A/N: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all the reviews! I'll start to trickle events from the show into the upcoming chapters soon. I'm just trying to build up Rowan and Jax a bit before I dive into the heavy shit, because let's be honest, this show has some heavy shit in it!

Questions: What do you guys think about Jax and Rowan so far? Things will move slow for them, but will pick up the more Rowan learns and gets pulled into the Club life.

Would you like for me to write some chapters in Jax's POV or keep it strictly Rowan's POV?

Let me know in the reviews! :)

Chapter 3: Help Wanted

Rowan's Point of View

I awoke the following morning with a gnawing ache in my lower back and a cringe in my neck from sleeping in such a mangled position in the armchair in my mother's room. I needed to ask if they had a cot or something I could use, because this chair felt like it was crippling my spine, or I'd just sleep on the linoleum floor. It couldn't be any worse than this damn chair, I thought.

Between the whirring of the machines hooked to my mother and the nurses coming in and out of her room all hours of the night to monitor her or administer medication, it was impossible to get a good night's sleep, but I didn't care. I would never complain out loud about any of it, especially not to her, because she didn't ask for any of this either, and she's the one losing the most. I could suck it up and handle it, for her.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I stepped out of the tiny shower in the bathroom and quickly dried myself off and pulled on a pair of black ripped up skinny jeans with the knees missing, and a light weight white silky flowing tank top.

I wiped the steam off the mirror and stared back at my reflection briefly, before running the towel through my damp hair. My mind kept wondering back to Jax and Deacon last night at the diner. There was something off about Deacon; I just didn't know what it could be. He came in and paid for a cup of coffee and then left it sitting on the curb. I mean who does that? Stalkers? Serial Killers? It didn't make sense. Then again I was probably just over thinking it, like I overthink everything else.

I dug through my gym bag on the floor and found my makeup bag and applied a light touch of mascara so I didn't look like the walking dead going into Teller-Morrow. Maybe deep down I was just wondering what Jax would think of me. Which was completely stupid, because for all I know he has a girlfriend or a wife. Besides, I'm not interested in him like that. I can't be. I don't have time for silly things like impressing some guy I hardly know. My thoughts raced as I shook my head and rolled my eyes looking away from the mirror at my idiotic thoughts.

As I was pulling my hair up into a messy bun, my phone vibrated on the sink. Glancing down at it, I saw I had a new text message from Lena... I'm outside waiting for you... the text read. On my way down... I replied back, walking out of the bathroom.

"I've got to go talk to someone about getting my car fixed, but I'll be back as soon as I can." I said as my mother turned her head and looked at me. She was watching some cooking show on the Food Network Channel. I could hear the sounds of something simmering in a pan and a woman's voice explaining how to dice an onion without making yourself cry. My mother loved to cook; it was one of her passions.

"Sweetheart, go hang out with Lena. Have lunch, or go to a movie, be a twenty one year old for the day." She pressured me, causing me to roll my eyes as she held my hand.

"You know, I'm beginning to think you're trying to get rid of me!" I said faking being offended, as I pulled on my pair of snake heads. I really needed to take some of our clothes home and do laundry. Lena would bring me clothes and shoes, but I'd never take them home. I'd just let them pile up in my little hermit's corner by my chair.

"Who? Me? no, not at all..." She said, giving me a small smirk. I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I made sure all of her magazines were within reach and her cup of water was full.

"Okay, so I'm going to Teller-Morrow with Lena and figuring out what the hell I'm doing with my car. If you need anything, just call me. I have my cell." I assured her, before leaning down and kissing her forehead. She was a lot less pale today, and sitting up in her bed.

Today was a good day.

"Teller-Morrow?" She questioned intrigued, a worried look swept across her face for a moment, and then it disappeared almost instantly. Not sure what that was all about.

"Yeah, this guy Jax actually helped me last night; he had it towed there for me. I told you about this last night, don't you remember?" I asked calmly, feeling a twinge in my stomach. Short-term memory loss was one of the major side effects of her treatments. It wasn't uncommon for her not to remember small conversations we had. Every time it happened it made me think things were getting worse though.

