A/N: don't own don't sue

Lyrics at the beginning are from 'Everytime You Turn Around' by Daughtry

Set around Season One, before Abel is kidnapped and Gemma is raped and Jax turns into a jerk and the whole club hates each other. Generally back when the show had fun and all the coolest characters were still alive. Because I can, it's called artistic license.

Learn My Lesson

Chapter Twenty Three

I've been me, I been followin' my dreams
Tryin' to find the scene where you believed me
I been true, I been waiting here for you
I been patient, understanding and believing
I know you're standing there
Waiting for me to take it on back down the other road, baby
But I won't let ya down
I've been good, I been doin' what I should
Workin' hard to make a world that we can live in
I been strong, I been holding out so long
And I don't want you to forget you are forgiven
I know you're standing there
Waiting for me to take it on back down the other road, baby
But I won't let ya down
All the reasons you believe what you believe
Never seeing that the truth is a part of me
When all I wanna do is show you what it really means to love
What it really means to love

Chibs woke with a pounding fucking headache, for a long hazy moment wondering why he felt so strangely on edge. He squinted at the shape beside him, curled in on herself and hugging a pillow tightly. He knew her well enough to know that he wasn't fully forgiven yet, but she was open to it and he was grateful. Her hair was knotted on the pillow, exposing her slender naked back. He used one ringed finger to trace the bumps of her spine lightly. She shivered drowsily, uncoiling from the pillow and stretching out her long limbs. The pounding headache receded to a dull thud and he placed a tentative kiss on her bare shoulder, tasting the remnants of sweat and scotch. He felt a throb of lust arrow pleasantly through him.

"It's early." She grumbled faintly, burying her face into the pillow.

"Means everyone's still sleepin'." He pointed out, his breath puffing against her shoulderblade and raising goosebumps on her sensitive skin.

"Oh?" Her voice had taken on the taunting lilt that always turned him on and he pressed a little closer to her. "Why would that matter?"

"Means you'll have to be quiet, lass." He rumbled, his lips against the nape of her neck.

"You're assuming a lot, Scottish." She giggled as his breath tickled her ear.

He smirked. He knew perfectly well that if she wasn't into it, her body might as well have been a brick wall. Right now it was as open and tempting as it always had been. He ran his rough palm along the line of her body; her long slender thigh, the swell of her hip and the curve of her buttock. She squirmed pleasantly and he brought his palm down onto the flesh of her butt-cheek with a sharp crack, eliciting a squeal of surprise from her.

"Ah ah ah." He purred into her ear, smoothing his hand over the faint red mark. "Quiet, remember."

He felt her giggling against him, her body brushing teasingly against him. Even at his age, Chibs tended to wake up already at half-mast and the warm inviting heat of her body against his was doing its work. He slipped a hand between her thighs and her breath caught.

"It's far too early." She chastised breathlessly, her hips rocking slightly as he worked.

He grunted in response, the movement of her hips rubbing against him distractingly. They moved slowly and lazily together, tired, hungover and in no mood to rush. He palmed her breast and tweaked her nipple with his free hand and she reached back to tangle her fingers into his hair. Every inch of her back was pressed against his front, her long legs tangled with his. She'd pressed her face into the pillow to stifle any noise and he kept up a steady stream of filthy thoughts murmured into her ear in time to the rhythm of his fingers. She came slowly, her whole body quivering at the slow build up. He teased himself with a few slow languorous thrusts against her sensitive trembling body before he let himself go with a growl.

"Am I forgiven yet?" He panted into her ear, sprawled on top of her and lazy from his orgasm.

"Almost." She said heavily, her breath still hitching into the pillow. "Around 85%."

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the sweaty nape of her neck.

"You're a hard woman to please." He growled into her hair.

"Mmmm… maybe, but I am thoroughly satisfied right now." She grinned, jiggling just enough to somehow make him twitch again.

