OCTOBER

HALLOWEEN, EMERSON'S FAVORITE HOLIDAY was finally here. The blonde excitedly dressed up, she didn't care about how old she was or that most saw Halloween as night for childish behavior, Emerson would always love Halloween and the feeling she always felt whenever the holiday finally came.

A smile formed on Emerson's face as she looked over her makeup covered face in the mirror. She had decided to outdo herself this year with her costume, even Noah had agreed it was her best one yet.

Satisfied with her appearance she made her way down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen where the large bowl of candy sat on the counter. Emerson always made sure to get a lot of candy for the night, she knew her house was one that a lot of the neighborhood kids came to — they all knew she give out the best candy.

A knock on the door made the smile on Emerson's face grow wider, quickly with the large bowl in her hands she made her way towards the door.

"Trick or treat!" The group of children yelled once Emerson pulled the door open.

"Wow! All of your costumes look amazing!" The blonde smiled as she placed a handful of candy in each kids bag.

"Thank you Ms June!" The kids yelled with wide smiles on their faces before they all hurried down the steps, ready for the next house.

Emerson waved towards the waiting parents, watching with a bit of nostalgia. It had been years since Noah was their age and Emerson could fondly remember when she used to be one of those waiting parents. Now, Noah was almost out of high school and doing her own thing on Halloween.

The June woman shook her head as she closed the door. She was by herself for the night while Noah spent the night at the Halloween dance with her friends. North River had been doing the Halloween dance for as long as Emerson could remember. It was the Halloween dance where she had found out she was pregnant all those years ago.

Emerson made her way towards the living room ready to watch some classic horror movies and eat a ton of snacks. Normally she would of been at June's Place right now behind the bar with Tilly, but Tilly had a date for the night and her parents decided that Emerson too should enjoy the night off, though she was certain her parents were hoping she would have a date too instead of just handing out candy and watching movies all night.

For years her parents — specifically her mom had been trying to set Emerson up on dates in hopes their daughter would find herself a nice man, but it never worked out for her. It didn't help that she knew every single man in North River and most of them were very boring, not to say they weren't nice it's just that they weren't what she was looking for. Hell, even Emerson didn't truly know what she was looking for in a man, but it definitely wasn't any man that North River had to offer.

Another knock on the door pulled Emerson from her thoughts as she got up from the couch and made her way towards the door, looking back over her shoulder quickly to see her favorite part the movie on tv.

"Happy Halloween!" Emerson yelled as she pulled the door open, her eyes going wide for a moment as it wasn't any kids dressed up on her porch waiting for candy instead there stood Jax Teller with a smirk growing on his face while his blue eyes took in Emerson's costume.

"Jax, hi! Sorry I thought you were some trick or treaters." A blush formed on Emerson's face as she stared wide eyed at the blonde man.

A chuckle left his throat while rubbing a hand over his growing beard. He honestly didn't know why he felt compelled to make his way over to Emerson's home tonight but he just did. There was something about the blonde woman that made him want to be around her.

"Nice costume." He smiled with approval in his voice. "I love the whole classic final girl look." He grinned as his blue eyes once again took in Emerson's costume.

"Thank you." Emerson smiled. "Would you like to come in?" She offered while stepping aside to let him in. She wasn't sure why he was here exactly, but she didn't mind it.

"I'm not really sure why I'm here." Jax admitted as he stepped inside, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I was just lonely and wanted to see a familiar face." He shrugged, internally shaking his head at himself for how stupid and desperate he sounded. Jax wouldn't fault Emerson if she told him to leave.

A soft smile formed on the blonde woman's lips. "I'm glad I'm a familiar face for you."

Emerson didn't know much about Jax Teller, but she knew enough to know that the man was sad. His eyes always looked broken and the many nights he spent drinking at June's Place told her enough to realize that Jax had been through some shit in his life.

An appreciative smile formed on his lips. It had been a while since Jax felt like spending some time with anyone other than himself. He kept to himself, not willing to open up to anyone in North River, hoping in keeping to himself that no one else would ever get hurt because of him again. Tara's death had left him broken and then having to make the decision to give his sons a better life by letting them go with Wendy and Nero only caused him to shut himself off from everyone. No one could fix the brokenness inside of him, but whenever he saw Emerson he felt a little bit better.

"Well, I'm not doing anything fun but watching some movie and eating a ton of snacks, but you're welcome to join me." Emerson offered with a smile.

Jax thought about her offer for a moment. He could just leave right now and go back to drinking by himself, not allowing anyone close to him, but he couldn't. It was a lonely life he was living and he couldn't stand it much longer.

Jax nodded with a smile. "I'd love to join you, Emerson."

"Great!" She smiled with enthusiasm. "I hope you're a fan of John Carpenter." She added as they made their way into the living..

"Who isn't?" Jax scoffed at the thought.

"You'd be surprised." Emerson stated matter of factly as she sat down on the couch, making herself comfortable as Halloween played on the tv.

Jax sat down next to her, his body stiff before finally relaxing and allowing himself to get comfortable. Maybe tonight would be the night Jax Teller allowed himself not to feel so broken anymore.

——

an:
Eh not my best chapter.