AUTHORS NOTE: Wow. What can I even say? This is an extremely sad time for the fandom right now, and writing this story seriously just... hurts me. It hurts me so intensely. I thought about post poning the rest of it for awhile because I'm still so hurt, but I felt like, in the light of everything, I wanted to continue to give Jax and Tara's amazing, epic love justice. So, here is the six chapter. And trust me guys, I'm hurting just as much as you are.

Tara

I couldn't sleep that night.

I laid in my duvet, staring at the glow in the dark stars my mother had glued on my ceiling when I was little, before she passed. I kept touching my fingers to my swollen lips, the one's that Jax Teller had just kissed for the very first time in such a feverish passion. It was something I'd never experienced before. The intimacy, the fire. I replayed the moment in my mind, over and over again, astonished at the melodic swell of the emotions I felt, lingering inside of my chest and overwhelming me one at a time – a procession of magic. Desire. Fireworks. Lust.

Love?

What was this?

It'd only been a few weeks swept into Jax's complicated and reckless life, and I felt the change. There was a difference between him and everyone else – the guys that passed with gray faces, meaningless to me. Jax was like discovering a sunrise for the first time, colors exploding over my horizons and making me forget what it ever meant to see only the bleak darkness.

I thought of the leather cut, seemingly glued to his chest. I thought of the bruises shadowing his knuckles, the cuts on the perfect skin of his rugged face. He was beautiful, he was reckless, he was strong.

He was dangerous.

What was I getting myself into? Whatever it was, whatever it meant, I irrevocably belonged to Jax Teller. And no one, not even myself, would ever understand the depths of it.

Anticipation nagged at me the entire next day at school, resulting in zero focus – something abnormal for me. I don't know what I expected when the final bell rang, but whatever promise I imagined inside of my head featured Jax's face. I couldn't wait, he was all I could think about. Would he call me? Should I call him? What happened now, between us? It was all happening so fast, and it made me unsure of the next stone in our path. It made me excited and anxious simultaneously, and I couldn't decide which to indulge in. What if I didn't see him this evening at all? What if he regretted kissing me? I tried not to let the disappointment in, because it made the anticipation that much stronger, forcing the clock to move even slower in my peripheral vision.

When the final bell rang, I bolted from my desk.

Quickly grabbing things from my locker, I thanked God for David's absence from school – more than likely a result from what Jax had done to his face. I knew I should be sympathetic, but honestly, it served him right for trying to control my life and those I let into it. I didn't like to be treated as a possession, even though Jax's undoubtedly territorial reactions made my cheeks heat up and lift with an involuntary smile. Grabbing my last book, someone rapidly approached and kicked my locker door shut with a loud snap. Maliciously, no doubt. I flinched as I saw her, the perpetrator.

Wendy.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing with Jax?" She snarled. The dark eye make up around her narrowed eyes made her look even more menacing than usual.

I stared back at her, winded and tongue tied. Stumped.

What was I supposed to say?

She'd cornered me, intimidating, and I was the very least confrontational person. I'd never needed a reason to fight – I had simple, quiet, smart friends, and I lead a simple and quiet life. I'd never been the type of girl that needed to be confronted, or talked to in the voice that dripped poison, like Wendy's did.

"Is she fucking deaf?" One of her hyena friends squawked. I hadn't realized they were flanking her, both glaring down on my small height like a predator on its prey. I felt so small against the three of them – powerless. Wordless and worthless. Every witty comeback, every snap in my cool exterior, befell me.

Wendy evilly giggled, sweeping her greasy blonde hair to one shoulder in an arrogantly prissy way. I'd never felt anything towards this girl in all the years that I'd known her from living in a town as small as Charming, but in that moment, I hated her.

But I feared her, just the same.

My face twisted in agitation, and without even thinking about it, I pivoted on the heel of my boot and began walking towards the school's exit. Fight or flight, and I chose flight. Wendy and the hyena's burst into a fit of malicious laughter, and I heard them follow, pursuing. I began to walk faster down the halls.

