Episode 4

Jax POV

I couldn't believe her. When she'd told me that she was casually dating someone from SAMTAC she should have told me that it was Hap. I heard the croweaters talk over the years about Hap in bed (not that I wanted to know about it) but I never could have imagined that Jess would be one of those girls. When I heard the bikes pull into the lot, I stood with Clay at the bar and watch the camera as Jess ran out of the office over to where they'd parked. She jumped into Hap's arms. She'd never once did that with me. Not when we dated in high school, not now.

I'd watched her all night at the clubhouse. She'd stayed glued to his side all night. I needed to figure out a way to get back into her good graces.

The next morning, I'd walked over to the office to talk to Ma. She would know how I could fix things with Jess. When I walked in, Ma was sitting at the desk looking through some paperwork. "Hey baby." She said when she saw me.

"Hey Ma." I said sitting on the couch. "I need your help." I said.

She leaned back in her chair and focused on me. "What's going on?" She asked.

I sighed. "Did you see Jess and Hap last night?" I asked and she nodded. "I need your help getting back into Jess's good graces." I told her.

"What'd you do?" She asked me.

I ran a hand over my face. "She tried to be honest with me and I kinda threw it in her face." I said.

She sighed. "Jax, what happened all those years ago? What made Jess leave?" Ma asked me.

I sighed. "Tara happened. I didn't cheat on Jess but Tara went to her and made it seem like I did. According to Ope, the reason that she's doing this whole casual dating thing now is because of me. I was hoping that I'd be able to bring that wall down. Fix things that got screwed up." I said.

"But?"

"I watched them last night Ma. They are good together. She looks happy when she's with him." I said.

"So what are you saying?" She asked me.

"I can't help but wonder if it's even worth me trying." I said. It was the truth. After watching Jess with Hap I'd been thinking about it a lot. I wanted nothing more than to be the person that she was excited to see but ever since she'd come back she never once seemed that happy to see me. Maybe she'd moved on more than she was letting on.

Jess POV

Hap had left early in the morning to head back to the clubhouse. I was hoping that neither him nor Jax were going to start something with the other. I'd meant what I'd told Hap. I sat there drinking my coffee thinking about things when I heard the front door open. I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room and saw Jax standing there. "What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I wanted to talk to you. Alone." He said.

"You want some coffee?" I asked he nodded. I walked into the kitchen and poured him a cup. I handed it to him. "What did you wanna talk about?"

He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I saw you and Hap last night." He said. I crossed my arms in front of my chest not knowing where he was going with this conversation. "That didn't come out right. I just happen to notice that you seem happy around Hap. Happier than I've ever seen you." He said.

"Okay…" I said.

"What I'm trying to say is that I think that he could make you happier than I ever could." Jax said.

"I appreciate that Jax." I said and he nodded. I uncrossed my arms. "You know when I first got to Washington, Kozik was the only one that would talk to me. None of the other guys including Hap were happy about me being there. Lee thought that I was going to come in and ruin things for his guys. He called Clay about me. Clay told Lee that I was a hell of a girl and that I'd make a great bartender." I said.

"Clay knew where you were?" Jax asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Clay, Gemma, Opie and Donna. Not even my family knew where I was." I said.

Jax looked at the floor. "I'm sorry that I'm the reason that you had to run away." He said.

I sighed. "Jax I didn't run away. I know that it seems like it but I didn't. I was looking for a fresh start and I found it." I said.

"I just want you to be happy Jess." Jax said.

"Thanks Jax." I said.

Later on that night, I was sitting on the couch (not really feeling in a party mood) when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Ope. I answered. "Hey buddy." I said trying to lighten my mood.

"You okay?" He asked me.

"Just feeling conflicted. How are you?" I asked.

"Concerned about you right now." He said. "Tell me what's going on."

"SAMTAC showed up last night." I said.

"Jax find out?"

"Yeah. I tried to be honest with him and he threw it in my face." I told Ope. I laid my head against the back of the couch.

"So what are you going to do?" Ope asked.

"Jax thinks that I could be happy with Hap. But I don't know. Jax and I have history, you know?" I said.

"He may have a point." Ope said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You left Charming because of Tara. You found a new life in Washington away from Jax and away from your family. That's not a bad thing. Hap was there and as far as I can tell he makes you happy."

"I know. I just wish that you were here." I said.

"That's actually why I was calling. I'll be home tomorrow." Ope said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. Something told me that you needed me right now and I was right."

"Thanks Ope." I said.

Hap POV

I had to admit, I'd been a little nervous coming to Charming this time. It was the first time that I'd been back to Charming since Jess and I had started seeing each other. I knew that she and Jax had history but when she told me that Opie's wife had been murdered and that she needed to come back to Charming for a while, I wasn't expecting to feel jealous. I'd never been jealous when it came to a girl before. But Jess was different. For the first time in my life, I could actually picture myself settling down if that was something that she wanted. Jess and I talked some during her first two weeks in Charming but it wasn't the same as having her laying next to me. So when Lee said that some of us were heading to Charming to help out with an issue…I jumped at the chance to go see my girl. But the problem was…she isn't my girl, not officially. But I wanted her to be.

I was currently sitting the clubhouse bar drinking a beer when I saw Jax walk through the door. I knew that at some point we were going to have to talk about Jess I just didn't know how to approach him about it.

He walked over and sat beside me at the bar. The prospect handed him a beer. "I think that you and I should talk." Jax said taking a drink of his beer.

"I think your right." I said.

"I think that you could be good for her. Get her out of her shell." He said. I sat there and listened. "But there's some things that you should know first. Growing up her family didn't give a crap about her so she made friends with Donna, Opie and I. Her pops was a judge so he worked all the time and her mom took off when she was a kid. Her brothers think that their high and mighty because Jacob's a politician and David is a cop. David is always causing problems for us. But that's my problem. Did Jess ever tell you why she left to begin with?" Jax asked me.

She had but I wanted to hear Jax's side of things. I shook my head. "No." I said.

"Jess and I were high school sweethearts. I thought that things were going perfect. I'd been looking at houses for us to buy when she'd showed up at the clubhouse telling me that we were over and that she was leaving town. I didn't find out till Jess came back that she'd been lied to by someone else." Jax said.

"Sounds to like she left here broken." I said, knowing the state that Lee and I found her when she arrived.

"I just want her to be happy." Jax said.

"You and me both." I said. And it was the truth.

Jess POV

After I'd hung up with Ope, I got ready to head to the club house. I knew what I had to do. For one I had to tell Clay that Ope was coming home and second I needed to talk to Hap.

When I pulled into the lot and made my way inside the first thing I saw was Jax and Hap. They were sitting at the bar talking. I turned and looked for Clay. I found him, Gemma and Tig over by a pool table. I walked over to them. "Hey pumpkin." Clay said.

"Hey so I got a phone call today that I thought you might wanna know about." I said.

The three turned and looked at me. "Ope's coming home." I said with a smile on my face.

"When?" Clay asked me.

"He'll be here tomorrow." I said.

When I'd finished talking to Clay, I walked over to the bar where my boys were. The prospect handed me a beer. "Hey guys." I said turning to Jax and Hap. "What cha guys up to?" I asked.

"Just talking." Hap said, smiling at me. I nodded.

"Ope's coming home tomorrow." I said.

Things were changing. Jax had told me that he wanted me to be happy but I honestly didn't know what that looked like. Ope was coming home tomorrow so maybe he could help me through it.