Hi everyone! Starting this week a little bit later than usual, but Monday and Tuesday came too fast. I hope everyone has been enjoying their week so far.

Want to thank all of you who are following this story. Enjoy!

You Looked At Me And I Was Done

Chapter 7

Jax

Jax didn't miss the irony that he had been suspended just when he had a reason to go to school. He had been suspended for a week and had been in hell.

All he wanted to do was see Tara and find out what her little smile meant for him. But he couldn't go to school where he knew he would find her and he couldn't go to her house. Her dad would definitely be there, watching her like a hawk.

"Jax," Gemma snapped, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Jax looked to his mom who gestured to a car that was pulling up. He nodded and headed towards the car and waited as they parked.

When Mary Winston stepped out of the car, Jax stopped. He rarely saw Opie's mom. His parents went through legendary fights, where they wouldn't speak for weeks at a time. Mary had never really been a supporter of the club.

"Hi Mrs. Winston," Jax said, walking up to her.

"Hi Jax," Mary said, kindly, "Please, call me Mary." Mary Winston was a nice woman. Very motherly. The reason that she didn't support the club was because she obviously didn't fit in with it.

"Something wrong with your car?" Jax asked, tapping the hood.

Mary shook her head and said, "No, I just brought it in for an oil change and to have a chat with your mom. Is she around?"

Jax nodded and pointed towards the office. Mary smiled and handed the keys to Jax, who climbed in and drove it up to the garage for the oil change. As he watched her go into the office, he realized he hadn't seen Piney in a few weeks...that's why she was here. Mary and Piney might fight, but Jax saw that the hurt and anger Mary felt was because she was so deeply worried about Opie's old man. She was here to check up on him and Gemma was the informational wire on all things related to the club.

Jax tuned up Mary's car, gave it an oil change, and checked the tires.

"Hey man," Opie greeted as he dropped his backpack to the garage floor, his eyes fixed to the car, "Is that my mom's?"

Jax nodded and gestured to the office, "She is in there with Gemma."

"Dad's been up at the cabin," Opie muttered as he shrugged his garage shirt on over his t-shirt.

Jax was just silent, not knowing what to say to his friend.

He pulled the keys out of his pocket and handed them to him and said, "She is good to go."

And go she would. Mary Winston wasn't a club lifer, and sooner or later she would leave it for good. Jax just hoped it didn't tear Opie up when that happened.

Opie nodded and took the keys, pulling it out of the garage into one of the spots in front of the office.

Mary and Gemma must have wrapped up anything they were talking about because they appeared in the doorway a moment later. Gemma hugged Mary before releasing her to talk to her son.

After a brief exchange between Opie and his mother, Mary climbed in her car and drove off.

Opie walked back over and began to work on a bike somebody had brought in.

Jax walked over with a wrench and began to help and they silently worked. Jax could tell his friend was thinking and didn't want to fill the silence with chatter.

As Jax worked silently by his side, his thoughts strayed to Tara. He wondered if she had been in school today and if she had been able to stay the whole day.

Opie stopped what he was doing and lit a cigarette, puffing on it as he worked.

Jax wiped his hands on his shirt and lit his own and said, "Gemma's been watching me like a hawk. But she won't scream at me if you are here smoking."

Opie nodded and said, "How much heat did you get for the fight?"

"Enough," Jax mumbled as he exhaled a lungful of smoke, "First from Gemma, and then Clay, who lectured me about brotherhood."

Opie looked down at the ground and said, "Have you talked to Kyle?"

Jax shook his head and said, "No."

Opie looked at him and said, "You are serious about Tara, huh?"

Jax shrugged nonchalantly even though he was anything but easygoing when it came to Tara.

Opie chuckled and said, "She managed to make it through the whole day today. Saw her leaving."

Jax nodded, happy he wasn't the one who brought it up.

"So what's your plan?" Opie asked, snubbing out his cigarette and turning back towards the bike.

"What do you mean?" Jax asked. Plan?

"You gotta have a plan man. Tara isn't like the others, you said it yourself," Opie said, "She isn't just going to fall in your arms and give it to you. That's why she and Kyle didn't work."

