A/N Thanks for reading! For info regarding my next project, please seen the A/N at the end! Enjoy the final chapter of "The Fairest of Them All"!
Jax ran a hand through his hair, pacing outside Elle's hospital room. He didn't like being back here. It brought back the memory of Elle screaming at him from her hospital bed all those months ago. He had put her in danger then, and this time he couldn't even protect her from fucking Wendy. His eyes narrowed at the thought as the doctor walked out of Elle's room and Jax ran up to him.
"How is she?" he asked quickly. The doctor smiled at him.
"She's going to be just fine," he said, "She's regained consciousness which is an excellent sign. We'll need to keep her here for a few more hours to monitor her while her body processes the GHB, but so far her vitals are good and it doesn't look like any long-term harm was done. She's been asking for you – you can go in and see her now." Jax nodded, relieved, as he stepped past the doctor and opened the door to Elle's room. She looked up when he entered and he winced, half expecting her to scream at him to get out like last time, but she just smiled at him.
"Hey," she said as he sat next to her. He took her hand and kissed it, smiling back at her.
"How are you feeling?" he asked. She shrugged.
"Like I was drugged," she said, "But I've lost the urge to throw up everything I've ever eaten, so that's a good thing." Before he could respond, they both jumped as Elle's door was flung open and Gemma ran in, rushing to Elle's side.
"I just talked to the doctor," Gemma said, "How are you, baby?"
"I'm fine, Gemma," Elle assured her, "Thanks for coming by." Gemma nodded, pursing her lips.
"I swear if I ever see that bitch again…" she muttered as her voice trailed off.
"It's been handled, mom," Jax said, "She won't be back." Gemma nodded, giving Elle a smile.
"Doctor says you'll be out of here today," she said.
"Yup, he said I'll only be held prisoner for a few more hours," Elle said. Gemma leaned over, kissing her forehead.
"Good. Well I'll leave you two. I have to get to the store. I'll see you guys tomorrow night," she said as she left the room. Elle looked over at Jax, who suddenly had a guilty expression on his face.
"What's tomorrow night?" she asked slowly.
"Family dinner," he responded hesitantly. Elle chewed nervously on her bottom lip. She had so far managed to avoid family dinners at Gemma's. A Friday night party at the clubhouse was one thing, where Bex would be there and it was much easier to avoid people with the place so packed. But a family dinner was much more intimate, and since she'd been intimate with half the people that attended those dinners she hadn't been too excited to go. Even if Jax said her past with the club didn't bother him, it still bothered her, and after Tig's comment last night she couldn't be too sure Jax's assurances were still accurate.
"It's not an optional thing this time, babe," Jax said sighing, "Ma's gonna have my ass if we miss another one."
"Maybe we can ask the doctor to keep me here for a couple of days?" Elle said hopefully. Jax chuckled, shaking his head.
"It'll be fine," he said and Elle looked down at her hands, not responding.
"What are you so worried about?" he asked gently, though he was pretty sure he knew where her apprehension was coming from. He leaned over her on the bed, kissing her lightly on the lips, causing the monitor attached to her heart to beep a little faster. Jax looked over at it and grinned.
"That's not even fair," Elle said, pouting. Jax looked back at her, running his fingers along her cheek, grinning devilishly.
"I wonder how fast I can make it go?" he said, leaning over her again. She laughed, pushing him off of her.
"At that rate, they'll never let me out of here," she admonished and he sat back in his seat.
"We wouldn't want that now would we," Jax said, "Then we'd never make it to family dinner."
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
Jax and Elle pulled up to Gemma and Clay's house the next night and Elle slowly got off of Jax's bike, trying to prolong the point where she'd have to go in. Jax grabbed her hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze as they walked in together.
"Oh thank God you're finally here," Gemma said as soon as they'd walked in the door, giving Jax a kiss in the cheek, "Elle, I could really use your help in the kitchen." Elle looked at Jax hesitantly. She really wasn't good in the kitchen.
"Just don't let her make lasagna," Jax said grinning before giving Elle a quick kiss and walking into the dining room to join his brothers. Elle followed Gemma into the kitchen and looked around nervously. The only other occupant was a middle aged black woman who was taking a roast out of the oven and Cherry, who smiled and waved when they walked in. Gemma pointed to the counter, where a plethora of vegetables were sitting.
"Elle's gonna chop the salad, Neeta," Gemma announced as they walked into the kitchen. The black woman turned and nodded, smiling, as she set the pot roast on the stove. Elle got to work while Gemma began busily bringing food to the table.
"You chop any slower, we're gonna be having that salad next week," Gemma said as she walked up behind Elle. She smiled sheepishly at Gemma, who was giving her an assessing look.
"Trying to buy more time before you have to go in there?" she asked and Elle shrugged, preferring not to answer. Gemma grabbed a knife and joined Elle at the counter while they both continued chopping.
"So how are things going with Jax?" Gemma asked conversationally.
"Great," Elle replied, glancing over her shoulder and smiling as she saw Jax talking to Opie at the table, "Really great."
"Good," Gemma responded as she continued cutting, "You know, I don't like a lot of people, Elle. But I like you. I think you're gonna be good for Jax." Elle smiled and looked over at Gemma.
"Really?" she asked, almost unbelieving, "I would've thought, what with the whole…"
"Croweater thing?" Gemma asked and Elle shrugged, nodding, "Yeah, that might not have been the best decision, but it turned out for the best. And there's no one in that room that's gonna judge you for it. At least… not to your face."
