Disclaimer: I do not own Sons of Anarchy.

Rated "M" for language and adult situations.

AN: First off, I'd like to thank everyone that has added my story to their alerts. The response has been overwhelming and I am giddy with joy. I have been writing for many years for my own entertainment and it makes me happy to finally share my take on SOA.

A special thanks and shout-out goes to my superstar Beta WebStar. Not only has she provided me with her excellent editing skills but, together we have mapped out Charming's Worst Kept Secret until the end (and even have a rough outline for a sequel). I hope that those of you that have signed up for the alerts stick it out until the end because it's gonna get hot in Charming!

As always, reviews and comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.


Jax had a slight smile on his face as he watched Jolene burrow into the pillow cradling her head. She had fallen asleep on her side facing him about an hour ago, after a less timid and more aggressive Round Two. Checking the alarm clock on the nightstand, he realized that if he nudged her awake, they'd probably have time for a final round before he had to leave for Oakland with Big Otto. As tempting as she was, with her dark hair draped over the white pillow case and the bed sheet barely covering her tits and leaving the curve of her hip exposed, Jax was enjoying the quiet peacefulness of watching her sleep. Although Jax rarely went to bed alone, he always slept alone. By this time, he would have gently slapped his current nameless and faceless conquest on the ass and told her to leave, preferring the company of his trusty bottle of Jack and painful memories. But now, even with his late night run on tap, he would have made sure Jolene stayed in his bed and waited for him to return. That is, if she didn't have a curfew.

"I can feel your eyes on me." Jolene murmured, her eyes still closed.

Jax laughed. Losing the battle to keep his hands off of her, he reached out and caressed her cheek, tucking stray curls behind her delicately-shaped ear. "How long have you been awake?"

Jolene's piercing green eyes flew open and she beamed up at him. "Since you came back from your shower. I even watched you get dressed. Nice." She leered at him as she pulled herself up into a sitting position next to Jax.

Lifting up the bed sheet she had tucked around her, Jax leered back. "I know what you mean," He peeked under the blanket. Yeah, what the hell, Jax thought. There was always time for one more round. Throwing the covers off of her, Jax grabbed her by her waist and pulled her towards him until she was straddling him. With Jolene on her knees, he was eye level to her chest. He'd always considered himself an ass man but shit, her tits needed to come with a warning label.

Although she loved his one-track mind, Jolene was sure that if Gemma returned home and found her a no-show, she'd release the flying monkeys and come looking for her. "Jax, it's after midnight. I have to go."

"Hang on, darlin', there's something I've been dying to do." Jax smiled as he pulled her closer.

Jolene squealed. "You've been dying to motorboat me?" She giggled as Jax buried his face in her chest and rubbed it in her boobs while humming. "I feel violated."

"I've been wanting to do that for months," Jax muffled against her breasts. "Now I can die a happy man."

"Silly," Jolene balled her hand in his hair and pulled his head back. "All you had to do was ask."

"I hope you mean that 'cause I'm warning you," Jax gave her a cheeky grin. "I'm probably gonna do it a lot."

"Just don't do it in front of my dad." Jolene teased as she caressed his face lovingly.

"I can't make any promises." Jax smiled as Jolene bent to kiss him as his hands massaged her breasts, once again stoking the fire within them both.

"What are ya doing?" Jolene laughed as she broke away from their kiss. "You're making it very hard for me to leave, Jax." She answered her own question in a near whisper as she ran her hands through his hair.

"That's 'cause I don't want you to go." He whispered back, the intensity in his look almost hypnotizing as they stared into each other's eyes.

Jolene groaned. "I have to," She said reluctantly.

"I know," He replied, his arms still wrapped around her in a vise-like grip. Jolene smiled as she dipped her head and kissed Jax again, their tongues dancing against each other. Jolene gasped, surprised as Jax rolled them both over and pinned her to the bed. She felt a flutter of excitement as he reached in between them and unzipped his pants. Shifting her hips, Jolene opened herself up to him again.

"Damn it!" Jax cursed as he pulled himself out of her embrace. With wide eyes, Jolene sat up on the bed next to Jax as he pulled the vibrating pre-pay out of his pants pocket. "Shit, darlin', I have to take this." He grabbed her face with one hand and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before flipping open his phone and answering the call.

