This is my first story and I'm sorry if it isn't all too good at first! It's going to start off very slow, but it will definitely pick up in no time. I have a bunch of chapters already written, so my updates should come out rather quickly! There's a link on my page for pictures of what my characters look like in my mind. I'd like to thank Love Ink for the help she's given me with my first story and the tips to help better me as a writer!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Sons of Anarchy. I only own Adalyn!

Chapter 1

Home Sweet Home

Adalyn POV

It was happening. I was breaking my promise to myself, again. I was going home. Charming, despite its uncanny name, was the worse place I could imagine. The one part about my past I chose not to share with the new friends I had made. My return wasn't in vain, though. I came to help out a friend. One of my best friends from this hell hole, in fact.

It was dark by the time I was pulling into Teller-Morrow garage, about to face my past for what it was. I glanced over at the row of bikes near the clubhouse before walking up to the office and knocking on the door.

"Come in," said the one woman whom I loved yet feared just the same. "How can I help you, sweetheart?" It was obvious she didn't recognize me. In her defense, I did grow up a lot, and I looked a hell of a lot different than I did five years ago.

"I was just wondering where I could find this crazy old bitch named Gemma Teller." I asked sarcastically. She shot me a look, then it all must have clicked.

"Adalyn? Adalyn Grace Williams?" Her eyes lit up. Within seconds she had her arms around me, kissing my forehead.

I laughed at her immediate loving reaction at the sight of me. "It's great to see you, too, Gem. I've missed you."

"What brings you to town? Do they boys know you're here? Does... He know?" Wow. He hadn't even told his own mother I was coming. Still my same old shitty ex-boyfriend.

"I guess he didn't tell you, huh? Jax called me. Told me about Wendy, the baby. He asked me to come and, I don't know, give him some moral support, I guess. You know how he gets, Gem." I looked down, suddenly embarrassed I even bothered. Jackson Teller was the reason I despised Charming as much as I did. He was also the only one I'd ever come back for, though. Jax would always have my heart. Much like today, he used it to his advantage.

"Jesus Christ. That boy. They're in Church right now, sweetheart. Should just be finishing up. Come on, I'll walk you over." Gemma looked me up and down, smiling. "I'm so glad you're here, baby. He will be, too. All of them." Yeah, sure. I hoped she was right.

We walked into the SAMCRO clubhouse, and I heard the laughter of the men I'd grown to miss so much. Would they be happy I'm here? Would they tell me to go? Did Jax just call me on a whim, not really expecting me to show up? Oh God. All my questions were about to be answered. My past was walking this way.

"Hey, Mom," Jax said as he kissed Gemma on the cheek. He smirked that 'I'm a horn dog and you're hot so let's fuck' smirk at me, also not recognizing who I was. Typical Teller. "Who's your friend?"

"My friend? I wouldn't call her my friend, more like yours. Make any interesting phone calls, lately?" Gemma looked at me before raising her eyebrow to him. Jax's jaw dropped. Oh no. He didn't actually want me to show. I knew it.

"Addy? Is it... Oh my God, Adalyn!" He exclaimed, pulling me to his chest.

The warmth of his hug made me smile. "Hi, Jax," I breathed into his leather clad chest. "You called and sounded worried, so I came." I pulled away and returned the huge grin he was giving me. I guess I was wrong. He was happy to see me. Maybe this would... No. That's not what I was here for. He's married. He's gonna have a son. What the hell was I doing?

"I didn't think you'd come. Believe me, though, I'm so happy to see you. All the hectic shit goin' on, I need my rock by my side." He rubbed my shoulder and looked into my eyes. My stomach still did flips every time I had those beautiful, blue lakes he called eyes on me.

"Okay, I'm gonna back away before this becomes some weird mother-son-ex reminiscing sequence," Gemma said on a laugh. "It's so good to see you, sweetheart. We'll talk soon." And just like that, I was alone with him. My heart started beating hard.

"How'd you get here so quick?" He asked, still smiling. "I only called last night. What, you miss me? In a rush to see your bad boy ex who mommy and daddy never approved of?" Now he was mocking me. Here we fuckin' go.

"I never moved far, Jackson. No matter how much I hate it, Charming's home. I'm not gonna get into shit with you. Not tonight. You asked me to be here so I'm here. Don't read too much into it." In a way, I was lying. I did miss him. So much. Seeing the others look over, I realized I missed them, too.

