So, I needed a small break from There's Us. I hope you guys enjoy. When I hear Jason Mraz's I Won't Give Up, I was inspired to write this short story. For the readers who haven't read There's Us, I make a couple of reference here. If you get confused, head over there and give my longer story a quick read. Maybe I will continue. I hope you enjoy.

Please review and respond.

XOXO

When I look into your eyes

It's like watching the night sky

Or a beautiful sunrise

Well, there's so much they hold

And just like them old stars

I Won't Give Up

It felt like her soul was being ripped apart.

Every single fiber of her body hurt. Everything from her fingertips to her heart hurt so badly that for hours she thought that death would be better than enduring the pain she was in.

He wasn't going to leave. For months, she fooled herself into thinking he would leave with her. She fooled herself into thinking that the bond they shared was so much stronger than the club he was born into.

The tears kept streaming freely down her cheeks as she lay on her bed. For over three years, she loved him wholeheartedly. He was everything to her; no one else but him mattered. She gave him her body and soul and yet he chose Samcro over her.

For three years, she constantly fought with her father over him. She couldn't even count all the fights she got into with other girls for him. Nearly everything she did in the past three years was for him; everything but her education.

She always took pride in her education. She scored perfectly in her SAT's. She got into all the colleges and universities she applied to. When she graduated high school as valedictorian, she was so proud of her academic achievements. She became something more than just an Old Lady who got knocked up too young. She proved everyone whoever doubted her, wrong. But at eighteen, she was deeper in love with Jax than ever before—she simply could not walk away from him and his allure. She gave herself one year to convince him to leave with her and she failed miserably.

He loved her too. He often told her so when they were alone. He proved it to her nearly every night when they made love.

As tears streamed down her eyes, she let her mind wander to the last couple of months.

Things have been rocky between them. They fought constantly over small things. The sweet butts and Crow Eaters…the protection runs…Samcro…Gemma's constant interference…The list was endless. The intensity of their fights bled over to their sex life. Nearly every night, their love making was so intense that sometimes it frightened her.

For months she pleaded for them to leave to San Diego, where she still had an offer from UC San Diego, but to no avail. The more she argued for their exit, the more he refused to budge. It was his refusal to leave that constantly reminded her of the man she fell in love with.

He was broken, like she was, but there was this unexplainable innocence that she loved. His eyes were pure and honest—now there was a hard glint behind his stare. She knew that he rarely told her the truth about his whereabouts with Samcro or the actions he had to commit for the club. There were rumors of the blackmailing, gunrunning, racketeering… part of her did not want to believe them, but deep down she knew they were true. Why else was Samcro so feared in Charming?

Even with the grim realities of Charming, she still had hopes for them.

When she and Jax first started, they both had a lot of baggage but in each other they found peace. At first, everyone thought that she and Jax would eventually get tired of one another, chalking up their relationship to teenage lust. As the months passed, it was more than obvious that what she and Jax shared was deeper than teenage lust.

No one understood them. When they were together, it was as if everything made sudden sense and what others thought didn't matter. They were a team. They were one.

But as the years passed, she felt disconnected from Charming and herself. Tara only had Jax since her Dad was more or less useless. Years of alcoholism and loneliness made Derek bitter and at times violent with his only daughter. It didn't help that Tara looked so much like her deceased mother, Madison.

And just like her mom, Tara dreamed of getting out of Charming and making something out of herself. The only mother figures she ever had were Madison, who ended up killing herself when Tara was nine and Gemma, Jax's overly protective mother. And Tara knew she didn't want to end up like either of them. Subsequently, she had to leave. She just had to…

But then there was Jax. Before him, she didn't have anything. When he came into her life, she felt like she had everything.

And if she left Charming, without him, she would have absolutely nothing…

He parked his bike two blocks away from her house. His body ached in ways he didn't think possible. He had just come back from a five day run to Oregon and back. All he wanted more than anything was a hot shower and Tara. He missed her so fucking much while he was away. Every fucking minute he thought of her… of the peace he felt when he was with her. Lately things between them were not running as smoothly as he hoped. Her obsession with leaving Charming was starting to affect their relationship and he didn't like it at all.

He just couldn't shake the feeling that something awful was going to happen to them.

When he finally reached her house, he walked around to her open window. Peering in, he felt like he had been punch in the stomach.

Tara was staring at her ceiling, tears silently streaming down her face.

Pushing himself up, Jax quickly entered her room. She didn't even look his way, even though he knew that she knew he was there.

Walking towards her bed, he sat next to her silently wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

"Babe?"

She shook her head at him. Sitting up, Tara leaned against her headboard, refusing to meet his eyes, as she stared down at her hands as tears continued to fall down to her lap.

"Please look at me, baby."

When she did, he felt like a dagger was plummeted straight into his heart. She looked so disappointed and heartbroken. Generally, when she did have that look in her eyes, it was towards others, like her Dad, but it was never directed at him. And he felt like her gaze was crushing the even the deepest confinements of his soul.