From what Jolene could gather, Jax was talking to a Club member. Although she couldn't tell what was being discussed, she did get a sense of urgency from Jax as he paced the room while listening to whoever was on the other end. Realizing that their evening together had just come to an abrupt end, Jolene got out of bed. She couldn't help but smile at the look of utter disappointment that crossed Jax's face as he stopped pacing and watched her get dressed.

"Ok, sounds like a plan," Jax said into the phone. "Absolutely. I'm on my way." He slammed the phone shut and shoved it back into his pocket. Crossing the room in what seemed like two giant steps, Jax grabbed a half-dressed Jolene from behind and pulled her towards him. "Did I say you could leave?" He nuzzled her hair, right behind her ear.

"I don't remember asking," Jolene smiled as she involuntarily shivered. "Besides, it sounds like your night just got a whole lot busier." She turned in his arms and framed his face in her hands. Turning his head slightly, Jax closed his eyes and pressed a kiss into one of her palms.

"It did." Jax pulled away slightly and looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Jo. This is not how I wanted the night to end."

"I kinda got that." Jolene wiggled her eyebrows at him.

Jax smiled, knowing that it was probably for the best that Big Otto called when he did or there was no way Jolene was leaving his side tonight.

"I'm meeting Otto at Cara Cara." Jax started, searching her face and noticing for the first time the pretty little scattering of freckles under her eyes and across the bridge of her nose. "I can drop you off at home on the way." He offered.

Jolene shook her head slightly. "I have my car. You should get going, don't keep the Big O waiting."

"At least let me follow you to the house, make sure you get home okay." Jax replied and Jolene nodded, sensing something more than just the need to protect coming from him.

Lighting a cigarette, Jax sat on the bed with his back against the headboard and waited for Jolene to finish dressing. Noticing it for the first time, the angry, crimson stain on his white sheets seemed almost surreal to him the more he stared at it. He didn't remember it being like this before, but now Jax was sure he would never forget.


All things considered, the trip into Oakland to retrieve the Club's next shipment from the IRA had been successful. As usual, Michael McKeavey had been waiting for them at the dock when Big Otto and Jax arrived sometime before 3 a.m. McKeavey did a quick rundown of the cache of weapons that was the Club's standing order with the Irish: 120 AK-47s and 80 MAC-10s for a total of $200K, with payment to be made at another location in 10 days. Unfortunately, according to McKeavey, the Irish were having trouble negotiating a new deal with their port contact in Ireland and this would probably be their last shipment for a couple of months. Jax was sure this bit of news was going to take some of the shine off the optimism Bobby had expressed about the Club's finances and explained to McKeavey that Clay was not going to be happy.

After a bit of angry back and forth between McKeavey and Jax, the Irishman offered to put the Club in contact with some associates that dealt in small firearms such as TEC-9s and Glocks. Jax reminded McKeavey that the Sons had a reputation for being able to provide a certain product, such as AKs and MAC-10s, that were otherwise difficult to obtain in NorCal and that they may need to secure another pipeline. Although Big Otto had felt Jax may have pushed a little too far with the threat of no longer being open to doing business with the Irish, especially without discussing the situation with Clay first, he was struck speechless when McKeavey caved. Not wanting to lose the Sons as business partners, the Irishman gifted the Club with a cache of TEC-9s and Glocks, a dozen of each, and promised he would negotiate a 10% discount for future shipments of the smaller weapons until the IRA could resume exporting out of Dungloe.

After overcoming that little bump, the rest of the night had been a cakewalk. It was dawn by the time Jax and Big Otto had transported the oil drums to Bluebird and with Clay's meeting with the Niners on the horizon, the Club needed to start assembly ASAP. Jax was going to suggest sending the Prospect out to Bluebird on Monday to help Tig oversee assembly. It would have been an excellent proving ground for Juice, but the Puerto Rican from New York didn't know Spanish. Didn't even have a clue as to what "Me llamo Juice" meant. Being that the assembly crew hired by Tig was fresh off the truck from Mexico, Chibs might as well be the one providing back-up with as much English as they understood.

