Chapter 11B: So Far Away

-flashback-

Not long after Simple Plan left Charming, maybe two weeks later, Jax and Kali sat in her house, they had been debating about what she should do with her partner. Was it worth her keeping the relationship going for her sons sake or was it worth ending it? In the end she had decided that she needed to end it.

"Kal, do what you need to do. You know that I can't help you decide about what to do," Jax told her as they both glanced into the living room towards her little boy. "As much as he needs a father, he needs his mom more,"

"I know Jax, I know," Kali sighed smiling as she looked at Jackson and then back to Jax. "If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna need to do it in person,"

"How long do you need?" Jax questioned, getting straight to the point as he looked back at his little sister.

"Like forty-eight hours, from what Seb told me the last time I talked to him they're in Sacramento this weekend," Kali replied, looking to Jax and running a hand through her hair as she spoke. "I need to do this, but I'm scared..." she told him, not knowing how he was going to react.

"Do you want one of the guys to go with you?" Jax almost laughed as he said it but held back.

"I'll be fine, I'll take Jack to see his dad...and then I'm ending it..." Kali trailed off she didn't like saying the words, but it needed to happen, she'd been having feelings for someone else for as long as she could remember and he knew it.

"Chibs or Ope can go with you, you know that," Jax said, watching as his little sister shook her head almost violently. "Just remember if you need them they can go,"

"I'll be fine," she was adamant that she would be fine to go by herself, she was an adult after all wasn't she? "I'll call him tonight and tell him that Jack wants to see his dad, and then I'll make the trip,"

The next day Kali was packing her bag with clothes for both her and Jackson to drive to Sacramento for the weekend. Jackson was pulling things out as fast as she was putting them in and it was making Jax laugh as he, Chibs and Opie had turned up to see them off.

"Oi! Don't just stand there one of you play with him," Kali laughed, motioning to Jackson who was grinning innocently at his mother. "Come on now Jack, mommy needs to pack if we want to see Daddy,"

"Sorry mommy," Jackson was still grinning before he ran over and grabbed his uncle's hand and dragged him to the living room.

"You sure you'll be able to do this on your own?" Opie questioned, leaning against the door as he looked between Kali and Chibs.

"Yeah, I'll be good," she was trying reassure herself just as much as she was them.

"Darlin, you know we'll go with you if you want us to," Chibs smiled at her and then walked from the room leaving her with Opie.

"Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?" Opie looked at her raising an eyebrow before rolling his eyes, he had a feeling that she wouldn't get very far.

Kali shoved the last of what they were taking with them in the suitcase and zipped it up. Picking up the suitcase she walked out of the room being followed by Opie who shut the door and they were both on the way down the hall to the lounge room. Jackson was sitting on Jax's lap while he read to him.

"Okay Jack, time to say good bye to Uncle Jax, Uncle Opie and Uncle Chibs," Kali smiled at her son watching as he twisted his body around in Jax's lap and wrapped his arms around his uncles neck.

"Bye! Mommy said we'll see you tomorrow night," Jackson said excitedly planting a kiss on his uncle's cheek and then squirming free and doing the same to the other men.

"Here let me," Chibs took the suitcase from her as she picked up Jackson and carried him out to the car with her handbag and keys.

"Thanks, I'll see you guys tomorrow night," Kali smiled kissing each of the men on the cheek and hugging her brother tightly.

The sons watched as Kali drove off with Jackson, before they went back to TM. None of them were surprised when an hour later she turned up at the garage freaking out because she couldn't do it on her own. Jax rolled his eyes as he saw her pull up.

"Oi, Chibs? Go see what happened," Jax told him, glancing up from the table they were sitting at. "Check the cage,"

"Jackie boy, it won't be the car," Chibs shook his head at the younger man before he walked over watching as Kali got out of the car. "Darlin' everything okay?"

"Fuck no, I can't do it," Kali stood with the door open, looking at the ground before looking up at him.

"I'll drive, get in," Chibs sighed and looked to Jax before going over to him. "Jackie boy, I'll take your sister,"

"Make sure she doesn't freak out on him again, yeah?" Jax questioned hugging the older man, who quickly ducked inside the clubhouse and grabbed a change of clothes. They all had spare clothes stashed in case of emergencies.

Chibs walked back to Kali and climbed in the drivers seat of her Cadillac, it was her baby and she didn't trust many people to drive it. In fact the only people she trusted were Jax, Opie, Chibs and herself, the others were too reckless with it.

"Darlin, you know you can do this," Chibs looked to her and then glanced in the back seat as they drove through Lodi having to go a different way due to roadworks. "How far did you get?"

"Thornton...I know I'm a chicken," Anything else and she could do it no problem on her own, but breaking up with someone without scaring them was another story.

"You weren't one the last time you broke up with someone, if I remember correctly," Chibs laughed taking a hand from the steering wheel and taking her hand in his. "Hey little man, you ready to see your dad?"

"Yes!" Jackson grinned from the back seat as he looked out the window.

Kali and Chibs both had a chuckle about how enthusiastic the little boy was to be seeing his father. Kali knew that he missed him, in a way she did too but at the same time she had to move on with her life as she wasn't planning on moving back to Canada any time soon. Once they arrived at the hotel Kali sent Seb a message telling him that she was there with a friend - she'd already asked for them to try and get a separate room. Kali and Chibs walked in with Jackson between the two of them, before Kali pulled Seb aside telling him that they needed to talk.

"I was planning on doing this tomorrow...but we need to talk," Kali said as she ushered him over to the bed of the room they had managed to snag her.

"That's never a good sign," Seb muttered sitting on the bed watching as she sat beside him.

"I love you...I really do, but I can't do this any more," Kali took a deep breath pausing before she continued. "I tried to make this work but I can't do it, I need to be at home...where I grew up it's the best thing at the moment and I know that's hard to understand,"

"I love you too," Seb was at a loss for words not knowing how to react to what she was saying.

"You know this has been coming, you saw that the last time we saw each other," Kali told him, glancing over to where Jackson was being held upside down by Chibs and giggling madly. "We've been drifting slowly apart since before I left, remember I told you that if my brother ever called me I'd leave and go home," Kali paused before she thought carefully about what to say again.

"I know, and I understood that the moment you told me. You were pushing me away slowly before you left, you knew that something was coming," Seb told her as he looked to her and then at their son who was still playing with Chibs. "I could see that you were slowly losing trust after Jack was taken,"

"That's not when and you know it," Kali grumbled, now he was pushing her away, it was low enough that Chibs could hear her.

"Deep breath darlin," Chibs said from the other side of the room as he picked up Jackson and sat him on his lap.

"I'm sorry...I can't do it any-more...it's over Seb..." Kali looked at him before he moved to give her a hug. "I'm sorry," Kali pulled away from him and called Jack over to them. "Hey little man, want to have some time with your dad?" Jackson ran over to Kali and Seb pulling Chibs with him as he saw the look on his mothers face.

-end flashback-