Hey guys! Here's the next chapter!

I tried to give a little bit of background about Lily and how she got to know the club. I've rewritten this chapter a few times but can't seem to be completely satisfied with it. This is the one I liked best and I knew I would never get it posted if I help scrapping it and starting over.

As always, let me know what you guys think!

DDM

I smiled as I smelt the wonderful aroma of lasagna. I went to the kitchen while Jax wondered off to the living room.

"Beer?" I called over my shoulder.

"Please." He said as he went to join the guys.

"Hey Gema." I said as I went to the fridge and pulled out a beer.

"Hey," she looked at the beer in my hand. "Since when do you drink?"

"It's not mine." I shrugged as I opened the drawer I knew held the bottle opener. I took the beer into the living room and greeted the guys as I handed the bottle to Jax.

"Making any progress on the Oswald girl?" I asked, leaning against the arm of the couch next to Jax. He wrapped his arm around my hips as the guys shifted uncomfortably.

"Not yet." Clay said finally. "Still working on it. We've got the prospect tailing Hale."

"You'll catch him." I said confidently. If anyone could get their hands on him it was the guys.

"Lily, could you give me a hand?" Gema's voice came from the kitchen. I pulled away from Jax and smiled at the room full of men in leather.

"When you do," I said, gaining their attention again. "Make it hurt."

They nodded seriously, all knowing about what had been done to me. They were to reason I was no longer afraid. I knew he was gone, and he was never coming back.

I entered the kitchen to see Gema was pulling a large pan out of the oven.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Could you butter the garlic bread and stick it in for me." She asked as she poked at her steaming pan of lasagna before putting tinfoil over the top.

"Sure."

I went about my task, buttering several slices of this bread before she spoke again.

"How are you doing with knowing about the Oswald girl?" She asked.

"I'm ok." I said. "A little on edge knowing that man is still out there, but not afraid like I used to be."

"Good." She said firmly.

"The guys will get him."

"Yes they will." She agreed.

"Have you talked to her mother?" I asked.

"Yes, Karen has built a wall around that girl. I think she remembers more than she is telling."

"Maybe I should go..."

"Not a chance." She said, cutting me off and echoing Jax's words from earlier. "I know Jax wants you to stay away from this. No need drudging up old shit for you."

"I guess. You should go talk to Karen again though, if you feel like she is hiding something." I suggested.

"Why?"

"If that girl really remembers and her mother wants to keep it quiet, that's not healthy. Keeping it feeling as unreal as possible, burring it instead of facing things, it will only hurt her in the future. Trust me, the only thing worse than everyone knowing, is no one knowing." I said softly as I slid the tray of buttered garlic bread into the oven. I stood up and found Gema looking at me sadly. Thankfully, she knew better than to pity me, I didn't respond well to pity.

"I'll talk to her." She agreed finally.

"Good."

"Could you finish chopping the veggies for the salad?"

I smiled, glad we had moved on from the topic. We settled into a comfortable silence, me chopping, her storing something on the stove.

A throat cleared and we both turned to see Jax standing in the entrance between the kitchen and the dining room.

Oh god, he wasn't going to do it now, was he? Please tell me he has enough sense to at least wait until after dinner.

"Ma, we need to talk."

He was!

I glanced up at the ceiling, begging for patience. We are going to have a serious talk about his timing.

"Sure baby, what's up?" She asked, looking at him over her shoulder.

"I'll give you guys a minute." I said, putting my knife down.

"No," he said firmly. "This may concern you to, stay."

Damn.

"Tara called me," he said, focusing back on his mom.

"Oh yeah, what did she want?" Gema asked with the tone she seemed to reserve especially for Tara.

"She wanted to tell me Wendy was out of detox."

"Yeah, she told me that to, when I was at the hospital today. Suggested I bring the junkie flowers."

"Ma," he said warningly.

"Sorry." She rolled her eyes.

"She has an interesting theory about how Wendy got the drugs."

"Does she?"

I'll give her credit, the woman was a marvelous actress.

"Want to tell me why she thinks You brought Wendy that shit?"

