Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read and review! This chapter was a really fun one to write...

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own OCs and storyline...

She Will Be Loved

Chapter 64: Unexpected

By Love Ink

Jax pulled his bike up to the St. Thomas hospital parking lot, parking beside Angela's badly parked Mazda. If her parking was any indication, she was most likely exhausted and not thinking straight. Juice had just been transported to Charming from Oakland that morning, which had cost the club a pretty penny, so naturally, she'd followed them over. He hoped she'd sleep better now knowing he was safe; the girl was going to make herself sick otherwise. The transfer had been put to a club vote as well as how much of the cost the club was going to cover. Much to his surprise, they'd all agreed to cover the entire cost. Jax had a feeling Koz and Happy had a hand in it; both of them were proud as hell of the prospect for protecting Happy's mom and vouched for the prospect. Insisting it was the right thing to do. Jax was happy to vote for it. He liked the guy, afterall.

Jax was almost at the nurse's station when he heard it. That laugh. Her laugh. Chills went down his spine as he froze in the middle of the hallway. No, it couldn't be. He was hearing things. He forced his feet to keep walking, and that's when he saw her. Tara Knowles. All grown up and looking fucking amazing in her light green scrubs. "Holy shit," he murmured, his heart racing. She started to turn, and he ducked into the nearest room, practically stumbling over one of the chairs in the waiting room. An old man looked up and gave him a curious look, but Jax ignored him, peeking around the corner and waiting for Tara to walk away.

He breathed in deeply through his nose and let it out, trying to gather his thoughts. Tara Knowles was back in Charming. What the hell was he supposed to do with that? A part of him wanted to chase after her, demand answers, while another part wanted to grab her and kiss her until she couldn't breathe. It's what he'd told Angela he'd do back when they were talking about Juice, but seeing her now, he wasn't so sure it was right. Shaking his head, he headed back out walking casually towards the elevators and doing his best to look cool, calm, and collected, like he wasn't hoping to run into her. When he got off the elevator in the ICU, Tara was walking towards it. She stopped cold when she saw him, her hazel eyes wide as they swept over him. He took a bit of pleasure in the shocked look on her face, the slightest tinge of pink in her cheeks. "Jackson. Hi. What're you doing here?" she asked, her tone a little flustered.

Good. He liked that she was just as flustered seeing him again as he'd been seeing her. "Could ask you the same question," he replied, leaning against the nearest wall and doing his best to look nonchalant. He took a minute to drink her in, letting his eyes move over her body. Her cheeks turned a little redder once their eyes met. "Didn't know you were back in town."

"Yeah, I um…just moved back. St. Thomas offered me a position about the same time my dad took a turn for the worse," she explained, messing with the clipboard in her hand.

"Sorry to hear about your pops," he replied, only half meaning it. Tara's father had been a mean old drunk. Old man Knowles had hated him because he was a biker, and Jax hated him because he treated Tara like shit. "Hope he's doin' all right."

"Oh no…he um...he passed a couple…couple days ago," she said, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

Her father had died…which meant she had to go a funeral home for arrangements…and there was only one funeral home in town. That day he went to visit Angela at the funeral home, he could've sworn he'd smelled her perfume. He thought he'd gone crazy, but it seemed he'd been right. "Shit. You do his service already?"

"Yeah, nothing fancy just…buried him with my mom out by Dubrowski's like he wanted," she replied on a shrug. She bobbed her head awkwardly. "Someone you know hurt or are you just here for the food?"

He chuckled, trying his best not to grin like an idiot. "Oh, yeah. I um…one of our prospects. Just got transferred over from Oakland."

"Right. Juan Carlos Ortiz," she said nodding her head. "He's down the hall, I believe."

"Yeah. Thanks," he replied, not really ready for the conversation to end. He had so many questions for her and no idea how to phrase them. "So you finished school, huh? You a big doctor now?"

