Chapter 7) Sorry about the late update guys. I write in the morning and that hasn't been a possibility this weekend Enjoy
"Are you sure you are going to be okay Tara, 28 days is a long time for you to be alone." Tara's father said. She knew that he was hoping she would tell him to stay; the thought of not drinking again was terrifying to him. He would have to face all of the things he had done, or didn't do for the last 7 years.
"Dad, you NEED this. I NEED this. I will be fine, and besides your friend Piney said he would stop in from time to time." Tara was elated her dad was going to rehab; she hoped this would be the change that she desperately needed.
"Ya know he isn't really my friend Tara…" He trailed off not sure if should tell her his reasons for being with Piney the night he wound up in hospital.
"Well, he thinks you are, and he feels guilty about what happened to you, so he will check in and I have Donna, I will be fine. You worry about you." She was determined to get her father out the door and into a better life.
Tara arrived at school later that morning, she felt good, a feeling she was becoming use to feeling. It had been a few days since she had spoken to Jax, but she knew it was because Jax wanted her to spend time with her dad. She also knew she would have him whenever she wanted from now on or at least for the next 28 days, maybe longer if the doctors didn't feel her dad was ready to come home.
"Tara" Donna screeched as she rapidly approached Tara. "Oh my God, a whole month and no parents! Please tell me you will have at least one party."
"Ya right Donna, for one I don't think I have enough friends to have a party, I am pretty sure you need more then 3 to constitute a party, and no offense but you and Opie in a room humping like rabbits while Jax and I stare at each other hardly seems like a party." She burst out laughing.
"Hey, me and Ope aren't that bad, we just, ya know…" Donna's voice became a whisper.
"Are in love" Tara finished her sentence. She always knew what Donna was thinking, they had become so close over the last few years.
"I don't know if that is what you call it Tara, but I want to be with him all the time, and I never thought he would pay attention to me, so now that he is, I don't want to lose him." She was anxious.
"I get it" Tara said while pulling the last of her books from her locker. She could hear the people whispering as they walked past her, she didn't think that her father going to rehab would be so gossip worthy.
"Morning babe, I came to pick you up this morning, where were you?" Jackson asked her as he approached her locker. Then she realised they weren't gossiping about her father.
"Sorry, my dad, I had to take him to the bus this morning, ya know for…" She couldn't bring herself to say the word.
"I figured, how ya doin with all that hun?" He was genuinely concerned.
"I am okay, plus, I got a house to myself for a month" She stated in the most inviting voice. She wanted him to get what she was getting at, that he could be there with her.
He leaned in over her, he towered over her and she always had to reach for him. She loved it. He bent down and kissed her, slowly enticing her tongue to meet his. She was totally lost and when he stopped she felt totally dazed. It was clear he did as well. She wondered if all the girls felt like this when kissing Jackson Teller, she knew they did, but he didn't feel this way kissing all the girls. Only her. Only Tara.
"Mmmmm" he purred "Baby, the things you do to me." His eyes still closed he is savoring her as long as he can. "So I can drive you home tonight." It was a statement, not a question.
"Okay Jax. I will meet you here at the last bell." She was in a total trance. She couldn't even move, he pulled her away from the long row of steel blue lockers and slapped her on the ass and sent her in the direction of her class.
"Jackson." A girl's voice and not Tara's brought Jackson from his daze as he watched Tara walk away from him. The thoughts he had in his head of what he would do to her in those 28 days were enough to make one of the crow eaters blush. He swung around "Ya" he responded to the females voice.
It was Jesse, a small blonde that a thing for Jax for years. "Hey, I am having a party this weekend, and I was hoping you and Opie could make it."
"Ya we'll see darling." Jackson responded with his drop your panties grin that he couldn't help but spread across his mouth every time a female looked at him, it was an instinct.
"Well its invite only and I would love to see YOU there." He knew with the emphasis on you and the whole invite only meant Tara wasn't welcome, and it didn't matter who was in front of him, beating around the bush or totally forthcoming he would let no one disregard his girl. Not Tara.
"Sorry to disappoint hun, I won't be able to make it. I don't go anywhere without my girl." He knew that Jesse had a big mouth and that before the second bell rang for the day the whole school would know that Tara Knowles was his girl.
