Jess followed Lux and Tig to St. Thomas Hospital, thanking God for small towns with little traffic. They got to the hospital in record time and rushed through the front doors, looking wildly around for some sort of direction.

"Clay Morrow?" Lux gasped at the information desk.

"He's in room 314," the nurse told her. Lux nodded as Tig and Jess followed her down the hall until they'd found the right room. The whole club was sitting in the waiting room just outside, their heads in their hands, while Gemma paced the room back and forth. She looked up when Jess, Tig, and Lux walked in, rushing to Lux and pulling her into her arms. Lux hugged her back before looking up at her, her eyes searching for news.

"What's going on? Is he gonna be okay?" Lux asked. Gemma nodded shakily.

"They think he'll be fine," she said, "But his arm's broken and his hands are nearly useless now." Lux swallowed hard, nodding, as she collapsed in a chair next to Tig. Jess looked around, her eyes narrowing as she spotted Jax walking down the hall away from them and she quickly ran after him.

"Hey!" she called, but Jax didn't turn around.

He'd been attempting to avoid Jess all day, knowing she must have heard the whole story by now, and now that she was here, he couldn't stand to see disappointment in her eyes.

"Hey! I want to talk to you," Jess said, and he could hear her jogging up behind him. Jax finally turned.

"What?" he asked, his voice coming out more agitated than he meant it to. She stopped in front of him.

"If you've got a problem with me, you need to talk to me about it. Don't take it out on Lux," Jess told him.

"I don't have a problem with you," he responded.

"That's not what I hear," Jess said, refusing to be deterred, "You see me leave the clubhouse with some guy and all of a sudden you're outing Tig and Lux?"

"You're acting like a goddamn passaround," Jax growled at her, her eyes widening at his words, "You're the daughter of a Son. Maybe you should remember that."

Jess stared back at him for a moment, trying not to let his words get to her. She knew, for whatever reason, that his words were said out of jealousy and anger, but she had never felt more frustrated in her life. She debated telling him that nothing had happened between her and the hang-around; that she most definitely was not acting like some 'pass around.' But she stopped herself. She can sleep with whoever she wants. It was none of his business who she was, or was not, doing.

"Yeah, that's clearly what this is all about," Jess finally said sarcastically, her arms crossed across her chest. Jax looked away, shaking his head slightly.

"I just…" Jax started, his voice trailing off and his face now pained instead of angry. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked back at Jess, her eyes now full of anger. He deserved that. But he still couldn't help but want to know if there was anything there left for him. He began to wonder if getting back together with Tara had been a mistake. If he hadn't, would Jess have come around to him eventually?

"You just what?" Jess asked, glancing over his shoulder to see Tara walking towards them in her scrubs and white lab cab.

"I just … don't like seeing you with other guys," he finally admitted, his eyes searching her face for her reaction. She scoffed, shaking her head, seeing Tara stop in her tracks behind Jax at his words.

"Yeah, now you know how I feel," she said derisively, nodding over his shoulder, "Your girlfriend's here." Jax turned around as Jess walked back to the waiting room, wishing she could get five seconds inside Jax's head to know what was going on up there.

Jess glanced at her watch as she walked up to Lux and sighed. Her shift at Cara Cara started in less than an hour and if she didn't leave right now, she was going to be late. She glanced at lux apologetically.

"I need to get to work," she said, "Will you be okay here?" Lux nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've got everyone else," Lux said, motioning to the packed waiting room, "Tell Luann I won't be able to make it tonight?" Jess nodded.

"Sure, take all the time you need," she said, before turning to walk out of the waiting room.

SOASOASOASOASOASOA

Jess knocked briefly on the frame of Luann's open door before stepping into her office. Luann glanced up, smiling at Jess as she slid the glasses off her face and glanced up at her.

"Hey," Jess said, "I wanted to let you know Lux won't be able to make it today." Luann's smile fell, replaced by utter frustration.

"I swear to God I don't know what to do with that girl!" she exclaimed, "She treats this job like she's a fucking volunteer, gracing us with her presence when she does show." Jess bit her lip in worry, knowing Luann obviously hadn't heard about Clay.

"It's because of Clay," she said quickly, "He flipped his bike last night. They're all at the hospital." Luann's eyes widened, the frustration wiped from her face.

"Oh," she said, "Oh my God. Is he okay? Nobody told me."

"I think Gemma said he'll be fine," Jess told her, "Just a broken arm and something about his hands being messed up." Luann breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God for that," she said, "And I'm sorry about blowing up about Lux. I've already had a shitty day and she's had a tendency to call out a lot. Much less since you've been living with her. I think you're a good influence." Jess grinned, shaking her head.

"I do what I can," she said jokingly.

