AUTHOR'S NOTE: I promise, promise, promise this is the last rewrite for this story. I'm now completely satisfied with what I want to tell. So I hope you all enjoy the changes and the improvements I made. Please, please, please leave a review!

until then.

Jax hisses as the palm of his hand catches onto one of his mom's thorny rose bushes. He has half the nerve to kick the stupid thing, but he knows his mom loves her gardens and right now the last thing he wants is to upset her or give away that he has snuck out for another night.

However, he isn't under any illusion that his mom doesn't know about his midnight visits to Tara like he chooses to ignore Clay's constant presence since the two weeks his died passed away. He loves Clay, but right now he finds his presence overbearing. To a point it's suffocating, but his mom seems to appreciate him helping the transition that is going on with the family and club. Besides it wasn't as if Clay was the only patched member or family friend that had taken vigil in his home.

Jax leaps down from the fence while shaking his stinging hand. He has plans to crawl back through his window to his room when he freezes at the hunch figure on his back patio. For a moment he thinks it's his mother, who is probably going to tear him a new asshole for sneaking out to Tara's knowing there is a war with the Mayans. Listen to her rattle about how stupid he is making himself over some pussy. And he would let her knowing his mother is grieving for his father and still over his baby brother. He knows some wounds will never heal and Thomas' death is still raw for all of them.

Though, this figure doesn't possess the dominating presence his mother has. Besides, this person is crying, he can tell by the shake of the shoulders.

Jax then feels like a shitty friend.

He wasn't the only person who has lost something in the past two weeks.

Jax hesitating takes a step forward, his boots crush some dead leaves, and it's enough sound for him to be noticed.

He watches as Cheyenne hurriedly begins trying to wipe away her tears.

A week after his father died, her dad, Lionel, the best mechanic Teller Morrow had after Clay, had split with no warning. Her mom, Cheryl, overdosed on crank a few days later and was now in sedated detox.

Despite his mom grieving for his father, it didn't stop her from performing her duties as an Old Lady as she quickly had Cheyenne and her older brother, Phillip, over at their house to stay until they figured out what to do permanently.

"You probably think I'm stupid for crying over a junkie," she mutters breaking the silence.

Jax shakes his head and moves and takes a seat next to her on the steps of the patio. "No, at the end of the day, she's still your mother. Lionel's still your dad."

She takes a shaky breath at the mention of her father. Jax almost feels guilty as everyone has been on shaky ground with her when it came to her dad. There was no denying she was a daddy's girl and how much Lionel loved his daughter despite the problems that plagued the Henderson household. Jax could say it was the one thing he didn't understand about Lionel's disappearance. Jax knew Lionel would never just up and leave Phillip and Cheyenne, especially her. Junkie or not, Lionel was a father who loved his kids fiercely and would've least left a note. Just something for his little girl and if he was going to split, he wouldn't promise to take her to her soccer game the next weekend. He thinks for a girl at 12 years old, she has already seen too much suffering and pain their world brings.

"Your mom knows you're gone." She informs him.

"Figures," Jax snorts. Nothing can get past Gemma. At least he won't face the Spanish Inquisition now. Jax knows once the grief ebbs away into acceptance that he will need to be careful for a while. His mom never forgets anything and will surely use this against him if he pisses her off too much.

"Where's Lip?" Jax asks as he looks back into his dark house.

Now Cheyenne snorts. "He's with Nina, of course."

Jax chuckles at that. People thought him and Tara were crazy and wild. They obviously haven't been paying attention to Lip and Nina. Jax was sure he had never seen any two people so in lust with each other. He had already warned Lip at the rate him and Nina were going that she was wound to get pregnant. A baby was the last thing anyone in the Henderson family needed.

"How's Tara?" She asks.

With anyone else, Jax wouldn't be bothered to answer as he knows most around here, his mother and Clay, only ask questions to be polite and nosey as it's an open secret his mom doesn't care for his girlfriend. Yet with Cheyenne, he knows she generally cares about him and the people in his life. There's this part of him that thinks even at 15, he doesn't deserve this from Cheyenne.

