Author's Note: I'm glad that you all are enjoying this so far. Hopefully this chapter won't disappoint and makes sense. I finished this well into the night. Lol.
-Anneryn
I DO NOT OWN SONS OF ANARCHY OR THE CHARACTERS.
Music Credit: "Like A G6" – Far East Movement, "Kiss From A Rose" - Seal
Chapter Two:
The drive to the market went quickly enough. Gemma chattered with small talk about how much the Club needed this dinner and how everyone needed something like this every once in awhile. Truth be told, she's right. We did need this. Relatively speaking, things are pretty good right now. There aren't any immense problems to worry about, well, not any new ones anyways. We still have the same old threats looming over us that never seem to fade completely.
I pulled off into an empty parking space and turned off the car. We got out and I locked the car. As we walked into the market I caught Hale staring at us. I tried to keep a grimace from forming on my face. I honestly don't think that Hale is a bad guy, but he is determined to undermine the Club. Typically, people have their reasons for hating the Club. …And my guess is that he hates that Sam Cro runs this town. Without the Club, everything would fall to chaos. He doesn't seem to grasp the fact that things stay in order, because of the Club.
Gemma stared Hale down, while I avoided his gaze. Hale is relatively new in town… He didn't grow up in Charming, which explains his warped view on everything. Though, I'm sure that Unser has tried to rope him in.
"Well, well, what brings you here?" Gemma asked Hale, goading him. He gave her a sarcastic smile in returned. He looked at me before answering her question.
"Just visiting the town's local market, didn't think I needed a reason, Gemma." Hale responded. Gemma gave him a snide half smile.
"Most people don't… but you normally have a reason, Hale." Gemma retorted. I hid my smirk. Hale gave a slight bitter laugh, but didn't say anything further. Gemma turned to me. "I'm going to grab some steaks, Baby." She told me, not sure if Hale was going to try and talk to me. I can handle myself and she knows that. I nodded.
"I grab some things for the salad and I'll find you once I do." I told her. She nodded and headed off to the meat selection. I looked at Hale, daring him to say something. "Do you want something?" I asked him, half sarcastically. He smiled, actually smiled.
"You aren't tied to the Club. It's not too late for you to get out of it." He told me. I let out a bark of humorless laughter.
"I have not ties to the Club? Okay. You're deluded, and you have no idea what you're talking about." I told him. He raised his eyebrows. I was wondering when he was going to get around to talking to me about the Club… or trying to talk me out of it. He's been making his rounds, trying to convince friends of the Club to rethink their alliances or at least let them know that he didn't think Sam Cro was the best choice for anyone… which really, isn't a big secret with him.
"Katie," he started. My nonchalant look dropped from my face and was quickly replaced with a glare.
"Don't call me that." I practically hissed. He looked taken aback.
"Kate, I'm sorry, I didn't know that you had a problem with that name." He said, trying to figure me out.
"How would you? You aren't a native." I said simply, brushing it off. He furrowed his brow.
"You could do something with your life. I've looked into your records; you're a smart kid. You have a clean record." He said. I nodded.
"I know; I lived it." I told him. He shook his head, clearly getting frustrated with me. "Why does it matter to you, what I do with my life?" I asked him.
"I don't want to see another innocent person get burned by Sam Cro." He said. I laughed.
"No one is innocent, Hale. Haven't you learned that yet, in your line of work?" I asked him. He didn't say anything. "If we're done here, I have things I need to do." I told him.
"If you change your mind and want to talk, you know how to find me." He told me, accepting his defeat… for now.
"I don't think that will be necessary." I told him.
"If you change your mind, find me. You're too smart for this." He repeated. I rolled my eyes.
"Broken record, Deputy. You know, you may want to consider this: you're not as smart you think you are." I told him, walking away.
I found Gemma after I got everything for the salad. She smiled at me.
"That's my girl." She said, proudly. I chuckled.
"You heard, huh?" I asked her. She nodded with a smile.
"He needs to learn his place." She said simply.
I helped Gemma put the last of the food out in decorative dishes.
"Go clean up Baby; the boys can so the rest." She told me. I nodded smiling. "Your clothes are in Jax' room upstairs." I nodded, again.
"Thanks Gem," I told her. She smiled as Opie came in with Donna. I headed upstairs to Jax' old room. I know that he still uses it when he stays over with Abel. It honestly can't hurt to have a room in other places. God knows I've stayed here more than my fair share of times. They always gave me a place to stay when being at home was too difficult.
