June 7th, 1995
"Freedom!" Jax yells, as he bursts through the doors of Charming High. Giggling, Tara and Donna follow, Opie behind them, smiling just sightly. Jax gives the building the middle finger, pulling a protesting Tara in to kiss her forehead.
"Thank god school's done." Donna says, stretching up on her toes to kiss Opie. "This summer is going to be amazing."
"Yeah, starting with the fact that I never have to set foot in that place again." Jax declares and Tara pauses in putting on her helmet, glancing at him.
"What does that mean?" She asks, frowning.
"I mean," Jax begins to flounder, looking at Opie for help, but he and Donna remain impassive. "Well, ah, I guess, I, uh, talked to my mom, and um, well, her and Clay, they uh, we um, all agreed that uh, I could, I mean, it makes sense if, I um, you know, we decided to, I guess-"
"Spit it out Jackson." Tara says shortly.
"I'm getting my GED." He states quietly. Tara gapes at him, while Opie and Donna decide now if the best time to make their escape. The sound of Opie's bike prevents Tara from saying anything, so Jax takes his escape and hops on, waiting for her.
"We're talking about this." Tara declares and he just nods, revving the engine. They go to the cabin, where Donna and Opie are unloading cases of beer into the fridge, laughing and joking. They quiet when Jax and Tara arrive.
"Here, let me help." Jax instantly moves to take Donna's spot, head bent so his hair falls in front of his face.
"Come T, let's go get firewood." Donna says, grabbing Tara's arm firmly.
"But-" Tara starts to protest. Donna drags her out the back door and towards the woods. "I wanted to talk to Jax!"
"Do you?" Donna asks pointedly, bending down and gathering twigs. "Think about this for two seconds Tara."
"Think about what?" Tara demands, grudgingly grabbing sticks of her own.
"Them." Donna gestures to the house with an eye roll. "Tara, how long have Jax and Opie been friends?"
"I don't know, probably since birth." Tara says, blinking in confusion at the question.
"And how long have we been dating them?" Donna asks and Tara frowns again.
"You guys a year, us not quite." She answers slowly.
"Exactly. 1 year against 16 Tara." Donna brushes her hair back and shakes her head. "Opie and Jax have been planning this since they were kids. Do you really think you can stop it?"
"Planning what, getting their GEDs?" Tara scoffs. "I don't think they planned this Donna, I just think they're being lazy and they don't wanna go to school anymore."
"Wait." Now it's Donna's turn to be confused, tilting her head to one side slightly. "You don't… Know?"
"Know what?" Tara asks in bewilderment.
"Why they're getting their GEDs." Donna dumps her armful of sticks into the fire pit and Tara follows suit. "It's not because they're super motivated to finish high school or anything."
"Then why?" Tara glances back at the house. When she looks back to Donna, she's smiling in a pitying sort of way.
"Tara, it's because they're going to start prospecting for the club." Donna states this as a fact and Tara sits on the steps, mind racing.
When was Jax going to tell her? Was he ever going to tell her? What was he going to say? They'd talked about him joining the club, but not like this. He'd always talked about it in the abstract, mentioned it as an 'if' not a 'when'. He'd never explained, he'd never confided in her, nothing.
"So what's that mean for me?" Tara asks, a little dumbly and Donna sits next to her, taking her hand.
"What do you mean?" She asks, frowning just slightly.
"I mean…" Tara takes a deep breath and rubs her forehead vigorously. "That's it, right? That's Jax's end game. The club. That's all he wants to do. No high school graduation, no college, no anything. He's got his life planned at 17. So where do I fit in?"
"You're his girlfriend." Donna waves a dismissive hands. "Jax loves you. Why are you so worried?"
"Because I'm not going to Charming Community College." Tara says grimly. Donna opens her mouth like she's going to ask something but then thinks better of it. She pats Tara's knee and then the boys walk out, asking about lighter fluid.
