Today marked a month since Hayleigh's return home and nothing's changed with Talia. She was barely eating, she was up all night and most of her thoughts were focused on her departed girlfriend. She couldn't take it anymore, so she decided to be productive and do something about it, the only thing she thought would help.
She was going to Montana and getting Hayleigh back.
Jax parked his bike in front of Happy's house, behind Talia's Challenger, and dug in his satchel for a container of his mother's homemade Meatloaf for Talia. He and the rest of the Sons, namely Juice, knew that Talia's been having a hard time adjusting to Hayleigh being gone, so he volunteered to keep an eye on her while Happy was riding upstate for work.
He knocked on the door and was surprised that Talia answered, but she looked exhausted.
"Hey, Tal. Your Dad went upstate today, so I'm gonna crash with you." He noticed the duffle bag on her shoulder and pointed to it. "You going somewhere?"
"Montana. It's an eighteen-hour drive, but I'll be back in two weeks."
"Wait, what?"
"I'm gonna go see Hayleigh…see if she might wanna come back." She told him, rubbing her eyes as she closed and locked the door. She turned to him and gave him the key to the house. "Make sure Rouge gets fed. She's okay in the backyard."
"Tal, wait a minute. Think about what you're trying to do."
"Already thought about it. I don't wanna hurt anymore, Jax. I can't take it. What I feel every day, it's unbearable." She walked to her Challenger and put her bag in the trunk, Jax following her as she did so. "We'll get married and I'll get us an apartment. I'll take care of her…she just has to come back."
"But you're gonna hurt Hayleigh by taking her away from her family again."
"…I need her, Jax." She said, her voice cracking as she turned to face him. "Look at me. I'm a fucking wreck. I wasn't like this until she left, so getting her back is gonna make everything okay again. That's the only thing that makes sense."
"You're not going all the way to Montana by yourself." He forbade.
Talia scoffed. "I don't need you babysitting me."
"You either let me come with you or you call your old man and convince him to go with you."
~SOA~SOA~SOA~
Talia and Jax were on the road to Montana and from the rate Talia was going, they were going to get there much sooner than expected. She didn't look like she got any sleep and he should probably be driving, but he wasn't about to strike up an argument with her because she'd likely clock him and do what she wanted.
"Gotta plan for what you're gonna say to her?" He asked.
"Not really. It'll come to me when I see her…she always said I'd tell her the sweetest things when I looked into her eyes, when I wasn't thinking…"
"No second-guessing? We can always just go home, Tal. I'm sure the guys know we've run off somewhere and Juice probably traced one of our phones, so they know exactly where we are. No damage's been done yet, so you can still walk away from this."
She kept her eyes on the road, but Jax saw them narrow at his words. "If you knew exactly where Tara was right now, what would you do?"
"The same thing you're doing." He admitted. "I'd ride to wherever she is and make her fall in love with me all over again. I'd probably sleep with her, then ask her to come back to Charming with me. I'd promise her the world, Tal. I'd marry her and give her as many babies as she wanted if it meant that she'd be mine again. I know I'd probably be hurting her, but I wouldn't care because I'd want her to be with me so much."
Talia knowingly shook her head at him. "And you have the nerve to tell me to go home."
"Just because I'd do the same thing with Tara doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."
"I don't care about right and wrong. I wanna be happy with my girlfriend."
"Is she gonna be happy with you now?" He questioned. "Tal, you gotta take into consideration that she's been with her family all this time. Family and friends she hasn't seen in years and thought she was dead. If your Mom turned up in Oregon, would you leave Happy, Ma and Hayleigh to be with her?"
"Yes."
She would. Damn right, she'd high-tail out of Charming so quick and run all the way to Oregon to be with her Mom. She wouldn't think about who she was leaving behind or ask for anybody else's opinion.
But, she'd come back too.
Talia would not abandon Happy like that. The man's done entirely too much for her to just up and leave him without a care. She'd reconnect with her Mom and convince her to move back to Charming. She'd tell her that there were people were out to get her in Oregon, but that Charming was a safe place. She'd tell Julianna about the Sons and Gemma and how they were her family.
One way or another, Talia and Julianna would live in Charming with the Sons and they'd be one big, happy family. Hell, she'd probably try to get Julianna and one of the Sons to hook up. That's what she wanted Jax to understand. If Hayleigh wanted to be with her and decided to come back to Charming, she'd convince her family to come to some sort of compromise.
~SOA~SOA~SOA~
When Talia and Jax arrived in Montana in the wee hours of the early morning, they found somewhere safe to park and finally got some sleep. When the sun was up, Talia drove them to Hayleigh's childhood home and it seemed like her family was hosting some sort of party for the blonde. There were balloons leading to the backyard and a banner that said 'Welcome Home, Hayleigh!' tapped to the back of the house. There was a small crowd of people, most likely being Hayleigh's family and friends, gathered in the backyard as Talia and Jax watched from the gate. Hayleigh was beaming as she held a little boy in her arms with her parents on either side of her, chattering away with huge smiles of their own.
"Look how happy she is, Tal. Look how happy her family is to have her back home after so many years of not knowing if she was alive or rotting in a ditch." Jax told Talia as they covertly watched the gathering. "You wanna take her away from that just to have her to yourself? Are you that selfish?"
"Yes."
"Alright, the real question is: can you live with the guilt? You'll feel that weight get heavier and heavier every time you look at her."
"I can deal with guilt, not feeling my soul being consumed by depression."
Jax sighed. Talia was the toughest cookie he's ever met and he probably had Gemma to thank for why she was so stubborn. "Look, she's still wearing your ring. She still loves you. You've gotta chance to twist her mind and feelings to get her to do what you want, but think about this, Talia. You're still young, really young. Hayleigh might be the first girl you've loved, but she won't be the last. You're gonna fall in love a billion more times before you're my age." Finally, Jax could see the gears turning in Talia's head as she thought about what he was saying. "If you think this is what's best, go get her."
Talia looked into the backyard and at Hayleigh's smiling face. She couldn't remember a time she looked so happy, even when they were together. She thought about how she'd be tearing her away from her family again if she walked over there and poured her heart out like she initially wanted. Hayleigh would be a wreck after that and Talia knew it. There wouldn't be anything in the world that could fix what Talia would be breaking if she took that girl away from her home again and it wasn't something her heart was telling her she could endure. She didn't want Hayleigh to hate her, especially not if they got married.
~SOA~SOA~SOA~
When Jax and Talia returned to Charming, they drove to the clubhouse and Talia spotted Happy's bike parked with the rest of the Sons', so she went straight to the clubhouse. She found him sitting at the bar with Chibs and Bobby, but they all turned to the door when it opened. Happy stood and just barely managed to catch Talia when she ran over to hug him.
"Dad, I'm sorry for how I've been acting lately." She said into his chest. "I'm sorry for snapping at you and being all emotional. I know it makes you uncomfortable seeing me cry. I was just having a hard time dealing with Hayleigh being gone."
"You okay?"
"…I'm getting there."