He groaned and rolled away from her. He was getting far too old to be having this much sex of any description. Even in this lifestyle surrounded by willing women, he hadn't fucked every night for a long time. He pushed away from the bed before she could tempt him again, staggering into the shower. His headache had returned with a vengeance now the blood was evenly distributed around his body again. The hot water woke him up a little and eased the ache in his old bones, bringing him back to life. The curtain whipped back and she slid under the water with him. He wondered how the hell he was going to gain the energy to go for another round, but she simply handed him a loofah and turned for him to scrub her back for her.


"It would get her off ATF's radar. For a while."

Clay squinted at Chibs, pondering the Scotsman curiously. He had heard all about the little tiff he'd had with that dangerous redhead, currently giggling like a schoolgirl with Half-Sack at the bar. Once the club had decided what to do with Cameron, Chibs had approached him about taking him up to the cabin, and his redhead coming along for the ride. He'd been thoroughly amused by the amount of excuses Chibs had come up with in such a short time, but Clay really couldn't care less what he did with his piece of ass. As long as she stayed alive and out of his ass, who gave a shit.

Chibs nodded sheepishly once Clay gave his consent for her to go with him, well aware that he was making a complete fool of himself over a chick. He sauntered over to said chick, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"What's so funny?"

Half-Sack shot him a wary look and then looked directly at Naomi, as if for permission. Chibs bit back a snort of irritation. The kid was so whipped.

"I was just telling Kip some stories about my brother and I growing up." She flapped a hand dismissively, sharing a secret grin with Half-Sack that made Chibs want to wrap his hands around the kid's skinny neck.

Half-Sack seemed to sense his mood and he hurriedly made himself busy on the opposite side of the room. Naomi watched him go fondly, then she turned to lean her elbows against the bar. Chibs glanced down briefly, appreciating the position that made her chest jut out towards him.

"You don't have to be so mean to him." She scolded reproachfully.

"He's half in love with you." Chibs pointed out grumpily, scowling across at Half-Sack who was struggling to keep hold of a heavy-looking box.

"And I'm half in love with you." She laughed, her cheeks flushing faintly. "So who cares."

Chibs decided not to respond, feeling flustered.

"I gotta go on a short trip."

Her face fell and her body went rigid.

"I see." She said quietly, that familiar sulky tone in her voice again.

"It'll only be a day or two."

She nodded without looking at him, her plump lower lip protruding slightly. Chibs did his best not to grin. He knew he was deliberately provoking her, but she was unutterably sexy when she was annoyed.

"Sure."

Chibs ran a fingertip along the strip of bare skin between her knotted up t-shirt and low-slung sweatpants.

"Don't sulk, lass."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's fine." She responded sullenly, in a tone of voice that very clearly established that it wasn't fine at all.

"It is fine." He laughed, leaning towards her and chucking under her chin until she tilted it up towards him defiantly. "Because you're coming with me."

"Why are you laughing at me? Don't you dare-" She stopped abruptly, her brilliant eyes narrowing, widening and then narrowing again. "I beg your pardon?"

Chibs was fully smirking now, thoroughly enjoying the look on her face and the flush on her neck. He tilted his head.

"I can get away from this garage? We're going to be alone finally?"

"Not exactly." He cut her off before she could respond. "We're taking the Irishman somewhere safe."

She cocked her head, studying him carefully and suspiciously.

"Safe as in isolated?"

Chibs stifled a grin and nodded as she peeped at him from under her lashes.

"Okay, I can work with isolated." She smiled so sweetly and innocently, that his whole groin throbbed needily. "When do we leave?"

Chibs glanced over his shoulder at the bustling behind him, Juice and Half-Sack organising the basics Cameron would need for his stay in the cabin.

"Not long."

He could see the excitement flashing in her eyes as she dashed off to grab some things to take with them.

"Chibs." He turned to find Juice hovering behind him uncertainly, his eyes darting nervously around the bar.

"Spit it out, kid." He snapped, irritated by the edgy look on Juice's face as he fidgeted.

Juice peered at him owlishly as he explained that the burner phone Naomi had used to call her brother weeks ago had rung earlier while they were in Church. A voicemail had been left by a frantic Dexter, explaining that he'd gotten involved in something he shouldn't have. He thought he'd seen someone he knew a day earlier and now he felt like a car had been following him. Chibs listened in silence, annoyed by the stupidity of the young lad. He knew Naomi loved her brother more than anything, she was throwing her whole life away for his dumb ass. He took the phone from Juice and went to find Naomi.

