❛ Are we crazy, Jax? ❜

chapter seventeen.

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     IT DIDN'T TAKE long for Scarlett to break her sacred rule of only having one cigarette a week if necessary. Because as she strolls down the hallway to Jax's dorm, she places a cig between her lips and lights it before shoving the lighter back into her pocket. She knocks on his door gently, waiting for a murmur from the other side to confirm she can enter.

"Come in," He calls quietly.

She nudges it open slowly, stepping inside and clicking it closed behind her. Jax is sat back in an armchair in the corner of his room, a book sat on his spread legs as he closes it. She takes refuge on the end of his bed, crossing her legs as she breaths out a cloud of smoke.

"Reading your dad's stuff again?" She questions, remembering back to their short conversation on the rooftop when she'd caught him reading the same thing.

"Yeah," He nods slowly, "It all kinda helps me figure shit out when I'm lost."

"How are you lost at the moment?" Her head tilts, his words strangely hitting her heart, "Anything I can do to help?"

Jax takes a deep breath, his foot begin to tap anxiously on the floor. Scarlett waits patiently for him to reply, not bothering to press or ask more questions. She knows he'll speak eventually, she may just have to wait, and she accepts that. She stubs out her cigarette, flicking it into the bin by his bed while she waits for him, her eyes only flitting away from him for a millisecond.

"I've been waking up everyday since Abel was born with a. . . sick feeling," He swallows thickly, his eyes trained on his lap and refusing to meet her gaze, "Wondering who was gonna die today. And it scares the shit out of me, Scar." He finally looks up at her, nearly crumbling further at the worry behind her eyes, "And then I woke up this morning, it was gone," His chin drops again, his lips quivering slightly, "I think that scares me more."

"Hey," Scarlett calls, quickly moving from her spot on the bed. She kneels between his legs in front of the armchair, her hands resting gently on his thighs as she looks up at him, "How can I help you, Jax? What. . . What can I do?"

His eyes flicker to meet hers, an unusual look of terror behind them, "Don't go anywhere."

She falls silent, slightly shocked by his request but she nods in acceptance nonetheless. One of her hands raises to rest on his bearded cheek, "I'm not. I'm not going anywhere, Jax. Okay? I promise."

He smiles very slightly, the corners of his lips only just raising and he runs his palm over the back of her head gently, "Tara's okay. She's in recovery. She told me to thank you for her. Said she's moving out of Charming when she's discharged. I told her about the whole robbery cover-up. She agreed to tell Hale the same story."

Scarlett nods in understanding and happiness, "Good, that's good. I should probably go speak to her too," She pushes away from him and stands up, running a hand through her hair before looking back at him, "You ready to head back out? Pretty sure they're moving Cameron now so that you boys can have your meeting."

"How was my mom?" He asks as he stands up as well, carefully setting down his father's notes on his desk, "Give you any hassle?"

"She always manages to," Scarlett nods, "Nothing too bad. We fought over best friends."

Jax's brows furrow as he laughs, "You kidding?"

Scarlett chuckles, shaking her head, "Nah. It was great entertainment for everyone."

"I'm sure Chibs loved it," Jax snorts, pulling open his bedroom door and letting her exit first before he follows after.

"Sure did, the little instigating old man." Scarlett teases as they walk down the hallway side by side, watching as Tig, Chibs and Juice wheel Cameron around on his new bed.

"Better not be talking about me, Letty lass!" Chibs shouts towards her as they pass one another and he struggles to keep up with the speed of the bed.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Scarlett yells back to him, causing Jax to snicker quietly as Chibs shouts incoherently further down the hallway.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

THE CLUB quickly quietened down after the Sons meeting, and with Cameron now away from being the centre of attention. Scarlett spent a few more hours behind the bar by herself, as seen as the rest of the boys were at another fight at the barn. The only men who she ended up serving, as she drained through her shift, were mechanics from the garage who were wanting a quiet drink before their returned home to their families.

She took the opportunity to get to know a few more of them. Lowell hadn't been at the garage for a few days, and she could only presume something has gone down with him and the Sons as no one seemed bothered enough to talk about him.

Half an hour before the end of her shift, Camille and Luke stroll through the door. Luke laughs as he follows after his girlfriend, whilst she strides with a scowl towards her best friend. The couple take refuge on the squeaky bar stools, and Scarlett narrows her eyes at them slightly.

"Shouldn't you be at the fight, Luke?" Scarlett tilts her head at the man, sensing Camille's current distaste for him.

"Couldn't leave her to come home by herself, could I?" Luke shrugs, motioning to the grumpy lady beside him.