Most of the time I took the spare bedroom, or I crashed on the couch. But a few of the times, I stayed in Jax' room. Whenever he was here, he would insist that I stay in his room with him, so I wouldn't be alone.
I made my way to his closet and opened the top drawer to a small dresser. I sighed. What to wear? Typically, Gemma likes us to look somewhat nice at these dinners. It's a way to give more normalcies to our lives.
I walked back over to the room door and shut it before stripping out of my shirt. I feel grungy from work. I toed off my shoes and shrugged out of my shorts and let them drop to the floor. I walked into the bathroom connected to Jax' room and took a quick shower.
I decided on a dark pair of low rising jeans, and a crimson camisole. It looks decent enough. I towel dried my hair and clipped back my bangs, giving them a slight bump, since I was letting my hair air dry.
I keep necessities over here, including toiletries and the bit of makeup that I actually do wear. I carried the clothes that I'd chosen to the bathroom after putting on a clean set of bra and panties. I brushed my teeth in silence, losing myself in my thoughts.
I jumped when I felt an arm wrap around my waist. I hadn't even heard the bedroom door open. Startled, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and saw Jax behind me. He was smirking. I couldn't even find it in me to glare at him. I just looked at his reflection.
The expression slowly changed. He lost his smirk and the playful look in his eyes. It's not the first time he's seen me clad in only a bra and panties. When you've known someone as long as we have, you're bound to walk in on someone at the wrong time, eventually. And, with our overnighters, we've gotten dressed in the same room before.
But this, this, is a first. This is different. His sudden intake of breath redirected my focus on the present, on him, on now. His eyes are so serious, but I can see something else in them. I just can't make out what it is… He wrapped his other arm around my waist and held me tighter. I leaned forward, closer to the sink and rinsed my mouth and my toothbrush. I put it on the counter and looked back up at the mirror. I straightened up and turned around.
"What is this?" I asked him. He didn't answer me. He just leaned closer and studied my face with his eyes. I tried to keep my breathing regulated. But, having him hold me when I was dressed like this… It made it so much harder. "Jax," I said, clearing my throat.
"Katie," he whispered. He moved closer.
"Jax stop." I told him, but he didn't. And honestly, I didn't expect him to. He let go of me. I took a small step back. But his hands found my sides and slid around to take a hold of my thighs. He lifted me onto the counter top next to the sink and stepped into the middle of my legs.
I can feel his breath dance across my face. I reached out and grabbed him by the shirt. His eyes barely left mine to see what I was doing. I pulled him closer and slammed my lips to his. To hell with it. If he can do this, there's no reason that I can't. I opened my mouth and he caught on. My hands slipped underneath his arms and raked his back. I held him closer to me. He had a hand on my face, keeping me from breaking the kiss and the other fondling my chest.
Someone started banging on the bedroom door. I probably wouldn't have noticed if one of us had bothered to close the door to the bathroom. The doorknob to the bedroom jiggled… at least he had enough sense to lock the door. I turned my head to look at the door. He moved his lips to my neck and started sucking, lightly. I groaned and tried to keep myself still, against him. He knows that my neck is my sweet spot.
I moved my hands to his stomach and started to lift his shirt. We broke apart and he pulled his shirt over his head and threw it to the ground before claiming his territory, yet again. I could never get tired of the feeling of his lips against mine. He reached around and started to undo the clasp to my bra when I stopped him.
"We should… we should stop." I told him, matching his gaze. He nodded, breathing heavily. He mesmerizes me. I traced his abs with my fingers, absentmindedly.
"I missed you, Darlin'." He said, in a low voice. I looked up at him.
"I was with you, not even four hours ago." I told him. He smiled and brought his lips to my forehead. "What's with you today?" I asked him.
"I told you." He answered. I sighed.
"You couldn't have missed me like this… we've never done this." I told him. He smirked.
"Maybe I thought it was time that we changed that." He argued. I snorted.
"What if I don't want to?" I asked him.
"It seems like you want it." He pointed out.
"Jax, out of all of the years that you've known me, have I ever been one for sharing?" I asked him. His eyebrows scrunched together.
"Sharing what, Kate?" He asked.
"Damn it, Jax. There's a reason that I've never dated inside of the Club. Did that ever occur to you?" I asked. He looked confused. I tried to push him away so I could slip off of the counter, but he wouldn't budge.