With his plan for catching up on sleep this weekend already shot to hell, Jax decided to take his mother up on her open invite to join the family for Sunday dinner. If anything, it would at least give him an excuse to see Jolene again, the reason for his tossing and turning even after his late night working with Big Otto. Toweling off after a much needed cold shower, Jax shook his head as he chuckled. It had been a very, very long time since he had lost any sleep over pussy. Either he was getting soft the older he got or he was falling in-

"No!" Jax quickly chastised himself in the mirror. "Get that thought out of your fuckin' head." He said to himself and abruptly changed his train of thought. He needed to get his shit together if he was going to continue hooking up with Jolene. As the adult in this situation, he was going to have to be the one to keep a level head because teenage girls had a tendency and flair for the melodramatic.

Wrapping the damp towel around his waist, Jax rubbed the bridge of his nose. Who the fuck am I kidding? Trying to put Jolene in the same box as Tara and all the other women he had bedded wouldn't work. In all of his past relationships, he had always been the one in control and if love had ever been involved, those feelings always came later, after the initial hook-up.

Fuck!

He could try to convince himself all he wanted that he was the one in charge of the Jolene situation, but deep down Jax knew she had been the one calling the shots all along. His longtime relationship with Jolene would not permit their hooking up to be nothing more than just a casual friends with benefits attachment. Truth was, Jax already had feelings for her by the time she got the jump on in him during their first real encounter at the streams. He had been under her spell ever since and, like he suspected all along, there would be no going back.


Jolene grabbed the garbage bag by the back door and headed out to dump it in the cans on the side of the house. Rounding the corner on her way back, she nearly jumped out of her skin as she walked into a wall of sinewy muscle.

Pulling her arms around his waist, Jax bent towards her and, taking advantage of their location and the setting sun, kissed her. Jolene melted in his arms as he pushed her up against the side of the house and continued the assault on her throat with his tongue.

Barely breaking away, Jolene smiled. "Happy to see me?"

"I am," Jax smiled back, taking a second to make eye contact before moving on to nuzzling her neck.

"I thought I heard your bike," Jolene giggled, inadvertently knocking his Reaper Crew cap off his head as she ran her hands through his hair.

Jax pulled back. "I've been waiting on the back porch for like 20 minutes. You walked right by me and didn't even notice."

"I'm sorry," Jolene batted her eyelashes at him. "I was preoccupied, thinking about this really hot biker I know."

Jax smiled as his hands gently freed her pulled-back hair from its ponytail. "So you're into bikers, huh?" He loved the feel of her thick and silky hair curling around his fingers.

Jolene shook her head. "Just one."

"Good answer," Jax dipped his head and kissed her again.

Feeling way too good in his arms, Jolene half-heartedly forced herself to push Jax away. "I'm supposed to be watching the stove while Uncle Elvis gets his drink on. I can't explain burnt chops if you keep me pinned to this wall."

Kissing her one last time, Jax reluctantly let her go. "I need to see you again. Alone. And soon."

Jolene smiled. "Need or want?" She teased.

"Both, darlin'." Jax claimed his eyes wide for emphasis.

"We'll work something out," Jolene promised.

"Really, 'cuz I don't see how without someone finding out about us. You ready for that?" Jax asked.

Ready? She needed to get used to being an "us" first. "I will be," She replied. "For now, we can go someplace outside Charming."

Jax quirked an eyebrow at her. He didn't like hiding shit from his brothers. If it was up to him, he'd walk into the house right now and tell Clay but he knew that's not what she wanted. Jax could go with it, for the time being. "Where'd you have in mind, darlin'?"

Jolene bit her lip as she tried to think of any other place except what first came to mind and came up empty. The location she was thinking of was beautiful and private but it was also outdoors. "How about the streams?"

Jax smiled as it seemed appropriate in his mind. The streams were where this whole thing between them started in the first place. "Tomorrow, before the garage closes."

"You mean afterschool?" Jolene teased.

"I was trying to avoid using that terminology but yeah, afterschool." Jax relented, feeling like a Chester. That was a small price to pay for being with the hottest teenager on the planet.

"It's a date then," She gave him a quick peck on the lips and headed to the porch and gingerly climbed the stairs.

"You're walking weird," Jax observed as he watched her walk from behind. He should know after the countless times he'd been distracted by that sashaying ass in the last three months.

"Really? You don't say?" Jolene turned as she reached the top step of the porch. "Maybe it's cuz I haven't been this sore since the first time I went horseback riding."

A knowing smile spread across Jax face. "That's what you get for riding a biker."

Gemma opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. "Oh, hey, Jackson. I didn't know you were here." She smiled as Jax climbed the stairs and planted a kiss on his mom.