"I remember, smartass." She replied quietly, pulling her blanket up further on herself.

"I forgot to ask you this last night, but do you know a guy named Deacon? He comes in the diner a lot, and he asked about you." I asked nonchalantly, as I placed my sunglasses on top of my head. My mother sucked in a deep breath and shook her head, as she started to randomly flip through the channels on the television.

"Doesn't ring a bell," she replied shortly, shrugging her shoulders. That was something she did when she wanted the conversation to be over. I knew I wasn't getting anything else from her. But, something felt off about this Deacon guy... I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"You sure, he seemed like he knew you. He said you guys were old friends. Did you go to high school with him or something?" I asked as I kneeled down to tie my shoelaces quickly. Lena was going to fucking murder me for taking so long. I'm surprised she even made it up this morning. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was ten in the morning; I figured she'd still be passed out on some random guy's couch or better yet mattress.

"Not that I can recall; he must have been mistaken." My mother finally answered after a long silent pause.

"Okay, well maybe he was mistaken. I better get going or Lena's going to shit a brick." I replied laughing slightly, letting it go for now.

"I hate when you talk like that." she huffed. I stuck my tongue out at her as I headed towards the door and laughed.

I'm holdin' on your rope, got me ten feet off the ground.

And I'm hearin' what you say, but I just can't make a sound.

You tell me that you need me, and then you go and cut me down.

But wait, you tell me that you're sorry, didn't think I'd turn around, and say... It's too late to apologize...

A OneRepublic song blared out of the open windows to Lena's car as I got in. She was primping herself in the rear view mirror, applying a light shade of pink lip gloss to her full set of lips. Her sunglasses hid the bags under her eyes from the hangover I'm sure she had. She ran a hand through her reddish brown hair as I put my seat belt on and glanced at her.

"It took you long enough. My grandmother's eighty years old and she moves faster than you." Lena huffed, putting the car in drive and stepping on the gas hard. I clutched the side of the leather seat and prayed we'd make it there in one piece.

"Every time I ride with you, I swear I am never doing it again." I laughed out, as she pulled out of the hospital parking lot and headed down the road, following the speed limit for once. She stuck her tongue out at me and smirked.

"How was the party in Lodi?" I asked making small talk, feeling the warmth of the sun beat on my arm resting in the window as we went down the road.

"It was alright, not as fun as it would have been if you were with me!" She pouted, as we stopped at a red light. Lena and I were inseparable in high school. We were stuck together like glue it seemed. She was my other half. We did everything together, until she started hooking up with guys and going to parties and I didn't. I wasn't comfortable with random one night stands that meant nothing. I didn't hold it against Lena though. We drifted apart for a while, but when I really needed someone after my mom got sick, she was there.

"Yeah, well I don't have that luxury right now, Lena." I snapped at her, harsher than I wanted too. She meant well, which made me feel like shit for snapping at her like I had. "I'm sorry," I whispered, running my hand down the side of my face.

"My mom's already pushing me away. She thinks that I'll have nothing when she dies, and she doesn't want that for me. It's just hard to be happy and perky when you know someone you love is dying." I tried to explain, knowing I didn't have too. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye and touched my shoulder. "It's okay; I know it's been tough. Your mom loves you and wants you to keep moving forward, that's all."

"I can't believe Jax gave you a ride to the hospital last night. Oh my god, what was it like to wrap your arms around him on that bike?" Lena squealed, making me laugh. We could go from having a completely serious conversation to talking about something so stupid in the blink of an eye.

"It wasn't bad, I'll admit that much. He seems really nice." I told her, as we pulled up in front of Teller-Morrow Automotive.

