SO excited for the new SOA episode! I hope we get some more Jax/Tara action than we've been getting lately. Maybe another hot bathroom sex scene? They keep doing shower scenes at Jax's house but never follow through with it! Gah those teases.

Disclaimer: If I owned SOA, Half-Sack would still be around, Abel would be safe and sound, and Jax would propose to Tara already. …Damn, looks like I don't own it.

1995 – 17

Tara jumped as the front door was shoved open. Glancing back down at the trigonometry homework she was working on, she got up from the desk in her room and headed towards the living room.

"Jeez, would it kill you to be a little more careful?" she started, but froze in her tracks when she saw her father wasn't the only one in the house. "Oh, hi Bruce."

Bruce, her father's old friend and favorite drinking buddy, was the kind of guy who liked to perv on his friends' seventeen year old daughters. Tara instinctively crossed her arms as the man continued to leer at her.

"Hiya Tara," he greeted with a slight slur to his words. Great, now she would have to deal with two drunks tonight. "You look more like your mother every day."

Her dad stepped past Bruce, heading to the bathroom to grab some towels. There was a hard thunderstorm going on that night and both of the men had gotten soaked coming in from the car. He didn't seem to mind the way he was dripping water all over the linoleum floors; Tara knew she'd be the one cleaning them up later anyway.

"You're in high school now, aren't ya?" Bruce asked once her dad was down the hall, staring at parts of her body definitely lower than her eyes.

"Er, yeah, I'm a junior this year."

"Damn it, Tara, what happened to all the other towels? I can only find these two," her dad snapped, tossing one at Bruce and using the other to dry his own hair.

"I haven't had a chance to do laundry yet this week, Dad. I had two tests and—"

"Whatever," he interrupted, leading Bruce to the kitchen. "Bruce is crashing here tonight, cause of the storm and all."

She said nothing as she returned to her bedroom. Sure, the storm. If by 'storm' you mean 'bottle of whiskey I know you've already tapped into by now,' she thought to herself.

A few minutes later the muffled sounds of the TV blaring were heard through her door. Tara sighed, reaching over to her boom box to turn the volume up a little higher of her R.E.M. CD. Already an expert on her father's drunken nights, she waited for the TV and the shouting to quiet down and around eleven she was sure they had passed out.

Around midnight she woke up to the floorboards creaking. Her eyes shot open but she didn't move, instead keeping her gaze trained on her doorknob.

Sure enough, the knob turned and a large figure appeared in the doorway. She was sure her dad was passed out in the bedroom, which meant that this was Bruce. He'd always hit on her when he'd crashed at their place in the past, but he'd never acted past making comments and ogling her occasionally.

Her heart pounded as he stumbled closer, mumbling to himself under his breath. As a hand reached towards her, she flicked her bedside light on and grabbed the pocket knife she kept under her pillow.

She'd scoffed at first when Jax had given her the knife after she'd told him about her home life, but now she was thankful she'd listened to him. Bruce winced at the bright light, then his eyes trained on the blade pointed at him.

"Get out," she said in a low voice, hoping he would take her seriously.

Apparently luck wasn't on her side tonight.

"Tara," Bruce crooned, moving to sit next to her on the bed. She tensed, keeping the blade aimed in his direction. "Come on, let's be friends."

He set his hand on her shoulder, rubbing the skin beneath her thin tank top strap. "Don't you want to be friends?" he whispered in her ear.

"Stay the hell away from me!" she screamed, swiping at his hand. Bruce yelped as the blade sliced the space between his thumb and forefinger.

"You little bitch!"

"What the hell is going on in here?" her dad bellowed, turning on the light to see Bruce clutching his bloody hand.

"He came on to me," she insisted, praying her father would believe her.

"That's not what happened," Bruce continued, stepping towards her dad. "I was trying to find the bathroom and accidentally went into Tara's room. She stabbed me with her little boy scout knife!"

Tara's stomach felt like it had bottomed out when her dad turned his angry gaze on to her. Not giving him a change to yell at her, she bolted for her only exit—her bedroom window. Her dad tried to grab at her but only snagged her tank top strap, tearing the fabric with a snap.

She screamed as she hoisted herself over the windowsill. Rain water sprayed in her face but she continued throwing herself out the window. Her dad grabbed her bare foot so she kicked him in the jaw, knocking him back. She landed face first in the grass, not bothering to brush herself off as she took off towards the direction of Jax's new house.

"Tara!" she could hear her dad yelling out the window. "Don't you come back! Ever!"

Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, mixing with the freezing rain water. Her bare feet felt like blocks of ice and throbbed from the gravel in the streets, but she never stopped running. Jax lived only about ten minutes away, but in the moment it felt like she'd been running for hours before his house finally came into view.

The lights were all out. Of course they were, it was nearly twelve-thirty in the morning.