"She's good. We're good." He tells her with a wide smile as he thinks back at how exactly good they are.

Cheyenne smiles at him oblivious to his hormonal thoughts. "At least you have someone."

Thoughts of Tara leave his mind as he looks back down at his young friend.

He knows that Cheyenne doesn't have many friends. Most of the time he finds her buried in a book, helping his mom cooking, or taking care of her mother. Sure she has Lip, but now with him and Nina being hot and heavy, he isn't the attentive brother he used to be. Jax frowns as he thinks about this. He brings his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, you have me." He tells her because it's true. He knows no matter what happens tomorrow or years from now, she'll always have him.

Cheyenne nods her head, but then she crinkles her nose. "Are you bleeding?"

Jax pulls his arm back and shows her his hand. "Scraped it on a thorn."

"Ugh, come on." She tells him as she stands up.

Jax can't help but laugh as he knows she has aspirations to be nurse one day. "You know you should just become a doctor, Chey."

"I think a nurse would do just fine." She informs him as she opens his mom's sliding door beckoning him to go through.

Jax thinks with her here at his house it doesn't feel so heavy.

. . .

It's been a few years since John Teller's death, her father's disappearance, and her mom's overdose. After her mom's last overdose, she was shipped off to SAMCRO rehab and it seemed that it was sticking. Yet, despite her mom's sobriety, Cheyenne still finds herself always by Gemma's side either at Teller Morrow or her house. After all, she and Lip do have a room at the now Teller Morrow residence. Like now and most days, Cheyenne is sitting at one of the picnic benches as she does her homework. Yet, she finds herself stuck on a math problem, looking around the lot, she finds most of the guys occupied in the garage and as she scans the lot she finds Jax's bike at the end recently embellished due to him completing his year as a Prospect.

Despite dropping out of school, Jax was still an intelligent man.

Grabbing her supplies, she makes her way into the clubhouse and as usual ignores the putrid smell of booze, smoke, leather, and sex. The place is empty outside of Piney snoozing at the bar with Kyle Hobart flirting with some croweater.

She makes the trek back to Jax's dorm room that is at the end of the hall. She knocks the door lightly and doesn't receive a response. She frowns and she suspects he might be sleeping as she knows Lip got home late last night and usually Lip and Jax are always on the same rotation for things.

She goes to walk away when she hears the toilet flush. She knocks again, but this time she opens the door. She finds his bed empty and walks further into the room and calls out his name. This time she hears the unmistakable sounds of retching. Cheyenne throws her stuff onto the bed and with his bathroom door already creaked open, she finds him bent over the rim of the porcelain toilet.

"Jax?"

He jumps startled at her voice and his bleary eyes connect to hers. They harden instantly. Cheyenne begins to regret walking into his room. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you throwing up," she explains. She steps forward and goes to put a hand on his forehead, "Are you okay?" Instead of an answer he slaps away her hand startling them both.

Cheyenne feels almost betrayed. Even with his father's death, his nasty breakup with Tara, and now experiencing the stress of the club as a full patch with his father's legacy trailing after him like a bad smell, Jax has never once let his anger or frustration out on her. Cheyenne could say she was the only one who hadn't been on the receiving end of his anger.

Cheyenne can't hide the hurt from her face as she backs up away from him.

Jax instantly feels like shit more than he already does.

"Chey…wait," he calls out to her when she is halfway back into his dorm room. Despite his still queasy stomach he moves off the cold tiled floor of his bathroom and to his bed. He sits on the edge and peaks over to find her math book there. He feels even more like shit. He rubs his hands down his face and looks back up at her. At 15, Cheyenne still possessed a youthful glow with her wild black hair and grey eyes. However as he trailed her in a simple Charming High t-shirt and jean shorts paired with red Converses, he could see that pretty soon puberty was about to catch up with her turning her into a woman. Soon she wouldn't be hanging around the lot like a grease monkey or asking him for help with her homework.

He pats the spot next to him and she cautiously takes a seat. "I shouldn't have done that."