She was flitting around his room excitedly, tossing clothes and toiletries into a bag. She paused when he stepped into the room, holding up a lacy scrap of a thong.

"To pack or not to pack?" She teased, dangling the lace from her fingertip.

Chibs crossed the room towards her, taking the thong from her hand and tossing it over her shoulder. She laughed at first, then she caught his expression and faltered. He took her hand and sat her down on the empty chair, explaining what Juice had told him. He played her the voicemail. She listened in silence, remarkably calm and collected as she listened to her brother's panicked voice describe the car he was certain had followed him. She stayed silent for a long time, turning things over in her mind.

"I need to speak to him."

He'd known this was coming, he was just surprised by how calm she was taking the whole thing. He handed over the phone, his only condition that she put it on speaker. Dexter answered almost immediately, his voice stretched and shaky with fear. Naomi's hand clenched onto her thigh at the sound of his terrified voice and Chibs put a warm comforting hand on her back.

"Dex, calm down." Naomi's lips were getting thinner as she tried to cut through her brother's panicked babbling. "Dex-" She set her shoulders, her hand trembling slightly on the phone. "Dexter shut the fuck up."

The stream of panic on the phone seized abruptly and Chibs managed not to laugh. Naomi took a deep breath.

"Now. Stop talking utter shit, and start at the beginning. What did you do?"

They listened together as Dexter explained how he'd fallen in with the wrong crowd, his naive idiotic young mind convincing himself that they couldn't be as bad as everyone thought. In fact they were worse. When he'd disappeared off the face of the earth so suddenly, their criminal suspicious minds had made tenuous connections out of innocuous things and decided he was up to something.

"Did you get the plate of the car that followed you?" Naomi asked him.

"Just the first digits." Dexter replied, sounding much calmer now his sister was in control.

Naomi took the digits down on the back of a discarded magazine. Then she took the name and description of the 'friend'.

"Now. You need to stay calm." She said in a thoroughly sexy tone of authority. "Stop going out at all hours of the day or night. Remember you're supposed to be hiding out, for fuck's sake." She took a deep breath to reign her temper back in. "For once in your life, think of someone other than yourself, stupid." Chibs heard Dexter's sharp intake of breath at the harsh words. "Please do as I ask, until you hear from me again."

Dexter mumbled an apology, promised he would lay low, and hung up the phone. Naomi tossed the phone onto the bed and ran her hands over her face tiredly.

"Lass?"

She glanced up at Chibs.

"Can I ask Juice to look into this for me?" She waved the magazine.

"Quietly." Chibs confirmed, not wanting to think what Clay would do if he found out.

"Thank you." She murmured.

Chibs lifted her hand and brushed his lips over the back of her palm. She smiled prettily at him and he winked.

"Are we still going?"

He lifted his eyebrows in surprise. He had expected her to want to be nearby in case something came through on her brother. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then her jaw set defiantly and she nodded.

"There's nothing I can do here, right?" She said rationally. "Juice will let us know if he finds anything?"

Chibs nodded, squeezing her hand where it still lay in his.

"Sure thing, lass."

She gave him a gentle smile and he felt a flicker of pride in his chest. Not long ago this kind of news would have sent her into a breakdown, now she was calm and thinking clearly of what needed to be done. He was partly proud of her growth and partly disappointed that some of her endearing innocence had gone. After a moment of silence, she got to her feet and turned back to the bag she'd been packing.

"Hey." Chibs paused in the doorway, watching her turn back to him. "Don't pack the thong."

She laughed, sticking her tongue out at him.


Since Cameron fell asleep almost immediately after they left the garage, Chibs was mercifully spared Naomi's taste in music. Although she glared at him in a way that promised retribution when he made the mistake of pointing that out. Naomi had politely offered the dangerous Irishman the front seat, but due to his injury he had opted for the back where he could adjust his position when needed. Chibs was rewarded by the tantalising view of her long bare legs propped up on the dashboard beneath her much too small shorts. He was almost certain she'd had words with Cherry and borrowed some of her clothes at some point because if Juice had deliberately procured something that sexy for her… he was going to punch him.

