Who knew you could accumulate so much shit in just a few months? Not me, that's for sure. After I had stormed out of the clubhouse, Wade had caught up with me beside my truck. I couldn't be completely honest with him, but I COULD tell him that I needed out. If my dad and I were ever going to hop to maintain any kind of relationship, I needed out of his house. Unfortunately, he wasn't aware of anywhere that I could rent right now. But he did have a spare bedroom where I could stay until I figure out my shit. Not an ideal solution, but it WAS the best that I could hope for until I found something better.

I still had almost all of the boxes I had used to move here from Tacoma, but it didn't take long for me to notice that they weren't going to hold everything. Since we didn't have any extra boxes laying around to pack off of the random gifts from Dad and JC, along with the crap I had bought, I was left with a bit of a conundrum. Did I want to take their crap with me? Did I throw my clothes into garbage bags to make room in my luggage for the trinkets?

While I was standing in my… no, in a bedroom at Dad's house, I heard a knock at the door. Had I been focused on anything but my immediate problems, I probably wouldn't have called out, "It's unlocked", but since I was, I did. That meant that while I was staring down at the piles of neatly folded clothing and the pile of random gifts I had received over the last few months sitting on my bed I felt two hands grip my hips.

"Mia…" JC breathed out against my ear causing me to shudder and turn towards him.

He didn't say anything else. Instead he wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled me into a kiss. Like I always did, I melted into his embrace. He ran his hands down my back and slipped them into my jeans' back pockets. He then cupped my butt cheeks through the denim and pressed the center of my body against his.

That's when I remembered that I was angry with his behavior from earlier that day. I then moved my hands to his shoulders and gave them a hard shove. He actually stumbled back a couple of steps before he regained his balance. I retreated back a couple of steps and watched him with a concerned eye as he found his footing.

Once he was steady in his place, he gave me a wounded puppy dog look as he pleaded, "Mia…"

"No!" I nearly shouted over the rest of his plea. "You don't just get to come in here and kiss me and flash those baby browns at me like nothing happened!"

"I know… I know…" He replied in a placating tone.

"Well if you already know that, then why'd you do it?"

"I came over to apologize, but when I saw you I couldn't help myself. You are irresistibly beautiful even when you look like you want to castrate me."

I kept my arms crossed over my chest as I answered (I hate to admit it, but I sounded confused and slightly impressed by what he had just said), "That's… uhh… that's a pretty good explanation. So? What did you want to apologize for?"

"For being a total jackass at Clay's house," he answered as he took a couple of cautious steps towards me.

I didn't move at all, but my tone was less severe when I said, "That's a good start."

He nodded and continued his slow approach towards me. "I also wanted to apologize for not being completely honest with you."

"Better."

He heaved out a relieved sigh when he saw me drop my arms to my sides. "I really was worried about you getting hurt or worse if you found out."

"Found out what?" I asked as I finally made eye contact with him. That's when I noticed the discoloration around his left eye. I started to reach out to him but forced myself not to touch his face. "Did…? Did Clay do that to you?"

"No, he wasn't there when it happened." He touched my arm, but I immediately flinched away from him. "I won't try to kiss you until you give the okay. I just… I was hoping we could sit down and talk because… I… I want to tell you everything.

"Everything?" I questioned skeptically.

He smiled and nodded. "Yes. Everything."

"Okay. I'll meet you in the living room."

He stood in my room just staring at me for a moment before he turned around to head to the living room. Somehow I managed to hold in my shiver until he was out of my room. My God how that man could still affect me. Maybe I wasn't as angry with him as I thought I was. Then again… he DID apologize, so that really helped.

And he wants to come clean. I thought as I pulled two bottles of beer out of the fridge. Alright… Here goes nothing.

I found JC pacing in the living room. After I passed him one of the beers, I retreated to my dad's recliner. I wasn't ready to be too close to him just yet. But that was mostly because I didn't trust myself around him. It was too easy for me to fall into the depths of his milk chocolate gaze. That usually lead to…

I quickly twisted the cap off my beer and took a long drink. JC remained standing and chuckled as I drank nearly half the bottle in one go. I swear there were times when it felt like he could read my mind. And this was one of them.

He still had an overly amused look on his face, so I pulled the bottle way from my lips to say, "You had a story for me, Mr. Ortiz?"

That jostled him out of his thoughts and caused him to laugh nervously. "Right."

He then took the cap off his own beer and took a swig. "Alright. So… I know that I've been a little withdrawn lately…" He paused as I barked out a humorless laugh. "Alright, more than a little. So it all started before you moved here. That's when AUSA Potter found out…"

And so the story began. Scratch that, the EPIC tale began. It started with JC being blackmailed by Potter to get evidence for a RICO case. The Lieutenant was in on it too, but JC felt like his had was more forced than him being a willing participant. But who could really say which was the truth?

Then Rita was killed and Eli decided to use his knowledge of the rat at SAMCRO's table to get Jax's help to hand over her killer. That all went sideways when Frankie Diamonds was killed. Fucking Frankie Diamonds. The stink from that piece of shit was still lingering. I can't even put into words how much I wish I could have gutted that asshole and watched the light be extinguished from his eyes.

