Chibs | Taking Back What's Mine | Tig | Sons of Anarchy || Book Two

Secrets & Rejection

Things have been different since Claire came back from the unknown location weeks ago. Chibs felt as if she had been putting space between the both of them, and he wasn't the only one who begun to see this. Gemma noticed it as well and when Chibs came and explained to him about what was happening she frowned and was worried herself.

"She won't tell you or I where she was and she's been distant since."

Gemma said as she walked around her kitchen. She had invited us over to speak to him about Clara's strange Behavior. Neither one of them knew what was going on but they both knew that whatever it was that happened was something devastating.

"She's never been a loner her whole life. Something is wrong. Terribly wrong."

"Aye, I agree wit' you on that. She refuses to stay with me any more. She won't answer my calls. This isn't the Clara that I know."

He explained as Gemma walked around the kitchen to get the coffee pot and poured both her and Chibs a cup. She slid the cut over to chips as they sat at the table in the kitchen. Chibs merely looked at the cup but did not make any motions to take a drink.

"If she'd only tell me what was wrong."

Chibs spoke up shaking his head. Gemma placed her hand a top of his and thought for a moment as she looked at the distraught man.

"You know she hasn't really been acting like herself since I took her to visit clay and Jax at the prison last month. Do you think that could have something to do with why she's pulling away from us?"

Gemma asked trying to think of every possible explanation that she could come up with as to why Clara had seem so distraught toward them. Chibs shook his head and sighed.

"I dunno, Gem. But I do know that whatever it is its eating away at her slowly, bit by bit."

Chibs looked at Gemma with a saddened gaze. They had both promised each other months ago that they would keep each other in the loop. That no matter what they would try to work together on everything that they had managed to build. But now that Clara was acting distant, Chibs didn't know what to think. There were a million possibilities running through his head right now but none of them he wanted to actually admit were happened... he didn't want to think of Clara in that way.

"Have you spoken to Opie or Kozik? She seems to have been pretty close to them lately? Lyla maybe?"

Chibs shook his head. He had already tried talking to Opie about everything but Opie had told him that she was being just as distant with him as she had been with everyone else.

"Maybe Tara?"

Gemma asked. Chibs paused for a moment and he looked back at Gemma.

"Tara? What would the lass know about anything?"

"Clara did spend the day with her about two weeks ago when she took her to her OBGYN appointment. And she's been acting distant since the visit, but even more so since she was with Tara..."

Gemma seemed to be thinking out loud. She let go of Chibs's hand and left the kitchen to go to her purse in the dining room returning with her phone. She pressed a few buttons and placed the call on speaker.

"Hello?"

"Tara, he listen I've got a question and it's very important that you do your best to answer."

Gemma said sitting her phone down on the table in the kitchen next to Chibs and where he sat. Chibs glanced from Gemma and then back down to her phone listening as the conversation continued.

"Okay? What's going on?"

"When Clara took you to your appointment did she seem to be acting strange at all?"

There was a short pause on the other end of the phone.

"Not really? Aside from being freaked out about being in the hospital and stepping out of the room for a phone call nothing really seemed put of the ordinary."

"Phone call? What phone call?"

Gemma asked. Both her and Chibs pipped up when those key words came through the phone. Tara cleared her throat before continuing.

"She stepped out of the room when she seen the name on the ID. When I went to ask her about it she said it was Club Business and that I shouldn't worry about it."

There was a long pause as Gemma just stared down at her phone.

"Are you sure that's what she said? Club Business?"

"Yeah I remember because she seemed really off. I wouldn't say she was rude but she seemed really, really stressed out and wasn't up for small talk afterwards... why is something wrong? D-Did something happen to Clara?"

"She's fine baby, for now. Call me later if you remember anything else."

Gemma said as she pushed the End Call button. She startled Chibs by slamming her hands down on three table, making the items sitting on top shake and tumble over.

"God damn it!"

She yelled as she walked back an forth in the kitchen.

"I made him promise me! I made him promise me that he wouldn't drag her into this shit!"

Gemma screamed, causing Chibs to jump up and look at the woman wide-eyed.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What shite? Gemma what's going on!"

Chibs asked. Gemma shook her head and used the back of her hand to wipe away some of the tears she had shead out of anger.

"Before Clara came up here, Clay was going to use her as a runner for the Club since that's what she was down South. But I made him promise me that he wouldn't make her do that anymore! The shit she had to do for her Club -- it fucked her up in the head!"

Gemma's yelling slowly died down to quiet whispers as she tried to find her breathing again. She pulled out the chair to the kitchen table and took a seat. Picking up the pack of smokes that were laying there she pulled one out and put it in her mouth before grabbing the lighter and lighting it. She took a long drag before she exhaled.

"He promised me that she'd only work in the garage. But I knew that wasn't going to last the moment she stepped foot in my office and asked me if she should ask Clay if she could run with the Club. I told her no, don't do it. She does it anyway and from what Clay told me -- she told him some real fucked up shit that she had done. Enough that if she was an actual patched in memeber, shed have the Mayhem patch by now."

Gemma shook her head as she took another drag. Chibs continued to stand there as he hand his hands gripping the back of his chair and looking down at the table.

Clara hadn't told him any of this. She hadn't told him she had asked to join the Club or that she even wanted to be apart of it. He never thought anything of it because of the bylaws they had set in place where women and certain other people couldn't join. He swallowed hard and shook his head.

"So what do you think she's doing that she won't tell anyone?"

Chibs asked a dreadful feeling washing over him like cold water.

"I don't know, baby. I don't know."

"Ah-- Ah fuck!"

"God damn it!"

"F--fuck!!"

"Clara!!"

"A--Alex!"