Everything Has Changed

*Come back and tell me why
I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time, oh, oh, oh.
And meet me there tonight
And let me know that it's not all in my mind

Tara Knowles watches the cars and bikes as they ride loudly in and out of the Teller-Morrow garage. Once upon a time she spent her high school days here, laughing and flirting with Jax or sparring with Gemma. As a mother she knows what Gemma means by being willing to do anything for your children, but in Tara's case that also means letting her children have their own lives. Gemma, well she had other plans. She looks to her right at the dilapidated playground that had once been so vibrant and filled with the laughter of the clubs many children, whose swings now blow empty in the hot California breeze and she isn't visiting the garage, she runs it. And Jax is no longer a part of her life.

She had spent the first 6 months after Jax's arrest trying to get him to talk to her. She thought that the day in the hotel, after making the deal with Patterson, when she finally told him she loved him for the first time since she'd been released, that maybe after he served his time he would come to wherever she was. Maybe he'd finally leave SAMCRO.

Making love to him felt perfect. Only an hour ago she had been so afraid of this man but right then, in the motel room, she couldn't remember why. She knew in her heart of hearts that he would never have hurt her.

That all to brief happiness ended abruptly when she realized he had cut her out of his life entirely. She wasn't allowed to visit him and he cut off all communication with the club as well. She was afraid for Jax and his safety, but the plan was that she take the boys and leave Charming. He had made her promise to move somewhere safe, away from the MC and start a new life for her and her kids.

So despite any idle hope she'd had for them she moved to Rosamond in Southern California that reminded her of Charming and she got a job pretty easily at the Antelope Valley hospital about 20 min from home so there's wasn't a huge commute which meant more time with her kids. Things were looking up. Though the reality of leaving the MC life behind was easier said then done. Once you were Jax Teller's old lady there wasn't a lot of anonymity in California and the drama of Charming followed her when she was recognized.

Not wanting to wait until thing went from bad to worse she packed up again and moved to Colorado. Getting an amazing job at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora. She finally relaxed. This wasn't just a new place, it was a whole new state. The weather was amazing. Summers were warm but not excruciatingly hot, though the winters made her miss California "winters" the kids loved the snow. The community was so welcoming and she hoped she had finally found her bliss.

The fresh start in Colorado provided her happiness and the ability to breath without looking over her shoulder. For two years. Then she met a man. He was funny, and intelligent and seemed light hearted in a way she had grown unaccustomed to.

Robert was an owner of a local bar, Clutch. Loud music and laughter filled the air most nights at the bar, as did motorcycles, and kuttes. She smiled and was friendly but didn't really socialize with anyone but Robert until one night six months into dating he told her that he was a part of the motorcycle family. The Sons of Silence (SOSMC).

Tara wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. The irony was not lost on her as he told her the sugar-coated version of what the MC was. How he wanted her to be his Old Lady and how they were all just big teddy bears that loved motorcycles. Conveniently leaving out that he had been one of Six Sons of Silence who were arrested by the ATF in April 2001 on the charges of trafficking cocaine, cannabis and methamphetamine, as well as firearms, throughout the state of Colorado. A quick Google search on him and the club gave her all the information she needed.

The next day she broke it off. Which Robert didn't take too well. She filed a restraining order after he tried to pick up Abel from school and smashed her hand in her car door when she tried to stop him. She was afraid for her children. Not that she really believed he would obey it but the RO was useless and she found no help from the police. After 3 months of him terrorizing her, Tara, unwilling to play a waiting game any longer did the only thing she could think of. She called Chibs. The guys showed up at her house two days later. Chibs, Juice, Happy, Tig, and a prospect the guys called Wicked Willie all smiled and hugged her. They were the only family she'd known for so long. She missed them so much more then she realized.

Chibs didn't waste any time. They quickly made their way to Clutch. Once they arrived on scene it didn't take long for an agreement to be reached. SOSMC out of respect for SAMCRO revoked Robert's patch. This wasn't his first offense and they seemed more then happy to take his kutte. There was no way they were going to create drama between the two clubs. In fact the visit turned to business quickly as the boys found a new way to earn by opening another Diosa in Colorado and cutting in the Sons of Silence. Pussy truly was the biggest, most constant income the club had, with two houses in NoCal, two in SoCal and Redwoody they were earning big and legal.

The guys spent the next two days visiting with Tara and the kids and setting up a house for the "companions ". Tara smiled as she recalled when Gemma had told her what Nero had said he did when they'd first met "I'm a companionator. I bring folks together. I'm all about the love."

She'd moved three times in the past three years and now that Robert had screwed up her hand her surgical days were over. As much as she wanted something different from life these years on the run from the MC made her realize that these men were her family. This MC was in her blood, her DNA, and danger was everywhere.

Now that SOA was out of guns and earning legally the things she feared the most for Her, Jax and their kids were no longer factors. When it was time for them to leave Tara realized she wanted to leave with them. Wanted to go home. Chibs was not sure it was the right thing to do. He had after all promised Jax that Tara would get a better life but even though he knew he should have fought her harder on this he missed her and the kids. With them around it was like having a small piece of Jax, of First 9 back where it belonged and it just felt right. So he and the guys helped Tara pack up her apt and the kids and moved her home.

Tara sat in the Teller-Morrow garage and smiled at the rebuilt club house where she and the kids had lived for the first few month of her return.

"Aye Lassie where your head be at today?" Chibs says as he enters the room planting a sweet kiss on her forehead.

Tara pulls him back for another quick kiss. "I was just thinking about getting one of the guys to fix up the swing set but after that kiss I'm kind of distracted."

Chibs smirks as he walks into one of the work bays to put the brakes on a Audi. Tara smiled. If you asked her she's not sure she could pinpoint when exactly things between her and Chibs had turned from friends to more then friends. It wasn't exactly about love. More like companionship and it was a complete surprise to her, but it, He, made her happy and she loved the way Able and Thomas hung on his every word and the way he looked when he held Charlie who would be 6 in June and looked more like her daddy every day. Dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes and a smile that lit up the room and Chibs loved her like she was his own.

* Lyrics from Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift

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