"Nose goes!" Donna yells when the phone rings inside the house and Tara groans, snapping her book shut, hoping up and running for the door. She catches it on the last ring, answering it breathlessly.

"Hello?"

"Hey, darlin'." She identifies Jax's drawl with ease. "How are you?"

"Good." Tara grabs a handful of grapes, popping one in her mouth. "Tanning and reading."

"In that blue suit I like so much?"

"Green, actually." Tara pulls at the fabric. "It's smaller, you know. Better for tanning."

"Want to saunter on over here in it?" He suggests. "Opie and I just got done with work, we were thinking supper in Stockton or Lodi or somewhere away. Take a nice long ride there."

"Sure." Tara grins. "Can I finish my chapter and then we'll be over?"

"Give us an hour." Tara negotiates, looking down at her book and skimming the next page.

"One chapter, Tara Grace, that means one!"

"Love you too." She hangs up and meanders back outside, flopping down on her towel.

"Who was that?" Donna asks, squinting at her in the bright sunlight.

"The boys." Tara reopens her book. "Want to go out to supper tonight. I'm finishing the chapter first."

"Why wait to finish the chapter?" Donna turns her face back up to the sun. "You can finish the book with an extra five minutes."

"Funny, sassy!"

Tara's finished three chapters when Donna finally drags her away. She protests, faintly, but then reads another one while Donna's in the shower. They pull on shorts and their biker boots, tossing tops back and forth, picking out what the other should wear. Finally, Donna rolls down the window her mother's aging station wagon, driving them for Jax's house.

"Is Gemma home?" Donna asks, parking across the street and eyeing the black car in the driveway.

"Apparently." Tara keeps her eyes peeled for Jax's bike, reassured when she spots it, between Opie's and Clay's.

"Oh." Donna clamps her mouth shut and hops out. "Well, let's go get our boys then."

"Yeah. Let's." Tara takes a deep breath, rolling her shoulders back, and preparing for battle. She walks in, trying to exude the aloofness and confidence she sees Shea channel whenever she's in Gemma's presence.

"Hello, Gemma. Clay." Donna says politely; when she opens the door and the two of them, seated at the table, turn to see who's there.

"Hello Donna." Gemma gives her a smile, which slides right off her face at the sight of Tara. "Tara."

"Gemma." Tara strives to keep a bright smile on her face. "Clay."

"Hey." He can't be distracted from the paper he's reading, to Tara's relief.

"What are you girls doing?" Gemma asks, directing it to Donna, which suits Tara fine.

"Dinner." Donna says happily. "Not sure where we're going."

"We'll decide when we get there." Jax declares, he and Opie striding in from the back of the house.

"I'm feeling steak." Opie declares, smiling at Donna and kissing her cheek. "With a big, baked potato on the side."

"Oddly, that does sound good." Donna says thoughtfully. "Jax, Tara, want to go get steak?"

"Sure." Tara agrees easily.

"Always." Jax says promptly, snaking an arm around Tara's waist. "Ready to go?"

"Yes please, I'll be starving by the time we get there." Donna complains and Jax grins, lifting his hand to his mother.

"Talk to you later ma!"

"Are you coming home tonight?" She asks, following them out the door.

"Probably not." Jax calls, leading Tara to his bike. "Probably stay with Tara."

"I see." Gemma's glaring at Tara now, daggers, and Tara wants to smirk right in her, declare that she's won, but she doesn't dare. Instead she hops on Jax's bike, arching her back so that her shirt rides up, and Gemma gets the flash of something dark and winged on her lower back. Then Jax roars down the street and Gemma is left to fume.

The ride is nice, the sun still high in the sky, days long. Tara enjoys the sun on her back, grinning and squeezing Jax's side when he rocks the bike, laughing. Opie leads the way, to one of his favorite steakhouses. Tara's stomach is rumbling when they pull in, striding into the little restaurant.

"Four?" The host asks, then leads them to a booth. They slide in, hardly glancing at the menu.

"So I have a question for you two." Tara states, musing over her dessert options.

"Yes?" Opie is gazing longingly at the steak on the front of the menu.

