22 October 1994

Tara pulled into the parking lot of the high school, cursing as she fumbled to get her keys out of the ignition. She had a late start today, getting into it a bit with her father. He woke up this morning, wanting Tara to cook him breakfast, and when she refused because it would make her late for school, he yelled and barked, making her, in the end, late for school.

Tara grabbed her bag and ran to her first period, walking into class just as the bell rang. Mr. Harrison started taking role, and Marcy, who sits in front of her, turned in her seat "I got the go."

Tara's brows furrowed, "go? Go for what?"

"My party! The parents are going out of town this weekend, and Kevin is coming down so he can get us all the alcohol." She pointed a finger at Tara, "and don't even think about flaking out on this one. It was bad enough you missed David's party, but then you skipped out on River's party last weekend, but you are not missing mine."

Tara sighed, "I won't. I'll be there." Truthfully, Tara kinda wanted to go. Marcy usually threw some pretty good parties, and she's been MIA in her social life for a while now and missed her friends. She got a lot of shit for missing those two parties.

Marcy smiled, satisfied and turned back around. Tara had heard some pretty crazy stories about the homecoming party at David's house, but the most popular one was, not surprisingly, Jax beating the crap out of David. She saw him the following Monday, a cut lip, bruises all over his face, and a broken nose. Apparently, David's father, Chief Hale, wanted to press charges but David refused.

She felt bad for David, knowing he probably got more of a shit beating than he deserved. Jax has been known to go too far before, putting a guy in a hospital some time last year for making some remark about SAMCRO, another name for the Sons of Anarchy. She had run her fingers lightly over David's face, knowing that it would make him feel better. Unfortunately he's been following her around like a puppy since then.

The rest of English drew on, and Tara found herself almost falling asleep a couple of times. She had already read Hamlet, in her spare time a couple years ago, and relearning it did not pique her interest. Her mind drifted to Donna, thinking of their session later today.

Her and Donna had grown to be friends, saying hello in the halls, talking about stuff outside of math during their lessons, and Donna has actually stopped by the diner a few times, usually by herself, but has shown up once or twice with Opie. Tara had grown accustomed to Opie, as he picks Donna up after school after their sessions, and the three of them have spent time talking in the parking lot. Tara had been a little hesitant to open up to Opie, but she's learned that just because of his size, he really is a sweetheart.

They didn't have too many more sessions to go, as their next test was coming up soon. But Tara feels confident that Donna will do well on the test, seeming to be able to learn from her.

The day passed, and lunch rolled around as Tara sat down at her usual table of friends in the courtyard. They only sit outside when it's nice outside, and even in late October, the California sun beamed down on them from blue skies, warm rays hitting Tara's face. She really did love California, how all year the weather never dropped below 50 degrees. She could never see herself living somewhere east.

"Did you guys here the rumors?" Erin Walker gasped, sitting down across from Tara.

"What?" Marcy asked, eagerly. Marcy has always been one for gossip, loving every little piece of news that goes around Charming High School. Yet, she hates when people gossip about her. Tara always found this quality rather annoying.

"Apparently, Taryn Mitchell totally freaked out at Jax Teller this morning." Tara, not having cared what Erin had to say, perked her head up at the mention of Jax Teller. The two have had no interaction since her first tutoring session with Donna almost two weeks ago, but her interest in the guy had increased greatly.

"What do you mean 'freaked out'?" Beth Frasier asked, who sat next to Tara.

Erin smirked, "word is she showed up at Teller-Morrw yesterday, and found Jax hitting up this older chick, and completely lost it. She started crying and everything, heartbroken. I hear it was hilariously tragic."

Marcy rolled her eyes, "god, Taryn is such a loser. What did she expect? That hooking up with Jax was going to like change him or something? I heard they didn't even sleep together, they just fooled around. She's so pathetic. She probably thought she could make Jax fall in love with her, tame that bad boy side of his." Marcy scoffed, "please. There are just some boys that are meant to be bad, and Jax Teller is not a one-woman guy."

The conversation geared away from Jax Teller, and Marcy started talking about her party. Tara tuned out, thinking about Taryn Mitchell, and how she never really thought of Taryn as someone who would chase a boy. She's pretty, boys usually coming to her, and always seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. But this isn't the first time Tara has heard about girls flinging themselves at Jax Teller, or making complete fools of themselves to get his attention.

Tara was lucky if she didn't blush when a guy came onto her, let alone having the balls to go up to a boy and beg for him. Girls, Tara thought, shaking her head lightly.


Tara opened her locker as her fellow classmates scurried through the halls, making their way out of school. She was to meet Donna in a few minutes, but she wanted to get all the books that she would need for tonight. "Hey Tara," she turned her head to see David, stopping just a few inches away from her, leaning against the locker next to hers.

