Title: Playing With Fire

Author: charliepink

Rating: M

Pairing: Chibs/Juice

Summary: AU - It takes some convincing for Tig and his partner, Venus, to persuade their friend Chibs into the strip club - especially because the club is full of male dancers. However, once Chibs finally steps inside, he finds himself suddenly taken by the stripper simply named Juice.

Disclaimer: I did not make a profit off of this story. I do not own or know anyone or anything relating to Sons of Anarchy. This is a work of fiction.

*Cross-posted on AO3*

Notes: I couldn't help myself and decided to go ahead and post the AU Chibs/Juice story I'd mentioned while I'm working on the next part of 'I am a Nightmare.'

And yes, the Pink Jelly Bean really does exist. ;P

Chapter One

"I'm not going to no damned queer bar!" Chibs growls fiercely.

"Strip club, actually," Tig grins at his best friend.

"Tigger, I will stab you."

"Come on, Chibby. Venus and I want you to meet one of our friends."

The two men are leaning against one of the road company's trucks that they work for. "Morrow Road Repair" is printed in bright red across the white of the truck's side panel, and the letters are partly obscured as they lean their backs against it. They're on their lunch break, and Tig has cornered Chibs in hopes of finally talking him into joining him and his partner, Venus, at Teller's Lovelies, the local strip joint.

Chibs waves his chicken sandwich threateningly at Tig, "If ya ask me one more time, I'll suffocate ye with me bread."

"That accent, darling, I can't take you seriously."

"Tig!"

"Alright, alright," Tig backs away from Chibs' dangerous glare, "But if you change your mind, Venus and I are heading there at eight." He ducks as the remainder of Chibs' sandwich comes flying at his head and walks away with a chuckle.

Chibs rolls his eyes and reaches into his cooler to fish out a cold can of soda. He'd prefer a beer, but as they're still on the job, it'll have to wait until later. He pops the tab, downs half the ice cold liquid in one chug, then wipes his lips with the back of his hand. The sun beats ferociously down on them and sweat is beginning to pour down his face. The county had tasked Morrow's to fix one of the country roads that had begun to fall apart, and so far they'd spent the day filling deep potholes. They still have three more holes to fill until they're done, and Chibs is hoping they can finish early just to get out of the sun.

When their lunch break is over, he, Tig, and their boss, Clay, go back to filling the holes. The job is boring, and Chibs finds his mind wandering. It settles on the conversation he and Tig had been having, and Chibs' wonders why Tig has been so pushy about getting him to check out Teller's. Tig knows Chibs is fond of women, not men. He even has a teenage daughter from when he was married to his now ex-wife, Fiona. Yet, Tig won't stop hassling him about checking out the place. Faintly, he considers biting the bullet and meeting Tig there tonight, but then he mumbles, "I'm not fucking queer," to himself and goes on filling potholes.

The sun is only beginning to sink in the sky when they finish the last pothole. It's a little past five, and Chibs' muscles are sore from shoveling rocks and blacktop and repairing the road all day. He gulps another soda as he settles into his work pickup truck and slowly makes his way home. He lives in the country, just on the outskirts of town, in an average size two story house. He lives alone as Fiona and his daughter, Kerrianne, had moved out when he and Fiona had gotten divorced. The house is slowly beginning to fall into disrepair, and he keeps telling himself he's going to get out and fix it. The white siding is dirty and beginning to come unattached in places, and the windows are foggy and in need of cleaning. He makes a mental note to wash the windows tomorrow on his day off even though he knows he'll probably hang out in front of the TV all day.

Chibs parks his truck in the driveway next to his only other pride and joy aside from his daughter: his big, black, beautiful Harley. He stares longingly at it, craving a good long ride in the breeze, and decides to go inside, grab a bite to eat, shower, then come out to go for a ride. Inside, he whips himself up another sandwich and hungrily wolfs it down. One problem with not having a woman in the house is that he's not a very good cook, and he misses Fiona's home cooked meals. Of course, then he always remembers he doesn't miss Fiona herself and the thoughts leave as quickly as they came.

The shower feels good against his sweat-slicked skin, and he air dries in the cool air of the air conditioning once he steps out. He runs a comb through his rapidly greying hair, then pushes his long bangs back behind his ear. His eyes flick for a moment at his reflection in the mirror, and he slowly reaches up to touch the scars on either cheek. The scars are deep, from a time when he was much younger. He doesn't mind them, but he knows some people find them intimidating when they first meet him. Still, nothing he can do about them, so his hands fall from his face and he turns his back to the mirror.

It's after six when he finally makes his way back out to his motorcycle. The sun is quickly sinking now, and before long it will be sunset. A slight warm gentle breeze rustles his hair, off-setting the heat around him, and he smiles. Perfect riding weather.

