Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites and follows! I am extremely excited for this story because it is so different from the others I have done. I will go ahead and say that I fixed this chapter at the last minute to sort of make it speed a long because I originally was going to do an extremely slow burn between Jax and Quinn's friendship, but who has time for all that? I will apologize in advance for spelling and grammar errors. I tried to scan through to make sure things were correct. After all, I am human. Also, I will say that you will find out what happened to Quinn in the next chapter, and it may seem a little far fetched but I got the idea from a movie I saw a while back. (I can't remember the name for the life of me.) Also, would anyone be willing to let me bounce some ideas off of them and maybe some questions from a readers point of view? Feel free to PM me if you're interested. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Ya'll are awesome!
It had been about several days since Jax had helped Quinn hang her pictures. That night when he had gotten home from helping her, he had showered and ate a late dinner and decided to go to her website on his phone to look at her pictures. He didn't know much about photography, but he loved how she captured things. There were even a few pictures that he wanted to order, and just as he was about to he ended up having to go out on a last minute run and completely spaced ordering them.
While Jax was out on the run, he found himself thinking about Quinn off and on. Since he had first met her, the two had started to get to know each other a little more when they would have to exchange mail. The second time she had to deliver his mail, he had invited her in for a cup of coffee. He knew that he was running late to work at the garage but he couldn't find himself cutting their conversation short. He had learned that she grew up in Bar Harbor Maine, and that her parents had passed away when she was kid. He had told her about his father passing away from a motorcycle accident, and his brother passing away due to heart issues. For the first time, outside of the club members, he enjoyed just actually talking to someone who didn't know a thing about him and the club.
Jax Teller was known as a ladies man when he was younger and it traveled into his adult years once he had joined the Sons of Anarchy. The more he had gotten to know Quinn, he realized that she was completely different than any of the women he had ever met. It didn't make sense to him at first because nothing really stopped him from trying to get laid and working his charm to do so. Jax found himself wanting to know more and more about her. At first he thought it was just the fact that he was physically attracted to her, but the more he talked to her, the more his curiousity grew and the more he became interested in her.
Something seemed so refreshing, so uncomplicated when talking to the gorgeous brunette. She didn't look at him with judgement because she was new to town and didn't know the lifestyle he had lived. She didn't just talk to him to gain favors from him or the club, and she didn't just want to get screwed by him to say that she had slept with Jax Teller. He could put his walls down with her and just forget about the outside drama that involved the club, and the cops.
He had tried to ignore the spark he had felt when he had first met her, but he started to realize that he couldn't. He knew that he was starting to develope some sort of feelings for the woman next door, but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to get involved with his neighbor. As much as he tried to fight it, he couldn't find himself being able to stop talking to her.
Since Jax had the day off, he decided to start his morning with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, and then showered for the day. Once he had gotten dressed, he decided that he was going to see if Quinn had plans for the day since she hadn't been shown around town yet.
Walking out of his house and down the driveway, Jax wasted no time in approaching Quinn's front door and knocked a few times. It didn't take long for the door to open up to reveal the short long haired brunette.
"Hey, more mail?" Quinn questioned causing Jax to laugh and shake his head no.
"No mail this time, I was actually wondering if you had plans today?" Jax questioned and watched as Quinn opened the door for him to enter the house.
Jax stepped into the large home and noticed the shorts she had on that showed off her toned legs and a off white shirt that said all you need is a little love and jazz across the chest with a blue and black flannel shirt with her hair flowing down her back and her face makeup free.
"I don't have anything planned other than going to the store this afternoon before picking up Gavin from the airport. Why?" Quinn questioned as she walked barefoot into the kitchen with Jax following, "Want a cup?" Quinn questioned.
"Please." Jax gave her a soft smile.
His blue eyes were glued to Quinn as she moved from the cabinets to the coffee pot and began to pour the two cups, and then put creamer in hers and offered some for him and he shook his head, and then watched as she put some sugar in hers and then looked to him to see if he wanted sugar and gave her a nod.
