❛ Do you love me? ❜

chapter nineteen.

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       A WEEK LATER, and Scarlett has been staying at the Clubhouse with Jax since he showed up at the Jones' household in the middle of the night in somewhat of an emotional wreck. Donna was due to be returning from her parents house in a few days, though Opie wasn't certain where she'd be staying instead. Thankfully, Tara was discharged from the hospital and Hale helped her get back on her feet. Scarlett had spoken to her over the phone, but due to her work hours she hadn't been able to pop over to the house just yet.

Unfortunately, Camille had been arrested late last night whilst she was busy in the studio, along with man other of Luann's girls. The A.T.F Agent Stahl had paid the studio a visit, using every excuse under the sun to arrest as many people. Cami had obviously called Luke from her cell, and he had furiously shouted down his phone at Scarlett. He wasn't pissed at her, but pissed at the fact that his girlfriend was locked in a cell in Charming station for not doing anything.

Just before her evening shift in the Club, Scarlett strolls aimlessly through Charming town centre, not entirely sure on what to do with her time. Jax, Luke and the rest of the Sons are dealing the shot Irishman and the return of the A.T.F. And, well, Camille's locked up.

Scarlett hears heels clicking quickly on the paved stone behind her, but presuming it's just some stuck-up business woman who's late for a meeting, she thinks nothing of it, until a female ringed hand wraps around her wrist.

Immediately, Scarlett whirls around and pulls her wrist free. Her eyes narrow as she vaguely recognises the woman stood in front of her. She's dressed in a neat suit with a tiny handbag perched on her shoulder whilst she smiles brightly at Scarlett.

"Scarlett Miller," She greets, "I'm Agent Stahl, A.T.F."

Scarlett breaths out in annoyance, her arms crossing over her chest, "I knew I recognised you. You were leading the Club raid with Kohn a few weeks back. I heard he resigned, shame." She clicks her tongue.

"Not really," Stahl shrugs, before nodding her head towards a small wooden bench to the side of them, "May I, uh. . . May I ask you some questions?"

Cursing in her head, Scarlett nods as she steps  closer to the bench and slowly lowers herself down, as far away as possible from Agent Stahl, "Sure."

"Thank you," Stahl leans forward, clasping her hands together as she begins to think, "I'm trying to wrap my brain around your history with Samcro."

Scarlett's jaw clenches, "Sorry?" Maybe she misheard her, and maybe Agent Stahl wasn't a nosy cow who'd basically stalked Scarlett just to ask her personal questions that she knew she'd never receive the answers for.

"Well, your parents are both drunks and drug addicts, or at least were," Stahl begins, and Scarlett has to swallow a scoff of disbelief, "You left Charming with your younger brother, Jamie, eight years ago. You were on the street for a little less of a year, until you secured yourself a job as a stripper and you were able to afford cheap rent for a downtown flat."

With her anger slowly growing, Scarlett digs her nails into her biceps while she slides her tongue across her lips to prevent herself from snarling an insult just to shut the woman up.

"You lived off dirty money for. . . five years, until you became a mechanic and your brother got a job as a retail worker, I believe," She speaks slowly, as if she's only just learnt these facts and is desperately trying to remember them, "A very scary life on the big city."

Scarlett grunts, "Yeah. I was there."

"And now you're here," Stahl points around at their surroundings, her finger eventually landing on a sign that reads Charming, "Getting dirty with bad boys. . . again. How's does that happen, hm?"

"What do you want?" Scarlett snarls.

"Fair enough," She hums, "Do you know of any illegal activity that Jax Teller or the Sons of Anarchy are involved in?"

Scarlett let's a laugh escape her, and just as she goes to insult the woman for her shitty technique at coming after the ladies involved with the club, she decides to not even bother. Calming herself down, she shakes her head, "No."

"Well, that was easy," She grabs her handbag and moves it onto her lap. She digs around inside for a moment before pulling a slip of paper and handing it to Scarlett, "Give me a call if you see or hear about anything that's not quite right."