"She always thinks things are my fault." Gema shrugged.

"Clay know what you did?" He asked instead. Gema finally turned to face him, frowning. "She said you were in on it to." He looked at me.

"What?" I scowled.

"She was not." Gema snapped.

"So you did do it." He said and she sighed.

"I gave her an option, that's all. She is the one weak enough to take it."

"Ma, you can't just do shit like that, what were you thinking?" He said sounding irritated. I am glad we had talked about this before hand or I would be looking for a window to jump out of right about now.

"I think the bread is about done." I said, hoping to stop them from continuing.

It didn't work.

"I was protecting my family. That woman caused you nothing but grief and she will do the same for Abel if we let her. She doesn't deserve to even breath his air." Gema said heatedly.

"I agree." I said, deciding to throw in my two cents if this was going to go on.

"Thank you!" Gema said, gesturing at me.

"You think what she did was the right thing?" Jax folded his arms.

"Maybe not the method, but I can't argue with the reasoning." I shrugged and dumped the chopped veggies into the salad bowl.

"Don't pull shit like that again." He said to Gema after a moment of silence. "Thankfully Tara doesn't have anything but a theory, without evidence she can't take something like that to Hale."

"Fine," Gema said, pulling the bread out of the oven.

"Hey!" Juice joined us in the kitchen, cell phone in hand. "The prospect called, said the cops have run into a raid block."

"What happened?" Jax turned his attention to the other man and Gema and I shared relieved looks.

"Hale pissed off Mrs. Oswald at the hospital. Questioned the girl without her permission. She has put a hard stop to anyone coming to talk to her."

"That'll buy us some time."

"That's good," I said. "Juice could you set the table."

The tattooed man nodded and grabbed the pile of plates on the counter, leaving the three of us in the kitchen.

"I'll go by the hospital after dinner and see Karen." Gema said. "Maybe I can get her to talk now that she is done with the police."

Thankfully, after the conversation with Jax and Gema, dinner went nice and smooth. No other heavy topics were brought up, nothing serious needing to be discussed, just nice family time. The guys were eager to get back to the search so no one lingered long after the food was gone.

I was taking dishes to the kitchen when Gema stopped me.

"I'll get them later,"she said. "I am going to head over to the hospital."

"I'll meet you there, after I drop Lily off." Jax said, coming up beside me.

"How about you guys go and I will stay here and clean up." I suggested.

"Are you sure?" Jax asked, but I could tell he was getting antsy and needed to get out.

"Yeah, I don't mind." I nodded.

"You can just crash in Jax's old room if we are out to late." Gema said as she picked up her purse.

"Sounds like a plan." I said. "Be careful."

They both kissed me on the cheek as they left and I went back to gathering the plates from the dining room. I made piles next to the sink then focused on putting the small portion of left overs in containers and neatly in the fridge. When Gema made lasagna, there were hardly ever leftovers, the guys sure could eat.

I kept myself busy, washing all the plates, cups, silverware and cooking pots. Drying everything by hand as I went to make the task take that much longer. When I finally finished it was pretty late. I wondered upstairs and into the bedroom that used to belong to Jax. Finding an old SAMCROW shirt in a drawer, I stripped down before pulling it over my head. Putting my phone on the night stand, I climbed into the bed and lay down.

I stared up at the ceiling as I tired to relax. My thoughts were going in so many different directions. Most prevalent were the thoughts about my own attack that happened a few years ago. I used to have dreams about it constantly just after of happened, knowing the man was out there somewhere.

The best thing I ever did was finally tell Jax about what happened. He had been able to tell instantly that something was wrong with me, something was very wrong. That had been a horrible conversation.

I had never seen him so angry and it was terrifying. Even knowing it wasn't directed at me.

After I told him, and gave him permission to tell the club, it didn't take them long to find the man who had hurt me. Thanks to them, I knew for a fact the man was never going to be able to hurt me or anyone else again. They made sure I always felt safe, riding by my house several times a day, coming to see me at the library, hanging out at my house when I wasn't at the club house.

