Seize Control

The days at school seemed to be exceptionally longer now that Juliette and Silas weren't speaking. Her hours in the classroom were more quiet and boring without her best friend cracking jokes about the teachers and asking her questions about the homework assignments. Those moments were replaced with awkward silences and sad looks from across the classroom, where he now sat, instead of sitting next to her.

The whole bodyguard situation had been stopped since her stepfather deemed it no longer necessary. Juliette was glad that she could be alone again. Clay had everyone busy with club business, which meant that she didn't have to worry about any of them checking up on her. She'd been in a terrible mood ever since the conversation with Silas at Teller-Morrow and everyone knew it.

As soon as the final bell rang, Juliette was out of her seat and walking quickly toward the door. She was the first one into the parking lot and she was driving away before most of the other students were even outside. Since she wasn't in the mood to go to the clubhouse, she drove straight home. Of course there was no one there. She was sure Clay was off doing club business and Gemma was out stirring up some drama somewhere.

She went straight upstairs and stripped off her uniform to take a bubble bath. She sank down into the hot, soapy water and closed her eyes as she leaned her head back against the edge. The minutes turned into an hour and her water became cold. She let out the cold water and refilled it with hot, putting in more bubble bath which filled the tub with bubbles all the way up to her chin.

Her bathroom door swung open she screamed at the sudden movement. Juice stepped inside, looking around and quickly turned his back when he saw her in the tub. "Jesus, I'm sorry!"

She sighed in relief that it was only him, but her cheeks did turn a nice shade of pink. "You scared me," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry. I called your name a few times but you obviously didn't hear me."

"What are you doing here?"

"Clay sent me to check on you."

Juliette rolled her eyes even though Juice couldn't see the action. "I'm fine. I'm sure you both have bigger problems to worry about than me."

"You're his daughter, Jules. You're important to him."

She laughed. "Okay, Juicey. Whatever you say."

He stood there for a moment, his back still turned, as he ran his hand over the streak of hair on his head. "So are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Okay?"

She hesitated for a moment, but then agreed that she was. He could tell just in that hesitation that she was lying. He nodded his head anyway. "Alright. Sorry I scared you." He left the bathroom, shutting the door back behind him and Juliette sunk below the water to shut the world out if only for a moment.



Juice arrived back at the clubhouse, parking his bike and going back inside. Clay and most of the others were gone, leaving only Jax and Chibs to greet him when he walked inside. He took a stool next to Jax at the bar. "I just went to check on Jules," he started.

"And?"

Juice shook his head. "She's gotta be real upset about this thing. I've never seen her be this quiet and she's acting kinda depressed, ya know?"

Jax sighed, taking a gulp of his beer. "Teenage bullshit."

"But she's not a typical teenager, bro. She doesn't get upset very often."

"Yeah," he agreed, finishing his beer and rising to his feet. "I'll go check on her. You help Chibs with this run."

"Sure."

Jax went outside and hopped on his bike, not bothering to put on his helmet before he left the parking lot. He pulled out onto the road and headed in the direction of his parent's house.



When Juliette finally decided to get out of the tub, she pulled on her fluffy white bathrobe and ran a comb through her wet hair. When she opened the door and stepped into her bedroom, she found Jax sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at the picture frame he held in his hands.

"What are you doing here?"

He looked up from the picture and smiled, holding it out to her. "That was a good day."

She reluctantly took the photo from his hands, looking down at it as she sat next to him on the bed. The picture had been taken years ago, when she was only eight and Jax was seventeen. It was a candid shot; she sat proudly perched on her brother's shoulders, grabbing handfuls of his blonde hair in her small fists, both of them grinning and looking intently at something that was out of the frame of the photo. "When you and Opie took me to San Francisco."

Opie Winston was Jax's best friend since they were kids. They did everything together, including get in trouble. "Can't believe Mom let us do it. We were just kids and you were so small."

"She was just glad to get me out of her hair."

Jax quickly changed the subject. "You remember when Op spent sixty bucks to get you that stupid damn carnival bear?"

"That game was rigged. He shouldn't have had to play so many times to win."

"Ah, he didn't give a shit. He just wanted to win you that fuckin' bear."

The smile that had found its way onto her face quickly faded. "I miss Op."

Opie joined the Sons when Jax did, but had unfortunately been sentenced to five years in prison for arson. "Me too, kid. But he's almost halfway through his sentence now. He'll be home before you know it."

"Yeah," she agreed, only half paying attention to his last statement. She handed the picture frame back to him. "So what are you doing here? I doubt it's to reminisce."

"Just came to check up on ya, darlin'."

"What is it with you guys? Clay just had Juice come by like thirty minutes ago."

"Maybe we just wanna make sure you're alright."

"I am. Well, I'm not really. But it's just stupid high school shit. I'll get over it."

He stared at her for a long moment, his blue eyes searching hers. "Are you sure?"

She slowly nodded, looking down from his eyes. "I'll be fine."

"You know you can talk to me, right? You're my baby sister and I'll do what I can to help."

"Yeah," she answered with a small smile. "Thanks, Jax."

"Do you need anything before I go?"

"No, I'm okay."

"Alright. Well, I have to get back. I'll see you later, darlin'," he spoke as he rose to his feet, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

She mumbled her goodbye as he walked out of the room and she waited til she heard his motorcycle riding away before she fell back onto her bed, sighing. At least she knew she still had her brother.