Tara hardly gets a chance to talk to Jax at the party- it's mostly a blur of people doing stupid, drunk things. Tara manages to talk boys out of cutting things down, setting things on fire, and throwing things. She hardly notices that Jax is watching her with a small smile on his face.
"Hey you." He catches her around the waist as she slides past him, delicately carrying a shattered picture frame.
"Hi." She shuts it away in a high cupboard and smiles quickly at him. "Having fun?"
"Are you?" He tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and she shrugs, watching over his shoulder as a game of hot potato is starting, though the hot potato looks to be an empty bottle of Jack Daniels.
"Yeah, sure." She says absentmindedly and a moment later the bottle hits the floor and shatters.
"What the-" Jax turns, frowning slightly. "What was that?"
"Something I should clean up." Tara sighs, heading for the closet to grab a broom.
"Tara, wait." He catches her wrist and pulls her back to him, enfolding her in a hug. "Can't we not worry about other people's stupid shit for one night?"
"Do you want someone to cut themselves on it and cause problems?" Tara points out in amusement.
"No one will." Jax reassures her, moving in to kiss her. Before his lips can even graze her, a string of cuss words and yelling breaks out behind them.
"Told you." Tara whispers, kissing his nose instead and going to get the broom. Jax groans loudly.
"Quit whining, you know how lucky you are to have her." Donna says, appearing at his left elbow like magic.
"Of course I do." Jax says, nonplussed. Both of them watch as Tara sweeps up the glass then goes to look at the cut on some boy's foot, helping him over to the sink so she can disinfect it. "And I know you know I know, so why are we talking about it?"
"A reminder." Donna takes a sip of her drink. "You need to tell her Jax."
"Tell her what?" Jax plays dumb and Donna frowns at him.
"I spilled the beans about you and Opie prospecting. That's why you're getting your GEDs." Donna explains and he makes a face. "And if you had been the one to tell her, you'd know she didn't take it well."
"It's not like I was any good at school anyways." Jax grumbles and Donna fixes him with a steely glare.
"That's not my point Jackson."
"Then what is?" He asks pointedly and she gestures to the chaos of the party.
"This is your life. You love it. Does she?" They watch as Tara opens a cabinet she's converted into a first aid kit, getting bandages and tape out. "I'm just saying, if you don't figure out how to make room for her in this life, she's not going to stay." With that, Donna leaves to try and head off a fight happening near the bathroom. Jax, a little dumbfounded and a little more drunk, waits until Tara walks back to him.
"What's wrong?" She asks, frowning slightly at his stunned look.
"Do you have fun at these things?" He asks her abruptly and she's taken aback but looks around and shrugs.
"I'm with you and that's fun enough." She says sweetly and his frown deepens.
"But if I wasn't here, would you come to these things?" He presses and she hesitates, automatically intercepting a football getting thrown across the living room before it can hit the tv.
"No?" She guesses and he slumps a little. "But Jax, that's because I'm a homebody, you know this. I'd be content at home with tea and a book and fuzzy socks." She smiles and strokes his cheek.
"Well," He says slowly. "I can at least do one thing." Suddenly he scoops her up.
"Jax!" She cries, laughing. He ignores her demands of where they're going and carries her to the bedroom, locking the door behind them and curling around her on the bed. "What in the world?" She's breathless with laughter.
"If you're only here for me, then let's be together." He says simply and she smiles, running her fingers through his hair.
"I love you." She says sweetly.
"I love you." He responds and for a long moment they're quiet.
"Tell me about the club." Tara whispers.
"What do you want to know?" Jax shifts into a more comfortable position and pulls her close, tangling their legs together and resting her head on his chest.
"I'm… Scared of it." Tara admits. "And I think that's why I want to know what it means for you to prospect for it. Because all I know about it is guns, jail, and it's how you lost your father."
"I lost my father to an accident." Jax's tone is even but Tara senses how his voice hitches. "Not the club. The club was there for me when I lost my father."
