Tara stared at him, mouth gaped open wide, in shock. She was frozen in place.

"Well?" He urged after a few moments.

She wanted to jump into his arms and marry him right then and there but something was holding her back. She didn't know what exactly, maybe the way she had just been treated by practically everyone she loved.

"I…I…I don't know." She stammered. She could see the disappointment and hurt in his eyes. "I want to. I just need some time."

"Time." Jax muttered in disbelief. He never actually thought she would turn him down…or think of turning him down.

"Yes time." She nodded.

Jax tried keeping all of his emotions in check, he didn't want to say something he'd regret later. "Okay. If you want time, you can have all you want." He stepped forward, kissing her forehead and walked quickly to his bike. He had to ride for a bit and clear his head.

She stared after him, "Babe?"

He kept walking without turning around. She watched him until he was out of sight. She clenched her eyes shut. He was pissed. He was hurt. She hadn't meant to do either one.

"Come on little girl, let's have a chat." Piney emerged from the clubhouse.

"I'm not really in the mood right now." Tara answered, still staring in the direction Jax took off in.

"Come on sis." Opie wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling her to a more private spot where the three of them could talk.

"You got me here…now what?" Tara crossed her arms.

"First things first, you can let go of that bitchy attitude and just listen." Piney hissed. He was still amazed by how much she acted like her mother even though she was too young to remember her. Gracie did the exact same thing anytime she was upset and that was one move he couldn't stand her doing. Crossing her arms and shutting the world out.

"Now tell me…us…what's on your mind?" Opie answered.

"Where do I start? After everything that happened this afternoon, I show up here and get treated like I don't belong by practically everyone I thought cared about me. I mean I guess it fits because in all honesty, I don't belong."

"You stop that," Piney interrupted her, "you will always belong here. You are my baby girl; you will ALWAYS belong here."

"Really? Where were you just a few minutes ago? My brother was standing right there and didn't say a word." She spun around and faced Opie, "to be honest, your expression wasn't much different than theirs."

Opie dropped his head, he had been so focused on letting Jax find out what he needed to, he didn't even think about how it would appear to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to look as though I thought you didn't belong. I promised Jax I would let him get to the truth without interfering. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it's all about Jax's feelings. So much for 'I haven't been there the last 18 years but I will always have your back now.' Thanks bro, it was a real bang up job you did back there having my back and all." Tara scowled, she felt so much anger, and she couldn't contain it anymore. In all fairness, these were the last two people she should be releasing that anger on but she couldn't help herself.

"It's not," Opie threw his hands up in frustration, "it's not all about Jax's feelings. I should have made him handle it differently…not so public…but it just happened so quickly. I can't tell you enough how sorry I am for not being a better brother to you. You know you can count on me."

"Can I?" Tara hissed, "the next time Jax and I have a disagreement, can I really count on you…either of you…to take my side? I understand you guys have history, you're like brothers, he's like a son to you so let's not do this, like I said…I am the outsider. I may be blood, but in this life the club is thicker than blood. History trumps DNA."

"It's not like that at all." Piney objected.

"It's exactly like that." Tara disagreed.

"The old man wasn't even there, what are you going off on him for?" Opie sighed, frustration getting the best of him.

"That's kind of the point isn't it? He wasn't there. He chose to give me away. He chose the club over me."

"No, I wanted a better life for you." Piney answered.

"My mother wanted me to have choices outside of the club. You wanted me to have a life outside of the club but instead of leaving the club and keeping me yourself, you chose to give me away and keep the club. I don't blame you or the club. I've come to love all of you so much in my time here but that doesn't change the facts or anything else that I've said. Now if you'll excuse me. I can't do this round and round about who is right and who is wrong. You see it your way, that you were doing what was best for me. I see it mine, you chose something else besides me. I wasn't a boy like Opie, so I had no value to you…or the club…besides what I could offer as an old lady." She exited the room before the two of them could respond.

"You know we don't see you as an outsider. You're family." Gemma stated. She had been eaves dropping on the conversation.

"Do you know where Jax went?" Tara asked ignoring her words. She didn't want to have this argument with Gemma too.

"I don't," Gemma replied, "his pride was hurt when you didn't accept right away." She explained.

"So anytime I don't do what he wants he's just going to run off? Some marriage that will be." Tara rolled her eyes.

"He loves you baby."

"I don't doubt that." Tara leaned against the wall, "I love him too."

"Then why didn't you say yes?" Luanne asked.

Tara wanted to pull her hair out. There was absolutely no privacy in this place.

"I was hurt and needed time to work through this shit. Everyone here made me feel horrible. It probably wouldn't have bothered me so much but it was him and you, the people I've grown the closest too since I got here that made me feel the worst. A proposal doesn't change that. I want to marry him, I do. I said that. I love him more than I've ever loved anyone. I'm going to head home. If you see him tell him to please call me or come home."

"I love you sweetheart. I will try to get ahold of him." Gemma stated.

"Love you." Tara answered in passing.

It had been hours and she still hadn't heard from Jax. She laid in bed for hours trying not to picture what he was up to.

She heard the door open and rolled over in bed. He stood by the door watching her.

"Where have you been?" She asked.

"Just riding. Stopped by the park. Was just out thinking." He moved to the bed and sat down.

"You are unbelievable." She shook her head in disbelief. "You propose to me and then run off for hours. If we're married, you can't run off every time we have a fucking argument. That's not how marriage works. You have to stay…communicate…deal with this shit not bury it and hope it goes away. You can't jump into whatever pussy suits you at the moment, to drown out your sorrows."

"Whoa." His head snapped up, "I did NOT jump into any pussy or anything else. I was alone sorting through my shit…until Opie found me and talked some sense into me."

"I didn't say you did do anything. I said you can't…meaning for future reference." She replied.

"I know and I've told you before that I don't want anyone but you so you don't have anything to worry about."

"If you want me so much then maybe you should stop making me feel like shit because I don't want or need a relationship where I get accused of doing shit based on the word of some jealous bitch or have to sit up for hours or days wondering where you are or who you are with, if you're alive or not, because your ego gets bruised and you refuse to talk to me about it. I will not do it anymore so if you want this marriage to work, you better figure out how to communicate with me and you better figure it out fast."

"You're right. I'm sorry." He placed his hand on her knee.

"Save the apologies. Let's just fix the problems we have so when we do get married, we're not dealing with the same shit repeatedly."

He nodded, "Deal. So does that mean you do want to marry me?" He grinned.

Her heart warmed some, "if you would have just listened earlier dumbass I told you I wanted to marry you…I just needed time. I never said we couldn't be engaged during that time, I just said I need time…"

"I can do that." His mega-watt smile was turned on in full force. He picked her up off the bed spinning her around and kissing her passionately. "I love you so much babe."

"I love you too." She winked.