"What the fuck is your problem Jackson" Tara came up behind him in the cafeteria yelling so everyone could hear.
He tried to pull her in close to him so he could kiss her but she swatted away his hands. "What's the matter baby" he hated feeling rejected by her.
"The whole fucking school is saying you are going to Jesse's party. WITH HER." She looked past him and glared at Jesse. He turned to look and when he saw her he was shocked, it didn't go as he had planned, he thought the school would know about him and Tara. Instead they thought it was Jesse and him, he needed to make a statement quick.
" Look you might operate that way, but I surely to fuck don't. I knew this was a bad idea." She slapped him across the face and she was sure her hand stung more than his face, she turned on her heel and was about to speed off away from him. She felt the tears filling her eyes; he grabbed her by her arm, swung her around and pulled him into her chest. He held her and she cried lightly so that no one could see. She realised she just slapped Jackson Teller in front of more than half the school. "Babe, I never said that. I would never do that to you, I am yours baby." He could see the bubbly blonde standing a few feet away with her mouth on the ground. He mouthed "Fuck you" to her and it scared her.
"I am only yours, that girl asked me to come, implied I couldn't bring you and I told her no. They are just trying to get in your head babe. You're all I want, and all I need." He kissed the top of her head and stood in the middle of the cafeteria with her for all to see, not giving a shit what it made him look like. He loved her, and he would never hurt her. And now they all knew.
Tara carried on with the rest of her day, she thought the whispers were bad in the morning, she was wrong. After her outburst in the cafeteria and Jackson holding her and letting it be known that was his girl, the whispers were less like whispers and more like a radio playing in the background. She could hear it all "Oh my God, she is so lucky", "What the hell does he see in her", "She must be easier than the other chicks for him to stick around". She wanted to be annoyed by it but she couldn't be, she loved that they all knew they were together, even if what they thought was bullshit at least they know.
"Hey babe" He crept up behind her wrapping his arms around the small of her waste burying his nose in the back of her neck were he could smell her coconut shampoo. "mmmm" he growled. "Can I take you home?"
"I thought that was the plan Jax, and you know I would think you couldn't remember my name, babe this and babe that." She teased.
"But you are my baby" He was offended
"Sorry, sorry. I am just teasing" She playfully hit his chest and he grabbed her and kissed her.
"When I said can I take you home I didn't mean take you home." He laughed, his meaning was something totally different than giving her a ride to her address.
"Jackson!" She teasingly gasped.
"Ooo, I love the way you say my name." He was totally turned on and it was obvious, he looked down at his jeans and had no way to hide his bulge, he honestly didn't give a shit either. He loved she could do this to him, but to save himself a month of endless teasing he stood and held her for a few moments so allow blood flow back to the rest of his body.
"Everything is happening so fast Jackson" She said over her kitchen sink, heart still pounding from the quick ride home. "I love you, and I have come to terms that it's been like two weeks, and I know I am in love with you, but there is still so much we don't about each other. Like…"She was shying away and he knew this was her way of hiding, not wanting to admit something. "Like, I am a virgin." She finally blurted out.
"I know Tara." Jackson said, pride in his voice. He would be the first and the only to own her body in the most personal way.
"How the hell do you know?" She was irritated he knew.
"Well Donna talks to Opie, who talks to me. And last weekend, when we went to that party, well, Donna knew about it before you. I had planned on trying that night, but Donna told Opie I better not because it would scare you if I tried to be with you that way. That's the last thing I want, so I respect it, I am ready whenever you are."
"What do you mean Donna knew before I did?" She almost missed everything else Jax had just said to her.
"Well I knew if Donna was good to go, you would be to. So I talked to her about it, told her not to tell you she knew. I knew if it was her idea you wouldn't go for it, but if it was your idea you would, and that you needed her there to be comfortable. It was the only way babe." He laughed
"You ass. I would have gone if it was her idea. You sure did a lot of planning to make sure I would go." Tara realised that he put effort into her coming out with them that night. She couldn't be mad. She walked over to him at the table and sat in his lap. She kissed him passionately, drinking him in with every stroke of his tongue, her body melting into his everywhere he touched her. She didn't know how long she would hold onto her virginity and at this point, she was not too concerned about it either.