"It's just uncomfortable, I guess," Elle said quietly, "I mean, when it's just me and Jax it's great and we can both pretend like none of it ever happened. But then I come here, and half the guys here have seen me naked and I just don't understand how that doesn't bother Jax, because it bothers me. And I'm just afraid that he's going to suddenly realize that… that I'm just not good enough for him." Elle didn't know why she was spilling her guts to Gemma but suddenly every fear she'd been feeling for the past couple of weeks came to the surface and she couldn't stop it. Gemma just shook her head.
"You listen here, baby girl," she said, "We've all done shit we're not proud of. But if Jax says he's not bothered, he's not bothered. I know how much that boy cares about you, and some past indiscretions ain't gonna change that." Elle nodded but couldn't help feeling nervous about the dinner ahead. She just hoped no one else would say something stupid like Tig at the party on Friday.
"Just ask Cherry," Gemma said, her voice rising slightly as she looked over at Cherry, "She got around before hooking up with Sack, didn't you, Cherry?" Cherry rolled her eyes but threw on a smile.
"Guess you could say that," she said, tilting her head slightly.
"You see?" Gemma said, "And Half-Sack doesn't care." Elle nodded, silently apologizing to Cherry with her eyes for getting called out across the kitchen.
"Okay, I think that's everything," Gemma said as she put the knife down, "Toss all of this together in that bowl over there and bring it to the table." Elle did as she was asked while Gemma went to check on something on the stove. When everything was finally ready, Elle brought the salad to the table where Jax was sitting with what appeared to be almost every patched member of SAMCRO. Clay was at the head of the table with Bobby, Tig, Chibs, Happy and Opie sitting along the side. Lining the other side was Jax, Juice, and Half-Sack with a couple empty chairs for her and Cherry. Elle took a seat in the empty chair next to Jax, who gave her a quick kiss as she sat down.
"Guys, you know Elle," he said to the table.
"Hey, Elle, good to see you," Opie said as the others nodded in recognition. Gemma and Neeta brought the last of the food to the table and Gemma took her seat at the end opposite Clay.
"Alright, dig in," she said as everyone scrambled for the food. Elle stayed silent through most of the conversation, poking at her food just enough to be polite. Even after Gemma's pep talk she still couldn't shake the concern that Jax would suddenly realize he couldn't handle the fact that she'd slept with half the guys sitting around the table.
Jax was laughing at something Juice had said when he turned to Elle, noticing her unease.
"You okay, babe?" he asked quietly in her ear. She put a smile on her face and nodded, but he knew that she was still bothered, despite his reassurances, and he didn't know what else he could say to let her know that the past was the past. He would just have to find a way to clear the air – show her it wasn't a big deal.
Dinner started dying down and everyone leaned back in their chairs as the feeling of overeating hit them. Gemma glanced in the bread box and held it up.
"Anyone want the last roll?" she asked as Juice and Jax both spoke up.
"I'll take it," they chorused, then glanced at each other. Jax reached over, grabbing the roll and shrugging at Juice.
"You've seen my girl naked. I get the roll," he said, taking a bite. Elle's eyes widened as she looked at Jax, who just winked at her.
"Hmm, fair enough," Juice conceded.
"That reminds me," Tig spoke up and Elle groaned inwardly, "Look Snow White, now that you're officially off the market and I'm never getting my threesome, as the new Queen of the clubhouse I'm gonna need you to find me another princess to replace you." Jax threw the rest of the roll at Tig's head, grinning, as everyone around the table started heckling Tig. Elle had to suppress a grin as she shook her head.
"There's probably a Snow White blow up doll out there I could find you," she said, knocking the smirk off Tig's face.
"Why- why would you say that?" he said, a slight shudder running through his body and Elle laughed as Jax threw his arm around her shoulder and she leaned closer to him.
"So if you ever see Wendy again, you gonna give her the Gemma special?" Bobby asked, grinning as he leaned over the table. Elle flicked her eyes at Gemma who was shaking her head before looking back at Bobby.
"What's the Gemma special?" she asked. Bobby looked at Cherry who rolled her eyes.
"Skateboard to the face," she responded and Elle widened her eyes, grinning.
"Your nose got fixed," Gemma said shrugging and Elle laughed, finally starting to feel at home at the table.
SOASOASOASOASOASOA
Elle threw on one of Jax's SAMCRO t-shirts in the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom where Jax was already in bed. He looked up at she entered and grinned as she crawled towards him on the bed, turning to lean against him as he wrapped an arm around her.
"So what'd you think about tonight?" he asked.
"It was fun. It went a lot better than I thought it would be," she said.
"Good, because there's gonna be a lot more family dinners and I want you to know you belong there, just like everybody else," he said. She nodded.
"I do," she responded.
"Good, because you're stuck with me now," he said, grinning. She pursed her lips.
"Stuck with you, huh?" she asked.
"For a long time," he added.
"Well I suppose there are worse things I could be stuck with," she teased. He rolled over so he was on top of her, kissing her so deeply she was glad she was lying down because otherwise her knees would have buckled. By the time he'd pulled apart, she'd almost forgotten what they'd been talking about.
"Yeah, definitely worse things," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him down to kiss him again, happiness surging through her at the thought of all the time to come spent with Jax.
A/N This story is now complete! I want to thank everyone who read this story and stuck with it and enjoyed it! I had so much fun writing it and it was great getting to share it with all of you! Please review and let me know what you thought of the story!
If you are interested in my next project, I'm teaming up with Afspouse to write a new Sons of Anarchy story. The first chapter has just been posted under a NEW USERNAME that we made together and that is: Kristinmw Afspouse - very creative I know :) So if you're interested, check out the story on that username!