A/N First off I want to apologize to everyone for taking so long to update this! I started back at work and my partner in crime's laptop broke, so this has been a tough month for us both. Anyway, I'm so sorry and we'll definitely try to update a lot more frequently. We can't promise a set schedule, but we're working hard on this story! Hope you like this next chapter!
Jax scanned the crowd at Charming High School's football stadium, his eyes finally landing on Carrie. He smirked in amusement as he watched her sitting in the stands, watching the game intensely, before jumping out of her seat with the rest of the crowd, screaming. He made his way up the bleachers and over to where she stood, jumping in delight. She finally noticed him standing next to her and beamed at him.
"You made it!" she said happily, "Well, almost. We just won."
"Good. Sorry I'm late," he said, "Church," he added by way of explanation.
"Yeah, I figured. Let's go down and see Chris. Don't tell him you missed the whole game, okay?" Carrie said, "You know how much it'll mean to him that you showed." Jax nodded, resting his arm lazily around Carrie's shoulder as they made their way down the bleachers and towards the locker room.
"Hey! You made it!" they heard Chris say as he jogged over to them, still in his football uniform.
"You were amazing!" Carrie said, hugging him awkwardly around all the padding of his uniform. He grinned before looking over at Jax.
"Thanks for coming," he said.
"Wouldn't miss it," Jax replied, "You, uh, played a good game." He glanced over at Carrie who grinned, nodding slightly.
"You played a very good game," Carrie said, beaming at him, "Keep it up and you could get that scholarship." Before Chris could respond, a small group of cheerleaders walked past. One of them looked nervously at Chris, smiling shyly at him.
"Good game, Chris!" she said as the other girls burst into a fit of giggles. Chris grinned, puffing out his chest slightly.
"Thanks, Becca," he said.
"Well… see you at school," she said, before walking off, following her giggling friends towards the parking lot. Jax gave him a knowing smirk while Chris tried to maintain his 'cool guy' exterior.
"So a scholarship, huh?" Jax said, reverting back to their conversation. Chris shrugged.
"Doubt it. The last time we had a scout come to one of our games Clinton was president," he responded. Jax nodded.
"So you got any plans for after high school, then?" he asked. Chris looked nervously at him, steadfastly refusing to look at his sister.
"I was thinking…" he said nervously, "I mean, you were about my age when you started prospecting." Jax gazed back at Chris as Carrie's mouth dropped open. She glanced nervously up at Jax before looking back at her brother.
"Chris…" she said warningly, but he ignored her.
"I was just wondering… I mean, I know you were already inside cuz of your dad and everything. But how do you get to be a prospect?" he asked. Jax shrugged.
"You gotta be asked," he replied. Chris nodded.
"Uh huh… and, uh, how do you get asked?" he asked. Jax glanced down at Carrie before looking over at Chris.
"You wanna prospect SAMCRO?" he asked. Chris nodded, struggling to keep his eagerness at bay.
"Yeah, I mean, I thought… yeah, I really do," he responded, struggling with his words.
"Jax!" Carrie hissed. They both ignored her.
"How much do you know about it?" Jax asked. Chris shrugged.
"I mean, I've known you practically my whole life," he reminded Jax, "Watched you guys. It's what I've always wanted." Jax nodded, frowning slightly as he appraised Chris.
"Well, we've gotta go," Carrie said, glaring up at Jax, "Good game, Chris. I'll see you later." Chris frowned as Carrie grabbed Jax's hand, pulling him away. She finally stopped when they got to the parking lot, whirling around to face Jax.
"You can NOT let him prospect," she said. Jax smirked at her.
"Why not?" he asked, a teasing note in his voice as he gripped her hips, pulling her closer to him, "You got a problem with my lifestyle?" She grinned, rolling her eyes at him as he kissed her lightly on the lips.
"You know as well as I do he's not like the rest of you guys. He probably wouldn't even make it through prospecting," she told him. She glanced up at him thoughtfully, "I just wish he'd drop this SAMCRO obsession of his. I thought it'd go away when he got older, but… Did you know he traded in the car our parents got him for a motorcycle?" Jax nodded.
"I'll take care of it," he said. Carrie frowned.
"What are you gonna do?" she asked. Jax shook his head.
"Don't worry about it," he replied, as they walked to Carrie's car. "See you at the house." He told her with a quick kiss, hopping on his bike. He clearly wanted the conversation to end, and hoped to get her home and distracted quickly.
