A/N (( New story involving Jax takes place during the earlier seasons, No Tara sorry. Rated for mild swearing more chapters to come.))

The sun cresting over the California hills was a bright golden hue against the green leafed oak trees dotting the landscape. The summer heat was already climbing well past 80 degrees and it wasn't even seven o'clock in the morning. Peeking into the rear view mirror the sight of boxes and various household items blocked her view and she found the excitement of her newfound adventure returning, a large carved decorative wooden sign reading "Welcome to Charming." Was coming up ahead smiling brightly Lana gave an excited cheer, eight hours of driving from coast had finally paid off her fresh start was only miles away now the feeling of true freedom finally allowed to settle into her heart.

Driving slowly through the sleepy town it was clear to her that things ran in a steady pace here even so early in the morning the store fronts were getting ready for business, shop owners setting out specials and menu plaques out on the sidewalks. The neighborhoods seemed to run in a flow of high end to more modest housing, the particular property in which Lana had been able to afford was located in what had probably been the upper end of Charming twenty years ago. The houses now older and probably in great need of some repair, the paint on the outside of some of the houses had been redone a few of the yards in a state of deconstruction as it appeared some of its residents were eager to bring up property value any way they could.

The beat up dark green Nissan slowed as it approached the correct address leaning down she looked through the open passenger window eyes squinting against the bright morning light. The property she'd rented through an online ad was a small one story two bedroom one bath its once bright blue paint peeling and the front yard looked as if it had seen better days. Most people would be a little bit more than disappointed but not Lana the house may have been a little rough around the edges but it was hers. Parking in the driveway she climbed out of the car hands rubbing the small of her back in slow easy circles as she surveyed the property already making a mental check list of to-do's.

Walking up to the front door she bent down to grab the large manila envelope poking out of the mail slot the sound of keys jangling around as she opened the flap. A packet of papers and a double set of brass keys were its only contents and she wasted no time in grabbing a set of keys and opening the door. Slowly walking inside she found the inside of the house was in slightly better shape than the outside of it, nothing a deep cleaning couldn't cure. The entry way was small opening up to a decent sized living room and kitchen, the hard wood floors were a worn in some places but a few well placed rugs could remedy this. One of the bedrooms that she assumed was the guest ran directly off of the kitchen and the master on the opposite side of the house down a small narrow hallway.

The master was a humble sized room only large enough for a full sized bed and a dresser perhaps a floor lamp, the houses only bathroom located just beside the closet. The bathroom was painted in a pale mint green color a three piece set up with toilet, double sink, and standing bathtub with shower. Walking back into the kitchen Lana set down the manila envelope on the counter figuring she should bring in her meager possessions out of the car. She'd ordered some furniture online a week ago intending for it to arrive the same day she did and with any hope the truck would be pulling up by late this afternoon, plenty of time to give the house a good scrubbing.

Three hours later and Lana stood back proudly admiring her hard work she'd managed to clean the entire house and all she had left to do was wait for the furniture to arrive. Walking out to the front yard she eagerly peeked down the street ears listening intently for anything that sounded like a delivery truck. Unbeknownst to Lana, her next door neighbor was kneeling down in his driveway a Harley Davidson Dyna beside him, glancing back and forth between changing the oil and observing her. His blue eyes regarding the young woman with curiosity he hadn't noticed the car parked in the driveway until he'd begun changing the oil on the Dyna. The sound of music filtering out of the open windows his next clue that someone had finally rented that beat up house. Imagination inventing various identities to the new neighbor it was probably a single guy, in the worst case scenario an old woman with twelve cats. God he hoped it wasn't that.

When the young woman had come walking out of the house to look down the street hands shoved in the back pockets of her small blue jean shorts Jackson Teller had stood up a little straighter. This definitely wasn't some old woman with a bunch of cats. His new neighbor was petit probably only 5" 3 slender and athletic likely to be in her mid twenties, wearing a pair of tight fitting low rise shorts and a v-neck black shirt a hot pink bandana twisted and tied up in a knot at the crown of her head long honey golden brown hair pulled into a messy pony tail. She had long legs for her petit size toned and tan showing she'd spent a healthy amount of time outside, turning back towards the house he could see she had bright green eyes the color of emeralds.

Right as he was about to go introduce himself his prepay vibrated in his pocket interrupting his intentions. Rolling his eyes as he saw it was his mother calling Jax turned his back to the house next door voice hardly trying to hide his irritation. "What is it Ma?" He could just imagine his mother holding the phone back to stare at it less than thrilled with his tone, her response showed him as much. "Don't 'what' me Jackson…Your junkie ex-wife is here complaining to me about her rights as a parent I can send her to you or you can get your ass down here and handle this." Pinching the bridge of his nose Jax sighed loudly into the phone. "I'll be there in thirty minutes, try not to kill each other until I get there…to fuckin early for this shit." Gemma laughed now. "You're telling me." Hanging up Jax spared one more glance at the house next door his new neighbor having gone inside already. Finishing up his work on the bike he snapped on his helmet leaving the mess in his driveway to handle later, the day was already shaping up to be a long one.

Lana flipped over the instructions for assembling the bed around in her hands for the millionth time, tongue touching her upper lip in concentration. She'd managed to put together the four person dining set in the kitchen and thankfully the love seat had already come preassembled, but the bed was proving to be more of a challenge. With a huff she threw down the instructions scratching her brow as she realized it was nearly 6pm the day had flown by and she'd failed to even have lunch. The bag of leftover cookies in her car seemed massively unappealing and Lana decided she'd just sleep on the love seat tonight tackle the bed in the morning, right now she was starving. Grabbing a change of clothes from her suitcase she went into the bathroom getting a good look at herself, she had dirt smeared across her cheek and her shirt had a few stray packing peanuts attached to it. Laughing she plucked them off thankful she'd thought to change before she went into town to buy groceries.