"Just got here." He said, wondering how much, if any, of his exchange with Jolene Gemma managed to catch.

"And I thought you were manning the stove?" Gemma said to Jolene, hand on hip.

"I am. I was just throwing out the garbage." Jolene explained as she headed back in. Gemma's eyes narrowed as she watched Jolene go. There was something off about her; Gemma just couldn't put a finger on it.


"How did it go yesterday?" Clay asked regarding Jolene's community service while slapping a spoonful of mashed potatoes on his plate.

Jolene rolled her eyes. "My P.O. is still p.o.'d about me coming back to Charming," She explained. "She won't drop that shit about Valentina and says I didn't give Seattle a chance."

"Doesn't she realize what a waste of human skin your mother is?" Gemma asked, passing a platter of Bobby's smothered pork chops across the table to Jax.

Jolene was shaking her head. "My CPS file from Washington has been sitting on her desk, in the same spot for months. I don't think she's even read it. Doesn't matter anyway 'cuz I'm not going back."

"You have to go back to your probation officer, Kit." Bobby chastised.

"Nah, I meant Seattle." Jolene was picking at her plate, avoiding eye contact. "That bitch is dead to me." She muttered.

Jax gave her a sideways glance. Jolene never spoke about her time in Seattle but from what he has been able to piece together, it must have been bad.

"You want me to talk to this P.O. of yours? That Doreen Butterface?" Clay asked, obvious concern etched on his face. He had been dead set against Jolene going back to Seattle to live with her mother as part of her probation in the first place. That had been an epic fail on behalf of the pencil-pushing-and-oblivious-to-the-facts probation officer his kid got stuck with. He wasn't sending her back.

"Debra McAllister, and no, please do not talk to her." Jolene dropped her fork on her plate. "She's not exactly your number one fan, Dad and she's got a big enough boner for the MC as it is. You antagonize her, the next step for me is foster care."

"You're almost eighteen," Jax said. "She can't send you to foster care."

"Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades." Jolene gave Jax a half-smile, which went unnoticed by Clay and Bobby but which was all too telling as far as Gemma was concerned. "Foster care, group home, she doesn't care. Anywhere but here. She's just waiting for me to fuck up."

"Any chance of that happening?" Gemma asked, causing Clay, Jax, and Bobby to give her a WTF look, which Gemma shrugged off.

"No," Jolene replied unperturbed. "I've been a good 'lil juvenile delinquent. I finished anger management, I'm done with probation and I turn 18 in a couple of months and graduate shortly thereafter. After that, I can't make any promises except to say that all hell's breaking loose."

Jax brought his bottle of beer up to his lips to hide his chuckle and smirk from Clay, who was giving Jolene a look that said he was taking her all too seriously.

"I'm kidding, Dad." Jolene smiled. "After that, it's the nunnery, I promise."

"Careful, Kit," Bobby laughed. "He might hold you to that."

"Damn skippy," Clay said, flashing his daughter a cheesy grin as he cut into his pork chop with relish.

"Yeah, okay, Dad. Whatever." Jolene said, falling into teenager mode.

"So, what are your plans for after high school?" Bobby asked while chewing. Jolene loved the man but table manners were not his strong suit.

"More school." Jolene replied as she reached for Jax's beer and took a sip without her dad noticing. She'd been doing it for years at the dinner table, sometimes sneaking a sip of Clay's own beer and yet he never noticed.

"College?" Jax asked, trying to sound casual. Shit, this scenario was starting to sound familiar. Why did he keep falling for the smart ones, the ones he could actually carry on a conversation with?

Catching the unspoken question in his eyes, Jolene nodded. "Yeah, I got early admission into CSU-Stan in Stockton. It's about a 40-minute drive there and back."

"You're not going away for college?" Gemma asked, catching the fleeting sense of relief that fluttered over her son's face.

"I've been away long enough. My ass is staying in Charming." Jolene shook her head. "Besides, it's cheaper if I live at home." She directed at Clay.

"What? I gotta pay for college now, too?" Clay asked in mock horror.

"You don't have to," Jolene started, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I can always take up stripping to pay for school. I think I read somewhere that 90% of all strippers are putting themselves through law school or something like that. " She kidded.

The table erupted with laughter, except for Clay.

"That's not funny." Clay put his fork down and pointed his finger at Jolene. "You get that thought outta your head."

