Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from "Sons of Anarchy." They are the property of Kurt Sutter and Fox Network. No money is changing hands in the writing, reading or distribution of this story.

Chapter 10

Jocelyn got her casts off today! She and Gemma were at Saint Thomas's right now. It seemed like this day took forever in arriving, but finally she'd be getting back to normal! Her fractured foot had healed two weeks ahead of the full blown transverse break in her left tibia, and also the spiral fracture in her right radius. It now seemed like nothing, but at the time Joss couldn't have been happier when Tara had finally taken the soft cast off of her right foot. She'd been so stoked to be tooling around on crutches for a change, but now she was beside herself with joy that she'd be totally free of plaster and fiberglass, able to move around as much as she wanted to, however she wanted to. But for as ecstatic as Joss was, she came nowhere near to matching how excited Tig was! Not that he enjoyed it of course, he'd never be friendly with these feelings, but he was learning he didn't have to fight them quite so hard anymore. But, he didn't show how much he was looking forward to Joss being fully healed, not one demonstrative action or statement, there was no sense in putting himself out there like that, after all. But all the same, he was thrilled, completely and utterly thrilled!

He maneuvered the last piece of oak paneling into place, now pounding the nails into it and eager to finally get the refurbishing of the old split level finished. It wasn't the most grandiose of residences, not by far, but it sat on a wooded lot and had a long and winding driveway nearly a quarter mile off the main road. That made for safe club business should it ever need to take place here. And Joss would love it; she'd always preferred to be surrounded by nature, liked to hear insects and owls and shit at night. Well, there were sounds all around this place, all the time; Tig had even seen the footprints of deer and had to chase a raccoon off the weed eaten patio, but he hoped it wouldn't run too far away, Joss would like it if a raccoon came for a visit now and then. Yeah, this old place was perfect, especially for an abandoned house that no one even knew existed until Tig put money on it two days after Joss was released from the hospital. Who knew his military retirement checks would ever amount to so much? If not for that, and Gemma, Tig would have no place to be so excited about bringing Joss home to.

Gemma; for as much respect as he had for that woman, and also for the size of the crush he'd had on her once; Tig wasn't pleased with how well she'd voiced her opinion of his original plan for him and Joss. She walked all around his dorm at the clubhouse, getting more and more exasperated every time she scrutinized or touched something, or looked in the closet, finally turning to him with her hands on her hips, reminding him too much of his mother. "Oh, no," she said flatly, giving him that look that only Gemma could give. "No, no, no, no!"

"What?" Tig stood looking around at all the things Gemma had inspected and seeing enough of a change in the overall cleanliness and organization to be sufficient. "I cleaned out two drawers in the dresser over there, it's not like she's got that much stuff."

"She's going to need more than two drawers, Tig!" Gemma looked at him and just rolled her eyes, then turned her attention to the bed, covered with an old, olive green, wool army blanket, and she pulled it back. She groaned immediately. "There aren't even sheets on this bed!"

Tig sighed; didn't she notice any of the improvements he'd made? "Where do you think I got the curtains from?" He asked, and pointed to the one small window. He'd attached the sheets to the wall just above the pane…with pushpins.

"Tigger," Gemma straightened again and shook her head at him, but she didn't sound as sickened as before. There was advice coming, he could feel it, that look was on her face. "I want you to think about something. You can't bring Joss back here. There isn't enough space for the two of you in this 'flop and fuck' of a room, and even if there was, there's only one bathroom, down the hall, that your old lady would be sharing with scores of bikers and their pussy du jour. Do you want that?"

Hmm, he hadn't actually considered that, but then, he'd never considered having a woman in his life full time. But, he'd never let Gemma know she'd been right, or that her insistence of wanting to see what he'd done with the dorm was also well warranted. "I get it, okay?"

"That's good, but you're going to listen to the rest of it anyway." Gemma crossed her arms in front of her with half a swaggering smile. "There aren't many girls Joss's age who survive getting passed from club to club, from asshole to asshole, without someone holding them down and inking a Tramp Stamp on their backs, and you know it. Joss has something; she's got what it takes to make it. She reminds me a lot of me when I was her age, and there's no way in fucking hell I'd live here!" She paused for a moment, watching him and knowing that what she'd said was really making him think, and it was. It still did. Gemma's smile broadened and she'd stepped closer to him, reached out and straightened the folded over leather collar of his cut. "It's just so good to see you with someone that isn't a dirty little bitch, and I want you to have the best chance to make this work that's possible…" his collar now straight, she smiled almost sweetly and patted his shoulder, but a little menace flavored her next words. "So don't half-ass it!"

