Killer Love: Sons Of Anarchy

Home Sweet Home

Opening the small fridge in the store I pulled out a water bottle and then made my way over to the counter at the front of the store. My eyes looked over the shelves scanning for anything else that I wanted. I grabbed a chocolate bar before I sat my items down on the counter.
"This it for you?" The guy behind the counter asked and I smiled.
"Yeah, just these." I said. I watched as he paused, staring at me. His eyes narrowed on my face before he gave me a big smile.
"Charlie, right?" He asked. I gave him a nod.
"I thought you looked familiar when you walked in! How are you?" He asked me and I gave him a shrug.
"I'm doing alright. Jimmy Dawson I'm guessing. You were a grade below me, right?" I asked and his smile only grew more.
"Yeah that's me." He said. He only scanned my snacks and not my water. He told me my total and placed my items in a bag.
"Here you go." He said to me and I gave him another smile.
"Thanks Jimmy." I said with a soft smile picking up my bag of snacks and water.
"No problem at all. Good to see you again." He replied, returning the smile.
Oh Charming... I said to myself as I walked out of the store. How I missed this town..Sorta. I said placing the items into my extra backpack that was strapped to my motorcycle. Glancing around the street looking up and down at the numerous shops that were still the same. Most of them had been closed down or been replaced with something else. I let a small smile come to my lips.
"Nothing has changed at all..." Straddling my bike. I put my key in the ignition, turning it only to hear nothing.
"Shit.."I said, letting out a sigh, turning the key once more to hear the sound of nothing again. "Perfect..." I said as I stood up and swung my leg off the bike. I bent down checking the normal things that could have been the reason why it wasn't starting; fuel, ignition, battery. Everything was fine. That only left one thing- the ignition coil, and I didn't have my tools to fix it. I looked up at the family drugstore I had just came out of and made my way back to it. I was greeted with a warm welcome by Jimmy again.
"Hey Charlie, back so soon?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah...There's a problem with my bike-" I told him, only to be cut off by his voice.
"Oh man I was worried about that when I saw you pull up. Lot of people in Charming aren't too big on motorcycles anymore and are messing with them when they see them. The Tellers still have their automotive shop. You could go there to get it fixed."He told me.
"Well...Thanks..I didn't want to go there though. Any other-"
"Nope, they're the only ones in town now." He replied before I could finish.
"Thanks again Jimmy." I said sighing while walking out the door once again.
"Looks like I'm going to take a trip down memory lane."I said under my breath.
Grabbing the handles of the bike I moved the kickstand and started to roll the motorcycle down the empty street towards the one shop that I didn't want to go to. I couldn't help but smile thinking about my teenage years. Walking from shop to shop just to see what each one had. Everything used to be filled with life but now it wasn't... It was saddening.

