AN: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry to have neglected this story. I work at a hospital and as you can imagine, the pandemic has been insane. Buuut I finally have a laptop which gives me a creative escape! So here's a little chapter as i try to shake off some rust!

CHAPTER 40

Hecate ventured into the kitchen where she grabbed an empty glass from the counter and filled it with cold water, lifting it to her mouth as she turned around and leant her hips back to rest against the edge. After a couple of mouthfuls to quench her morning thirst, she looked out of the door towards the main room of the clubhouse. There were a few signs of life, with Chibs ushering Juice out towards the Garage, a few unknown females wandering about and a few of the other members she hadn't had a chance to meet yet.

The whole concept was intriguing. They were a gang who hid behind the facade of a garage - it was actually quite smart. She wondered for a moment, how much Wayne knew about the situation. He had tried to warn her off Juice - so he must have been aware of something. It surprised her, because she had always taken him for a 'by the book' type of cop - especially since he was so close to her uncle. Suddenly, a thought dawned on her. What if her uncle had been involved in some way? The way Gemma had acknowledged it made her think she had been acquainted with him. But then again, they had been neighbours for many years and Stephen was born and raised in Charming and had remained their until his unfortunate demise.

"Mornin' darlin'.." A voice from broke her out of her thoughts and she blinked hard before turning her head towards the face of Jax who had appeared in the doorway - she must have lost her concentration when she'd succumbed to her thoughts.

"Good morning, Jax." She greeted with a small smile, lowering her glass to the countertop as she turned more in his direction. "How are you?" She asked.

He gave her a charming grin as he leaned in the doorway, hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans. "I'm fine.. But really the question is how are you doin'?" He countered, his tone much more serious, his gaze zeroed in on her.

Ah yes, how could she forget? The casual supermarket shoot out which lead to the near-fatal shooting of a young man, who she'd just happened to save?

"Oh. Me?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders as she crossed her arms at her front. "You don't have to worry about me.." She tried to throw him off the subject by playing it cool. "I'll be just fine." She finished with a slight smile.

He looked at her for a moment, right in the eyes. She knew that he wasn't convinced or close to accepting her word for the truth. "Well, alright then." He finally answered, and Hecate felt her shoulders relax slightly. He wasn't going to delve into it or grill her over it, and she was thankful for that. She wasn't sure if she was ready yet to get into the nitty gritty of the events. She looked down for a moment towards her feet, tapping her toes against the cold floor. "But what you did was really brave.. We're gonna find out who did this and we're gonna set it right." He suddenly continued and she looked up to meet his gaze again, only this time he appeared more stern and his eyes darker. What did he mean by that? Her expression turned to that of a thoughtful one as she gave a slight tilt of her head. But she didn't say anything, and he didn't stay any longer to see if she would. He just gave her a nod of the head before turning out of the kitchen altogether.

Hecate turned to face the window, and lifted the glass to her mouth again, downing the last of the contents before placing the cup back down and retreating from the room. It was only when she ventured into the main room that she remembered her clothing - or lack thereof. It probably wasn't the best idea to be sauntering around bare legged in a hoodie that barely reached her mid-thigh. But she'd been on such a high this morning that she hadn't even thought about it and had forgotten that she was a guest in a testosterone filled environment. She decided it best to go and get changed and figure out what she should be doing with her day.

She entered Juice's small room and realised that she didn't have any clean clothes with her, as this stay had been totally unplanned.

"Hmm." She hummed out loud as she turned to the set of draws, opening them one by one until she complied an outfit out of Juice's own clothes. She picked things that looked like they would be the smallest, so she wouldn't drown in excess material - but the choices were slim. She laughed to herself after she changed and had caught a look at herself in the mirror. She wore a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms where the material gathered at her ankles due to the leg length, and a short sleeved black t-shirt which was also excessively big. She fixed this by using one of the spare hairbands on her wrist to tie it, so that it now sat above her belly button rather than down past her rear. With the bottoms, she pulled them up and tied the drawstring so they sat at her hips and she reached down to roll the cuffs of the legs up so the length wasn't as awful. Obviously, it was only temporary, so she wasn't going to be too worried about how she looked. She pulled her dark hair up into a high ponytail, and secured it tightly to the top of her head with a few small tugs.

Hecate stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, smiling at her own reflection. She looked okay, still pale, still slightly sad - but somewhat happier in her eyes, which up until now had lost their sparkle. She stopped examining herself and turned to grab her phone from the bedside table, shoving it into the pocket of the bottoms. Before leaving the room, she shoved her feet into her converse, reaching down to pull the backs of the heels up before rising and leaving the room, closing the door securely behind her.