Camille rolls her eyes, straightening up as she turns her full attention to the woman behind the bar, "Scarlett, where the fuck did you disappear to last night? I tried calling Jax when you didn't come home after an hour, like you said, but it went straight to voicemail, I guessed he was already with you."

Scarlett nods as she slides the cigarette packet out of her jeans pocket, "He was."

Luke leans closer to her, his eyes as narrow as slits as he inspects the packet of cigs resting on the bar as Scarlett lights one, "They mine?" He questions.

She smirks, not giving him a verbal answer, but he knows the answer all too well. His finger raises to jab in her face, "You thieving little shit—"

Camille smacks his finger down, her eyes not leaving Scarlett's face as she returns to the previous topic, "What happened last night then? You were together all night, Scarlett. I need to know more."

Luke smiles, fingers tapping frantically on the bar in excitement, "You fucked him, didn't you?"

She chuckles at his enthusiasm, blowing out a cloud of smoke before answering, "Other way around, but yeah. We slept together."

Camille's jaw drops, while her boyfriend jumps out from his seat just so that he can hunch over and let out a hoarse cough of shock, his hands dropping to his knees. Scarlett purses her lips, turning around to deal with some dishes while Camille continues to stare silently at her back and Luke returns to his seat just to rub at his eyes with the heel of his palms.

Scarlett spins around again, nearly two minutes later, only to find them
both in the same position and she lets out a laugh, a cloud of smoke following soon after.

"Jesus christ, Cami," Scarlett snorts, "Shut your mouth, you're gonna start catching fucking flies."

"She's got too used to having her mouth open at work," Luke teases, "She does this a lot."

Camille's jaw slowly closes and she rotates on her seat to glare at her boyfriend, "Not in the mood right now, Luke. I'm not."

"Right, yeah, sorry," Luke's hands raise into the air in a surrender, as he pulls his lips into a line before slowly turning away from her, "Let's return to the subject."

"You had sex with him?" Camille's voice is just shy from a shout and Scarlett partially jumps forward and slaps her.

"Shut the fuck up, would you?" Scarlett scolds, "Don't need the whole club to know my sex life."

"Well, there ain't much for 'em to know, is there? When was the last time you fucked someone? What, a decade ago?" Luke clicks his tongue.

Scarlett and Camille redirect their gazes to him, their eyes turning harsh as soon as they land on him. He cowers under their glares, nodding frantically in an understanding to shut up, and the two women return to the previous conversation.

"I can't believe it," Camille laughs, reaching across the bar to smack her palms quickly against Scarlett's bare arms.

"Only taken you long enough," Luke mutters to himself, "About ten years over due," He feels their glares burning into him once again and he turns his head to face them, "What? I'm not wrong, am I? There was plenty of sexual tension when we were teenagers, let alone now."

Camille sighs, "He is actually right. I think everyone knew you were gonna end up having sex at some point."

"You think? You should know, as seen as Luann's always fucking asking if they've fucked yet," Luke says, "Even when Scarlett was in the city. She's very strange that woman, you know."

"She runs a porn business," Cami rolls her eyes, "What do you expect?"

"A small sign of sanity, I don't know," Luke shrugs.

Camille's jaw clenches, "Stop being horrid, for fucks sake, Luke."

Scarlett stubs her cigarette out, flicking it into the ash tray at the end of the bar whilst she inspects the hard tension between the couple, "What's up with you both tonight? Whole lot of arguing going on."

Cami's gaze flicks momentarily to the man beside her, "You gonna tell her, or I'm gonna have to?"

Without speaking, Luke just points at his girlfriend, like a child trying to communicate with his mother without getting into more trouble.

Rolling her eyes, Camille begins to explain, "He proposed to me."

Scarlett clicks her tongue, glancing between them both in confusion but Luke refuses to even look in her direction in embarrassment, "Is that not a. . . good thing?"

"At the fight, Scarlett," Camille adds, "At the fight."

Scarlett nods, "Ah."

"He knows how much I hate the nasty event," Camille now starts to rant. She closes her eyes and her hands begin to move as she depicts her anger and Luke groans quietly from beside her, not looking forward to hearing all of his wrongs again, "And he gets down onto one knee in the middle of the crowd, and this is Charming, where everyone's so fucking nosey, so they're all squawking and watching us. You can imagine what it's like having the Sons, and a bunch of other random drunk men cheering the dickhead on. What the fuck was I supposed to do? Stand there like I scarecrow and just gawk at him like it's some romance film before screaming yes and letting him spin me around? Yeah, fuck no. So what did I do?" She stops, waiting for a response. When she doesn't receive one, she smacks her boyfriend arms harshly, causing him to jump, "What did I do, Luke?"