"Why are you still living with her anyway?" Luann asked curiously, "I happen to know for a fact you're making good money, as it's my signature on your checks. You could afford to be on your own." Jess shrugged.

"I like living with Lux," she replied, "I don't really want to be on my own. Lux has become like a … sister to me now." Luann nodded, smiling.

"Well I'm glad for that," she said.

"Thanks," Jess replied, "So why's your day been shitty?" Luann shook her head, leaning back in her chair.

"It always is when I have to deal with Georgie Caruso," she said bitterly.

"Who's Georgie Caruso?" Jess asked.

"Guy runs a strip club on the other side of town, near Lodi," Luann said, "Always tryin' to poach my girls, offerin' em the world. But he runs a dirty club. I wouldn't wish that place on any of my girls, and they know it. They know they got a good thing here, but he's a miserable little shit and I just hate having to deal with him."

"He sounds like an asshole," Jess responded. Luann sighed, shaking her head.

"He's more like an annoying little piss ant," she said as she handed Jess a list of tasks to complete for the day and Jess took it, walking out of the office.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Jess pulled into her usual parking space in front of the apartment after her shift was over, once again worn out from the day's events but ever since she started her manager training, she was also feeling a sense of accomplishment after a hard day's work. She noticed Lux's car parked in her spot and smiled, glad Lux had decided not to spend the whole night waiting around the hospital. She didn't think that would be good for her.

Jess walked into the apartment, tossing her keys on the table in the entry and smiling at Lux, who was sitting on the couch, until she noticed Lux was curled up, sobbing.

"Oh my God, Lux what happened?" Jess asked, immediately worrying that something had happened to Clay. Lux sniffled as she sat up, taking deep breaths to try and get herself back under control.

"It's… Tig," she said, her entire body shaking as she gasped for breath, "He… broke things… off."

She collapsed into Jess's arm, sobbing into her shoulder as Jess wrapped her arms around her, patting her on the back, trying not to show the shock she felt. Just this morning, Tig was saying he'd rather be forced out of Charming than end things with Lux, and now 12 hours later he'd broken up with her?

"I'm sorry, Lux," Jess whispered.

"I didn't even do anything!" Lux wailed, her face still tucked into Jess's shoulder, "I didn't do anything."

"I'm sure you didn't," Jess said. They sat on the couch until Lux had cried as much as she was able and she sat up, her face red and blotchy, her eyes bloodshot.

"I don't know what to do," she muttered. Jess had never seen Lux this upset. She'd seen Lux angry, she'd seen her worried, and she'd seen her scared. But she'd never seen her sad.

"Here's what we'll do," Jess said, "I'll make us some drinks, roll a joint, and we'll sit on the balcony and talk all about how much men suck." Lux tried to laugh, but it came out as a hiccup. She smiled up at Jess, sniffling as she nodded.

"That's sounds perfect," she said. Jess smiled as she ran to do as she promised and they walked out onto the balcony as Lux took the first hit off the joint.

"So I saw you talking to Jax at the hospital," Lux said after she had exhaled, passing the joint to Jess. Jess nodded as she took a hit.

"Just told him if he's got something to say to me, he needs to say it to me and not take it out on you," she said. Lux nodded.

"How'd he take that?" she asked.

"Not well. Said I needed to stop acting like a pass-around," Jess replied. Lux's eyes widened.

"He did not," she said, "I take it you didn't tell him nothing happened during your little rendezvous with the hang-around?" Jess grinned, shaking her head.

"Didn't think it was any of his business," she said. Lux laughed as she nodded, and Jess was glad to see Lux starting to feel better and get her mind off Tig. Just as the thought passed through her mind, she glanced down through the bars of the balcony, noticing Tig walking across the street towards them. Her eyes widened as she glanced at Lux, but Lux still hadn't noticed him.

"I'll go grab some refills," Jess said, hopping up, "Stay here, I'll be right back." Lux nodded, the joint clearly calming her down, as Jess grabbed her glass that was still half full and walked inside, shutting the door behind her. She ran to the door before Tig could knock, flinging it open and glaring at him. She let him inside, but only so Lux couldn't hear them talking.

"You need to leave," Jess told him quickly, "I finally got Lux calmed down."

"I just need to talk to her," Tig said earnestly, but Jess shook her head.

"No, Tig! If you ever cared about her, you'd just leave before you do any more damage," Jess said angrily, "You know, for a bunch of badass bikers you all can be the biggest bunch of cowards I've ever seen when it comes to relationships. Shit gets a little hard, and you just bail-"

"Stop!" Tig yelled at her, interrupting the lecture, and Jess jumped back, startled by his anger. She looked back at him, at how twisted and pained his face was, and finally took a deep breath, nodding.

"Okay, then tell me why you're here," she said. Tig ran a hand through his curly hair, his bright blue eyes full of pain.

