Tara POV

The moon was already making its' ascent when we finally ventured out in a haze of Boones Farm, Bacardi, hydros and weed. Kris and I leaned clumsily against each other as we walked and I was thankful I'd opted for Converse over heels.

The stares our small group garnered told me that we were probably ridiculously loud, but in our drunken state none of us seemed to care. Instead of walking the main street to the park, we weaved through the neighborhood streets, taking a significantly longer way than necessary. No one seemed to mind. In fact, it a great decision because we stumbled across a haunted house someone had created in their garage. The absurdly fake eyeballs and the even less convincing blood was laughable, but even Frankie seemed to enjoy himself as he flung Creepy Crawler scorpions at me. Something about hanging black plastic, smoking dry ice and Monster Mash on repeat had us flying even higher than when we'd left the house.

We claimed the only gazebo in the park and camped out, watching the waves of kids passing through; first the little kids dressed like lady bugs and superheroes; then the older kids opting for the more macabre clowns and vampires.

"I love Halloween" Kris and I said simultaneously, falling into a fit of giggles. It must've been contagious because even the guys joined in with boisterous laughter.

We sat there for an hour or so, watching the kids and smoking cigarettes until the herds seemed to thin. Around that time, Adam called.

"Hey," I answered eagerly, the Crown from Jax' flask seeping into my voice.

"Hey. Where are you guys?" Adam asked.

"Down at the park. Where are you?"

"Just got home. Ma's in some kind of way. I'm trying to hurry up and get the hell out of here," he explained, a twinge of something… guilt… maybe pain… in his voice.

"Well, we're here. Come on down!" I told him in my best game show host voice.

"Tell him to walk. I'll drop him off with the rest of you," Frankie told me.

"Frankie said to leave your car. He's our personal car service tonight," I told him, shooting Frankie a smart ass smile. He threw a cigarette at my face which I instantly snagged and placed behind my ear.

"Alright, cool. It'll probably take me like fifteen to walk over there. See you soon."

"Soon," I assured him.

"Tell him to bring a flask!" Opie yelled in the background.

"Already done," Adam answered before I could say anything.

"See you soon."

XOXOXOX

The rest of the night was a blur. I vaguely processed running behind the guys as they chased a group of junior high kids through the drainage ditch between neighborhoods. My lungs burned as I tried to regain my balance and breath, thankful once again for the Converse on my feet. We all collapsed in the grass, laughing. The stars swirled above me as I rested my head in the crook of Adam's arm as we all laid back, staring at the full moon lighting up the sky. There were still a few people out roaming the neighborhood, but it was mostly quiet save for the sound of sirens in the far distance.

"What time is it?" asked Kris sleepily.

"2:30" Opie told her.

"Jesus," she hissed under her breath.

I reached into my clutch for my cigarettes but came up empty.

"Fuck, I'm out of cigarettes," I lamented.

"Me too," Jax commiserated.

"Me three," Ryan piled on.

Adam produced a pack and flipped the top back offering it to me.

"Last one," he added handing me a lighter.

"We can share," I told him, moving to wrap my arm around his torso.

"You guys make me want to puke, you know that?" Frankie scolded.

"I've got an idea" Ryan said, jerking to sit up straight.

Kris and I both groaned. The thought of doing anything but lay here was completely unenticing.

"We should go up to Tiger Tote," he said.

"They're closed, dumb ass," Kris told him.

"So?"

"So what?" Kris replied. "They're closed. And the only person they'll sell to is Adam anyway, and that's only half the time."

Ryan shook his head. "Amateur."

Jax shifted his weight so he could sit up. "You thinking smash and grab?"

"Fuck yeah I am." Ryan answered.

"Fuck yeah we are" added Opie.

"Are you guys serious?" Kris asked.

"We're all out of cigarettes; I don't know about you guys but my flask went empty an hour ago; and its 2:30 in the morning on Halloween. Hell yeah, I'm serious," Ryan replied matter-of-factly.

"Let's do this," agreed Frankie.

"I'll be look out," I offered.

"No!" both Adam and Jax snapped in disagreement.

"I thought we were supposed to be the good influences, Tara? Keep them out of trouble? Isn't that what Gemma said?" Kris asked me.