"Why don't you guys move out?" Tara questions and before they can answer, their waitress arrives, all smiles, asking them what they'd like to drink and eat. After ordering, Tara returns to her question, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, what?" Jax asks, looking up from the beer list.

"Why don't you get your own places?" Tara repeats. "So you don't live with your parents anymore."

"I thought we were all going to get a place together." Jax jokes and Donna purses her lips.

"Yeah, which starts with you two getting your own places." Tara points to the boys seriously.

"I've thought about it." Opie reveals calmly and Donna turns to him with a surprised expression.

"You have?"

"Sure." Opie reclines, unbothered. "Can't live with pops forever. Good to be close to keep an eye on him though. But eventually I'm going to have to get some space for just us."

"Us?" Donna squeaks and he grins.

"What, you think I can decorate on my own?"

"No, no one wants to see stripper posters plastered wall to wall." She says firmly, patting his hand.

"What about you, mama's boy?" Tara turns to Jax, who looks slightly affronted at his nickname.

"I am not!" He protests but when no one pips up to side with him, sighs. "I mean, she cooks my meals and cleans my room and washes my clothes. Why the hell would I give that up?"

"Self respect?" Tara says dryly. "Space from how overbearing she can be? Normal boundaries?"

"Oh, the sass comes out against my mother." Jax says, amused. "What else is there? Let it out."

"Thank you." Tara says graciously to the waitress who arrives with their various drinks.

"Of course, your food should be out in a bit." With a cheery smile, she bounces away and Tara pretends to have forgotten the topic of conversation preluding the distraction.

"Are we thinking dessert?"

"Tara." Jax nudges her with his foot. "Why do you think I should move out? You yelled at me when I brought up us living together."

"I did not yell." She huffs. "I strongly discouraged. And I stand by it, I don't think we should live together, because we already spend every minute together, but I think you need to get away from your mother. And Clay."

"I could stand to get away from how often they fuck." Jax says thoughtfully and everyone else grimaces.

"You just want him to move out so you stop having to face down Gemma every time you go over there." Donna states and Tara glares at her.

"Understandable." Opie adds, nodding in agreement.

"You are such a baby." Jax says affectionately. "So dramatic."

"And you're an oblivious idiot for thinking that your mother dislikes me or something small like that." Tara wrinkles her nose. "Jax, she hates me. Loathes me, strongly. Ask Shea!"

"Shea is almost as dramatic as you." Jax waves a hand. "And she's biased. She stirs up drama whenever she's home, just to prove she can."

"Shea's been home for like a month. Your mother has hated me since we started dating." Tara says flatly and now it's Jax's turn to pretend to be engrossed in the dessert menu.

"Pie sound good, anyone?"


They stop at a park on the way back so Jax and Opie can have a smoke. Tara lies down in the grass, the earth still warm from the day in the sun. A breeze gently tickles her nose, making her wrinkle it and smile. She's stuffed, smiling at she listens to Opie and Donna share a smoke, sitting on the picnic table and bickering about a hypothetical living room.

"No, you can put club stuff in the man cave, but not the living room or bedroom and that's final!"

"Hey." Jax flops down next to her, putting out his cigarette. "Were you serious earlier?"

"On what account?" Tara asks. "Because I meant it, that brownie explosion was the best dessert I have ever had."

"I trust that." He grins, wiping a bit of chocolate from the corner of her mouth. "I was talking about the apartment thing."

"Oh, of course I was serious about that." Tara says easily. "I think you should have your own place. I mean, you have your own job. You can afford it, easy. And then you'll have space from your mom when you need it."

"You'll have space from my mother when you need it." Jax corrects.

"And then I can scream as loud as I want during sex." Tara says slyly and grins when Jax groans.

"A good reason." He concedes, lying on his back to look at the stars with her. "And you could bring some stuff and stay there and eventually you'd give up the pretense of you living with your asshole, good for nothing dad and you'd just stay there all the time."

"Mhmm." Tara mutters, not bothering to deny something that will be a fact.

"Me and Op could look into it." Jax mulls it over and Tara holds back a victorious smile.

"Good." She strives to sound nonchalant, sitting up and glancing back at him. "Now c'mon, let's go home."

"Ok." Jax scrambles up with her and whistles to get the other two's attention. "Let's go!" They head back to Tara's, pausing when they see a light on inside.

