Sorry for the delay last week. I teach kindergarten, and it was back to school week, which always sucks. Tat's done now, though. Anyway, this is kind of a big chapter, and I would love to write a long author's note, but I am a Whovian, and the new Doctor episode will premier in a matter of seconds. I can't be late for it. I love you guys, but remember, I love those of you who review the most! Allonsy!

A traditional SAMCRO Family Dinner was in full swing outside the bathroom, as Tess stood looking in the mirror of the Clubhouse bathroom. She had been lucky to find a bit of peace and quiet from it all in the bathroom, but she wasn't the slightest bit concerned about the fact that she had been holed up in a toilet for about twenty minutes. She did not want to be here. It was full blown, family affair outside; Gemma had insisted upon it. The Queen Bee had shown up at the garage around noon, arms full of groceries, and had informed Tess that she would be inside cooking and had instructed her to make sure everybody showed up at six.

"You being back safe and sound, a brand new baby and one on the way," she had said. "Things are settling down. We have a lot to celebrate. Dinner is at six thirty. No excuses."

Tess has, of course, done as Gemma had asked, even if she hadn't been entirely sure she wanted to celebrate. Baby Roarke being here and Chibs and Fiona agreeing to keep him, now THAT definitely deserved a celebration. Tess reached up to her face and her fingers glanced over a still healing bruise. She wasn't sure that "safe and sound" were words that actually applied to her, much less a fact that was worthy of a celebration. No matter how incredibly thankful she was to be back at the garage, staying safe and comfortable with Kozik, back to as normal of a routine that she would ever have around here, she couldn't shake the fact that Lex was still out there, somewhere. She could go days without thinking about it, but then sometimes, that fact was all she could think about. This was one of those times.

A loud knock interrupted her thoughts. Tess allowed her hand to drop quickly, and she called over her shoulder, "Somebody's in here!"

The door opened anyway. Kozik's head appeared, eyes shut tightly. "Are you peeing?"

Tess couldn't help but laugh. "No, but you're an idiot. What if I had been someone else?"

"I knew it was you," he claimed, coming in and shutting the door behind himself. "I know what your voice sounds like. Besides, you are the only one missing. And I really need to take a piss."

"Well, excuse me then. I don't think I want to stick around for that," Tess rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face was evident.

"Hey," he stopped her with a gentle hand on her forearm. "You doing okay? You've been in here awhile."

Tess sighed, and gave a noncommittal shrug. "I've been worse. Just a long day."

He gave her a shrewd look. "I'm worried about you. There are a lot of people here and Gemma is being more overbearing than usual, which can be a lot. You know if you don't want to be here, we can take off."

"Yeah, because I am sure Gemma wouldn't have anything to say about that," Tess rolled her eyes. "I'll be alright, Koz. I just needed a minute on my own."

He looked like he wanted to argue with her, but knew it wouldn't do any good. Instead, he nodded. "Well, get out so I can pee. Go have a drink, try to relax. I'll be out in a minute, and if Op and Chibs don't need me for anything, we'll take off."

"Seems like you have it all figured out," she joked as she moved towards the door. "I'll hold my breath!"

"I mean it!" he insisted as he reached for his belt. "Gemma won't get mad at me; I'm too charming."

Tess was grinning as she shut the door behind her and headed towards the bar. Before she exited the hallway, Tess took a deep breath, steadied herself, and fixed a smile on her face. She entered the mainroom of the Clubhouse looking one hundred percent fine, but feeling like shit. It didn't matter much, she returned the greetings from the mechanics, indulged Piney with a friendly hug, and avoided the stares from one of the creepy visiting Irish henchmen. At long last, she made her way to the bar, where Chuckie handed her a beer with an understanding look. Somehow, Tess didn't doubt that he somehow understood the completely overwhelmed, claustrophobic feelings that were immersing her.

She took a long swig of the beer, and cringed at the taste. It brought back memories that she didn't particularly want to face. She looked down at the bottle in her hand and had to stop herself from throwing it across the room. The beer was a specific brand, enjoyed by millions of people worldwide. It just so happened that Lex was one of those people. The very sight of the bottle threatened to overwhelm her. She could feel the revulsion taking hold, and it would have been very easy to dissolve into tears, but she fought it. As calmly as possible, she waved Chuckie over.

"Could you get rid of this," she asked him when he made his way over. "All of it. Just make sure every single bottle is gone. Please?"