"We're not done here." Jax said.
"Move." I told him.
"We're not done here." He repeated. I glared at him and raised my eyebrows expectantly. "Why would that matter?" He asked.
"We're friends, Jax. That's it. I don't want it to be more." I told him. He let out a sarcastic bark of laughter.
"Bullshit. What makes you think I can't tell when you lie to me Ryn? I know you. Don't pull that shit with me." Jax said in a low angry voice.
"I. Can't. Do. This." I told him, enunciating each word. "I'm not going to be another whore." I told him. He started to say something but I cut him off. "No, what we have now, I don't want it to change. If this," I gestured between the two of us, "gets fucked up, we can't go back." I told him, angrily.
I pushed him away from me and slid off of the counter. He closed the bathroom door before I could reach it. I maneuvered past him and the door open but his hand slammed the door shut before I could get through. I turned around to glare at him and he caged me in, against the bathroom door. We weren't even an inch apart and I had nowhere to go. I wasn't getting out of this conversation. His hand brushed past my hip and locked the bathroom door. He put a hand to either side of me, so I couldn't move.
"We're not done here." Jax told me, clearly.
"Yes, we are." I argued.
"You think that if we got involved, that you would be just like the others. Is that it?" He asked, daring me to clarify. That's exactly what I think, and I think I made that perfectly clear.
"It doesn't matter what I think." I told him, looking him in the eye.
"Yes it does. You started this." He reminded me.
"No, you started this." I replied. I didn't kiss him this morning. For a moment, he didn't say anything.
"Answer the goddamn question, Kate." Jax ordered. I raised an eyebrow, getting steadily more and more pissed off.
"You don't order me around." I told him defiantly. He just looked at me. I know that I'm getting closer and closer to his fuse. "That's exactly what I think." I finally told him.
"I've never pegged you for stupid, Katie." I literally flinched at his words. We don't fight; we just don't argue. It rarely happens. He's never talked down to me, much less called me stupid.
"Well, luckily for you I've been pegged stupid long before you decided to point it out." I snarled at him.
"How could you think that I would do that to you?" He asked, incredulously.
"When has it ever been different with you?" I asked him.
"Does it matter what I've been like with other women? Maybe I didn't want anything else with them." He said.
"And what? You expect me to think that magically you'll want something more with me?" I asked him.
"A little faith would have been nice, Kate." He said, visibly calming down.
"You're right. I should walk around like a naïve, little child Jax. What? Am I being too honest with you, now? You had Tara, and she left, then things never got back to the way that they were. And you hooked up with Wendy, and that was… I don't really know what that was. Tara's been your only exception, Jax." I told him.
"And you never stopped to think that there was someone else?" He asked me.
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I didn't want to stop and think about you loving someone else?" I retorted.
"Why aren't you understanding this?" He asked, exasperated. "I fucking love you, Kate!" He yelled. He left me speechless, literally. I shook my head.
"Let me out." I told him. The look he gave me can't even be described. Somewhere between love, pain, confusion, and disbelief. He moved away from me. I can't think like this. I turned my back to him and unlocked the bathroom door. I opened the door and left it open as I walked out. I picked up my clothes off of his bed and turned around to face him. "I love you Jax. It's always been you. Just leave it alone, for now. Please." I told him.
I turned around and pulled on my jeans. I put the camisole on and sat down on his bed to put on socks. He walked over to me and crouched down in front of me. He stared at me and touched his forehead to mine.
I hate this. I hate myself. I-I don't understand why I can't just tell him what's going on in my head. I just keep pushing him away… literally. He means so much, and if we start this… and it goes badly, then I'll just lose him, like I've lost everyone else. I can't go through that again, not with him. I just can't. But that little voice in the back on my mind keeps telling me that we've already started this. I can't admit out loud that I'm scared. I'm terrified fucking witless.
"Hey," Jax whispered. I looked up at him. "Talk to me." He asked. I looked at him with melancholy eyes.
"Now's not the time. Gemma's waiting on us, Jax." I told him. He nodded, making up his mind.
"You're staying here tonight?" He asked. I shook my head, telling him that I wasn't. He nodded. "I'll ask Mom to watch Abel tonight. I'm staying with you tonight; we're going to talk." He told me. I just nodded. I know that we need to.
"Alright. I drove, so just follow me home with your bike." I told him. He nodded and watched as I slid my Converse back on. He helped me to my feet and walked over to his closet looking for something to wear.
