Author's Note: This chapter moves very quickly in time. It spans over a seven month period, depicted in snapshot moments. The time period is mentioned at least once during each snapshot. I had considered cutting the story here and starting a sequel, but I have since decided to continue the story as is.


Against The Wind

I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

The room reeks of weed and pussy, but Jax has grown numb to the stench. He's grown numb to a lot of things these days. Moving about like a walking corpse. Filling the hours with things that need to get handled and things that only distract him from what he's feeling inside.

A letter from Haley came for him a few days after she left. Explaining why she had to go, that she was doing this for him. That what she felt for him was real, all of it was real, but too much stood in the way. And if she stayed she'd only bringing more trouble. She begged him to understand, but he had only one answer as she broke his heart like it's never been broken before… to watch that letter burning up in flames from the cherry of his cigarette.

Reaching for a smoke from the pack on his cluttered nightstand, Jax sparks it up and takes a deep pull as the croweater he screwed senseless the night before emerges from his bathroom. He can barely bring himself to look at her without feeling disgusted. She saunters over to the bed he's at, her hips moving in an exaggerate fashion, barely covered in his Samcro tee.

"Good morning," She coyly coos as she moves to climb back on the bed with him, but the look in Jax's eyes stops her cold even before his words do.

"Get out," His voice is cold and detached, but unquestioning. Making it clear her usefulness has passed and now he wants her gone.

A look of hurt washes over the woman's face before disappearing behind rapidly hardening features as she moves in a huff off his bed and finds her clothes.

Gemma's walks into her son's dorm moments after the latest croweater goes storming out. Her eyes scan the room that looks like it's just been hit by a tornado, before her gaze lands on her son as he's coming out of the bathroom in nothing more than low hung jeans. He's downward spiraling, has been for weeks, and his downfall is all too familiar to Gemma. She's seen him implode like this, but only once before. And she's not about to ignore it, wait for it to blow over any longer.

"This about Wendy or Haley?" She asks, closing the door behind her.

Jax glances her way, but only offers her a quick scoff as he tugs on a shirt. Sometimes it scares him how dead on his mother can be. For as far back as he can remember she's always seen right through the bullshit. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes it's not.

"Were you going to tell me?" Gemma gets straight to the point.

None too pleased that she had to put it together on her own. She had known Jax and Haley were growing closer, but she didn't know how close until Haley took off and left her sons heart in his hands. Haley has always been like the daughter Gemma never had, but right about now, Haley's made her way onto Gemma's shit list.

"Tell you what, Ma?" Jax pretends to be ignorant, but the edge on his voice says he knows full well where she's going with this and it's the last thing he wants to talk about.

He can hardly think about Haley let alone talk about her. Losing Tara had broken his heart. First cut, and it was a deep one, but losing Haley feels like it's taken him to his knees. It's not just the way he loves her either. Jax had no idea how interwoven Haley was into his life, his identity, until she wasn't there anymore. And where she use to be there's nothing.

"That you were screwing Haley," Gemma throws back on a hot breath, in no mood for the game Jax is playing.

She can see her son is trying to run from this, deny it. Keep himself so preoccupied in the club, drowning in pussy and anything else he can numb himself with, so he doesn't have to feel the pain, but she expects nothing short of the truth.

Sparking a joint, Jax is taking a pull when Gemma's words set him off like a spark from the flick of his lighter.

"You know, I don't give a shit what you think. Who I sleep with, who Haley sleeps with, it's none of your business." He snaps at her, his voice rising as his hot eyes meet hers.

"Oh, but dealing with this shit is," She bites back, her arm extending out to survey the wreckage his room, his life, has become in the last month.

A look quickly surfaces in Jax eyes, a look of pain that no matter how old he gets will always remind her of when he was just a small boy and he'd come running to her every time he got hurt. A quiet look of vulnerability that can always get to her.

Breaking the hold of their stare, Jax turns away as he takes a deep drag of his joint, regretting the anger he had unjustly taken out on her. He isn't mad at his mom, she's not the one who broke his heart. She's not the black hole swallowing up his life.

Seeing this is still too raw for her son, Gemma lets that wound settle, she got the answer she needed. Changing the subject, Gemma moves onto another matter that must be dealt with.

