August 31st, 1995
"Happy anniversary." Jax wakes her up with a kiss on the forehead. She blinks her eyes open, smiling sleepily at him.
"Hi." She mummers, lifting her covers up so that he can crawl under. He wraps his arms around her and holds her close.
"One whole year of conning you into being my girlfriend." He reflects and she grins, shoving her face into the pillow.
"You didn't con me into anything." She rolls over and beams at him. "Except maybe the whole conning me into making you breakfast."
"Speaking of breakfast, I was planning on making you breakfast in bed for our anniversary but…" He trails off, grinning at her and she raises one eyebrow, folding her arms.
"But you want me to help?"
"No, but you make the best possible chocolate chip pancakes in this whole world and no one can hold a candle to them." He says, kissing her forehead, nose, checks, and finally the lips. "And I would love to make you breakfast in bed but I would love chocolate chip pancakes too."
"Alright, up, up." She orders, pushing him out with her feet. "Go get the stove ready, I'll make the batter."
"I love you." He proclaims and she makes a face at him, pulling on one of his sweatshirts. She joins him in the kitchen, slipping her arms around his waist and resting her head between his shoulder blades.
"Happy anniversary." She mummers and he turns to kiss her head. She smiles up at him sweetly.
"I love you." He repeats again.
"Oh, I love you too." She says, opening the cupboard to grab the ingredients for the pancakes.
"So, what do you want to do for our anniversary? We've only got a couple more days of summer before school starts. We could go for a ride, we could go to the beach, we could go to the pool, we could go to the mall, we could read or watch movies, whatever you'd like my love." He offers.
"Well, what do you want to do?" She questions. "I'm just happy to spend it with you Jax."
"Well then…" He kisses her head and hands her the skillet.
"Well what?" She asks, after a long pause.
"Surprise." He says with a grin.
"Jax!" She protests but he remains steadfast in his silence, making her toast before the pancakes are ready. They sit around the kitchen table, Tara's feet in his lap, laughing and swiping syrup from each other's plates.
"Alright." He says, putting their dirty dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning up the kitchen.
"Alright you're finally going to tell me where we're going?" She questions and he smiles, tweaking her nose.
"Not even close Tara Grace. Now go get dressed, it's hot out."
"Ok, is this appropriate?" She asks, emerging from her bedroom in shorts and a tank top.
"You look flawless, like always." He promises, kissing her deeply.
"Now tell me where we're going?" She requests sweetly.
"Get on the bike Tara Knowles." He orders, holding the door open for her and with laughter and some protesting, she does as told. Jax's surprise turns out to be a trip to the bookstore. They park out front and Tara looks at the door then back at Jax quizzically.
"What… Is this?" She asks slowly.
"Well," Jax grins at her, leaning on his handlebars. "What gift do you get a girl who already has a ring, a necklace, and doesn't want anything else? I figured, what is the only thing my Tara Grace can never have too much of?"
"Books." Tara realizes, a smile creeping across her face. "Books. Jax, you're buying me books?"
"As many as you like, whichever you like." He promises, getting off the bike. "You want it, it's yours."
"You know, I take awhile to pick my books out." She says, hesitating at the door. He kisses her before opening it for here.
"As long as I spend my day with you, I'm happy." He reminds her and with a little squeal, she enters the bookstore, looking around in wonder.
"Ok, I think I'm going to start in the textbook side and then I want to go to the non-fiction and that will take the longest and then I'll go to the fiction." She babbles, bouncing around like a child in a toy store. Jax, smiling, picks up a magazine and sits down in a squashy chair in the corner, sitting and watching her browse with an affectionate smile.
Occasionally, she'll pop back over to him, clutching a book, excitedly showing him something. He'll smile and nod and she'll fret over it for a minute, weighing one book against the other before finally deciding to add it to the pile. She spends the whole morning doing this, until finally Jax's stomach is rumbling and there's a stack of books to his knee.
"Tara." He catches her hand as she makes one final lap around the bookstore, head tilted so she can read titles better.
"Yes?" She turns, smiling at him.
"Lunch?" He requests and she glances at the stack of books.
"I need to sort through them, you can't buy me all of these." She frets and he stops her before she can sit down.
"Tara." He says patiently. "I'm buying you all the books."
"Jax." She looks at him in astonishment. "That's too much, you can't possibly buy me all of them."
"I love you." He kisses her and ducks, gathering all the books in his arms. He walks to the register, Tara trailing after him, protesting. He sets them down, grins at the clerk, and pulls out a couple bills.
"My gift isn't as expensive as this." Tara mutters and he turns while the old lady checks them out, grabbing her shoulders.
"Tara, I'm working now. I can afford this. I can afford to spoil you and that's what I'm going to do. This makes me happy." He kisses her knuckles. "You being happy makes me happy."
"What did I do to deserve you?" She wonders and he kisses her once, twice, three times.
"You handle me." He says, amused and she giggles.
"I think I deserve more books for that."
"Sassy."
