Chloe's life was starting to feel like an intricate puzzle, pieces that were never meant to fit together crashing into one another, creating something she couldn't make sense of. Every day, something new happened that forced her to question everything she thought she knew about herself, about Charming, and about the people around her. Most of all, it was Jax—his presence was an insistent pull she couldn't resist, even when she tried to ignore it. Every word, every look he gave her stirred something in her, something deep inside she wasn't prepared to face.

David's words haunted her constantly. "Stay away from SAMCRO. Stay away from Jax." He had warned her more than once, but each time, his warnings only made her more curious, more drawn to the darkness he was so desperate to shield her from.

It was late afternoon when Chloe found herself back in the same diner, trying to keep herself busy with lesson plans, though her thoughts kept drifting back to Jax. She had spent the last few days distracted by him, trying to figure out what he meant when he said, "You don't know how much I see in you." What did that even mean? How could she be so consumed by someone who, by all accounts, was bad for her?

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, snapping her back to reality. She looked down at the screen and saw David's name flashing. She hesitated before answering, her heart suddenly heavy.

"Hey, David," she said, trying to sound casual as she picked up the call.

"Chloe," David's voice came through the phone, tight and urgent. "Where are you? I need to talk to you."

Chloe's stomach churned. "I'm at the diner. What's going on?"

"Stay there. I'll be right over." The line went dead before she could respond, the finality of his tone making her uneasy.

She sat back in her chair, her hand still gripping the phone, and she tried to focus, to steady her breath. What was this about? Why did he sound so... worried?

Minutes later, the door to the diner swung open, and Chloe's pulse quickened. David walked in, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on her. There was something about the way he moved—his rigid posture, the tension in his jaw—that sent a chill running down her spine. He was never this tense unless something serious was going on.

"David, what's wrong?" Chloe asked, her voice soft, almost tentative.

David didn't waste any time. He walked straight to her, sitting down at the table with a sigh that sounded almost too heavy for his usual confident demeanor. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Chloe," he said, his voice low. "I've been getting reports. SAMCRO... they've been involved in some things that you don't need to know about. Dangerous things. Things that are going to get worse."

Chloe felt the familiar knot in her stomach tighten. "What kind of things?"

David hesitated for a moment, looking around the diner, almost like he was checking to see if anyone was listening. "You've heard of the drug trade in this town, right? It's bigger than you think. And SAMCRO's been tied to it. I can't say more, but I know they're neck-deep in something right now."

Chloe's mind was spinning. She had always known Charming wasn't as perfect as it seemed, but she never imagined it was like this. The undercurrents, the whispers, everything she had been too naïve to notice—it was all coming to light in front of her.

David's voice softened. "I need you to understand something. You need to stay away from Jax and his club. This isn't just about them being bad boys or dangerous men. This is about your safety. You don't know what you're getting involved in, and it's getting more complicated by the day."

Chloe looked down at the table, her fingers tracing the edges of her coffee cup. She couldn't deny the truth in his words, but the pull she felt toward Jax made it so hard to walk away. She had always been good at doing what was right, at making the safe choice, but Jax made her question what was truly safe.

"I know you're trying to protect me," she said quietly, meeting David's eyes. "But it's not just about them being dangerous, is it?"

David frowned, confused by her question. "What do you mean?"

Chloe hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should voice the thought that had been weighing on her heart. "It's about Jax, isn't it?" Her voice faltered slightly, but she forced the words out. "It's because I'm starting to... care about him. I don't know why, but I can't stop thinking about him. And I don't want to. But I don't know if I can just walk away."

David's face hardened, his expression shifting into something colder, more guarded. "Chloe," he said, his voice stern, "you don't know what you're dealing with. Jax is a criminal. He's not the guy you think he is. You think you can fix him, but you can't. You're playing with fire, and it's only going to burn you."

The words hit her harder than she expected. She wanted to argue, to defend Jax and the things she had seen in him that no one else seemed to understand. But she couldn't. Not when David's face was so filled with concern, not when she could see the weight of everything he had been dealing with in his job. He was just trying to protect her, and she understood that, even if it hurt.

"I don't want to hurt you, Chloe," David said, his tone softer now, but still filled with urgency. "But you need to let this go. I can't keep saving you from your own mistakes."

Chloe blinked rapidly, the sting of his words hitting her like a slap. It was too much—too much to handle, too much to process all at once. She had always thought she could handle everything, that she could juggle her family's expectations and her own desires, but right now, it felt like everything was slipping through her fingers.

"I'm not a child, David," she whispered, her voice shaking with emotion. "I'm not. I know what I'm doing."

David reached out, his hand on hers in a rare moment of tenderness. "I know. But you don't know what this will cost you. You can't be involved with people like him, Chloe. You have to let it go."

Chloe pulled her hand back slowly, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to make him understand that this wasn't something she could just walk away from. Not when it felt like Jax had come into her life at a time when everything else was starting to fall apart.

"I need time," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "I just need time to figure this out."

David nodded, though his expression remained tight with worry. "Take all the time you need," he said, standing up. "But don't take too long. I'm telling you, Chloe... this is dangerous. And I won't stand by and watch you get hurt."

As David left the diner, Chloe sat there, her mind spinning. The weight of his words was almost suffocating, and she knew he was right in some ways. She had always been so careful, so controlled—but now, everything felt out of her grasp.

She wanted to walk away from Jax. She wanted to listen to David and pretend like it wasn't all unraveling. But every time she thought of him, of the way he made her feel alive, her heart twisted in a way that she couldn't ignore.

And for the first time in her life, Chloe wasn't sure if the choice she had to make was about what was right or what she wanted