AN: Another filler chapter but we're getting there! I have half of Chapter 15 written so we're moving along. I hope you guys like the 2 other chapters I uploaded… the stats made it seem like a lot of people missed Chapter 12, so if you missed it – make sure you read and give me some feedback!

Jax POV

My head snapped up in surprise. She was really going to skip class and hang out with me. I immediately felt the sucker punch of guilt in my stomach. Tara… always putting everyone else first. Did she even want to talk with me or did she just feel obligated? She sure as hell didn't have any obligation to me. I wondered how, after all this time, she could still be so empathetic toward me.

We made our way to the edge of campus and made sure that Officer Garcia was nowhere in sight. She crossed the street first and I followed a few minutes later. I watched her as she made her way to a rundown swing set and sat down. I took the swing next to her and we were both quiet for a minute.

"Look," I started, trying to sort out my thoughts. "I only kind of know what you said to Ope. He wasn't really in the mood to talk about it. He probably wouldn't even have said anything, but whatever you said made him pretty pissed at me."

Her eyebrows gathered in confusion before she gave a short laugh. It was a joyless laugh. Not the kind I had missed hearing so much.

"I guess I could see that."

She kicked her legs forward slowly to give her some momentum. She was probably glad for a valid excuse to fidget.

"Sorry for that," she added.

I scoffed. "Sorry for what? Whatever you guys said was probably true. Probably something about how much of a dick I am."

Another short laugh escaped her. "You a mind reader now, Teller?" she asked.

"Tara," I said a little more harshly than I'd meant to. "I'm trying to be serious here." She quickly brought her swing to a standstill.

"I'm sorry, Jax. You're right. I said we could talk. Let's talk."

I ran both my hands through my hair in frustration. "Would you quit apologizing already? I already feel shitty enough."

Her mouth popped open to speak, no doubt to apologize once again, but she stopped herself and gave me a nod.

I pressed my palms together and stared at my calloused fingers for a minute. I looked over to her, her delicate fingers anxiously clasping the steel chains of the swing; such a contrast - the heavy, cold chains wrapped against her soft, warm hands. I was staring at a metaphor. My throat tightened; just looking at her hurt.

"Opie told me what you said about him not being there for you. And I just want you to know that that's not really true."

She opened her mouth to disagree but thought better of it, opting to rest her cheek against the chain and look at me instead.

"Look, Tara. Opie's my best friend. I don't want you to be mad at him. He really does care about you and I think it got under his skin that you feel like he wasn't there for you." I paused knowing that I probably didn't sound very convincing. I decided to take another approach.

"You remember how that asshole Brian just fell off the face of the earth?" I asked.

She nodded slowly, not really following.

"He didn't just leave on his own accord, Tara. Opie found out he was the one giving you X. He heard you'd started snorting it," I shivered at the thought. I wasn't a saint, but I drew the line at putting shit in my nose or in my arm.

Her cheeks flushed pink, embarrassed. "I didn't know you guys knew about any of that," she said, barely a whisper.

I raised my eyebrows at her. How could she not know? Did she really, really believe that we had just stopped paying attention to her just because she and I had broken up?

"Yeah, Tara. We knew about it. We knew about everything; I mean everything," I emphasized. "Just because I was being an idiot didn't mean we didn't give a shit about you. Some of the shit you were getting into, the people you were hanging out with…." I shook my head at the memory. A self-conscious, anxiety ridden beauty with no one to guide her - her unbridled curiosity and existential need for escapism had led her down a truly darkened path. Honestly, she's lucky she hadn't ended up dead in a ditch somewhere.

Her eyes flickered to mine and I could see the anguish in them. She quickly dropped hers to the ground.

"Anyway. The stories we were hearing kept getting worse and worse. I was mad, stubborn; you were fucked up, fucking around." I shrugged. "Opie decided to take matters into his own hands."

She looked back up at me, the pain there so raw that I had to look away. "What does that mean exactly?" she asked.

I gave her a tightlipped smile. "He might've brought it to the club."

Her eyes widened. "Opie ratted?" she asked in disbelief.