"Babe?"

"Please don't Jax. Just don't." She stood and walked to stand in front of her window, away from him. She folded her arms across her chest, waiting for his explanations. His full on lies or half truths that she knew he would tell her because he feared that telling her the truth would cause her to run away from him…from them. Because he knew he would lose her if she knew all the shit he had done to secure his standing in the club.

Three years ago, he didn't want to be in love. He didn't want to feel hopeless or vulnerable when it came to someone else. All he wanted was to be part of the club his Dad formed. And now, he was torn between two courses of action that could lead him to two different lifestyles.

With the MC, he knew he would excel beyond what was expected of him. Being an outlaw was in his bones. Even now, at the tender age of nineteen, he was making his mark within the Sons, securing his legacy and that of his Dad. He was making decisions for the club that surprised even his mother, but that nevertheless impressed his brothers across all charters.

But then there was Tara. Before her, his life was chaotic. Nothing made sense since John and Thomas died. He felt lost and alone—until that fateful day when they ran into each other in the cemetery shortly after John's funeral. Since then, she had brought a light that was missing in his world. And now, he feared that the light would forever leave him if he didn't make the right decision. He could feel her desperation. She wanted to leave Charming as badly as he wanted to stay.

Two different paths; only one of him.

Sighing, he also stood and walked to where she was standing. Rubbing her upper arms, Jax pleaded, "Tara, please understand. There are things that I just have to do for Samcro that I cannot tell you about. When I patched in, an oath of secrecy came with the patch. I had to make a run for the club. It took longer than expected but now I am here, babe, with you." If only she knew that a couple of days ago, he put a bullet in a Mayans crown for defying Samcro.

The hardness of her gaze didn't not simmer.

There was a time, before he started prospecting, that he told her everything and anything. The openness they shared could not even be rivaled by the frankness he and Opie shared. When he got his kutte, he knew things would change. He hoped it was for the better. The deeper he got involved with the club, the less he was willing to be open with her about what occurred while he was doing business for the MC.

Now, he was becoming a harden criminal who told her half-truths in order to protect her from the life he was fully embracing.

"When are you going to stop lying to me?"

"Tara, I am not lying."

She scoffed at his response. Feeling the frustrations bubbling up within him, he dropped his hands to his sides. "What the fuck do you want from me?"

She looked at him…really looked at him. Her silence unnerved him.

"What the fuck do I want from you, Jax? At this point, absolutely nothing." With that said, she walked around him and out of her room.

Her answer really bugged the fuck out of him. Something about the way she said that had his heart beating against his chest.

This shit isn't good.

Walking out of her room, he sought her out. After searching the living room and kitchen, even her Dad's room, he was surprised to find her in the backyard, staring at the horizon. The sun was quickly setting, bringing out some of the red in her auburn hair.

He walked to where she was standing. Standing behind her, he wrapped his arms around her middle, bringing closer to him so he could inhale her scent. He loved the way she smelled. Lavender and vanilla and just plain fucking sweet.

"You know I love you, right?"

She leaned her head so it rested against his shoulder. "I know," she whispered. "But sometimes, love isn't enough, Jax." She turned in his arms. Looking into each other's eyes, Tara leaned in and placed a soft kiss in his lips.

"I need to be alone tonight Jax. Please give me some time." Pulling away, Tara walked back into the house, shutting the door behind her.

His heart dropped to his stomach.

This shit was definitely not good.

When she heard the rumble of his Dyna, Tara turned to look out her window. She came to recognize the sound of his bike years ago and as the sound faded into the night, she allowed for the sorrow to shallow her whole.

Walking towards her bed, she sat and with shaking hands picked up the phone. Dialing the number that now had become familiar, she waited for the call to be picked up.

"Hello?"

"Lisa? Hi, this is Tara, Derek's daughter. I was wondering if the offer still stands?"

"Tara, my dear! Of course! You come down to San Diego whenever you want? I have a bedroom ready for you!"

She was leaving. She was really leaving…

She felt her heart breaking into a million pieces.

Ten Years Later

As they shared that kiss, he knew that he would give it his all.

He wasn't going to lose her again. For ten years, his heart was hallowed in by her absence. Now he had Abel and another son in the way. But most importantly, he had her. She stood by his side when shit was upside down and he loved her more for that. For believing in them, when he couldn't.

He wasn't going to lose her. Talking the sonogram picture out of her hand, he stared at the life they created together. To think that he could have easily lost them both to Salazar…never again would he let anyone harm his family. He will gut anyone who caused his family any harm…gut them like he gutted Salazar.

Putting down the sonogram picture, his eyes connected with hers. She looked at him questioningly. Leaning to where her stomach was, he placed his head on top of her stomach.

She had given him everything. Two sons…peace…love. She was everything he ever wanted and needed.

Placing a soft kiss on her growing tummy, Jax stood straight and looked in to her eyes.
"Never again, babe. I won't ever give up on us…" He leaned in and gave her one last kiss before taking her hand and walking her out of the room….