Tara stood in front of the mirror, studying her reflection. She'd put on more makeup than usual, even taken the time to curl her hair, but she still felt ridiculous. It was official- it was impossible to look sexy in a graduation cap and gown. She sighed, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, careful not to wrinkle her satin robe. Jax appeared in the bathroom doorway, looking utterly unimpressed.
"Well this is embarrassing," he teased. "Never thought we'd be one of those couples who dress alike."
"Shut up," Tara laughed. She stood up as Jax approached, wrapping her arms around his neck. "We made it," she mused.
Jax smiled. "Yes, we did." Tara stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to Jax's. It had been a long, hard road since they crashed into each other in the hall before first hour, almost two years prior. She often wondered what the hell she was doing, and if she was on the right path. She finally knew the answer.
"I love you, Jax," she said, butterflies flitting around in her stomach as she stared into his soulful blue eyes.
"I love you," he said softly. He cupped his hands around her face and pulled her close, his lips grazing hers lightly, giving her goosebumps.
"We look like a bunch of eggplants," came a familiar voice from across the room, as Donna and Opie made their way through the door.
"Hey, Ope," Jax chuckled. "Donna."
"Why the fuck do they have to be purple?" Opie lamented. "So lame." Donna punched him playfully in the side.
"I like purple," she argued. Tara smiled. The four of them had come such a long, long way.
"You guys ready?" Jax asked. He was met with a chorus of "yesses." As the four of them walked single file down the hall from the apartment to the clubhouse common area, Tara couldn't help but feel like they were practicing. Honestly, she would have been happy if that was the real thing. She never did well in settings where she was surrounded by her peers and their families. She always felt like everyone was mocking her.
"Oh my word," Gemma gasped as the graduates made their way toward the door. She placed her hand over her heart, almost completely covering the very conspicuous scar on her chest. Tara rolled her eyes. Gemma had this perpetual need to be the center of attention. "Look at my babies, all grown up."
Tara scowled. Her babies. They were hardly babies, and only one of them was "hers." Tara's feelings toward Gemma had been changing ever since she and Jax made the decision to leave Charming. Instead of thinking of her as a mother-figure, Tara viewed her as an enemy, the obstacle between her and happiness. She knew Gemma would do everything in her power to try to stop Jax from leaving, and Tara resented her pseudo-mother-in-law for something that hadn't even happened yet.
A blinding light interrupted Tara's internal rant, and she blinked, startled.
"Ma, put the camera away," Jax complained.
"Not a chance," Gemma shot back. She snapped another picture, catching Tara off guard again. "Now one of everybody together," she insisted.
Jax, Tara, Opie and Donna stood in a row, one giant, shapeless, purple blob, their arms intertwined. The flash went off once, twice, a third time. Tiny green dots danced in front of Tara's eyes, and she couldn't make out Gemma's face. She pretended, just for a moment, that it was her mother taking pictures and reminiscing about how it felt like just yesterday that she'd dropped her baby off for the first day of kindergarten.
"Gem," Clay said, his voice loud and abrupt. "Quit actin' like the goddamn paparazzi and let the kids go. They're gonna miss their own graduation."
As Tara followed Jax out of the building, she was still trying to blink the spots out of her eyes. But she couldn't shake the vision of her mother, there, watching over her.
The hot summer sun made Tara's graduation gown that much more uncomfortable as she sweltered in her metal folding chair, shoulder to shoulder with classmates she barely knew. Just to her right was Donna, with whom she kept swapping amused eye rolls. A few seats to her left was David Hale, with whom she was trying to avoid making eye contact at all costs. She hadn't seen him since that day at the diner. Jax and Opie were somewhere behind her, occupying the last row. She hated that they were seated alphabetically. She wanted to be able to walk across the stage with her man.
She was thankful the families were seated where she couldn't see them. She was probably the only person there without one. A lump rose in her throat when her row was summoned to stand. Donna winked at her as they made their way toward the stage. There were only four people ahead of Tara, so her time in the spotlight would be fairly brief. She was thankful for that, too.
"Jennifer Haddock," called the principal from his podium. A petite blonde walked across the stage and graciously accepted her diploma. A small group of people stood and cheered for her. A woman, probably her mother, was taking pictures. A man in glasses stood with his arm lovingly wrapped around her. Two smaller children with matching golden hair clapped and smiled. A family. Why did everyone have a family but Tara?
"David Hale," the principal announced. David's family hooted and hollered, his girlfriend seated with them. To Tara's surprise, he turned to her and smiled. She smiled back, feeling his girlfriend's eyes shooting daggers into her skull. The principal continued. "Anthony Holly." Another brand new adult, another family tearfully cheering him on. "Heather Kaewood." The brunette standing directly in front of Tara made her way across the stage. Tara's stomach flip-flopped, knowing she was next. She swallowed hard.