Luke rolls his eyes, looking guilty at Scarlett as he answers, "She said no."

Scarlett let's out a loud laugh, causing a few of the men dotted around the club to glance in her direction.

"Now," Camille holds her hands out, "I didn't say no cause I don't love him. I want to get married, he knows this. But I ain't getting proposed to at a fight. I don't know who you think I am, Luke Caddal, but I ain't no white sleezy chick."

"Ah, right, how could I forget," He clicks his fingers, "you're just someone who has sex with white sleezy chicks for work."

This time, she ignores his remark, probably because she can't hear it over all the anger building up in her mind, "Men. Why, oh why, did I chose one?"

"Because, he's the only man you can bare," Scarlett reminds her.

"Barely," Camille mutters.

"I'm gonna ignore that and focus on the fact that I'm the only male you actually like," Luke slides from the stool, one of his hands resting on Camille's back as he presses a kiss to the side of her head before he steps away, "I'm off for a piss. Don't chat too much shit while I'm gone."

"We won't," Scarlett smiles, waving him off as she disappears down the hallway.

Camille finally lets a smile blossom across her cheeks, "I love him."

Scarlett snorts, "You have done since we were teenagers. You really should have said yes, Cami. He's never gonna live that done, even if you say yes next time."

Camille smirks, "Well, it has been a while since I've had something to tease him for," Her eyes float over to the ash tray set on the bar, and her brows furrow at the sight of the many cigarette ends laying in the bottom, "What happened to the one a week if necessary?"

Scarlett swallows thickly, shrugging, "Honestly couldn't tell you."

Cami continues to push, not believing her best friend for a second, "Your parents bothering you again? Donna told me you had a little run in with them at the fundraiser a week ago."

"Haven't spoken to them since then," Scarlett discards.

With concern, Camille's head tilts, "Scarlett."

"Camille." She copies.

"I don't need you running off on us again," She leans closer so that she can soften her tone slightly, "You have the chance to get help this time, yeah? We're all open to helping you with anything, Scar."

"I know, but I don't need help, okay?" Scarlett forces a warming smile onto her lips, "I'll always tell you if I'm struggling, you know I will."

"You didn't last time," Cami mumbles.

"I was terrified last time," Scarlett replies simply.

"Why? Please, Scar, just—"

"No," Scarlett shakes her head, subtly holding up her palm to signal a stop of the topic.

Camille hums in understanding, sitting back in her seat slowly before standing up altogether, "Well, it's probably best if Luke and I head home, talk over some of this shit." She leans over the bar, pulling Scarlett into an awkward hug, both of their stomachs digging into the wood, "Keep me updated on you and Jax," She smirks happily before stepping back to look down the hallway, "Luke!"

"Yeah?" Luke's voice echoes down the corridor.

"Hurry up!" Cami rolls her eyes, running a hand through her hair as she watches her boyfriend run up to her, his hands clutching at his full pockets, "Say bye to Scarlett."

Luke refrains making a mom comment, and instead offers Scarlett a small wave and a sweet smile, "Bye. You coming home tonight?"

"Not sure," Scarlett answers, "Depends on what—"

"Jax wants," Camille and Luke finish for her in unison, both of them sending eager nudges into their guts.

Scarlett flicks them off, "Fuck you both."

With one last smile, the couple head out of the clubhouse into the night, and Scarlett hears Luke shout one last stupid comment about sex before the roar of his bike follows.

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

   SCARLETT HEARS as a set of footsteps move into the clubhouse, and she doesn't bother looking up from the glasses she's cleaning, automatically presuming that the gentle steps belong to one of the Sons returning from the fight slightly early. But as some clears her throat behind her, her body stills before she slowly rotates on the spot, her eyes landing on Hale.

He presses his lips into a smile, motioning his head towards the door whilst his hands tap on his legs, "You mind having a chat now?"

Scarlett dries her hands, nodding, "Yeah, sure. I'm just finishing up, anyway." She slips out from the bar, following Hale out of the door and he sits down on the picnic bench, causing her to sit opposite him.

"You feeling slightly better?" He asks.

She hums, "Slightly. Jax was telling me that Tara's stable, so that's made me feel better."

Hale nods slowly, grabbing his notepad from his pocket and flipping it open before clicking his pen on, "Can you run through the events of that night? Your side of things, Tara's already told me hers."

