Hi guys. Here's the last chapter – especially for elbeewoods xx

Thanks for all your kind reviews and PM's. You've all been really encouraging xx

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to the show or the song lyrics that feature at the start of the chapter (which I may have changed slightly-sorry!)

This is how the story went

I met someone by accident

Who blew me away

He blew me away

And it was in the darkest of my days

When he took my sorrow and he took my pain

And buried them away

He buried them away

Hiding my heart- Adele

"Thanks for being here man. A show of support is what she needed''

Opie shrugged. Jax's thanks weren't needed. Even though he hadn't seen Tara for over a decade Jax knew Opie wouldn't let her down, his loyalty wouldn't allow it. He had welcomed her back just minutes ago, hugging her slender body as if she was his returning sister.

''It's no problem bro. It's good to see her back'' Jax nodded at his best friends words. It most certainly was good to see her back in Charming. They both looked across at the graveside, where Tara was talking to a few of her father's co-workers. Opie glanced at Jax and noted the loving look he had in his eyes as he looked at Tara ''I guess you two have some shit to sort out, huh?''

Jas snorted, stuffing his hands in his pockets ''Just a little bit''

"Does she know about Wendy and the baby yet?"

Jax started to kick at the dirt under his feet, dirtying his white sneakers. He had tried to keep thoughts of Wendy and the kid out of his mind, not wanting to spoil his time with Tara. He knew he had to tell her he had married someone else, not that the marriage had meant shit. But that was a conversation for another day. Today was about Tara, not about his burdens.

Jax shrugged, staring down at the dusty ground "No, not yet"

Opie thought as much. He knew what Jax was doing, knew that he was savouring having Tara to himself before sullying her to the idea that he had married Wendy and was expecting a kid with her. The one thing Jax could be thankful for was that the divorce would come through soon, not that that will be much comfort to Tara, Opie thought.

"Well bro, be sure to give me the heads up when that shit storm is revealed" Opie joked.

Opie slapped his brother on the back, silently congratulating him on the return of the woman that he had loved and lost so many years ago. ''I got to go man. My shift starts in an hour''

The two men shared a hug, cementing a bond that could not be broken and Jax watched as Opie left to start his shift at the lumber yard.

Jax slowly walked up to Tara who was now talking to some of the men at her father's graveside and gave her a few moments as they gave their condolences and said their goodbyes. Jax nodded his thanks as they nervously glanced over at him, all too aware of Jax's status around Charming.

He looked across at Tara who stood at her father's graveside, her eyes closed as if in silent prayer. He cautiously walked up to her so that he could stand by her side but he didn't want to disturb her silent thoughts. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared down at the earth that was now mounded on top of Eddie Knowles' coffin.

''You two didn't really see eye to eye, did you?'' Tara's words startled Jax and he looked across at her, her eyes lowered to also look at the ground that her father was now laid to rest in.

It was true, Jax never regarded Eddie Knowles with the greatest of esteem, knowing that he paid more attention to where his next drink would come from rather than his own daughter. When Tara had moved to San Diego it had taken Eddie four days to realise that she had moved out. But the feeling was mutual; Eddie always made it known that Jax wasn't good enough for his only child, that he would drag Tara to the gutter that he had been brought up in.

But Tara didn't need to relive his shit today and so Jax hunched his shoulders ''I guess we just clashed on the one thing we both loved the most. He was protecting you Tara. Christ, if I ever have a daughter I would never want her to go out with a piece of shit like me either''

Tara appreciated the sentiment, knew that Jax was just trying to smooth over the past to ease her grief. ''You're not a piece of shit Jax. Look at everything you've done, just today for example. You didn't need to do that but you did because that's who you are. And you're a good man Jackson Teller''

Jax looked ahead, straight into the distance, anywhere other than at Tara. This is why he had fallen for her all those years ago. It was because she saw something other than the kutte that adorned his back, she saw something better. She saw past the good looks and bold smile, she saw his good intentions and pure heart. Her words touched him, she saw the man that he wanted to be, that he tried every day to desperately be like.

He reached out and grabbed her small hand, a hand that delved into the chests of her patients to touch and heal their weak hearts. And it seemed that in this moment, without the operating theatre or medical equipment that she would normally use, that that was exactly what she had just done to him. Touched his weak heart with just her words. His cold hand encompassed hers. His hand that had choked the life away from men, the hand that had clenched and struck so many of his enemies faces. His fingers that now entwined with hers had pulled the trigger on too many guns, an action that had ended lives. These were the things that she couldn't see, that he would desperately shelter her from seeing in case they turned her love for him into hate. He brought her hand up to his mouth and, closing his eyes, his soft lips kissed her delicate porcelain skin.

They stood in silence for a few moments, their hands still entwined, each lost in their own memories of her father, of the past that they had shared. After some time Tara turned to Jax, who was patiently waiting in silence to say her final goodbye.

''The past is dead. It's time to move on'' And she held his hand tighter, tugging him away from the grave side, and walking towards a future that she hoped they would share together, knowing that his was a hand that would always hold hers.

Hope you enjoyed it guys xx