Scarlett takes the card, and she doesn't even bother looking at it as she lowers her hand to her lap, "What exactly is it that you're hoping to find?"

Stahl hits her hands on her knees before standing up, shrugging her handbag back onto her shoulder, "The usual."

Scarlett clicks her tongue, "Right."

"You know," Stahl sighs, "I tried to track down your parents so I can speak to them briefly but they're really not interested in anyone, are they? Just curious, when was the last time you spoke to them?"

Scarlett shrugs.

"Nothing is stronger than a parents love," Stahl mutters, beginning to walk away, "I always wished I'd spoken to mine more."

Scarlett clenches her jaw, "Everyone's stories are different. I wish things you never will."

Stahl stops, glancing over her shoulder, "Like?"

Scarlett stands up, "The usual." She turns on her heel and begins to head back in the direction towards the club, with Agent Stahl's eyes glaring holes into her back.

A roar of a familiar bike causes Scarlett to pull herself to a stop as her gaze meets Jax when he pulls the bike to a stop beside the sidewalk. Scarlett then looks over her shoulder at Stahl, who's smirk is so wide anyone can see it for a hundreds of feet away.

"Scar?" Jax calls quietly, his hand gently touching her wrist to grab her attention.

"What's going on with her, Jax?" Scarlett clears her throat and she pulls her wrist from his grasp so that she's able to cross her arms over her chest defensively, "She knew fucking everything about me, about us."

Jax's eyebrows furrow, and his head angrily snaps in Stahl's direction, but she's no longer anywhere to be seen. He turns back to Scarlett and he repositions himself on his feet, "It's all smoke. Look, they got nothing on Samcro. So now they're harassing people close to us." He sighs, "I'm sorry." Scarlett hums gently, whilst his eyes carefully examine her face, "You didn't say anything?" He asks.

She scoffs, "No. Of course not. I may be a murderer but I'm not a snitch. I should've asked her more about him."

"Kohn?" Jax shakes his head before dipping slightly catch her gaze once more after noticing how her mind is beginning to wonder after getting onto the heavy topic, "Scarlett, this will never blow back on you. That's a promise. I wouldn't let you get hurt."

As those words leave his lips, Scarlett's eyes slam closed to keep the tears contained and her chin falls to her chest to hide her face from his view completely. She'd heard Jax say things along those lines when they were younger, and she'd always wished that he followed up on that. But, then again, it wasn't his fault that she did such a great job of disguising the abuse.

Jax's finger gently tips her head up again, and her eyelids flicker open, "Okay?"

Her lip wobbles slightly, and to avoid him from catching on, she wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face in his chest. Taking a deep breath, one of his hands moves up to cradle the back of her head while another rubs her back. Despite the slightly embarrassing fact that they were in Charming town centre, Scarlett couldn't help but enjoy the moment.

After a few minutes, Jax leans back slightly to peer down at her face. He carefully brushed a few stray hairs behind her ears before speaking, "You need a ride back to the Club?"

She hums, "I'm ten minutes late for my afternoon shift."

He chuckles, allowing her to step away from the hug first and step towards his bike. She takes the helmet from the handlebars, no longer bothering for him to hand it over. Silently, the pair swing their legs over the bike and get comfortable with her arms tight around his middle and his back flush to her stomach.

"You ready?" He asks, hand resting on her thigh as he glances over his shoulder at her.

"Always am," She nods.

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     AFTER  ANOTHER drawling day of working behind the bar, Jax offered to drop Scarlett back to Jones' house as seen as Luke wasn't going to give up on working to get Camille out of her cell.

It'd been a while since Scarlett's been in a house alone, that's partially the reason that she returned to Charming after her brother was locked up. She hated the empty flat. It made her feel condensed and suffocated even though she had four empty rooms surrounding her.

Scarlett steps inside, kicking off her shoes before turning to Jax who's leant up against the door frame, dressed in a simple hoodie and his usual jeans.

