Avery kept dozing off in Happy's arms, his arms feeling so comforting and warm as they lay tightly around her body. He could've walked away, thrown her out and been angry. Although he was the latter at the beginning and secretly probably still is, yet he hadn't made her feel like shit once since she was back home.

Instead, he tried to be there for her, no matter how difficult the situation was for him, and for that Avery would be forever gratefulᅳ that he didn't abandon her in the moment she needed him the most. Even if she understood if he would've done that.

"I should go." Happy's gravelly voice broke the silence. Except for Avery's heavy breathing nothing could be heard. "Who do you want here with you while I'm gone?"

He could've easily decided for himself, but he wanted Avery to feel comfortable and be able to decide who would look after her while he took care of Kim.

While he slowly got up, Cookie, who hadn't left the redhead's side for the last two hours, also jumped off Avery's lapᅳ almost like a dog would do when its owner was feeling like shit.

"I don't know", she shrugged uncertainly, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Before Cookie could completely jump off the bed, she ran her fingers through the light fur again. "Maybe Chibs or Tig?"

The two of them had already seen her in a state that they should've never seen her in. And even though she got along really well with all the members of the club and seeing them as family, one of the two would be her favorite to have around.

Happy nodded curtly and pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket, already dialing Chibs' number. The conversation didn't last long before the SAA hung up with a grunt and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"Chibs will be here in fifteen minutes", he let Avery know, his eyes never leaving her. "You have anything left? Or have you used it all?"

"Uh.." Avery scratched her forehead with a clearing of her throat, then a sigh escaped her chapped lips. "I still have something left. But I won't use it."

"Doesn't matter, I don't want that shit in my house. Especially not near you or Debs", he said sternly and walked around the bed to pick up her leather jacket from the floor.

Shaking his head, he mumbled something incomprehensible after finding the rest of the drugs. While doing that, he could feel Avery's eyes like daggers in his back. He could also hear her shifting back and forth on the bed and he didn't even have to look at her to know how her nervousness and the craving were back again.

"What are you doing with it?", she finally asked meekly and climbed out of the bed to approach him.

"Getting rid of it", Happy croaked, turning slightly to the side before studying his Old Lady. "I hope you don't have a problem with that, otherwise I think we have another problem."

"No..I don't.. it's okay", she mumbled, her arms wrapped around her body as if she had to stop herself from grabbing the heroin in his hand.

Avery's throat felt so dry that even swallowing hurt while her eyes were fixed on the heroin. She knew what she had promised, that the slip up was a one-time thing. The drugs were part of her past, not her future, and yet an exciting tingling was forming in the pit of her stomach again.

Happy just sighed as beads of sweat formed on Avery's forehead and her breathing became faster than it had just been. In order to stop tormenting her, he left the room and headed to the bathroom, where he would simply dispose the remaining drugs in the toilet.

"Wait!" Avery's cry out was shrill, desperation evident in her voice as she followed him, tripping twice over her own feet in her hurry. “Don’t throw it away yet!”

"Give me one good reason why not", Happy snarled at her as he pushed Avery away with one arm to keep her from reaching for the heroin, which she was of course trying to do.

"Just one more time, please..", the redhead begged, having no chance against Happy.

Although she developed quite a bit of strength as there was a lot of adrenaline pumping through her veins, she still didn't have nearly enough strength to be able to stand up to Happy. "I won't touch anything after this! Just one more time, Hap!"

"We both know that this shit never works", he grunted quietly and finally dropped the small package into the toilet and flushed it thoroughly twice.

"No! You can't fuckin' do that!", she screamed at him as she tugged on his arm. She wasn't herself right now and she would be grateful for what he did later, but right now all she felt was anger and pure despair.

Happy rubbed his tired face before picking Avery up from the floor after she had slipped to her knees while having  a breakdown. He hated seeing her so desperate, and yes, when it came to her he became softᅳ but not so soft that he would watch her destroy herself with drugs.

He carried her bridal style back to the bedroom and carefully laid her down on the bed, whereupon she shivered and buried her face on her knees after pulling her legs close to her body.

"I know you can do it, little girl", he grunted, his tone surprisingly calm as he pushed some of her tangled hair out of her face. "Try to get some sleep while I'm gone."

Instead of answering, Avery just buried her face deeper in her knees and let out a heart-wrenching sob. Addiction was something ugly, something that could destroy entire families and break a person. And that's exactly what Happy wanted to prevent by not letting Avery down.

Realizing that she probably preferred to be alone at the moment, he left the room and left the door ajar, but he didn't move a step away from the bedroom until Chibs finally came and relieved him so that he could take care of Kim.

ᚔ

Kim's mood couldn't be better. Humming happily, she walked through the door and kicked her high heels off her feet, which landed in the corner next to a few bags. Keeping the house clean had never been her greatest strength, not even when Debbie had lived with her. Shopping and partying had always been more important than anything else.

And now that she was sure that she would soon have her chance with Happy, nothing could change her mood. She was pretty sure that Happy would leave his carrot head girlfriend as soon as he noticed that she had relapsed. This way Kim would get Debbie back without much effort.

Balancing the bags in her arms, she walked into the kitchen to put the groceries in the cupboards, but in shock she dropped both bags after turning on the light and gasped.

"Fuck Happy." Rolling her eyes, she crouched down and started to pick up the things. "You could've at least called or turned on the lights instead of giving me a heart attack."