The black wrought iron gates that lined the front of the lot were unlocked and opened allowing us to pull onto the lot. Motorcycles lined the grungy concrete building to the left. The black metallic paint on the bikes glistened in the sun as they sat there waiting to be rode. Someone had painted in bold black lettering on the side of the building, "SONS OF ANARCHY MEN OF MAYEM." A Grim Reaper holding a crystal ball with the Anarchist circle-A symbol, wielding the Reaper's traditional scythe, the handle of which was replaced with an M16 Rifle was painted in between the words. It was actually pretty beautiful to look at. It was the same symbol on the back of Jax's cut, and all the other guy's cuts that came into the diner.

Lena pulled into a parking spot and shut off her broken down Dodge Neon. I got out of the car and was immediately greeted by two large black and brown Doberman Pinchers. They barked and howled at me as I walked towards the back of Lena's car. Their whole bodies wiggled as they wagged their tails and barked at me more and more. I knelt down as I heard Lena getting out of her car, "Come here boy, it's okay." I said calmly, extending my hand out for the dog to sniff. Both dogs whimpered and moved towards me to be petted. I always wanted a dog of my own, but my mom was allergic to them.

"Some watch dogs, huh?" I heard a gruff voice say, causing me to look up. Jax stood a few feet away from me wearing a light grey button up shirt, with the Teller-Morrow Auto logo across the right side of his chest. The dogs immediately ran to him and swarmed around his legs as I got to my feet.

"Very ferocious." I laughed out slightly, as Lena stood beside me eyeing Jax up and down.

"Hey, Half-Sac! Come put the dogs in the back, man!" Jax hollered towards the three bay garage where he'd undoubtedly come from. His face had light streaks of black grease on it and his arms were covered as well. His sandy blonde hair was hidden beneath a black ball cap. I watched conspicuously as he wiped his hands off on a red rag, before shoving it into his back pocket.

A tall skinny string bean of a guy with messy dirty blonde hair came walking out from the first bay in the garage. He wore a leather cut that had the tag, 'prospect' etched onto the front. I remembered Jax mentioning him last night and laughed at the name in my mind.

"What am I fucking Ceaser Millan? Why do we even have these idiots anyway?" He griped, patting his leg so the dogs would come. I laughed when they circled around Lena and I, completely ignoring the guy Half-Sac. I reached down and scratched the dog's ears. "Who's a good doggie." I whispered, patting it's side.

"They're here to protect the property, now get it done, grunt." Jax ordered, as Half-Sac approached us.

He smiled and reached down and hooked a finger in each dogs collar.

"I'm sorry," I half laughed, "but, I have to ask. Where did you get that name? Half-Sac?" I finished asking, letting my curiosity get the better of me, which in most cases was never a good thing. It usually ended up getting me in a shit ton of trouble.

"Oh, man, I got my left nut blown off by an aper frag in Iraq." Half-Sac said as he released the dogs and began to unzip his pants to show us. I placed my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing, while Lena slid her sunglasses down on the bridge of her nose to get a better look.

"Any excuse for you to whip that thing out, get back to work dumbass." Jax ordered trying to keep a straight face, stopping him from exposing himself to us. He shoved Half-Sac and laughed as he looked at me. Half-Sac shrugged and ran off towards the garage, the dogs nipping at his heels. He was like a big human chew toy.

"Well, at least he's proud of it." I laughed out; Jax chuckled and gestured for me to follow him up towards the garage. Lena hung back texting someone on her phone. The sound of machine tools filled my ears as men worked on cars in the garage. The smell of gasoline and grease filled my nostrils the closer we got to the shop.

"Don't mind him. Half-Sac's new; he's still learning the ropes." Jax explained, glancing at me over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I can see that. It's probably not good for business if he goes around exposing himself to customers." I replied, holding back a laugh. Jax lowered his head and cocked it to the side giving me a small smirk.

"Probably not," He agreed quickly, walking over and hitting a lever on the lift to lower what looked like to be my car.

"I went ahead and put in a new battery and changed out the starter plugs, they were stripped. When's the last time you changed the oil in this thing?" Jax questioned raising an eyebrow at me as the tires on the car touched the grease stained concrete floor.