Tara smiled proudly, and his heart sputtered in his chest. She was beautiful. "I did," she said, nodding. "Specialized in neonatal surgery."

"Shit. Sounds complicated. You likin' it?"

"Has its days," she replied cryptically. She looked him over again, her eyes lingering on the VP patch on the front of his cut. "And you're still at TM? Finally got your big patch, huh?"

There was a look of disappointment in her eyes that cut him. She'd asked him a long time ago to give up the club life, leave with her to start fresh somewhere new. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't see himself doing anything other than working at TM and wearing his colors. "Yeah. Movin' on up. You stayin' in Charming then?"

Tara shrugged a shoulder. "For the time being. It's a good gig. There is an alarming amount of cases here for my specialty."

"No kiddin'." He chuckled, though a part of him worried his own child would fall under that category. His stomach churned at the idea of Tara finding out he'd knocked Wendy up. It could ruin whatever chance he had with her. If she was single. She could've easily moved on to someone new. Maybe she was married and had moved back with her husband and kids. He hadn't been able to keep tabs on her, and he'd been too prideful to ask Juice to look her up. He wondered how he could slip the question in without sounding desperate and without having to divulge his own relationship status. Her pager went off before he could figure it out, though.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "I gotta go. It's good to see you, Jax."

Jax's heart fluttered at the way she said his name. He grinned at her, nodding in response. "Good to see you too, Tara. I'm sure I'll see you around."

She nodded in agreement, setting her hand on his arm as she walked by him. He watched her go, his arm tingling where she'd touched it. He couldn't believe she was there. Worse still was, after all this time, she still had the same effect on him. Still made his heart skip a beat, made him want to touch her, hold her. All the stupid mushy things that came with a relationship and not a one night stand.

He walked into Juice's room as if in a daze. Angela was there, as he expected her to be. Her dark eyes were focused on the rise and fall of Juice's chest as she played with the end of her braid. She looked like a nervous wreck. He didn't know what she was so worried about. Juice had already woken up and was stable enough to be moved. He was fine.

"Hey," he greeted, sitting down beside her, alerting he of his presence. "How's he doing?"

She didn't take her eyes off Juice to look at him. "Okay, I think," she replied, her voice sounding rough. "Stable."

"Good. That's real good," he said, nodding his head awkwardly. They were quiet for a long time as he tried to work out how to best bring up the subject of Tara to her. He wondered if she'd made the connection that the Tara he'd talked about with her before was the same Tara who'd made arrangements at the funeral home. She must've. Angela wasn't dumb. Why hadn't she said anything to him? For the first time in their new friendship he felt a little annoyed at her. They were supposed to be friends; shouldn't she have mentioned that the girl he'd talked to her about was back in town? He frowned, trying to keep his anger at bay; he knew she really didn't have any obligation to tell him, and she could easily lie and say she had no idea who Tara was. He was intrigued to find out which way she'd play it. "I ran into the girl I've been talkin' to you about in the hallway," he baited, watching her expression carefully, "Tara."

To her credit, Angela didn't feign surprise or act as if she didn't know who he was talking about. "She works here," she stated flatly. There wasn't a hint of guilt on her face. If she knew the connection between them, she didn't feel bad about not telling him, which only annoyed him more.

"You didn't think I should know that?"

She let out a long breath, sitting back in her chair as she shrugged. "Took me a minute to figure it out," she started, finally taking her eyes off of Juice to look at him. Her dark eyes were weary as they looked him over. "But I caught on the same day you told me Wendy was pregnant. After that, it just didn't feel right. Felt like telling you Tara was back while you were wrapping your head around Wendy being pregnant was a lot all at once."

He hated how he understood her logic. It would've been overwhelming to have been told both things in the same day. His mind had already been spinning with the knowledge he was going to have a kid. "That was a while ago, though."

"Yeah, I know, but you're going to be a father, and your baby mama's a pregnant junkie, and I think you should focus on that right now," she explained on a frown.

