A/N: So there have been a lot of questions posted through private messaging. It's kind of hard to say where this story will go because it is very AU so I'm not going off canon, except for a few situations.There was no relationship in high school between Tara and Jax, but there is some history which will be uncovered later! :) Again, some angst, but just a nice story to get over what actually happened to the four characters that are involved.This story will also be heavy on Chibs and Kozik.

Donna drove her truck home with Opie in the passenger seat, and Chibs in the middle. While Tara had Jax as a passenger in the Cutlass. It was already a long night, and wasn't even close to over yet.

Tara was at a loss for what to say to Jax. They weren't exactly close, but she was sure that they didn't hate each other either. Jax was the first one to break the silence.

"So do you have a boyfriend that will be joining you soon?" Jax wanted to know for personal reasons, and because he was sure there was a deranged boyfriend, or ex-

boyfriend, that he would have to beat up for the way Tara acted earlier.

Tara laughed lightly. "No, no boyfriend to speak of. At least not anymore."

"That sounds intriguing." Jax replied.

"Not really. It happened, it's over and it's time to move on." Jax noted how Tara seemed more like she was trying to convince herself then him. He figured it was best just to let it go.

"What about you? Married? Girlfriend?" Tara was also personally interested, but tried to hide it with nonchalance.

"Well, it's kind of a long story. For now, since my drunk mind can't tolerate much more, I'll say this: I have an ex fiance that is five months pregnant with my kid." Tara's mind was reeling. Jackson Teller is going to be a dad? That was not at all expected.

"Wow, congrats on the kid Jax." Tara didn't mean for her voice to be so void of emotion, but it was anyway.

"Yeah, I guess. Let's talk about something else. That topic is pretty depressing and depression and tequila don't mix well."

Tara was following closely behind Donna and through her conversation with Jax had lost some of her concentration, so when Donna slowed down, attempting to turn into the driveway, Tara nearly rear ended the truck.

"Sure you're not drunk?" Jax asked her lightly?

"Yep, positive."

Tara parked in the driveway behind Donna, who was in the garage. With the light shining in the back window, Jax and Tara could see Chibs and Opie. Opie had his head thrown back in an impossible looking angle. But Chibs was another story. He had his whole body turned towards Opie and had his head buried in Opie's hair. It was comical to say the least.

"Should we just leave them out here for tonight?" Donna asked.

"Donna, I can't tell if you're serious, but NO we shouldn't leave them for tonight. Opie will be pissed to wake and find someone who ISN'T you laying in his lap." Jax said, laughing at his own lame attempt at a joke.

"Ugh, you're probably right. Since it's your idea, you get to help wake them up," Donna replied back, also laughing.

"How adverse are you to water in your truck?"

"Not so much as long as you're the one cleaning it up."

"Deal!" Jax said while running towards the front door.

"Well, I see he hasn't changed much in the last five years. Still a large child, like Opie."

"Yeah, it gets pretty annoying some days, but they have been great with Ellie. Sometimes it does feel like I have three kids, but it's been fun." Donna said, looking lovingly at her passed out husband.

When they heard a band from the front door, both women turned to see what Jax had brought out with him. And when they saw him, they both stopped, semi exasperated with what he had decided to put water in. Instead of bringing out a small cup of water, Jax had filled a large sauce pan to the brim, and was carrying it out while trying not to spill it.

"Remember, you're cleaning this up!" Donna was able to yell, as Jax flung the passenger door open and doused both men in water.

Neither man said anything with the cold contact on their skin. Chibs was so used to the mode of waking up, and Opie too drunk to notice what woke him up.

"Doc? Doc is that you?" Chibs asked Tara.

"I'm a nurse Chibs, not a doctor."

"It's the same thing love, you just get paid less. Hey question. Where the hell am I, and why do I have hair in my mouth?" Tara and Donna looked at each other and broke out into hysterical laughter.

"Alright honey, let's get you to bed." Tara said putting one of Chibs arms around her shoulder, while Jax staggered to get the other one. Chibs wouldn't go farther than the living room, saying he liked the uncomfortable couch.

"Reminds me of the clubhouse. I sleep better imagining a crow eater sleeping between my legs."

Tara didn't say anything, but she had a few choice words she wanted to share with him. When she turned around, she saw that Opie had managed to get himself out of the truck and was walking towards Tara. Before she could respond, Opie had her in another bone crushing hug.

"It's so good to have you back Tar. Things will be hard for a while, but they will smooth out soon enough. And talk to Jax tonight, you're wrong about what you said. About the friendship thing. That's not all it was, it was never a convenience and peace offering." Opie slurred through all his words, but the truth in them rung out so clearly, it almost knocked Tara over.

Donna was finally able to wrangle Opie into bed, and came back out to explain the sleeping situations.

"Okay, so this is awkward. There's only one guest bedroom. Can you two figure out a plan that works for you? I need to go make sure Op ain't gonna puke in the bed again this weekend." Donna had a horrified look in his face as she remembered last weekend when her husband was so drunk he rolled over and threw up in between them instead of getting out of bed.