"That junkie really knocked up with your kid?" She asks him, more gently this time.

"Does it matter," Jax blows off, making a beeline for his door to escape this conversation with this mom before it digs any deep into everything he doesn't want to talk about.

"Jackson," Her voice calls out like an order before he can bail.

Letting out a rough heavy breath, Jax reluctantly turns to her.

"Is it yours?" She asks.

Taking one last pull from his joint, his eyes finally meet hers. "Probably," Jax admits on a heavy breath.

Gemma lets out an audible sigh, "Jesus Christ." She spits out under her breath, her head shaking. Moving to her son, Gemma steals the joint pinched between Jax's fingers, before she takes a hit.

"Then pull yourself together, and handle your shit. Go check out the old storage, think there's some old baby stuff there, cuz that junkie isn't fit to raise my grandbaby on her own."


The years rolled slowly past And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home

The moonlight shines down upon her, illuminating the dimly lit alley Haley stands silently in. Someone more naive might be frightened standing alone, out in the open, in the dark, but not Haley. She's already met the devil and his many merry men. And once you've known that kind of evil, the boogeyman doesn't seem so scary anymore.

She puffs silently away at a cigarette, her bare legs chilled by the crisp night air. The nicotine calms her agitated nerves as she tugs her boy-shorts down around her ass. These days she's working at a tittie-bar as a waitress. The uniform consists of boy-shorts that flash more cheek than cover it, and a skin tight corset that push her tits up high.

It's not comfortable, but it offers Haley good tips as she delivers drinks and takes orders. The money would be much better if she took her clothes off, but she refuses to do that. She doesn't like her job, most of her customers think they have free reign over her body, but growing up Haley learned how to hustle what she's got. Do whatever she has to, to survive and make that cash. Growing up with outlaws taught her to be a fighter. Taught her how to make tough choices and do whatever she's gotta do, without apologies.

Too bad her old man saw it differently when he tracked her down a little over a month after she left. Finding her at her place of employment hadn't gone over very well. He had assumed without asking she was taking her clothes off for money which sparked an argument between them before cooler heads could prevail. The tipping point came when Piney all but threatened to drag her home and Haley threw the idea right back in his face, refusing to budge. Both too stubborn for their own good, Piney left in a blaze and parting words, that if she was going to bail on her family, maybe she should just stay gone.

Those words stung and hung with Haley, propelling her onward. Donna has been her only real lifeline back home. They talk a couple times a month. And while Donna wasn't happy when she left without a word, she's come around to idea. Donna seems to think a little freedom and distance will be good for her sister in-law, but Haley's not sure Donna would still feel that way if she knew how she earned her keep down here.

Without a word she thumbs a photograph from years long past. From a time when things felt easier, simpler. Where love was as easy to do as breathing. Her fingertips faintly trace the image as the warm memory surfaces in her mind. Opie had taken the photo on a hot summer day, back when Haley tagged along with her big brother at every chance she got. Two faces smile back at the camera as Haley rides on Jax's back, while he carts her around the lot. Haley had no idea how good she had it back then.

The site of Jax's electric smile summons a heavy ache deep in her heart. A pain so visceral it tightens her chest and makes her breath shutter. Her eyes close as tears sting them. Guilt finds her as equally as the pain. Blowing out a steady breath, Haley says a silent prayer that Jax is doing alright. She sends a wish out into the ethers that he's happy.

Her eyes slowly flutter open, but the pain lingers on her heavy heart as her eyes drift up to the moon haunting her above. Staring at it in all its beauty, Haley feels a slight peace with the knowledge it's the same moon hanging over Jax tonight. A whimsical notion from some sappy movie she saw ages ago has Haley wondering if maybe, just maybe, Jax is staring up at that same moon right now. And if he is, that maybe that means in some distant way she's reaching out to touch him. As unlikely as the thought is, it brings a quiet hope inside her.

"Harley," A high pitch voice calls from the backdoor of the building.

Rapidly, Haley shoves the photograph back into her pocket with her order pad as she looks over her shoulder.

"Yeah?" She answers back, responding to the name she's been going by lately to avoid anyone figuring out who she really is. And as Haley sees it, since it's her middle name, it's not entirely a lie.