Jax glared at her. "Don't you think that's my decision to make?"

Angela raised her eyebrow at the annoyance in his voice. "Sure, but from what I know, you tend to make shitty decisions when it comes to women. Thought I'd save you from yourself."

He wanted to be mad at her. Wanted to call her a bitch and storm out of there, but her response was so much like something Opie would say, he was having a hard time building up that anger. In fact, he couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. "First of all, fuck you," he said, shaking his head as he chuckled, "Second, what the fuck do I do now?"

"Nothing. No reason to go rushing after her. Just leave her be for now. She's not going anywhere."

Jax glared at her, detesting her nonchalance. How could he not seek Tara out? All he wanted to do was talk to her. Fix what had been broken. Angela should understand; she went through a similar thing with Juice. "If you could go back, wouldn't you want Juice to rush after you? Save you from all that shit with the Mayan?"

Angela's eyes went back to Juice. She was silent for so long, he almost thought she hadn't heard him. "No, I wouldn't," she answered finally.

He scowled at her. "Bull shit."

She shook her head slowly. "Juice is…he's who I want to be with. Probably, who I've always been meant to be with," she stated honestly. "But if I had gotten with him right when I came home, I wouldn't have appreciated it. It would've been overwhelming. Too much, too soon. I was…a mess when I first got here. Raj had literally died right in front of me after we'd had this big stupid fight, and I…came back with a hole in my heart, in my life. I wanted an easy fix. Esai was easy. Everything about being with him was easy, familiar. Like coming home. And it was good. This nice little Band-Aid for my heart. He made me feel loved again. It was nice to feel loved again, to have someone to hold me when I was feeling alone, but he slid right back into his old ways, and I remembered why it ended in the first place. And then my bandage got ripped clean off and everything hurt all over again. Just worse."

"But you went back to him."

Angela nodded, sneering a little as if she was disgusted with herself. "Because he was a bandage. I was hurting because of him and Raj, and I knew he would make me feel better. Slap that Band-Aid right back on it and hope it'll stick this time."

"What changed?"

"Group therapy," she admitted on a laugh. "I spent time on my own but with help, and I found myself again. I healed. I didn't need a Band-Aid because the hole was healed over. Scarred, maybe if you want to wax poetic, but I didn't need a temporary fix anymore. I found myself again. If we'd gotten together before that, Juice would've been the Band-Aid. I'd never heal. Our relationship would be built on me not wanting to be alone, not on me genuinely wanting to be with him like it is now."

He sat with what she'd said for a moment, letting it soak in. It made sense, but it didn't fit with his situation. He wasn't hurting by any means. Wendy wasn't a bandage. She'd been a way to prove to the club that he'd matured. He'd wanted to look stable, and he'd believed being with one girl instead of the random sweetbutts would make him look mature. It was easy to fall into a relationship with Wendy. To be committed to her. Wendy was known to the club, so there was no questioning her or her background. Gemma tolerated her. Now, he had his VP patch, and he honestly didn't want anything more to do with Wendy. "Wendy's easy."

She sighed softly. "You've said that before."

"Didn't really feel like it was a bad thing 'til now," he said on a sigh of his own. "Why didn't you say anythin'?"

Angela snorted at his question. "Kinda had my own shit goin' on, didn't really have time to meddle in yours. Plus, what if I was wrong? Just 'cause it's easy doesn't mean it's bad. I don't know you all that well, Teller. I don't know your history with Wendy or Tara. All I know is that you're having a baby with Wendy, which means it's about to get very, very difficult."

He chuckled as he nodded. Now that he could agree with. Still… "You know what the hard part of it all is?"

"There's a lot of 'em, but which one are you talking about?" she asked snarkily.

He didn't know what made him feel like he could open up to her like this. Like he could share things he'd usually only tell Opie. He cleared his throat, raking a hand through his hair. "I want all that shit," he admitted softly, "I want the kids and the family, but I want it with the right person, and I'm pretty sure it ain't Wendy."