"Probably when I bought it," I replied sheepishly, I didn't take care of my car at all. The backseat was full of trash and old bags of clothes were I'd been too tired to take them home. Old McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Subway wrappers lined the front floor board on the passenger side.

"You know what they say, dirtier the car, prettier the girl." A man said as he approached my side looking into the back of my car, his jet black wire like hair flying every which way. He patted Jax on the shoulder and gave me the one over, making me feel a little self-conscious. Jax peered into the back of my dirty car and smirked up at me.

"Well, they weren't lying, Tig." He replied, before turning his attention to the clipboard lying on a stand next to the car lift. I felt my cheeks flush with heat as I turned around and waited for Jax to finish up with my car. Lena had found her way inside the garage and slung her arm over my shoulder.

"Now this is where we should be working." Lena whispered into my ear, taking in all of the guys working on cars and trucks. I shook my head and laughed at her.

"I saw a help wanted sign over in the office. You should apply here. Bring in some extra cash, help pay off your moms medical bills, and look at that every day." Lena said discreetly gesturing towards Jax. I elbowed her in the ribs.

I heard the rumble and roar of motorcycles coming onto the lot causing me to turn my head and look at them all pouring in. The group of bikers was so large. It looked like the kind of thing you'd see at bike week in Daytona.

"You looking for another job?" Jax questioned as he looked up from the clipboard in his hands.

"Actually, she is!" Lena cooed, while I shot daggers at her. "You all still hiring?"

"Follow me; we'll get your keys. My mom, Gemma, put the sign up a few weeks ago, she could use some help in the office. You'll have to talk to her about it." Jax explained as I followed him through the garage into a tiny cubicle office that looked like it would be good for giving someone with claustrophobia a hard time. A small tattered patchwork sofa lined the door by the wall, followed by a bunch of metal filing cabinets.

An older woman with an aging face glanced at us as we walked into the office. "Hey, baby. You need something?" She said giving him a warm motherly smile, referring to Jax. Her long black hair was pulled to one side of her face, exposing her chest and cleavage. A long prominent scar sat nestled between her breasts. I looked away not wanting to be rude.

"The keys to the '68 Fastback." He told her, handing her the clipboard he'd carried in.

"You the owner?" Gemma asked, looking at me skeptically as she searched the desk for the keys to my car. I nodded my head, and accepted the keys from her. Feeling my phone buzz in my pocket, a shot of worry coursed through me as I pulled it out thinking it might be the hospital, only to see that it was the landlord Jerry... I shoved my phone back in my pocket and sighed to myself.

"My friend here was wondering if you were still hiring?" Lena piped up, pointing to the 'help wanted' sign taped to the front of the open office door. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket again and pulled it out to see the name Jerry flashing across the screen again. I sighed and hit the ignore button. He was calling again because he wanted rent like yesterday. He was getting on my last god damn nerve.

"Can your friend speak or is she mute?" Gemma asked cocking her head to the side, looking directly at me. I scoffed at her abrupt forwardness and stepped forward slightly, really not in the mood to take any shit from anyone else.

"Yeah, I can speak. I read and write too. Real triple threat here. If you're still looking for someone I'd like to fill out an application." I shot back at her, slipping the keys into my pocket. Jax cupped his hands around the cigarette he was trying to light and glared at his mother then looked at me, his face softening ever so slightly.

"You know how to run a computer and answer a phone?" She inquired crossing her arms over her chest.

"Of course," I replied back cockily, giving her a curt smile.

"You just filled out your application." She retorted sharply. "I've seen you at Franny's. You're the little blonde bimbo waitress that always screws up the damn coffee." Gemma said arching her perfect eyebrows at me. She didn't like me for some reason, and I didn't like her already. Her snappy attitude was the last thing I wanted to tolerate today.

"That'd be me, hope making coffee's not a job requirement." I said shrugging my shoulders. "Mom, easy." Jax said as he finished up his cigarette.