I laughed. "This IS me keeping them out of trouble. They're gonna do it anyway. They've already done it a hundred times before. Doesn't matter what we say. At least this way they have a look out and won't get caught."

"We don't need a lookout," Jax reasoned. "Adam can stay here with you guys. The four of us could do this in our sleep."

Adam shared a look with Jax. "Yeah, that sounds better. I'll stay here with the girls. Just grab me a carton and a 40oz."

"Cool, we'll grab Frankie's truck; the three of us will run and Frankie will wait on the street behind the store." Leave it to Jax, he always seemed to have a plan. Or at least he thought he did.

"Okay," I agreed. "Good plan, but you still need a look out."

"No way," Adam countered. "That's what Frankie's for."

"Frankie's going to be on the street behind the store. That's not really going to do a lot of good if the cops or someone else comes from the main road."

"Non-issue," Jax argued. "We've done it before without a lookout. No problem."

"Yeah, but not on Halloween when there are people out everywhere." I argued back.

"What people?" Jax looked around sneering, a rougher edge creeping into his voice. "It's 2:30 in the god damn morning, Tara. It's fine."

I could feel Adam tense against me; he'd definitely heard the edge too. Even though they were against me, in that moment, a part of me was thankful they were on the same side at least. No telling how things would've escalated under the influence of the evening's bender.

"Fine," I bit icily. "At least have one of you stay off to the side to make sure no one comes. Take trash bags" I added harshly, knowing their next complaint would be that two people couldn't care everything.

I was beyond annoyed. They thought they were protecting me but they were just being fucking sexist. If they weren't going to get caught, what was the big deal if they had another set of eyes as support? The last time they had cut me out and ignored me they did get caught. They were just lucky it had been Officer Unser working the beat and not one of Chief Hale's golden boys.

"Fine," Jax chipped just as icily. "We'll go back to my place, grab the bags. You guys can wait there."

Irrationally, I just wanted to punch him in his cocky face but didn't have the energy.

As we walked, I fished another hydro from my bag.

"Another one?" Adam asked in disbelief.

I didn't like his tone. "Yeah. Why? Do you want one?" I asked, my annoyance breaking through.

He grabbed for my hand and slowed until we were at the back of the pack.

"I didn't mean anything by it I just… I mean… how are you even walking right now?"

"I can float here forever…." I whispered absently, more to myself than to him.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Tolerance, remember?" I told him, and squeezed his hand before dropping it.

He stopped walking for a second but caught back up. We rounded the corner and then stopped in front of Jax'. He let us in and Kris and I plopped down on the tan couch as the guys scurried around in the kitchen. They reappeared, trash bags in hand.

"We'll be back" Ryan told us in his Terminator voice.

They left and Kris, Adam and I sat quietly for a minute.

"Dude, you look so pissed," Kris observed looking at me.

I shrugged.

"They'll be fine," she offered.

I didn't say anything.

"What are you so mad about? If they get caught, that's on them. You tried to warn them. At least you won't be there to get in trouble." I'm sure Adam thought he was being the smart, rational one, but for the second time in the span of thirty minutes, something in his tone irked me.

I laughed cynically. "It's not about me. I don't care if I get caught. I care if they get caught."

"Why? It's their choice. You're not their keeper"

Again, his dismissive tone sliced its way under my skin.

"Well maybe I just give a shit about my friends," I told him.

Adam ran his hand across his beard as boiling anger broke briefly in his eyes before being replaced by a resigned flatness.

"Right. Friends," he replied.

I glowered at him, not missing the unspoken insinuation.

We sat silently before he rubbed both his hands down his face, exasperated.

"Would it make you feel better if we did a drive by to check on them?"

I instantly felt like shit. It wasn't my fault that he and Jax had this stupid turf war, but I couldn't act like it didn't exist. Adam was good to me, too good to me and, even if his unwarranted jealousy made me feel like pushing away; it was still my job to try to ease his concern.

I sighed, wishing there was a cigarette or a flask to be had. I reached over and grabbed his hand.

"We don't have to do that," I said more gently. "It's fine. You're right. They're big boys. They don't need a momma hen chasing after them."

He squeezed my fingers between his and took a deep breath.

"You're right. They don't. But you're always gonna be the momma hen chasing those idiot chickens, right? If it'll make you feel better, we'll go."