"Tara Knowles." A large crowd, nearly half the audience, erupted into boisterous cheers and applause. Stunned, Tara looked out into the sea of faces and saw the entire MC, their wives, their kids, everyone, cheering for her. A family. Her family. They would hate her when they found out what she and Jax were planning. It was going to kill her to lose them. As she walked across the stage, she saw another man standing, clapping quietly as she received her diploma. He was dressed in an outdated suit, and looked slightly disheveled. A nearby tree cast a shadow across his face, so she couldn't be certain it was him. Who else would it be? A voice inside her head nagged.
Tara was distracted as she returned to her seat, and almost missed standing up to cheer for Jax when his name was called. The principal's closing speech seemed to drag on for years, and it took every bit of self control Tara had not to jump out of her seat and go find out if the man she saw was her father. Finally, her graduating class was asked to rise. Tara haphazardly threw her cap into the air with the rest of them, then made a beeline for the tree on the far end of the field. Just as she reached an opening in the crowd, someone caught her arm.
"There you are," Jax said, kissing her excitedly. "We did it, huh?"
"Yeah," Tara answered, preoccupied. She pried herself away from Jax's chiseled body. "I'll be right back, I just gotta…" She didn't bother to finish her sentence as she continued toward the tree, pushing her way through the hordes of people. When she reached the tree, her heart dropped. Whoever he was, he wasn't there anymore. She searched frantically for him among the masses, but didn't see anyone that resembled the man she'd seen. "Dad?!" The word burst forth from her lips, foreign and painful.
She blinked back tears as she sprinted toward the parking lot. And that's where she found him, climbing into his familiar black Cutlass. It was him. "Dad!" she yelled, working her was as quickly as she could through the maze of cars. But by the time she reached his parking spot, it was empty. She just barely caught a glimpse of his taillights as he pulled out of the parking lot and disappeared. That's how their relationship had always been- a series of near misses. They were always just enough out of sync that they never could seem to forge a new beginning, or even have a genuine moment together.
"Babe," Jax called, approaching from behind. "You alright? What are you doing?" Tara wiped the barely formed tears from the corners of her eyes and shook her head.
"Nothing," she explained. "I just…I thought I saw someone."
Jax raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Your dad?"
Tara smiled, shaking her head again. "Doesn't matter. It was no one." Jax's forehead creased with worry as hugged her.
"Well come on then," he said softly. "Everybody's waitin' on ya."
"Babe, you want another burger?" Tara could barely see Jax over the crowd of partiers as he stood by the grill, loading his plate for the third time.
"No, I'm good!" Tara called back from her picnic table in the center of the action. It was her party, after all. Well, hers, and Jax's and Donna's and Opie's. The club had rented out a whole park to celebrate their graduation, but it looked more like a biker convention than an open house. There was music, food, booze, and the most gigantic cake Tara had ever seen.
She laughed as Jax reclaimed his seat beside her. His burger was already missing a bite out of it.
"You about done?" she teased.
"Yeah," he mumbled, his mouth full of food. "I gotta save room for dinner."
"Ah yes," Tara remembered. "And are you ever going to tell me where we're going for this mystery dinner tonight?" Jax took another bite of his burger and shook his head.
"Attention," Clay's voice boomed as he stood, drowning out all other sound. The man had a way of commanding a room. Aside from Ellie's quiet cooing, the entire park was silent. Even the music stopped. "I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate the kids on their big day." Everyone clapped. Gemma found her way to Clay's side and proudly lorded over the close-knit pack. "My step-son Jax," he continued, nodding in Jax's direction, but not quite making eye contact with him. "You've had a rough go of it, kid, but ya did it. Your father would be proud." Tara cringed, knowing how much Jax hated it when Clay brought up JT. As much as their relationship had improved in recent months, John Teller would always be a sore spot. To Tara's surprise, Jax simply smiled and tipped his beer toward Clay, taking a long swig. He was nearly nineteen and about to be patched into the club- no one would dare chastise him for underage drinking. At least not in that crowd.
"His girl, Tara," Clay added. Tara's cheeks burned as the attention shifted to her. "I don't know how the kid managed to snag such a class act." Everyone chuckled. "But you've been real good for our boy. Don't know what he's gonna do without ya when you hit the road. For those of you who don't know, Tara's goin' to college on the coast, gonna study to be a doctor. Got herself a full ride scholarship." The mob hooted and hollered. Tig whistled emphatically. "Who knows?" Clay mused. "Maybe she'll come back someday to be our in-house doctor and take care of our old, torn up asses." More laughter. "Anyway, we're gonna miss ya, sweetheart. Jax especially." Tara and Jax exchanged knowing glances. The moment was brief, but as soon as Tara saw Gemma's face, she knew it hadn't gone unnoticed. Gemma knew. Their apartment in San Francisco wouldn't be ready until the first week of July, and they planned to wait until a few days before they left to tell everyone. That way they would have minimum exposure to the backlash.