"I made a mistake, Jess," he said, "I can't be without her." Jess stared at him for a moment before regaining her position.

"You better be sure," she said, "Because if you tell her that and you change your mind later, she's going to break, Tig. After how she was earlier tonight, I don't know if she'd recover from a second time." Tig nodded.

"I'd rather stay with her and go nomad than break things off and stay in Charming," he told her. Jess looked doubtfully back at him.

"Then why did you break up with her in the first place?" she asked. Tig sighed, looking around the room as he shook his head.

"You don't understand, Jess. I doubt Lux even does," Tig started rambling, "You can't understand sitting around that table with your friend, your brother, having to look him in the eye every day for over a year, knowing he trusts you with his life when he can't even trust you with his daughter."

Jess frowned as she looked back at Tig, finally uncrossing her arms. She'd never thought about their situation from Tig's perspective.

"And it's been torturing me," Tig continued, "Ever since it happened. The first time, I just thought it was a huge mistake. And it was on the tip of my tongue to tell Clay every single day. And then I…. fell in love with her, which neither of us saw happening, and I couldn't risk it. We were always waiting for the right time but…" He shrugged as his voice trailed off and he tried to get his thoughts together. She looked at his still heavily bruised face, the constant reminders of his betrayal, as she waited for him to go on.

''And now Clay is in that hospital bed because of me. Because I was too selfish to risk losing her, losing my patch. And I thought… if I gave her up, if I stopped being selfish, then everything would be okay. But it's not. She's the most important person in my life," he finished. Jess continued to stare at him, feeling her own eyes begin to brim with tears of empathy before she nodded, pointing to the balcony door.

He gave her a small smile as he headed in that direction and Jess watched as he closed the door behind him. She watched as Lux stood and screamed at him, banging her fists against his chest in anger as he stood there, allowing her to get it all out until she finally collapsed in his arms. She watched as Tig embraced her, wrapping his arms protectively around her, whispering words Jess couldn't hear. Lux tipped her chin up to look at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. He clutched her, holding her up as she kissed him and Jess smiled, walking down the hall to her bedroom to give them some privacy.

SOASOASOASOASOA

Jess stepped out of the apartment the next morning and into the hazy early morning world outside. She loved running at this time of day. The small town was just starting to wake up and it always seemed so peaceful. She ran down the steps of her stairs, prepared to start her jog to the park she'd been running at regularly, when she heard the tell-tale rumble of a motorcycle approaching her and turned to see Jax, on his way to Teller-Morrow, pull up beside her.

"Mornin'," he said. She brushed back the strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail as she looked at him. She hadn't seen him since their argument at the hospital the day before and though she was still angry about his words to her, she knew waiting for an apology was futile.

"Morning," she replied.

"So you're running… again?" Jax asked, eyebrows raised. Jess rolled her eyes.

"Yes, it's kind of a regular thing," she said. He shrugged.

"Alright," he said. He looked like he was about to ride into the lot before he glanced back at her, "Look, about yesterday…" he said, his voice trailing off. Jess shrugged, shaking her head.

"It's fine, Jax," she said, "But I'm not your old lady. You might see me with other guys. I can't…" Her voice trailed off as she turned her head from him, unable to finish the sentence. 'I can't wait around for you forever,' she thought. He shrugged, nodding.

"Yeah, I get that," he replied, and it was hard to judge his mood. He revved his bike up slightly harder than normal as he spun into the TM lot. Jess stood for a moment, watching him pull in, before she shook her head, setting off for the park.

She ran around the trail several times, lost in her own thoughts. She was right. She couldn't wait around for him forever. She needed to put herself out there, meet someone else who wasn't in a relationship already. She looked ahead of her to see the same guy she'd raced at the park several weeks ago – the day Gemma and Luann had told her their suspicions about who her father might be. She'd seen him around several times after, but hadn't talked to him since that day.

She grinned to herself, running to catch up with him. He glanced over at her as she began to keep time with him and grinned, shaking his head.

"You again," he said, his voice friendly. Jess laughed.

"Me again," she said.

"The girl that kicked my ass," he replied.

"That's what they call me," she said jokingly.

"You know I've been hoping to see you again," he said, "I want a rematch." Jess raised her eyebrows at him but shrugged, immediately taking off in a sprint.

"No fair!" he called from behind her, but she could feel him catching up. She ran as fast as she could but he overtook her. She struggled to catch back up until they'd circled around and made it back to where they started from and she stopped, panting.

"Okay okay, you win," she gasped, her hands resting on her knees as she struggled to regain her breath. He grinned, but he was also panting heavily.

"I knew… that was just … a fluke," he said, gasping in between breaths. Jess laughed, rolling her eyes.

"I'm Jess, by the way," she said, once she'd caught her breath. He grinned.

"Craig," he responded and she smiled back at him.

