"We are not your family!" Jax's voice kept replaying through Tara's mind, over and over. She should have known it was too good to be true, who was she to deserve everything she wanted.

FLASHBACK:

Tara came home to the sight of her father sprawled out on the coach with a bottle of jack in his right hand. He stood up at the sound of the door, and looked at her with glazed eyes. She thought to herself, "Maybe he isn't that drunk, he isn't looking at me like he hates me." Her hopes were dashed when she saw the hate radiate through his enlarged pupils. He made his way over to her and stopped right in front of her. "Please, please, please just walk away, don't hurt me, " Tara silently begged with her eyes. Her pleas were to no avail as her father lunged and gripped her throat. Tara clutched at his hands, trying desperately to pull his hands away from her neck. The more she fought, the harder his grasp became. Then the yelling started, "You are nothing but a waste of life!" "You don't deserve anything." "You're just like your mother, a god damn whore." The more he shouted, the harder he grasped and the more Tara was struggling to breathe. "You little piece of shit, I hate you!" The pain became unbearable for Tara, not only physical, but she could feel her heart crying out in pain. "Why?" was the last thought Tara had as her vision slowly faded to black and her limbs grew heavy.

It wasn't the first time her father turned on her and it certainly wasn't the last. She remembers how Jax looked when he saw the handprints around her neck, the pity in his eyes and the anger. Most of all, she saw the love he had for her, and she knew that she didn't need her father, she had Jax and his family, they were the only family she needed. When she left, that family disowned her, and after all this time, she was finally welcomed back into the fold. For the first time in ten years, Tara felt something other than hatred for herself and fierce longings, she felt loved and she knew she belonged here, with Jax and Abel and SAMCRO, even with Gemma. All the joy she felt was sucked out of her with five words, "We are not your family!" Suddenly, Tara was back in her house with her father and felt the intense pain of knowing she was alone. She knew that Jax was trying to push her away, but she had left once and wasn't doing it again. No matter what Jax said, she knew he loved her, and that fact was what she drew her strength to fight from. So when he said they were done, Tara knew that that wasn't the end, she wouldn't let it be. Laying in Jax's bed, by herself that night, Tara knew that the next day would be a fight, but she also knew that she wouldn't let Jax push her away.

THE NEXT DAY:

Tara made her way through the clubhouse, barely glancing at anyone, as she booked it to Jax's room. He had never come home last night and she couldn't let him leave with their relationship the way it was—in tatters. She had just got to the hallway when Opie's door flew open and he called out her name, "Tara. He's not there." "Where is he? He didn't come home last night." Opie replied with a flippant "I don't know", but Tara knew from the look in his eyes that he did, in fact, know. She gazed back at him with a sudden understanding, but she had to see for herself. Tara burst into Jax's room to find him laying in bed, smoking a cigarette. Looking around she saw a bra, shoes, and clothes strewn all about the room. "Oh my god" was the only thought running through Tara's head as she whipped her head back up to Jax's face. He sat there looking at her like he was just caught stealing candy from the jar. She heard a noise come from the bathroom and looked up to see that porn bitch Ima in a SAMCRO shirt and nothing else. Then she gave me a smug smile and had the audacity to say, "Mornin". I cast a final disbelieved look towards Jax, who finally had the decency to look guilty, and slammed the door shut. I went running the maze of halls and made it through the clubhouse, stopping for nothing, even when Opie shouted that he was sorry. The only thought burning through my mind was to get out of there. Tara ran the last couple of feet and practically jumped towards the cutlass. She started the car and was leaving the lot when she saw Lyla watching her and Ima approaching Lyla. "This is it, no more nice Tara," I thought to myself as I slammed on the breaks and threw the car in park. I stormed over to the pair and got right up in the bitch's face. "You fucking prick!" I screamed at Ima. "He is mine, not yours, NEVER yours. Don't you ever come near my family again." Ima shouted back, "Well, he wasn't yours last night was he? Oh, that's right, he was fucking me, not you." Red flashed across my vision and the next thing I knew, my hands were around her neck. I threw her to ground and jumped on top of her, punching her as hard as I could in her face. She reached up to yank my hair, which only served to enrage me more. I just threw more punches, if she even hit me back, I couldn't tell, the only thing I felt was rage. Rage at her, rage at Jax, and rage at everything shitty thing that ever happened to me. I didn't even notice when Lyla ran in shouting for the guys to come and get me off her. Soon I felt arms around me trying to pull me off of the bitch, but I was like a dog and her bone, nothing was gonna stop me. Finally, I felt two arms grab me and I knew instantly that it was Opie and Jax. I stopped fighting only long enough to pull myself away from him. The thought of being near Jax both raced my pulse and made me sick. I looked around and saw Happy, Tig, Bobby, Juice, Kozik, Chibs, Piney, Clay, and Lyla all watching me with a mixture of emotions. I could tell all the guys were proud of me due to the grins on their faces, they were probably shocked as well. I don't think I have ever been that out of control before, and they knew it. I turned back towards Opie and the man that broke my heart. Jax just looked at me and with a shake of his head just said, "Tara." I looked at him and spat some blood out on the ground and said an ever eloquent "Fuck you Jax."