Part of the reason I offered to stay here, even though I wasn't in danger, was because I knew that I was safe in the Marrow house.

Finally, I was able to relax enough, focusing on my breathing and went to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept before my brain registered a difference in the bed. I panicked for a brief moment, feeling a body behind me, an arm around my waist.

"Easy," It was Jax's voice.

"Jax?" I just needed a little reassurance.

"It's just me," he said against my hair. "We got him, baby, we got him."

I sighed in relief, rolling over to face him. He pulled me close and held me against his bare chest.

"He's gone?"

"Yeah."

"Did you make it hurt?"

"Oh yeah." He said firmly.

"Good." I sighed, snuggling closer and relaxing back into sleep.

I was confused when I woke up the next morning.

This isn't my room...

I sat up and looked around. I heard breathing beside me and turned to see Jax asleep on his side, facing me.

That's right, I'm at Gema's house. My brain was always slow in the morning.

I carful slid out of the bed, not wanting to wake Jax and grabbed my shorts. Leaving on my too-big SAMCROW shirt, I made my way downstairs, following the smell of food to the kitchen.

"Morning." Gema said from the stove.

"Morning," I yawned as I ran a hand through my hair. "Need help?"

"Grab the bacon out of the fridge," she pointed with her spatula. "So, I saw you and Jax snuggled up this morning."

I scowled at her while she opened to back of bacon.

"My brain isn't awake enough for this," I said, yawning again. I went over the the cabinet and pulled out plates and glasses, putting them on the table before getting the glass pitcher of orange juice out of the fridge. The sound of large feet on the stairs told me that Jax, and from the sounds of it, Clay, had been woken my the smell of breakfast.

"Morning." Jax said as he gave both me and his mom a kiss on the cheek.

"Coffee?" Clay grunted, at least I am not alone in not being a morning person.

"How'd you sleep?" Jax asked after we finished eating, helping to dry the dishes I was currently washing.

"Really well," I smiled. "Did I dream it or did you say you got him?"

"We did." He already knew who I was talking about.

"Excellent!" I finished the last dish. Being here in his parents house, sleeping, eating breakfast, cleaning, it all felt very domestic and dare I even think it...comfortable.

I haven't stayed at the Marrow house since high school when my parents had needed to go out of town. Jax and I were just becoming good friends at that point. He was a junior and I was a freshman, but we had known each other for years since my parents had been friends of the club going all the way back to the First 9. He had been on the basketball team, I had spent my lunch periods in the school library. We were an unlikely pair, but we got on well.

"Could you give m a ride home?" I asked. "I have to work this afternoon."

"Sure, we can go whenever you are ready." He nodded.

"Let me just say goodbye to your mom."

I went to the living room and found Gema sitting in a chair, feeding treats to that bird she loves so much, Clay was reading the news paper.

"Jax is going to take me home." I said from the door way, not wanting to intrude on their quiet space. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"No problem." Gema said. "You know you are welcome any time."

Clay nodded in a agreement, glancing at me from behind his paper.

"I'll see you both later."

I strapped on Jax's helmet and climbed onto the bike behind him, wrapping my arms around him I leaned against his back and closed my eyes. I allowed the lean and sway of the bike to relax me as we made our way to my house. Riding on a bike was something that I discovered I enjoyed after the first time Jax gave me a ride when he first got the bike.

He had been so proud. Newly Patched, he had pulled up outside my parents house and revved the engine of the shiny black machine. My mother had rolled her eyes and mumbled something about 'bad boys' as I went outside to congratulate my friend. I had been nervous the first time I sat on the motorcycle, but Jax had gone slow until I got comfortable. After that, it became one of my favorite things to do.

The rides had come to a stop not long after. Tara had seen us while we were on a lazy cruise one afternoon and had thrown a fit. I hadn't been present during that fight but the guys that had been in the club house during it told me it had been epic.

"Come stop by the club after work." He said when I climbed off the bike and handed him his helmet.

"I will," I nodded. "I get out around 5."

We said our goodbyes and I went inside to change into something more suited to work, a SAMCROW shirt that was to big for me wasn't going to cut it.