THE THROBBING BEHIND CANDY'S BRUISED EYES woke her up the next morning.  A low groan escaped her lips as she slowly opened her eyes, instantly regretting her decision as the throbbing in her head only grew worse once the sunlight hit her brown eyes.

Her bruised eyes took in the small room she had woken up in, it was unfamiliar to her but she knew it was a room in the clubhouse due to the smell and the pictures of half naked women decorating the walls.

The memories of last night seemed like a big blur. Candy remembered coming back from the hospital with Happy and instantly being bombarded with questions from Juan. Was she okay? How much pain was she in? What happened? She answered his questions with shrugs before taking one of the Vicodin that Tara had prescribed to her for the pain and downing a few shots of tequila.

It wasn't like Carmen to mix pills and alcohol. She knew the dangers of mixing the two together. Her and Juan's mother had a string of boyfriends throughout her life that enjoyed the mixture of pills and alcohol, and Carmen herself eventually became like her mother dating more losers than she liked to admit that enjoyed the same thing.

One of the many reasons Candy's life was the way it was because of how sick and tired she was of dating losers and getting walked on by them, getting used by them. She wanted more than the shitty life her mother had given her, she wanted money and glamor. Juan had left her alone with their mother in a shitty apartment in Queens, with their mother's string of shitty boyfriends.

Most of the older men she met on the website were nice, lonely, non dangerous men. They only wanted someone to have a conversation with or something to take to dinner so they didn't feel so alone. Beau Harrington was a completely different man than them. He wanted Candy all to himself, offering her lavish gifts and vacations. Of course she took them, she'd be stupid not to but, once he got too attached and showed he wanted more from her that's when Candy broke it off — or at least tried to.

Beau Harrington was a powerful man and it was only time before he showed his face.

A deep sigh left Candy's lips as she shook her head from those dark thoughts and exited the room, making her way towards the front of the clubhouse.

Her forehead furrowed, a hiss instantly leaving her mouth at the pain of her movement as she noticed the clubhouse was empty — not even a croweater was in sight. She ran a hand through her tangled mess of dark hair before making her way towards the outside, hoping Gemma was at least in the office.

The sun hurt Carmen's eyes as she exited the dark clubhouse, the throbbing in her head only seem to get worse and she really wished for a pair of sunglasses right now. A small sense of relief took over her body as she noticed Gemma's Cadillac as well as Tara's car.

"I'm not interrupting am I?" Candy raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the office, feeling the tension between the two women the moment she stepped inside.

Candy hadn't been in Charming long nor had she been hanging around the club for long either but, it was easy for her to see the tension between the Queen of SAMCRO and the doctor.

"No, sweetie." Gemma shook her head as she give one last glare at her son's girlfriend. "How you feeling? Your face looks like shit." The older woman was never one to sugarcoat her words and she wasn't going to start now.

"Thanks, Gem." Candy smiled sarcastically. "I feel like shit. I don't think I'll be mixing Vicodin and tequila again." She stated while practically throwing herself down on the old couch.

"Yeah, that's not recommended." Tara stated as she looked at the young woman's bruised face. "How old are you?" Tara questioned abruptly as she studied Candy.

Carmen raised an eyebrow at the doctor. She didn't know Tara that well, only really having a conversation with the woman the other day when she was fixing her nose. From what she heard from around the clubhouse was that Tara didn't enjoy being around the clubhouse too often. Candy often heard croweaters calling her a stuck up bitch, but she didn't listen to them. She could judge a person on her own she didn't need to hear it from other women who talked shit because they wanted a taste of Jax Teller, and Tara Knowles stood in their way.

"Why, you thinking on adding an extra person to the bedroom?" Candy teased with a smirk. "Bad joke, bad joke." She quickly added once she saw the death glare forming on Tara's face.

"I'm twenty six."

Tara looked at Gemma for a moment before turning her attention back onto Carmen. "Juice said you use to work at a daycare?"

A scoff left Candy's lip, "if you call watching your crackhead neighbor's children daycare then, sure, yeah."

Of course Juice would get one of the few conversations they had on the phone after he left completely wrong. From the time she turned fourteen, Candy watched her severely drug addicted neighbors young children. She did that for eight years until eventually she saved up enough money and moved out of her mother's apartment.

Carmen tried to keep in touch with the kids, learning they had gone to live with an aunt once their mother never come home one day, and she just hoped they had a better life than the one they use to. 

"How would you like to babysit Abel for a few hours a couple days a week? Our babysitter moved to Florida and I don't really trust the croweaters to watch him." Tara explained as she stared into Carmen's brown eyes.

Tara didn't have a habit of trusting easily, especially newcomers but, there was something about Carmen that Tara liked. She could tell as she looked at her that the young woman had been through a lot. The tough exterior she had put on was one built up from years of trauma. Jax had explained why she was in Charming and it reminded Tara of herself and why she had come back to Charming.

"You trust me to watch your and Jax's kid?" Candy was shocked.

"Yeah." Tara nodded as Gemma smiled encouragingly at Candy. "Just don't mix pills and tequila again." She added teasingly though there was some seriousness to her tone.

"Yeah." Candy nodded, a smile forming on her face. "Of course." Carmen thanked Tara before standing up from the couch and walking out of the office, a wide smile on her face as she made her way back into the clubhouse.

Maybe things were looking up for Carmen after all.

CARMEN SAT ON A PICNIC TABLE LATER THAT NIGHT smoking a cigarette. It was difficult to smoke with a broken nose, it hurt to inhale and her nose felt so stuffed that she couldn't breathe properly but, still she needed her nicotine fix.

The sound of the door opening hit Carmen's ears though she didn't bother to turn around and see who it was, figuring it was just Juan coming to bothering her about something. Ever since she arrived in Charming he had been trying to play the role of older brother and it was becoming annoying. Most of the time it made her want to scream and ask him where he was years ago when she really needed him, she didn't though, because he was helping her now and she did appreciate it — in her own bitchy way.

"How's your face?"

The raspy voice made her stomach clench. She loved the way it sounded, so rough and low. It made something inside of her crazy.

"Still feels and looks like shit." Candy shrugged as she looked into Happy's dark eyes. They looked like coal, they were so dark and uninviting which made her want to know the heavily tattooed man even more.

Happy sat down next to Carmen, placing a toothpick in his mouth. He didn't know what made him so drawn to her. There was free pussy inside he could have his pick of but, he wanted to talk to her.

"Bet if she didn't sucker punch you you'd beat her ass good." Happy smirked as his arm brushed against hers.

A laugh left Candy's throat. She had always been a good fighter. What she didn't have in size she made up for with scrappiness.

"I'd do okay." She shrugged with a smirk on her face. "Uh, thanks for making sure I got to bed okay last night." Candy cleared her throat as she felt her cheeks heat up.

She wasn't one to blush or her embarrassed easily. She had built a wall around herself so high that not even her brother could climb it but there was something different about Happy.

Happy nodded as the smirk fell from his face. He noticed Carmen taking pills last night and throwing back shots of tequila with it and he knew how bad that could end so, he kept an eye on her and made sure she had made it to bed safe and alone.

"Shouldn't mix that shit, little girl." He rasped as he chewed with intensity on the toothpick in his mouth.

"I know." Candy nodded, tossing her cigarette to the ground before standing up from the table and walking inside the clubhouse.

A sigh left Happy's mouth as he ran a hand over his bald head. What was this woman doing to him?

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AN —
Okay, I can't stand Tara as much as the next person but in this fic I will try and make her a better person. Thank you for all the votes and comment!