Hey - these are gonna be coming pretty hard and fast! Let me know what you think! DISCLAIMER; I own nothing of this content.

The next day at school, things are even weirder. In first period, Jax arrives early, something unheard of, it causes a few whispers and stares. Then, he takes the usually empty seat next to Tara. Everyone's eyes are on him in amazement. Tara's row is the middle of the class, Jax Teller doesn't sit in the middle of the class, that's not where bad boys go. A few of the girls look disapprovingly at Tara, some even look at her with violence in their eyes. Jax glares them down.

The seat on her left is taken by her only friend, David Hale, who she's in a conversation with about To Kill A Mockingbird, the latest book they're reading for school, it's so intense she doesn't even notice Jax, or the looks she's getting.

Jax listens carefully as the conversation gets heated, David and Tara have different opinions about the meaning of the story, and Jax can hear Tara's temper flaring, her voice more urgent and higher pitched as she argues her point, it makes him grin. He has to admit to himself that he thinks Tara has a valid point, and Hale is just talking out of his ass, he's just trying to sound intelligent. That has nothing to do with his prejudice over Hale though, even if the guy does think he's better than everyone else.

As the last bell goes, signalling the beginning of class, Opie strolls in - he raises an eyebrow at Jax's new seating arrangement, Jax gives a little shake of his head, as if to say; don't ask, brother. Opie shrugs it off and sits in his usual seat at the back of the class, Jax's seat next to him remains empty even after the class is full - it's a sign of respect, how scared people are of him and how in awe they are - it makes Jax feel like a king.

The teacher does a roll call, and it isn't until Jax drawls "here" that Tara notices he's next to her. She turns to glare at him, still mad about his antics the night before. Jax gives her his signature smile that has the rest of the teenage girls in this school melting, Tara just roles her eyes and gives a little shake of her head, before focusing her attention on the teacher, this only makes him warm to her more.

Jax doesn't know what changed. After Thomas died, he hated Tara, hated her light, hated how she saw through his bullshit. He wanted to be bad, and he knew she wouldn't let him. He didn't know how to get her to just leave him the fuck alone, so he went around hurting her every way he could think how. Then his dad died, and he didn't see her for two months. When he came back to school he realised he just didn't give a fuck about anyone or anything but the club and it's members, his family. So, he didn't speak to her, and vowed to never go near a prissy bitch like Tara, but stick to the girls who did nothing for him.

Then two weeks ago she was in the boxing gym, she was beating the shit out of another girl, there was sweat dripping from her and she had a cut on her eyebrow, her eyes were concentrating on her opponent. Jax watched on, and lust hit him like it never had before, suddenly he remembered who Tara was. The fighter, the survivor, the only girl he'd ever really spoken to that had seen him for who he was, it was like all that other shit didn't matter - like he had to get to know her again, be near her again, being a bad boy wasn't enough anymore. Especially since he and Ope' were already Prospects, they already had their cuts, he was gonna be the youngest ever to be patched-in when he was eighteen. He needed to stop fucking around, behaving like a kid all the time. It was time to man up.

"Stop staring at me." Tara demands Jax, drawing him out of his thoughts. Tara throws a fugitive look at their teacher to make sure he isn't listening.

"I'm not." Jax says too quickly, and Tara smiles because she knows she's caught him. "What are you doing after school?" He asks.

She blinks at him, "I work on Mondays, Wednesday's and Friday's." She says before she even knows what she's saying - what is it about him that stops her from being able to control herself?

Jax didn't know this, he didn't think she could surprise him anymore. "You work?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"The library."

Jax grins, if there was a better place for her, he couldn't think of it. They have a mutual understanding that you get a lot of knowledge from reading, it's the only form of conversation they have had in the last year. For the both of them, it was a shitty way of keeping the connection alive.

"What time you get off?" Jax asks.

Tara frowns at him, she doesn't understand where this is going. "Eight-Thirty."

Jax nods and leans back in his seat, he smiles, mischief all over him.

"What are you planning, Teller?" She demands to know.

"Nothin'" he shrugs. They hold eye contact for an uncomfortable amount of time, trying to figure each other out. Their looks mirror each other, David notices all this and feels uncomfortably like they're having a conversation without actually speaking. It's weird, intense, he feels like he's spying on something private.