"Can I walk you home, Jess?" he asked and Jess's smile widened as she felt herself blush.

"Um, sure," she said and he grinned as they set off back to her apartment.

"So what do you do?" Craig asked in an attempt to make conversation. Jess paused before answering. She'd never been in the situation of having to tell a stranger outside of the life that she worked at a strip club and she suddenly worried that that would be the end of that.

"Um… I'm a manger of a club just outside town," she replied evasively, hoping he wouldn't ask any further.

"Oh really? Which one?" Craig asked.

"Oh it's called … Cara Cara," Jess replied reluctantly. She chanced a glance over at Craig as they continued walking to see his eyebrows raise.

"Oh really?" he asked, but his voice didn't sound judgmental and Jess allowed herself to relax slightly, "Is that tough? Managing a … Gentleman's club?" Jess shrugged.

"No tougher than running any other bar, I suppose," she said, "But I like it. The owner is… well, it's a long story, but I guess technically she's my step-mom."

"That didn't sound like such a long story," he replied.

"Well there's a lot more to it than that," Jess said, hoping to end the conversation there, "So what do you do?"

"Oh me? I'm in real estate," he replied.

"Oh, that sounds interesting," Jess replied. He shrugged.

"It can be," he said. They were close to Jess's apartment now and she glanced up at the balcony, hoping Lux wasn't up there. But of course she was. With Jax. Jess grimaced slightly as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning to Craig.

"Well… this is me," she said. Craig nodded, looking disappointed that their walk had already ended.

"Okay, well… Can I see you again?" he asked, "Maybe outside runner's gear next time." Jess grinned.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she said, feeling herself blushing. Craig grabbed his cell and she dialed her number in, hoping like hell Lux wasn't watching but feeling like the odds of that were slim to none.

"Alright, I'll call you," he said, "It was nice to meet you, Jess."

"Yeah, you too," Jess said sincerely as she walked up the stairs, finding herself genuinely hoping he would call as she walked inside the apartment.

"So I see you made a little loooove connection," Lux said teasingly from the door of the balcony as she and Jax walked inside. Jess glanced awkwardly at Jax, but he remained expressionless and silent, before she turned back to Lux.

"Um… yeah," Jess said, "I guess. He's just this guy I met running at the park a couple weeks ago."

"Oh, you already have so much in common," Lux said happily. Jess laughed, shaking her head.

"Yeah, I guess we'll see if he calls," she said.

"Oh he'll call," Lux responded confidently. Jess nodded as she walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, chugging it down.

"So what's his name?" Lux asked, bending over the counter and grinning at Jess.

"Craig," Jess replied.

"Well we need to go shopping to get a cute outfit for that date he's going to call asking you on," Lux said, "Something sexy." Jess laughed as Jax cleared his throat from the living room.

"Lux, we were kind of in the middle of a conversation," he said, his voice full of annoyance. Jess bit her lip, looking back at Lux.

"I need to take a shower anyway," she said. Lux just waved her brother off, shaking her head.

"He knows I'm still mad at him and he's in trouble, so it's a rare occasion where he's trying to be extra nice to me," she said, grinning, "It's kind of fun." Jess laughed, shaking her head.

"There's my Lux," she said, "Making the most of every situation." Lux beamed, nodding.

"So any news on your dad?" Jess asked. Lux nodded.

"Yeah, he should be getting out of the hospital in a few days," she said. She lowered her voice, leaning further over the counter, "But… he won't be able to ride for, like, a really long time. Maybe ever. Which means he can't be president anymore." Jess raised her eyebrows.

"Oh my God," she said, "So does that mean…? I mean, Jax is Vice President…" Lux nodded, grinning.

"I think so. You know no one tells me shit but I'm almost positive he's going to become president. And then," her voice lowered even further, "It won't even be an issue if my dad won't let Tig and I be together because he won't have any power over Tig. He can't strip his patch or anything, and I know Jax will leave us alone." Jess beamed at Lux, shocked at how things had seemed to fall into place.

"That's… awesome," Jess said. Lux nodded.

"I mean, I feel really bad for my dad. I know this is going to be really hard for him. That chair is his whole life. But… you know, silver linings and all that. It should be talked about at church this week so we'll know soon enough. Keep your fingers crossed," Lux said. Jess nodded.

"I will," she said, "But now I've really got to shower." Lux nodded, walking back into the living room to talk to Jax while Jess made her way down the hall to her bathroom. Things were definitely still awkward between her and Jax and she wondered if that would ever change.

Author's Note: Thank you SO MUCH for all the reviews on our last chapter! We love y'all soooo much! I really hope you guys liked this chapter and pleeeeease drop a note and let us know what you thought! Remember the more feedback we get, the more often we'll be able to post! You guys are definitely our inspiration to write faster! :)