"Yeah, Donna, we're fine. Good night."

After Donna had left for her bedroom, Jax and Tara stood there silently for a minute. Jax nudged Tara on the shoulder.

"The guest room is this way. I'll show you where everything is."

Jax led her down a narrow hallway. On the left side she could hear Donna reminding her husband about his episode from last weekend. Tara laughed and continued following Jax. He pointed out the bathroom and nursery as they walked by them. On the last door of the hallway was the guest bedroom. It had a queen size bed and quite a bit of floor room.

"You take the bed; I'll take the floor in here if you don't mind. I'd stay in the living room, but last time I did that, I got stepped on by the person vacating the couch."

Tara smiled in approval, but inside her stomach was doing somersaults. She knew that in a matter of minutes, Jax would be sleeping, but it didn't help when she thought about him sleeping mere feet from her. Tara excused herself to the bathroom to try to get her nerves in check before she went back in there. She stayed in the bathroom for probably twenty minutes when she finally was able to pull herself from the comfort of her loneliness and go to the spare room.

Jax had already made a bed on the floor and looked to be sleeping. Tara quietly made her way to the bed, which was quite large by her standards. As she laid there, she let her self think. Think about her last 5 years. She wasn't ready to admit to anyone why she had left, but knew that she would need to in order to really start healing her emotional wounds. Those were the ones that were hardest to heal, the ones that no one could see. She thought things would be good for her when she went to school in Chicago, but again, she had managed to get herself into a situation she wished she never would have. If she hadn't been such a coward and left, then maybe she wouldn't have this constant fear running with her. But then again, staying in Charming, that is fear itself.

Tara was cut off from her thinking by Jax's unexpected voice.

"That's not really what you think is it?" He asked, voice gravely with sleep.

"What?" Tara asked surprised.

"About our friendship. That I was only friends with you by association? That I was basically guilt tripped into being your friend?"

Tara laid there, stunned. Of course that's what she thought. In any other circumstance, why would Jackson Teller, Prince of Charming, talk to fat girl Tara Knowles?

"Well, yeah, I do think that. Am I wrong?"

Tara heard movement from the side of the bed, and Jax's face appeared. He looked emotionally distraught, and Tara wasn't sure what had happened. He nodded to the bed, asking for permission to come and sit with her. She reluctantly nodded her head and sat up against the head board. Jax groaned as he got up off the floor, but quickly came to rest on the far side of the bed.

"That's bullshit you know. I would never be friends with someone just because I felt the need to. Yes, I'm loyal to Opie, deathly loyal, but that's just mean. Why would I take the time to be friends with someone just because of those reasons? You've known me most of my life, barring the last five years, and when have you ever seen me do something just because it was expected?"

Tara was shocked, yet again, but Jax's honesty. She thought back to her schooling days, and the more she thought, the more she realized that he was right. He'd never done something just because it was expected. He may be rough, and do things that aren't exactly legal, but Jax was honest to himself. Tara didn't respond. She didn't know what she could say, or even if she could say it without stuttering and looking like a complete moron.

"I didn't think so. You don't really know much about me do you? I mean, we hung out, but how much do you know about me?" Jax asked her seriously.

"Not much, I guess. But I think things go both ways. I don't think you know, or understand, much about me either. You can't just sit there and say how oblivious I am to the world, when you and Opie missed things that were right in front of your faces!" Tara realized all too late what she had said. Hoping Jax would not pinpoint on a mistake, she continued.

"You know nothing about what I went through. Donna helped me out with my emotional needs, but what about the other stuff. The ridicule and torment. Walking down the halls and people pushing me, or tripping me. Or how about one day when I got cornered in the locker room by Dylan Smith who thought I would be an easy lay since no one else wanted me.." Jax tried cutting her off, telling her to stop, but she kept going. She would soon wish had stopped. Her emotions had gotten the best of her and now she was crying. "Or you want to know the icing on the cake Jax? What about when I started sleeping with one of the members of your club, and he became so jealous of you and Opie that he beat this shit out of my repeatedly and threatened to kill me if I didn't stop seeing you two. Where were you then? Where was our friendship when you were out fucking random sluts and drinking yourself stupid that you couldn't even see what was going on right in your own clubhouse. You wanted to know why I left? You really want to know now? SAMCRO. SAMCRO is why I left Jax." As soon as the words left Tara's mouth. She knew she had fucked up. Jax looked so enraged that she was scared to move to get away from him, but scared of what he would do if she didn't move.

Jax advanced upon her and Tara flinched away immediately, hands shielding her face on reflex. She was cowering in the corner, making herself as small as she possibly could. But through her fingers she could still see Jax moving towards her. He gripped her hands and moved them away from her face. Tara quietly begged.

"Please Jax, don't hurt me. I'm sorry for what I said about the club. I didn't mean to tell you those things. Please." Her sobs were broken, but plentiful. Jax, finally able to move Tara's hands from her face, replaced his own there.