He'd chosen dark blue jeans and a brown leather jacket for the ride. Even though the air and breeze are warm, nightfall will cause the temperatures to cool and he doesn't want to be cold. The motorcycle roars underneath him as he takes off down the road, cruising the countryside with the radio playing quietly in front of him. He quickly forgets his sore muscles from the day at work and instead becomes absorbed in the ride. Golden fields and tall green trees surround him, and an hour has passed before he decides to turn around and head back.

By the time he reaches town, it's nearly eight, but he's not ready to return home. He makes a turn leading towards downtown instead of heading down the road that leads to his house. The town isn't small like some of the others that dot the countryside, but it isn't overly large either. It's mostly made up of local shops and hotspots, and Chibs is familiar with each curve of the road. In this case, it comes as a surprise when he finds himself coming up upon the flashing rainbow sign of Teller's Lovelies.

Chibs frowns. He glances down at his watch and sees it's a little past eight, and sure enough, he spots Tig's own motorcycle parked in front of the strip club. Venus' helmet is resting on the back, and he knows that she's there too, just as Tig had promised.

"Alright!" Chibs huffs, though he doesn't know who he's speaking to.

He parks his bike next to Tig's. Night is now around him, and the bright sign of Teller's causes him to blink as he nears the door. An overweight bearded man with long, stringy hair guards the door, and he eyes Chibs suspiciously as Chibs draws closer. Chibs nods awkwardly in his direction, and the bouncer nods back. Apparently, this means he's allowed in.

Chibs isn't expecting the amount of people when he steps inside. The main lights of the club are off, but other lights pulsing in every color flash around him. In these lights, he can see the place is crowded with people, mostly men of various ages, size, and shape, and some of these men are in different stages of dress and undress. Electronic dance music blasts around him, drowning out the noise of the people, and no one seems to notice him step further into the club.

At the left side of the room is the bar, while the right side of the room is full of tables and chairs. The middle of the room holds the dance floor, and here, the floor is covered in flashing rainbow tiles that pulse colorfully with the music. Behind the dance floor, on the opposite side of the room, is a stage that juts out from the wall. A door is closed behind it that must lead into a backstage area. On this stage are a pair of thin, scantily clad young men gyrating to the music and against each other. The one stops and runs a hand down the other's chest, then pulls him in for a tongue-filled kiss. In front of the stage, spectators cheer and toss dollars up at the two men which only encourages the two to claw at each other harder.

"Fucking queers," Chibs grumbles, but he makes his way over to the bar.

The bartender asks him if he wants a Pink Jelly Bean, whatever that is, and he tells him no, he wants a Jack and coke. "Ah, a manly man," the bartender winks and flashes him a grin before handing him his drink.

Chibs glares at him before he downs half his glass and turns away from the bar. He's already starting to regret coming inside.

At that moment, the two dancers are leaving the stage. They finish scooping the fallen dollar bills from the floor, then exit through the door in the back. Chibs wonders what or who will come out next, and he doesn't have to wait long. A voice comes over a hidden intercom and announces loudly, "And now, that sexy drink you all desire...JUICE!"

The door at the back of the stage opens and the entire room seems to swoon when the next young man steps through. Juice is tan, muscular and chiseled to perfection. He's not thin like the previous two young men, but taller and filled out in all the right places. His muscular arms are covered in tattoos, as well as his well-defined chest. His abs are cut in a deep six-pack which flows into the tight V of his hips. Rather than a G-string or thong, he's wearing a pair of tight black boxer briefs, and somehow this makes him appear even more appealing. His hair is cut in a short, almost buzzed mohawk and dark tribal tattoos are on either side of his head. This unique look, as well as his perfect body, make him look like a model, and everyone in the crowd seems to love him.

Even Chibs suddenly finds himself entranced by the young man as Juice slowly begins to dance on stage. Chibs finishes off his drink, then sets it on the bar, unable to take his eyes of the boy on the stage. Juice closes his eyes, his mouth falling open in a breathless sigh as he turns with the music. He's familiar with the song and moves his hips to the beat, every so often moving to the edge of the stage as if to offer the spectators a touch, but only to pull away before they can reach him. He runs his hands down his chest, over his hips, then back up with the music. Sweat is beginning to gather across Juice's skin, and Chibs suddenly finds himself wanting lick it off him, to taste the salt in his mouth and feel the boy's skin against his lips.

A low, predatory growl escapes Chibs as he feels himself slowly growing hard as he watches Juice on stage. Juice has hooked his fingertips into the top of his briefs, and he's slowly begun to pull them down, offering the crowd a hint of what's beneath. Chibs takes a step closer, solely focused on the boy, and for a second, he thinks he sees Juice's eyes flick over towards him. Chibs feels his heart quicken, and he suddenly wants to rip the clothes from Juice's body. He wants to touch him, wants to make him beg, wants to...

