lauren // tig trager

43. Product testing

"I'm sorry" Lauren spoke.

"For what?" Brea snapped.

"I gave you up, your number, leading you to him and now look at your face" she replied with sadness in her eyes.

"It was my fault, I brought this on both of us," she scoffed "and you're sorry" she shook her head.

"I am, I don't care if you don't think so but I am"

"I'm sorry, I haven't slept properly in days and Filip being in the hospital had me stressed enough, I don't mean to be a bitch" she spoke, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"It's okay, I've been the same to Tig, I know how it feels"

"I'm gonna nap, so, I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

Lauren nodded and watched as Brea left to the clubhouse. Lauren had essentially isolated herself, as did Brea. Both were shaken up from the situation, unaware of what was around the corner and if he'd be waiting for them.

Tig ached to be with Lauren but all she did was keep him away. She only talked to Gemma during work hours but the she'd sleep and stay in her and Tig's room, denying any company.

Chibs laid in his bed, looking over Brea who was sleeping for the first time in a while. She had been with him, sleeping in chairs, day in and day out. He knew after what she'd been through, she'd love to have gone home and slept in bed but she chose to be with him. When his phone rang, he answered it quietly to not disturb Brea. That's when he heard it was Fionas voice on the other end, he kissed Brea's forehead before going outside to continue to conversation. She wanted to meet up with him at a bar, so he went, walking past all the boys and taking the van to leave.

He arrived at the bar, Fiona greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. He looked around the bar while she did so.

"What is it, Fi?" He asked.

"In a rush to be with your old lady, are ya?" Fiona asked

"How do ya know 'bout her?" He asked, squinting his eyes at her.

"Gemma filled me in, another attempt at gettin' me away" She pursed her lips "That's beside the point"

He followed Fiona as he led her to the back of the bar to a booth with a man, when he turned he saw it was Jimmy O. He turned to Fiona with a death glare, she apologized before leaving.

"Filip, have a seat" Jimmy offered.

Chibs sat, kept his body faced away from Jimmy. He wanted to be ready to leave whenever he wanted or needed to.

"Would you like a drink?"

Chibs only shook his head.

"I'm not stateside for the sons, came to close a distribution deal. Had no idea how muddled things had become" He shrugged.

"Edmond and Cameron wouldn't take a piss without your permission"

"See what happens when you give men some rope, shit only works when I handle it myself. That's my lesson here, I wanna sit down with Clay, get us back together"

"You expect me to recommend?" Chibs spoke with disbelief.

"Our bond with the sons runs deep, Belfast has been our right hand since '87, ain't gonna jeopardize that"

"I'm not your errand boy, Jimmy"

"Aye, Filip, you are. I banished you, took what's yours, these are the facts. You do as I say" He spoke with arrogance.

"Go to hell, Jimmy" Chibs said as he stood up to leave.

"Recall the name Brea?" He asked, Chibs sat back down to listen.

"Aye, what about her?"

"She's a pretty lass, nice body to distract from that awful injury underneath that bandage she'd got. Fiona, her looks fadin', took her and now you've another gal for me to take" He taunted "Tell me Filip, how's she in bed?"

Chibs grabbed Jimmy by his collar, a gun raised to his head but he didn't falter for once.

"Piss off, piss off" Jimmy said to his guy with the gun.

Once he lowered the gun, Chibs released his hold on Jimmy and fixed his kutte.

"You arrange the meeting with Clay and keep Brea safe, aye?"

"Aye, whatever" Chibs agreed but quickly left without looking back.
*****
Lauren and Gemma were in the office, working in silence.

"You and Brea, that shit looks messy" Gemma said.

"She blames herself, it's taking a toll on her, and her injury isn't helping" Lauren shook her head.

"She needs time to heal, mentally and physically" Gemma said looking distant.

"You alright?" Lauren questioned.

"I know where she is," Gemma took off her glasses "I wasn't in a car accident, baby"

"Gemma? What happened?" Lauren asked with only concern.

"That night of Bobby's party, Zobelle and his nazi brothers got me," she gulped "they raped me, three of them all took turns"

Lauren took Gemma's hand in her own, giving her comfort.

"Does anyone know?"

"Tara and Unser, I'm telling my boys tonight and I'm sure it won't take long for everyone to know"

"Are you okay?" She asked once again.

"I'm getting better, it was hard at first, that's why I'm saying I know where Brea is. I shut everyone down and out, dealing with that shit alone is hard and I decided I needed to come clean"

"It was the right thing" Lauren nodded realizing what she had to do.
*****
When Clay and Opie came back, they held church but Tig wasn't with them. Lauren had to wait until they were done when she stopped Clay.

"Where's Tig?" She asked.

"Product testing, on Wahewa land, he's in no condition to talk" Clay replied.

"Testing what? Is he safe?"

"Magic mushrooms, he'll be safe there, we're getting him in the morning and then you can talk to him"

"Thanks" she sighed.

Maybe she needed another night before coming clean to Tig. Needed another night to really make sure she wanted to come clean. If it could bring them closer together, why not?