The Navigator

6. She's Perfect

Author's Note: I'm going to give you a music cue with #### If you would like to amp up the feels on this one.

Song Credit: Many are the stars I see, but in my eye no star like thee-Ursine Vulpine

Disclaimer: This Chapter contains some mature language and sexual themes. This story is rated mature so discretion is advised.

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Jax glanced up and was momentarily frozen with surprise, which relaxed quickly as he realized he should have known she would find him.

"Done running huh?" He said casually, grinning at Addy who now sat with a barstool between them at the high bar, elbows resting on the cornice. 

She didn't look at him, just kept staring at the myriad of colored stainless steel bottles that contained the various types of flavored ethanol. The Addy he left behind would have told him to step off, fuck himself or his personal favorite eat space rocks. This version of her seemed...less then herself, smaller somehow.

He reached out a hand and brushed her arm with the back of his hand, meaning to bring her back from wherever she had retreated to. She finally looked at him and he offered her a small tentative grin, and saw her shift back over-snapping into place. Determination fortifying her disposition.

"How the hell are you here Jax?"

Jax nodded slowly, of course she would ask that first, the one thing he couldn't answer and she went straight for it. She wasn't done though.

"Did you lie about the Actaeon? Did you just use it as an excuse to leave me? Because if you did, that was super stupid and unnessecary. You could have just said you didn't want to see me..."

Jax cut her off quickly. "I didn't lie, I went."

She analyzed his face, looking for an untruth.

"Then how are you here? You should be years into deep space. It simply isn't possible for you to be here unless you lied to me."

Jax looked down, chewing on a cheek for a moment, considering the best way to answer. He decided instead of coming up with some kind of hopefully believable lie that she would inevitably see through, he would tell her the truth. As much of it as he could.

"Addy, this is one of those things that I just can't tell you. You deserve an answer but the truth has real, rippling consequences that affect more people than just you and I. Please, believe I didn't lie, I left and I meant to never come back and disrupt your life. I wasn't given any other choices. I'm sorry."

Several beats passed as they stared at each other, earnestness on one face and an examining deliberation on the other. Finally Addy nodded, and Jax spoke again.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad to see you doing so well Ads. You look fantastic, and Dade says you moved up to a supervisor position at the warehouse."

He deliberately left out the 'you made a cute kid' part of his praise. It didn't seem right to mention the girl so casually. Addy gave a snort of laughter.

"Of course Dade talked about me, he can't keep anything from you."

"I don't know why you think that's a bad thing, I tell him everything too. If you wanted privacy you should have never taken up with me."

Addy's usual smile started to take over her face, no longer pinched and stiff. It was an old conversation, a call back to a time when she would sometimes complain that it was like she was seeing both of them. She and Billy bonded over the way the other two would divulge their secrets. It was familiar ground. It brought more of her back.