"Ads, you know I never meant-" Jax was cut off by the gasp of his step-father, Clay.

"Adalyn! Jax told me he called you! It's so good to have you home!" I was quickly pulled into another hug, then pulled away just as fast. All the boys were staring at me now, smiling. Coming home started to seem like a good idea.

"Addy? Jesus Christ, c'mere, little one!" Opie wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed. I tried to hug back with just as much force, but that was close to impossible with Ope. Aside from Jax, he was my closest friend growing up. He was my shoulder to cry on and the only one I could go to whenever Jax would break my heart. I breathed in his same old scent of leather and cigarettes and smiled to myself.

"Ope. You have no idea..." I felt myself start to tear up as I shook my head. Last time I was here Opie had just gone into Chino. Words couldn't describe how happy I was to see him again. He pulled me back to his chest one last time before I was pulled into another greeting.

Chibs. My scarred, Scottish father figure. I missed him almost as much as I did Opie. "Aye, lass," he said before hugging me. "I know how you feel from the look in yer eyes, and I can tell ya the feeling is mutual." He gave me a small smile.

"Ada-fuckin-lyn! What brings you here, darlin'? I haven't had anybody to vent to about my sexual conquests!" Tig said on a laugh. He put one arm around my shoulders as Chibs released me.

"That never stopped you before, Tiggy. Jax called me. Asked me to come help out with Wendy, ya know, considering all my experience with the junkies." I replied, glancing towards Jax. He had a strange look on his face. They all did. "What? What happened, Jax? Tell me."

"Wendy had the baby this morning. She passed out, blood was everywhere. Gemma found her and took her to the hospital. His name is Abel. He's 10 weeks premature, got the family flaw, a tear in his belly. All of this because that stupid bitch couldn't stay away from the fuckin' crank." Jax told me through gritted teeth. I couldn't believe it.

I gasped. How could Wendy be so fucking stupid? "Holy shit. Is he... Gonna be okay?" I asked remembering the death of Jax's little brother, Thomas.

He shook his head with his jaw clenched tightly. "Who knows? The bitch probably killed my son."

"Jackson!" His negativity was getting on my last nerve. "You need to be optimistic. What's going on here tonight? Let's get your mind off it for a couple hours. We'll worry tomorrow, we'll go see him."

"You know us too well, doll. Party tonight. You'll be joining, I suppose?" Tig asked me, hopeful. I didn't want to stay, but I also didn't want to go. Jax needed me. I missed my family. What the hell?

"Of course! I'd be insane to miss a SAMCRO bash!" I smiled at Jax as he became more at ease. The boys started to make their way outside. Jax put his arm around me, leading me towards the door. "I'm glad you called, Jax. I missed this place more than I realized."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you came. I missed you more than I realized, darlin'." He smirked. Fuck. This was gonna be a long few days.

By the time we got outside, Tig and some scary dude were in the ring, ready to throw punches.

"Who is that?" I asked no one in particular.

"Happy. He's from Tacoma, his mom lives around here, he comes down every once in a while. He's a scary dude." I laughed at the fact that this guy used the same choice of words as I did. "I'm Juice, by the way, I'm new...er, yeah newer, around here." He had the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. Shit, everything about this guy was beautiful. From his head tattoos and Mohawk all the way down to his low hanging Dickies, he was hot. It felt like hours I was staring, probably drooling, until I shook his extended hand.

"Adalyn," I smiled back. "I'm an old friend of Jax's, I guess."

"You guess? Man, a lot of the girls here would say that with confidence! Be glad you uh, know, the VP!" I understood what he was hinting at. Of course. This motherfucker thought I was some crow eater.

"Ha! No, it's not like that. I've known him since middle school, I'm not... One of them." I gestured to one of the crow eaters who were basically in their underwear. Shocker.

Juice's face fell. "Shit, I'm sorry... I mean you don't... You're not... Wow I'm an idiot." The gorgeous guy rubbed a hand across his Mohawk as he looked down. He was even cuter when he was nervous.