"Thanks." Jax smiled as she handed the coffee mug over to him, "I was wondering if you wanted to get a town tour today." Jax offered, "There is this spot I use to go to as a kid with my best friend. Sort of a hidden town treasure." Jax explained.
"Hidden town treasure?" Quinn raised an amused eyebrow, "I'm extremely intrigued with this." Quinn commented before she took a couple of sips of her coffee, "I'll go but I have to be back by one." Quinn added.
"I can work with that." Jax smiled to her.
Since neither Jax or Quinn had ate breakfast, Jax had decided to stop at the local diner after an arguement on whether to take Jax bike or Quinn's SUV. Quinn ended up winning because of the fact that she had brought her camera along in her backpack that she had transformed into a purse, and she refused to take a chance on it breaking.
Once the two had placed their order, Quinn noticed the odd looks that the handsome man was getting and decided to start a conversation.
"So, what's with all of the odd looks you're getting?" Quinn questioned lowly, "I mean, it could be me since I'm new here but I have a feeling it has to do something with that leather vest you're wearing." Quinn added jokingly causing Jax to laugh a little.
"It's a kutte." Jax corrected her with a teasing grin, "I'm probably getting the looks from the older people, but you however are getting the looks from the married men." Jax joked causing Quinn to scrunch her face and glance around causing Jax to laugh a little louder.
"So what is with the kutte?" Quinn questioned as she took a sip of her water.
"I'm part of a motorcycle club." Jax responded vaguely, and Quinn realized that he didn't want to discuss into detail what that meant so she let it go, "Other than photography, what do you like to do?" Jax questioned.
"Well..." Quinn chuckled lightly, "I'm sort of a running freak. It started out as a way for me to clear my head when I can't sleep, and then it sort of spiraled out of control. I actually find some really cool things to photograph if I'm out running, I'm able to get to places a car can't get to. So I guess everything sort of resorts back to photography in one way or another." Quinn explained, "What about you, what do you like to do Jax Teller?" Quinn questioned.
Jax let out a small chuckle before he took a drink of his coffee, "I'm kind of boring." Jax admitted, he knew that he didn't have a lot of free time because of the club and working at the garage, "I do like to put together old bikes when I have the time." Jax added, "I'm sort of a mechanic freak." Jax teased, "It's just something I've always been good at." Jax shrugged his shoulders.
He had learned that Quinn had never been married, and that she had started taking pictures once her parents had passed away. He had also learned that Gavin was the son of her parents friends who had adopted her after her parents passed away. She had been friends with him as a child since their parents had always been good friend. He also was informed that Gavin was gay and would most likely hit on him if he were to meet him while he was in town.
Quinn had learned that Jax's mother was pretty much a diva with a fierce attitude and would probably scare the living shit out of her if they had ever met. She had been told about Opie Winston a few times and how the two would always get into trouble. She even learned about Piney, Opie's father, who was like a father figure to him once his father had passed away.
By the time they were done with their breakfast, Jax had paid for their meals and even though Quinn had protested, Jax didn't budge on buying her breakfast. The two had began to walk out of the diner and the blonde immediately noticed David Hale approaching him.
"Jackson Teller." David Hale spoke up causing Quinn to look over her shoulder and up at Jax as he put a hand on her lower back.
"I'll meet you at the car." Jax spoke to Quinn and glanced towards her, and then looked back to Hale.
Quinn gave the tall man a nod and began to walk towards her car after offering the deputy a polite smile.
Jax noticed that David didn't take his eyes off of Quinn until she got into the car and it started to piss him off for some reason, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.
"I haven't seen her around here before." Hale commented, glancing back to the car.
"What do you want Hale?" Jax questioned getting annoyed quickly.
"I'll need you to come down to the station for a few questions regarding a warehouse exploding on the edge of town the other night." Hale explained.