I looked at her like she was crazy. "Opie didn't rat! It's the club, not the cops, Tara. Jesus!"

"What happened to him?" she asked a slight tremor in her voice.

"He's fine, Tara. They didn't do anything to him. Just roughed him up a bit and told him to deal his drugs somewhere else. He took the hint, moved up the road to SF… all those hipster trust fund babies are probably making him a millionaire now."

"Are you sure?" she queried again.

"Well, millionaire might be exaggerating a little."

"That's not what I meant, jack ass" she replied, though I could see the sign of a slight smile starting to surface.

"I'm sure, Tara. He's fine. He didn't have to be told twice." I reassured her. I definitely wasn't going to tell her what had happened to the other guy, Julio or Juan or whatever his fucking name was.

"Regardless," I continued, "What really matters is that Opie didn't bail on you. If anyone bailed, it was me. You can think whatever you want, be pissed about whatever you want, but Opie didn't have anything to do with it. And I think he took it pretty personal…. Whatever you said to him anyway."

She played with her hands, avoiding me. After a minute she looked up.

"You wouldn't happen to have a cigarette on you, would you?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I do." I answered.

She looked at me expectantly. "Can I have one?"

"On one condition," I told her.

She eyed me skeptically. "And what's that?"

"Give Opie a break. You can trust him, Tara. I mean it. I get it if you don't trust me. I don't really deserve it anyway. But Opie? He does. He's always looked out for you, even when you were too blind to see it."

She nodded. "I'll talk to him" she agreed fervently.

I tossed her a cigarette and lighter.

I lit a cigarette for myself as well, more out of habit than necessity.

"So, you're really into Adam huh?" I asked her, trying to seem much less interested than I really was.

A strangled laughed burst from her lips as she turned to look at me, a wicked smile on her face.

"Are we gonna talk about boys, Jax?" she asked incredulously as she got up from her swing and walked toward the dilapidated merry go round. I got up and followed.

She laid down on the flat surface, long, silky hair splayed out around her, staring serenely at the clouds above. God, she was beautiful.

"I was just making conversation. You don't have to run off," I told her as I leaned against one of the rails.

"Talk, talk, talk. I don't remember you and Opie being such gossips before."

"It's not gossip, Tara. We're not running off telling people your business. Just trying to see where you're at these days."

"Never had so many people interested in my business before," she replied, but I heard the smile in her voice.

"I find that hard to believe." I said, peering down at her.

"Do we really need to talk about my love life?"

"Ah," I replied sarcastically, "it's a real love connection then."

She rolled her eyes and swatted at my shin.

"I wouldn't call it love," she offered. "But we have fun."

"Well, I guess that's all that matters then."

She propped herself up on her elbows and looked at me.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"So you're happy?" I added, barely able say the words.

We were quiet again, engaged in some angst-ridden staring contest. "Yeah, Jax," she said so quietly it made her seem small. "I am."

I couldn't hold her gaze any longer, so I gave the merry go round a small push. She lost her balance a little and a sweet laugh escaped her. I couldn't help but smile.

"You like that?" I asked her, giving the structure a harder push.

A childish squeal pierced the air and I pushed again, harder. She was gripping one of the bars, giggling uncontrollably as I picked up my pace, running with the merry go round to propel it faster.

"Jax!" she screamed. "You're gonna make me throw up!" she laughed. She was holding on for dear life when I finally let go.

When it finally came to a stop, she tried to sit up but failed dizzily. When she finally regained composure, she sat up and leaned against the rail for support.

"We should get back. Class is almost over by now," she informed me, short of breath.

"You sure you can walk there, Rocky?" I laughed, her nickname suddenly taking on a new meaning.

She laughed again. "I think I got it," she replied, taking my extended hand to help her up.

"You head in first. I'll let you be the bait."

I wiggled my eyebrows at her. "Prettiest bait Officer Garcia's ever seen."

"Here's hoping he won't actually see you," she smirked.

"Alright. I'll see you after Bio. Don't forget our condition."

"I know, I know. I'll talk to him." She promised.

I nodded my head in reply and turned to head back to the school.