I shook my head but he stood, pulling me up.

"Come on, Kris," Adam told her. "Let's go make sure those dip shits don't go to jail."

Kris grumbled as she got off the couch.

"It's only a street over," he offered as consolation.

"Whatever," Kris replied. "I don't care if I get fucking ring worm" she said, pulling her heels off to expose her bare feet.

A few minutes later, we turned down Adam's street. The quietness relaxed me and I drank in the cool breeze that kissed my bare shoulders. I was so lost in serenity, I didn't realize Adam had stopped until or interlocked hands pulled me back.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking up at his rigid figure.

"My car," he said, though I'm not sure he was even talking to me.

"What?" I asked again, looking toward his house.

"Where's my car?" he asked to no one in particular.

He started walking again, faster. I could barely keep pace with his long legs. We stopped in the front yard. The house was completely dark.

"Maybe she's staying the night somewhere?" I suggested, a sinking feeling settling into the pit of my stomach.

Adam didn't answer as he threw open the unlocked door and flipped on the porch and living room lights.

"Holy shit," I heard Kris whisper behind me.

The place was a wreck. In addition to the usual empty rum bottles gathered on the ground, it looked like the entire contents of the house had been dumped out. Broken porcelain littered the ground, a shattered mirror hung haphazardly from the wall. A book shelf was knocked over along with practically anything else that might've stood upright before.

"Ma!" yelled Adam loudly, stepping over the wreckage. "Ma!" he yelled again, making his way toward the hallway.

I turned to look back at Kris, her eyes as big as saucers. "Do you think she did all this?" she asked. It was a testament to how fucked up Kris' childhood had been that she immediately thought Adam's mom did this and not some burglar.

Adam called out again for his mom as we picked through the havoc after him. He walked out of her bedroom.

"She's not here," he said in disbelief, running his hands back and forth over his head like he might tear his hair out. "She's not fucking here," he repeated.

"Did you leave your keys here?" I asked.

He walked to the kitchen and checked the key holder hanging from the wall.

"She took the spare. Jesus fucking Chris," he hissed angrily. "She took the fucking spare!" he yelled, slamming his fist through the wall.

"Shit" I muttered, looking at Kris for help. She looked back at me with an 'I don't know what the fuck to do' kind of look.

Adam was walking in unsteady circles and it was starting to make me nervous.

I reached out a hand and lightly placed it on his shoulder, stopping his pacing movements.

"Let's go back to Jax'. They'll be back soon. Frankie can take us….."

"Where?" Adam flared. "Where can Frankie take us? We don't know where the fuck she is. That crazy fucking woman…. She could be anywhere."

"Does she have a favorite bar or…"

A scary laugh erupted from Adam. "Yeah, sure. You know that one place that serves the liquor… and plays music. I think there's a juke box too," he replied sarcastically.

I swallowed the lump building in my throat. "Okay…. Do you know… has she been seeing anyone? Has she mentioned a guy or anything lately?"

"Like she'd remember his name," the enmity in his voice was frightening.

I understood that he was freaking out, but seeing Adam lose his shit like this was creeping me the fuck out. It was like I could physically see his hinges coming loose.

"Okay. Okay." I said cautiously. Silence wasn't the answer but I wasn't coming up with anything productive to say.

"Okay," I said again, gripping his forearms, forcing him to stop and look at me. I grabbed his face in my hands and didn't let him break my gaze.

"We're going to figure this out," I told him, "We are going to figure this out. We're going to go back to Jax's. We're going to wait for them to show up and then we're going to have Frankie take us to TM and we'll get Mr. Teller to call someone friendly at the PD."

Adam snorted. "Right, cuz they're just gonnna call the cops."

"Adam," I said sternly, leaving no room for him to have a meltdown. "We're going to get it together; we're going to figure out where she went and we're going to make sure she's okay. If they don't want to call the cops, then they'll help us look. You know they will. She probably just passed out somewhere. I know-" I said, keeping him from interrupting, "- that's not an ideal situation either but…. But we have to start somewhere, okay?"

Adam dipped his forehead so it touched mine and nodded. "Alright."

I turned back toward the front door and shared a look with Kris. Jesus, this was going to be a long night.