Notes: This is a one shot based on my series A Different Kind of Charming. You don't have to read it to understand this story but it helps! This is a bit longer than I thought it would be and switches between Jax, Issa and Opie's point of view.
The loud shrill of his phone drags Jax kicking and screaming into consciousness. He opens one eye and immediately regrets it. He forgot to close the blinds in his dorm last night and the sun is assaulting his hungover brain. He bangs his hand around the nightstand until the alarm goes off. The silence is a blessing because his head is pounding.
Last night the club celebrated the launch of the ready-to-ship line of SAMCRO Custom Choppers bikes. It was a huge undertaking, designing a new catalog of bikes that had mass appeal but maintained the look and feel of a SCC original. The entire team had worked hard and last night, they partied accordingly.
Jax is just drifting back to blissful sleep when his phone begins blaring "Don't Stop Believing".
"For fuck's sake," he mumbles. If it was any other ringtone, he would simply ignore it. But you do not ignore Isabelle Trager.
"I swear to god, I'm gonna find out how you keep changing my ringtone, you she-devil."
She answers with a laugh that reminds him a bit too much of a Bond villain. "Good luck with that, Fred Flintstone. It took you a week to figure out how to answer a call."
"Shut up," Jax says, reaching for a cigarette. If he's going to be up this early, he needs one.
"I'm giving you 20 minutes to get your ass up and dressed. Throw in a shower because you probably smell like a wino after last night."
Jax rolls his eyes and then winces. Even his eyeballs hurt. At the party, he got cocky and challenged Issa to a shots contest. He lost miserably. Opie had to call it when Jax could no longer stand on his own. The entire time Issa barely even looked buzzed. The woman had a stomach and liver made of iron. How she was even up and functioning this early was beyond him.
"Why the fuck did I agree to this?" he asks, more to himself than anything.
"Because you're a good friend. Or because I threatened to give Delilah Harper your new phone number. One of the two."
Jax takes a drag of his cigarette, huffing out a semblance of a laugh. "You're an evil woman, you know that?"
Delilah was a relatively new croweater with stars in her eyes. While most of the women who hung around the club knew the guys were only looking for fun, Delilah had ambitions of becoming an old lady. Jax made the colossal mistake of sleeping with her two months ago. Since then, she's been relentless - showing up at every club party, bringing him lunch at SCC (much to his father's immense amusement, the fucker) and "accidentally" running into him around town. She got a hold of his phone number and called so much, he had to change it. He has told her time and time again that he's not looking for a relationship. She seems to be taking that as a challenge.
"I need muscle and a truck, I don't care how I get it. See you in 15!"
"What happened to giving me 20 minutes?"
"I knocked off five because you're being a whiny bitch," she told him before unceremoniously hanging up.
He finishes his cigarette wondering why he lets the little terror he calls a best friend boss him around.
Because you're in love with her and don't have the balls to do anything about it, a voice inside his head tells him. One that sounds a lot like Opie.
Jax and Issa have been friends their entire lives. Even though she lived with her grandparents during the school year, the two were practically inseparable. Opie is his brother, no doubt, but Issa… Issa was something else entirely. He tries not to think about what that "something else" is most of the time.
He manages to shower and get dressed with four minutes to spare. He grabs his keys, phone and cigarettes before going in search of coffee. He's going to need a lot of it. He knows Issa will be loud and make a lot of unnecessary noise just to fuck with him. Because she is clearly the antichrist. He is fixing himself a cup of caffeinated gold when the kitchen door swings open.
"Hey there, Jax," he hears and immediately wishes he was anywhere but here.
With a deep sigh and a string of internal cursing, he turns around. And how the fuck did she get so close so damn fast?
"Hey, darlin'" he says, maneuvering around Delilah and setting his sights on the kitchen door. He doesn't get very far before she grabs his arm.
"What's the rush? I haven't seen you in days. I almost think you're trying to avoid me," she complains, her overly done lips pouting.
I am, he thinks to himself. He doesn't have time for a stage four clinger this morning. If he's not outside waiting by his truck, Issa will raise holy hell. And he'd rather fight a grizzly barehanded than deal with an angry Issa.
"Nah, been busy. Speaking of which, I need to get…"
"I heard about the new bikes!" she cuts him off. She leans against the wall in what Jax can only assume she thinks is a sexy pose. "I wanted to congratulate you last night but Gemma had us all busy."
That's because Gemma thinks Delilah is a gold digging tramp. She also thinks Jax is a fucking idiot for sleeping with her.
"That's quicksand pussy, Jax. You stuck your dick in it, now it's holding on tight," she'd told him. But only after he slept with Delilah. Which did him absolutely no good.
To be honest, he doesn't really remember much of their night together. Him and Issa had argued about something stupid and it left him frustrated and inexplicably horny. Then again, most anything Issa did left him horny. He'd gone to the clubhouse and downed half a bottle of Jack.
He vaguely recalls Delilah coming up to him, dressed in a gold lame tube top and high waisted shorts with those cute sailor buttons on them. The only reason he remembers her outfit is because he kept thinking Issa would look hotter in it. After that, things got a little fuzzy.