They were words Tig took to heart; not wanting any of this, but also not wanting to fail. No one had lived in this house for about ten years, it had its share of repairs that needed to be made before it was truly a "home," but he'd been working on them. It had taken more than a month, but the interior was finally livable, the water was on, the plumbing worked, there was a meager amount of furniture, and all the work had provided him with enough of an outlet to get him right enough in the head to give Joss that patch she'd already started wearing every day for the last three weeks. He'd always hated construction and carpentry work, but he could do it, and it wasn't like he'd been working alone. Bobby helped put the tiles down in the bathroom and in the kitchen. Happy, who liked beating the shit out of things as much as Tig did, was there to assist with sledge hammering down the old wall board and then putting up the new stuff. It had surprised the hell out of Tig when Opie approached him about doing the electric in the house, but Tig hadn't refused; things maybe wouldn't ever be great between them, but they respected each other as brothers, and they each respected the club even more. Largely though, it had been him and Clay that worked together the most, fixing that, improving this, building another thing, and directing Sack to do whatever menial task they wouldn't touch themselves. But there couldn't have been a better time to have a prospect around, because now there was paint on the walls and carpet on the floors, too…not to mention that the stinking, dead opossum had been removed from the chimney.

The work had been exhausting, hot and generally left Tig sore all over, and the very thing that motivated him to keep going also scared the fuck out of him, but it was going to pay off in another hour or so! She and Gemma should be about done at the hospital soon, and then Gemma would be dropping her off here. Joss would be completely healed up; no more waiting for what Butcher had done to her to go away, no more wondering where he could leave her, how he could get her set up there, and what kind of hell she'd end up in when she ran away from it, just like Joss always did. No more. This was a real live, authentic, fresh start! Shit…was he actually more excited about that than he was scared?

Maybe it was because he was just excited in general; there were a lot of things to look forward to now. No more casts meant that Joss would be able to ride with him now, and not only did she always look good on the back of his bike, but she felt good there too. It must have been all the horses she'd rode, because Tig didn't have to explain to her how to keep her hips loose and grip with her knees around turns. From the very first time she'd gotten on behind him, she'd just wrapped her arms around his waist and became part of the bike with him. Not every girl just took to it like that.

Of course, Joss's casts being off and both her legs being able to bend meant something else too…but if Tig thought about that too much, it delayed his home improvements and required him to work with a slightly different 'tool.' But it was good that her casts were too cumbersome to try fucking her. There was just something about doing that up the hall from Gemma that was weird. And it brought him no amount of shame to admit it, but Tig was glad he and Joss had some time together that wasn't about sex. That girl had an effect on him like he'd never predicted anyone would, and he'd fought what he felt for her way too hard to not have it be…what it was, but at least he now knew that it was still there, even if they weren't fucking. Somewhere in his more decent past, around the time he married his first wife, he remembered it was important to know there was more to a relationship than only physical compatibility. He felt like such a dick thinking about it now, but he'd found himself thinking about it nonetheless; he'd put far too much blood, sweat and tears into this to find out that Jocelyn was nothing but a supreme piece of pussy that he'd tire of within a few weeks, and then be so fucking bored and irritated with her that he just…whatever. But no, that wasn't the case, it was far from it…but Tig shied away from thinking about what that said about him.

And there was one more thing that Tig looked forward to now that Joss was Joss again. It wasn't something that was usually done for something like this, but there was going to be a party at the clubhouse to celebrate Joss being "patched." It was Clay's idea…though it smelled all over like Gemma. But, Gemma had been correct when she'd said that no member had awarded out a property patch for years, it was something everyone had been talking about, particularly since it was Tig who had done it. No one expected that! Particularly not him! Everyone wanted to meet the girl that brought Trager to his knees…or his senses as some were saying, and besides, it was a good way to introduce Joss to his brothers and let them get to know her; they were in some ways responsible for her now after all. Tig had wanted to wait and not have this "reception" of sorts until after Joss's casts were off. He wanted to be able to walk around with her on his arm, knowing that everyone watched her long legs striding proudly forward, her shiny, long dark hair rippling behind her, milky skin and classic features highlighted in the light of bonfires, and that fantastic rack of hers neatly showcased within the black leather vest that boldly proclaimed, "PROPERTY OF TIG" on the back. He'd always loved to show off a beautiful girl he was fucking, at least, he did until they started…talking or something else that was equally as annoying, but this time was different. Joss was HIS beautiful girl.

