Happy had been home again for two days, finally able to be with Stella and Gabby again, which the former was still incredibly grateful for. Thanks to Ope, the Sons actually managed to find a solution to save Gemma's and Happy's assesᅳ neither of them had to do time. If the plan would work.

Rico Davios, after the Sons met at his house in Lodi yesterday afternoon, actually listened and decided to help. The price was high, after all Rico would spend several years, if not decades, behind bars and during this time he wouldn't be able to earn any money for his son and his familyᅳ so he wanted a larger sum that would put a bit of a dent in everyone's wallet.

Nevertheless, Jax wouldn't let his own mother go to prison. Gemma was of course willing to confess to exonerate Happy. The Cops still wouldn't let him leave town because he was still under strong suspicion.

Whether that would change today, after Rico gave a statement, they wouldn't find out until tonight or tomorrow morning, testing everyone's nerves.

He had already received half of the hundred thousand that Rico wanted in advance, the rest would go directly to his son if Rico was actually arrested.

Gemma was there at the meeting; after all, she had to explain every little detail to Rico. How exactly the physical argument between Jessie and her began after Gemma wanted to confront her, and ultimately how exactly Jessie's death happened. The history would of course change somewhat, after all Rico's motive had to fit.

The sons and Rico had agreed on an act of jealousy because Jessie rejected him even though she supposedly got his hopes up. As for Kate, the Teller woman sat in her luxurious hotel room, having a hard time to carry on.

Right now she needed her family, but no one was there for herᅳ which was her own fault. After all, two days ago she had reported Stella to the cops and expressed her suspicion that she had something to do with her wife's death. And now she suddenly longed for her once best friend and the rest of her family.

Her mom, Jax, Stellaᅳ everyone gave her the cold shoulder and, when they ran into each other yesterday, their looks expressed how great their hatred towards the youngest Teller was. As soon as she was able to leave town and the funeral had taken place, Kate would do exactly that and go to Europe as plannedᅳ with the thought of probably being alone for the rest of her life because she had made one wrong decision back then.

The decision to marry Jessie. If she had just stayed in Charming, had continued to stick by Stella and her family, her wife wouldn't be dead now and she wouldn't be alone. But maybe that was karma striking back.

Payback's a bitchᅳ that's what people always say, right?

Happy first wanted to prevent Kate from ever setting foot outside Charming again, giving  her what she deserved. In his eyes, she definitely deserved to die for making Stella's, Jax' and Gemma's life more difficult, for having the nerve to even come back hereᅳ but this time he would listen to his wife.

Stella had asked him to just leave Kate alone, to let her live with the pain of being all alone and having no one. Yes, maybe that was actually worse than being deadᅳ which at least gave him some satisfaction.

He had his family, and Stella's health was now his priority.

With a small smile, he watched as Stella and Gabby played together with his daughter's dolls, their voices amusingly disguisedᅳ which always made Gabby laugh.

"How about we order some burgers? I'm kinda hungry", he asked, his raspy voice interrupting the two of them playing.

"Yeah, a burger sounds good", the woman with the raven hair agreed with a smile. "But I can also cook us something."

"No, keep playing with Gabby", he winked, whereupon Gabby cheered happily when she heard that her mom could keep playing. "See, you don't want to disappoint her", Happy added with a raspy laugh.

Stella rolled her eyes with a grin, looking up at him from the floor she was sitting on as she playfully hit his leg. "You're welcome to sit and play too. Here, Stacy's still free", she said, holding up a doll in amusement.

"Yeah! Daddy has to play Stacy", the three-year-old giggled.

"Hell no", Happy grumbled with a laugh as he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, leaned down and placed a kiss on both of his girls' heads before he headed to the kitchen where the Menu of the restaurant was attached to the fridge, placing their usual order after he dialed the number.

ᚔ

Chewing her nails nervously, Stella sat on the couch, Happy pacing the room while he was on the phone, talking to Hale. The deputy was on the other end of the line to tell him about what happened at the police station a few hours ago.