"Did you leave that on?" Tara turns to ask Donna, who shakes her head.

"Not that I remember, no."

"My dad isn't home." Tara glances around at the lack of cars in her driveway.

"Wait outside." Jax orders and before Tara can question what's going on, he and Opie walk inside. "Damn it- Tara, Donna, it's just Shea." He yells and Tara pushes past him. Shea is sitting on the couch watching TV, eating a bowl of cereal.

"Hey." She says calmly. "I got bored. Gemma said you'd be here."

"How do you keep getting in?" Tara demands.

"It is not that hard to steal keys."

"Yes, but most people don't." Donna says patiently.

"Well, I'm not most people." Shea sets aside the bowl noisily, grinning. "Let's have ice cream."

"I don't have any." Tara warns her and Shea turns a baleful gaze to Jax.

"Aw, no." He complains. "No, we're not going to go on an ice cream run."

"What's my favorite kind?" Shea prompts him and he grumbles darkly,

"Mint chocolate ship."

"Yeah, it is. See you both in 15. Grab toppings!" She wiggles her fingers in a dainty wave.

"You're a royal pain in the ass." Jax makes sure to slam the door hard on his way out.

"First time I've ever heard that." Shea says, with heavy sarcasm. "So how was date night?"

"Well, I sure thought it was going to continue." Donna collapses onto the couch and Tara slowly joins them. "But I guess getting ice cream out of the deal wouldn't be too bad."

"I've been called a genius." Shea comments, changing the channel. Tara ignores the TV, instead glancing around at the small house, faintly dirty and cluttered with knick-knacks. She should do another purge soon, once her dad disappears even further into drinking.

"Planning your own apartment décor?" Donna teases, breaking Tara's train of thought.

"No." Tara pulls her attention away from a shelf full of dust and her mother's books to look at Shea and Donna.

"Are you moving out?" Shea asks curiously. "I'd like a roommate."

"You have an apartment?" Tara's attention is diverted to that, surprised.

"Well, no, but I should." Shea mutters. "Living with my dad makes me want to rip my hair out."

"An apartment, isn't that a little… Permanent?" Tara suggests carefully.

"Yes." Shea doesn't get defensive, but a little sad. "But maybe that's what I need right now."

"Ah." Tara pats her arm. "Well, Jax can live with you then. I'm trying to get him out from under Gemma's thumb."

"Seriously?" Shea leans back, looking at Tara in surprise and a little bit impressed. "You're trying to get Jax— Jackson Nathanial Teller— to move out? From Gemma Teller-Morrow's house?"

"Yes?" Tara says slowly.

"Damn." Shea lets out a low whistle, shaking her head, impressed. "Balls, Knowles, nice."

"What?" Tara tries to shove down the well of fear rising. "What? I just think that if Jax can drop out of high school and work full-time, he can move out of Gemma's house!"

"I'm not denying any of that!" Shea says hastily. "I'm just saying that you know how protective Gemma is. She's going to see this as a power move. Taking Jax one step further from her."

"I am suggesting Jax get his own apartment, not bombing Pearl Harbor." Tara states flatly. "I'm not trying to start a war with her. I'm just trying to convince Jax to act like the grownup everyone seems to think he is."

"No, you're not starting Pearl Harbor." Shea waves a hand. "You're just doing something similarly catastrophic, like shooting a Duke with a funny name or British redcoats."

"Jax was right." Tara gets up with a huff, heading to her bedroom. "You are a drama queen."

"Again, first time I've ever heard that." Shea says cheekily then turns to grin at Donna. "Do you like scary movies?"

When Jax and Opie come back, arms full of ice cream and toppings, the girls are curled around each other on the couch, intently watching a movie about witches and demons and the like.

"Can't we watch something good?" Jax complains.

"Sit down, shut up, pass the spoon." Shea orders, eyes not leaving the screen.

"All of you, ridiculous." Jax mutters, but does as told and Shea situates the ice cream where Donna and Tara can both easily reach it. They sit in Tara's living room, a breeze drifting through the open window, jumping and laughing, a tangle of limbs and sticky with ice cream.

AN: I am writing all the fluff before the angst, I'm sorry... But hey, reviews?