Scarlett shivers slightly due to the cold night on her bare arms before she begins, "Cami and I were at home, planning on watching a movie 'cause all the boys were busy. As soon as we—"

"Camille Jones, I'm guessing?" Hale tilts his head, the pen scribbling along the page and she fights the urge to lean forward and read what he's dashing down.

"Yeah," She answers, swallowing down the harsh sarcasm because she thought it was fairly obvious who she was talking about. She's got two female friends, for fucks sake. And Donna has children, so she wouldn't enjoying a movie with Scarlett at the usual time for bed for a stay at home mother. She returns to the main topic with a nod, "As soon as we sat down, I got a call from Tara. She was telling me someone was in the house, and then she started screaming so I left the house as fast as possible."

"On foot?" He peers up at her.

She shakes her head, "Oh, god no. I took Cami's truck. I got to Tara's in roughly twenty five to thirty minutes. All her lights were on and I couldn't see much movement so I just went it, which is when I found her on her bedroom floor. . . bleeding out." She bites her lip.

He clicks his tongue, "Then?"

"I called Jax and the ambulance and then I moved her to the living room."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted her to be comfortable while she died?" She rolls her eyes, "Why do you think, Sherlock? I moved her so the paramedics could get to her quicker and had more room to work."

He clenches his jaw slightly, his eyes flicking over the last few notes he jotted down, "Do you remember the specific time you made it to Tara's?"

"No. . ." Her brows furrow, "I was slightly busy. You know, dealing with a half-dead woman, who'd just been fucking shot."

He ignores her, "Did you happen to see anyone leave the property as you were arriving?"

"No. . ." She repeats, "If I did, I would've told you. 'Cause, I don't know about you but, I don't feel particularly safe knowing there's a person breaking into women's houses and shooting them."

Scarlett's well aware she shouldn't be speaking to a police officer like this, especially not when it's about how Tara got shot only a night previous. But feeling the reassurance of Jax's protection has made her somewhat cocky recently. Hale would never dare try make a major move against a woman involved with the V.P of the club, they both know this.

Hale rubs at his jaw as his other hands flips his notepad closed, "Little late for you to be working, isn't it?" His gaze drops to his watch, making sure that the last time he read was the only hours of the morning.

Scarlett begins to stands up from the bench, shrugging, "I'm waiting for Jax to get back. I might as well do some extra hours," She licks her lips, wiping deceit all over them like lip gloss before she says, "Any news on Kohn? He's definitely not coming back?"

As he starts to make his way towards his car, he shakes his head certainly, "Haven't heard anything, but I'm sure after Jax stabbed him with some barbers scissors that he won't be coming back anytime soon."

Scarlett forces a little chuckle out of her mouth at his poor attempt to make something good out of the event, "That's good."

The loud rumble of bikes fills the yard as the Sons return, the large black gates sealing closed behind them. They each roll into their parking sports, one beside the other. Hale turns and watches them all, nodding subtly to Clay as he starts to unclip their helmets. Noticing the presence of the police officer beside Scarlett, Jax quickly balances his helmet on the handlebars before sliding off his bike and marching towards Hale.

"Something happened I need to know about?" Jax's brows furrow, his eyes flicking momentarily between Hale and Scarlett, noticing the tension hanging in the air.

As Scarlett opens her lips to reply, Hale is quick to speak first, taking a small step closer to the blonde biker, "Everything's fine."

Jax's eyes narrow, his shoulders broadening as he senses the attempt at dominance from Hale, "What're you still doing here then?"

A sigh rattles the cop's body, "I was just leaving."

Jax's brows raise, and he steps to the side, signalling for Hale to walk past, "Don't let me stop you."

Hale hums, glancing over his shoulder at the woman and offering her a goodbye nod, "Thank you, Scarlett. Stay safe. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again."

Scarlett smiles, raising her hand lazily as a return to his gesture, "I'm sure."

Once Hale has slid back into the driver's seat in his car and started the engine, Jax steps in front of Scarlett, brows beginning to furrow once more in concern as he studies her tight expression.

"You okay?" He asks.

"Fucking freezing," She replies with a smirk.

The blonde rolls his eyes before throwing his arm over her shoulder, tugging her into his side and then leading them both into the clubhouse, following after the rest of the Sons.

"Everything alright?" Chibs jumps up onto a bar stool, a slight sign of worry rooted behind his eyes as he looks across the room at Scarlett, "What'd he want?"

"Nothing," Scarlett waves him off, "What do you want to drink?"

She goes to step away from Jax and move behind the bar, but Jax's hand drops to her wrist and drags her back into his side. She twists to look at him in confusion, and he smiles.