He was relieved to find there wasn't an ounce of judgement in her expression, which reassured him in his decision to open up to her. "You'd know if she was the right one," she told him softly, her eyes on Juice's sleeping face, the smallest hint of a smile on her lips. "Wouldn't even have to think about it. You'd just know."

Jax looked from her to Juice and back. "You talkin' about him or the dead dude?" he asked. He saw her wince at the nickname, and regretted not remembering the guy's real name.

"I loved Raj. I really did. But even before he died, I also loved him," she admitted, nodding towards Juice. "When Juice left New York…it felt like he took a piece of me with him. I um…it was what Raj and I fought about that day."

He grimaced; he hadn't known that. No wonder she'd kept Juice at arm's length when she first came to Charming. "And then he got hit by a car. After you fought about Juice. So you pushed Juice away."

"Yep," she said on a breath.

"Shit. So you've loved Juice all this time?" Jax said, just a little shocked at her honesty. He did appreciate her showing her own vulnerability after he did. He got a feeling she didn't let people in too often and having her let him in now made him trust her that much more. He was over talking about deep shit, though. He needed to get back to some semblance of normal before Juice woke up and heard them. "That why you never gave me a shot?"

Angela smacked him, clearly aware that he was joking. "Pretty much," she joked back, though he had a feeling even without Juice around, she'd never give him a shot. They wouldn't work well together, and honestly, he wasn't all that attracted to her. "Plus, I got Mommy issues of my own, don't want to deal with yours too."

"Fuck you. I don't got Mommy issues."

"Sure you don't." She snorted, shaking her head at him. They were quiet again, both lost in their thoughts before she cleared her throat and asked, "How'd it feel seein' Tara again?"

"Like a sucker punch straight to the gut."

"That good, huh?" she asked on a laugh. "You get to talk to her?"

"Yep."

Angela smirked. "How'd that go?"

"Good. Real good," he replied with a warm smile. He still couldn't believe that Tara was back. She'd looked absolutely beautiful dressed in her scrubs, hair pulled back. Older, more mature, and a little more guarded for some reason. He wondered if she'd been just as thrown off by him as he had been by her. It certainly seemed like it. "She looks good. Hasn't changed much. She never did the heavy makeup or fancy anything. Was somethin' I liked about her. She's pretty and simple on the outside but so fuckin' smart on the inside."

"We talked a bit while she was making arrangements for her dad. I like her. She seems…normal."

He didn't know why but hearing that Angela liked her made him grin. He had no doubt the two women would get along well. They were both smart and driven by the need to help others. It was one of the reasons it was so easy to talk to Angela; she reminded him of Tara. "She mention if she was in a relationship at all?"

"No, but there was no one there with her when she was making arrangements," she answered on a shrug. "She mentioned she was living alone in her dad's place. Feel like if she had someone, they'd have moved with her or at least have been there to help her with her dad's stuff."

He liked that logic. It gave him just a little bit of hope that maybe, somewhere down the line, he'd get a second chance with her. "Now what?"

"I dunno," she answered on a shrug.

"Really?"

"Jax, I don't know your history. I don't know anything about your relationship with Tara other than she went to college and you stayed here. I wasn't here in high school to witness the drama of Jackson and Tara or how you guys were together. I wish I did, and I wish I could give you some kind of advice based on that, but I just don't know."

Again, he was struck by how little she really knew about him. They'd fallen into an easy sort of friendship where it felt like he'd known her forever, but he really hadn't. He liked that she didn't know anything about his past other than what he told her. It was refreshing to talk to someone who didn't know all about the shitty things he'd done. He was sure she had some kind of advice, though. She was a smart girl. "C'mon. What does your gut say?"

She rolled her eyes at him, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'pain in the ass.' She sighed, her dark eyes falling on Juice again. "My gut tells me you got a lot going on right now. A junkie baby mama with a kid on the way and your brand new VP patch. Your head has got to be ping-ponging around in all different directions. I'd say now's not a great time to add Tara into the mix too. Not if you want to do it the right way. You're juggling too much."