"Bachelor party just showed up. Looks like they're gonna be all hands." She explains with an irritated huff. Giving Haley the idea her attitude is less directed at her and more for the group they're about to cater to.

Haley's eyes drift back out to the moon that calls to her like a lifeline to the place she's missing. She lets the customers call her baby. They can cop a feel and believe they actually have a chance, but Haley knows the truth. There's only one person who has her heart. And the miles don't change that. They just makes it more painful to breath in the quiet moments.

"I'm coming," She answers absently. Detached from the moment as she tosses her cigarette to the grimy asphalt below.

Her ass aches from unnecessary pinches or smacks, but it could be worse. She could be the one taking her clothes off for them. Numb to the moment, Haley does what she has to, to get by. The money isn't bad. It gives her enough to send home half to Donna. In hopes her sister in-law can spend more time at home, instead of doing extra odd jobs to make ends meet.

Haley does what she has to. She needs to prove to herself she can do this. Make it on her own without the club. Stand on her own two feet. But there's no denying Jax ruined her. Now that she's had a taste of the real thing, everything else pales in comparison. No one can make her feel the way he did, and still does, even miles away. But even as she prepares to head back inside to the men waiting, Haley knows the truth. She's only pretending.


I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
Never worried about paying or even how much I owed

When Wendy comes to see Jax the following week, he doesn't blow her off this time. When she hands him a sonogram picture, tells him she's having a boy and she's naming him Abel, he doesn't shove the photo back in her face. He doesn't deny the baby is his. He looks that picture over long and slow, lets the weight of it settle on him. Let's it pierce his heart. Before he throws Wendy a complete curveball and tells her to send him the medical bills, whatever the baby needs. He makes it clear he still wants a paternity test, but he's finally willing to concede this could be his kid and if it is, he's gonna be in his life.

That decision sets the wheels in motion, sends him down a path he will only realize with time and hindsight takes him somewhere he never thought he'd go. That decision leads him to a storage unit, trying to dig up old baby stuff, anything he can use for this little guy. While he doesn't find much for the baby, he finds something he didn't even know he was looking for, something he didn't even know he was missing. He finds a manuscript his father wrote before the accident, about the life and death of Samcro. A manuscript Jax spends the next few months diving into, hanging on every word. His father's words of wisdom reshaping the way he sees the world around him, the club- reshaping him.

And as wisdom and insight find him, slowly Jax finds his anger towards Haley dissipating. Giving way to the love he can't deny having for her. And a willingness to finally see what she was trying to show him in her letter. A willingness to see her side of it, even if it wasn't the answer he wanted. Because in his anger and pain he had lost sight of what he knew about Haley.

And with personal growth he found himself remembering. Remembering all the shit she's been through, all the baggage she carries. How guarded he knew she was. It hasn't even been a year since everything with Hank happened. She wasn't sure of what they were doing. And she was willing to admit what even Jax didn't want to… That he wasn't entirely sure of what they were doing either.

Since the day she took off Jax has wanted to hate her, purge her memory from his mind, but he sees now that was never really a possibility. He could no sooner hate or forget her, than he can resurrect his father. The deeper he delves into the manuscript, the more he feels that longing inside him for her, feels the absence.

It's a feeling he doesn't know what to do with until Donna confronts him at the clubhouse. Insisting he go visit Ope and not taking no for an answer. Jax was ashamed to admit he had been avoiding Opie after Haley took off. It had been damn near six months.

His avoidance made easier by the fact that after the prison fight Opie got shipped down to the prison in Chino, but Jax could have made the trip, he just didn't have the balls to face his best friend after everything that had gone on between him and Haley. After the pain and anger he felt toward her. After she ran off. But when Donna cornered, full of piss and vinegar, he knew it was time.

Making the trek, going through security, and waiting in the visiting area, Jax was nervous, but he never could have imagined the first words that came out of Ope's mouth.

"What's my sister doing down here, Jax?" Opie asks point blank, while seated across a chilly steel table that's bolted to the ground.

After the initial shock wore off they got into it. Opie revealed Haley had showed up out of the blue one day for visitation. Tried to play it off like she was on a road trip with some friends, but Opie saw through that bullshit right away. Called her out on it, and that's when Haley admitted she was living down south. Needed a change of pace, needed to figure some shit out.