Jax let out a laugh and shook his head with a sigh, "Well at the moment I am a little busy, I'll be able to stop down this afternoon. I won't be of any help though because I know nothing about a warehouse blowing up. I haven't been in town for a couple of days." Jax explained.
"Well be sure to come down once you are free." David Hale stated and watched as Jax began to walk away but called out to him, "Jax?" David questioned causing the blonde man to turn around with an annoyed look on his face.
"What?" Jax questioned.
"Does she know who you are?" Hale questioned and smirked when he succeeded getting under the man's skin. He watched as Jax let out a small snarl and walked towards him.
"She has nothing to do with the club." Jax sneered lowly in Hale's face, knowing that he was trying to get under his skin with the comment since he was apart of the club Hale despised, "Leave her out of your bullshit." Jax added and didn't allow the man to respond as he walked to Quinn's SUV.
"Is everything okay?" Quinn questioned as Jax got into the car and noticed that his light hearted mood had changed some.
"Oh yeah. He was just telling me about an outstanding parking ticket I had." Jax commented as he started the car, since Quinn had let him drive since she didn't know where she was going.
"Oh, do you need to go take care of that?" Quinn questioned.
"I told him I'd stop down once I was free." Jax explained and then backed out of the parking space to head to one of his favorite spots of Charming.
The car ride was quiet expect for the radio playing on low, and Quinn couldn't help but to enjoy the day knowing that Gavin was in route to California and she was having a good time with her next door neighbor.
After driving for about fifteen minutes, Jax had told Quinn that they were close to his favorite spot and he noticed that she had gotten her camera out of her backpack and began to fiddle with it.
He had turned down a couple of back rounds and Quinn had spotted a river and was instantly in awe. There was a train track a few yards away followed by an area of large pine trees and regular oak trees.
"This place is amazing." Quinn stated as she quickly got out of the car causing Jax to let out a small laugh.
"It used to seem so much bigger when I was younger, but now it seems sort of small." Jax commented as he got out of the car to follow Quinn, "It's probably the most quiet place here without having to drive out of town." Jax added and watched as Quinn held up the camera to her eye to snap a few pictures.
Jax couldn't help but to watch her as the wind began to pick up a little and blew her long hair around as she turned the other direction and took a few more photos.
"Thank you for bringing me here." Quinn smiled over her shoulder and Jax smiled back at her.
"How do you work that thing?" Jax questioned with a laugh, realizing that he had never used an actual camera to take photos. He had the disposable ones growing up or always used his camera phone.
Quinn looked at him as if he had grown two heads, "What?" She questioned almost not wanting to believe it, "Seriously? You've never used a camera before?" Quinn questioned walking towards him.
"I mean do disposables and camera phones count?" Jax questioned and Quinn's mouth fell open.
"I can't believe this." Quinn shook her head with a laugh and took the strap off around her neck and handed her camera towards him, "Here, hold it." Quinn stated.
"No way. I'm not being held responsible if I drop it. You nearly clawed my eyes out when I suggested we take my bike." Jax shook his head and held his hands up.
"You aren't going to drop it. Put the strap around your neck and hold it." Quinn lifted her arms up with the trap in her hands and stepped closer to Jax in order to reach his neck and put it around him, "Hold it like you'd hold a disposable." Quinn instructed and watched as he reluctantly grabbed the camera and did as she said, "There is a button on the top you press to take the picture, look in the view finder and it will adjust to the lighting." Quinn explained and Jax gave a nod in understanding and did as she said.
Jax had decided to take a picture of Quinn's face since she was standing close and with the sun in her eyes it almost seemed like her eyes were white and she began to laugh when she realized what he was doing.
"Oh, the photographer doesn't like her picture taken?" Jax teased and took a few more when she began to blush and squirm once she realized that she was his muse for pictures.
"Jax..." Quinn whined, "Why don't you take pictures of the water or something?" Quinn questioned.
"I prefer this view more." Jax grinned when Quinn rolled her eyes, "Why don't you like your picture taken?" Jax questioned.