Jax thought about what he said and replied, "I am not looking to just get laid, but I also not looking for written in the stars, need to be with you every minute kind of situation either." Even though that last part was actually more in line to how he felt.

Opie shrugged and said, "I guess you can see if she will go for that, but I bet she won't. Not after what went down with Kyle."

Jax grit his teeth. Because of that fucking asshole, Tara was going to be guarded around him. It pissed him off.

Opie and Jax worked in silence for the rest of the afternoon, both of their thoughts occupied elsewhere.

Tara

Tara flexed her hand anxiously, ready for the doctor to come in and removed her cast. She had been itching to get the thing off since she had woken up.

Her dad gave her an amused glance and said, "Restless?"

She smirked at him in response as the door opened and the doctor and nurses came in. After scans and questions about her wrist, they finally started the little saw and began to get to work, slipping in protective plastic under her cast and getting to it.

Tara was riveted, watching in fascination as they worked.

"Does it hurt?" her dad asked nervously, watching her from the chair across the room. She shook her head and said, "No, just nervous."

Her dad nodded and his eyes flicked from the working doctors to her face anxiously.

Tara's wrist finally emerged from the plaster and she moved her wrist experimentally. It felt good.

After a brief exam with the doctors, they released her on the condition that she would do a full check up to see how the ribs were healing.

Since her dad's cutlass was in the shop, getting fixed, Tara and her dad had been driving his motorcycle around. It was something he typically never did, but it was their primary mode of transportation until the car was ready again.

Tara loved riding the motorcycle though. It made her feel alive and reminded her of when she was younger. When her mom was alive. When she was young, sometimes her dad would take her on a ride, cruising along the northern countryside for fun. Now the beautiful bikes he loved stayed in the garage, hardly ever ridden unless her dad was feeling sentimental. And sober...so it rarely happened.

Tara's dad cruised home and she knew he loved the motorcycle as much as she did. When he met Tara's mom, he had stopped riding as much as he used to because Carol Knowles feared them.

Before Carol Knowles came into the picture, her dad was a motorcycle enthusiast. He collected memorabilia and owned two bikes.

As Carl pulled up to their house, Tara wondered why her dad had never gotten into the Sons. He knew John Teller, even respected him. And he loved motorcycles at least as much the people that made up the club.

"Dad," Tara asked as she pulled off her helmet, "Why did you never join the Sons?"

Her dad stilled as he took off his own helmet, but then placed it on the hook he kept it on in the garage and said, "John Teller was a friend and when he pitched it to me and offered me a place in the club, I told him that real anarchists didn't need a club."

Tara thought about what he said and smiled. Her dad always had a way of putting things that challenged the way she saw things.

"We respected each other, but decided to go our own ways," Carl said, his eyes looking down and as he thought about John Teller and the club.

He looked back up at her and asked, "Why do you want to know?"

Tara shrugged and said, "I was just wondering."

"It doesn't have to do with that Teller kid?" Carl asked, leaning against his bike, rubbing his forehead.

"What?" Tara asked, surprised, "No." How did he know about Jax?

Carl nodded and looked down at the ground.

"Look Tara," he said, as if he really didn't want to talk to her, "I don't want you to get involved with Jax Teller."

Tara flinched, shocked by his words, but even more surprised by the deep disappointment she felt. She had never, ever disobeyed her dad's wishes.

"Why?" she asked, and he looked up at her in surprise. Apparently the conversation was going to be surprising for both of him. Carl Knowles had never been question by Tara. He barely ever set any limits as a parent, but when he did, he expected them to be followed. And without question.

"Tara, Jax seems like a nice kid, and I liked his daddy," Carl said, lighting a cigarette, "But...he isn't any good. Kyle wasn't any good and look where that got us. You got hurt in more ways than one. Jax would just be that all over again."

Tara thought about what her dad was saying, knowing he was probably right. Even Tara worried that would happen. She hadn't thought it would happen with Kyle...and then it happened.

"Think about it, okay kid?" he asked, pushing off the bike and walking towards her. He kissed her forehead before walking into the house. Tara stood in the garage a moment longer before following him in, shutting the garage door behind her.

What's everyone thinking? Did Tara's dad succeed talking her out of something with Jax?