Lena couldn’t sleep. But it wasn’t because of the shadows creeping across her ceiling. Jax was hers. Her eyes were at her window as she anticipated his return. Her hands were at her neck as she remembered the feel of his lips and the swirl of his arms. They had turned back time. Eric’s touch was nothing when Jax pulled her into his arms, when he kissed her softly. Her heart skipped as her eyes moved towards the window, and as soon as she saw lights poking through her window, Lena rushed down the stairs and hurried towards him for what she hoped would be a joyous reunion. After so much time apart, even these last few hours without him felt like more than she could bear. Now he was back, and she flung the door open wide, her arms open and outstretched as she made a mad dash to get back to his side.
“Jax! I---”
Stopping just short of touching him, Lena instantly took note of the worry lines drifting towards his emerald stare, and she held her breath as he slowly took her the hand.
“Did you mean it when you said you would go anywhere with me?” he asked.
As Lena nodded, she felt a sharp shiver rush up her spine, and she clutched his hand tighter. “What’s wrong?” Lena asked. “Why?”
“Hope you didn’t take too much time to unpack,” he said as he pulled her back to the porch. Moving together through the open door, Lena turned in his hold, her hands resting on his chest as she moved for his face and cupped her chin in his hands.
“Jax? What’s going on?”
“No time now,” he whispered even as he took a second to lay a light kiss on her brow. “Get your gear and I’ll explain on the way.”
He motioned for her move fast, but Lena kept her feet planted on the ground as she slowly shook her head from side to side. “Tell me first,” Lena pleaded. “You said you were going to cut ties.”
“Believe me, they’re shredded,” he insisted, seething as he spoke. “The man, the whole club – mean nothing to me now.”
“But this is about more than what Eric did, isn’t it?”
“Lena we need to---”
“Is he going to do something to my uncle?” she asked. “I can’t just leave him if it means that he---”
“Damn it, Lena! The asshole wants to put his hands on you again!”
Her body broke as she slumped to the steps. Jax was there to collect in her arms, and he held her as she trembled against his chest. “No way that’s ever happening,” he promised as he smoothed his hands down her back. “We’ll run right now and---”
“And keep running?” Lena asked as tears started to form in her eyes. “What happens when he finds us? What if he does something to hurt you, Jax?”
“I’m not worried about me. You’re the one who has to stay safe.”
After all that they had just shared, it was the same difference, and Lena wavered between agreeing to his terms or trying to find some other way out. But was there even a way to reason with the devil as he wore Eric Stiles’ face?
“What’s going on here?”
Lena and Jax pushed apart as Sully appeared from the other room. Not knowing how to breach the subject with him, Jax took charge and wrapped his arm around Lena’s shoulder, his jaw fixed in a straight line as he spoke.
“You have to let me take Lena now,” Jax started. Not a request or a suggestion, but a demand that her uncle might be wise to follow.
“What’s with the rush?” Sully asked. “Girl just got back.”
“To clean up your messes,” Jax accused. “Like the last time.”
“What last---?”
“Jax, don’t!” Lena implored him. “He doesn’t have to know.”
“Doesn’t have to know that you sacrificed body and soul to keep him out of real trouble?” Jax spat. “High time the man knew what it cost you.”
Sully tilted his head to the side, his gaze shifting towards Lena as he touched her arm and asked her for the rest of the story.
“It’s nothing that I ever wanted you to know.”
“But it’s why you really left,” Sully said sadly. “Why the light left your eyes. And it’s my fault.”
Jax scoffed as the man started to crumble. Lena chided him to keep still, and she grabbed Sully’s hands. “I’d do it again,” she said. “You always looked after me.”
“No,” Sully lamented as he left her hands and stared hard at Jax. “Take her then,” he said. “Look after her. Don’t let anyone touch her.”
Jax was stiff as Sully extended his hand, but Jax still shook his head back to hers.
“We need to go now,” Jax said.
“But I can’t just leave him!”
“You have to,” Sully said as he patted her arm. “I’ll be fine. Now you be fine, too.”
Lena collected her things without another word as the men spoke in hushed tones from the bottom of the steps. Sully asked where they would hide, and when Lena returned to the conversation, Jax laid out his plans. “I know of a safe place to crash,” he said. “I’ll settle Lena there, then I’ll go for reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements?” Lena asked, her voice almost hopeful as she peered into Jax’s eyes. “You know someone who can help us?”
“Last person who’ll expect to see me, but the buzz has always been that my mom runs with another crew. If I offer to switch sides, that might buy us the cover we need.”
It sounded uncertain, but Jax’s hand was strong around her arm as they headed back to his bike with Sully on their heels. Before she mounted, Lena turned to meet her uncle’s sad face, unsure if or when she would ever see him again. “What will you do?” Lena asked.
“Might be time to take a powder myself.”
“Promise me you won’t go near a slot machine or a racetrack.”
“Little girl, after what you just said, think I might be sobered up for good and all.”
At least that was something, and she held him close for a long moment as Jax brought his motor back to life.
“I got her,” Jax insisted. “I always have her back.”
Wrapping her arms around his waist, Lena rested her chin to Jax’s shoulder. Little by little Deerfield started to disappear into the distance. As unclear as the road ahead was, Lena took comfort in the nearness of his body, and as they hit the highway, she pressed her lips to his neck in a soft kiss.