She nods her head. "Rough night?" She asks and her shoes kick at the white soiled shirt on the ground stained in red. He fights the bile that threatens to claw up his throat. He doesn't understand why he is so damn emotional about what happened. Lip didn't seem all that bothered by what they did. He seemed to just shrug it off and said goodbye before checking on Cheyenne and presumably spend his morning buried deep in Nina.

Jax on the other hand couldn't keep food or drink down. He felt repulsed by the croweaters and had a fitful sleep.

And now here was Cheyenne looking at him with so much concern. She was so innocent in all this. Sometimes he hoped that she would one day leave Charming and make a life outside of this. Even though he hated Tara for doing that to him, he could say he couldn't blame her for not wanting to become his mother.

He looks at her with his tortured blue eyes and shakes his head. Maybe he needs to get laid.

"Jax?"

"I killed a man last night," he lets slip pass his lips. And he knows he shouldn't burden a 15 year old with that type of knowledge, but if there is anyone he could tell it would be her. He doesn't want to go to his mom and have her extreme coddling and he feels he can't share this with Opie or Lip.

She doesn't say anything. Her eyes or face don't give away anything. Instead, she grabs his hand. The same hand that held a gun and pulled a trigger.

A week later, it's Christmas. They're throwing the usual party at his mom's house. It's the family orientated dinner. It's just family and friends – no hangarounds or croweaters. Jax is throwing back some Eggnog as he talks to Opie, who has Donna snug in his side, and Lip and Nina are nowhere to be found, which means Nina is likely somewhere on her back.

Cheyenne comes up by his side and tugs on the sleeve of his sweater. She's all dolled up in a long-sleeved red velvet shirt that shows a sliver of her toned stomach and in a white poufy skirt. She looks older than her 15 years and Jax thinks that's dangerous. Yet, he lets her steal him away for whatever she wants to show him and she leads him back to her room at his mom's.

"So I just wanted to give this to you now away from prying eyes." She tells him as she holds up a small silver box. They had already exchanged gifts this morning with her giving him some riding gear. He got her some books and albums he knew she would like. So now he is genuinely curious as she seems nervous.

"Must be something special," he says as he begins to unwrap it.

Cheyenne shrugs her shoulders.

He takes out the small box and wiggles it. He guesses its jewelry.

He risks a glance at Cheyenne and she is nibbling on her lip. "Chey, whatever it is. I'm sure I'm going to love it." He assures her.

He throws the wrapper in her garbage and opens the lid to the box.

Inside rests the silver shell of an AK 47 bullet on a chain.

He takes the necklace out and it dangles from his fingers. He knows the significance behind this gift.

"Do you like it?"

He nods his head. "I love it, Chey." He tells her as he puts it around his neck.

She's still unsure as she gives him a small smile. He brings her into a tight hug.

"Thanks, Chey."

. . .

After completing a 6 month stint in Chino, Jax is doing the one thing he has wished to do since he became a temporary residence to Chino's Correctional Facility, which was to ride his bike.

Considering it was a Tuesday, his official welcoming home party wasn't happening until Friday night after church. Considering club business was slow, he found himself with some free time to just ride around Charming and other friendly areas.

He was driving back to Charming to hit up Main Street to grab some lunch. He was a block away from Main when he found the one person he didn't expect to be out and about at this time considering they should be at school. He slows down and pulls up besides Cheyenne Henderson, now 16 years old and a force to be reckoned with in school as she becomes more mature. Considering Chino was a 6 hour drive, he only saw Cheyenne once a month as she become busier with school and after school activities. So it was a shock to his system to see such a studious girl cutting class.

At first she just glances at him just thinking he is nobody before she does a double take and realizes it's him. Her eyes become bright and she smiles wide at him.

"You're out!" She exclaims as she rushes up to him and gives him a hug.

"Yeah," he tells her and for old time sake he ruffles with her long black hair, which annoys her as she slaps away his hand.

"Hey, stop that." She scolds as she fixes her hair that she perfectly styled. He remembers when she used to just wear ponytails with no thought or care into her appearance.

"Why you cutting class?" He asks her bluntly.

At his question, her face drops and she looks away. She doesn't seem keen on answering. "Chey?"

"It's nothing, Jax." She tries to deflect.