That was all well and good if Haley came from a normal family, but she didn't. And the way she squirmed as Opie's questions dug deeper confirmed for him his sister was at the very least mixed up in something he wouldn't approve of. A fact he knows shouldn't surprise him, not after the life they grew up in, but stressed his heart just the same.

"I don't know who she's mixed up with or what she's into, she wouldn't give me much, but if anyone figures out she's valuable to the club, makes the connection, she could easily become a pawn used against us. I know you got shit going on with Wendy and the kid. I get that your hands are full, but you gotta get her home, get her out of whatever she's mixed up in. I can't. I can't do shit from inside here." Opie practically pleads, his muscles tight, his voice tense with the frustration of being powerless to help the people he loves. Having to rely so heavily on Jax while he rots away behind bars.

Jax takes it all in, every word, letting it wash over him, practically drown him. In the past six months she's been gone, not once as he considered going after. At first he was too damn angry and burned, and once that began to pass, he started thinking she was better off without the him and the club – putting her at risk, mixing her up in club shit. But what Ope is saying changes everything. The thought that Haley is out there getting mixed up in something that could hurt her propels Jax, fills him with an urgency to find her, keep her safe.

"I'll find her and get her home. You have my word." Jax promises.

"Thanks brother, I knew I could count on you." Opie answer back, the first sign of relief releasing the tension on his face.

Brothers by patch and a bond that spans a lifetime, they spend the remained of the visit catching up. Talking about Donna and the kids, Wendy and the baby, what's been stirring up shit in the club since Ope's absence. And for a moment it's like old times, when they'd sit around and just shoot the shit. Back when their only worry in the world was earning a patch and getting laid. Before everything got so complicated. As if for a short time the armed guards and steel disappeared, and they were just two friends catching up.


Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searchin'
Searchin' for shelter again and again

Shit went south with Nicki five months into it. When Nicki's guy Chris decided to make a move on Haley behind Nicki's back. Thought he might like to take a taste from both pies staying under his roof, but Haley shots him down fast. She's pretty sure that's when he started spinning lies in Nicki's ear, and before Haley knew it, Nicki thought it was time for her to leave. Haley bounced around for a while. Living place to place, wherever she could crash for a while. A wiser woman may have counted her losses and headed back home, but Haley had something to prove to herself. And a part of her was afraid there was nothing left for her there anyway.

Seven months gone, Haley ends up crashing with a co-worker. His apartment is barely one room, and he's got an itch for the shit that drains his weekly check, but he has no problem taking Haley cash as payment instead wanting her forced affection and he's not an asshole to live with. Staying there lets her save up enough to still send home half to Donna and the kids.

But Haley makes the mistake of giving a damn whether this guy smokes his pay check in a pipe that's killing him. She makes the mistake of thinking he's like Lowell and just needs some help. But he's not like Lowell. And that's a reality made all too clear when she tries to stop him from getting loaded. Tries to stop him from getting high again and slowly killing himself.

Bam. Bam. It happens so fast she didn't see it coming. She let her guard her down, and now she's paying for that. Hunched against the wall, her ass on the carpet, her face is throbbing and head pounding hard. He hit her – hard. And shoved her against the wall or she fell, Haley's not clear on that part. The knock to her head is leaving everything fuzzy. Her vision is blurry, but she can make out his pacing body still moving in front of her. Haley struggles to find her feet as her head spins and pounds, but she refuses to be taken off guard again. Bracing her weight against the wall, Haley manages to push herself back up on her feet as her fingers dig into her hair, finding a swelling lump on the back of her head.

She's barely on her feet when he's in her face again, suffocatingly close and all apologies as Haley struggles to gather her barring's. His presence feels overwhelming and loud this close up, her mind so full of fog. It sends every fighting instinct inside her on alert. With all the strength Haley can muster, she shoves him away from her. Stumbling from the wall and him, her limbs are shaky, her vision unfocused, as she moves blindly through the apartment by memory to the bathroom, and locks herself inside.

Her heart is racing, her breath shallow, she's been here before enough times to know she needs to get somewhere safe until she can defend herself better. Haley's body screams to get off her feet and sit as she lowers to the bathroom floor. He's pleading apologies from the other side of the door, but she tunes it out as she draws her knees close to her chest and buries her throbbing head in her hands. Curling into a ball as the first painful sting slices through her heart.

