Fly By Night | Sons of Anarchy Fanfiction | Jax Teller x OC

Chapter Nine

The long, winding driveway was already packed with dark SUVs and Harleys by the time Allie pulled in. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard and shook her head. It was 7:02, and Gemma had said to be there at 7:00 - and while Allie normally prided herself on being on time, she'd blown past a turn from the directions Opie had given her, and was now twitching a little because she was two minutes late. But still, bikers weren't exactly known for their punctuality.

Maybe, where Gemma Teller-Morrow was concerned, they knew to be anything but late.

Because the driveway was already so packed, she opted to park on the street. Allie turned off her ignition and pulled her visor mirror down before she could stop herself. Her hair still pretty much looked like it had before she'd left the house - loose, smooth waves with a little bit of texture. Her makeup was light and natural, but she'd swiped an extra layer or two of mascara on just because it felt like the right thing to do, given where she was going. She'd worn her favorite dusty mauve lipstick that gave her just enough color to look like she was wearing makeup without looking overdone or heavy. Dan had tossed a pair of skinny jeans at her, along with a cream, silky camisole to pair underneath a chunky camel-colored cardigan, and he'd topped off his handiwork with her favorite leather booties.

He knew what he was doing, and she looked pretty damn good. Times like this she was pretty grateful he'd so easily moved into both her life and her house.

Allie jumped a little when her phone pinged in her purse, and she glanced at it long enough to see a text from Dan: Go get em, Tiger. You got this.

She smiled to herself before checking the mirror one more time just because she couldn't help herself. Then she blew out a deep breath, summoning the courage to grab her purse and the treats Dan had sent along, and get out of the car. That kind of felt like a Herculean effort right now. All the unknowns of tonight - that's what really had her on edge. And if she was being honest with herself, she might as well have been shaking in her leather booties.

Yet somehow, Allie found herself standing on Gemma's front doorstep and hitting the button to ring the doorbell.

She stared down at the plate in her hands, feeling like maybe this had been the wrong choice. Gemma had told her not to bring anything - very literally and directly - but it didn't feel right to show up to someone's house for a dinner party and not bring anything. A normal person would've brought a bottle or two of wine, but then Allie would have to turn down a glass when someone inevitably opened the bottle and offered to pour her one.

It was easy enough to throw out an excuse like, oh, no thanks, I don't like to even have one if I know I'm going to be driving. That one usually worked pretty well most of the time. Sometimes the old, oh, no thanks, I just don't like the taste of it would work too, but that typically depended on the audience. Bringing a bottle of wine and then refusing to drink it wasn't going to cut it.

And because she couldn't show up for this family dinner empty-handed, Dan had whipped up a batch of his homemade chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Even just thinking that...seemed really, really stupid.

But before she had a chance to backpedal to her car, the front door swung open to reveal the hostess herself. Gemma...looked just like Gemma, with her chunky blonde highlights, tight jeans, and even tighter Harley Davidson T-shirt, and Allie found herself grinning right back at her.

"Hey there, Allie," Gemma grinned. "I'm so glad you could make it, and..." her dark eyes dropped to the plate in Allie's hand, "I also thought I said you didn't have to bring anything. Did you make those? They look pretty damn amazing, I have to say."

It would've been way too easy to take all the credit, but sooner or later, Gemma would probably just find out anyway, so she opted for the truth: "They are pretty amazing, but my roommate made them. He's the chef and the baker in the house, and he didn't want me to show up here empty-handed."