"Is that why you're going to prospect? Because you think you owe them?" Tara questions and he looks down at her in surprise.
"Tara, it's not like that. I don't do anything because I 'owe them' and they would never force me to do something because I 'owe them'. They're family. I'm doing it because I belong there." He spells out and she traces patterns on his stomach.
"You're 17. You belong in school." She mutters and he chuckles.
"No, you belong in school, my genius girlfriend." He presses a kiss to her head. "You know I hated school. I was shit at it anyways. This just means I'll be working when you're at school. And I'll have more money to spoil you." He squeezes her and she rolls her eyes.
"I don't need to be spoiled." She grumbles.
"I know but I want to." He insists.
"I just…" Tara struggles to articulate the worries in her mind. "I wish you would go to college Jax, I wish you would do something more. Life isn't all caught up in Charming."
"I know that." He says, a little defensively. "But Tara, how long have you known you wanted to be a doctor?"
"I don't know, I just always have." She gives a tiny shrug.
"Exactly. I always knew I was going to go into the club Tara." Jax protests and she exhales loudly.
"Or are you just doing it because you're the prince?" She challenges and he groans loudly, kicking off his shoes.
"I'm not the prince, not matter how many people call me that." He declares. "Tara, this is my choice. My path."
"I just feel like there's a certain someone who might be pulling the strings." Tara mimes making a puppet dance.
"Really. You want to talk about my mother." Jax says, slightly amused. "She's just my mother Tara, she's not some evil overlord."
"That's what you think." Tara says under her breath. "And it's not just your mother Jax, it's Opie and Donna and Clay and everyone who would act like it would be some big scandal if you didn't go into the club."
"Well, what did you think I would do?" Jax isn't spiteful, isn't angry, just curious. "What did you think I was going to do?"
"I don't know." Tara flounders, gesturing with her hands. "Get a degree…"
"In?"
"Motorcycle riding." She mutters and he laughs, shaking her gently.
"That's why fixing bikes is the next best thing. Tara, I know you think this is crazy or strange. But just because it's not your plan doesn't make it so wrong. Besides, no one in my family went to college." He shrugs. "It's not a big deal."
"I just don't understand how you can make such a huge choice at 17." She plays with the covers. "Because I heard you and Opie talking about it once, about how some guy had tried to leave."
"What did you hear?" A little note of fear has crept into Jax's voice and Tara frowns, recalling.
"You'd said something about how you only leave SAMCRO when you're dead." She recalls and Jax's arms tighten around her just slightly. "Then you said something about the club killing a rat? Honestly Jax, I don't know how you sleep in the clubhouse if there's rats."
"There's no more rats." Jax says darkly. "But Tara, why is it just because I'm young I can't know what I want? I have the perfect life. I have my dream bike, a steady job, a best friend, and the most smoking chick."
"Hey." Tara hits him, laughing. "I'm more than just a hot body Jax Teller."
"You're smart and kind and wonderful." He nuzzles her hair. "I am completely undeserving of a girl like you." They sit in content silence for awhile, listening to the party just behind the door.
"How is this going to change us?" Tara whispers finally, her biggest fear revealed. "Shea, she told me about crow eaters and stuff. I just… Do I belong there Jax?"
"You belong with me." He says fiercely, holding her tight, thinking about Donna's words. "No matter what."
"I'm just worried it's going to change stuff. I like what we have Jax." Tara smiles shyly up at him. "I know you think it's no big deal but you're talking about the rest of your life. A job, a commitment, to stay. I just… I don't like change."
"I promise Tara, me prospecting for the club won't change anything. It'll be completely normal." Jax swears and she nods, letting the topic go for now. They climb under the covers, snuggling together easily. As the two of them drift off to sleep to the sounds of a party in the background, Tara wonders why she was ever worried about this in the first place.
AN: So just out of curiosity, how many of you are reading both my stories?