It was always suspicious when David called, it didn't just happen. It wasn't like Happy and David were best friends. They got along, but that was about it. Just because David was now working with the Sons didn't mean they were friends - which neither of them wanted.

As Happy hung up, he threw the device onto the armchair next to the couch and ran both hands over his face as he exhaled loudly. Then, after another moment, he walked towards Stella and pulled her to her feet, cupping her face in his hands to kiss her.

"We don't have to worry anymore", he rasped into the kiss, a grin on his lips.

Stella pushed him back a little, her lips slightly parted as she looked at him with wide, relief-filled eyes. "No shit? Did Hale say that?"

Happy nodded curtly as he lifted her onto his hip. "Rico Davios was arrested, every little detail was right. I still have to give a statement, tell 'em why I made a false statement, but Hale assured me that I wouldn't end up in jail for it."

"Oh my God. I can't believe itᅳ at least one thing is over." Stella's voice trembled with relief, her body suddenly feeling super light as at least one weight was lifted from her shoulders. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as Happy claimed her lips again.

This time the kiss quickly became hungry and full of passion as Happy walked towards the bedroom, her ass, which he squeezed every now and then, always in his palms until he finally laid her down on the bed and leaned over her.

It was late, Gabby was in bed and they finally had time for themselves and both had a clearer head. Sure, there was still the cancer, and that's exactly why Happy wanted to enjoy every minute with his wife.

Their tongues melded together, as always, Stella let Happy have the upper hand, loving it when he took control. She supported herself on her forearms so that Happy could take off her long-sleeved shirt, until she stopped abruptly and slipped backwards a little.

"What's wrong?" Happy looked at his wife with a confused look as he knelt on the bed, his hand still loosely holding onto the hem of her shirt.

"Iᅳ I'm just a little tired," she stammered, swallowing softly as she tried to pull her shirt out of Happy's grip, but his fingers only tightened around the black material. "Happy please.."

The muscles in his tense jaw twitched slightly as he looked into her guilt-ridden eyes. Slowly loosening his grip, he snorted as he sank down on the bed. With his forearms resting on his knees, his gaze wandered over Stella's body before he gave her his familiar intense stare.

"How bad?", he simply asked, not sounding particularly enthusiastic.

He wasn't stupid, he knew exactly what her problem was and he could slap himself for not noticing something sooner. She had been wearing long-sleeved shirts for two days, didn't take off her leggings when sleeping and avoided getting too intimateᅳ he should've noticed something already.

Stella dropped her gaze, her guilty conscience gnawing on her after seeing Happy's worried look. His harsh tone was just because he was worried, and yes, maybe he was also angryᅳ and he had every right to be.

"It's been worse", she murmured, her arms wrapped around her legs that were pulled against her chest. "I just wanted to release some pressure, Hap. Iᅳ with all the shit that's going on..it was just too much."

Her head shot back up and she tilted it to the side, tears forming in her eyes. "The arrest threw me completely off track and gave me the final push."

A sound that sounded like a bitter wheeze and at the same time full of concern fell from Happy's lips, his gaze fixed forward for a moment. He was aware that it was an addiction and that a relapse could happen at any timeᅳ and yet he had hoped that it wouldn't happen again.

"Show me", he demanded, his dark eyes on her again, the dull light of the old lamp making his features appear harder than they actually were. Sighing, he rubbed his face when he noticed Stella's hesitation. "Just show me, I wanna see how bad it is."

That she could get an infection was his biggest fear. Especially with cancer, there shouldn't be anything additional that would weaken your body.

He watched in silence as Stella, with an uncertain look in her eyes, pushed her long nails under the sleeves of her long-sleeved shirt and a moment later pulled it over her head, revealing a few cuts on her wrists.

Then Happy knew how bad it really must've been for her, how shitty she was feeling right now. Stella had never hurt her wrists before, at least not since they were together. There weren't many cuts, just a few in a pile right near her wrists, one deeper one over her pulse, causing Happy to experience immense internal stress.