"You aren't working anymore today, Scar," He tuts, "It's nearly half two in the morning. Half-Sack'll do it," He motions to the prospect with his index finger before beginning to walk Scarlett towards the dorms.

"Women are used to working all hours, Jackie Boy," Chibs calls teasingly, and as Scarlett passes him, she reaches her hand out and smacks him across the back of the head, causing him to grunt before a chuckle escapes him.

"Night!" Jax calls back to the group, raising a hand back to them.

"Don't forget the rest of us are sleeping here too!" Tig's voice follows after them, as he cranes his head around the corner to look at their backs as they descended the hallway, "Don't wanna hear no noises!"

"You wouldn't be able to hear 'em if they were fecking screaming," Chibs rolls his eyes at his close friend, "You're about as deaf as a naked mole rat."

"Looks like one too," Juice adds quietly before quickly downing the rest of his beer to hide what he just said.

Tig jabs his index finger at him harshly, his head tilting daringly, "I hear that, you little shit."

Hearing the childish argument from afar, Jax laughs quietly as he clicks open his dorm room, holding the door open for Scarlett as she enters with him following shortly after. As she settles down on his bed, yawning and stretching her arms, Jax begins to shuffle through his clothes door, throwing her t-shirt.

"Throw that on," He mutters.

She curls the t-shirt in her fist, staying silent as she watches him throw his kutte off and his t-shirt over his head, leaving himself shirtless and his club tattoo on full display. He keeps his back to her as he releases his belt and slides out of his jeans. Scarlett feels the red flow to her cheeks as he drops his boxers before jumping into a pair of loose grey joggers. Running a hand through his hair, he turns around once more, coming to a quick stop when he finds her still dressed, her eyes admiring him.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Jax teases.

Scarlett can't seem to tear her eyes away from his abs and how his joggers hang so loosely that they only just cover up his junk, leaving his v-line on full display above the waistband.

He clicks his fingers in front of her face, "Earth to Scarlett."

Her head snaps up to him, "Don't remember you ever looking like that when we were teenagers."

"Mhm. Pubity did good shit for me," He nods his head towards the bathroom, "Go get changed."

She stands up, frowning jokingly, "Don't want me to strip tease, like you just did?"

He drops down onto his bed, running a hand over his bearded jaw as he attempts to take his wishful smirk, "Trust me, I want you to. But it's late, and I'll get my fucking arse whipped by Chibs if he hears you."

She clicks her tongue, slowly stepping back to the bathroom, "If he hears me? You nearly woke the dead with your moans last night."

He crosses his arms behind his head, his biceps flexing at the slight strain, "Well, good thing I didn't wake 'em, 'cause then I'd have to kill Josh Kohn again."

Scarlett snorts quietly, "He deserves it," She disappears into the bathroom, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"Damn right, he does," She hears him mumble from the other side, "Wish I'd killed him myself."

A few minutes later, Scarlett re-emerges from the bathroom and she drops her clothes carelessly on the floor by his set of drawers. She walks slowly, eyes raising to meet his while he's laid back in his bad, the duvet low enough to keep his whole torso on display.

His eyes float over to her, a small smile breaking out across his lips as he glances her up and down. He chuckles lowly as the navy Sons of Anarchy t-shirt hangs half way down her thighs, "That's a good look for you."

She tilts her head, opening her arms wider to show how much it hangs away from her skin, "You think?" She trudges over, and he raises his hand slightly. With a soft expression, she wraps her fingers around his, allowing their hands to stay interlocked as she slides under the duvet with him.

They shuffle around slightly, until she's comfortably resting her head on his bare chest and his arms are wrapped safely around her. While her fingertips dance on his stomach, she raises her head to meet his eyes, and for a split moment, the face in front of hers is the exact same as Jax's when he was ten years younger. No beard, his hair much longer, and the tension causing his eyebrows to furrow was years away from existing.

He notices her deep in thought while his hand continues to rub and down her arm, "What you thinking about?"

"Are we crazy, Jax?" She mutters.

He exhales deeply, causing her head to fall with his chest, "I'll answer that."

She doesn't really need him to. She knows the answer, she knew the answer when she was fifteen, and she knows it for certain now. Scarlett Miller has felt crazy since the first day she watched all the young children with their parents, happy and smiling.

She hums lowly before tipping her head up and catching his lips in hers. Jax begins to roll over her, his hand raising to her cheeks while he hovers over her. Her hands plant themselves on his tatted back, scraping along his skin.

None of this will ever end well.

. . .

a soft long ass chapter

word count,
4650