Carrie shook her head, rolling her eyes as he drove away. She knew exactly what he was doing, but she'd let him think he won… for now.
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
Jax strolled into Carrie's bedroom, kicking his shoes off and flopping down on the bed to wait for Carrie to make it back to the house. He looked around the room; most of the furniture was the same stuff she had when they had dated the first time, and it made Jax feel more at home. He glanced up at dresser, noticing a pile of paper tied together with a ribbon. He got up and grabbed the stack, flipping through them as best he could without disturbing the bow on top.
Grinning, he realized it was the letters he had sent her while he was in prison. "I threw the ones that called me a heartless bitch away," Carrie said from the doorway, catching him off guard, "I hope you don't mind," She said teasingly, walking up to him and handing him a beer.
"Why'd you keep them?" He asked her. He knew he wasn't exactly Shakespeare and was sure there was nothing that noteworthy in any of them.
"They're my love letters," She said sweetly, leaning into him. He set his beer on the dresser and wrapped his arm around her, kissing her lightly on the forehead.
"I wish you had written me back," he finally said.
Carrie looked at her feet in guilt, before walking over to her nightstand, pulling out a notebook and handing to him. He opened it to the first page, seeing a letter addressed to him. Flipping through the pages, the notebook was full of partially written letters. Some were only a few sentences, some paragraphs, but judging from the lack of a signature and the fact the many seemed to end in the middle of a thought, none were finished. He looked up at her, surprise and anger flashing in his eyes.
"I waited for four years for you to write me back, and you'd had these here the whole time?" he asked. Carrie bit her lip nervously, looking up at him.
"I'm sorry, Jax," she said, "You have no idea how much I regret not reading your letters. Maybe if I'd had, I'd have been able to finish one of these." Jax sighed, walking back to the dresser and taking a much needed sip of his beer. He finally looked back at her.
"Why didn't you finish them?" he asked, his voice coming out in a low growl in his struggle to keep it calm. Carrie shrugged.
"I didn't know how," She admitted, "Only two ways it could've gone – writing you out of my life completely, or forgiving you. I wasn't ready to do either." Jax stared at her for a moment, remembering the fresh start they'd promised each other, and nodded, his anger dissipating. She walked over to him and reached for the notebook as he subconsciously moved it away from her.
"I want to read them," He said.
"Are you sure? Some of them aren't the nicest…." She said, her voice trailing off. He grinned.
"You said so yourself, neither were mine,." He reminded her, "It's in the past. It doesn't matter what you said now. But I want to read them."
"Okay," Carrie relented. He sat on the bed, settling back against the headboard, and started on the first letter. Carrie sighed before curling up next to him, hoping to fall into a peaceful sleep.
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
Carrie glanced out of the window at the sound of a motorcycle roaring up her driveway the next morning and saw Chris hop off his bike and walk up to her front door. She smiled at him as he walked in.
"Well this is a surprise," she said. He grinned nervously at her.
"Yeah, I came to see Jax. We're, uh, hanging out today," he said, trying to keep his voice nonchalant. Carrie's eyebrows shot up as she gazed back at Chris.
"You're what?" she asked as Jax walked down the hall, grinning at them both.
"Hey Buggy," he said, turning to walk into the kitchen, "You're early." Chris nodded.
"Yeah, it's uh, it's Chris now," he said. Jax looked at him from around the open refrigerator door.
"Right," he said, "Chris." Carrie looked at him in confusion.
"When were you planning on telling me you were spending the day with my brother?" she asked him. Jax shrugged.
"Figured I'd tell you when he showed up here," he said grinning, walking over to her and giving her a kiss on the top of the head.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. Just going to show him the ropes of SAMCRO," he said. Carrie arched an eyebrow at him.
"He'll be fine," Jax repeated, "Trust me, okay?" he lowered his voice so Chris couldn't overhear, "Listen, by the end of today, he's not gonna have any more thoughts about prospecting." Carrie sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, okay," she said, "Just… don't let him get hurt." She glanced over her shoulder to look at Chris, who was still standing in the foyer.
"You know what he's like around you, he's always trying to show off when you're around," she said. Jax nodded.
"Nothing's gonna happen. But the only way to get him over this idea of his is to show him what it's all about," he said, "Right now he sees girls and parties. He doesn't know what we're really about."