Only when she was back on her feet again and the initial shock was over did she realize that this was not a friendly visit. Slowly, she lifted her gaze from the groceries and looked at Happy, who was standing in the dark in her kitchen late at night after she came home from work.

And he hadn't said a word yet or took what he wanted. Yes, in her fantasy she honestly believed that she was irresistible and that Happy would come crawling back to her sooner or later.

Her eyes wandered to the sink, which was filled to the brim with water. "What's that? Came here to do my dishes?"

"I would choose my words carefully if I were you." Happy pushed himself off the kitchen counter and took long, slow steps towards Kim, who stopped dead in her tracks. "What were you trying to get with your plan, huh?"

Kim looked up dumbfounded and batted her eyelashes. "What plan?"

"Wrong answer." Happy rubbed his nose with the back of his hand before unexpectedly burying his hand in Kim's damaged bleach blonde hair and grabbing a fistful. Then he dragged her over to the sink, ignoring her screams and whimpers.

"Shall we try it again?", he snarled, her head turned so that she had to look into his murderous eyes as he rested his free hand on the sink counter. "What was your fuckin' plan, Kim?"

"Fuck, stop! You're hurting me." Yelling, the blonde tugged at Happy's sleeve, trying in vain to free herself from his painful grip on her hair. "I just wanted to show you what's more important to her! I assume she chose the drugs, huh?!"

The air in the kitchen was thick, the sticky floor beneath his feet making it easier to stay put. The water in the sink was now filthy, even though it had only been in the small basin for about twenty minutes. Then he pushed Kim's head into this small basin.

For a while he just let her wriggle, her bare feet kicking at him as her nails dug deep into his arm. Even with the hoodie he was wearing, he still felt a slight painᅳ but it didn't bother him. On the contrary, it at least showed how much Kim had to fight for her life. It was him now who decided when and how he would let her die. Whether slow or fast. Whether he would be merciful or let her suffer.

As Kim's body began to go limp, he roughly pulled her head back to the surface and pulled it close to his face, not caring if he would get wet too.

"How did you know about Avery's addiction?", he asked, his tone cold and threatening. "Were you spying on her? Or who told you?!"

It was too late to change things, but he still wanted to know how Kim knew how to destroy Avery's life. Someone had to let Kim know and that person would end up just like the blonde who was currently standing in front of him, shaking and gasping for air.

"I'mᅳ Iᅳ", completely out of breath, Kim frantically wiped her dripping face, her blonde hair sticking to her face.

"You what?!" A deep, intimidating growl rattled through Happy's throat, his face just millimeters away from Kim's. "You will die either way, but faster if you cooperate."

"I don't want to die. Happy please!" Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cold cheeks. "IᅳI've been watching her for a while and saw that she was attending a group for addicts in recovery and I asked some people there why she attended regularly. One ended up spilling the tea after I offered her money. So I knew what I had to do to destroy your perfect little world!"

“Why the hell would you do shit like that?!" Happy asked barking, his fist now closed so tightly that he pulled her scalp slightly away from the back of her head, eliciting a painful scream from Kim.

"Because I wanted my family back!" Snot ran down her lips as her crying became hysterical. Desperately, she gripped the collar of his kutte, which adorned his back over the hoodie. "Debbie is mine, she can't call that bitch mom!"

"As if you ever cared about Debbie! You just miss the fucking money I had to pay you for her", Happy snarled angrily, pushing her head into the sink again. Water sloshed over and down the cupboard doors onto the floor and Happy's boots.

He didn't feel an ounce of pity; instead, Kim's explanation had only made him angrier. She had accepted that Debbie would suffer a loss if Avery had actually run away.

A deafening squeak echoed through the small, dimly lit kitchen with the lights flickering as Kim dragged her nails across the stainless steel of the sink as she once again fought for her life.

Once again Happy pulled her head out of the water, cupping her chin with his free hand, his grip painful and decisive. "You may have made it harder for us, but you didn't destroy shit", he barked menacingly, getting closer to her face than he already was.

"Avery has something you never had. Decency, empathy, character. Debbie wants her as her mother, we didn't talk her into it. And you know why? Because Avery isn't ashamed of my daughter, instead she accepts Debbie as she is. Debbie has never been as happy as she is at the moment and now you're paying for trying to ruin that", he added seething, his gaze boring into her glassy eyes, which stared back into his dark ones.

"You're a fucking psycho, Happy Lowman", the blonde whispered with a dry laugh, slowly lowering her arms. "Avery won't stay with you. And you know what? I hope she takes Debbie with her so you suffer."

"Maybe, but at least I'm not as callous and hypocritical as you", he replied at least as dryly and straightened his shoulders. Happy clenched his jaw at her words, the dimples on the sides twitching in anger. "She would never do that because she's a great person, unlike you."

He smirked slightly as he felt her shaky breath on his face and looked at her slowly turning blue lips. "Maybe I'll even be so merciful and bury you right next to your sister."

"You fucking bastardᅳ", she couldn't get any further because her head was pushed under the water again.

Wriggling and fighting didn't help this time. She even tried to scream under water while Happy just stood casually next to the sink, his hand always on the back of her head, keeping her head down, while his forearm rested comfortably on the wet surface next to the sink. Most of his clothes were already soaked anyway, a little more water didn't make any difference.

Fascinated and extremely satisfied, he watched as Kim's body grew weaker by the minute until she finally gave up completely and took her last breath. Only then, when the blonde's body went limp, did he let go of her and let her body simply fall to the side as he called Tig to come with a truck so he could let Kim disappear.