After they return the books home, Jax takes her for lunch at the diner. They get ice cream afterwards, before wandering through the gardens of Charming, laughing as their treats melt in the summer heat. They admire the flower and Jax picks her a little daisy sticking it behind her ear.
"I like daisies." She tells him, thoughtfully spinning the steam of another one between her fingers. "But lavender is my favorite."
"Lavender!" Jax exclaims suddenly and she looks at him in mild alarm. "Lavender, do you have lavender shampoo?"
"Yes?" She says, a little nonplussed.
"I thought so." Satisfied, he continues walking.
"Do you want to tell me what that means?" Tara jogs to catch up, her head cocked slightly.
"Your hair." He pulls her close to kiss her head and sniffs her hair. "It always reminded me of my grandparents' house. I could never figure out why, but it's because my grandpa Nate grows lavender in his garden."
"Those are your mom's parents?" Tara asks carefully and he nods. Despite their year of dating, he's hardly mentioned his family.
"Uh, yeah." He takes the last bite of his ice cream and Tara guides him to a bench, sitting on it and pulling her feet up. "Grandpa Nate and Grandma Rose. My mom ran away from home when she was younger, so their relationship wasn't great. I see them every now and then. Sometimes hardly ever. It was better when I was a kid. It got worse after Tommy died."
"Isn't family weird?" She muses, resting her chin on her knees. "Some people have these big, big families and we just have no one."
"I have the club." Jax reminds him and Tara doesn't comment on what kind of family she thinks that is. "But I think I'd like a big family. Lots of kids. Boys. Maybe a couple girls. If they're as cute as you I'd be in trouble."
"As cute as me?" She dusks her head to hide a bashful smile. "I'm not even that cute. You're much cuter."
"No, a little girl with your eyes and smile? She'd drive the boys crazy." Jax says, a little wistfully.
"And I suppose that you'd want a couple little blond haired, blue eyed Teller boys running around." Tara says, letting herself play into Jax's vision for a second. He grins at her.
"Of course I would. A little boy, man. I'd love to be a dad." He suddenly turns serious. "I'd like to think I'd make a better dad than my old man."
"Jax, of course you would." She wraps her fingers around his wrist and smiles at him. "You'd make a great dad."
"Ah, well," He tries to steer the conversation back into safe territory. "If I want my kids to be raised like siblings with Opie's, we better be ready to have a baby here in about two years."
"Oh, man." Tara throws her head back and laughs. "Those two. I think Donna would have a baby right now if Opie wouldn't keel over at the idea of it." She shakes her head.
"Imagine, godparents before we're 18." Jax says thoughtfully.
"You'd think we'd be godparents?" Tara asks him in surprise and he looks at her, quirking an eyebrow.
"Of course we would. Remember the family thing? Blood is blood Tara but you can have family by choice too. And the four of us, we're a family. We'll always be a family."
"I love you." She says suddenly, overwhelmed at the realization of it all. A year with Jax. Her Jax. The love of her life. That's what he is, there's no way around it. She's sure she'll never feel this way about another person ever. "I really, really love you Jax Teller."
"I love you too." He says casually and Tara is smiling at him like she's never quite seen anything like him. "Wanna go for a bike ride babe?" He offers and she nods, standing.
"Can we go to our spot?"
"Where else would I take you on our anniversary?"
"Today has been wonderful." Tara says quietly, nuzzling into Jax's chest. He's reading one of his magazines over her head, the two of them curled up on Tara's couch.
"It really has." He mummers and Tara is squirming with nervousness. Sensing something is wrong, Jax sets his magazine aside and looks down at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" She ties to play cool and he chuckles.
"What's making you so antsy?" He questions softly and Tara opens and closes her mouth a couple times before finally standing up and offering Jax her hand. He takes it, a little bemused.
"I've decided something." She says quietly.
"What's that?" He wraps his arms around her and sways, making her smile and even more sure in her decision.
"I love you, Jackson Teller. And I always will."
"I'll always love you too." He promises, kissing her head.
"C'mon." Guiding him, she leads him to her bedroom.
"Tara." He sounds a little shocked, but she's resolute. "Tara, what in the world are you doing?"
"I love you." Her lips find his neck and she's kissing him, fumbling at buttons and his hands are taking off her clothes as well, even as he mutters questions to her. She tries to answer with her kisses, pulling him down to her bed.
"Tara, wait." He drags himself away from her lips, breathing heavily. "Tara, are you 100% sure?"
"I love you. I have only ever loved you. And I will only ever love you. You, Jax Teller, are the love of my life. I am so unsure of so many things in this world. But I know one thing so, so clearly and it is that I love you with ever fiber and soul of my being. I have for this year and I will for years after this one. I want you. I want this. I want us. I love you."
She falls asleep, still naked, in Jax's arms. As she drifts off into sleep, Jax's chest rising and falling steadily behind her back, she lefts a small smile cross her face. It wasn't like a big, dramatic thing like movies had always made it out to be. It had just felt right. It felt like love.
AN: Cause it was gonna happen in the most cliche high school way possible and I am not sorry. Reviews are always appreciated, especially since I'm snowed in!