"Jax, I don't even know what you're really about," Carrie reminded him. Jax grinned, kissing her lightly.
"You know more than he does," Jax told her before walking back over to Chris and they walked out the front door, leaving Carrie feeling not at all reassured.
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
Chris pulled in to the Teller-Morrow lot behind Jax, excited and nervous about the day before him. He felt like this was an audition of sorts to see how well he could hang, and he was determined to impress. Ever since he'd met Jax when he was 8 years old, he'd be in awe of his life style. Riding around town with the cut on his back – it demanded respect, and he got it. He'd wanted to be a Son ever since.
His life wasn't going anywhere else. As much as his family kept hoping he'd get a football scholarship, Chris knew it wasn't going to happen. He was okay at the game, but it wasn't like he was going to be the next Joe Montana. He really didn't see college in his future. No one in his family had gone. His mom had opened the day care when he was young and given it to Carrie after she graduated. His dad was the general manager at an Auto factory in Lodi – it wasn't exactly Chris's dream to follow in his footsteps. To him, he only had one option that appealed to him – the motorcycle club.
He hopped off the bike and looked around the lot. He saw several men working on cars in bays and others standing around the lot, some in mechanics garb and others wearing their cut. He followed Jax over to the picnic tables where two patches were standing, one Chris recognized and the other he didn't.
"Opie you know Chris, Carrie's little brother," Jax said. Opie eyed Chris, his eyes traveling up and down him as Chris felt himself gulp.
"Hey man," Opie said. Chris nodded back at him, his mouth suddenly dry.
"Chris, this is Juice, our newest member," Jax said. Juice nodded at Chris, who was only able to stare back while he nervously wondered how crazy a person had to be to get tattoos on their head. He was saved as a door near them flung open and Bobby walked out.
"Any of you guys seen the prospect?" he asked, wincing at the bright sunlight.
"I think he's in one of the bays," Juice said. Bobby looked towards the bays, debating walking all the way over there.
"PROSPECT!" he finally called. Chris looked over to see a lean young man in a prospect cut scramble over towards them, finally stopping in front of Bobby.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Piney clogged the toilet again," Bobby said and the prospect sighed.
"Jesus Christ," he muttered.
"Also my sheets need changing," Bobby said, a grin spreading across his face. The prospect looked at him and sighed, nodding, walking past Bobby and through the door. Chris watched the exchange, a slight twinge of envy for the prospect running through him even if he did have to do menial jobs like unclog toilets and wash Bobby's sheets. If he made it through to the end, he'd be a fully patched member.
"Who's the kid?" Bobby asked, nodding to Chris.
"Carrie's brother, Chris," Jax said.
"No kidding," Bobby said, eyebrows raised, "Last time I saw you you were practically in diapers." Chris laughed nervously, glancing over at Jax.
"So we doin' this?" Opie finally asked. Jax nodded.
"Yeah, let's go," he said, turning to Bobby, "See you around." Chris didn't have the nerve to ask them where they were going, so he just walked back over to his bike and followed them off the lot.
They rode for nearly an hour, Chris relishing in the feel of the open road, feeling like a part of something with Jax, Opie, and Juice flanking him. His bike was his most precious possession – a 1974 Harley Davidson fx he'd found in the classifieds. The guy selling it had needed a decent car for his daughter, so he'd been able to trade the Honda his parents had given him straight up for it. He'd expected his parents to blow their lids, but everything turned out alright. He'd been grounded for less than a month, and they'd allowed him to keep the bike, with an empty promise that he'd pay them back for the car. He'd always been able to get by with a lot more than Carrie had. They seemed to be so focused on keeping her away from Jax, that they hadn't even noticed how much Chris wanted to turn out just like him.
Though, Chris had to admit, he wasn't all too certain who that was. As much time as Carrie had spent with Jax, Chris only ever saw him in passing. There had been no trial to follow when Jax got arrested, and the details had been kept quiet. Chris only knew the charges – gun running – and he didn't know how involved the Sons were in that or what exactly it entailed. He figured it'd been a one-time thing – he couldn't see his sister being so involved with someone that made a lifestyle out of that.
'I mean… they're mechanics,' Chris thought to himself as he continued following them. He'd even taken shop every year in high school so he could try and get a job at Teller-Morrow. But the farther outside of Charming they got, the more it slowly dawned on Chris that he knew absolutely nothing about them and hoped to change that by the end of the day.
