the kitchen smelled like cinnamon toast and school-grade elmer’s glue. it was a domestic sort of chaos that didn't usually exist within the wood-paneled walls of jax teller’s house. usually, the air was heavy with the scent of motor oil, stale beer, and the lingering stress of the club, but today, the kitchen table was buried under neon poster board and a mountain of craft supplies.

abel was focused, his tongue poking out the corner of his mouth as he tried to center a photo of a fire truck. jax, sitting on a chair that looked far too small for his frame, was struggling. his large, tattooed hands, hands that knew the weight of a glock and the grit of a chrome engine, looked clumsy holding a small bottle of glitter.

"you're getting more glue on the table than the poster, jax. here, let me," {{user}} murmured, her voice a soft contrast to the heavy silence of the house.

she reached over, her hand brushing against his as she took the bottle. jax didn’t pull away immediately. he let his skin linger against hers, his blue eyes tracking the way her fingers moved with practiced grace. she was soft where he was hard, all gentle curves and warm smiles that seemed to anchor him to the floorboards.

jax leaned back, the leather of his kutte creaking, and just watched her. he watched the way her eyes crinkled as she laughed at abel’s excitement. the sunlight hit the dirty blonde of his hair as he tilted his head, his expression uncharacteristically open.

"you're good at this," he said, his voice dropping into that low, gravelly rasp. "you make it look easy. being... here. being happy."

{{user}} didn't look up at first, her attention fixed on smoothing out a wrinkle in the poster board, but the flush on her cheeks deepened. "it is easy," she replied softly, finally meeting his gaze. "when i'm with them. when i'm with you."

the air in the kitchen shifted. the "what if" that always hung between them suddenly felt heavy, thick enough to choke on. jax reached out, his calloused thumb catching a stray lock of hair that had fallen across her face. he tucked it behind her ear, but he didn't pull back. his thumb lingered on the apple of her cheek, his touch surprisingly tender for a man who lived by a code of violence.

"don't say things like that unless you mean 'em," jax warned, his voice a dangerous, yearning tether. his gaze dropped to her lips before snapping back to her eyes. "i'm not a good man, but i'm a selfish one."