But now…now that plan was shot to hell, and Tara had no idea what that meant. As Clay continued his speech, praising Donna and Opie for finishing high school even after having a baby and getting married so young, Tara had a hard time paying attention. All she could think about was the way Gemma's eyes were burning into her, accusing, threatening.
As soon as Clay was finished speaking, Tara leaned into Jax, while Gemma sauntered toward them. "Can we get out of here?" she whispered.
"Everything alright?" he asked.
Tara nodded. "Yeah, I just want a little time to rest and get ready for this big evening you have planned, that's all."
Jax accepted her answer easily. "Okay, sure." He pushed away from the picnic table, then offered a hand to Tara to help her up. She could almost smell Gemma's perfume, she was so close. With her hand on his back, Tara tried to guide Jax away from his mother, but it was no use. Gemma was too fast, and not nearly as concerned with being inconspicuous as Tara was.
"Goin' somewhere?" she asked, her voice harsh.
"Uh, yeah," Jax confirmed, apparently not noticing the malice in his mother's voice. "We're gonna head home. We've got plans tonight. Thanks for everything, though, Ma. This was great." He kissed his mother on the cheek. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, glaring at Tara the entire time. She looked like a spider trapping its prey. Tara tried to smile, tried to act like she was clueless, but it was no use. Her stomach turned as Gemma released Jax and embraced her. She hugged the woman who had once been like a mother to her, but was now the biggest threat to her happiness.
Gemma pressed her lips to Tara's ear and whispered, "I know what you're up to. And it would be in your best interest to rethink things. I will never let you take my son away from me." Tara's heart was in her throat as Gemma pulled away from her, patted her on the shoulder, and smiled. "You guys have fun tonight!" she said sweetly.
"We will," Jax promised, taking Tara's hand and heading toward the parking lot.
Tara paced nervously in front of the door to her apartment, waiting for Jax to arrive. She wanted to be gone before Gemma and Clay got back to the clubhouse. And she definitely didn't want Gemma to catch her alone. Tara had always been intimidated by Jax's mother. Everybody was. But now she was downright terrified of her. Something about the tone in her voice and the look in her eye when she warned Tara about trying to take Jax away from her.
Why was Jax even picking her up, anyway? They lived together. He'd told her to "wear something nice," and that he would be back to pick her up by six. He was being so secretive about his plans. It really wasn't like him. Tara settled on a sleek, black strapless dress that hung just above her knees. It showed off a good amount of skin without being too slutty. She hoped Jax would consider it "nice" enough.
She jumped when there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Instantly defensive, she balled her hands into fists at her sides.
"I'm here for Tara Knowles." Jax's voice was playful, sweet. Tara exhaled. She opened the door with a smile on her face, and was taken aback by the sight before her. Jax Teller, in a suit?! His face was clean-shaven and his hair freshly cut, shorter than Tara had ever seen it.
"Oh my God," Tara breathed. "What did you do?!"
Jax smiled. "I just figured, fresh start, right? Our new landlord called me a few days ago. Our apartment will be ready next week. We can leave this weekend."
"What?" Tara's thoughts were racing a mile a minute. "This weekend?"
"If you're ready," Jax said. Tara nodded excitedly, unable to speak. "So we'll tell everybody tomorrow, and then start packing our shit. But tonight- tonight we'll do something I know you've always wanted to do before we leave Charming for good. So let's go. We don't want to be late."
When Jax pulled up in front of Mauricio's, the fanciest and most expensive restaurant in Charming, Tara finally understood. Every time they drove past it, she would talk about how they would have to go there someday. Jax parked his truck in an empty spot close to the front door, then hurried around to the passenger side, opening Tara's door for her. He helped her out of the truck, then placed his hand on the small of her back and led her inside.
The restaurant was dark, playing soft, classical music over the din of quiet conversation and silver clinking against fine china. A young man in a tuxedo who looked like he'd never smiled in his life greeted them.
"Welcome to Mauricio's. Do you have a reservation?"
"We do," Jax confirmed, his voice professional and confident. Tara had to stifle a giggle. "Should be under Teller." The host searched his list, nodding when he found Jax's name.
"Follow me, please."
Jax and Tara were seated in the middle of the restaurant, in full view of Charming's elite, most of whom were over the age of fifty. A few of them eyed the pair with the skepticism. The young couple stuck out like a sore thumb in the high class establishment. They stared at each other from across the small table, candlelight flickering between them.
"So," Jax asked in a hushed voice, "what do you think?"
"This in incredible, Jax. You're crazy. You didn't have to do this." Tara reached across the table and took Jax's hand. "Thank you."