"Jesus, Dad, I'm kidding. Calm down," Jolene laughed as she got up from the table to wrap her arms around her father's neck and hugged him from behind. "Besides, I don't have the daddy issues required to be a stripper." She kissed the side of his face.

She does have the body for it, though, Jax thought and had to fight the urge to punch a wall. Had Jolene grown up with Valentina, and not in Charming, there was a good chance that she would have been headed for the pole and not college, following her mother into the family business.

That is, had she survived her childhood.


Jolene entered the living room carrying a tray, which she placed on the coffee table in front of her dad. Passing off the mugs of coffee to Bobby and Clay, she grabbed the bottle of beer and crossed the living room to where Jax was sitting on the edge of the couch. Facing him, she handed him the bottle, their fingers grazing as she threw him a furtive wink and a smile.

"If you fellas need anything, holler for Gemma. I'm hitting the sack." She kissed Clay and gave Bobby a hug. "Dinner was awesome, as usual." Jolene kissed Bobby's forehead.

"You're dropping out on us already? It's barely 7 o'clock." Bobby said.

"They don't make teenagers like they used to." Clay teased.

"Hey, I spent my Saturday mixing cement and doing other strenuous activities," Jolene replied just as Jax was tipping his beer, causing him to miss his mouth, with a little dribble of the foamy liquid going up his nose. "But if you prefer, I'm sure I can find some trouble to get into, even on a Sunday night in Charming."

"Get your ass upstairs!" Clay went to swat her on the behind but she playfully dodged his hand and ran up the stairs.

Bobby chuckled as he took a sip of his piping hot coffee. "Thank God he saw fit to give me only boys."

Now that his main reason for being here in the first place had called it a night, Jax took one last sip from his beer and got up to leave.

"I spoke to Big Otto today." Clay started, stopping Jax as he was about to say goodnight. "You overstepped your bounds there a little last night."

Running his hand over his face, Jax stood in front of his stepfather and Club President and put his hands on his hips. "I know and I was wrong to do so but—" Jax started but Clay interrupted.

"Hold on," Clay started, a little annoyed. "McKeavey and I go back years. Not only is he a business partner but he's a good friend of mine as well." Jax opened his mouth in his defense, but Bobby raised his hand.

"Jax, let him finish." He said with a chuckle as the young man looked like he was about to start sweating.

From his recliner, Clay turned to look at Jax and continued. "My history with McKeavey and the IRA might have kept me from putting the screws to an old friend. Had you called me first, I probably would have told you to back off, then the Club would've spent the next couple of months trying to figure out a way to earn. You made the right call. You treated him like we would have any other associate who, through his own mismanagement, was trying to feed us a line of bullshit in an effort to step back from an agreement. You called him out for making excuses and you negotiated a pretty sweet deal for the Club." Clay explained, much to Jax's relief. "All in all, that was a ballsy move on your part and I'm proud of you, son."

"You made quite the impression on McKeavey as well." Bobby stated. "He called Clay bright and early to apologize, afraid Clay was as pissed as you were last night."

Clay waved the issue away. "Anyway, we'll discuss it some more at Church in the morning." He announced. "Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day for you, so go get some rest. You look like shit." He stood up and gave his stepson a backslapping hug.

Jax made his way through the kitchen to retrieve his cut from the back of his chair at the dinner table. Gemma was sitting at her usual spot at the table smoking a joint.

"How'd it go?" She asked as Jax gripped the back of the chair holding his cut.

"I'm not gonna lie," Jax smiled. "My sphincter was a little clenched."

Gemma smiled as she stood up and gave her son a hug. "John would've been proud of you, too." She said in a near whisper before pulling away.

"Thanks, Ma." Jax dropped a kiss on her forehead before slipping into his cut and heading to the backdoor. "I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Gemma asked, walking to the kitchen.

Jax stopped, doorknob in hand. "No."

Pulling Jax's Reaper Crew hat out of the cupboard, Gemma tossed it at him. Jax caught it with his free hand as it hit him on the chest. Shit! He forgot he had dropped it by the garbage cans earlier with Jolene. He waited for his mother to explode as she was the type to shoot first and ask questions later but she just gave him a raised eyebrow and puckered lips that screamed "Gotcha!" She stubbed out her joint and turned to leave the kitchen.

"Get home safe, sweetheart." She said on her way upstairs.