"Hi David," she replied, giving him a smile. "What's up?"

"Heard about Marcy's thing this weekend. You going?"

She sighed, "David, please don't base your decision on whether or not you're going to go to the party on me."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not basing my decision on you, Tara. I can't even go, Dad's taking me and Jake on a fishing trip this weekend." He leaned forward, which made Tara lean just a little back. "If you are going, I was just gonna say to have a good time."

Tara shook her head, unable to hide her smile. "David, when are you gonna get over me?"

He smiled then, "probably never." He then looked at her with an expression she had never seen on David, "when are you gonna get it, Tara?"

Her brows furrowed, "get what?"

David stepped towards her, running a finger up and down her bare arm. "Get that every guy in this school would give their own souls to the devil if it meant having a shot with you. How could a guy possibly get over that?" He smiled at her one last time before walking away.

Tara turned and watched him go, wondering what the hell he was talking about. "Hey!" Donna greeted, appearing out of nowhere. "Ready?"

She nodded, "yeah, let's go."


Donna groaned loudly, earning her a few glares from the other students who sat in the library. She didn't notice, or care. "I can't do this!"

"Yes, you can. Just give it some time," Tara encouraged, keeping her voice low, not wanting to get in trouble. "Why don't we stop for today? We've gone over the basics and general concept, we can start applying it next time."

Donna nodded, "yeah, that sounds good. Thanks." Both girls started packing up their bags, "so I heard about Marcy Johnson's party this weekend."

Tara nodded, smiling, "yeah, she made sure word got around fast."

"You're friends with her right?" Donna asked. "I always see you two together. Are you gonna be there?"

"If I'm not, Marcy will probably find me and serve my head on a platter as a snack. I'm pretty much required to go."

"Why?" Donna laughed lightly.

Tara rolled her eyes, "I've bailed on the past few parties, which makes Marcy think I'm bailing on her, and missing her party? I'll never hear the end of it. She bitched me out for days for missing the homecoming party a few weeks ago, it'll just be a hundred times worse if I skip hers."

"Ahh, the infamous homecoming party. I went to that for a while, well more like 20 minutes, before shit went down."

"Jax?" Tara asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," she answered, her turn to roll her eyes. "He can be such a dick sometimes. He knew that David would be pissed that we showed up at his house, yet Jax just saw that as an invitation to get into it with him."

Tara bit her lip, knowing the line she was about to cross. She couldn't help but ask though. "Are the rumors true, about Taryn Mitchell?"

Donna groaned, "god, that got out?" Tara nodded lightly, "yeah, they're true. She showed up when I was there, so I got front row seats to yet another show of a girl falling for the Jax Teller Shit-Spew he gives them, and then falls to the ground in absolute love and awe, thinking her and Jax are meant to be." Donna shook her head in disgust, "I love him, but how he treats girls is just awful."

Tara stayed silent, surprised at Donna's confession. She always thought Donna, just like everyone else in town, looked at Jax Teller and saw absolute perfection.

The two stood up, and Donna changed the subject to the new movie with Keanu Reeves coming out, as the two girls made their way out of the school, towards the parking lot.

"Well, this is a surprise," Donna stated, and Tara could hear the surprise in her voice.

She looked up from the ground, glancing at Donna, about ask her what she meant, and noticed her attention was forward. She turned her head to see what she was looking at, and Tara felt her face immediately flush. Opie sat on his bike, parked next to Tara's truck. And sitting on top on her truck, smoking a cigarette, smiling at something Opie had apparently said, sat Jax Teller.

The two boys noticed the girls as they continued to walk through the quad. Donna walked over to Opie, giving him a quick kiss. "Hey baby," he muttered to her. "Hey Tara," he nodded at the other brunette.

Tara gave him a small smile, her eyes meeting the bright blue eyes she had really started growing to like looking at. Jax smirked at her, "how's it going, Knowles?"

Tara stood in front of him, "is there a reason you're perched on top of my truck?"

Jax leaned back a little, "figured it'd be the only way to get you to notice me."

She crossed her arms, hiding her smile, "you're noticed."

Jax smiled, and jumped down from the truck. "Good." He nodded toward his own bike, "why don't you come for a ride with me?"

Tara had to control what seemed like a million emotions that ran through her. But she couldn't hide her confusion. "A ride? On your bike?"

He shrugged, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. "You look like you could use some stress-relief, and lucky for you, Knowles, I got the only remedy for it."

Tara could feel the obvious stares coming from Donna and Opie, and she had a feeling they were just as dumbfounded as she was. Then her thoughts went to what Donna had told her just minutes ago, and then her mind went to Taryn Mitchell, and about ten other girls she knows for certain that has hooked up with Jax in the past few months. And as she looked at him now, seeing his smug smirk and seriously large ego, she knew what his angle was.

