It was several miles before they finally came to a motel and pulled in, walking inside.

"We need two rooms," Jax said to the girl at the counter. She looked up at them, taking in the appearance of the three bikers and Elle.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, "We're almost completely booked. We've only got one room left."

"You're completely booked?" Jax asked, shocked. The girl nodded.

"We're the only hotel for at least 20 miles in either direction, we fill up pretty quickly," she said apologetically. When they looked uncertain, she added, "The room we have has two queen beds, it should fit all of you." Jax glanced at Elle, who shrugged.

"Can we get two cots or something?" he asked. The girl checked her computer and looked back up at him.

"We have one that you can have," she said, "I'll have someone bring it up for you now, if you'd like." Jax sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, okay, we'll take it," he said, sensing issues with sleeping arrangements. He knew Elle wasn't going to want him sleeping next to her, and he'd be damned before he let one of the others take that spot, especially since he knew they'd both already… He shook the thought out of his head.

The only option was for him to take the floor and Opie and Happy to take one of the beds and the cot. At least that way he could make sure neither of them was groping her in the middle of the night.

After they checked in and paid, Opie took the key she offered and led the group to the room. They opened the door and walked in, seeing a decent sized room with two queen beds. The cot had already been brought up and was set up on the far side of the room.

Elle flung herself onto one of the beds, crawling under the covers. She pulled her jeans off under the covers, thanking God she made the decision to wear underwear today, and threw them on the floor next to her before rolling over. Happy took the cot and Opie looked over at Jax, questioning who was getting the second bed.

"You take it," Jax mumbled and Opie nodded, lying down on it. Jax grabbed a pillow off Opie's bed, throwing it on the ground before peeling his cut and t-shirt off. He laid down on the ground, lying on his back, his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

Elle looked down at him, arguing with herself internally. She felt bad about making him sleep on the floor, but she really didn't want to share a bed with him. Maybe if it was one of the others… She watched him shift uncomfortably and sighed.

"Are you really going to sleep on the floor?" Elle finally asked, eyeing Jax from her spot on the bed. He glanced up at her, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Well I'm not crawling into bed with Ope," he responded, not needing to voice the other option that hung like an elephant in the room.

"Not unless he grows tits," Opie mumbled from his bed, "And a vagina."

"I have neither of those things," Jax pointed out. Elle sighed.

"Well, I'll share with Opie, you can have my bed," she said. Opie looked over at Jax, who was glaring at him.

"Yeah, uh, I'm gonna need the whole bed," Opie said, "I take up a lot of room." Elle frowned.

"Fine, Happy can sleep with me and you can have the cot," she said. Happy opened one eye and looked at Jax, who glared at him, shaking his head.

"Nope," Happy responded, closing his eyes.

"What? Why not?" she asked.

"Nope," he replied. Elle sighed again, rolling her eyes at them all.

"You can sleep here," she grumbled. Jax eyed her curiously.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"No, so you might want to take the spot before I change my mind," she said curtly, rolling over until she was almost on the edge of the bed, her back to him. Jax grinned and stood, pulling his jeans off so he was down to his boxers and crawled in next to her.

Elle's heart started racing as Jax crawled into bed. She had to force herself not to turn her head to look at him, because she knew if she did she would probably want to jump on top of him. Whether it was to kiss him or punch him in the face, she still wasn't too sure. Either option was not good, however, so she stayed where she was and she was soon fast asleep.

Jax woke up in the middle of the night to Elle thrashing around in the bed. He looked over at her, a look of terror stretched across her face, her eyes still closed. She started whimpering and moaning as she continued to thrash around. Jax grabbed her, pulling her into him, and her eyes flung open. She looked wildly around and then her eyes fixed on Jax and she seemed to relax as she curled into him, resting her head on his chest.

"How often do you have nightmares?" he asked, concerned.

"Every night since…" she mumbled, her voice trailing off.

"Well you're safe here," he told her, holding her tighter.

"Shut. Up," Happy said sleepily from across the room. Jax grinned looking down at Elle, but she had already fallen back asleep.

Elle woke up the next morning, groggily lying in bed, her eyes stubbornly held shut. She was vaguely aware of the hardness of her pillow, and also that it seemed to have a heartbeat. Her brain was still hazy from the earliness of the hour and she felt an arm twitch around her waist. And it wasn't her arm. Her eyes flung open and she realized at some point in the night she had curled right into Jax, her head on his chest, his arm wrapped around her, their legs intertwined.

How had this happened? She vaguely remembered having a nightmare, and waking up to Jax holding her, but she'd thought it had been part of her dream. She lay there a second longer, wanting to pretend that everything was perfect between them. That there was no animosity at all. Because even she had to admit, it felt nice to be held by him. But as she felt him stir beneath her, she couldn't pretend any longer and tried to roll away from him. His arm automatically caught her, keeping her pinned to him, as he slowly woke up.

"Mmm, morning," Jax said, looking down at her, an amused expression on his face. She didn't respond, choosing instead to roll out of his grasp and back to her spot on her side of the bed. Jax sat up, rubbing his face with his hands, before stumbling out of bed and into the shower. Elle lay there as she heard the water running, resisting the urge to jump in there with him and reminding herself that she was still angry.

By the time he walked out, Opie and Happy were up and moving about. Jax got dressed and looked over at Elle.

"You hungry?" he asked. Elle nodded while she continued to avoid his gaze, pulling the blankets up until they were at her neck.

"Okay, I'm going to run and get us breakfast before we head out – you want anything in particular?" he asked. Elle shook her head.

"Nah, just get me whatever you're having," she mumbled.