What wasn't fuzzy was what happened the next morning. Usually, croweaters know to leave without a fuss if they fall asleep in a member's bed. Not Delilah. When he woke up, she was wrapped around him like an octopus.
He tried being polite, telling her he had a busy day and needed to get going. She simply stretched, offering to clean his room and wait for him to return later. When he became more insistent, saying he didn't leave anyone alone in his dorm room, she went to "freshen up" in his bathroom. What she really did was lock herself in there, hoping he'd give up and let her stay.
Jax is not ashamed to admit he went to get his mother. Gemma gave her 30 seconds to get out before she kicked down the door and dragged Delilah out by her hair. Needless to say, that worked.
"Yeah. Well I really gotta head out…"
"So when can we meet up again?" Delilah bulldozes right over him. "We had a lot of fun that night."
"Look, Delilah, you're a sweet girl and all but like I keep telling you, I've got a lot going on right now. I don't have time for anything but work and the club."
"I'm easy going," she lies through her teeth. "It doesn't have to be anything serious. I know you want me too."
Before Jax can come up with a way to politely say, "fuck no, you crazy bitch", a knife goes whizzing by the side of his face. It lands barely inches away from Delilah's head and she lets out a blood curdling scream. Just what his head needs.
He turns around to see his saving grace - a pissed off Issa. "Maybe when someone says no, you listen, Delilah. Consent works both ways, darlin'."
He barely stops himself from pushing Issa against the wall and fucking her senseless. Cause that? That was insanely hot. He's got a thing for a woman (read: Issa) who knows her way around a weapon. Happy and Tig have been teaching her how to shoot and use knives since Issa was seven. Her accuracy rivals almost anyone in all of the SOA chapters, not just Charming. And it turns him on like a light switch every time he sees her use one.
Delilah hightails it out of the kitchen, calling Issa a fucking psycho as she runs away.
"Thank you!" Issa calls after her in a sweet as pie voice. She's a goddamn menace.
Fuck does he love her.
She walks past him to retrieve her knife, giving him an alarming amount of side eye. He knows his womanizing disappoints her. She's told him on more than one occasion he deserves better. He doesn't want to risk their friendship by saying what he really wants is her. So he lets her think he's a man whore instead. Which, he pretty much is. But he'd follow her around like an obedient puppy if she ever gave him a chance.
"Maybe that will get her off my back," he says, giving Issa a kiss on the cheek.
She rolls her eyes and stomps out of the kitchen. "Maybe if you didn't pass your dick around like candy at Halloween, you wouldn't have this problem."
She doesn't say a word to him as they make their way to his truck. This is going to be a long fucking day, he sighs inwardly.
He gets into the driver's seat and waits to see if she's going to say anything. When she doesn't, he gives up and starts the truck.
"Where's this place again?" he breaks the silence, lighting another cigarette.
Issa read about a restaurant equipment auction house near Lodi. Her and Lyla have a strict budget for opening their bakery but don't want to compromise on equipment. She's been bugging him to borrow his truck to check out this auction for days. And by borrowing his truck, she means him being her chauffeur and grunt laborer.
"Take Route 99 North about 5 miles and I'll guide you from there," she says, not even looking up from her phone.
"You gonna pout the entire way?"
"I'm not pouting, Jax. It's fine… what you do with your dick is your own business."
He takes a drag of his cigarette, blowing out the smoke before looking over at her. "I can hear the but in there, so spit it out."
Instead of answering him, she fiddles with his radio until she finds a classic rock station. Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd floods the truck. It's one of her favorite songs and because it reminds him of her, one of his too. They let the guitar and vocals wash over them for a few minutes before she finally speaks.
"When's the last time you took a girl seriously? Tara?"
He wants to tell her he didn't even take Tara seriously but that would lead to questions he does not want to answer. So he shrugs his shoulders instead.
"And that was over four years ago. Don't you get tired of the endless string of croweaters with limited vocabularies?"
"Baby girl, I'm not messing around with them for stimulating conversation."
"Oh I know what you're trying to get stimulated. But you're also gonna end up with a side order of chlamydia or the clap. Your dick probably needs to be dipped in bleach at this point."
"Why are you so fucking crass? Can't you just say you're worried about my health."
"I did. Why else would I suggest you bleach your dick?"
"Can we stop talking about my dick?" he says a bit too loudly.
Especially since his window is down and they're at a stop light. With a family in a minivan next to him. The mother gives him a withering glare. He smiles and waves before driving off at the green light.
"Thanks for that, by the way."
"I didn't tell you to go screaming about your junk for anyone to hear," Issa can barely speak because she's laughing so hard.
"I fucking hate you. Demon spawn."
"Awwww," she reaches over and pinches his cheek. "Is the Prince of Charming a grumpy bear this morning? Who's a grumpy bear? Is it you?"
He bats her hand away and just like that, they're back to being Jax and Issa.
