LAUREL SAT INSIDE OF HER OFFICE WITH A SANDWICH in one hand and the recent work of one of her students in the other. It was currently lunch time and Laurel welcomed the quiet hum in the school. Lunch time for the guidance counselor gave her a short time to breathe and look over any of the students that sought out her help, looking over their latest class work and help figure things out for them — or at least try to.

The Knowles woman loved her job. She thrived in it actually. It made her feel good to know students felt comfortable with her, and Laurel loved helping them. She had figured if she couldn't help herself than why not others. In a way Laurel and Tara were in the same field, both sisters helping those who couldn't help themselves, though if someone were to say that to Tara she would scoff and rant about how their jobs were not the same — at all.

One thing was certain though — The Knowles sisters just loved to help people.

A knock on the door pulled Laurel's gaze from the paper in front of her, quickly swallowing the piece of turkey sandwich in her mouth she told who ever was on the other side to come in.

"Hey, Laurel." A warm voiced entered the room and her ears, along with it was the smiling face of Xavier Garcia. "I thought I'd come see how you were doing." He offered with a smile.

Laurel smiled appreciatively at the curly haired man, the round glasses on his face sitting low on his nose as he pushed up the sleeves of his gray sweater. Xavier Garcia was the English teacher at Charming's high school and was one of the nicest people Laurel had ever met. There was something warm and inviting about the man that Laurel enjoyed, the conversations they had shared during lunch time was something she looked forward to.

"Well maybe if I could get Cassie Davis to take school more seriously I'd be better." Laurel laughed as a sigh fell from her lips. She loved her job — truly she did — but sometimes some of the high school students knew how to push her limits.

Xavier scratched at his eyebrow. "Yeah she's a tough one." A small apologetic smile taking over his handsome features. "Is it okay to sit? I know we usually spend our lunch together but with everything going on I understand if you want to be left alone." His tone was gentle, nurturing even.

The Knowles woman appreciated his voice. It was like a warm cup of coffee and instantly calmed her down. "No, no. Please sit down I need some good conversation." Laurel admitted with a smile.

She knew he had meant with the death of her father, but honestly Laurel was trying to forget it all — throw herself into work — Everyone had been shocked when she turned up to school today, gawking at her like she had three heads, but she couldn't stay home it didn't feel right to mourn her father for too long — as fucked up at it sounded. No one understood the relationship she shared with Michael Knowles and the only one who really could was Tara.

"I heard your sister is in town." Xavier stated as he sat down across from her, placing his lunch box in front of him.

A sigh left her lips at his words. She knew he didn't mean any harm by them or that he would even had known it would trigger something inside of her at the mention of the younger Knowles sister. Laurel didn't offer too much information about her life outside of work to others — why would she? They wouldn't understand.

The brunette nodded, taking a sip of her water. "Yeah, she flew in early this morning."

Of course Tara got into Charming at about six am and immediately went to their father's home. Laurel had offered for Tara to stay with her but the younger sister claimed she wanted to be alone to mourn their father and clean up the house. It was bullshit and Laurel knew that. Tara just didn't want to be by her and she was completely fine with that — because honestly Laurel felt the same way.

"She's your younger sister right? I vaguely remember you speaking about her once or twice." He said while taking a bite of his food.

Laurel nodded as she swallowed the cold water in her mouth. "Yeah." She simply stated not wanting to talk about Tara anymore.

"I have my class reading Hamlet and do you know what Mark Shaw said?"

Thankfully Xavier had picked up on her obvious want to change the subject and quickly did. He understood not everyone had a close relationship with their family like he did and he didn't want to make Laurel uncomfortable.

"I can only imagine." The brunette laughed as a sigh of relief left her lips, happy that Xavier had changed the topic.

"He said that King Claudius wasn't wrong in what he did. I told him to write me an essay on why he believes that. I want to challenge him a bit, you know? He's a smart kid but he seems a bit—"

"More worried about being popular than school?" Laurel offered as Xavier seemed a bit lost for the right word.

"Exactly, but I can't really blame him. Weren't we all so concerned with being popular back in school?" He laughed as he thought back on his own high school years.

"I guess so." Laurel shrugged as she remembered her own high school days. Laurel wasn't concerned about being popular she was more concerned about getting good grades and making sure her father didn't choke on his own vomit.

High School had honestly been hell for Laurel Knowles, nothing could make her want to relive it.

LAUREL PULLED INTO HER DRIVEWAY AFTER WORK. Her green eyes immediately noticed Happy leaning against his bike, chewing harshly on a toothpick in her driveway. A sigh left her lips as she exited her jeep. She really did not want to deal with the tattooed biker right now.

"Why are you here, Happy?" Laurel questioned immediately as she walked by him, ignoring his dark eyes as she walked towards the front door.

Happy watched as she ignored him and continued towards the front door. He honestly wasn't sure why he was here. He knew Tara was back in town from Gemma and he wanted to make sure she was okay.

"I heard your sister is back." Happy rasped as he tossed the toothpick to the ground and followed behind her, his dark eyes of course staring at her ass.

"Happy I'm really not in the mood for any of this. I know you don't care and if you acting like you do is a way for you to have sex then just say you want to fuck." Laurel ranted as she stared into the man's black like eyes.

Happy stepped closer to the brunette, closing the small gap between them. He did care in his own way, but Laurel never understood him. She wanted emotions and declarations of love — something he couldn't do.

"I want to fuck you." Happy rasped as he placed a hand on Laurel's hip. "I want you to unlock that door so I can fuck you against the wall, the couch, every surface in that house." His low voice whispered into her ear, sending shivers down Laurel's spine.

Laurel nodded wordlessly as she quickly unlocked the door. She knew that everything between her and Happy was a complete mess, but by continuing to do this dance between them it gave her a little bit of peace — for at least the moment. Which is why Laurel always went back to Happy — she needed her few moments of peace.

______

an —
eh. Idk how I feel about this chapter.

XAVIER GARCIA
"We don't have to talk. We can just enjoy the silence and each other."
( Óscar Isaac )