A/N - Fa laa! Chibs is handling Nina in the best way he can, but an unwelcome interruption is going to cause a few issues... enjoy! More Happy/Tash in the next chapter.
"I don't like you staying here."
Nina felt herself shiver as Chibs ran his fingers along the base of her spine as he slipped up next to her at the bar at Diosa. She had barely moved all morning, finding solace in drink after drink. Nero had tried to interject a little while ago but had been quickly beaten down by Nina's stubborn need to comfort herself in the only way she knew how to, and Chibs could see the glazed look in her eyes from one too many. His hand rested on her hip for a moment and she sucked on the end of her beer bottle before placing it on the bar for Lyla to take and replace.
"I don't have anywhere else to go," she said, barely daring to look at him. Chibs pulled a face and motioned for the girl on the stool beside her to shoo so he could take the seat. He dragged it closer to Nina's and locked her legs between his knees, forcing her to swivel and face him.
"You know that's not true." He looked over her, her face was drained of colour, her skin ashen from the abuse she was putting her body through. Lyla hesitantly put another bottle in front of her but Chibs took it first and moved it out of reach. "What are you going to do, Nina? Drink yourself into oblivion?" She sneered him a little.
"As soon as I can get something harder, Filip, I'm all over it."
He didn't like that. The thought that she might take something most substantial haunted him, he didn't want her hurting herself. He reached for her hand but she ghosted it away quickly, concealing it beneath her sleeve. The last thing she wanted was Chibs lecturing her like Nero would. Chibs glanced at Lyla, ushering her away with his stony gaze, and he leaned closer, lowering his voice to a gruff whisper. "Let's go somewhere private, talk properly." Nina shook her head, finally flicking her eyes up to meet his.
"Talk about what, Filip? You want to talk about Emily?" Her lips wobbled as she said the name, and Chibs could see her shutting down, her shoulders slumping forward. "There's nothing to say. She was killed, this club, this life, it killed her." He didn't react and her expression became harder. "You wouldn't understand. All you're thinking is, 'thank God it's not Natasha.'" She glared at him challengingly, and Chibs blushed, knowing that she could read him through and through. "Maybe that's the difference to you, but they're both my girls. My girls," she reiterated, shaking her head.
"Don't be like that." Chibs reached for her hand again, more purposefully, and took it against her will. Nina hissed, trying to drag it away, and he frowned as he turned it over to see the deep cut mark against her thumb. "What the hell is this-"
"Nothing." She snatched her hand away, wrapping it around another drink insistently and ignoring him. "It's nothing, it's nothing to do with you."
Chibs looked at her blankly. Who was this? His Nina, she seemed so cold and distant. He shook his head, he wouldn't let this get the best of him. She was struggling, Gemma was right, grief did funny things to people. "It's everything to do with me," he said firmly. "You're the only one I've cared about for a long, long time, Nina. You might be his wife but you know you're my old lady, you always have been. Ever since that first time." He saw her turn red at that. "Don't think I don't remember. I came off my bike, you stayed at mine. On the couch, for all of two minutes." He chuckled at the memory. "You were in my bed and it would have killed me to say no to you. I'd never felt happier than when we…" He suddenly became shy, and Nina looked at him challengingly.
"Fucked?"
"Made love," he said, colouring. "You know it wasn't just a fuck."
Nina shook her head, laughing at herself. "I don't think I know how to do that," she muttered. "I've done nothing but fuck and be fucked since I got here." She slipped off her seat and started to move away when Chibs moved after her, taking her wrist and tugging her into the corner of the bar. He urged her to sit down on the couch, looking around suspiciously as he squeezed up closer to her.
"Don't say that." He caressed her cheek, trying to connect with her. "What about when we made Tash, huh? Belfast?" He could feel himself tearing as he realised how much pain she must be feeling. "Christ, Nina, I don't even know what would happen if… if she'd been hurt. I'm sorry about Emmy, love, I'm so sorry."
Nina felt her mind spinning. Emmy, her Emmy. She was sure she was beginning to breathe faster, more anxiously, and her head began to spiral. Chibs could see the little blood that was in her face draining and he put his arms around her, pulling her close and stroking her hair to calm her. "It's okay," he murmured, holding her to him. "I've got you." She felt herself sob as he said it, her lips sticking together with her saliva as she moaned into his chest, soaking his shirt as she let herself cry into him. Chibs hushed her softly, rocking her to help her find some sense of rhythm, and he closed his eyes as he felt her leaning into him tighter, needing him to support her.
"I'm really sorry."
Lyla's gentle tone made Chibs look up, and Nina sat up quickly, awkwardly, trying to rub her tears away from her face at the interruption. Chibs looked at Lyla expectantly. "What is it?" Lyla motioned behind her towards the bar.
"There's someone here, asking for you," she said apologetically to Nina. "He said you met last night?"
