Cassie stared at the blonde sitting across from her sipping on her coke. Kayla was one hell of a woman and the dark haired woman loved her sister in law, yet she hated how stubborn the blonde was when it came to her husband's little brother.

Benny could be exhausting at times. His loud and bold personality made him seem rude and disrespectful sometimes, which was the reason many people distanced themselves from him. But none of them understood why the fifteen year old was the way he was. Sometimes Cassie thought they didn't want to understand and that pissed her off.

Her younger brother deserved the same chances James and her got. Deep down Cassie knew her little brother wanted to change, wanted to be seen as a normal teenager. Yet Benny had a hard time proving that he had a good and sweet side. It was there, the Connor siblings had seen it often enough when they were alone with him. But once people joined them Benny pulled his wall back up and behaved like a defiant child.

“He needs a place to stay and my place isn't exactly where a teenager should stay, Kayla”, Cassie almost whined, the pleading look in her eyes leaving Kayla cold. The blonde could be the sweetest person but if she didn't want something, she became that cold person. She wasn't always like that. But when the problems between James and her started Kayla became different, harder to read.

“If you'd get rid of all the weed and booze in your apartment then it would be a great place for him to stay”, Kayla stated matter of factly with a slight shrug.

“It's still my apartment where I can do whatever I want. I'm not here to listen to accusations. If I want to hear how useless I am, I just go to my mom”, Cassie shrugged. “Why can't he stay with you? You have two spare rooms, I don't have a free room at all. Not as long as Happy is staying.”

“Don't drag your mom into this.” Kayla rolled her eyes before heaving a sigh. The tips of her freshly manicured nails danced over the table as she looked at her sister in law. “I don't want him around my kid, Cassie. I know that sounds horrible but you know Benny. He's not a good influence.”

“Are you fuckin' serious?”, Cassie scoffed. “Benny would never do anything stupid in front of a toddler. You know Benny adores Lily.”

“Yeah, maybe. But is that enough to keep trouble away from our house?”, Kayla questioned, her brow raised at the raved haired woman. “You think I haven't noticed how stoned he was in the morning?”

“Well, then you shouldn't let me near Lily anymore either.” Venom was dripping from Cassie's voice as she saw the pejorative look on the blonde's face.

“If I had a say in this, I wouldn't let you near my daughter at the moment. Don't take it personally, I just want the best for my kid”, Kayla said with a shrug, a soft sigh leaving her throat. Judging by Cassie's look, her words had hurt the younger Connor.

“What the fuck, Kayla? She's my niece, I've loved her from the moment I found out you were pregnant. I was always there when you needed me and now you don't want me around?” Cassie's voice was raspy, no more than a whisper, as her throat felt increasingly dry. She never wanted kids on her own, she just couldn't see herself as a mother, but she loved her niece with her whole heart.

“Look, I told you not to take it personally”, Kayla repeated her own words, shaking her head at the unnecessary drama. “Let's face it, you're an addict. James doesn't want to see that because he's too attached to you. That's the only reason you're still allowed to see Lily. Because James wants it that way.”

“I'm not an addict”, Cassie spat, sounding rather offended than angry. She never smoked a joint or drank before visiting Lily, she wasn't that fucked up yet. Besides, she could easily live without those substances, she just didn't want to. At least that's what she thought. “You know what, forget it. Benny can have my room.”

Grabbing all her things, Cassie stood up and stormed out of the clubhouse and towards her car where Benny was supposed to wait for her. Of course he didn't listen. Instead of waiting in her car, he sat on a table outside with a joint hanging between his fingers.

“Really? Right here?”, she questioned her brother with a sigh, slightly covering her eyes with a hand to protect them from the sun. It was hot today, almost unusual for Tacoma.

“Let me guess, I can't stay with them?”, Benny asked, ignoring his sister's question. It frustrated him that no one wanted him around. Was he really so bad that his own siblings had enough of him?

Cassie sat her bag down on the bench and took a seat next to Benny before taking the joint to take a deep drag from it. Damn, he had some good stuff, which should worry her. She was supposed to lecture him, forbidding him to smoke in her presence because he was still a kid. But how hypocritical would that be? She was a stoner herself.

“You know James would let you stay without a second thought. It's Kayla who's got a problem with it”, she told him honestly, not seeing a reason to lie. Especially not anymore now that she knew what Kayla thought of her. “That's why you're staying with me.”