"These good ole boys around here would drink piss if a pretty girl served it to em'. I'll give you a shot, whenever you're not at that dinky diner your ass is here. Got it?" Gemma declared picking her leather purse up off the ground and slinging it over her shoulder. She placed her sunglasses on top of her head, and walked towards me. She was fucking taller than me by at least a foot. I wasn't going to lie, I felt intimidated, but I didn't want her to know that.

The phone on the desk began ringing off the hook causing me to glance at it.

"You better get that, darling. It won't answer itself." Gemma snapped, eyeing the phone.

I was confused as to what I was supposed to do. I guess I was starting today. I picked up the phone, "Teller-Morrow Automotive." I answered unsure of what to say, glaring at Gemma as she stood in the doorway to the office.

I wrote down what the man on the phone said and hung up. Jax smirked at me as he rubbed his chin blowing smoke out of his nostrils.

"If you haven't fucked up too much by the time I get back from my nail appointment, we'll talk about a permanent position." Gemma said to me as she nodded her head to me before walking out of the office. What the hell am I supposed to do?

"Well, looks like my work here is done." Lena said backing out of the office. I was going to kill her with my bare hands the next time I saw her. She winked and held her fingers up to her ear, mimicking holding a cell phone and mouthed, 'call me later.'

I stood behind the desk and looked at the hurricane of papers covering it and then glanced at Jax as he stood beside me. I half laughed and half wanted to run away. But, I didn't. I wasn't sure if this was a good fit for me, but really couldn't complain.

"What just happened?" I asked incredulously, trying to figure out what the hell to do now. I looked at Jax, my eyes wide as saucers.

Obviously I could answer a phone and take messages, but was there anything else important I needed to know? I guess I'd just be winging it as usual.

"You just bantered with the Queen of SAMCRO." Jax smirked seemingly impressed. Something told me he wasn't kidding when he said Queen of SAMCRO. It seemed like she ran things around here.

"I guess I can check that off my bucket list." I replied teasing, smirking back at him. I felt oddly comfortable talking to him when we were alone, which was weird for me. Something about his laid back presence was calming and made me feel at ease slightly.

"Looks like I'll be seeing more of you then. Now I can stop coming into the diner with Deacon and buying your shitty coffee just to look at you." Jax went on standing incredibly close to my side. I could feel his warmth radiating on to my arm. Is he flirting with me? My mind swelled as I glanced down for a second. I was never good at reading guys.

"I guess so..." I answered innocently, "I mean unless your mother fires me." I told him, looking at him.

"If she didn't like you, she wouldn't have hired you just now. You'll do fine, darling. Let me have your keys so I can pull your car out of the garage." Jax said, holding his hand out to me. I dug through my pocket and pulled out the keys and a few crumpled bills all adding up to about $33.00 dollars and handed it to Jax. "This is all I have. I really appreciate what you've done for me, truly. I really don't understand why you want to help me so much."

"I don't want your money, darling. It's called being nice, you know some people still are nice in this shitty world." Jax said pushing the crumpled bills back into my hand and closing my fingers around them. I felt a tingling sensation on my skin where our fingers had brushed against each other, and pulled my hand back startled, wondering if he felt it too... If he did, he didn't let it be known.

"You can work it off here." He grinned mischievously, "Or some other way." He insinuated as I rolled my eyes and scoffed. He was kidding, right? Or was that why he was doing all this? Just to get in my pants like every other guy.

Jax walked backwards towards the door straightening out the brim of his hat. I flipped him the finger before he turned around and grinned; he chuckled and then turned on his heel heading back out into the garage.

My head swarmed as I slumped down into the chair behind the desk taking in the ancient desktop computer and the stacks of folders lining the floor underneath the desk. I have no idea what the hell I'm supposed to do. The phone rang and I placed my hand on it, thinking this was crazy, and picked it up, "Teller-Morrow Automotive." I said... But, I did need the money so I was grateful to be given the chance...Plus, the company wasn't so bad I thought glancing out the door at Jax sitting in my car...