He frowned, a little disappointed. He was kind of hoping she'd tell him to make a move before it was too late. "Not really what I wanted to hear."

"I know," she replied on a smirk. "But you're asking what my gut is telling me, and that's it. Take it or leave it. I think if you wait for shit to settle down just a little bit, it'll be worth it."

Jax absorbed what she was saying for a moment before he nodded towards Juice. "Was he worth the wait?"

The smile that spread across her face told him everything he needed to know. "Absolutely."

"Think you could put in a good word for me with Tara?"

Angela shrugged a shoulder. "I'll do my best."

Jax's phone rang from inside his cut. Frowning, he pushed himself out of the chair knowing it meant it was time to go. "I'ma take this. I'll come back when he's conscious. You should sleep. You look like hell."

"Gee, thanks," she said around a yawn.

He squeezed her shoulder, leaning over to drop a kiss to the top of her head. For some reason, he found the small acts of affection came easily to him around Angela. They were meant to show his appreciation for her. Nothing more than that. "Thanks for the talk, Ruiz."

Angela smirked, waving him away. "Anytime, Teller."

Angela had spotted Tara in the window of the room at about the same time as Jax stood up and leaned over to kiss her head. She'd caught the doctor's surprised look, the way she ducked out of view as Jax exited. Just by the look on her face, it seemed Jax wasn't the only one still harboring feelings. A few minutes went by before Tara walked in doing her best to look nonchalant but not really succeeding. "Angela, hi," she greeted with a tight smile. She looked over Juice's chart for a moment. "This hospital's so small, they asked me to do some routine checks."

Angela wondered if that was true, or if she was here to ask about Jax. "Oh. He's umm…sedated. Has been for the past few hours. Just waiting for him to wake up," she explained on a sigh. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks," she said, checking Juice's different monitors. "Thanks again for all of your help with my dad."

She smiled, shrugging a shoulder. "No problem. Happy to be of service. You settlin' in all right?"

"Yeah, I am. 's weird to be back here after so much time, though it seems not much has changed," Tara commented, smiling slightly. "How are you related to Juan Carlos?"

"Oh, he's my husband," she lied, not knowing how much she could really trust Tara.

Tara's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Oh, I didn't know you were…"

"It's relatively new."

"Congrats," she replied with a genuine smile. "Is he um…is he a Son?"

"He's a prospect, but his year's almost up." Angela was secretly dreading him having a full patch. Yes, she'd told Happy she didn't mind, but she was kidding herself. She knew that full patch meant she wouldn't see him as often. That the club would always come first. It was selfish of her to hope he wouldn't get that top rocker, but she couldn't help it; she wanted him all to herself. "You familiar with the Sons?"

Tara shifted nervously from foot to foot, shrugging a shoulder. "I mean, I grew up here, and they've got quite a presence. Kinda hard to avoid them. I actually went to high school with Jax and Opie."

Angela saw Juice's hand twitch, caught his brows furrowing; he was awake but clearly doing his best not to let the doctor know. She fought against a smile, knowing he wanted to wake up without a doctor there so they could have some time together without people fussing over him. She leaned forward in her chair a bit. "No shit? That must've been fun."

"It was…somethin' else," she sighed, a blush coloring her cheeks. "I um…are you two..."

Angela smirked, shrugging a shoulder. "Oh yeah. He's the third in our threesome," she joked. "Love that Eiffel tower shit."

Tara's jaw practically dropped to the floor. Juice on the other hand looked as though he was doing his best not to laugh. The doctor blinked at her for a minute before she shook her head. "Oh. Wow. That sounds…complicated."

She nodded in agreement, bobbing her head for a beat more before she grinned. "I'm totally fucking with you, T," she said, chuckling at Tara's look of relief. "I'm a one man kinda girl, and I like the man I got. Jax is just a friend. So if you're interested in him, have at it."

