Chapter 11

Jess POV

Later that afternoon, the rest of the Tacoma charter along with Indian Hills and the Nomads arrived in Charming. I had been sitting outside on a picnic table smoking a cigarette when they pulled in. I walked over to greet the rest of my boys when I heard someone call my name. I spun around and saw Jury. I smiled when I saw him. I ran across the lot and hugged him. Jax had introduced me to Jury when we'd gone to Nevada one year on the anniversary of his dad's death. "Jury! How are you?" I asked him.

"I'm good sweetheart. How are you? Jax finally give you his crow?" He asked me.

"No. Jax and I broke up years ago. I've been living out in Tacoma. I'm actually Hap's old lady." I told him.

"Oh wow. That's a big change." He said.

I smiled at him. "Thanks. Why don't you guys head inside? I'm sure Jax and Clay are waiting for you." I said.

"Thanks sweetheart." Jury said before he led his guys inside.

I went back to greeting my guys. "Sorry about that. I hadn't seen Jury in years." I told Lee and Donut.

Lee threw an arm around my shoulders. "It's all good. Where's the guys?" He asked me.

"Inside. Krystal didn't come?" I asked.

"Nah. Jamie about to pop any day now. She stayed in case she was needed." Lee told me as we made our way inside.

"Makes sense. I just miss her. Been a while since she's been at the clubhouse." I told him.

"I know. I'll tell her." Lee said as we approached Clay and Jax.

As the night progressed, all of the guys enjoyed being around brothers that they didn't get to see a lot. Hap and I were cuddled on one of the couches when I looked across the clubhouse and saw Jax and Tara together. I guess my tension alerted Hap. "You okay?" He asked and I nodded towards Jax and Tara. "Did you know?" He asked.

I looked at him and shook my head. "The only thing that Gemma told me was that she's been helping with Abel and medical stuff." I said.

"You gonna play nice?" He asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Do I really have a choice? I mean if we were home definitely not." I said.

Half an hour later, Hap was out in the ring fighting Kozik when I went to the bar to grab us a couple of beers. I was about to make my way back outside when Tara stopped me. "I think we should talk." She said.

I sat my beers on the bar and crossed my arms. "And what is it that you think that we need to talk about?" I asked her.

"It's been brought to my attention that I may have been a bitch to you." She said.

"May have?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Look, I'm sorry. Okay? Back in high school, I was jealous. You know, Donna had Opie. You had Jax. And you were best friends with Opie. You, Donna and I used to be really good friends and then high school happened and the next thing I know…you guys ditched me. I just handled everything the wrong way." Tara said.

I guess she had a point. From the time we started Kindergarten the three of us were inseparable until we hit high school. Once we did, we spent more time around the clubhouse and we just kinda forgot about her. "I guess we kinda did. I'm sorry too." I told her. "Can I ask you something?" She nodded. "Are you and Jax together?"

She didn't say anything for a minute. Either she was trying to get her words right or she was scared to tell me the truth. "I'm not really sure what we're doing. At first, I just wanted to help him with Abel, but then there were times the guys needed a doctor, so I helped with that. I don't know." She finally said.

I nodded. "I get it. The only thing I ask, is if you are just tell me. I'm not jealous. I just don't wanna be blindsided." I told her, choosing my words carefully.

"Sure, Jess." She said.

When I finally made it back outside to the fights, Hap was climbing out of the ring. His knuckles were bloody and he had a split lip. "I can't believe I missed it." I told him.

He gave me a quick kiss. "It's okay. Where were you?" He asked.

"I went to get beer and got stopped by Tara." I told him.

He gave me a quizzical look. "You didn't break her nose did you?" He asked, giving me a smirk; knowing that I was famous for breaking noses. I shook my head.

We were about to make our way inside for the night when Jax grabbed my arm. "Dude, what the fuck?" Hap asked him. I started shaking.

"I should be asking her the same thing." Jax said, glaring at me.

I snatched my arm out of his grasp. "What the hell is your problem Jax?" I asked him.

"Tara told me what you said." He said.

"What did I say?" I asked.

"That you wanted to know if she and I were together." He said.

"Yes, I did say that. And like I told her. It's not because I'm jealous, because I'm not. I just don't wanna be blindsided by seeing you guys together or her having your crow." I told him.

His glare got darker. "What the hell gives you the right to ask that?" He asked me.

It was my turn to glare. "You really think that with our history…the three of us that's it's not fair for me to ask that." I said.

Jax shook his head. "No I don't. You made your choice Jess." His voice was cold.

"You're an asshole, Jax. Did you even ask Tara about the entire conversation we had." He shook his head. I crossed my arms. "She reminded me that me, Donna and her had been friends since Kindergarten. We were inseparable. The three of us were always together but when we hit high school, suddenly it was just you, me, Ope and Donna. Donna and Ope. Me and Ope. Me and you. We didn't even think twice about ditching Tara for the two of you." I said and Jax's glare softened.

"I didn't know that." He said.

"Yeah, well maybe you should get all the information before you attack someone." I told him. I grabbed Hap's hand and started pulling him towards the clubhouse door before he could punch Jax.

When Hap and I finally made it to our dorm, and Hap closed the door I finally let all of my emotions out. Hap quickly pulled me into his arms. "Are you okay?" He asked me.

I nodded my head against his chest. "Why does he have to make things so difficult?" I asked Hap as he pulled me to the bathroom.

He shook his head. "I don't know babe. Part of me wants to believe that he's still having a hard time with the fact that you picked me over him." Hap said as he turned on the shower.

"Well, he must not be having that much of a hard time if he's moving on with Tara." I said, bitterly.

Hap and I both stripped our clothes and stepped into the shower. "Babe, he's just gotta come to terms with the fact that you're not gonna come back to him." Hap said.

I leaned back against his chest and sighed. "I know. What are your thoughts about the Donna revelation?" I asked him.

He sighed. "Honestly?" He asked and I nodded. "I think that Clay was put in a tough spot. I mean, how do you decide something like that when it's the son of a first 9." He said.

"I guess you have a point. I mean I guess they take all of it serious because you don't know if it's real or not." I said.

"Yeah. Did you hear what Piney did this morning?" He asked.

"No. What happened?" I asked.

"We were in church and he busted into the Chapel and pulled a gun on Clay. Was gonna shoot him." Hap told me.

"He's hurting. He loved Donna. She was the mother of his grandchildren." I said.

Hap reached around me and turned the water off. I stepped out of the shower first grabbing towels and handing Hap one. We dried off before we walked into the bedroom. We climbed into bed and I curled into his side and laid my head on his chest. "Are we gonna make it through this lockdown?" I asked him.

He ran his hand up and down my back. "I honestly don't know. What I do know though is that we're going to do our very best. But there is something I need to tell you." He said.

"What is it, babe?" I asked him.

He sighed, "Do you remember when me and the guys raided that church gather and got arrested?" He asked me.

"Vaguely." I said.

"It was a couple days before we got the call about the porn studio." He said.

"Sure. You said that Jax and Clay had gotten into it in lockup and that Juice had gotten stabbed." I said.

"Right. Well, the guys told me today that we're looking at doing some time." He said.

I sighed. "How long?" I asked.

"If everything goes according to plan…about a year and a half." He told me.

I quickly sat up. "A year and a half?" He nodded. I could feel the tears.

He wiped the tears from my face. "It's going to be okay baby." He said.

"What am I supposed to do while your inside?" I asked him.

"Well…you can either go home when the guys do…or you can stay here with Ope." Hap told me.

I stared at him in shock. "When do you go in?" I asked.

He sighed again. "Again, if all goes well…within 48 hours." He said.

"Hap!"