Jax's eyes sparkled. "You're welcome. Now what should we order?" They opened their menus in unison, each realizing instantly that they were in trouble. The entire menu was in Italian. "Shit," Jax muttered. Tara laughed quietly.
"I don't know," she teased. "Why don't you tell me?" Jax chewed on his lower lip, lost in thought, their perfect night threatening to unravel in front of him.
"I got it," he decided with a smile, just as their waiter approached.
"Good evening, I'm Antonio," a handsome older gentleman with dark skin and dark hair announced. "I'll be your server tonight. Are you ready to order?"
Jax cleared his throat. "What's your special tonight?"
Antonio smiled. "Tonight, our special is our world famous agghiotta di lumache, served with a side of focaccia."
"We'll have two of those," Jax said confidently. "And two waters with lemon, please."
"Very good, sir," Antonio nodded. Tara stared at Jax with raised eyebrows, waiting until they were alone to speak.
"What did you just order?" she asked.
Jax grinned. "I have no idea."
They had to wait nearly a half hour to find out. Tara's face remained expressionless as their waiter set a bowl down in front of each of them. Once he'd left, she picked up her spoon and poked at the strange chunks floating in what looked like a thick tomato soup.
"Is this snail?" she asked, trying to hide her disgust.
"Oh God," Jax groaned. "I'm sorry. I can't…I can't even look at it." He subtly unfolded his napkin and placed it over his bowl. Tara covered her mouth to avoid laughing loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear. Jax looked humiliated. "Do you…are you going to eat yours?" he asked, his voice almost pleading.
Tara released her spoon, allowing it to disappear in the orange sludge. "Honestly? I really just want a pizza from Eddie's," she confided.
Jax was instantly relieved. "Oh, thank God. Okay. You make like you're heading toward the bathroom. I'll meet you outside in a couple minutes. We'll have to leave the truck, because we're blocked in. We can come back for it tomorrow."
"Jax!" Tara whispered, unsure.
"It'll be fine," he promised her.
Tara stood pensively outside, a few doors down from the restaurant. It was just starting to sprinkle. The humidity was ruining her hair, but felt good on her skin. Jax was taking too long. She stared worriedly at the restaurant doors. All of a sudden, they burst open, and Jax came sprinting out.
"Run!" he yelled, charging toward Tara. On his heels was Antonio, looking furious. Tara slipped her heels off, then took off down the street. Jax quickly caught up with her. The rain picked up as they ran, hand in hand, through the streets of Charming, twisting and turning at every corner, hoping to lose their pursuer. After about five minutes, when Tara's lungs were on fire and her heart felt as if it might burst, Antonio gave up. He stopped on the corner opposite the juvenile delinquents, screamed some obscenities, then turned his back on them and headed back toward the restaurant.
Jax and Tara watched him, wide eyed, both panting as the downpour soaked through their clothes, until they could no longer see him through the rain.
"Oh my…" Tara gasped, breathless. "God."
"I'm…sorry," Jax huffed. Tara pushed her hair out of her eyes and stretched her back, tilting her face toward the sky. She began to laugh, though it hurt her chest. Soon, Jax joined in. He grabbed her around the waist, pulled her close to him, and kissed her. Tara's skin tingled, a longing awakening inside her. She wanted to go home. As soon as possible. "You still want that pizza?" Jax asked.
"Yeah," Tara said, smiling. "To go."
Tara took her time wiping down the booths following the lunch rush at Dom's. At the end of her shift, she would hang up her apron for the final time. She and Jax were leaving for San Francisco in just a few days. The diner was nearly empty, with only a small group of twenty-somethings occupying a corner booth. The bell on the door jingled, and Tara looked up to see one of her regulars, an old friend of Dom's, enter with a smile.
"Hey, Al!" she called. Al always sat at the counter. And always only ordered coffee and pie. Tara began pouring him a cup of decaf without having to be asked. "How's it goin' today?"
"I'm alright for an old man," he told her. "Did ya hear about the excitement?"
"Sure didn't," Tara said, setting an oversized mug down in front of him. "What's goin' on?" Al was always good for a story, even though Tara doubted half of them were true.
"Shooting across town. Heard it on my police scanner on the way over here. Two dead, three more injured. They've got the whole area shut down back by the auto plant."
"Oh wow," Tara said, cutting him a slice of apple pie. "That's awful."
"Sure is," Al agreed. "Folks are saying that riff-raff motorcycle club was involved. The Sons of Anarchy? I say lock 'em all up, no good scoundrels." Ice water coursed through Tara's veins. She dropped the plate of pie on the floor, not even hearing the glass shatter. Her heart was pounding in her ears.
"Jax," she whispered. With shaking hands, she removed her apron, set it on the counter, and walked out the door without a word. She could hear the sirens shrieking through town. She knew she shouldn't go toward the scene of the crime. But she also knew she didn't have a choice.