"And why would I be good enough company for you, Teller?" she asked, teasing yet being truthful as well. This is twice now Jax Teller has asked her to join him, and she's not sure how she should be handling it.

"Come on babe, don't you want a ride?" Jax asked, cocking his head and smiling at her. That's when Tara snapped out of the daze that Jax had entrapped her in since he had first asked her to have a beer with him. Funny enough, it was him calling her 'babe' that did it.

She pulled out her keys from her bag, smiling at him, "thanks, for the offer Teller, but I'm gonna pass." She waved at Donna and Opie, before climbing into her truck.

"You're just gonna leave a poor guy all alone, then?" Jax teased, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

Tara gave him a small smile, then noticed something, her attention turning out to the quad. She saw two girls, Stacy Hampton and Michelle Marks, standing in their short shorts and revealing shirts, leering at Jax. "Something tells me you'll get by," she shut the door, saw Jax turn his head in the direction of the girls, and started her truck, pulling out of the parking lot, her heart racing as if she had just run a marathon.


18 August 1997

Bobby passed him, two crow-eaters under his arms, as all three stumbled into the clubhouse. Jax chugged the rest of his beer, drowning in the numbness. The roar of a motorcycle drew his attention, and he watched as Opie pulled in, parking in his usual spot, Donna behind him. He could tell they were both buzzed, Opie smiling more than usual, and Donna's laugh always got higher than normal when she drank.

The two made their way towards him. "Hey brother," Opie greeted, his smile dropping when he saw the state of his best friend. "You okay?"

Jax resisted the urge to pound his fist in his face, wondering what the hell could possess him to ask him that question. Ask him that question, with his girl standing right next to him, her arm around him, living the SAMCRO life. Jax nodded, "yeah, fine." He stood up, not wanting to be near them. He grabbed the Jack Daniels whiskey bottle he always carried with him on these nights, and walked into the clubhouse.

Cigarette smoke fogged the entire bar, as half naked women danced around his brothers. He ignored them all, walking past the chapel and down the hallway into his apartment room. He closed the door, blocking out the noise before collapsing onto his bed.

Jax couldn't believe he was here, hiding from his brothers and SAMCRO. He couldn't believe a week had only gone by, whereas it seemed like it's been a hundred years. Everyday he woke up in this room, and he had to remember just who wouldn't be waking up next to him. God, he hated it. He hated waking up alone. He hated waking up knowing he wouldn't see her face, or hear her voice. Just knowing she was only a few minutes away from him, calmed him. How was he supposed to function? How could he look at his president and his mother and not resent them? How could he look at his best friend and the girl who clearly had given up her future for a life with Opie, and not resent them.

When he was five, all he had dreamt was to be a member. When he was thirteen, all he had dreamt about was following in his fathers footsteps and becoming president. And just in the past year, all he could dream about was becoming president, with his old lady right there next to him.

Jax took a swig of his whiskey, the burning sensation a welcome relief. He hasn't felt much this past week, barely going through the motions. He knew some of his brothers would think of him pussy, being so torn up about a chick. But Clay understood, as did Opie and Otto. They all had old ladies, and they knew they would be pretty screwed up if any of them had left.

A knock came at Jax's door. "What?" he called, not bothering to move.

The door opened, "hey son." Jax rolled his eyes, knowing what Clay had come in here for. "You doing okay?"

Jesus christ, people need to stop asking that question. Jax wanted to throw his damn bottle at Clay's head. Jax popped his head off the bed, "yeah, great." Clay didn't miss the sarcasm that dripped from his remark.

Clay sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Son, I know you're pretty beat up right now. With good reason." He paused, "but come on. She moved on, so should you."

Jax clenched his jaw, sitting up. "Yeah, I'll do that. Can you leave?"

His step-father glared at him, not appreciating his attitude. "There's a million other chicks out there, son. Get over this shit, and get your head back. You hear me?"

Jax just shook his head, standing up and walking out, leaving his whiskey on his wardrobe, alone with Clay. He walked through the clubhouse and back outside, straight to his bike. There was only one place he wanted to be right now.


Author's Note:

Thanks everyone for the most amazing reviews! They always bring a smile to my face, just knowing people are reading what I wrote. Here's chapter 3! I promise, it's moving! Chapter 4 will be a lot of fun!

So, Season 4 is over. If I could fall asleep, and wake up in September, I would. Seriously, Sons of Anarchy hiatuses are the worst! I despise them! Especially after the amazingness that this past season was! I'll admit, the finale did leave me a little unsettled, with just how everything was so conveniently resolved.

But then I really thought about it, and honestly I feel this season was more just of a transition period. Everything sort of have to be placed in order for the new seasons to happen, and I think Kurt did an amazing job with how everything happened, and I can not be more excited for season 5!