Whoa! Where did that come from?

I accepted the new bottle of beer JC had brought out to me. Not surprisingly, he had to take a break. Shit. How much more was there for him to tell me? I sat and drank my new beer while I 'patiently' waited. Don't get me wrong, I had a million questions running through my head, but I had promised to keep them to myself until he was done. He had assured me that once he was done, most of my questions would be answered.

"Alright… Where was I?"

"Eli warned you to get out of town."

He smiled then continued, "Right. But where would I go? Everything… my WHOLE world is here in Charming…"

I sniffled in a breath at the look on his face. The intensity in his eyes and the tone of his voice told me he wasn't just talking about the MC. Trust me, it took every ounce of will power I owned not to jump out of that chair and run over to kiss him.

But I wanted to know everything, so I drank my beer instead. He watched me with a curious eye but didn't comment. He too chose to drink his beer instead of acknowledging the elephant that had entered the room.

"So after Eli's warning, I decided to confront this thing head on. The next morning, I went to Jax's house…"

"Was that the day you came home in tears and…?" He gave me a pointed look, so I threw my hand over my mouth to silence myself. I then said through my fingers, "Sorry… sorry… Saving my questions 'til the end. Sorry."

"It's okay. I know it can't be easy for you to hold it all in. But yes, my emotions were really raw that day because Jax laid it all out on the line for me. He basically said that I should die for being a rat, but then he said he would give me a chance to earn my way back into the club. But that part of the agreement would be just between him and I…"

That's when he explained what "earning his way back into the club" would entail. Turns out Frankie's lips loosened more and more the closer and closer he got to Death's door. The Nomads had attacked Unser at Gemma's house to divert everyone's attention. Although they did steal a bunch of stuff from the house, they had returned all of the legal documents to Clay. That was the task Jax had given JC, find those documents so they could finally bring Clay before the club as the ring leader of the Nomads' home invasions.

When I found him in Clay's house, that's what he had been doing; searching high and low for that paperwork. Since Clay had killed Piney and had tried to have Tara killed, JC had been genuinely afraid for my life. He acknowledged that picking me up like I was a misbehaving child wasn't the best thing to do, but he couldn't think of anything else since he couldn't be honest with me at the time. Yes, his heartfelt apology earned him some mega boyfriend points.

"Then today Jax laid everything out for the club. Well, everything about RICO, not the shit about Clay. We all voted and we're getting out of gun running and coke muling. He says that with Diosa and your proposed car restoration business, we'll be turning a profit soon."

"Yeah, we have a few more details to work out before we can make it all viable."

We stared at each other then for a couple of seconds while we sipped our beers. He was still standing, but he wasn't pacing anymore. I took that as a sign that he was finished his part of the conversation.

I put my bottle down (because me having something in my hands hadn't worked out well today). "Okay, you were right. Most of my questions were answered during that… well all of that."

"Okay," he stated as he sat down on the couch closest to where I was seated. "Tell me, mi abejita, what else do you want to know?"

"If Clay wasn't there when this happened…?" I reached out and stroked around the budding bruise by his left eye with a feather-light touch. "Then who did this to you?"

"Jax."

I startled in my place because that was not the answer I expected. (Don't ask me who I thought would punch him in the face because other than me earlier today I couldn't think of anyone who might want to.) Plus, he answered me in such a calm, serene tone that it was a little unnerving.

"Why?" I finally asked once I remembered how to speak.

"When Jax didn't show after I found the paperwork, Clay figured it out and moved it all. Jax had told me not to leave him alone in the house. This was my President's way of reminding me that I failed him and didn't follow orders."

"He punches you in the face because you were concerned for his safety. Yeah, that totally tracks."

He caught my hand that had been stroking his cheek lovingly to bring it to his lips and kiss my fingers. "It's what guys do. Don't give it another thought."

"I'm a proud Tomboy, but macho shit like this will never make sense to me."

"I'll be fine, Mia. I promise."

"JC…" He smiled so broadly that I could almost count his teeth. "What? What's with the cat that ate the canary smile?"

"You didn't call me 'Juice'. I'm hoping that's a good sign for me."

I felt my cheeks heat up under an embarrassed blush. That could have been my answer to him, but I still said, "You wouldn't be wrong to think that."

"Good."

I started to lean forward to kiss him, but froze when he said, "Does that mean I can ask you a question?"

I leaned back so that I could focus on his face easier before I answered, "Sure?"

He smiled at the questioning tone in my voice. "Are you planning a trip?" I just stared at him, which prompted him to add, "It looked like you were packing when I got to your room."

"Oh…" I stood up then quickly changed the topic answering, "You should ice your eye to keep the swelling down."

I heard him get up to give chase as I rushed towards the kitchen. My head was in the freezer so I couldn't see the expression on his face, but I could hear the emotion in his voice when he asked, "Mia? What's wrong?"