"If it was nothing, I'm pretty sure you would've called my mom to sign you out." He says. After her mom got cleaned, she bailed to Seattle with no thought to her kids. From what his mom said, the woman barely even writes to them. His eyes narrow, "Is it some boy?"

"What! No!" She tells him and as she crosses her arms across her chest. It's only then he gets sight of her red hand.

He snatches her hand and looks at the red and irritated knuckles. "You're getting into fights now?" He say with a frown as this was out of character for her.

"I'm not starting them," she says defending herself.

"So how are they starting?" Jax asks and he knows this has been going on for a while. When he sees Lip he is going to have a nice chat with her brother for not being aware of what's going on with his sister.

"It's just the girls. I try to ignore them, but they just say stuff."

"Like what?"

"About my parents, the club, or how I'm sleeping around with all of you guys." She informs him, but then she smiles. "It's kind of ironic as they call me a whore, but then make fun of me for not having a boyfriend."

"You shouldn't let them get to you."

"I try not to, but it's hard Jax." She tells him. "They're all so pretty and have their boyfriends…and all I have are books."

"That's bullshit, Chey, and you know it." Jax was going to tell her she didn't need to be messing around with hormonal teenage boys anyway. But Jax had no idea what it was like to be a teenage girl and he didn't think it would conductive to this argument.

"Is it, Jax? No one at school seems to notice me and I've never even kissed a boy before." She whispers scandalized and a bit embarrassed.

Jax looks at her and thinks the boys at her school are idiots. Cheyenne was smart, beautiful, and clearly going places with her life.

He also knew that some of the boys that did have interest only got blocked because of Lip and sometimes him and Opie, but he wasn't going to admit that. As he looked at her, with her full lips, curly hair, and grey eyes, he saw the face of a woman. She wasn't the 12 year old girl that he found crying on his steps.

Without thinking, he pulls her closer to him. She's about to turn 17 and he's only 19 on the cusp of 20. So he doesn't feel too much like a Chester besides it will only be a kiss.

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow, "Jax what are you doing?"

He doesn't say anything, but brings her in front of him. Her body almost flushed against his and begins to lean his head down.

"Jax –"

"Shh," he says as his hands cup her cheeks. She smells like Vanilla and Raspberry. And he thinks he might be making a huge mistake. He knows he is, but it doesn't stop him from meeting her lips.

She doesn't respond immediately. Her lips are frozen, but he wins her over when she presses more into his body. The kiss is soft and innocent. Something he hasn't had in god who knows how many years. He doesn't understand how something this simple and sweet could be intoxicating. He knows he should pull back and keep things between them easy and simple.

But he can't help but deepen the kiss, which she lets him, as his tongue dances with her. He almost doesn't care that they're in public on a street where anyone can see.

Her hands slide past his shoulders into his hair as she settles more into him. It isn't until she moans against his mouth that he remembers the last time he had physical contact was six months ago. He knows if things continue this way, reservation and consequences be damned, it could lead to trouble for both of them.

Pulling back he looks into her eyes that are the silver he sees in the moonlight. Nothing is said between them. He only hands her his helmet and she sits on the back of his bike.

. . .

Jax has hit a sort of epiphany as he nears his 21st birthday. He knows the name Teller holds a lot of weight in his world and recently he knows he hasn't been doing his dad justice. However, at the same time he is more than just his father's son. He also knows that he is still trying to recover from the very public break up he had with Tara almost two years ago now. He knows he wants to be something other than a legacy.

So he began throwing himself into the club. Going on as a many runs as possible and really spend some time with Clay as his President than stepfather. He really was trying to learn the club business.

He also tries to tell himself that he wasn't throwing himself into Club business because of what transpired between him and Cheyenne. They both hadn't spoken of that moment and she seemed fine with it, but he wasn't. Now he had guilt for pulling away from their friendship. With her now nearing 18, he only had a year before she left for college and soon she would move on from Charming and him.