"Oh…no, I'm not…" Tara began to stammer, blinking rapidly as she shook her head. "No, I mean we were…involved back in high school, but…a lot has changed since then so…he's not…is he seeing someone?"

Boy, was that a loaded question that Angela didn't want to answer. It was none of her business, and she knew telling her that he was with Wendy would mean she'd have to tell her Wendy was pregnant, and she definitely didn't want to go there. "That's a great question…for Jax."

"Right," Tara said under her breath, her cheeks going pink again.

Angela grimaced; she hadn't meant to offend Tara. She really did want to be friends with the doctor. "Maybe ask him to coffee or somethin'? Catch up?"

That got a soft chuckle out of Tara. "Please, Jackson Teller doesn't do coffee dates."

She laughed; she was pretty sure Jax would do whatever Tara wanted if it meant they got to spend time together. "Doesn't hurt to ask," she said, shrugging a bit. "If he doesn't want to go, we should grab a cup some time."

Tara grinned and nodded. "I'd like that," she replied before putting Juice's chart back from where she'd gotten it. "I'm gonna leave you guys be. Just buzz a nurse when he wakes up."

Angela caught the smallest hint of a smile cross Juice's face and smirked. "Will do, Doc. Thanks."

With another nod, Tara left the room, a slight bounce to her step. Angela leaned towards Juice, smiling as she said, "I know you're awake, goofy. You ain't that smooth."

He smirked, opening his eyes slowly and pressing the button to lift up the back of his bed so he was sitting up. "Eiffel tower? Really?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Thought you weren't interested in threesomes."

"Well, I know I don't want to share you with another girl," she teased knowing it would bug him. Honestly, the idea of doing anything remotely sexual with Jax kind of grossed her out.

Juice's eyes grew dark and a little possessive in a way that made a familiar fire start to grow inside of her. "And who said I wanted to share you with anyone?" he asked, his voice rougher than usual. The sound of it sent shivers down her spine. "You don't really want that, do you?"

She sat on the edge of his bed as she shook her head. "No, goofy. I want you. Just you." She leaned in to capture his lips in a kiss.

His hand curled around the back of her neck as he deepened the kiss. She let herself get lost in the taste of him, enjoyed the feel of the electricity that surged through her at the feel of his lips on hers. "Well, this is new," a familiar voice said from behind them.

Angela sighed as she pulled away, looking over her shoulder to see Chloe standing in the doorway. Juice let out a frustrated sigh, tilting his head back against the pillows. Angela laughed at the petulant look on his face. "Hey Chlo," she greeted, sitting back a bit. "Dr. Knowles was just in here. He's fine. You can go."

Chloe smirked, clearly amused as she looked over Juice's chart. "No dice. Dr. Knowles was just in here, but she didn't evaluate him. I don't mess with your dead people, don't try to tell me how to do my job."

She stuck her tongue out at her, climbing off the bed and sitting heavily in the chair again. Juice chuckled, shaking his head at the two of them. "When can I get outta here?" he asked.

"Soon, probably. You seem pretty alert and oriented to me," Chloe answered, looking over his monitors and scribbling things down. "Ang, you mind stepping out for a sec so I can do my assessment? Go get some coffee or somethin'. Grab me some too."

Angela raised an eyebrow at her; was she really kicking her out? "Seriously?"

"Yes. Go get some air. Please."

She sighed and nodded, leaning over to kiss Juice quickly. "I'll be right back."

"Bye, baby," he murmured, squeezing her hand.

She walked out of the room slowly, feeling a bit like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Juice was safe in Charming with Chloe as his nurse. She knew Chloe. Trusted her. He was in good hands, and Angela felt like she could finally breathe. Everything was going to be all right.

Let me know what you think! This is my first time really writing Tara and Jax, and I'm a little unsure about it! Any thoughts wuld be much appreciated! :)

~Love Ink