She'd wondered out front, squinting as her eyes adjusted from being in the dimly lit clubhouse, to the brightly lit outdoors. It was a warm morning and she knew it would only get warmer. After a few blinks, she looked around at the yard and that was when she noticed Gemma talking to a gentleman by her office. She caught her gaze and Cate gave a smile and a raise of her hand in a wave gesture. Gemma seemed to end her conversation at that point, taking some keys from the gentleman before he departed. Cate took this as her cue to head over. Gemma moved a few steps forward also, meeting the dark haired younger woman in the middle.

Before Hecate could even say hello, Gemma had wrapped her arms tightly around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. It took her by surprise and for a moment she stood there with her arms awkwardly tucked down by her sides. It only lasted for a moment though, before Cate lifted her own arms and wrapped them around Gemma's back. No words were spoken between them for a short amount of time and the whole thing had Cate feeling very overwhelmed with emotion. She felt her eyes start to sting with tears, and her jaw wobbled as she squeeze Gem tighter.

"I know, sweetheart. It's okay.." Gemma's spoke softly into the side of her head. That was all it took for Cate's walls to break down. A quiet sob racked her body and if it hadn't been from Gemma's firm embrace, she probably would have wobbled or dropped to her knees. "Shhh." She continued, whilst a hand brushed up and down her back in a soothing gesture. They stood there like that for what felt like hours, but was actually a minute or so, with Cate crying quietly into the older woman's shoulder, as Gemma simply let her. Yesterday had been too much, the last couple of weeks had been too much and she was simply overwhelmed by it all.

The tears slowly subsided and Cate began to feel a bit calmer as she gained some control over her emotions. After a shaky, deep breath in, she slowly broke out of the embrace. She raised her hands to her face as she stood straight, wiping her fingertips beneath her eyes to dry her wet cheeks. But Gemma's hands remained on her shoulders, keeping her at arms length. Cate tilted her head back and looked up towards the sky as she drew in another, deeper, breath. She let it out with a laugh, looking back down at Gemma, smiling as she wiped the last of the wetness away from her face.

"I'm sorry." She apologised, sniffling as she directed her gaze away from the woman, lowering it to their feet.

"Don't be stupid, honey." Gemma responded, pulling her in for one more hug. This time it was much quicker and Gem was the one to end it by pulling herself away and standing to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to keep her close by in a side hug. "I gotta run some errands in a little while.. do some shopping. How's that sound?" She asked and instantly Cate smiled and nodded her head. She was grateful that Gemma had chosen not to ask about how she was doing or whether she wanted to talk. She was sure she understood exactly how she was feeling.

"That sounds great.. But first I'll need to go home to get dressed properly." Cate responded, gesturing down at her borrowed attire.

"We can stop by on the way.. You think I'd let you go out to town looking like that?" Gemma questioned with humour in her voice and Cate laughed, shaking her head.

"Absolutely not.." She answered, meeting the kind face of her friend.

"Although, I can think of one person who wouldn't mind it.." Gemma began before diverting her gaze behind Cate. "Ain't that right, Juicey boy!"

At the sound of his name, butterflies erupted in her stomach and a warmth spread throughout her body. Cate rolled her eyes, though, in response to Gem's teasing before she turned her head to look in the direction Gemma had shouted towards, to see Juice standing not so far away from them, a dirty rag in hand, concern in his face. Had he witnessed her breakdown in the lot? Or was he concerned about what the girls had been talking about, that ended with Gemma calling him out?

"Go see your man.. I'll grab you when we're leavin'." Gemma instructed, moving her hand to the small of her back to push Cate gently in the direction of Juice. Cate nodded as a goodbye to her, before turning her attention back towards Juice, who walked away from the garage to meet her.

"Are you okay?" He asked instantly as they met, standing barely a few steps away from each other. Concern was evident in his face and it warmed her to know he was worried about her, that he cared.

"I'm fine.. Gemma just has this way about her you know?" She explained with an awkward smile, shrugging her shoulders. Juice stared at her for a moment, pushing his lips together in a straight line as he contemplated questioning her further, before smiling.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He repeated. As he asked again, she felt his fingers brush against her right hand as it rested by her side. Cate glanced down at his outstretched hand, seeking to entwine with her own. She turned her hand and interlocked her fingers with his, smiling as she looked back up to meet his stare.

"I am now.." She answered and as if he had read her mind, he leant down towards her and they met in the middle with a gentle kiss. One hand interlocked, her other reaching up to settle on his chest.

An eruption of whistling and cheering from behind him made her break away with a laugh. She laughed even harder as Juice turned to flip them all the bird before returning his face to hers, leaning down to rest his forehead against her own. His hand found her hip, a thumb brushing against the exposed skin beneath her make-shift cropped top.

"You look so hot in my clothes." He suddenly said with a grin and Cate laughed again, being reminded of the exact same sentence he'd used earlier this morning when they'd left his room together.

"Imagine how hot I'll look out of them.." She repeated her line from earlier, watching him laugh in response this time before their lips met for another kiss, followed by another round of whistles.