She knew which bedroom was Jax's. Heading to the side of the house, Tara picked up a rock and threw it at his window. She waited for a minute and when he didn't come to the window, she figured he hadn't heard her over the storm.

Deciding she had no other option, she headed to the front door and rang the doorbell. Gemma and Clay answered the door, opening it wide to let her in as soon as they saw her drenched form. Clay went to go wake Jax while Gemma wrapped an arm around Tara's shoulders. When Gemma pressed a kiss to her soaked hair, Tara felt herself unravel.

The tears began flooding down her cheeks once more as Jax jumped down the stairs wearing only a pair of sweatpants. He rushed to her side, placing his hands on her shoulders while Gemma led them into the dining area.

"What happened sweetheart?" she asked, sitting next to Clay across from Jax and Tara at the table.

Tara scrubbed at her face, sniffling a little as she struggled to calm her breathing. "My dad's friend crashed at our place. They were drunk."

"Tara," Jax said sternly, fingering the torn strap of her top. "What else happened?"

She glanced up at him before her shoulders began to shake again. "H-He came into my room…"

Gemma and Clay glanced at each other worriedly. Jax slammed his hand on the table and stood quickly, obviously intending to head back to her house and do God knows what. She grabbed at his arm, seeking out his warm hand.

"Jax, please," she whispered. "I already got him."

Everyone turned to her in surprise. "I sliced him with that knife you gave me before he could touch me," she explained, suddenly embarrassed.

Jax's eyes shone with pride and amusement as he looked at her, sitting back down beside her. His thumb rubbed her palm, his other hand coming up to rest at the nape of her neck.

"Why don't you stay here for the night," Clay offered, his smile unusually soft for his gruff face. Tara sniffled and smiled in thanks as she wiped her cheeks dry.

"Do you want us to call someone?" Gemma asked quietly. "About your dad?"

Tara shook her head. "I'm almost eighteen and then I'll be done with him. He's not around much anyway."

Gemma pursed her lips at the girl, obviously not buying it.

"It's not usually this bad," she tried instead. "It's just…Bruce."

"Bruce?"

"My dad's friend. He's always hitting on me and staring at me," she explained. "I hate it."

"What's Bruce's last name?" Clay asked, his eyes meeting with Jax's knowingly.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I can find out though."

"Don't worry about it, honey," Clay assured her, standing up and patting her on the head. "Let's get you out of those wet clothes."

"You can borrow some of my stuff," Jax offered, leading her to the stairs.

Gemma pulled Tara into a hug. "You ever have any trouble and you come right over here, sweetie. No questions asked, our door will always be open."

Tara leaned into the older woman's embrace, letting herself remember her own mother's hugs for a moment before pulling away. "Thanks Gemma. That means a lot."

She smiled up at Clay as Jax took her hand in his and they started up to his bedroom.

"I'll call the school in the morning and tell them you won't be coming in tomorrow. You've been through enough, baby," Gemma told them, wrapping her robe tighter around herself.

"Go ahead and sleep in tomorrow," Clay added.

Tara said goodnight to them and suddenly felt exhausted as she and Jax made their way into his bedroom. He found her a pair of flannel pajama pants and a worn SAMCRO T-shirt.

"My mom said she'll wash your clothes for you," he told her, taking the water-logged pile of clothing from her. He left to give them to Gemma and Tara sat down at the foot of his bed in a daze.

"You okay?" he asked quietly when he returned. Snapping out of it, Tara smiled at him as he sat down next to her.

She nodded. "You're lucky to have such good parents, Jax."

He laughed into her hair, "They're not so bad."

"I'm serious," she rested her head on his shoulder, nuzzling into his warmth. "I'd give anything to have someone care about me like Clay and Gemma do for you."

Jax was quiet for a moment, reflecting, before he tightened his arms around her. "You do. You have me."

Tara grinned, lifting her head to press a loving kiss to his lips. "You're right. I love you, Jax Teller."

"Love you too, babe," he whispered, kissing her again. Their tongues met briefly and then Jax gentled it again, knowing Tara was probably seconds from passing out after the night she'd had. He helped her scoot up the bed and then lifted the covers over them.

Tara sighed as she rested her head on his chest, enjoying how safe she felt with his arms wrapped around her. He pressed a kiss to her hair and then turned out the light next to his bed.

Her eyelids grew heavy and as Tara drifted to sleep, her last thoughts were how she'd never felt safer than when she was in Jax's arms. She knew, with undying certainty, that this was where she belonged.

A little more serious this time. I couldn't get the idea of Tara running to Jax's house for help in the middle of the night out of my head. I know Gemma was cold to Tara in the beginning of the show, but I think that's because she loved Tara so much before she left. I can really see Gemma as being the kind of woman who was fiercely protective of Tara when she was younger.