“Stupid bitch”, the teenager muttered, taking back his joint to take a drag. His eyes landed on his sister, a sigh and smoke slipping past his lips as he saw the conflict in her eyes. “Sorry, didn't mean it.”

“It's okay. I'd be pissed, too”, she shrugged. “Listen, I know you don't want that but we have to tell mom where you are. She still has custody and could sue me if she found out you were staying with me.”

“No way!” Benny shook his head quickly and jumped off the table. “She's not gonna let me stay and I'm not going back there!”

Cassie could swear she saw a flash of fear in his eyes, which made her wonder. “What did she do, Benny? If you want me to let you hide in my apartment, I want the truth. The whole truth.”

It took a while for Benny to say something again. After pacing for two minutes thinking about how to tell Cassie, he plucked up the courage and decided it was safe to open up to his sister.

“I⸺ I kind of killed mom's boyfriend”, the fifteen year old admitted meekly, handing her the joint voluntarily. She could probably use it more than him.

“You did what?”, she asked in utter shock, her face turning chalk white at the thought of her brother killing a grown ass man. Sure, her older brother and her best friend were pros at killing people, things like this shouldn't shock her anymore. But the one standing in front of her wasn't James or Happy. It was her fifteen year old brother that she had hoped would not have blood on his hands one day.

“It was an accident”, Benny snarled desperately, running his hands nervously through his short, brown waves as he started pacing around again. “He⸺ he always..”

As a sob managed to escape the teenager's throat, Cassie was alarmed. She forgot everything he just told her and got up, walking over to her shaking brother. The last time she witnessed Benny crying was ten years ago when their father died. After that she never saw him shed a tear again.

“What did he do to you?”, she inquired sternly and flicked the joint away, cupping her brother's face into her hands. She saw how embarrassed he was about the tears streaming down his face since he tried to look away⸺ but she didn't let him. “Hey, you can cry, okay? I'm your sister, I'm not gonna laugh at you.”

“Okay”, the teenager sniffled between the soft sobs and took a deep breath, glad that the guys were still out doing some club shit. If any of them would see him like this, he'd feel even more ashamed. “He⸺ he always hurt mom. Believe me, I can't stand that woman but she didn't deserve to get beaten on a daily basis. At some point she wasn't enough anymore and he started to let his anger out on me, too. The only reason I started smoking weed was because I was in pain daily. But I still had to get up everyday and make some money or mom would've kicked me out. And I really didn't want to be homeless, not at fifteen and not in Cali. But as he got more and more pushy and tried to get closer to me, I panicked and shot him.”

Cassie needed a moment to process everything she'd just heard. A big knot formed in her stomach, feeling nauseous, too. That her brother got beaten almost daily was horrible enough, but that man trying to abuse him also sexually was something she couldn't deal with. The fear and disgust her brother must've felt in that moment had to be unbearable.

“I'm so sorry, Benny”, she mumbled before pulling him into the most heartwarming hug she ever gave someone. His heart-wrenching sobs filled her eyes with tears while she ran her hand up and down his back in a comforting way. If that man wouldn't be dead already, she'd kill him herself. “I assume mom knows?”

Benny pulled back slowly and slumped back against the wall, wiping a hand over his face. Looking at her through his bloodshot eyes, he nodded slightly.

“She told me she'd go to the police if I don't do what she wants, so I ran away. When I got arrested I panicked and called Happy. He was the only person in California that I trusted”, he explained between his sniffles. “I bet she already told the Cops about me, what I did.”

The moment Cassie was about to say something, they heard bikes driving down the street and shortly thereafter five of them parked right next to them. Including her brother and Happy.

The two men got off their bikes and as they saw Benny's red face and Cassie's troubled face, they shared a suspicious look.

The other memebers quickly greeted the two younger siblings but went straight inside as they noticed that something was wrong. If it was family business it was none of their business.

“What happened?”, James demanded.

It was creepy how much her brother reminded her of Happy sometimes. Not in looks, but in behavior and body language. James could be just as stoic and scary as the Tacoma Killer, probably because Happy was James' sponsor back then, which meant her brother learned from the best. For a brief moment Happy's and her eyes connected before her gaze was back on Benny.

“Want me to tell him?”, Cassie softly asked her youger brother, her hand now resting on his shoulder.

Ruffling his hair to a point Cassie was afraid Benny would rip them out, the teenager just shook his head and dropped his eyes. “No, I'll tell him.”