Changing shirts to a pink t-shirt with black rhinestone angel wings on the back she brushed out her hair pulling it into a neater pony tail. Taking a moment to apply a light touch of powdered foundation and blush her lips already a natural pink hue she didn't need lipstick. She'd seen a diner on her way through main street and that would do just fine, a burger and fries sounded like heaven she'd hit the grocery store on her way home. Half way to the diner Lana had changed her mind deciding to just grab things for sandwich's and breakfast and a case of beer she hadn't realized just how tired she was until she sat back down in the car again. When she pulled back up to her house an hour later she was able to start unloading her car, the obvious problem with shopping on an empty stomach apparent by the numerous bags taking up her entire back seat.

As she struggled to carry the final paper bags full of groceries in a single trip Lana heard the roar of a motorcycle coming down the street and pulling into the driveway next door. Unable to see over her arm load of bags she heard rather than saw her new neighbor. His voice smooth and warm sounding.

"Hey you need some help there darlin?"

Stopping mid step Lana smiled before she realized he couldn't see her face.

"Actually, yes I do thanks." She said allowing them to take one of the bags from her.

With a clear view she was met with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. They belonged to a tall, slender and yet well muscled man with blonde hair cut short. The barest hint of a goatee, he was wearing pair of blue jeans and white K-Swiss shoes and a short sleeved white shirt with a black leather vest, leather gloves on his hands. A few moments passed by before Lana realized she was just standing there with her mouth open she closed it quickly eliciting a chuckle from her neighbor. Turning she pointed towards the house.

"Uh Yeah...Come on in…" She said her face crimson red with embarrassment.

Lana scolded herself inside her mind telling herself to get her shit together. She may have just won the lottery on new neighbors but that didn't mean she had to make a fool of herself in front of him.

Following her inside Jax chuckled more finding it thoroughly amusing. Letting his eyes scan her home as he entered he found it was a modest set up noticing right away that she didn't seem to have much, there weren't even any boxes to unpack. Setting the groceries on the counter he took off his gloves folding them into his back pocket.

"So what brings you to Charming...?" He asked his brow raising in question.

Lana who had begun unloading the bags paused, can of soup in hand.

"Lana, my names Lana…and just a fresh start, I desperately needed a change of scenery."

Holding out his hand Jax shook hers gently in greeting, Lana's eyes studying the two silver rings on his hand spelling out 'sons' in bold letters.

"Jax Teller." He replied.

Standing this close to the young woman Jax could clearly see a fine dusting of freckles along her nose and cheeks, he found he appreciated that her face wasn't caked with makeup. The natural look seemed to suit her. Getting a better look at Jax herself, Lana's eyes suddenly lit up at the sight of his vest the patch "REDWOOD ORIGINAL"

Smiling she blurted out "Oh my god, you're a Son."

Lana instantly winced at how that must have sounded, holding her hands up she attempted to explain.

"Wait no, I don't mean it like that what I'm trying to say while I embarrass myself to death in front of you is I've heard of you from my brother he's part of the Washington Chapter."

Jax who held her hand still without realizing grinned. His curiosity peaked.

"Yeah sweetheart whose your brother?" He asked voice inquisitive. Her answer proving not at all what he expected.

"Kozik. Tall, blonde. Always thinks he's right..." She replied a big sarcastically.

Jax studied Lana his eyes wide and he let go of her hand, eyes wide.

"Holy shit. Your Kozik's baby sister?"

Lana who failed to see what the big deal was simply smiled.

"Yeah, I haven't seen him in a couple years since I left Washington but he'd told me about Charming and the Mother Charter here…Its why I picked this town he made it seem so nice here. It's crazy what a small world it is huh?"

If Jax hadn't realized that god could have a sick sense of humor, he did now. His hot new neighbor was a patched members baby sister, what were the damn odds of that happening? Despite all of this he smiled, softer now.

"Yeah it's a small fuckin world alright."

Noticing Jax seemed to be acting differently Lana decided to keep unloading the bags unable to deny the excitement she felt about this coincidence. Wanting to be polite she offered Jax a beer from the fridge before opening one herself, he took the offered brew without question downing half the bottle in one long pull.

Leaning up against the counter Lana asked. "Have you seen my brother lately? Maybe you guys have a number, I can reach him at. Let him know I'm here."

This just kept getting better and better he thought as he groaned inwardly, running a hand through his hair.

"Actually Koz is living in the townhouses right in downtown, he works at the mechanic shop my family owns next door to the Club house…I can take you there tomorrow if your free."

His answer seemed to make the young woman very happy, the way her face lit up he knew it was genuine.

She took a quick sip of her beer. "That would be fantastic. But are you sure? I don't want to cause any issues by surprising him at work."

Jax shook his head.

"Trust me Darlin, it won't be a problem I'll come knock on your door about 9a.m. Make sure you wear jeans and some decent shoes, you'll need a sweatshirt to. Still could round here in the morning."

Finishing the last swallow of his beer he pushed off the counter indicating that he was going to be taking his leave.

"Thanks for the beer." He said giving her a parting smile his mind wondering why his luck had to be so shitty.

Lana watched Jax Teller walk out of the front door and counting to ten she knew he had to be half way across the two properties. Unable to hide her excitement she knew she could grin like a fool all she wanted to now. Doing a bit of a snoopy dance in the middle of the kitchen she felt a renewed sense of hope. Perhaps things were finally turning around.