His mom was out shopping with Luann; Clay was at the clubhouse, so he knew the house would be empty except for Cheyenne. He pulls into the driveway and enters the home as he twirls his keys around his finger and eyes the place. Sometimes he misses the cleanliness of his mom's house since he moved into the dorms. He walks into the dining room where he finds presumably Cheyenne's bag out in the open. He doesn't mean to snoop, but he peaks over into it and his heart jumps into his throat as he spies familiar looking foil packages. His head snaps up as he hears padding down the hallway.

Coming into his view, he finds Cheyenne coming down wearing a very short short skirt with a black and white long sleeve shirt tucked into it. His eyes droop low to the thigh high socks that go past her knees.

His eyebrows furrow, "Where are you going?"

Cheyenne plants her hands on her hips, a pair of heels in her left hand. "Hi, it's nice to see you too."

She sits down at the table and begins putting on her heels.

"You going somewhere?" He questions as he eyes the back of her head and tries to recall when he has ever seen her in anything other than Converses. He knows this outfit is courtesy of his mother and Luann.

"Actually, I am." She tells him.

"Where?"

She rolls her eyes at his tone. "Is that any of your business?"

"You should make it my business." He counters back.

Cheyenne is visibly taken back by this response as she leans back in her chair. She opens her mouth to respond, but the doorbell rings. Jax beelines it to the door.

"Jax!" He hears squealed from behind him as she tries to race him to the door. But he beats her.

Opening it, he finds a boy on the other side dressed up nice with flowers in his hand. Brown curly hair and in Jax's conclusion looks a bit like a nerd, but he can see the muscles outlined. Jax can tell the boy knows who he is, but Jax doesn't like the fact he doesn't know who he is.

"Who are you?" He asks menacingly as he stands taller.

Before the kid can answer, Jax finds himself being pushed out of the way by Cheyenne. She shots him an annoyed look before she turns and smiles at the boy and graciously accepts the flowers.

She turns back at him and forces a fake smile in his direction, "Jax, this is Mason. Mason, this is Jax."

"That still doesn't explain who he is." Jax bites out.

"Mason, do you mind waiting in the car. I'm going to put these in a vase and grab my purse and I'll be right out."

"Sure," the boy agrees without argument. Cheyenne pushes him out of the way and Jax glares at the boy before shutting the door.

"God, what is your problem, Jax." Cheyenne mutters.

"Who is he?" Jax asks before he takes one last look at the boy through the blinds.

"Like you couldn't tell. He's my boyfriend." She informs as she grabs one of his mom's vases and fills it with water.

"Boyfriend?" Now that was fucking news to him. "Since when?"

"For a few months now."

Jax's brows furrows as no one informed him of this news. "Does my mom know?"

"Yes, Jax, everyone knows." She tells him pointedly.

This news doesn't settle well in his gut and he doesn't know why he feels a jealous heat settle into his bones. "Everyone know you're fucking him?"

Cheyenne's mouth drops open at his question. She looks down at her bag and snatches it quickly. She doesn't even give him a response as she leaves the house.

. . .

They're on the edge of the Wahewa land.

It's August, it's hot and sticky, and Cheyenne's arms ache.

However, Jax insisted they brush up on her skills before she left Charming where she would be without SAMCRO.

They had been out here an hour as she shot with Jax's Glock. It was a painful reminder of the life she grew up in and how Jax and her brother made a living.

"You keep locking your arms," Jax tells her from the side where he watches her.

Cheyenne didn't think she was terrible. In fact, she thinks she is decent, but after an hour she is beginning to feel tired. He walks over to her and stands behind her. His arms come around hers to steady them; she didn't realize she was trembling either.

"Breathe," he says into her ear, his breath fanning across her neck. The closeness makes her shiver. "Visualize your target and look through your sight," he instructs. "Breathe. Inhale. Fire. Exhale." This time she hits the target dead center. "See you got it."

Cheyenne turns her head and looks at him and she realizes they haven't been this close since their kiss. She moves back from him. "Yeah. only because of you."

"I can't take all the credit." He tells her with a smile as she hands him back his gun.

"Well I'm hungry let's eat."

To eat they walk down to the stream where it's a little bit cooler and enjoy their simple lunch of a sandwich and chips. However, Cheyenne knows she shouldn't be surprised when Jax pulls out a bottle of Jack.

