𝖍𝖔𝖑𝖉 𝖒𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙

𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗

saturday night, charming, california

while things certainly were never easy for jax teller, the last few weeks were really testing his luck. sure, he knew being vice president of the sons of anarchy wasn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows, but with the stresses of his son, his mother and his junkie ex-wife, his mind was always flooded with worry. and today, what happened to julina's studio, that was just the icing on the cake. as much as he knew it would be dealt with in one way or another, what with hunter and tig always having julina's back, jax felt the need to do something about this himself. now, he didn't want to go around shouting on rooftops that he was in love with julina, ever since they were kids, but he was. so of course he felt this eternal need to take care of her, and protect her. if he'd caught whoever did this to her dance studio, something he knew she worked so hard for, he'd probably kill them with his bare hands. 

and for fuck's sake, hunter was lucky he was a fully patched member, or he'd have his head on a stick. who the hell did he think he was ? not answering clay's calls, showing up whenever he felt like it. while his fiance was in tears at that mess of a studio. what would he do if she'd been there ? she could be dead and he'd be sleeping in like the asshole he was. ever since they were kids, they would butt heads. it started off with who got to play with toy trucks but now it was a matter of the club. hunter was a fuck up, always letting his anger issues get in the way of what the smart thing was. and in terms of julina, it's like he didn't know what was right from wrong. 

jax wasn't stupid, he could tell when the supposedly perfect couple was having trouble in paradise. the way lina would throw herself into her work for days, only coming around with a sad smile on her face. it drove him crazy that he couldn't show her what she deserved. put a genuine smile on that pretty face. a knock at the door snapped him out of his thoughts, springing him out of the bed he'd had set up in his room at the clubhouse. his safe space, if you will. when he opened the door, he felt his heart drop to his stomach. fuck, he completely forgot. saturday night ; he made plans with tara. "hey there," she smiled at him, "forget about me ?" she asked somewhat jokingly. if only she knew he actually did. "uh, hey darlin'" he tried to play things off cool, "it's actually not a good time right now. something happened at julina's studio this morning." he quickly explained, but it didn't look like the doctor was taking it as well as he thought. "what does that have to do with you ? you think it's club related ?" she questioned, which actually seemed to annoy jax. she was poking around too much, she'd always been the type to want to know things he just simply couldn't tell her. 

"listen, tara, it's a lot. i just can't tonight." and with that, he made his way past her and out the door, slamming it behind him. this of course raised suspirsion in tara, she always felt like there was something between jax and julina, and as much as she knew she should stay out of it, she wanted to know what. but, for now, she would let it go. the brunette left with her head down, offended she'd been rejected so quickly. now with her gone though, jax was free to do as he pleased. which just so happened to be finding julina, who had surprisingly been sitting at the bar of the clubhouse, making conversation with chibs. "look who it is," he subconsciously beamed at her. however he didn't see her maniac counterpart. 

"hey jax," she responded at almost a whisper. she'd still been badly shaken up by the whole break in and as much as unser and charming p.d. swore up and down they would keep her safe, she just didn't trust it. she felt like there was a target on her back now, she knew hunter had more enemies he'd ever lead her believe and for the first time in a long time, she was genuinely scared. "how you holding up darlin' ?" the biker asked with concern, coming to take a seat by her. her brief hesitation and silence was loud and clear to him, and it broke his heart to see her so worn down. "no reason to be scared, lina. i'm gonna take care of you." he assured her, realizing it might have been more appropriate to tell her they were all there to take care of her, but now that chibs had turned his back to answer the phone, he didn't care to keep that to himself. 

his assurance warmed her heart, and she actually believed for once today that she was safe. sure, hunter always kept her safe, for the most part, but she truly blamed him for what had happened. she knew being around the club had it's downsides. she'd been on lockdown a number of times growing up and she knew what it felt like to be scared to be associated with such a big motorcycle club, but never had she been targeted like this. and the fact that hunter wasn't here even now, she just didn't feel that she could trust him. while he wanted revenge, she wanted him to be her comfort right now. all he thought about was himself in this situation, when she was the one facing all the consequences. 

jax being here with her, right now, making sure she was okay and giving her the comfort she needed most only made her feelings for him pop up more. and while she'd been trying to get the thought of them ever being together out of her head for years, she couldn't now more than ever. and the more she thought about it all ; her life with hunter, the way he treated her, and the feelings she so obviously had for jax ; the more she realized. she was in love. with two men, at once. 

god, why was her life so complicated ?