They finally turned off the main road onto a dirt road that was nearly swallowed by the trees surrounding it. They rode for several miles before stopping near a clearing that was mostly empty except for several targets set off a couple hundred yards out from a small wooden structure. Jax, Juice, and Opie parked their bikes before getting off and Chris followed their lead.
"Gonna do a little target practice," Jax said and Chris nodded, his heart thumping in his chest. He'd never so much as held a gun in his life and he really didn't want to embarrass himself in front of these guys. Jax grabbed a saddlebag off his bike and walked up to the wooden structure set up in the clearing, setting it on the counter. He opened it up, pulling out a hand gun and loading it.
"You ever fired a gun before?" Jax asked. Chris looked around at them all eyeing him. He looked down at the gun in Jax's hand and nodded.
"Yeah, sure," he lied, thinking it couldn't be that hard to figure out. Point and shoot, right? Jax raised his eyebrows and nodded, handing the gun to him.
"It's loaded, so be careful," Jax said as Chris tenderly took the firearm, careful to keep his finger off the trigger and struggling to keep his hand from shaking. He watched as the others all stepped up in a line beside him, holding their own guns up and aiming at the targets set out before them.
Jax took the first shot and Chris winced. The noise was deafening. The only time he'd ever heard gunshots was in movies, and that had never left a ringing in his ear like this did. He nervously raised the gun in his hand, glancing over at Jax to watch how he held it. He imitated him, cupping his other hand around the fist that held the gun and aimed at the target. He took a deep breath, trying to tune out the gun fire surrounding him as he pulled the trigger. His arms flung up as soon as the bullet shot out and he almost dropped the gun, not expecting the rough recoil. He couldn't tell if he'd hit the target from where he stood, but he somehow doubted it. Jax looked over at him and Chris hoped his face wasn't as ghostly white as he thought it was.
"You alright there?" he asked. Chris nodded.
"Fine," he muttered. He broadened his stance before taking his next shot. Prepared this time for the kickback, he held his arms as steady as possible as he once again pulled the trigger. This time, he was able to keep his hands in control and he felt the power of the weapon as he fired again. Grinning, he emptied the clip into the target and they all walked over to see how they'd done.
Chris was pleasantly surprised to find that most of his rounds had at least hit the target. Several were through the white of the paper, but he'd gotten one square in the head and several others through the chest. He grinned, glancing over at Jax.
"How'd you do?" Jax asked. Chris shrugged.
"I did alright," he said. Jax looked over at his target and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Not bad," Jax said, and Chris had to force his smile from beaming. He could have had no higher praise from anyone else.
"Yeah, it's all well and good until someone gets shot in the back," Opie said as Jax packed up the saddle bag.
"Shot in the back?" Chris repeated, looking around at them.
"Or shoulder," Jax said, grinning.
"Or leg," Juice chimed in.
"You weren't shot in the leg," Opie reminded him.
"Yeah, well, I was stabbed. Hurt just as goddamn much," Juice said.
"You've been… shot?" Chris asked hesitantly. Jax raised his eyebrows, turning to the side and raising his shirt halfway up his body, revealing a circular scar on his side.
"Carrie never told you?" he asked. Chris widened his eyes, staring at the scar until Jax lowered his shirt. Opie grabbed the neckline of his shirt, pulling it over to see a similar scar on his shoulder.
"Holy shit," Chris mumbled. Opie shrugged.
"It happens," he said. Chris couldn't help but disagree entirely with that statement. Getting shot was not something that just 'happened', and if they could refer to it so casually, perhaps the Sons were involved in a whole lot of shit he didn't want to know about.
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
They rode back to Charming, a lot faster than their ride up and Chris struggled to keep up with them zooming in and out of traffic. He'd only been riding for less than a year and these guys were experts, but he knew with more practice he'd be on their level in no time. Once they'd reached the Charming city limits, he saw Jax throw his arm out, indicating right, and they all followed him down the road, parking next to him outside a dingy looking bar on the corner of an alleyway. Chris nervously climbed off the bike, looking up at the bar and thinking that the clientele of this place was probably not the nicest of people.
"Gotta take care of something," Jax said, reaching into his saddlebag and grabbing the gun he used. He looked down the street and Chris gulped as Jax shoved the gun in his waist band. He turned to Chris, grabbing him and shoving a second gun down his pants.
