A SIGH LEFT LAUREL'S LIPS AS SHE STEPPED INSIDE of her childhood home. It was a mess and that was putting it lightly, piles of unmarked boxes filled the room and Laurel was certain that every room in the house looked exactly the same — full of dusty boxes.

Her father had always been a bit of a pack rat, though it had been more controlled when her mother had been alive. It became worse when she died, the control Michael Knowles once had was gone and so he began filling up the house with stuff, stuff that had been discarded or left for free at the curb of someone's house.

All of this junk that he had collected over the years only grew worse once Laurel and Tara moved out. Laurel had tried to help clean it all out over the years but she was met with angry reluctant from her father.

Laurel had tried to get Tara to come and help or at least talk some sense into their father but talking to Tara was like talking to a brick wall most of the time. The younger Knowles always claimed she was too busy and that her being there would be no help anyway.

The brunette pushed her way into the house, knocking into a stack of boxes as she closed the door behind her. She didn't need the nosey neighbors peeking into the house, their eyes going wide once they saw how terrible of condition it was in.

"Where the fuck do I even start?" Laurel shook her head as her green eyes wandered around what use to look like the living room. "Thanks dad." She muttered with a bitter laugh leaving her lips as grabbed a hold of one of the many boxes.

Michael Knowles had left Laurel a mountain of shit along with resentment that went perfectly hand in hand with her childhood trauma.

___

HAPPY LOWMAN HATED SHOWING EMOTIONS OF ANY KIND. The quiet biker had learned years ago not to show anybody what you were feeling — they would only use it against you.

So how the stoic biker got himself tangled up with Laurel Knowles was a complete mystery to everyone. The green eyes brunette was a woman with too many emotions at times and Happy couldn't handle it, but he kept coming back to her no matter how many times they both told each other they were done with each other. They both kept coming back.

Happy wasn't sure why he found himself parked outside of Michael Knowles home, staring at Laurel's jeep as he chewed on the toothpick in between his teeth. It was dark outside but there was a few lights on in the home and he could see Laurel through the window, running a hand through her hair.

He hadn't planned on coming here or even seeing the Knowles woman for a few days. Happy couldn't deal with her emotions after learning about the death of her father, but he had asked Gemma about her — not being able to ask her himself — and the SAMCRO Queen had looked him up and down with a glare in her eyes that practically screamed at him to go find out himself.

A sigh left his lips as he tossed the chewed toothpick to the ground and dismounted his bike. He could have just rode off and not even let her know he was here, but his long legs continued to make him walk towards the front door while his hand forced him to make a fist and knock sharply against the door, waiting for the brunette to open up.

"What are you doing here?" Laurel's sharp voice cut off Happy's thoughts as he stood underneath the porch light.

A grunt like noise left his lips at her tone as she stood there with her arms across her chest. Laurel Knowles had always been beautiful he thought as he took in her large green eyes, dark wavy hair, and full lips, but Happy's favorite thing about her was the little mark she had on her cheek bone right underneath her eye.

"Watch your tone, little girl." He finally spoke in his raspy voice. "I wanted to check up on you." He admitted.

Laurel shook her head at Happy, staring into his almost pitch black eyes. She wasn't in the mood tonight for any type of bullshit from Happy. It had been too long of a day — hell it had been too long of a week.

"Well, you checked up on me and I'm fine." Laurel's tone held an edge to it as began to tap her foot against the floor. She just wanted Happy to leave so she could continue cleaning and finally go back to her own home, spending so much time in her childhood home was being too much for her.

Happy's jaw tightened as he stared at the impatient look on Laurel's face. She wanted him to leave that much was obvious, but Happy was stubborn and he would leave when he wanted to.

The loud ringing of Laurel's phone broke the eye contact between the two, sighing she stared at Tara's name lighting up her screen.

"Hello." Laurel answered with a sigh as she stepped back into the house, forgetting about Happy for a moment.

Happy stood still in his spot but his eyes peeked into the home. He had heard from Gemma and Jax about the state of Michael Knowles home but had never seen it for himself. It was possibly worse than the stories from Gemma and Jax, boxes towered in what should have been a living room while the kitchen looked even worse.

"Yeah I know it's you, Tara. I finally saved your number in my phone." Happy heard Laurel state matter of factly, moving his eyes back onto the pacing brunette. "Tomorrow?" Laurel questioned in disbelief, shaking her head. "Okay, bye." A frustrated groan left Laurel's lips as she placed her phone back into her pocket.

Quickly Laurel turned on her heel, green eyes staring at Happy with annoyance. She had forgotten he was here and she didn't want him to step inside of the cluster fuck of a home.

"Stop staring." She muttered. "I know how it looks I don't need you to gawk at it." Her tone full of anger as she made her way back towards the door.

"I wasn't staring." Happy lied as he stared at Laurel.

A scoff left her full lips at his words. "Whatever. I have stuff to do can you please leave now." It wasn't a question coming from her lips it was more of a demand.

Happy wanted to say more, argue with her but he decided against it. It was obvious she had a lot on her plate and he didn't want to add to it — more importantly he didn't want to see her cry right now.

"I'll see you around." Happy stated before he turned on his heel and walked back towards his bike.

Laurel quickly closed the door with a sigh. Everything was becoming too overwhelming for her, not only did she have to finish cleaning but now Tara would be in town tomorrow.

The Knowles woman shook her head as she turned off the lights and made her way out of the house. It could wait another day, it had been waiting for years so what difference would one more day make.

She quickly got in her jeep, staring up the car before driving away from the house and its mess, back to her clean home where no ghosts wandered the halls.

____

an —
I really like this chapter. I can't wait to get more into Tara and Laurel's relationship.