"Alright, we'll be back soon," Jax said, "Ope, come with me." Jax eyed Happy before following Opie out the door. Happy flung himself on Opie's bed and flipped the TV on while Elle got dressed. She walked over to sit next to Happy and looked at the TV. It looked like a Spanish program, with two beautiful girls yelling at each other.

"What are you watching?" she asked. Happy held up a hand, shushing her.

"Oh I'm sorry," Elle whispered sarcastically, "Are these your stories?"

"It's my telenovela," he replied, his eyes glued to the TV. Elle sat there, trying to follow what was going on, but she'd only taken two years of Spanish in high school and had learned almost nada, and had no idea what they were saying.

"What's happening?" she finally asked Happy. He growled at her and Elle tried to figure it out on her own.

"What's happening now?" she asked again a few minutes later when she still hadn't picked up on what was going on. Happy sighed, resigning himself to explaining it to her.

"Maria thinks Carmen has been sleeping with her husband, Jose," he responded, eyes still glued to the TV.

"Did she?" Elle asked. Happy shook his head as a man walked onto the screen, "Is that Jose?"

"No, that's Maria's sister, Isabel, but she had a sex change so now she goes by Tony," he said.

"Why did Maria just slap him? Or is it her?" Elle asked.

"Because he slept with Jose," he said. Elle widened her eyes, a smile creeping across her lips.

"You seem very invested in the story," she said. Happy turned to glare at her.

"I used to watch it with my mom, okay? And now I really need to find out what happens," he said. Elle turned back to the TV as Maria screamed at Carmen and Tony.

"So why does Maria think Carmen slept with Jose?" Elle asked.

"Because she's having his baby," Happy explained. Elle frowned.

"So how did she get pregnant if they didn't have sex?" she asked.

"Turkey baster," Happy replied, and Elle burst into a fit of giggles.

"Well Maria didn't think it was very funny," Happy said, a rare smile creeping across his lips. Elle laughed again, wiping tears from her eyes and clutching her side as Jax and Opie walked in, each carrying a bag of food and two coffees, talking about the deal with the 512's Happy and Jax had worked out.

"Food's here," Jax announced, setting it on the desk next to the TV.

"Shhhh," Elle said, waving them down as she continued to laugh, trying to focus on the show. Jax watched Elle laugh, the first time he'd really seen her laugh in weeks, and had to admit he was slightly jealous that it wasn't him that had brought it out of her. It was Happy. Happy, of all people. He shook his head.

"What's so funny?" he asked. Elle shook her head, smiling in spite of herself.

"Nothing, just Happy's ridiculous telenovela," she said, getting up to grab a coffee and dug through the bag of food before pulling out a breakfast taco. The four ate in almost complete silence before Elle wiped her hands on a napkin and stood.

"I'm gonna take a shower before we head out," she said, walking into the bathroom. Jax watched her close the door behind her and turned to the other two.

"Why don't you guys ride ahead," Jax said coolly, "I'll stay here and wait for Elle." Opie and Happy exchanged glances.

"You think that's a good idea?" Opie asked.

"I'll be fine riding by myself," Jax said irritably, "We're only a little over 2 hours away."

"We can wait, it's not a big deal," Happy said.

"Just go ahead," Jax told him firmly, "We'll be right behind you." Happy shrugged as he and Opie shared a knowing glance.

"Alright brother," Opie said, patting Jax on the shoulder and standing up, "Make sure you've got your prepay on you." Jax nodded and they walked out the door.

Elle came out several minutes later, back in her jeans and tank top, her bag slung over her shoulder. She looked around the room then back at Jax, crossing her arms.

"Where are Opie and Happy?" she asked accusatorily.

"They needed to ride ahead, club business," Jax said. Elle narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, and I'm so sure as president of the club, you weren't needed for this club business," she said as she stalked past him and out the door. Jax followed her and she ran down the stairs to the parking lot.

"Elle!" he called, but she kept walking.

"Elle, where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm walking!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"What? To Charming? It's almost 150 miles!" he said, jogging to catch up to her. He got in front of her, gripping her arms to stop her. She jerked herself out of his grip and walked past him, but he grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"You've forgiven everyone else!" he yelled in frustration as she once again ripped her arm out of his grip, "Everyone else except for me." She glared at him, refusing to respond for nearly a minute.

"Everyone else didn't hurt me the way you did, Jax," she finally said.

"You know I didn't know he was going to do that to you. I didn't even want you to fucking go in the first place!" he shouted.

"You were the one who asked me to do it!" she yelled back at him, "Anyone else I would've just told to go to hell, but you knew I couldn't say no to you. You used me. You knew I had feelings for you and you used them against me." He walked closer to her, placing his hands on his shoulders.

"I didn't know you had feelings for me," he whispered, "But I knew that I had them for you." Elle looked up at him, her heart racing, the damn butterflies back in her stomach.

"Then how could you do that to me?" she asked, her voice breaking as she felt the tears welling behind her eyes. Jax hung his head, slowly shaking it back and forth.

"I should've told Lenevsky to go to hell. I was so bent on making sure I was doing right by the club, that I was being a good president, that I messed up on doing right by you, and I'm so sorry," he said, finally bringing his eyes up to meet hers. Elle felt her bottom lip tremble.

"It's not okay, Jax," she finally said quietly, feeling some of her resolve melt as she looked at the pained expression across his face, "I just don't know how to forgive you." Jax nodded sadly, pulling her into him. She allowed him this time, wrapping her arms around his waist, her head pressed against his chest as she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to keep back the tears.

A/N Please please please review! It's the only compensation I get, and it really means a lot to me to hear what you all have to say about the story!