"Thank you for the ride," She hums.

Sensing her slight worry, Jax's brows furrow, "I can stay."

She shakes her head, "No. I'm fine, trust me. It just takes a while for me to get used to an empty household."

He nods in understanding, "We'll get Jones out in no time, don't worry," He motions outside to his joke, "I'm gonna go."

She takes a step closer to him before he has chance to move, "What would've happened if we'd left together eight years ago?"

Jax bites his lip before sighing and shoving his hands into his jeans pockets, "We wouldn't have been able to leave together.You disappeared without telling anyone."

She rolls her eyes, "If I had suggest we go together, what would've happened?"

He glances at the ground for a moment, his eyes following the small cracks in the wood floorboards as his mind swims for a way to answer her question, "I don't know, Scar," He meets her gaze once more, "What would've happened if you stayed, and didn't leave me?"

She shrugs, "Maybe I wouldn't be a murderer."

"You aren't," His head shakes.

Her eyes narrow, "I pulled the trigger and fired the bullet that landed right between his eyes, Jax. It wasn't anyone else."

He sighs, "You're gonna get past this. You won't feel like this forever. Honestly, Scarlett."

She pulls her hands down her face before beginning to pace up and down the short entry hall of the house, "Your mom says that I have to end this. That whatever we're doing here can't work."

Jax's eyebrows raise in questioning, "You believe her?"

"What the fuck even is this?" She scoffs, motioning between them both, "I mean, is it just about the Kohn thing, or. . . or. . . What do you even want?"

His jaw clenches, "I want you to stop listening to my crazy mom and get some sleep," He pushes away from the door frame, just about to turn and leave when she opens her mouth once more.

"Jax," She snarls, "We can't just keep looking the other way. We need to talk about whatever the fuck this is. What the hell are we doing?"

He whirls around to face her with one of his raking through his hair, "Do you love me?"

Her eyes widen, and wander away from his face as she thinks thoroughly about the words that just left his lips.

He moves closer, "It's a simple question, babe."

She swallows thickly, a deep guilty pit growing in her stomach, "It's not simple to answer."

He hums, "I know," His eyes roam all over her face, watching as his words bury themselves deep in her heart, "Alright," He mumbles, taking one last step and grasping her face between his hands and catching her lips in a short kiss. She glances up at him through her eyelashes, her brows slightly knotted.

"I'm gonna go, okay?" He says softly, nodding his head back towards the door before stepping away from her, "Get some sleep."

She remains silent whilst she watches him close the door the door as he leaves, not bothering to glance back for one last goodbye before he turns his bike on. She squeezes her eyes closed and hides her face in her hands, slightly embarrassed that she stood and said nothing as he left. She'd never been stunned into silence by a man.

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       JAX, OPIE, LUKE AND UNSER sit parked in a van just a few hundred feet from Charming Police Stations front door, their eyes narrowed as they inspect their surroundings.

Unser turns in his seat to face the blonde biker in the passenger, "Dispatch is in a separate office. She won't hear us. Get to the cells through the back door."

Luke nods slowly as he listens to the information before his eyes hit Opie, who's sat opposite with his eyes burning intensely into the floor of the van. Luke's brows furrow in concern and he reaches forward, gently knocking his fist on Opie's knee, "Ope?" He calls, knocking his bearded friend out of his trance, "You good, bro?"

Opie grunts, "Yeah."

Unser clicks his finger, pointing out of the windscreen and the men huddled in the van watch as a large group of officers barrel out of the station and into their vehicles. Immediately, the sirens are flashing and they're flying out of the parking lot, leaving the station somewhat deserted.

As Opie moves to stand up, Jax throws his arm behind his seat, stopping his best friend from moving, "Stay here," He demands, "Call if anyone shows up."

Opie's brows furrow, "I thought you wanted me—"

"Just keep your eyes open, dude." Jax finishes before hopping out of the van, signalling for Luke to follow.