"I don't mind my picture being taken if I'm with other people, I just not a big fan of selfies." Quinn explained as Jax took the strap off around his neck and handed the camera back to her.
A wide grin spread across Quinn's face and began to take photo's of Jax and when he began to laugh and covered his face, she told him to not move. His ringed fingers covered his face and you could see the hint of the smile he had behind his palms, and the combed back hair a little wild from the wind and the stuble of his growing beard peaking through.
"Okay, sorry." Quinn laughed, "I had to get a picture of the rings." Quinn added.
"Let's get a picture together." Jax stated and Quinn shrugged her shoulders and agreed.
The brunette had stood next to Jax but she was slightly surprised that he had moved to stand behind her and leaned down to rest his chin on her shoulder as she turned the camera to face them in order to take the picture. She had decided to smile brightly while Jax kept a soft smile while looking at her to see what sort of face she would make and snapped the picture.
"Are there any sort of trails around here?" Quinn questioned as she moved away a little from Jax but turned to face him after she smelt the mixture of his cologne and leather and realized the smell almost gave her comfort.
"Honestly, I'm not even sure." Jax commented, "I can ask around for ya if you want." Jax offered. He realized that they were still standing pretty close together.
"Yeah, if you don't mind." Quinn smiled, "I need to invest in a tour guide or something so I don't bug you with a thousand questions." Quinn joked.
"I don't mind. Ask all the questions you want." Jax smiled as he took a small step closer to her and smelt the bubblegum she had been chewing and her plump lips on full display and he just as he was leaning down to kiss her, heheard his cell phone going off in the pocket of his jeans and groaned lowly, "I should probably get that." Jax commented lowly, but he knew the moment he answered the phone that his plan to kiss the brunette would be ruined.
"Yeah probably, I'm going to go over there and get a few more pictures." Quinn smiled softly and walked off towards the edge of the water, allowing Jax to answer his cell phone. Quinn had been thankful for the interruption because she wasn't sure if Jax was actually going to go through with kissing her.
Jax had pulled into Quinn's driveway, almost completely annoyed with the fact that Clay Morrow couldn't seem to go one day, not even an entire day without him needing to do something that couldn't wait a couple of hours. It didn't help that he felt extremely awkward at the fact he had every intention of kissing Quinn because it just felt right and the moment was lost.
"I'm really sorry our morning got cut short." Jax apologized and wasn't surprised that the beautiful brunette gave him a smile.
"It's fine Jax. I should probably clean up the guest bedroom for Gavin and go to the store anyway. His flight should be in soon." Quinn stated as she grabbed her backpack, "Thank you for taking me around, I really appreciate it." Quinn added.
"It was my pleasure darlin."
"If you want, tonight we are going to fire up the grill if you want to come over for dinner. I mean, it can be my thanks to you for showing me around." Quinn added as she opened the car door.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Jax agreed as he got out of the driver's seat, "Should I bring anything?" Jax questioned.
"No I got it covered. Do you have a specific beer you drink?" Quinn questioned.
"I'll bring the beer then." Jax chuckled.
"That's not what I meant. I was just going to pick some up at the store." Quinn sighed and Jax laughed a little more seeing her get flustered.
"Don't worry about it darlin." Jax commented, "Oh, I should probably get your number in case I am running late." Jax added, knowing that he wanted her number but wasn't sure how to ask for it before and released it was the lamest excuse he could have thought of.
Once Quinn had given him her number he had called her phone so she would have his. She watched as the blonde haired man walked down her driveway to head towards his house and she decided to head to her front door to get ready for Gavin's arrival.
When she had gotten inside, Quinn had gotten the SD card out of the camera in order to upload the pictures on to her computer before she forgot and then moved to the closet in order to grab the broom and dust pan to sweep the guest bedroom as the pictures uploaded. Once she was finished sweeping, she had emptied the dust pan in the trash and then went back to make the bed for Gavin, and decided to open the windows to air out the room some.