"I accept that," he said, seriously. "Do you want a different drink? I have been practicing with mojitos. Gemma says it's gay, but I disagree. They are delicious."

Leave it to Chuckie to make her smile when she was in her darkest place. "No mojto, thanks. But some tequila would definitely be appreciated."

He took the beer bottle from her and replaced it with a bottle of Patron and a glass. A moment later, some lime wedges appeared, and Tess made a mental note to buy Chuckie a really, really nice present sometime very soon. She pour a healthy dose of the drink and salted her tongue before downing it. The lime killed the fire in her mouth, but the fuzz in her head thankfully remained. She knew that getting roaring drunk would do nothing to make her feel better or make her problems lessen, but she didn't care at all.

She was only two shots in when she heard somebody approaching. She assumed that it was Kozik, so she whipped around to inform him that she had changed her mind about wanting to leave and much preferred staying right where she is and finishing this bottle. Tess was surprised to see Maeve making her way to the seat next to her.

"Oh," Tess muttered. "Hey."

"Hey," Maeve offered a tiny smile. "It looked quieter over here. I was hoping you wouldn't mind a bit of company."

Company was not exactly something that Tess was eager for, but Maeve had just had a dead man's baby and she was planning on leaving here tomorrow, and leaving the baby behind. The way Tess figured, Maeve was probably the only person here who felt just as shitty as she did. Therefore, she really didn't mind the company.

"Sit," Tess nodded at the stool next to her.

"Thanks," Maeve did as she was told. She eyed the bottle of liquor on the bar. "Don't suppose there's any chance you want to share?"

Tess bit her lip, unsure. One one hand, this girl was maybe twenty, and she had just had a baby. On the other hand, it wasn't Tess's choice. She shrugged and stood, reaching over the bar and grabbing a second glass. Maeve offered a thankful grin as she poured them both a shot.

"Cheers," Tess said as she quickly consumed the drink. The fuzz in her head became more pronounced.

"Wow, that was intense, wasn't it," Maeve stated as she poured herself another.

"That was tequila," Tess grinned.

Maeve laughed, and immediately declared, "I like it! I am glad I found you here, though I didn't expect you to be...done yet."

"Done?" Tess questioned, pouring another drink, and this time squeezing lime juice into it. "Done with what?"

Maeve blushed slightly, but shot a shit eating grin at Tess, before nodding at the pool table. "I was over there with Kerrianne, and we were playing pool with Kozik and Lila. He asked if anybody had seen you, and Lila told him that she thought you went into the back. He said he was going to come find you and….well, I do know what that generally means."

"Oh!" Tess exclaimed, surprised. "Yeah, well, I was just in the bathroom."

"Ah, the bathroom, huh?" Maeve smirked. "Dirty, but there are worse places for a little meet up. Though now I understand why it was quick."

"Oh Jesus," Tess muttered, horrified. She took another drink. "No. It's not like that. Not at all. He just wanted to make sure I was alright."

"With his cock?" Maeve snickered.

"NO!" Tess insisted. "Kozik and I….we're not like that. We're not together."

"You're not?" Maeve asked, incredulous. "He follows you around like a puppy. You two live together. I suppose I just figured…I'm really sorry. I just assumed."

"Yeah," Tess agreed, trying to shaking it off. "Don't worry about it. You're not the first person who has assumed that."

"So you two really aren't…" Maeve trailed off.

"Once. We were together for one night, and that turned into pretty much an ultimate disaster," Tess explained with a sigh, feeling like she would rather be discussing anything else.

"Aye, I get that," Maeve nodded. "I don't understand how you live with the man, and manage, though."

"What do you mean?" Tess inquired, curious as to where this was going.

"Have you look at him lately?" Maeve asked, eyebrows raised. "He's fit! If I were you, I wouldn't last a day without jumping him in a completely desperate way. Those eyes…those abs...that arse. You are a stronger woman than I am, to resist."

"Are you serious?" was the most intelligent thing Tess could think to ask.

"Of course I am!" Maeve answered. "You'd have to be blind to not see how incredibly attractive he is."

"Well, yeah. He is nice to look at," Tess agreed. "But you don't know him that well."

"I know he's pretty crazy about you," Maeve pointed out. "Kerrianne told me that he is he would fight tooth and nail for your sake. Shit, he followed you into the damned bathroom because he was worried about you. If I were in your shoes….let's just say I wouldn't be sitting at a bar. There would be a bed and a lot less clothes involved."

"Maeve!" Tess hissed, her jaw dropping open. "Just stop it. You don't know….you don't understand. I can't do that."