The familiar sound of cussing and metal clashing rang in my ears as I walked up the long driveway toward the open garage door. Taking a quick glance around to make sure I didn't see any faces that I recognized I took a deep breath in then opened my mouth to speak, putting the kick stand down.
"Hey...excuse me.." I spoke trying to get the males' attention who were talking to each other working on older motorcycles or just sitting around ragging on each other. It didn't take long until I caught their attention, all of their eyes looking at me.
"What can we do for you doll?" One of them asked as the others said. I smiled softly at his accent before I spoke.
"I just have a problem with my ignition coil..I would have checked it myself but I don't have my tools with me. It wouldn't start and everything else is fine- fuel, battery, and ignition." I told him motioning over to my bike. More so proving that I knew what I'm talking about, so they wouldn't get the wrong idea of why I was there. The smiles and grins on their faces could have been seen a mile away as they focused on me. They looked like a pack of hungry hyenas waiting for their next meal
"It could be a number of things and not just that." The skinny guy spoke up and I rolled my eyes at him.
"Seeing as I just rode it into Charming not even 30 minutes ago before I stopped at the Dawson family drugstore. I think it's pretty likely that it's the coil." I told him placing both of my hands on my hips
"She knows her stuff."The skinny guy piped in again as he picked up a rag wiping his hands clean. He walked over to me and asked if he could take my bike. I nodded at him before I focused back on the one with the accent. He took a step closer to me as he handed me a white sheet of paper that was on a clipboard.
"Alright doll, well we'll check it out. Just fill out this for us." He told me, handing the clipboard over and I took it, giving him a polite smile.
"Yeah no problem." I replied, grabbing the pen that he held out for me. I looked down at the paper clicking the top of the pen when I swear I felt my heart stop.
"I thought I heard a girl in here acting like she knew what she was talking about. Charlotte Monroe. As I live and breathe." Gemma Teller. I said to myself as I held my breath. One of the main people I didn't want to see. Turning around toward her voice I put on a fake smile.
"Ms. Gemma." I said nicely.
"Well don't just stand there like a stranger come over here." She didn't ask. It was a command. The quietness was haunting as all eyes were on us when she spoke. I didn't have to look over at the men to know that they were now curious to know who I was. Not everyone was called out by Gemma. Especially not like this. Walking over to her I tried to ignore the comments and whispers that were instantly being made. I had just went from the hot girl who surprisingly knew about motorcycles to "How does she know Gemma... Have you heard her name before?"
"What are you doing back here? Last I heard of your old man, you moved to Spain to study art or something."She told me, opening her arms to me for a hug. I leaned into her embrace giving her a soft hug patting her on the back. To my surprise she actually gave me a real hug and even squeezed me. I had to be dreaming right now.
"France, but close." I said with a smile. A fake one at that. "My old man isn't doing well as of late. He asked me to come back to help get his affairs in oder for him. Just wanted to drop my bike off before heading down to the hospital to see him.." I had to stop myself from flinching when I felt her give me a kiss on the cheek, just like she used to.
"And you weren't even going to stop and say Hi to me?" She asked, pulling away placing a hand on both of my arms.
"I'm sorry about your old man though. Great guy. You just missed Jax by 20 minutes." There it is.
"Did I? You'll have to tell him I came by." I told her hoping she would drop the subject.
"He has two sons now.."She said smiling as she lead me into the office.
"Light of my eyes." She finished shutting the door behind us.
"Oh wow that's great. I'm happy for him." I told her, writing down some information on the slip of paper the Irish man gave me.
"He's married then I guess." I said.
"Was. His wife Tara passed away almost a year ago." She told me.
"Very tragic thing." I couldn't help the pain in my chest when I heard those words. I looked up from the paper staring at Gemma.
"Tara died...As in the Tara we went to school with?" I asked. My sentence turned more so into a whisper. Regretting every mean comment that I have spoken about her.
"I'm so sorry for your loss. That's awful." I told her. For the first time since I had been talking to her my words were sincere.
"How's-..How's Jax?" I asked knowing I would probably regret my question.
"He's doing okay given what happened. He's the one who found her."
"I wish I would have known I would have come back sooner." More so talking to myself than anything.
"Me too." Gemma said and nodded softly. "Maybe if he married you like he was supposed to, all of this wouldn't have happened." She told me and I couldn't help the sadness that came over my body.
"Yeah..Well everything happens for a reason." I told her.
"Yes it does." She smiled at me and took the clipboard from me.
"I'll take care of this." Looking down at it.
"So what's been going on with you. You're not married same last name." She said as I stuck my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket and shrugged.
"Same old. Still doing tattoos.. Still making art." I told her and looked around the room a bit. Trying to avoid her gaze.
"You single or just not married?" She said leaning against the desk that was in the room.
"Single as of now. No plans to get married anytime soon." I told her. She looked me up and down before she walked behind the desk.
"You said you were headed to the hospital?" She asked me and I nodded as my answer.
"I'll have one of the guys take you later on." She told me.
"That would be great, thanks." I told her. I could tell by her smile that she was up to no good. I watched as she dug into her purse and pulled out her phone before pressing it to her ear.
"Hey. I got a client up here that I need some help with. Could you come up here for a minute?" She said into the phone. She got her answer then put her phone down onto the desk.
"No kids?" She asked me and I shook my head. My heart squeezed in my chest at her question. No matter that amount of time that had passed it was still a sore subject.
"What's it been fifteen years? Still no kids. You're not getting any younger. Though you do look great. You're doing something right." She told me.
"Seventeen actually." I corrected her.
"Hmm... That's right." She said as she made her way back over to me.
"You should come to dinner tonight. It's Sunday."She said
No, not Sunday dinner. I can't.
"No Gemma. I can't impose-"
"I invited you. It's my house and you're family. Always have been always will be" She told me tilting my chin up to look at her.
"I know you miss my boy. I can see it in your eyes. Come to dinner." Again this was a command. I nodded in response
"Alright." I told her. She smiled as if she had won a battle.
"Good. Same place. Same time. You know where to go." She said.
Clearing my throat all I could do was nod. I couldn't believe that I allowed myself to go to the 'family' dinner. I really didn't want to see Jax. I didn't want to go down that road. I had been avoiding it for the past seventeen years and here I was not even an hour into being home and I was right back where I was when I left. I welcomed the silence that Gemma was giving me. I needed the quiet to really think about what I had gotten myself in to. There was no amount of therapy that could prepare me for this. I thought I had healed and moved on but just being back in the shop I felt like a love sick 21 year old all over again. The sound of motorcycles growing closer and closer broke the silence between us. "I'll be back." Gemma said as she walked out the door. Her heels clicked against the pavement.
"Fucking hell this can't be happening right now.." I said to myself as I ran my hands through my hair. I paused when I heard Gemma start to talk
"Hey Baby." Gemma's voice said as she stood close to the door.
"Hey Ma." A man said. I could pick that voice out from a crowd.
No no no! He can't be here. Not now. Let me leave first!
"You said you needed help with a client?" He said and I shook my head.
"Fucking Gemma." I said under my breath.
"Yeah, they just need a ride home while their bike is getting fixed." Her voice was getting closer to the door and my heart started pounding rapidly in my chest.
This can't be happening. Not like this.
"Mom, I can't, I have to go pick up Thomas and Abel from Wendy." He said.
"I'll go pick them up and you can take the client home. Come on, it's a fair trade. Besides, I have to talk to Wendy anyway."She told him.
"Alright. Okay."
I started to walk backward as far away from the door as I could get while I watched the handle turn. The creaking sound of the door as it opened only made my heart pound harder and harder. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack.
Before I knew it he was in the doorway. Taking his shades off he stood there motionless as he stared at me for what felt like forever and I held my breath until I couldn't anymore.
"Charlie...?" He asked his gaze never leaving mine.
My heart skipped a beat just hearing him say my name.
"Jackson..." I said breathlessly.