After Quinn had finished getting the guest room clean and to Gavin's simple standards, she had decided to clean the entire house since the hard wood floors needed to be swept.
"I really need to invest in carpet." Quinn muttered to herself as she swept the large living room and turned on her candle warmer.
Before she realized what time it was, her alarm on her cell phone began going off, letting her know that she needed to leave in order to pick up Gavin from the airport.
Quickly empting the dust pan, Quinn grabbed her black ray ban sunglasses, her backpack and made sure that she had her wallet and cash before locking up the house and leaving. The brunette had set the GPS to the airport in order to make sure she didn't get lost and backed out of her driveway.
After waiting for almost fifteen minutes, Gavin was finally next to her in the SUV as she pulled out of the airport parking lot. She couldn't have been happier to have a familiar friendly face with her and made her feel at complete ease.
"How's ma and pops?" Quinn questioned, referring to his parents. She had a hard time calling them by their names, but couldn't quite call them mom and dad since they had adopted her, so they were okay with Ma and Pops.
"They are good. They miss you, they sent a care package with me for you." Gavin explained, "I almost had a hell of a time getting it on the plane." Gavin laughed.
"Aw, they didn't have to do that." Quinn commented as she focused on the road.
"They said you would say that but I'm suppose to say that you just moved into a brand new house with no one around." Gavin commented, "There was more to it but I gave up listening. Just FaceTime them later and chew them out for doing it." Gavin joked.
"Oh, I have to stop at the store when we get to town. I got carried away cleaning before I came to get you." Quinn added,"and I may have invited Jax to dinner tonight." Quinn decided to leave out the part of Jax almost kissing her, since Gavin was a little over protective of her.
"Jax? The hot neighbor?" Gavin questioned.
"Yes the neighbor." Quinn confirmed, "He showed me around town this morning and it's sort of my thanks to him for it."
"Well that was nice of him." Gavin murmured and looked to the brunette for a moment, "Does he know about..." Gavin trailed off.
"No, he doesn't know. He doesn't need to know. He is just my neighbor Gav." Quinn quickly responded, "Please for the love of God do not bring that up either. I know you're overly protective after what happened, but I don't need someone I just met looking at me like that."
"Like what Q?" Gavin questioned, "If you're going to be friends with him, he needs to know what happened..."
"With pity." Quinn shook her head, "We have hung out a few times. I don't think it's time to even think about that. Can we please just put that on the back burner for the time being?" Quinn nearly pleaded.
"Yeah we can, but he needs to know what to expect if..." Gavin was cut off by Quinn snapping at him.
"Just drop it. Please."
Gavin finally put his hands up in surrender, "Does he at least have any gay friends?"
Quinn shook her head with a laugh, "I didn't bother asking. I thought you were seeing that Tommy guy."
"His name is Brad. And I decided to end things with him. He wasn't too keen on being seen out in public with a man holding his hand." Gavin explained, "Oh don't give me that look, you know that I have no shame in being gay. I understand that other people aren't comfortable with PDA."
"It just sucks. I know that you liked him."
"I did like him. He's a good person, but I can't move ten steps back from where I came." Gavin explained since him coming out as gay in high school had been hard for him to adjust to.
"It's good that you don't just settle. You've came a long way since high school. You shouldn't have to hide your affection for someone you care about." Quinn stated as she passed the sign that said Welcome to Charming.
By the time Quinn and Gavin had went to the store and got back to her house and unloaded the grocceries, she was sure that she had bought out the entire store and had loaded up on more beer than she actually needed.
"So when is this hot neighbor coming over?" Gavin questioned as he plopped down on the couch after taking a shower and changing into a pair of tan cargo shorts and a white tank top.
"Honestly, I don't know." Quinn answered as she sat down next to him, "I didn't give him a time frame, and stop referring to his as the hot neighbor. He has a name." Quinn added and realized that she could text Jax and ask what time would be good for him, so she grabbed her cell phone to text the man and noticed that she had missed a text message from him.