"Well, if you can't," Maeve shrugged, cocking an eyebrow. "Mind if I have a try?"

Jealousy flared up inside Tess, and she did her best to beat it back. She wasn't quite sure if she was successful. Her teeth practically ground together. "Didn't you JUST have a baby?"

"Aye, I did," Maeve nodded, drinking yet again. "It's been about seven months since Paddy died; since I've had any fun. Besides, I am a young, single woman, apparently. I am heading to uni as soon as possible. Maybe I could use this as an opportunity to get used to being on my knees again."

Tess knit her eyebrows together. She hadn't paid much mind to what would happen on the occasion of another woman finding Kozik attractive. Once, not very long ago actually, he had shown up to dinner with Bambi, but he had explained that that was simply to make her jealous. Since then, she had been rather busy being kidnapped and hurt and recovering. Now, the situation was staring her in the face. Another woman, really no more than a girl, had just thrown her hat into the ring, and Tess had to make a decision. Was she going to let another woman stand in her way?

"Actually, I think you should have another drink," Tess told Maeve before she swallowed her own shot and stood up. "And thanks for coming to talk. You are a really great girl Maeve, and I really like you, but I think you should find somebody else to have your….knee time fun with. I don't like it when people put their hands on what's mine, and I would hate to have to hit you."

Maeve grinned as she watched Tess traipse off in search of Kozik. She helped herself to another drink and it took less than a minute for Fiona to slide into Tess's recently vacated seat.

"Success?" the older woman asked, helping herself to a drink.

"I think so," Maeve stated confidently. "She looked like she wanted to claw my eyes out the second I mentioned his name. I can't guarantee she is going to do anything about it, but she did threaten to hit me if I go near him."

"That's wonderful news!" Fiona grinned widely. "She will be looking for him now, I am sure of it. I bet Gemma $100 that I could coax some action out of her. I owe you one."

"Well," Maeve smiled in response. "You have just agreed to raise the baby I just surprised you with as your own. What do you say we just call it even?"

"Agreed," Fiona said, clinking her glass against the one Maeve held. "Cheers!"

Tess didn't have to look very hard for him. He was loud, always the life of the party. She could hear him and the other guys in the chapel room, laughing at something or other. Hearing him was one thing, but making her way over to him was a whole different story. She had lost count of the number of shots she had consumed after five or six, but the fact that the room was slightly wobbly told her that perhaps she had drank a bit too much. She didn't care. For the first time in a long while, Tess didn't feel broken and lost. She had a goal. Tess knew what she wanted, and she was going to go get it.

The door to the chapel was wide open as she approached it, but to be honest, a shut door wouldn't have stopped her. She needed to find him and she needed to do...something. She wasn't sure what it was, but she trusted herself to figure out what it was when she found him. She was determined to get to him, and a door was absolutely nothing.

"...so Fiona spent the next hour schooling me on how to properly change and dress a baby. A bit of a refresher course, I suppose," Chibs was saying when Tess finally appeared in the room. His eyes turned to her and crinkled with a grin. "Alright there, Tess?"

"Yeah, I'm good," she mumbled, focusing on Kozik, who was leaning against the table, smoking a cigarette. "I'm really good."

"Are you sure?" Kozik asked, confused. Not twenty minutes ago, she had been locked in a bathroom, ready to book it out of here. "I just wanted to check in with these guys before we left. We're good to go, whenever you're ready."

A mysterious grin spread across her face as she stopped to take him in. Maeve had most definitely been right, he certainly was something to look at. His eyes and his smile and his ass was what Maeve had noticed, but it is not what Tess focused on. What caught her attention, what spurred her to action, was the look of pure, honest concern on his face. This man, who loved his Club and loved his brothers and loved parties, was willing to leave all of those things behind for her happiness tonight. He was a good man, a wonderful man, and she had no idea how she had denied it for so long. She knew exactly what she needed to do.

"I think I'm good to go," she told him, before taking four quick strides across the room and pressing her lips against his, not giving herself a chance to change her mind.

The kiss was everything, is hands on her waist, her hands against his cheeks, and his lips moving against hers. He tasted like smoke and whiskey and somehow a hint of peach. She had been avoiding this for so long, denying that she felt anything at all for him, and whether it was the kiss or the drink, she didn't care. This was right. This was perfect.

The room was silent when it ended, and even Kozik looked like he was having a difficult time processing. Tess reached down and took his hand.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked. "Let's go."