"Ain't that the truth," We both turned to see Jax standing there. To be completely honest, I was a little annoyed he interrupted my conversation. He knew what he was doing. "C'mon, Ads. I wanna show you somethin'." He shot Juice a glance as I smiled and waved goodbye. Jax led me back into the clubhouse, straight to his dorm room. He pulled out a box. "I was at the storage unit today, lookin' for some shit for Abel. I found these," He opened the box, pulling out old pictures. He handed me one of him and me that Gemma took freshman year before homecoming. "I still can't believe you got me to go to that bullshit dance," he laughed, "I remember thinking I only wanted to go to see how beautiful you would look."

Blushing, I studied the picture. "14-year-old Adalyn was not the prettiest Adalyn, Jax. We both know that," I said looking at my braces and straight hair. I closed my eyes as he starting playing with a piece of my lighter, curlier hair now. I pulled out another picture. The last one he had of me. We went to the beach, and Jax decided to take a picture of me while I plopped down on a hammock. I actually loved the picture.

I had my hair long, very long, and wavy that day. I wore my favorite bright yellow bikini with purple flowers. He told me to smile, and I just sat there with a straight face, my arms shielding my face from the sun. I liked the picture more for the memories. That was the best day Jax and I ever had together. It made me happy to think about. I put the picture back down when I noticed him wrapping a piece of my hair around his finger. "Stop that. You're gonna mess up my curls, you douche." Our eyes met, and I knew what he was about to do.

"I really missed you, Addy." Jax whispered before leaning in and kissing me. It was just as passionate as the last time. I still felt butterflies, still kissed back, but, something was off. Something about this didn't feel right. I pulled away. "What's wrong, darlin'?" he asked, looking concerned.

"I can't, Jax. I can't get jerked around every time I come here. The two other times I came home, I come see you, we make out, fuck, then shit got weird so I left right away. I don't want that to happen this time. I don't wanna go away for another five years. I miss you, but I miss Jackson, my best friend, not Jax, my bad boy ex who fucks with my head and heart." I looked away from him. I knew I just ruined any chance I had of being intimate with him this time around, but, honestly, I didn't really care. "Plus," I added, "I heard Tara's been home, too. She's working at the hospital, right? If you're gonna be nostalgic with exes, go back to her. You've told me yourself. You loved her more than anything. You need to be with her." I looked back at Jax, only to see him looking down at his hands. His face scrunched up like he was arguing with himself in his head.

"You know, Adalyn," he started, "You're right. I loved... Shit, I still do love Tara. But that doesn't change the fact that I love you too. I've loved you since you stood up to me for starting shit with Hank Johnson in 7th grade," he stopped and smiled at me before he continued. "I've never met anyone like you, not even Tara. You're one of a kind. I fucked up, more than once. I just..." I saw the tears starting to form in his eyes. "I need you. I can't do this shit with Abel alone. Yeah, I have the club, I have Gemma, I have Tara, but they're not you. Nobody gets me like you. You tell me when I'm being a jackass and you set me straight, you calm me down. I just guess I get confused on how I need you, you know? I need Addy, my best friend, more than I need Adalyn, my sexy first girlfriend." He smirked at me, throwing my own words back at me in the most innocent way possible.

"I agree completely. I'm here. I'm here to hold your hand through this. I'm here to give you that hope you need right now. Abel's gonna be okay. He's gonna grow up nice and strong to be with his daddy and to meet his Aunt Addy. I love you, Jax. I'm gonna help you through the hard shit." I stood up, extending my hands to him. I pulled him into a hug as soon as he got up. "I'm here," I repeated. "I'll always be here."

We left his room and strolled back out to the roar of the party when I saw the Mohawk guy staring at me. When he caught me staring back, he quickly looked away, laughing to himself. I smirked.

"Hey, Jax?" I hoped me asking about one of his brothers didn't piss him off.

"What is it?" He turned to look at me.

"Who's that Juice guy? He's...interesting. I like his head tats!" I admitted with a laugh. Jax just stared at me with a curious yet annoyed expression. He took a while to respond. "Well?" I was slowly becoming annoyed with him as he remained silent. After scoffing and shaking my head at him, I stood up straight and started to walk away when Jax grabbed my wrist, I shot him the dirtiest look I could muster after our heart-to-heart.

"Oh stop it," Jax smirked at me. "He's the club I.O. He's also a complete idiot on the social side of shit. He's a good guy, I guess." He shrugged before kissing me on the cheek and walking away to talk to Clay. The look on his face before he answered made me a bit worried. I shook it off and walked towards Juice. He smiled when he saw me getting close, and I couldn't help but do the same. This was going to be an interesting night.