As You Were

5. Of Venom

It had been one month. One whole month had passed since I'd moved into the bar, and even though things had gone alright since, I knew that I couldn't have gotten through it without the people around me. Dahlia was a big help, and even though we hadn't seen or heard from Conley we knew that he was still out there, waiting. Evie and I were getting right along, we actually went out dancing the night before. She was great, and I was hardly bothered at all now by the guilt I had for getting involved with her. Roman and Raz hadn't changed, Roman was still as standoffish as before and Raz did all he could to pick up the slack for his brother—I guessed it didn't matter to him that I was living in his bar.

Then there was Jax.

I woke up earlier than I wanted to, partly because of the cars going by outside and partly because I had a bad dream and I couldn't fall back asleep. Either way I rolled over and opened one eye, glimpsing him while his chest rose and fell lightly as he snored softly on the couch. We'd been staying out really late almost every weekend and it wasn't unusual for him to stay over. We'd hang out after work too, but we were sure to be done before nine, because of work. Usually he'd be the first one to wake up, because I was naturally a late sleeper, so it was a rare sight to see him dreaming away over there.

It did my heart some good to know that I wasn't so alone anymore. Ever since what happened back in Mississippi I hadn't really been happy. There were good times, sure, laughs and smiles and all manner of shenanigans, but when it came right down to it, in the very core of my being, I hadn't truly been happy. There were several reasons why that could be, and I told myself it was simply because the life I would be forced to lead from now on left no room for true happiness. But at least I had this.

Rubbing my eyes I sat up, grabbing my shirt off the floor. Apparently when Roman and Raz had burgled my apartment they'd also grabbed my clothes, which I thought was really nice of them, considering they were some of my only possessions. After I'd gone to the bathroom I went over to where Jax was sleeping, sitting down lightly next to him and picking up his shirt too. I watched him for a few more moments, his face expressionless and peaceful, and I almost felt bad about waking him. When another minute had passed I patted him lightly on the chest, waiting while he slowly opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Oh, it's you." He smiled lazily, the corners of his mouth crinkling up.

"I don't know who else you'd be expecting," I laid his shirt on top of him, "come on, I'll take you to breakfast." When he'd gotten up and also went to the bathroom we got our things together and headed down the stairs, where I said hi to the brothers before we headed out. The streets were already busy with people bustling back and forth wherever they were going on the chilly Sunday morning. Winter was close now, and as much as I dreaded it and wished that it wouldn't come I couldn't stop it. Jax and Evie were excited for it though, so I didn't damper their spirits with my pessimism.

"We can't be too long, I have to be in town in a little while." Jax looked at his watch before moving his eyes to me.

"Just a quick bite and then you can run off." While I teased him I smacked him on the back. As we walked along and talked we tried to decide on a place to eat—we'd been to so many places and yet it seemed like for every one we'd tried there were two more we hadn't. That was one of the beauties of the big city, I figured, and though we were indecisive it didn't take us long to finally settle on a place. It wasn't too fancy looking, but seemed a little more established than a mom and pop. These were my favorite kind of places, and I was surprised and glad to discover that Jax preferred them too, unlike his sister who liked the more high-end restaurants.

There wasn't any wait inside and our waitress seated us in a booth far in the back, handing us menus and running off to get our drinks. I watched her walking away, tall, almost Amazonian; very much like Evie with her black hair and blue eyes. While Jax looked over the food items I looked over the restaurant, already knowing what I wanted—bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy. Simple. Mostly it was old people eating here, which made sense because church had probably just let out, but the room itself resembled nothing I would expect to attract the elderly. It looked very modern, and the pictures on the walls were of several current celebrities, including ours truly. They even had a black piano over in the other corner, and I eyed it with admiration.