Nina swallowed as she pushed her palms against the lower lids of her eyes awkwardly. "That's all he said?" Chibs frowned as he felt her immediately pulling away, trying to pull herself together. He watched as she stood, trying to smooth her clothes out in an attempt to regain some sense of herself.
"You don't need to see some shite punter in here, Nina," he assured her. "You can see him away, can't you Lyla?"
Nina shook her head. "No, it's okay." Gemma's warning had bothered her, if she was going to see this guy away, she'd be better off discouraging him in person, she was sure of it. "Just… just stay here, Filip, let me deal with it. I won't be long."
She nodded to Lyla and followed her across the bar. Chibs watched, putting his hands through his hair in frustration as he watched her walk away. He leaned around the wall, watching curiously and noticing the man at the bar. Suited and booted perfectly, he looked like a damn schmoozer, slick and well-groomed. Business, he presumed, he definitely looked like the type. Nina kissed his cheek politely but kept a little distance, although the stranger seemed intent on closing the space between them.
"Prick," Chibs muttered, rubbing his lower lip in annoyance as he watched. He could see Nina conferring with the guy, keeping the seat between them, keeping control of the situation but when he moved to sit and rested his hand on her hip, Chibs couldn't stop himself from charging over. He put one arm around Nina possessively, his nostrils flaring as he made his presence very, very well known. "Everything alright, sweetheart?"
Dmitri looked at him with a smirk and glanced past him to look at Nina. "Is this your pimp?" he asked frankly. Chibs' eyes nearly popped out of his head at that, taking it as a blatant insult.
"She's not a fucking whore," he snarled, shielding Nina's body with his own. She rested her hand on his arm, trying to calm him down.
"Filip, don't-"
Dmitri laughed as he looked over Chibs with disdain and stood up, his height matching him inch for inch, and his eyes narrowed as he leaned in a little. "I'm sorry, I don't think this conversation has anything to do with you." He looked at Nina and laughed. "If you'd just called me like I'd asked you to, we wouldn't have had to be… interrupted."
God, the way he said it was sleazy as all hell and Chibs had to do everything he had to to control his fists. "You have no business with her," he muttered. "Anything you have to say to her, you can say to me." Dmitri smiled and leaned around Chibs to look Nina in the eye.
"Is that true, myshka?" he asked playfully. "I don't want to get you in trouble." There was a playful look on his lips and Nina turned red. She could feel Chibs vibrating with hatred, frustrated by his lack of knowledge. He turned on her, frowning.
"If this arsehole's bothering you, Nina, I can have him removed."
Nina shook her head. "Chibs, he's fine, Dmitri was just leaving," she said, looking at Pelekov with an instructional look. He smiled, an easy, confident smile, knowing full well that she would call him after he left.
"Dimi," he insisted with a wink at her. "And she's right, I was going." He pushed something into Nina's hand, a roll of bank notes that Chibs got a mere glimpse of as she shoved it uncomfortably into her bag without even looking at it. Dmitri extended his hand to Chibs for him to shake, but Chibs looked at him with disgust. When he didn't accept it, Dmitri pushed his lower lip out and nodded slowly. "Okay, I see how this is. I'm sorry to have caught you off-guard, myshka," he added, looking at Nina. "Another time, I hope."
He rebuttoned his jacket, straightening his suit as he walked out of Diosa, completely unruffled by his encounter. Chibs looked after him with a glower before shooting a hateful look at Lyla and jerking his thumb after him. "That guy doesn't come in here again, understood?" Lyla nodded quickly and he turned to Nina. "What was that about?"
"Nothing," Nina said abruptly. "He was here last night, we talked. You didn't have to be like that, he was just being nice." Chibs scowled.
"He thought you were a hooker," he muttered, a bitter tone on his tongue. "I'm not okay with that."
"You don't have to be okay with it. I'm not your responsibility," she replied defensively, crossing her arms over her chest. "You can't look after me, none of you can, and I don't need you to. I'm just fine." Chibs scoffed.
"Don't be ridiculous."
Nina was clearly offended by his curt response and her eyebrows furrowed. "You know, maybe you should go too. All my problems start from you guys. You, Tig, Daddy. I can make my own decisions, about who to spend time with, who to talk to. You have no right to try and control me, Filip, none of you do. Right now, I'm probably safer with a stranger than with any of SAMCRO."
Chibs' face fell as she said it and he realised that Gemma was right, she was grieving and her heart was hurting. "You don't mean that." She didn't answer and he tugged at his lip. "Aye, well, fine. If that's what you want." He frowned. "You should come and check on Tash, you know, instead of just hiding from everything. Just because one girl's gone, doesn't mean the other doesn't need her Ma."
Nina shook her head. "You should leave," she said sharply. "Before I cause a scene." Chibs opened his mouth to object but she leaned in and jabbed him hard. "And I will cause a scene, Filip, so I suggest you get out, now." His nostrils flared and he turned on his heel in a sulk, frustrated. Fuck, he'd just about been getting somewhere with her before that damned Russian interrupted. That was a problem he would have to find a way to remove.