Sighing, Luke pats Opie's back before he throws open the van doors to leave, "Jax and I got this, man. Just keep look out for us." He slams the doors shut after sending Opie one last sympathetic look.

Unser leads both Jax and Luke silently through the station before they finally reach the cells. Quickly, they're given the keys before Unser dashes off to distract anyone necessary and the younger men step into the cell room, both of them shushing the ladies locked up around them.

"Holy shit," Cherry gasps.

"Luke?" Cami grumbles, the heels of her palms rubbing at her eyes as she slowly sits up on the small bed.

Luke dashes to her cell, his hands curling around the bars, "Have you been asleep? Well, at least one of us was bothered about your current fucking state."

Camille rolls her eyes, "It's not my first time in a cell, Luke."

Luke jaw grinds as he spots his girlfriends attire, "Where the fuck are your clothes?"

Glancing down at herself and spotting her tiny police woman foreplay outfit, Cami snorts, "They didn't give us chance to change. Fucking idiots dragged me out of the studio with my tit out."

Luke steps away from the bars for a moment to run his hands over his face in anger, "Well, at least you're not bothered."

"Hm. It's all part of the job," She shrugs carelessly, causing him to roll his eyes.

Jax leans against Luann's bars as she sits closely to hear what he has to say, "We think the feds are pressing Otto."

She nods frantically in agreement, "Something's going on. They're letting me see him tomorrow."

Head shaking, Jax hisses, "You gotta get a message to him, Luann. They're trying to use the RICO act against the club. You gotta tell Otto he can't give them any info, alright? Nothing. No matter how small or old."

She sighs, "Shit. Okay. I'll tell him."

Jax nods, sending her a short smile before moving over to Cherry's cell, "What are they asking you?"

She pushes back and forth on the bars, "Jax, you gotta. . . you gotta take me with you, man. Please."

"I can't," He denies.

"That bitch wants to send me back to Nevada," She hits her fists against the metal, trying to work out all her fear, "I'm gonna do hard time, like a hundred goddamn years. I can't do that. Your mom's right. I'll eat if I stay in here. I'll rat! Please take me with you."

Camille watches through her bars with a grimace pulled up on her face. She never particularly liked Cherry. Half-Sack was a lovely young man who deserved a woman clean of sins, and Cherry was far from that. Luke stands on the other side of his girlfriend's bars, his back leant against the metal with his arm's folded over his chest as he shakes his head at Cherry's words.

"Alright, alright! Shut up!" Jax quietens her, the keys jangling as he hurries to open her door before pulling her out quickly.

Camille laughs, throwing her head back, "Cherry, you little fucker."

Luke whirls around to face his girlfriend, his hands reaching through the bar to grab her face, "You gon' be okay for a little while longer, yeah?"

She nods, "I'll survive. You be careful."

Luke kisses her gently before Jax is yanking him away quickly and out into the hallway, where Unser's pacing back and forth with stress. The chief's eyes land on Cherry and he's rushing over immediately, his mind going even crazier than previously.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where the hell you going with her?" He hisses harshly.

Jax locks the room up, "We gotta take this one with us."

"You're bre— you're breaking her out?" Unser struggles to formulate a proper conversation he's that shocked.

"Hey, aren't you the police chief?" Cherry asks, head tilting as if she's completely innocent to everything going on.

Unser drags his hands over her face, "I got no idea what I am anymore."

Luke pushes Cherry towards the main entrance, "He's a friend."

Jax throws Unser the van keys before pointing to him and Luke, "You two put her in the van. I'm gonna check your office, see what I can find."

Luke's brows raise, "Sure you don't need any help?"

"Nah, man. I'm good. Just go," Jax waves them off before rushing around the corner, pulling his hat tighter to his head.

. . .

i hate this chapter
if you need any plot holes filling in that i fucked up,
then this is episode 10 of season 1

status quo is so sons of anarchy

word count,
3128