"I see you've noticed our friend."

Chibs nearly jumps out of his skin when Tig and Venus suddenly appear at his side. Venus is clinging to Tig's arm, the male-to-female beauty as lovely a sight as ever. She smiles at him as she nods hello. Tig is smiling around the pink drink he's sipping, and Chibs can see the sparkling in his eyes.

"Juice is pretty hot, isn't he?" Tig smirks. "Venus here introduced him to me. I wanted you to meet him, but I see you've already taken a fancy to him."

Chibs chooses not to say anything about Juice. Tig had caught him watching the boy, he can't deny it, so instead he asks, "What the hell are ya drinking, Tigger?"

Tig holds up his drink, "What, you've never heard of a Pink Jelly Bean? It's vodka, ginger ale, cherry juice, and pink jelly beans. It's good, want to try a sip?"

"Trager, I swear to god, if ye ever ask me that again, I'll kill you."

Before Tig can reply, the intercom suddenly speaks overhead again, announcing the next dancer. Chibs' eyes flash towards the stage to see the door closing as Juice disappears backstage. For some reason, this causes a small pain of regret to shoot through him, but he quickly pushes it aside.

"Aw, we missed the best part," Tig whines. "I wanted to see him take his pants off."

Chibs silently finds himself agreeing, though he doesn't know why, and he keeps his mouth shut.

The next dancer appears on stage, a blond twink called Half Sack, and Chibs frowns. He's not at all interested in watching, but luckily Venus motions for him to follow her and Tig back up to the bar. Tig orders another one of those stupid pink drinks, and Chibs settles for another Jack and coke.

"So is this your first time at Teller's, darling?" Venus asks him.

"Aye." Chibs still isn't quite sure why he'd come in the first place, especially after he'd told Tig hundreds of times that he'd never step foot in the place.

Venus smiles. She can sense his discomfort, but she'd also watched how taken he'd been by Juice. Tig had told her one day that it has been a long time since Chibs has been with a woman, and she'd had the idea of inviting him here to see the dancers. Juice hasn't been there long, only about a month or two, but for some reason she'd thought Chibs might like him. And, if she's correct, she thinks Juice might like him too.

"There's my darling!" Venus breathes as she sees Juice walking towards them.

Chibs' heart seems to stop as his eyes land on the young man. He swallows his drink, eyes never leaving Juice's figure. Juice is now wearing a pair of dark black skinny jeans and a tight plain black polo. The only thing Chibs thinks is how much he wants to rip the clothes back off him.

"Great show, Juicey dear," Venus tells him.

"Yeah, Chibs here really enjoyed it," Tig elbows Chibs in the side with a grin.

Chibs' eyes go wide and he quietly tells himself to pull himself together, but then Juice is staring at him and he can't seem to get his words to work.

"Hi," Juice says shyly.

Chibs doesn't speak. He's starting to become confused about why he's acting this way. Juice is a boy, he tells himself. A man. A fellow man. And he doesn't like men.

"Jesus Christ, Chibs, he's not going to kill you. Say hi, for god's sake." Tig elbows him in the side again.

Juice is watching Chibs with wide eyes. He's waiting quietly for Chibs to answer, but all Chibs can think of is how sexy Juice had looked without clothes and the thought freaks him out. Plus, it's starting to dawn on him that this was all one big set up. They'd planned all along for him to meet Juice, like some blind date.

"I'm not fucking queer!" he exclaims abruptly, then turns for the door.

"Chibs, wait!" Tig calls after him and he hears Venus apologize to Juice.

Chibs doesn't care. He bursts through the door of the club and back out into the night air. His motorcycle is still parked safely where he left it, and in seconds, he's on the bike and starting off into the darkness. He's speeding, but he doesn't care, instead pushing the speedometer past 50 through the center of town. He reaches his destination, a seedy dive bar full of scumbags and criminals, and after parking in a rush, he pushes his way inside.

Just as he'd expected, one of the town whores, Ima, is sitting on a barstool inside. Two men are on either side of her, and she's twirling her long blonde hair as she tries to decide which one to take home. Chibs shoves one of them out of the way.

"Hey!" the man yells.

"Piss off!" Chibs roars, then turns to face Ima.

She's watching him closely, a playful smirk playing across her lips. She reaches out and lightly runs her hands down his chest. "What can I do for you?"

Tits. Pussy. That's all he wants. A woman. Something that makes sense.

He yanks his wallet from his pants and throws a couple hundred dollar bills onto the bar top. "Whatever this'll get me."

She smiles, swiping the money from the counter and tucking it into her shirt, "Sure thing, sweetheart."

He follows her out into the night.