This story is a little bit different from my other ones, as I tried to write about an established relationship within the SOA story line. I wrote it around Chibs because he is one of the fewer SOA characters I can actually imagine being in a committed relationship (probably because of Fiona and Kerrianne) without actually being in one right now. He seems to be a gentle soul. I really tried to emphasize the depth of the relationship between Chibs and Sophia (OC) and I really hope you'll like it. Please feel free to review, I appreciate your honesty and hope I can learn from your suggestions.
Also, the events referred to are not necessarily part of the show – you can interpret it however you want to.
I don't own Chibs, or anything you might recognize that is affiliated with Sons of Anarchy.
The first thing she'd noticed was the new patch on his chest. It was white, new and brighter than the others he'd collected over the years. V. President it said. She knew Bobby had filled that position for only a couple of months, but Jax seemed to be starting a policy of roulette with regards to the VP job.
The second thing she noticed were the tired eyes that seemed happy to see her. It had been another rough day, that much was evident, and she was grateful he'd returned to her once more.
He stopped in the doorway to look at her. Sophia had just finished making him a meal and was setting up a plate for him at the kitchen table. The gratitude was radiating from him as his eyes reached hers. It had been a horrible day. She had learned to read him like a book. She knew each line on his face - his handsome, tired face - and she knew what that look meant: that he was happy he made it safely back home to her.
"Come on, take a seat. I'll get you your dinner. I made lasagne." She told him. He smiled at her. Lasagne was one of his favourites, but she didn't make it too often because it took so much work. Mainly because she wanted to make everything from scratch, including the dough, the tomato sauce and the beef layers. It wasn't every day she had the time to do this, but she knew things had been rough with SAMCRO lately and that it was hard on him.
One way she knew about the club was because of the absence of parties and the increase of lockdowns at the SAMCRO clubhouse. She wasn't stupid, she knew what that meant, but it wasn't any of her business. What was her business was her man. Not only was he suffering from the club, she figured out his friendship with Juice was strained. Even though she had no clue as to its cause, she knew it hurt Chibs. He valued his brothers and their friendship and loyalty above nothing else, and she knew him well enough to come to the conclusion that something was up. The young man hadn't come over for dinner in quite some time now and every time Juice's name was mentioned, and that happened less and less frequently, Chibs' eyes reflected pain. She knew he'd only ever allowed her to see his emotions, but even then he sometimes tried to hide them from her so that she wouldn't be worried. She'd never seen him like this in any of the 8 years she'd known him and it worried her. But she also knew it was related to the club, and therefore off limits.
She knew a little about the club, but only the bare minimum. Once Chibs and her had gotten serious, he'd asked her if she wanted full disclosure or if she preferred not to know anything. She chose the latter. She'd never been the curious or meddling type, and the only thing she had asked him in return was not to lie to her or betray her trust. He never had, and so this arrangement worked out perfectly. Gemma never understood how they managed to pull it off, and sometimes she wondered the same thing, but it worked and that was all that mattered to her. He loved her, she loved him and they would go through fire for each other.
Now just because he didn't tell her anything, didn't mean she didn't have any suspicions. Charming was a small town and talk went around fast. That and the fact that the amount of violent altercations had increased simultaneously with Chibs' stress levels, which had now resulted in his promotion to VP, showed that something was up. But she didn't ask questions because Chibs deserved better than to have her nose through his business and mess things up like she had seen Gemma do on several occasions; it had only gotten the woman a criminal record, a dead husband and an ex-husband, and a strained relationship with her son.
She knew Gemma well enough not to turn the President's mother into an enemy by thrash talking, so she refrained from spewing some of her frustrations, but she was entitled to her own thoughts and they weren't always pleasant. She couldn't deny the woman's love for her son and grandchildren, but she thought the woman was too controlling. The way she saw it, the SAMCRO men were like sand: the tighter you held on to them, the quicker they slipped through your fingers. Unless, of course, you were Gemma Teller-Morrow, queen of manipulation, then you were privy to all sorts of tricks.
Chibs started to move from his spot in the door frame and walked up to her. He embraced her tenderly and her heart broke a little. It had been an absolutely gruesome day if this is how he came home. He quickly returned the embrace, offering whatever comfort she could, especially happy she had taken the time to make lasagne today of all days.