I'm back home. Let me know if you need help with dinner. - Jax
"He text me, he is back home. He said that if we need help with dinner to let him know." Quinn commented to Gavin.
"Girl, text him and tell him to come over." Gavin wiggled his eyebrows playfully, "I've been dying to see how hot he is."
Quinn looked at the clock on the wall and noticed it was going on 5:30 and decided to text Jax back to tell him to come over whenever he wanted. She had tossed her phone on the couch and got up to head to the kitchen in order to season the steaks and chicken that she had bought. Once she was done with that, she had decided to make her famous Guacamole since Gavin had requested it, and began to cut the avacados up.
As she was in the middle of smashing the avacados up, she was a little surprised to hear a knock at the door, but she was even more surprised that Gavin had practically ran to the door in order to answer it first.
Shaking her head, she leaned back a little to make sure Gavin didn't scare the man away within seconds and noticed both men walking towards her.
"Hey." Jax gave a nod and smile towards her.
"Hey, you can put the beer in the fridge if you want." Quinn pointed her head towards the fridge and then focused her attention back to the Guacamole. Once she had put the final ingredients into the bowl, she had to smack Gavin's hand away a few times, "It has to get cold, stop trying to eat it." Quinn growled playfully.
"Fine!" Gavin pouted and then heard an unfamiliar ring tone, "Oh Quinn, is that your skype?" Gavin questioned looking around and caused Quinn to furrow her eyebrows.
"Oh yeah. Excuse me." Quinn walked into the living room to the desk to where her laptop was charging and noticed the familiar name on the screen and her heart dropped into her stomach for a moment as she answered.
As Quinn waited for the video to connect she noticed that Gavin and Jax had walked back into the living room with beers in their hands and Gavin had handed her one before sitting on the couch.
"Hey, everything okay?" Quinn quickly asked like she usually did when he would Skype or FaceTime her.
The sound of his laugh caused her to calm down, "Yes Quinn, everything is fine. I was just calling to check in with you."
"We need to think of a new system or something." Quinn laughed a little and decided to unplug the laptop in order to take it into her bedroom so she could talk freely without having to worry about Jax hearing something he shouldn't, "Hang on a second Jeff."
Jax heard the name of an unknown male and his eyebrows furrowed for a split moment with curiousity. Was Jeff an ex-boyfriend? A potential boyfriend? He began to question in his head and then heard Gavin speak up.
"Take your time." Gavin commented knowing who she was speaking with and then Jax watched as Quinn glanced to him and he gave her a nod and watched her disappear into her bedroom.
Once Quinn was in her bedroom and resting her back against the headboard she adjusted the laptop on her lap and focused on the man that was on the screen.
"So how have you really been?" Jeff questioned.
"I've actually been really good. It's probably the best I've been in quite sometime." Quinn answered honestly, "I think moving helped me a lot. It's hard to adjust to the time difference with Gavin being back home though. I thankfully convinced him to come out here for a bit."
"Still planning on going to Cancun?" Jeff questioned and Quinn gave a nod as she took a drink of her beer, "Well try to not get arrested or anything. I have zero jurisdiction in Mexico."
Quinn couldn't help but to laugh out loud, "I have no intentions of getting arrested. The plan is for us to site see and sit on the beach and drink a lot." Quinn grinned when Jeff rolled his eyes, "Can I ask you something?" Quinn questioned and Jeff gave a nod of his head.
"You can ask me anything kid."
"The judges aren't considering parole for him are they?" Quinn questioned lowly, "I know the last time we talked you said something about him trying to get out on parole for good behaviour or something." Quinn added referring to the call she had gotten from him as she was moving into her new home.
"Honestly, I don't know right now." Jeff spoke honestly, "If they look at his record and everything that happened, they would be insane to allow it. You have one of the best lawyers on this and he is doing everything in his power to make sure that he isn't getting released anytime soon." Jeff added, "You know that if he were to get released I would fly out and make sure that you are safe. You know that, right?" Jeff questioned.