"Are you two done with your pissing contest or should I give you another minute?" Mr. Bell interrupts them, David quickly looks away before anyone notices he's watching them. Mr. Bell is standing in front of Jax, glaring at him, not even looking at Tara. Of course Tara isn't to blame, Jax rolls his eyes and turns them to his teacher, a small smirk on his lips. "It's all good." Jax sits up so he's not slouching and salutes Mr. Bell. A few classmates snigger, even Tara stifles a laugh.

"Watch yourself, Teller." Mr. Bell says, turning and walking back to the front of the class.

"He still walks like he's got a stick up his ass." Jax murmurs to Tara, at this, she does laugh. Mr. Bell turns to look at them but they both pull, what they hope, is neutral faces. Their teacher doesn't comment and Tara lets out a small relieved sigh, Jax falls back into his slouching position, Tara tunes into their teachers lecture, Jax goes to every effort to tune out the monotone voice of Mr. Bell.

He really wouldn't come to school if Gemma didn't insist, now that he was Prospect he knew he would be dropping out soon anyway, Clay, his step-dad, the head of SAMCRO, would need him all the time. Gemma would lose this battle, and finally he could stop pretending there was a reason for him to be here.

He throws a sideway glance at Tara, she's emerged in her text book, scrawling notes. What if he did have a reason to come to school? Would he want to? There's no way he'd be able to sell wanting to come to school for academic purposes, and there's no way they'd let him come for pussy, they'd think it was a distraction, a lure from the club.

Tara looks up at him suddenly, like she could feel him looking at her, she frowns but he doesn't back down and smiles, turning the full force of his baby-blues on her. After a minute, she rolls her eyes and gets back to writing her notes, she notices Jax doesn't write a single note the entire class.

She really does wonder when the time will come that he will stop showing up, he doesn't want to come to school, we all know he doesn't need to, the MC have everything he needs. He's never gonna leave Charming, he never has to, he doesn't have a deadbeat dad and no mother, he's got an entire army for a family. Tara is completely alone. The need to leave this town is like a fire that can't be put out, it ignites her bones. The day she says goodbye to this cestpool will be the happiest day of her life.

The class feels like the slowest and longest of both their lives, neither want it to end because they're not in their next class together, and both of them want a time out from the intense feelings they're having. Every fibre of both their brings us acutely aware of the other, it's exhausting, and yet neither of them can remember a time when it wasn't like that.

When the bell rings, Jax jumps up and heads to the door, Opie not far behind. Tara packs her bag slowly, reeling from the class - now he's gone, it's like she can think coherently again. She might have looked like she was doing work, but her entire focus was on Jax, and what he was doing.

She stares after him. What was that about? Did Jax want to be friends? Was he flirting with her or was she imagining it? Did he want to know what time she finished work so he could come and see her? She hated that the idea horrified her and excited her at the same time, she felt like her hopes were getting up at the idea Jax would do something like that, and she knew it would only end in disappointment.

"So," David draws out the word, and brings her attention to him, "you and Teller, huh?"

Tara turns to look at him. "Don't make this a thing, David."

He comes close, so no one else can hear, throwing a look around to ensure no one is listening. "He's bad news Tara, you know he's a Prospect now, he's a fully fledged member of the MC. They're not the heroes some people think they are."

"I don't even know if we're friends, I think he's just trying to make a mends" even as she says it, she doesn't believe it.

"You're smart Tara, so be smart." With that he leaves her standing by her desk, staring after him.

"What's going on with you and Tara?" Opie asks as he and Jax sit on their bikes for a smoke.

Jax shakes his head, fiddling with the handlebars, his head ducked so he doesn't have to look at Opie, he shrugs "I don't know, man."

"Gemma won't be happy if the first girl you pursue in a relationship way is the daughter of Charming's drunk."

Jax's head snaps up at his best friend, there's fury on his face. "Gemma can't say shit about who I hang around with, in a relationship or otherwise. She married Clay before my father was cold." He pauses. "I can handle my mother."

Opie shrugs, he can't be bothered with Jax's mood swings today, "whatever brother, just be careful."

"Yeah bro." Jax says, hopping up from the bike. Whatever that means. they head to their next class slowly, already late.