He chose a button down shirt. He put a wife beater on and the shirt on, on top of it. I tried not gawk as he changed. He pulled a clean pair of jeans out of a drawer and took off the pair he had on, along with his boxer-briefs. Gawking can't help but be involved whenever Jax Teller's butt is in any way involved. That man is built like a fucking god.
I adverted my gaze while he changed, but waited for him. He pulled his cut on. He turned around and smirked at me.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, you look hot." I said dismissively. He laughed and led me out of his room. We went downstairs together.
"Now, isn't that a pretty picture?" Gemma exclaimed as Jax and I walked into the room. I rolled my eyes and Clay laughed.
"Gem, we all know that Katie's too pretty for Jax." Clay slammed. Everyone got a chuckle in. I tried not to blush.
"You know I'm sexy." Jax said, smiling. He put an arm around my shoulders, lazily. I snorted.
"Of course you are," I said, trying to keep a straight face.
"Oh hush, you're lucky you're gorgeous… That's all I've got to say." He joked. I scoffed.
Dinner went well enough. Gemma was right. Everyone needed this. Somehow, the music ended up on, and everyone ended up dancing around the downstairs, primarily in the living room. Not that I was complaining, because everyone dancing, is a downright good time. Especially, considering that watching drunk bikers try and grind with each other is something that I will never let them live down.
I ended up dancing with Juice, who is surprisingly good on his feet. I honestly don't know who was in charge of the music, but watching Tig "shake it" made my night. My stomach still hurts from laughing. I'm still surprised Donna talked Opie into dancing, but they are definitely getting their dance on.
I threw my hands up when the next song started. Juice put both of his hands on my hips. I have my back to his front. We started grinding to the music.
'Poppin' bottles in the ice, like a blizzard
When we drink, we do it right... get slizzard.'
We both got absorbed into our dancing. I had a few beers and was starting to really enjoy my buzz. I started to sing with the music. I laughed when I heard Donna singing too.
'Now I'm feelin' so fly like a G6...
Like a G6, like a G6...'
Eventually everyone gave in and was dancing a little. By the time the song was almost over, even Piney was shaking his a little and Bobby was lip syncing with an empty bottle. The songs kept coming and Juice and I kept dancing.
"I need a drink." I told him, laughing. He smiled.
"Shorty always needs somethin'." He said. I mocked him and flipped him the bird.
"I'll just get it myself." I told him. He laughed. I got a little lightheaded when I took my first step and grabbed a hold of his arm for support. "Oh wow, I need a second. Maybe if we hadn't been moving so much, I wouldn't be this dizzy." I said to myself, out loud. Juice laughed.
"Or maybe Mocha can't handle her alcohol." He teased.
"Shut it Taco. You know that I can handle my alcohol… and I didn't have that much." I argued. I really hadn't. I had… okay; I managed to put away four Coronas. But, with my tolerance to it, the most that does is give me one hell of a buzz and maybe a little tipsy.
"I'm getting you a water. I'll get you another Corona when you can walk without assistance." He said, matter-of-factly. I glared at him, playfully. I walked with him, as the dizziness started to fade.
By the time I finished my water, we were dancing again.
"I'll take it from here." Jax told Juice as the song ended. Juice smirked and nodded. He walked over to Half-Sack and pulled him up from where he was sitting and tried to get him to polka with him. I snickered. "Come here." He said, as he pulled me to him. He held me for a second. "There is no way in hell that you're driving home. We can take your car and have Opie follow us with my bike, but you aren't driving." He told me. It dawned on me that he had stayed relatively sober.
"I wouldn't drive after drinking, Jax." I told him, seriously.
"I know." He said. The music started back up and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
'There used to be a graying tower, alone on the sea.
You became the light on the darker side of me.
Love remained the drug that's the high not the pill.'
He put his arms securely around my waist and we danced to the music. I laid my head on his chest. I know that I feel completely safe with him, and when it comes down to it, he's right.
'There's so much a man can tell you, so much he can say.
You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain.'
We took my car back to my place; Jax drove. And Opie followed us with Jax' bike, and Donna followed him with the truck.
It's been a good night, a confusing night, but it's far from over.
Author's Note: I'm going to try and get chapter three out soon, seeing as this is the fic that I keep getting inspiration for. Reviews are love!
Xo Xo,
Anneryn