"I know. I know..." Quinn let out a sigh, "I just want this shit to be over. I don't understand why he is a lunatic and thinks what he did was alright and shouldn't be punished. It's been almost three years Jeff, and each year he keeps trying to get out and we go through this each time." Quinn complained, "Why does he do it? It makes no sense."
"It's hard to explain why someone who has his issues does what they do Quinn. We can interrogate him and have shrinks examine him all we want but he won't give us answers unless he wants to." Jeff explained, "Each time he tries this, the judge always denies his parole. There is no need to get worked up over anything just yet. You've came so far from when I first met you, don't let this take you back."
"I know. It's just that each time he tries to get out, I think he's going to just show up like he did and everything will happen all over again, or worse this time. I had nightmares for like a month the last time."
"You been taking your medicine for it?" Jeff questioned.
"Only when it gets too bad or if they keep me from sleeping."
"Quinn..."
"I know I need sleep. I'm literally fine when I know that he isn't trying to get out. I know where he is, and I know that he can't get out. It's the fact that these judges don't know what he did, how much shit I went through with the getting the cops to not think I'm crazy, and then your brother talked to you for me..." Quinn found herself getting upset about the past and knew that she had talked enough to Jeff for the night, "Look, thanks for calling but I have Gavin and my neighbor here for dinner. Will you keep me updated?"
"Of course I will." Jeff gave a nod, "Try to not stress out about it Quinn. I'm doing everything in my power to prevent anything from happening."
"I know, thank you. I'll talk to you later."
Quinn had decided to wait a few minutes before emerging out of the bed room in order for her to control her nerves, and she had made sure to plug her laptop back in before finishing off her beer and getting a new one.
"Everything okay?" Gavin questioned to Quinn as she walked back into the living room and sat down.
"Yeah." Quinn answered quietly, "Just was checking in." Quinn added and let out a small sigh.
"You'll be glad to know that Jax knows how to start a grill so we don't have to worry about me blowing myself up." Gavin joked trying to help Quinn out of her mood.
It took a few moments before Quinn snapped out of it but looked to Gavin and noticed the sympathetic smile he was giving her, "You do know that I am capable of starting a grill right?" Quinn questioned.
"The last time you used a grill it didn't work afterwards." Gavin retorted causing Jax to laugh.
"Hey, it worked for the time being. I never said I did it properly." Quinn defended herself playfully, "Besides, the only time I ever use a grill is when you're here." Quinn added and Jax shook his head with a laugh.
"When do you want to start the steaks and chicken?" Jax question to Quinn.
"We can start it now if you want." Quinn answered, "Gavin, stay out of the Guacamole." Quinn added as she pushed herself up from the couch with Jax following.
Quinn had stopped in the kitchen to grab the steaks, chicken and potatoes and followed Jax out the back door to the back yard after he grabbed two beers for them, "It has gas, right?" Jax questioned and Quinn rolled her grey orbs.
"Yes. I bought some the other day while I was at the gas station." Quinn spoke as she sat the plates down on the shelf of the grill and watched as Jax hooked up the gas tank.
It didn't take him long to get the grill going and then Quinn placed the chicken and steak on the rack and then the potatoes, "Oh I uploaded the pictures to my laptop if you want to check them out later. We can see if you should change your profession to a photographer."
Jax laughed, "Darlin, I think I'll leave the photography to you, but yeah I'd like to see them. Think maybe I could see some of your other photos you've taken?" Jax questioned.
"Yeah, that's fine."
Once the grill was going and the food was placed, Jax had shut the grill lid and watched as Gavin walked out of the house with a long lighter and a piece of cardboard.
"I'm going to have a bo fire." Gavin stated in a matter of fact tone, "It's going to be clear tonight and cool." Gavin added causing Quinn to shake her head. She knew that Gavin loved bonfires and would have one any chance he could back home.
"Just don't burn your limbs off." Quinn called out to him as he walked into the yard towards the pit, "How about we go inside and I'll show you those pictures?" Quinn questioned and watched as Jax nodded his head in agreement.