"You got my back?" he asked. Chris's eyes widened as he slowly nodded.
"Yeah, man, of course," he said, forcing every ounce of bravado into his voice.
"A'ight, stay out here with Juice as a look out, we'll be right back," Jax said, tapping Opie on the shoulder, who nodded, looking grim. They walked through the front doors, leaving Jax and Chris outside.
"So you think it's gonna work?" Opie asked as they took a seat at the bar and signaled the waitress, who immediately set two beers in front of them. Jax shrugged.
"I don't know," he said, sipping the beer, "I hope so. I'd rather he let it go than tell him it's never gonna happen."
"Why? Why not just tell him?" Opie asked.
"Because the only reason it's never gonna happen is because Carrie doesn't want him to. If it weren't for that, once the kid graduated high school, if he wanted to start hanging around I wouldn't have a problem. Not saying he'd ever actually make it to prospect, but he'd have as much a chance as anyone," Jax tried to explain, "But I don't want that to start something between Carrie and Chris. Chris is the only one in her entire family that doesn't hate me."
"I can't believe you left him out there with a loaded gun," Opie said, "This could turn bad fast." Jax smirked, shaking his head.
"It's not loaded. What do I look like?" he said.
"What do you think he thinks we're doing?" Opie asked him as he took another sip of his beer. Jax shook his head.
"Hopefully kicking somebody's ass," he replied.
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
Chris stood outside the bar, nervously rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he took frequent glances between the front door and Juice. He still didn't know what to think of Juice, who remained stony faced, looking up and down the street, before glancing back at Chris.
"So your sister is Jax's old lady?" Juice finally asked. Chris nodded.
"Yeah, since she was 16," he said. Juice nodded.
"Yeah, I met her a couple times. I joined when Jax was inside so I don't know her all that well," Juice said.
"So how did it work?" Chris asked, "How did you get to be a prospect?" Juice shrugged.
"I hung around the club for a while until Chibs sponsored me," he explained. Chris nodded, mulling the information over in his head.
"So to prospect you need someone to sponsor you?" Chris asked, knowing Jax would sponsor him in a heartbeat if he could talk Carrie into asking him to. Juice nodded.
"Yeah, but then you gotta make it through a year of prospecting before you get your patch," Juice told him, "And it's a hell year, let me tell you."
"Yeah, but it's all worth it in the end, right?" Chris asked. Juice shrugged.
"If you last," he said, "But you gotta be willing to do whatever they ask whenever they ask. And it's not all unclogging toilets and cleaning sheets."
"Like what?" Chris asked, but Juice just shrugged, shaking his head, and Chris let the question drop. Several minutes later, Jax and Opie ran out of the bar, tousled haired and hurriedly stuffing their guns away.
"Let's go!" Jax yelled and Chris scrambled over to his bike, all too aware of the gun still down the back of his pants and praying it didn't accidentally discharge. Scenarios flew through Chris's mind about what Jax and Opie could have been doing inside that bar, and the longer he thought about it, the more he realized he never wanted to know.
SOASOASOASOASOASOA
Carrie stepped out of her car as she heard the motorcycles roar up to the TM lot. She watched Chris climb off his bike looking ashen faced and frowned. Chris reached behind him and Carrie's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she watched him hand a gun over to Jax, who took it and placed it in a bag on his bike. Jax looked over at her and grinned, walking up to her. He gave her a quick kiss before realizing she was glaring at him.
"Why did my brother just hand you a gun?" she asked.
"Relax, it wasn't loaded," Jax told her quietly and Carrie felt her racing heart begin to slow, "He's all in one piece, I promise."
"Is he still hell bent on trying to prospect?" she asked. Jax shrugged.
"We'll see," Jax said, "I don't know why this has you so freaked out. If you didn't know, I'm the Vice President," he reminded her, tapping the patch on his cut, "If you don't want him to prospect, it's not gonna happen." Carrie sighed.
"I just wish he didn't want to so badly," she said. Jax shrugged again, tilting his head as he pulled her closer to him.
"Anyone ever tell you you worry too damn much?" he asked. She grinned, looking up at him.
"Anyone ever tell you it's all your fault?" she asked playfully.
"All the time, darlin'," he responded before kissing her lightly.
A/N I hope you liked this chapter! Please review! Next chapter will be introducing the main story line SOA will be dealing with throughout the story. We'll try and have that one up for you soon!