"What the fuck, Stella..", he hissed, followed by a quiet swallow as he carefully grasped her slim wrist. "Did you plan toᅳ"

"No!" Stella immediately shook her head forcefully, knowing what Happy wanted to ask. "This wasn't a suicide attempt, Happy, I swear."

The first tear rolled down her cheek as she stared at him in pain, not sure if he believed herᅳ and that in turn hurt Stella more than any physical pain ever could. She wanted Happy to believe her, to trust her. But she also knew that she fucked up this time.

"Please..you have to believe me", she practically begged, crawling across the bed until she finally sat right in front of him and took his face in her hands. "I'm really sorry, baby. I couldn't handle it anymore", she whispered, letting out a soft sniffle.

"This can't go on like this, little girl", he croaked, his forehead wrinkled as he sighed and reached for her hands, which he slowly removed from his face to take another look at the injured area. "At least it doesn't look infected. What about the other spots?"

"I know that", she murmured defeated as she sat in front of him in just her bra and leggings, her shoulders slumped. "There's more on my thigh, but that's itᅳ and I'll try to stop in the future."

"You're not just trying, you're not going to do it anymore." Happy's stern tone caught her attention again, making her shyly nod at his request. "I mean it, babe, this shit can't go any further. You can't risk getting an infection and fuck, I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Like a few days ago, she sensed a certain pain in his tone, something she didn't want to inflict on him and yet she kept doing it. This definitely made her the toxic part of the marriage and her heart ached at the thought of causing him so many problems.

"It's not that easy", she admitted, somewhat overwhelmed, rubbing her eyes. Since she had already removed her make-up earlier, she didn't smudge anything. "But I'm doing my bestᅳ I can go to therapy again. But please believe me that I had no intention of seriously harming myself. I just had to release some pressure", she added, her soft voice assertive and firm.

"I get it, I'm not a cold-hearted asshole", he grunted firmly, pointing at her pants. "Take them off, show me. Did you make sure the wounds were kept clean?"

"I know that too." Sighing, she let herself fall back and properly took off her pants, not wanting to test his patience any further, releasing her thigh. "As you can see, sterile bandages so that no infection forms."

Grunting, the Killer nodded before slowly sliding his calloused hand up her thigh, his brittle skin dancing over her soft one, which ultimately elicited a pleasant sigh from Stella. She loved his touch, it felt good.

She watched him with curiosity, not knowing exactly what would happen next. As he switched positions and placed himself between her legs, he began placing open-mouthed kisses along the inside of her thighs, earning a soft moan from Stella.

He slid his lips over her stomach, between her cleavage, his belt lightly scraping against her stomach, until his head finally hovered over hers and he let his lips dance over hers, their eyes locked.

"You hurting yourself is one thing I can't accept, little girl", he croaked, his voice deadly serious as he stole another kiss from her lips. "Don't do it again, you hear me? I'm here, and I want you to talk to me."

Stella's shallow breath hit his face, her head nodding slightly. "I promise if you promise never to get yourself in trouble because of me again."

"That's something I can't promise, and you know that." His hand, which had been resting on her hip, moved slowly downward, tracing the curve of her ass before he dug his fingers into the flesh of her uninjured thigh and wrapped her leg around his hip. "But I still promise to always be with you, to be there for you and Gabbyᅳ is that enough?"

His raspy, deeper voice clouded her thoughts, making it difficult for her to concentrate on what he was saying, especially with all the touches that made her body squirm beneath him.

But she had heard his words and knew that this was probably the closest thing to what she wanted.

"It's enough for now, yes", she whispered against his lips before wrapping an arm around his waist, slipping her hand under his shirt before her fingertips glided over his skin.

Happy's pleasurable sigh flowed into the kiss, brushing his tongue against hers before letting the kiss become just as passionate as beforeᅳ and this time Stella didn't push him away.