“Alright. I'll be right over there if you need me, okay?”, she pointed towards her car and nodded Happy with her, leaving her two brothers alone so they had some peace to talk.

“What happened? Never seen him so worked up”, Happy asked. The tall biker wasn't a nosy person at all. On the contrary, he didn't give a fuck about the lives of others. However, this was about family, and Benny was far from good–looking. None of the Connor siblings had it easy since Bryan, their father, passed away ten years ago.

Happy had seen his best friend go from being a good–humored, almost foolish, exuberant, and easy–going guy to a withdrawn, reserved person. From one day to the next, James was the head of the family and responsible for a five year old and a fifteen year old until Benny was taken away. Moreover, he had the club for which he also always had to be ready.

Cassie went from a happy teenager to a shadow of herself, especially after they separated the siblings. So she had not only lost her father but also her little brother. Even if it was temporary, the fear of never seeing Benny again was traumatizing.

Like any normal teenager, she rebelled. Besides smoking weed, alcohol also became interesting and if that wasn't enough, she also started hurting herself.

His gaze wandered to her forearm, on which she wore various concert tapes lined up so that her old scars wouldn't show. She admitted once that she had always hated them. They constantly reminded her of the hardest months in her life. Happy knew she had a few more spread over her body. He had seen her naked often enough to know.

“He's killed someone”, Cassie scratched her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders. “I have no fucking idea how to get him out of this.”

Happy's head shot up at her words, his eyes widening. It wasn't often that he let anyone see what he was feeling, but hearing about Benny killing someone came out of nowhere.

“Why would he kill someone?!”, Happy asked bluntly.

The raven haired woman let out a sigh, thinking about if she should tell Happy or not. But he was family, he should know, right? Maybe he'd have an idea how they could make things right. So, she decided to tell him. It was harder than she thought to talk about what happened to Benny. It still made her feel sick to her stomach. Even the always scary looking man, who now leaned against the old car next to her, was speechless for a moment.

“You know if he put his hands on him already?”, he inquired, noticing how her hand was shaking as they touched while Cassie was shifting on her feet. With a grunt, he slipped his fingers between hers and pulled her closer and in front of him, making her lean against him. “He'll get over it, Cassie.”

“He was beaten often but no, that bastard had no chance to live out his sick fantasies. Benny said he shot him before he could”, she explained as she rested her head on his chest. Right now she was glad Happy was there, the only real friend she had besides Kayla. Well, just him now.

“What if he can't get over killing someone? I don't want to lose him”, she said nervously. It didn't matter how bold and strenuous Benny was, how he kept pretending what a tough guy he was. And maybe he was, it was possible⸺ but Cassie knew her baby brother wasn't a killer.

“If you want I can talk to him later. My first kill happened pretty early, too. I was seventeen, didn't quiet know how to deal with it at first”, he told her with a shrug. He might be good at hiding and suppressing his emotions, but he wasn't able to do that then.

“You think that could help him?”, she asked sheepishly.

“Don' know”, he grunted. “But I was glad I had someone to talk to about it when I was in his situation. Someone who understood.”

“That would be great, thank you”, she smiled sincerely. Thanks to his light touches and the way he was just there for her, she managed to calm down a bit.

Happy just grunted in response and wrapped his arms around her after she snuggled up to him. It wasn't unusual for them, they did this since years without ulterior motives when someone needed some comfort.

“Hap! Church!” Both Happy and Cassie looked over at James who waited impatiently for the SAA to come over, a vengeful look on his face. This didn't mean any good. Beside him stood Benny, his head lowered and his hands deep in the pockets of his hoodie.

“Are you home tonight?”, Happy asked after he let go of her. The last thing he needed was being bombarded with questions about his relationship with Cassie, which was still just a normal friendship.

“I think so, yeah”, she nodded quickly. “Why?”

“Just asking”, he shrugged but at the same time a smirk formed on his lips.

“Mhm..sure”, Cassie chuckled and straightened his kutte. “I'll see you later.”

Happy just winked at her before he walked over to James, patting Benny's shoulder in a brotherly way before the two men disappeared in the clubhouse.

Cassie waved her younger brother over and told him to get in the car. They spent the rest of the day in town. As big sister it was her responsibility to take care of her younger sibling and make them feel better. That's why she choose all the fun things to do, even though there weren't much fun things to do in their small town.