Aww fuck…nope, no fear anywhere in that realization! But sadly enough, Tig knew he wasn't losing it either. Damn it to hell, but he was happy. What the fuck was that? He'd never show it, he was a master of suppressing emotions, but it was still there, an unwelcomed invasion of who he was. Happiness; he hated it, hated it a lot, but he hoped Joss was feeling it too.

Chapter 10; Part 2

"You going to be okay out there tonight?" Gemma nearly looked into the backseat to talk to Joss, both of them laughing as she realized Joss sat in the passenger seat now, both legs able to bend at the knees, no more casts!

"Yeah," Joss smiled and nodded with an eagerness to get where they were going. She hadn't even seen the house yet, only heard about it from Tig and Clay. It was a little strange to know she was leaving Gemma and Clay's house though. She couldn't thank them enough for giving her a place to stay and recover; and it had been more than just her taking up space in Jax's old room for the five weeks she'd been in their house.

Tig had generally spent the night there as well, beside her in Jax's old full size bed, verbalizing his awkward attempts to learn how to just lay there and get used to the intimacy of sharing a bed with her, without giving into the urge to make one of them sleep on the floor. Every time he lay down beside her and turned out the light, it gave rise to a myriad of nervous questions and ridiculous rules that Joss would have expected if Tig was some sheltered altar boy who had never, ever touched a woman before in his life. But in a way he was just like that; she knew he only fucked women; he didn't sleep next to them. Sleeping next to someone, waking up with them, meant something he wanted no part of understanding, but now he was trying to, as difficult as it was for him to do. But he wasn't going down without a fight…an audible, bitchy, whiny fight: "Keep your hair on your side, it keeps touching me and it feels like bugs are walking on me!" "Are you touching me again?" "What are you touching me with?" "Well stop touching me then, I can't deal with it." "Hey, try putting your arm here…no, here…no, like over my chest…here! Yeah, like that…okay, get the hell off of me, this isn't fucking working!" "You know, this would be easier if one of us were dead…like you." "Why is part of you always where I want to put part of me?" "Because I can't relax, Joss! You broke the law of physics or some shit, because you're not that big, but you're taking up all the room!" "Fuck, is it morning yet? I can't do this anymore!" "What do you mean you can't sleep?"

After the first night like that, Joss couldn't help laughing, but she'd always worried that she and Tig and their "practice runs" as Tig called them, might be keeping Clay and Gemma awake. But Gemma never said anything, either she couldn't hear a thing, or she hadn't expected anything different than what happened in Jax's old room every night. She truly did owe Gemma, but it went beyond thanking her for sharing her home with her, and also Tig. Joss had no idea how to thank Clay and Gemma for giving her a sense of having family around her! But, maybe there was no thanking someone for that? You just accepted it, and returned the favor? She smiled again, but had the oddest sense that she was leaving one home for a new one. "I'll be fine tonight, Gemma." She said. "Thanks!"

"Are you sure?" Gemma's eyebrows furrowed and she gave Joss a sideways glance, but Joss could tell that none of it was born out of disapproval. "There's no shame in wanting to come back home with Clay and I tonight, make Tig wait just a little bit longer, you have had quite a big day already, and no one can fault you if you'd like to…learn how to walk again before he's got you running." She smirked.

Joss laughed, but shook her head, toying with the black leather laces at the front of her vest. "No, it's time." She smiled, touched by Gemma's concern, but Joss was dying to see her man, to be with him, and to finally stay with him! "Tig and I have been 'walking' a lotta miles lately. Trust me, he can't wait any longer!" She laughed again, and so did Gemma.

"Well, I know Tig can be a little…intense sometimes," Gemma said, looking ahead out the windshield now, searching for the old logging road that lead into the driveway of what would now be Tig and Jocelyn's house. "If you ever need to get away, or need to run away, you know there's a room and a bed at our place!"

Joss didn't know what it was like to have a mother, but this sure seemed like what it should have been like when a daughter got married and moved out of the house. She tried to speak, but she could only sigh and push back the tears before Gemma began to think she was some Hallmarky type of romance novel reading ninny. "Thank you for that, Gemma," She said sincerely, effectively retaining her composure, almost. "Thank you for everything you and Clay have done for me; and thank you for all you've done for Tig, too!"

Gemma flipped her blinker on and pulled onto the logging road, then in no time was on the lengthy driveway that winded back towards Joss's new house, and her new life. "No," she looked over at Joss with a solemn expression. "Tig is a vital part of this club, and there have been a few times that I watched him really struggle, and I wondered how he was going to make it, prayed that something was going to pull him through." She cocked her head in Joss's direction. "I think I figured it out what it was now. So, thank you for all you've done for Tig!"