They make it to the auction a good hour before bidding starts. Issa pulls out a notepad with a list and marches up and down the aisles with purpose.
Jax is thrilled Issa decided to open a bakery in Charming. When she told him Duff Goldman offered her a job, he thought for sure she'd take it. But she surprised everyone, especially Duff, and announced she was moving home. She's only been back a few months and they're already inseparable yet again.
Both Opie and Donna have been pushing Jax to confess his feelings to her. A large part of him wants to. Badly. He's been in love with Issa for as long as he can remember. She not only understands him, she loves SAMCRO just as much as he does. She's bailed him out countless times at crazy hours of the night, no questions asked. And on more than one occasion, she's capped someone in the knee to help him get an advantage in a fight. She is the very definition of his ride or die. Which is why he's afraid to say anything and potentially lose that. Instead, he keeps quiet and drowns himself in pussy. If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with, as the song goes.
She ends up buying a massive stand mixer, a few steel top work tables, a double deck convection oven and various display cases for their front counter. The oven and stand mixer are being delivered directly to the bakery, so Jax and some douche trying to impress Issa load everything else onto his truck. He pushes her into the passenger seat before the dude can ask for her number.
On their way back to Charming, Gemma calls him. He hands his phone to Issa so she can put it on speaker.
"Why did I have that stupid twat crying in my office this morning about Issa trying to kill her?"
Gemma has no idea how to start a conversation politely.
Issa busts out laughing, which only serves to annoy his mother more. "My knife was nowhere near a vital organ."
"I am too busy to clean up whatever mess the two of you made. Fucking terror twins."
Gemma started calling them the terror twins when they were around nine and ten. She went outside to chat with a neighbor and not even four minutes later, smelled smoke. Rushing in, she found the two of them smiling like angels while her sofa and curtains were on fire behind them. They refused to tell her how it happened or throw the other one under the bus.
"I was saving your son from a scorching case of herpes, Gemma."
"For fuck's sake," Jax mutters.
It would be really nice to have a best friend and mother who didn't talk so openly about his sex life. Or at least not while he's around.
"Look, I don't care what he does with his dick as long as he wraps it. But I don't wanna deal with that bunny boiler girlfriend of his anymore. Her crying could wake up the dead."
"She's not my girlfriend! Geez. I slept with her once and I don't even remember it!"
Issa gives him a pitying look. "Man. All that hassle she's giving you and you don't even remember getting your rocks off? Seems wrong somehow."
Jax is seriously contemplating jumping out of his running truck to avoid this conversation.
"Anyways, you coming over for dinner tonight, Issa? I'm picking up steaks from The German"
Issa shifts around a bit in her seat. "Uhmm… no. I kinda have plans."
Jax does not like the way she said "plans". He's itching to ask her about them but doesn't want to come off as a jealous asshole. Luckily for him, Gemma is noisy as fuck and has zero boundaries.
"What plans? With who?"
Issa sighs and he can see her watching him out of the corner of his eye. Whatever she's doing tonight, she does not want him to know. And he really doesn't like that.
"Just uhhh… dinner with a friend. No one you'd know."
"Does this friend have a dick that he wants to stick inside you?"
God bless his mother.
"Gemma!" Issa hisses at his phone.
"I'll take that as a yes. Does Tig know about it?"
"I'm an adult, Gem. I don't have to ask my daddy for permission to go out on a date."
And that right there? That fucking hurts. Because even though he won't man up and confess his feelings, he's a selfish, possessive bastard when it comes to Issa. He doesn't want another guy anywhere near her. Yes, he's a hypocrite for fucking his way through Charming but wanting Issa to wait until he gets his shit together. Does he care that it makes him a hypocrite? Not a chance.
His hands tighten on the steering wheel. He tries not to ask who the fuck she's seeing because he knows it's none of his business. He lasts about twenty seconds.
"You going out with someone we don't know? Who? What's his name? Where'd you meet him?"
"Jesus Christ, Hawaii Five O. What's with the interrogation?"
Gemma, who Jax suspects knows about his feelings, is suddenly very busy and hangs up fast. The one time he wants Gemma to be a bulldog about finding something out, she abandons him.
"Just curious. Wanna make sure this guy isn't going to chain you up in his basement for kinky sex parties."
Issa stares at him, eyes wide. "Wow. That was oddly specific."
"What? You're my best friend. I don't wanna see you on Dateline."
"Well no need to worry. I can handle myself."
They reach the space Lyla and her recently started renting. It's a cute storefront in the heart of downtown Charming, the perfect spot for a neighborhood bakery. Opie and a prospect named Juice are waiting to help him unload the truck.
As soon as Jax parks, Issa hops out. She's avoiding answering his questions, which pisses him the fuck off. Why is she being so goddamn cagey about this "date"? They tell each other everything (a voice in his head whispers "not everything" and of course it sounds like Opie) but she clammed up when he asked for a name.
By the time they get everything into the shop, Issa has managed to slip out without him noticing. She is sorely mistaken if she thinks he'll let this go. He's gonna get to the bottom of this mystery date if it's the last thing he does.