"What, are you fucking scared, bitch? This little terrified fuck thinks she's Jax Teller's girl?" One of them shoved me hard from behind, and I stumbled but stayed on my feet. It took all the will power I had to keep walking and not strike back, defending myself. Because I couldn't. Three on one – and one who was smaller than them, and who had never had a physical altercation in her life. They would win, beat me as bloody as they wanted, and I would have nothing but a blemish on my perfect school record if we got caught in the middle of a girl fight inside the school building. It was an unfair fight, and one that I needed to avoid.

"Come on, fucking bitch. Show us how tough you are!"

Another shove from the other side, and I fell against the exit door, hitting the side of my head at a weird angle, hard. Oh, God. No.

I was going to pass out.

My vision started blurring at the edges, and vertigo took its hold over my frame. As I began to fall, I was shoved again by one of the girls, my weight slamming against the exit door again and falling out of the other side.

As I began to black out on the high school's front stairs, I heard his voice.

"Tara!"

"Tara? Tara?"

Was I dreaming about him? His entrancing voice, so husky and smooth at the same time, calling out to me. Jax, I'm here.

"Babe?" His voice said.

Was this real? I groaned, my eyes slowly starting to blink open. I was laying down on something soft, and something calloused and warm gripped my hand. Oh, it was another hand. Jax's hand.

"Jax?" I breathed, swallowing hard while I slowly took in my surroundings, my vision coming into focus. I understood now. I was in the nurses station, lying on one of the gurneys. Jax was sitting on the edge, looking down at me with furrowed, worried eyebrows. His fingers held mine tightly, squeezing when he realized I was coming to.

"Jax." I stirred to sit up, but he easily subdued me with his free hand, pushing my shoulder blade back down into the plastic covered cushion.

"Don't try to get up. You hit your head pretty hard." He was detached, an edge of something off in his voice. Annoyance? Anger?

God, this was so embarrassing. Was he ashamed to be... involved, or whatever he was, with someone as weak as me? He had a name, something to prove. Strength, perseverance, and fearless ambition. Who was I? A weak, quiet, defenseless little girl with no right to have a claim to him? I felt so foolish, so stupid. How could he ever want someone like me? Someone nothing like him, or Wendy Case?

"I... I'm sorry." I quickly responded, self deprecatingly letting go of his hand and touching my tender head. It ached, miserably, and hurt even more thinking of my disgrace to him. Would he leave me now?

Jax scoffed at me. "You're sorry?" His voice got angrier. "The only person who should be fucking sorry is those skanky fucking bitches." He hissed, putting his hand in my hair very gently, being easy with my head. His blue eyes were so intense, sweeping over my face in such a fiercely affectionate manner.

Everything changed in that second. I'd had it all wrong.

Jax wasn't angry or ashamed of me – he was protecting me. He was vehemently enraged at the girls who had hurt me. He was coddling my weakness.

The bit of anxiety I had released, and I melted into him, placing my hand on top of his.

"Are you okay, Tara?" Jax softly questioned, his careful fingers looping through my tawny hair. It made the butterflies spike back up in my stomach, my heartbeat quickening its pace. When he touched me at all, my body responded automatically. I barely heard him when he said, "The nurse said you could have a concussion."

"What are you even doing here?" I whispered, a small smile creeping onto my lips. I couldn't help it. I'd been wishing for him all day long, and now he was here, so close. I didn't care that I'd just passed out, that I'd nearly gotten beaten to death. All I cared about was him and having him near me.

"You just got knocked out and you're smiling right now?" He asked, incredulous.

I couldn't help but smile wider, shrugging a bit weakly. I felt woozy and everything had a dream like quality to it. Had the nurse given me pain killers?

It took him a second to release his anxiousness, but he began to smile back at me, our energies dancing like they always did. My happiness gave him happiness. "I figured you could use a ride home from school," He finally responded, his fingers drifting from my hair to my cheekbone, caressing tenderly. "When I saw them push you through the door, I carried you here. Figured the nurse would still be in."

I looked around for the nurse, but she must have been making the phone call to my father that I knew he wouldn't answer.

I leaned into his hand, closing my eyes, and just stayed there. Every limb of mine loosened its tension and calmed.

"Are you okay, babe?" Jax worriedly tried again.

"I am now." I whispered. "I am now that you're here."