Since there was no music for her to warble along to, praise Jesus, they played driving games instead. Stupid games that she had played with Dexter when she was a kid that helped pass the time when gazing at the beautiful landscape passing by got old. They had been playing the license plate game for the past hour.

"You're cheating." She snapped, leaning out of the window to squint at the car that had just rattled past them.

"How the fuck can you cheat at this game?" He snorted in amusement as she pulled her head back into the truck and glowered at him.

"There's no way that beat up old junker made it all the way to California in one piece."

Chibs imitated her sulky pout and she wrinkled her nose mutinously.

"Sure it could. Who's the mechanic here?"

She rolled her eyes but he knew she wasn't really mad.

"I can't believe you're cheating." She laughed, swivelling in her seat to reach behind it for one of the bottles of water they'd brought along.

Chibs kept his eyes firmly on the road but he was very aware of her plump jeaned backside perched right beside his face as she struggled to reach the bottle. Eventually she managed to dig it out and she slid back into her seat, her cheeks flushed from hanging upside down. She caught Chibs's eye and smiled shyly.

"What?"

His lips lifted in a smirk, his eyebrows quirking over his sunglasses.

"Now who's playing?"

She laughed, unscrewing the bottle and taking a slug. Her chest rose and fell as she swallowed.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Scottish." She purred, her eyes a glimmer beneath lashes lowered demurely.

"You're a fuckin' tease." He growled, lifting his hand from the steering wheel and dropping it heavily onto her bare thigh.

"Certainly." She shrugged one shoulder, running her fingernails over the back of his hand as he squeezed gently.

He stroked her bare thigh, forcing himself to concentrate on the road and not the hot barely clothed temptress beside him.

"You gonna admit you cheated at the game?" She said silkily, gliding her fingertips over the bare skin of his arm and tracing the outline of his tattoos.

"I got no idea what you're talking about, lass."

She gave a breathy giggle and shook her head. He waited until she was taking another drink, then he moved his hand deliberately up her thigh to rest between her legs. She flinched in surprise, spilling water onto her chest and soaking the shirt knotted above her navel. She shot him a reproachful glare but he flexed his fingers and she let out a little sigh.

"Don't you two ever stop."

Naomi squirmed in embarrassment, her thighs clamping shut on his hand. Chibs chuckled, retrieving his hand as she pulled her knees to her chin shyly. Cameron adjusted painfully into a sitting position, leaning forwards between them.

"Are you thirsty?" Naomi asked him, breathless with embarrassment.

Cameron nodded and she handed him an unopened bottle of water.

"How much longer?" He rasped after draining half the bottle down.

Chibs glanced at the surrounding area and the darkening sky.

"Few hours."

Cameron nodded, wincing slightly as he readjusted his position. Naomi dug the burner phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. Flip phones, yeesh… talk about the stone age. She had made Juice put his number in the phone before she left, in case anything happened with her brother.

should you be doing that?

She waited for a minute, the grin on her face getting wider and wider in anticipation.

doin wat?

Don't play innocent, you're up to something.

can u see me?

She almost laughed out loud, imagining Juice looking around in a panic. It had been a pure stab in the dark, just to play with him for her own amusement, but he was clearly up to something.

I can see youuuuuuuuu

ur not funny

I'm fucking adorable

She giggled to herself and Chibs shot her a suspicious glance that she ignored.

Any news?

not yet ull be the 1st to no

She sighed, leaning her head back against the seat. If anyone could find these guys hassling her brother, it was Juice.

Thanks for the help x

:) x

She powered the phone down and tossed it into her bag at her feet, turning to watch the landscape as trees started to dot the winding road. The air was clearing slightly, turning cooler and fresher and she leaned out of the window. Sometimes it was easy to forget that her life was on the line. She felt a hand on her thigh again and she absently stroked his wrist, comforted to know he was there.