuckin' hurt?"

Happy's Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, his grip tightening a bit before he let go. "Had to be done, kid. Just wanted you to be happy. Promised your dad I'd keep you happy."

"You destroyed me, Hap," she gasped, taking a step away from him and wiping furiously at her cheeks. "I trusted you. I've always trusted you to keep me safe, to make sure I didn't get hurt and then you go and...and...shatter that trust because of that fucking club! Those tattoos are fuckin' bullshit! You live, you die, you kill for your goddamn club! Family doesn't mean shit to you!"

"I let him go!" he growled, taking a menacing step towards her. "Idiot's alive 'cause a me!"

Angela shook her head rapidly. "That doesn't make up for anything, Hap! I thought he was dead! I thought you killed him! Do you know what it feels like to think you've lost everything in a span of seconds? My whole world was caving in and you walked away!"

"What was I s'posed to do, huh?" he asked, getting in her face. "Tell you in front of my VP that the guy we were s'posed to take care of was alive? That we'd let him go? He'd send Jax after the idiot, then he'da come for me! Would that've made it better?"

The realization that he was right hit her hard. But still..."You could've told me after," she tried, her anger slowly fading.

"Then what? You fake it like he's gone? Bullshit! You ain't good at that shit, kid. Wouldn't a fooled no one," he growled at her. "Pres had gone fuckin' insane. Didn't want to sic him on you again. Would a ended with the idiot and you six feet under. I was protectin' you!"

She scowled at that, shaking her head. "No, you weren't! You were covering your own ass!" she shouted, physically pushing him away. "Why did you let me stay here? Why did you let me suffer?"

He didn't budge no matter how hard she pushed him. Grabbing her wrists again, he gently shoved her away from him. "Didn't know where the hell he was! How the hell was I s'posed to send you to him?" he insisted, getting more frustrated by the minute. "Didn't know anythin' about his sister! Nobody did! Was waitin' for him to call me. Say when it was safe!"

"You should have told me!" she repeated, knowing she was going in circles now. "You promised me you'd never lie to me! You promised..."

"Said he was gone not dead. Wasn't a damn lie!"

Angela's eyes widened a bit as she thought back to that day. It'd been Chibs who had said he was dead. Chibs and Tig. But Hap had never confirmed it. He'd only said Juice was gone, and Juice had been gone. He hadn't lied to her. How had she not noticed that? "Hap..."

"Never wanted it to go down like that. Been protecting you your whole damn life, kid. Didn't want you to get dragged down 'cause a that idiot," he explained on a scowl. "Want better for you. Always have. That idiot loves you 'n' he makes you happy. Couldn't take that away from you. Didn't feel right. Yeah, it hurt, but 's what needed to go down for all this shit to come together."

His apology was there, buried deep within his words, but she understood it just the same. She knew it took a lot for him to come to her, to explain everything like he just did. Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her head and met his gaze as she felt her anger start to ebb. In his dark eyes, she saw that same love and protectiveness she'd seen since she was a kid, felt the same steadfast strength he always had that made her feel stronger just by being near him. "What happens to him now?" she asked on a breath. "With Jax dead 'n' everythin'..."

He shrugged a shoulder, his hands sliding into his pockets. "Stay away. Dunno where the new Pres' head's at right now. Chibs thinks the idiot's dead, but the truth'll come out eventually. Tig's VP though 'n' he's good with it. 's only a matter of time 'fore it all blows over."

Angela nodded slowly, letting it all sink in. This was the reconciliation they needed, the one that Juice had asked for. There'd be no 'sorry's' exchanged, they were both too stubborn for that. Taking a step towards him, she leaned her forehead against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her tightly. "Thank you," she whispered, hugging him close.

He kissed her temple, his hand smoothing over her hair as he'd done since she was a kid. "Love you, kid," he murmured, holding onto her longer than usual.

She sighed in relief. Despite the quick turn around, she felt a lightness to her that she hadn't felt in months. She and Happy were okay. Everything felt right again. "Love you too," she said on a sigh. Pulling away, he let out a soft sigh, messing with the bandage on his arm. She was on him in seconds, worry filling her as she focused on the bright white bandage. It was his right arm, his tattooing arm, his shooting arm. If something had happened to it, it'd fuck up everything he loved to do. "What the hell happened?"

"Don't worry about it," he assured her, stretching and flexing his fingers with a soft grunt of pain. "Works just fine."

Angela's eyes left the bandage and settled on his face, noting how exhausted he looked. "Chlo, taking good care of you?" she asked, her arms crossed over her chest in an attempt not to reach out and hug him again. He nodded once, and she smiled. "Good, good. You need someone like her to kick you into shape. She tell you I was here?"

He nodded again, shifting awkwardly. "Her idea for me to come over."

"I figured," she said on a smile, wiping at her damp cheeks. She reached up to touch the darkening bruise on his cheek, wincing a bit. "C'mon, I'll get you some ice."

Happy looked like he was going to decline, but he followed her out of the room towards the kitchen anyway, pressing on the bruise with his own fingers. "Good hit," he complimented, leaning against the kitchen counter while she opened the freezer.

She pulled out a bag of frozen veggies, grimacing a bit at the dried blood on the corner of the packet. Juice's blood from the last beating he'd taken from Chibs. She used her fingernail to scrape it off before turning back to her cousin. "Learned from the best," she stated, handing it to him.

He smirked cockily; he'd been the one who'd spent hours training her. Sure, Kozik had helped once she was older, but he'd been the one to teach her to throw a good, hard punch. He put the pack to his cheek, reaching out to put his heavily ringed hand on hers. "Missed you, kid."

Angela smiled back, standing on her toes to peck his uninjured cheek. "Missed you too, Hap."