Eventually he gives up and leaves, but Haley doesn't move until she's sure she can defend herself if need be. Splashing water onto the heat of her face, Haley glances into the mirror and finally gets a good look at the damage done. A swollen black eye stares back at her. Her eye lid is swollen half closed, but she can still see the red busted blood vessels on her eyeball. Quietly she winces as her fingertips inspect the welt hidden in her hair.

Looking in the mirror at her sorry reflection a memory from another dark night and Jax's comforting gritty voice rings in her head. "Nobody hits you, you got that? Nobody." He had told her, engrained in her. Haley had never been one to just lay down and take it. She's always been a fighter, but in that moment Jax validated that defense, gave her worth.

Hardening herself, Haley opened the bathroom door and to her complete surprise and relief the apartment was empty. That gave her the relief to do what she needed to without having to worry about fighting it out. Quickly Haley gathered her things. What little she had. Shoving it in her bag before slinging it onto her shoulder and heading out the door. She didn't know where she'd go from here, but she knew she wouldn't become her mother, she wouldn't let anyone hit and come back for more. The man she loves taught her she has more worth than that.

Standing outside of the club she's been working at the past month, Haley waits by another coworker's car. A guy who said she could call if she ever needed anything. And when she did, he jumped at the chance to help her out. Johnny is tall and toned in all the right places. He takes just enough care of himself to catch the girls' eyes, but he could be anyone to Haley. Waiting in the dark back lot for him to come out, Haley shifts her heavy bag to her other shoulder. Her heart aches as her face stings. She wants to go home. She wants to take it all back. She wants Jax to ride up on his bike and flash her his charismatic grin before telling her everything is going to be alright.

Her thoughts wander to her brother as cars whiz by on the street. The key that kept her held together for so long, and when he went away she broke free. She didn't know how to stop herself, she never had to be the one to set limits before. It had killed Haley not getting to see him in the hospital and when she learned from Donna he was sent to a prison nearby, she couldn't get there fast enough to see him. Seeing Ope again had been bittersweet. She wasn't the girl he left behind, and he would still have to return to a cell when she left. Seeing him again was a painful reminder of how different things were now.

Ope had seen right through her too, the way he always could. With fifty questions Ope had tried to figure out why she was down here and what she was up to. Haley revealed some of her cards, kept others close to her chest. There are things she's mixed up in that he wouldn't approve of, but she's long past trying to justify her choices. It had killed her to leave him, even if they weren't what they use to be. Her brother haunted Haley for weeks after the visit. Haunted her now, alone in the dark, in need of her big brother to make the world feel safe again.

Feeling alone and scared, her fingers come to life with a will of their own. Searching her phone, finding the number, she calls it before her mind has had a chance to catch up. She shivers in the cool night air as the onshore flow makes the air thick and chilly. The phone rings and rings against her ear, her breath hitched on the sound. Waiting.

"Yeah," Jax's gritty voice answers the line.

"Harley," She hears call from right behind her. Startled Haley spins around, flipping her phone shut so fast she nearly drops it to the pavement below.

"Hey, shit sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Johnny says with a laugh as he stops in front of her. Big grin for her waiting on his lips. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear he takes in the current state of her face.

"Asshole really did a number on you. Come on babe, let's get you back to my place and get you taken care of." He calls flashing her a quick flirty smirk before wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he pulls her to him.

"You know, I been meaning to talk to you about a job I think you'd be perfect for. It aint for the faint of heart, but the gig is pretty easy, if you're willing. And it'd set you up so you don't have to deal with junkies again."

Walking to his car, Haley wants to break away, make a run for it, call Jax back, but she knows she won't. She feels stupid even catering to such a dream like a naïve little girl. She knows better. Knows there's no going back. What the hell was she going to say to him anyway? What made her think he wouldn't have hung up once he figured out who it was? No, Haley doesn't have the luxury of being naïve, the stakes are all too real to her. And she'll face them like she's bulletproof. Baptism by fire that's what she's use to.