They stood there for over a minute and he still hadn't let her go. As she slowly rubbed his back she could feel some of the tension ease out of his back and shoulders, but she might have to give him a massage later tonight to really work out those knots in his muscles.
Finally he let her go and gave her a slow kiss on her mouth. She cupped his face lovingly as she returned the gesture. Her thumbs softly ran over the scars on his face she knew all too well and that had intrigued her from the first moment she saw him.
She remembered it like it was yesterday. She had been stranded by the side of the road 8 miles out of Charming, he cellphone had died and her car engine was smoking. She had tried to get people to stop, but no such luck. Realization had finally hit her that she would have to leave her car behind to walk to Charming so she could find a garage when out of the blue Chibs had been there in the Teller-Morrow tow truck. The sun had begun to set and he had come from the west, so the sun had initially blinded her, but his accent had immediately drawn her in.
"Ya need any help lass?"
The mysterious man asked her. When he had come closer to her and she could see his face, she knew what those scars meant: suffering. She knew a thing or two about suffering herself and she immediately took a liking to the stranger.
That had been the beginning of a slowly built relationship with its foundation in trust. And eight years later she didn't know anyone in the whole world she trusted more than Chibs; her Chibs.
Their relationship hadn't always been easy. They were both used to their autonomy and weren't used to constantly making compromises, but they had slowly become more dependent on each other. Especially when she had been robbed under gunpoint right in front of her own house, Chibs had been there for her like a rock. What she didn't know was that Chibs had convinced some brother to undertake action with the club's permission but without the visibility of the cut. This was personal and the personal shouldn't interfere with business too much. But the little bastard who had scared his woman would never do anything like it again; he'd made damn sure of that.
After that she became his Old Lady. She didn't have the crow, but they both knew that wasn't necessary. It also would've been a little inappropriate since he was officially still married to Fiona, even if that was only a technicality and they'd been separated for over 15 years.
When Chibs finally sat down at the table, the smell of the lasagne taking over the scent of his woman, he allowed for his body to accept what it had been trying to tell him for more than two hours now: he was hungry. Club business had kept him longer than he had wanted to, but that was the club. Sometimes he would simply have no say in it and he accepted that. He was usually fine with it, but on a day like today, when everything had gone to shit, the fact that the club came first made him frustrated. He needed some tender love and care from his lass, but his own needs had to wait. There were things they all needed to deal with before they could call it a day.
He quietly eyed her as she took the lasagne out of the oven and put it on the table in front of him. It smelled magnificent and his stomach grumbled in appreciation. She shot him a quiet smile, glad that her efforts were appreciated. He had seen the worry in her eyes and it tore at this small string of guilt in his heart he kept there especially for her. There were very few things he regretted, but sometimes he wished he could devout more time to the woman in his life.
It was probably a good thing they didn't spend every waking second with each other because she could be quite the hot head when she was antagonized. He managed to antagonize her quite a bit, even if the majority of it was just to get her riled up and see her cheeks turn red out of frustration. He would usually start laughing before she got really annoyed with him, making her crack up as well. She made him feel young again and forget some of his substantial worries.
She kissed his head before she sat down at the table as well at her usual spot. Every now and then he would try to sit down in that spot, which only ended with a soft smack in the head or a pinch in his butt as he switched chairs.
He had found a home with her, and she brought a peace and balance to his life that substantially benefitted his work for the club. She kept him calm and level headed, made sure he thought things through and she somehow always had advice for him, even if she had no idea what was going on.
She slowly but deliberately cut up some part of the lasagne and told him to hold his plate close. It had happened on more than one occasion that she had a big scoop of food waiting for him, but that the distance it needed to travel had been too far, making a horrible mess of the sheet she used for the table. And usually those tomato stains were a pain to wash out once dried in the cloth.
They ate their food quietly; nothing needed to be said right now. It was peaceful and Chibs really didn't want to talk. Her presence was enough to have a soothing effect over him. Sophia did that to him somehow. She was always calm and one way or another, it always made him calmer as well. At one point his doctor had actually told him his blood pressure and resting heartbeat were lower than they had been in a very long time. She had all kinds of miraculous effects on him and he only loved her more because of it.
