lauren // tig trager

25. A part of the family

The morning was as messy as expected. Brea crashed in Chibs's bed as he wasn't going to use it. Waking up hurt, massive hangover hurt. Groaning loudly she threw herself out of bed. Walking down the hall, she was stopped by Lauren.

"Morning" she smiled.

"Good morning" Brea replied, not questioning her before trying to proceed past her.

"How do you feel? Need any asprin, in sure there's some in the bathroom. Over there" she rambled.

"Can you let me go, I don't care what I see out there" Brea huffed.

"Don't say I didn't try" Lauren gave up, putting her hands up.

She watched as Brea walked into the room completely. She looked around, surveying it all. Juice on the table with two crows was the craziest. Then on the sofa she saw Chibs with a crow asleep in his lap. Lauren watched her face carefully, it didn't falter and she walked into the kitchen.

"Is she okay?" Tig asked, tuning to Lauren.

"I don't know anymore. She's been hurt so much I can't tell" Lauren said with defeat in her voice.
*****
Tonight was the night Abel would be coming home, Gemma assigned Lauren and Brea with grocery shopping as their task. Lauren pushed the cart as Brea walked alongside it.

"Are y-" Lauren started to speak.

"Don't talk about this morning, Filip will do what he wants" she shrugged, grabbing a bag of tortilla chips.

"Filip?" Lauren asked with confusion.

"Chibs" Brea sighed.

"Oh, yeah. I just think maybe he'd try harder if you weren't with Kasper"

"I can't just leave, I'll said it before and I'll say it again. It just doesn't feel right to leave him alone"

"You've spent the last twenty four hours without him and you're doing just fine. Imagine if it was always like this!" Lauren smiled.

"I'll think about it" Brea mumbled, throwing a bottle of salsa in the cart next

"Gentle!" Lauren exclaimed.
*****
Walking into Jax's house, they saw Gemma talking with an unfamiliar face. Their arms were full but they paused seeing them in a seemingly important conversation.

"Come on in" Gemma urged.

They both walked in and set the bags on the counter before walking into the living room.

"This is Wendy, Jax's ex-wife, Abels mother" she said with an attitude.

"I'm Lauren" she introduced herself, shaking her hand and Brea following.

"It was nice to meet you but I should get going anyways" she smiled weakly and left.

"Don't like her?" Brea asked Gemma.

"Junkie, she's the reason Abel was in critical condition. She shot up while pregnant" she shook her head, starting to unload the bags.

"I guess no one who dates Jax is on good terms with you" Lauren reiterated.

"Unless it was Brea, I wished they stuck" Gemma joked "I like you, Brea"

"All he did was make my arriving in Charming a bit better" she blushed "not all of us have our own little Tig"

"Shut up" Lauren said.

"If only it were always that easy" Gemma spoke while rolling her eyes "Now let's hustle and get this all together for my baby boy to come home to"
*****
Meeting families of the club was a pleasant experience. Donna was Opies wife, they had two kids and were all so nice. It was nice to see everyone around and not partying to get drunk and have sex. This was a celebration of their VP bringing his baby home for the first time.

When Jax walked in, everyone cheered with excitement. Seeing him hold Abel with love in his eyes and a smile on his face, didn't see that a lot around the clubhouse.

At one point in the party, Gemma was holding Abel and talking to Luann. Jax sat on a sofa across from Wendy, watching Piney balance a glass of tequila on his grandkids head. It was calm, peaceful and lighthearted. All of them enjoyed it, except Tara. She sat on the arm of the sofa where Jax sat and kissed him, hard and long. It was comfortable, seeing Wendy shift in her seat. Most people saw it, Gemma looked bewildered as well as Luann.

"I'll be back" Jax said standing up and taking Tara with her.

Lauren and Tig sat at the dining room table, talking and drinking but didn't miss anything. Brea was sitting with Wendy and Piney, she felt bad for Wendy. This wasn't a place to say anything, nor would it be her responsibility to say anything. Her eyes then fell on Chibs sitting on a sofa talking to a crow. She understood crows were a part of the 'family' and they were probably sharing an innocent conversation but it still made her heart drop. He could be talking to her but chose not to.

"Guess I'm not the only one broken hearted" Wendy commented.

"Yeah, guess so" Brea sighed.

Tara then stormed through the house and made her exit. Jax chased after her but decided once she was out the door to let her go. He told Juice to make sure she got home safe.

Short after Juice left to follow her, Opie stood to talk to Jax. Then Donna joined them and the kids, they were leaving for the night. Jax kissed her on the cheek and they left. Lauren watched as Tig downed the last of his drink.

"Woah, slow down" she said with furrowed brows.

"I gotta go do somethin, doll" he said and kissed her.

"Tig," she said with a warning tone "please be safe"

She had a feeling it was bad. The title on his kutte labeled him as the clubs killer. He did the dirty work, she just hoped it wasn't who she thought it'd be. His exit wasn't long after Opie and Donna left. It made her stomach uneasy thinking of what he could be out there doing. She understood the life but it still made something stir inside of her with nervousness. Watching as he left she downed the rest of her drink to try and distract herself.