Jax had sat on the couch and watched as Quinn grabbed her laptop and sat down next to him and began to open it and when it was all the way on, she went to a little icon and clicked on it.
"All you have to do is click the little arrow to go to the next picture." Quinn pointed to the arrow on the screen, "I should probably go out there and make sure Gavin isn't burning himself alive. You okay here for a minute?" Quinn questioned after hearing Gavin cuss loudly.
"Yeah. I don't think I can get into too much trouble looking through photos." Jax chuckled lightly and began to examine the pictures as Quinn headed back outside to check on Gavin.
As Jax examined each photo, he noticed that a lot of the photos were all extremely different. There were several of busy streets with people site seeing or shopping, some of empty bridges, gardens, a few of Quinn and Gavin in diffferent cities, a few of older people sitting at coffee tables, business owners making food or drinks. Jax literally knew nothing about photography but he could look at Quinn's work all day. The blonde ended up coming across the pictures she had taken that morning of his favorite spot in Charming. He couldn't help but to smile at the picture he had taken of her up close and examined the photo. Quinn had her eyes open with the sun shining on her make-up free face and he noticed a few freckles splattered across her nose and cheeks and her bright smile on full display. He clicked the arrow to go to the next picture and saw that it was the one of his hands covering his face and instantly thought it was the coolest picture he had seen. The sons rings he wore on his fingers stood out over the rest of the picture. He then clicked the arrow again and saw the picture of him and Quinn together and made a mental note to ask her for a copy of the picture.
When Jax had went through the rest of the pictures from that morning he had clicked the arrow again and his eyes instantly furrowed in confusion. He looked to the screen to see an arm with several bruises on it. For a split moment he thought about not clicking the arrow again but he found himself clicking it anyway and his heart dropped into his stomach. There was a picture of Quinn's face completely battered. Her bottom plump lip was split with what looked like several stitches holding it together, the side of her left face was completely bruised to where her eye was almost swollen shut and a deep purple, and on the right side of her face there were several cuts and scrapes. He felt his heart beat picking up and clicked the arrow again and found her upper body with her breasts covered by her arm. On her torso there were large black and blue bruises, a few cuts across her upper chest and a line across her collar bone with stitches.
Jax was aware of hearing the back door open and close but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen. He was furious that something like this had happened to Quinn. Even though he didn't know her that well, from what he knew of her so far, she didn't deserve whatever happened.
"So how do you like the pictures?" Quinn's raspy voice caused him to tear his eyes away from the screen and he didn't realize that he had unshed tears build in his eyes when he looked up to her standing in front of him, "You okay?" Quinn questioned concerned by the look on Jax's face.
It took Jax a few moments to find his voice and found himself searching Quinn's face for something that he couldn't place, "What happened?" Jax asked lowly, with rage starting to build.
"What? Oh Gavin is fine. He couldn't get the lighter to work." Quinn laughed.
"No, what happened." Jax questioned again turning the computer screen to face her and kept his eyes glued to Quinn's face and watched as her face dropped and she took a few steps back.
"H-How did you find those?" Quinn stumbled on her words and began to panic a little.
"I was just hitting the arrow like you told me to." Jax stated simply, "What happened Quinn?" Jax questioned gently and watched as Quinn shook her head and tried to get out of the room by heading towards the kitchen but was stopped by running into Gavin's chest as he walked into the living room.
"What's wrong?" Gavin questioned and felt Quinn wrap her arms around him and then felt her body tremble slightly causing his to narrow his eyes within an instant and glanced to Jax. He instantly spotted the computer screen and watched as Jax stood up from the couch.
"Quinn..." Jax spoke lowly and began to approach the brunette but Gavin shook his head no.
"Not right now. Just leave." Gavin stated simply and felt Quinn let go of him and moved to go to her bedroom, but Jax decided to follow her and ask some questions with Gavin protesting right behind them.