Anxiously Dani awaited Jax's arrival. Her heart pounded in her chest as her eyes followed the black car driving on the parking lot. Gemma was standing beside her, cradling Abel in her arms. They were watching from near the entrance of the clubhouse, ready to embrace the guys who were coming home. Besides them, various other members, hang arounds and crow eaters had gathered.
The door slid open and they all got out one by one. Jax was the last one to get out. Dani monitored his facial expression closely but like she had noticed with all the other guys, none of them looked happy to be home.
Jax's face was stern. Dani knew this face only too well, and it didn't predict anything good. She felt her heart sinking in her chest. Something had happened inside. Any other person would be delighted to be home after spending some time in prison, yet it almost looked like Jax would have rather stayed inside.
Dani took a step forward, a nervous smile playing on her lips. But instead of coming towards her like the other guys did, Jax separated himself from the group and headed towards the clubhouse, going right past everyone who were there to the Sons back, including Dani. On the other side Clay headed into the office.
No one quite knew how to react. Some of the members just went on with their business as if nothing had happened. But something big and important had happened inside of those prison walls.
"Fucking hell, Jax" Dani muttered.
Suddenly Gemma grabbed her arm. "No," she warned. "Leave him alone for now."
Dani shook her head. "I'm going to find out what is up."
She took long strides towards the clubhouse, carefully dodging everyone else. Jax might not feel like any company right now, but she sure as hell did. Dani did not wait that entire time worrying about him for nothing. He couldn't just ignore her.
Like she expected, the clubhouse was empty so he had locked himself away in the apartment out in the back. Without knocking on the door, she swung it open, not sure what to prepare herself for. What the hell had happened?
"Hey," she said, trying to get Jax's attention. He was seated on the bed with his back towards the door. "You're not even going to say hello to me? Or your son?"
She got no reply.
Dani moved around the bed and stood before Jax, her hands resting on her hips.
"Don't you dare try to ignore me," she continued sternly.
Whatever had happened inside of that prison, she had nothing to do with it. He didn't have to tell her what exactly went down, but a little acknowledgment of her existing would be nice.
Finally his eyes met hers. Jax's eyes screamed anger, but she decided to ignore that for a moment. However he remained silent, motionless even.
Dani shook her head and scoffed. "Whatever," she spoke, annoyed. "I'm gonna feed Abel, you know, your son."
She moved to the door again, her heart sinking further in her chest with each step she took away from him.
"I just need to be alone for a little while," Jax suddenly spoke.
Dani's hand was already on the door handle. She turned her head to reply, opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words to speak.
"Where's Jax?" Gemma spoke, when Dani approached her. She took Abel into her arms, balancing his head carefully.
"In the apartment. Being an asshole," she replied. "As usual."
Gemma nodded. "He'll come around."
"Whatever," Dani siad. "I'm gonna go to the café. If he decides to stop behaving like a child tell him I'm there."
The café was all empty when she arrived. Elijah was busy with brewing some fresh coffee while the other staff seemed to have gone home already. Everything was clean and ready to go for tomorrow.
"Coffee?" Elijah asked when he spotted her in the door opening, raising his eyebrows.
Dani sighed. "Yes, please."
She sat down on one of the stools in front of the bar, placing Abel besides her. He was sleeping tightly. It had been a long day for everyone yet Dani didn't feel like going home just yet.
Elijah placed a mug before her. Steam was arising from the hot liquid so Dani decided to wait a few minutes to let it cool down. "Thanks," she said, forcing a smile on her lips.
"Didn't expect to see you today," Elijah began.
"There was a change of plans," Dani replied, not feeling like telling him everything that had happened.
"It's great to see you, though." The smile that appeared on his face made her uncomfortable. Dani thought they had talked about this, so she decided to ignore it and hoped he was just being nice to her.
"How's business going?" she asked, after being absent for a few days when Jax was inside. The café seemed to become a second priority lately.
"Great. It was really busy today, just like any of the other days. Customers have been asking about you, though. I think they miss you."
"Well, I miss them too," she replied, looking around her café which she so lovingly restored after it had been smashed to pieces. But she had Abel now, and Abel was more important than the café which was essentially just a building, an empty space.
Elijah moved from behind the bar and sat down on the bar stool next to her, his eyes focussed on hers. His leg touched hers, making Dani slightly uncomfortable.
"With Jax in prison, I'm pretty sure he won't mind if I do this," Elijah began. He leaned forward and before Dani realized what he had said, his lips were pressed against hers.
Dani was shocked. Without thinking, she pushed him away. "What the fuck!" she exclaimed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Jax is out! Do you have a death wish or something? He'll kill you for doing that."
Elijah still had a smirk covering his face. Dani shook her head. He didn't seem to grasp the idea of an old lady. The things Jax would do to him if he found out about this…
"I'm not afraid of him," Elijah said. He took a step forward. "No one can see us here."
Before he was able to kiss her again, Dani curled her hands into a fist and let it collide with his face as hard as she could. "How many fucking times do I have to tell you no?"
Elijah's hand shot up to his cheek. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. For the first time, Dani had been able to make him speechless.
"You are fired. Please get the fuck out," Dani said sternly, feeling her blood boiling.
Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the backdoor open. When she had returned home, she had hoped Jax was already in bed, wanting to avoid him after the fight they had earlier. But the bed had appeared empty and it was only now Jax had returned from the clubhouse or wherever he had been.
She fixed her gaze on her hand, which she had bandaged after hitting Elijah. Dani had hit him harder than she thought. When she returned home she noticed how her knuckles were bruised and battered. After putting Abel in his crib, she bandaged it carefully, hoping it would heal soon so she wouldn't have to be reminded of him anymore.
"Hey," Jax said quietly.
Dani nodded slightly, acknowledging his presence. She was anticipating what he was going to say next.
"Babe, look," he said, sitting down next to her. Jax placed his hand on her cheek and made her look at him. "I'm sorry for today. Some shit happened inside. I needed to figure out what I'm doing next. I'm sorry for not coming to you sooner."
Dani nodded, smiling softly. His apology was exactly what she wanted to hear right now.
"You want to know what happened?"
She shook her head. "That's your business. But just don't take your anger out on me the next time. Okay?"
Jax nodded. "I promise."
He took her hands into his, his gaze shifting to the bandage. His brows furrowed. "Why is your hand bandaged?"
"Oh," Dani said, awkwardly. She had to tell him the truth. He had been honest with her, so it was only fair for her to be honest with him. "I may have hit someone."
Jax raised her eyebrows. "I leave you alone for five minutes. Who?"
"Elijah," Dani said. "He may or may not have tried to kiss me."
"He did what?" Jax replied.
Dani shrugged. "I took care of it. He won't be coming back."
"Jesus Christ. What is up with your employees?" Jax said, chuckling softly.
"It's not funny," Dani replied, although it was hard to contain her smile. "Now I have to hire someone new, again."
Jax was still smiling, his hands resting on hers.
I really missed you, Jax." She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her face against his warm skin. His familiar scent filled her nose.
"I missed you too, babe."
Dani let him go, before pressing a kiss on his lips.
"So… you hit anyone else while I'm gone?" Jax asked playfully, before leaning in again to press his lips against hers.
A/N: I can't believe this is my 40th chapter already. Time seems to fly by! With SoA airing again, I've been feeling motivated to continue, and maybe finally finish this story. I still have a couple of story lines I want to do, but I doubt I'm gonna do every season. Especially since Tara gets involved more and more in the final seasons that it's really hard to imagine the story without her at that point.
Please let me know what you think and until next time! :D