"Tara, look at me." When she didn't his voice got a little louder, but not angry. "Tara, look at me, please." Tara's resolve had broken when she heard such thick emotion in his voice. She wasn't sure why it was there, but it was there none the less. She opened her eyed and was met with Jax's.

"First of all, I will NEVER hurt you. Please, don't be afraid of me. And now I need you to tell me who did that to you. I'm going to make it right. I HAVE to make it right."

Tara just sat there, unmoving. She was not about to spill all of her dirty secrets to Jax, when she hadn't even confided in Donna yet. She wasn't ready for this, she needed time to prepare or things would get all jumbled in her head. She couldn't do this.

"I'm sorry." Jax said and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. Before she could move out of her stupor, Jax was gone and banging around the house. It took Tara about ten seconds to realize that he was waking everyone up. Her heart started hammering in her chest and she knew that she should have just kept her mouth shut about it all. When she finally caught up to him, Chibs was sitting awake on the couch, looking a bit better, but still pretty shitty, and he was banging on Opie and Donna's door.

"Opie, get up! We got a situation that needs taking care of. SAMCRO business. Don't make me break down the door." At that threat Donna, half naked, swung the door open.

"No need for violence Jax, we were just um, busy." Donna said with a sly smile on her face. Opie was in the room getting dressed, and throwing one of his shirts at Donna.

"I'll be back later, babe."

"No, we're not leaving. And we need Donna with us. Front room, Chibs is already up." Jax walked away and Donna and Opie shared a confused look with each other before they exited the bedroom. Donna caught site of Tara.

"Hey, any idea what's going on?"

"Unfortunately, yes, I know what's going on. I'm sorry." Tara said seriously, and now Donna was even more confused.

Once everyone was convened into the living room, Jax looked to Tara to begin, hoping she could reiterate her story and she wouldn't have to speak for him. When she didn't make a move to say anything, Jax went ahead without her.

"So, Tara and I got into a little argument just a minute ago." Jax was cut off by Donna.

"Jesus Jax! She isn't even home for 12 hours and you're fighting already? Way to make her feel comfortable."

"Hey! Wait you don't even know what we were talking about. Let me finish." Upon hearing no objection from Donna, he continued.

"We were talking about our friendship in high school and Tara let out a good bit of information she didn't want to. First off I want to start by saying if I ever see Dylan Smith again I'm going to rip his balls off and shove them down his throat." Donna gave Tara a knowing look, but Opie didn't know.

"He cornered Tara in the locker room and tried to push himself on her. And surprisingly that's the least of our concerns. There's someone in the club that's hurt Tara."

"What do you mean hurt, Jackie Boy?" Chibs, who had not been paying attention before, was at full attention now.

"Tara, do you want to tell them?" Tara knew if she didn't do it, then Jax might embellish things a bit, though things were bad enough.

"The reason I left five years ago was because I had started sleeping with a member, and he didn't like my friendship with Jax and you," she said meeting Opie's eyes.
"He got extremely jealous and when I refused to stop seeing you, he started hitting me. Just a couple times at first, and then it got bad. He would beat the living shit out of me on a weekly basis. The last straw was when he threatened to kill me if I didn't stop. I was scared enough to believe he would actually do it, so I left. I didn't say anything to Donna because I didn't want the rest of the club finding out. I didn't know what he would do if he knew I told anyone. I left because of SAMCRO."

Donna and Tara were both crying, and Opie and Jax shared the same murderous glare. Chibs looked angry, but not as much as Jax and Opie.

"Club members don't do that. We don't beat the shit out of women, or threaten to kill them, barring some extenuating circumstances." Chibs spoke first, breaking the heated silence.

"Who was it?" Everyone in the room was surprised at the amount of hostility in Opie's voice. He turned to his wife. "Did you know about this?"

Donna sat silent. She knew Tara had started sleeping with a member, and she knew who it was. But given what's happened since Tara left, Donna really didn't want to tell her husband that the same man that pushed Tara out of Charming was the same man that sent him to prison.

"I knew of her involvement with a club member, but I didn't know about the violence. I would never let Tara get hurt and do nothing about it Op! She's like a sister to us and I would never do that. But yes, I knew about some of it."

"Unfuckingbelievable."

"Okay can we stop bitching about who knows what information and get to what really matters? Doc, who did that to you?" Chibs asked, turning the attention back to Tara.

"I don't want to tell you. I'm scared."

"Darlin' there's nothing to be scared of. Once you tell us who did it, this will all be taken care of." Jax said softly.

Donna could tell Tara was caving, and she wanted to prepare the boys for what they were about to hear.

"Just, watch your anger when she tells you. You're going to flip out and it's not going to be good. Just remember that there is a scared woman in here who has seen enough violence from SAMCRO, so don't show anymore right now." Chibs, Opie, and Jax didn't know what to say, but they looked angry, and now semi-scared.

With all eyes on Tara, she spoke the one name that no club member wanted to hear again.

"It was Kyle Hobart."

A/N: okay guys, this is part one of a two part chapter! Let me know what you think about the bad guy of this story! :) Well, the bad guy in Charming anyway.