"Would you believe we don't have any ice? But we have a bag of frozen peas. How have I never noticed that we have a bag of frozen peas in here?" I pulled it out and turned to face him. "Huh… I guess Dad has them for this exact reason. Here."

He took them with a dismissive 'Thanks' on his lips. But he didn't to put them to use. Instead, he reached out to catch a tear that had escaped from my left eye and asked, "Baby? What's wrong? What aren't you telling me?"

I took in a couple of deep breaths to make sure I could keep my emotions in check before I spoke. "Let's sit…"

He followed me to the kitchen table and sat down across from me. I didn't continue my answer right away because I wasn't even sure how to explain it. In the heat of the moment, after I had stormed out of the clubhouse, moving out had made perfect sense. But now that I had calmed down, taking off without talking to my dad first sounded a little too cowardly for my taste.

"I'm guessing you didn't hear ab out everything that went down with the Byz Lats today because of all your shit with Clay and Jax."

"No, no I haven't. What'd I miss?"

"Apparently they crashed the Diosa opening. Jax made some sort of a deal with them to sell them some guns. But when they got to the meeting point, Nero's crew… sorry former crew apparently changed their minds."

"Changed their minds how?"

I let out a heavy sigh then answered, "They wanted the guns, they just didn't want to pay for them."

"What? Seriously?"

"Yep. You know that old station wagon that used to just in TM's parking lot? Well, she's so shot up that Wade and I will have to have a horseshoe shoved up our asses to be lucky enough to find any useable parts on it."

He laughed, but it sounded more out of nervousness than actual amusement. "Nice visual there, Mia."

"When you see it, you'll understand. Luckily Jax, Tig and Chibs came out unscathed, but Dad…"

I sniffled in a breath that turned into a sob. JC reached across the table and gripped my hand that was sitting on the tabletop. "What happened to your dad?"

"He… He took a bullet to the head."

"What?! Happy's dead?" He nearly shouted as he stood up at the table. "No, but I… he…"

"What?" That's when I heard what I had just said. WHOOPS! I reached across the table and tugged on his arm until he came around closer to my side of the table. After he was seated, I leaned forward and rewarded him with a soft kiss on the lips. "No, I misspoke. One grazed his head or ricocheted off the car and hit him. I'm not sure, but either way when I left the clubhouse Chibs was stitching his head up."

"Thank God. What the hell went down?"

"I don't know," I retorted heatedly. The more I thought about it, the more I could feel my anger bubbling up again. "Because it's club business and therefore not for me to hear anything about. I mean my dad was almost killed but I'm not allowed to know why or what they plan to do to teach those fuckers a lesson. Heaven forbid this delicate flower be told anything."

"Oh… shit…" When I looked up at JC I could see he had already connected the most important dots from my unsaid words. "And how did you let Happy know your displeasure at being shut out for a second time today because of 'club business'?"

I felt my cheeks heat up because I couldn't believe he figured that out so quickly. It was kind of embarrassing how well he had gotten to know me in such a relatively short time. Which is why I couldn't look him in the eye when I answered, "I threw a tumbler of whiskey at his head."

"Mia!" JC gasped out sounding truly scandalized. "You didn't!"

The tone of his voice made me chuckle. I turned my eyes back up to his face and shrugged, "What? It didn't hit him. Plus, it wasn't like I wasted good scotch or anything. It was just some rot-gut whiskey."

"Well that's good to hear. And how did he react to that?"

"I don't know. I was halfway out the door before the glass hit the wall. He hasn't tried calling, so I'm guessing Gemma offered to run interference or something."

"Shit. I'm sorry. So…? What's you plan now?"

"Honestly? I don't know. When I left TM it was to move out and stay with Wade until I found a new place. But now that I've calmed down a bit, that's feeling a little extreme."

"Why don't you pack a bag and spend the night at my place?" He asked as he leaned over to kiss me.

I let him steal a quick kiss before I sat back and shook my head. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

By the look on his face, you would have thought that I had smacked him across the face or worse. "What? Why not?"

"JC… before you came over tonight… I… I was seriously contemplating breaking up with you. The way things have been between us since Tahoe isn't healthy. I just… I need us to slow down a bit. Plus, after everything you told me, I think I'm going to need some time to digest it all."

"Oh yeah… That makes sense. Can I say again how sorry I am for how I treated you? Because I really am so, so sorry Mia."

I rewarded him with a deep kiss then rested my forehead against his. "And I appreciate your apology. I swear I'm not staying here instead of your place to punish you. This is just what I need to do to wrap my head around everything. I love you, Juan Carlos, and I do forgive you."

That earned me another deep kiss. JC somehow managed to pull me into his lap with my legs wrapped around his waist. After a few minutes of making out at the kitchen table, JC stood up and started walking out of the room.

"JC? What are you doing?" I asked in a breathy voice when I noticed that he had carried me to my room.

He didn't answer me until he had laid me down on my bed and then blanketed my body with his own. "I just wanted us to be more comfortable while we make out. I heard you, Mia. You need time and I'm willing to give you some space because I love you too."