The silence was present like a third person at the table, but they were both content with this. Sophia knew Chibs would tell her what he needed to tell her soon enough, there was no need to rush him. Although she was sad that the more passionate Chibs had been hiding lately, the strong and silent man she was sharing dinner with right now had elevated their relationship to an unspoken new level. They had lifted all emotional barriers with each other, something she had never done with anyone else before, and she doubted would ever do again with anybody else. It was a very intimate experience and she was still adjusting to the shift.
"Thanks sweetheart, tha was a great dinner."
It truly had been, and it had not only replenished his body, it had calmed his mind too. To just sit there with his lass, enjoy the time they spent together was invaluable to Chibs. He'd messed up once and he was grateful he'd gotten a second chance.
"Glad to hear that Filip. But I could already tell, seeing as you ate nearly a third of it." Sophia added with a small smirk on her face. It was a good feeling she could help her man, even if it was in small ways.
"Well, if ya're scared I'll get fat, we'll jus' have ta add in some extra exercise time tonight." He winked coyly at her, both of them relieved with the silly banter. It lifted some tension they hadn't realized had arrived.
Filip helped Sophia clear out the table and fill up the dishwasher, hugging her from behind while she was rinsing off some plates. He lowered his mouth to her right ear, placing soft kisses on the cartilage. She leaned her head into his chest relaxing in the hold. Everything was right when he was home. She didn't have to worry about him, even if he assured her every morning he had something to come back to at the end of the day.
They stood there for several minutes, simply enjoying each other's presence, connecting on a subliminal level. They understood each other, and they accepted the other without reservations.
"Bad day today, huh?" Sophia said, knowing that that would be the only thing she'd say about it. Chibs softly smiled against her ear, taking in the familiar smell of her shampoo.
"Ya can't begin ta imagine... It was an absolute madhouse." Chibs murmured softly in her ear. The warm breath tickled a little, but it was a pleasant feeling. It always felt good to have him close to her, but these moments of intense love and care had a special place in her heart. She knew he needed these powerful seconds when he'd come close to death; he needed to feel more alive than usual, it was how he worked.
Even though she regretted her following thoughts, she was already looking forward to the night. He would be so tender and passionate, and he would be even more generous than usual.
She left the dishes for what they were and focused on what was actually important right now: her man was still alive. She slowly turned around in his grasp and stared up at him. His brown eyes were swarming with emotions and she knew she was the only one in the world who would ever see him this vulnerable. Her hand moved back up to his jaw and cheek as she tried to sooth him through the soft strokes of her thumb along his cheek. She did it often and tenderly, and it had almost become her signature move with him. He loved it, it made him feel completely accepted, and if he was away for the club and things got rough, the mere thought of her thumbs running along his scars soothed him.
"I love you Filip. I'm glad you're home."
Home. He had been searching for a place to call home for a long time after Fiona had abandoned him. The Sons of Anarchy, his brothers, were undoubtedly his home, but a brotherhood could not compare to a woman's soft touch and a kiss upon arrival. They were two distinctively different things and he was utterly grateful he had both. Sophia had been more than he'd ever dared to dream. She was strong, independent, loved him, and most of all, she understood. She never asked questions he didn't want to answer because he didn't want to lie to her, and somehow she understood.
Chibs didn't respond to Sophia's proclamation, but she hadn't expected him to. She knew him better than that. He would show her later how much she meant to him.
Slowly Chibs let her go as he moved to the stereo in the living room. She knew what was going to come next and she smiled to herself. These were definitely moments she cherished. After a couple seconds Forever Young by Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers started playing.
She slowly made her way over to the living room where Chibs was waiting for her, hand extended as an invitation she graciously took. They slowly started swaying on the beat and she once more rested her head on his chest. He lowered his head onto hers as they forgot the world around them, disappearing with every beat, melting away leaving them in the centre of the universe.
They knew it wasn't going to last, but they didn't think or care about that. They were perfectly happy in each others' arms, leaving their troubles and worries behind in the kitchen. This was their moment, and they were in it with every fibre of their body, with every beat of their heart, and with every corner of their soul.
I hope you liked it, it was quite interesting to write. Here are the lyrics to the song. It's actually from the soundtrack of SOA: Sons of Anarchy - North County EP from 2009. I thought it fit really well with the moment. Please review or message! I'm curious what you think.
Forever Young by Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
And may you stay forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
May you stay forever young.