Milk and Honey. ▸ Chibs Telford.

I am sorry I am not an easy person to want

he says
i am sorry i am not an easy person to want
i look at him surprised
who said i wanted easy
i don't crave easy
i crave goddamn difficult

- Page 50

They'd somehow gotten to the party late. In the midst of running around to do Juice's chores, and grabbing a last minute haul of beer; they were late. The dark night provided perfect cover for the party that was beginning to spill out of the forecourt, people lingering by the gate to guard it, and some just to talk to the Sons that were at the party. It was a sight to behold, truly; this party being one of the biggest in a long time.

Bobby must be thankful of course, all those people, all this celebration. He deserved it.

A smile came to her face at the sight of everyone, her family being together. It's just what they needed. She hadn't spoken to Gemma yet, feeling a little bit of space to be exactly what she needed; but she knew her mom was around somewhere.

Juice had seemingly disappeared into the crowd as soon as they'd gotten out of the car, leaving Winnie to mingle herself. She hadn't seen many familiar faces on the fringes, but once she got closer to the door, people she recognised were lingering. Her dad was standing at one side, nursing a beer in one hand, talking to Tig. Opie was sitting down talking to Piney, but she could tell he wasn't really in the conversation.

Part of her wanted to go over there, to ask him what was wrong, see if there was anything she could do; but Winnie also knew Opie was probably tired of people asking him that. At times he was a prideful man, he didn't need help, but Winnie was hearing stories. Opie wasn't really seeing his kids, and he was throwing himself into danger for the club - something someone did when they felt they had nothing to lose. Maybe they needed a day just the two of them, so she could figure out what was going on in that big head of his.

Instead, Winnie would look for Chibs. She hadn't really seen much of him since she'd come back, and part of that had been because it'd only been a day, and they were busy people. Yet, Winnie had seen him in the hall, and he'd almost looked through her like she was nothing. He hadn't met her eye at breakfast, and he certainly hadn't snuck through her door when they were getting ready to leave; which is something Chibs had done before she left.

One hand wrung the other nervously, before switching to the next and back as Winnie began to make her way across the lot on those thin stilettos. The sound of the heels turned heads, her chin held high, icy eyes kept on the doorway. He had to be in there, right? She slipped past the others, eyes darting across the crowd for him anyway. How hard was it to find a Scotsman in a crowd of Americans?

Chibs had settled himself on a sofa chair placed outside, prospect lingering near but other than that he looked free. Now was her chance. Smoothing back some of the curls, and tugging her tight t-shirt even tighter around her; Winnie made a move. It was nerve wracking to be this close to him after so long; he wasn't even looking at her, and he made her heart race. Coming within near touching distance, Chibs finally turned his head.

For the smallest, briefest moment, their eyes met before his left. It took Winnie aback. "Can we talk?" She asked. There were a few things she wanted off her chest, and in part, she definitely owed him a reason on why she hadn't told him certain things - Winnie wanted to clear the air.