Last time she spoke with Donna, she said he was starting to come around to the idea of being a father and diving deeper with the club. Haley hopes her absence has helped give him the clarity he needed to figure out his life. Catching Nick's eyes, the way he looks at her, tells Haley he's got plans in mind for her. She's not sure how she feels about that, but she'll do what she has to, to survive. She won't apologize for that either. She'll find out what the job he's offering is. And if it pays well, she'll consider it, no matter how gritty. But what she won't do is pretend Jax can save her from this, pretend he'd even want to. She knows she hurt him. Donna told her that much. And that's a forgiveness she's not sure she deserves.


Well those drifters days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

Jax makes the mistake of bringing his plan to the table. He had thought the club would all be on board for bringing their girl home. And the guys seem to be for it, until Piney shares his reluctance. A response Jax doesn't understand and isn't prepared for. He thought Piney would be the first to jump in. He's completely thrown off his game when Piney grumbles out how he thinks they should just leave Haley be. She'll find her way home when she's ready.

Jax is so caught off guard he can't formulate a convincing rebuttal and the guys side with Piney. Shooting down the idea almost instantly. Jax understands what's happening, the guys don't want to go against Piney on matters concerning his own daughter, and Jax is forced to watch his best attempt to bring Haley home go up in smoke.

He doesn't understand it, why Piney wouldn't want to bring his own daughter home, but something in Piney's attitude tells Jax there's more to this story then meets the eye. Information Jax has every intention of looking into until Clay asks him to stay after church.

Jax had thought Clay was all too quick to side with Piney, kill the idea, but he had no idea how passionate Clay was on the matter until they were alone.

"You and I both love Haley, but it needs to be her old man's call whether we go after her." Clay starts off calmly, diplomatically.

"Went to see Ope the other day. He said Haley's been to see him. She's staying down south and Ope is convinced she's mixed up in some shit." Jax lays his case out on the table. Hoping Clay will see the same level of concern he does.

"Does he have anything concrete on that?" Clay inquires, before Jax shakes his head no. Jax hasn't been able to turn up anything on her on this own, but his gut tells him Opie is on to something.

"Then this isn't a club problem." Clay concludes.

"How can you say? She's family and she might be in trouble." Jax questions, his temper beginning to rise as he realizes Clay isn't going to address this. If anything, he's trying to steer Jax off the path of it.

"Maybe, but you're not thinking straight right now, son." Clay admonishes, trying to get Jax in line.

Jax eyes him with disbelief. "I've never been clearer." He counters, eyes narrowing on Clay as Jax sees once again the flaws his father's words from beyond the grave have been revealing to him lately.

"Then see this- How do you think her old man is going to react when he learns you were nailing his little girl right before she took off? Because if you keep dig shit up that's gonna come to light." Clay makes open threats, finally revealing to Jax what he's known all along.

Jax stares at Clay, his step dad, his club president, stunned for a moment. His poker face is one of the best, but the silence on his lips gives away that Clay's curveball has thrown him through a loop.

Jax's heart pounds, a mixture of surprise and anger spurring on the life in his chest. He can't believe Clay knew, but he sees now, Clay has been saving that trump card for just the right moment and the manipulation behind that ploy infuriates Jax.

"Just leave it alone." Clay orders, calm but direct.

It's moments like this Jax can see the living proof his father saw for the downfall of this club. Secrets, lies, manipulation, that shouldn't be what binds them, what forces a club president's will. Gazing upon Clay, Jax is so disgusted he can't look at him another moment.

"Yeah, sure thing." Jax halfheartedly answers as he rises from his char at the table and moves for the door. Clear on thing one, he's gonna find Haley, he's gonna bring her home, and he's just gonna do it without Clay's knowledge.

Against the wind
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm older now but still running against the wind


Authors Note:

The next chapter will find Jax and Haley being thrown back into each other lives. I've left some clues, laid the foundation in this chapter for what that could be. Any thoughts on what might bring their worlds colliding back together?

I know a lot of you worried that Jax would hate Haley for leaving. And I did want him to have an emotional response and anger that I thought would be true to his character. But I didn't want it to consume him, because in my opinion, that would have been out of character for Jax too. Jax forgave Tara for leaving, more than once. Yes, he was mad and hurt, but once he understood her reasoning, his love always won. I wanted Jax to take that same road in this story. Just at an accelerated pace, because of the time jump.

Thanks again for all the reviews!