"You know that you do have to drive back later." She informs him pointedly.

"I need one last drink with my drinking partner." He says as he opens it and takes a generous swing.

Cheyenne rolls her eyes, but takes a sip of the burning liquid.

They toss the bottle back and forth talking about old times from when he still had to go trick or treating with her. They remembered when Gemma forced him, Opie, and Lip to sit still for her to paint their nails and do their makeup, and all the innocence moments of childhood. Soon the memories of sticky fingers and cheesy photos turn serious as it leads to the present. Her parents both gone, Opie and Donna now married with a baby on the way, and now her own brother has knocked up his on and off girlfriend. It seems they are the only two not attached to anybody.

"I'm scared to leave him now that he is becoming a father." She admits to Jax. She knows her brother is going to be a great dad, but he and Nina are not exactly ever in a good place for a child to be brought into.

"I'll look out for them plus my mom won't let him fuck up." Jax promises.

"Yeah, but even with Nina's problems she's family now too. I just hope your mom doesn't go to crazy on her."

Jax snorts. Lip and Cheyenne were practically like a son and daughter to his mom and she treated Nina the same way she did Tara. He thought there was nothing Nina could do to ever get in his mom's good graces.

Jax takes a swing of the depleting bottle. "You be careful down there too. Especially when it comes to guys."

"Jax –"

"I'm serious." He says. He knows her break up with Mason wasn't exactly smooth due to other kids and just because she still felt the sting of that didn't mean a guy wouldn't enter the picture eventually.

"I don't think…Boys aren't even on my radar. Nursing school is going to be hard."

"I'm just saying be careful is all." He tells her with something that is anything but brotherly concern.

"Or what you're going to have Juice put a tracking device on me?" She teases.

"Don't tempt me."

She laughs loudly and god he thinks she is beautiful. Now, she's leaving and he didn't expect it to hurt so fucking much. His eyes trail to those lips and he wonders if they are still soft as he remembers. And as she laughs her eyes twinkle, not grey, but silver, he can't help but lean in and before she knows it, he presses his lips urgently against hers in a hot kiss.

It escalates quickly and Cheyenne finds herself being pushed onto the soft grass. His hand traces the flat of her stomach as they dip near her ribs and the underwire of her bra.

They both know they should stop and pull back from whatever line they are crossing.

He separates their lips and there's the question in his eyes and statements that neither of them will never admit. At least not now or possibly ever. They would weigh too much with her departure in a few weeks.

Instead, she lets him pull up her tank over her bra and fondle her breasts as she tangles her fingers into his hair. He yanks off her top completely and the blood rushes into his ears as her hands sneak between them and down into his pants where she tugs him rigid. Jax makes quick work of removing her shorts and shoes leaving her just in simple peach color classic lace floral thong.

Jax leans back and admires the simple get up. He's always used to seeing girls in dark colors reds and black. But Cheyenne usually sticks to cool colors, blues and grays with the occasional white. Cheyenne tucks her hand in the band of his boxers and pulls them down to his knees, and he makes quick work of removing them completely along with his shirt.

Cheyenne's heart beat goes rapid at the sight of Jax completely bare to her. Growing up around the club and despite being close to Jax, she has been exposed to and heard many things about him. Seeing it in person is a completely different experience.

She is quick to remove her bra as he pulls her panties down her thighs and discards them like the rest of their clothing. He eases her thighs open, smearing his slick manhood against her. She moans, as he presses inside her, the sting of him stretching her is an delicious pain as it makes her feel full. "Please, Jax," she groans against his skin.

"Please what darlin'?" He asks in a low octave. "What do you need?"

"I need you to fuck me."

He does.

Jax is laying on his back while Cheyenne is on her side with her eyes closed. With her skin clammy, Cheyenne knows she should make the move to clean the mess between her thighs. Her legs feel like jelly though and she doesn't want to ruin this moment of whatever this is and what just happened.

She hears Jax shift and his fingers come to the tips of her hair.

"I'll miss you." He admits to her.

Her eyes spring open and connect to his blue ones.

"I'll miss you too."