Blood vs. Loyalty

Stolen Huffy

Holly sighed deeply, the guilt mixing with an unknown feeling in the pit of her stomach as she got dressed, fixing her hair as she looked over at Venus.

"What do you I owe you?"
"I'm giving you a discount. $500."
"I'll give you an even $1000 to keep this quiet."
"My lips are always sealed, sugar. Keep your extra 500."

She smiled softly at Venus, putting her flip flops back on before fixing her makeup and leaving. She reached the door before Venus called for her. She turned to look back at her.

"I'm gonna give you my number. If you ever want to talk or need a break from mommy duty, give me a call."

Holly took the card that Venus gave her, looking at it for a second before putting it in her purse.

"Thank you, Venus. I appreciate it."

She walked out of the room, going out to the main area, stopping in her tracks when she saw Jax standing with Gemma. She went over to Jax, kissing him softly, the guilt getting stronger.

"Hey, babe. What're you doing here?"
"Mom called and said your session was about to end and I wanted to come get you. See if you wanted to go up to the cabin. The club has some downtime, so I figured you and I could take the kids up to the cabin for the weekend. What do you say?"

She looked at him and nodded, holding his hand.

"That sounds great, babe."
"You ok? You don't look excited about it."
"Sorry. I am. The therapy session didn't work like I'd wanted it to."

Holly looked at Jax as he walked into the bedroom of the cabin, sitting on the bed as she watched him. He'd done everything for her since he picked her up a few hours ago. He'd got their bags packed for her and the kids, he'd gotten the kids into the car and buckled in, he'd even gone out to pick up dinner and dessert for them. It only made her feel guiltier. She looked at him as he came over to her. She had to tell him. It was bugging her.

"Babe, are you ok? You've been pretty quiet. We finally have the time to get away and you couldn't be less excited."
"I'm not ok. I'm feeling guilty."
"Is it about Clay?"
"No. I have no guilt about Clay. I don't think he would've hurt the kids himself, but I didn't know the guys he was with besides Frankie. I didn't want to kill him, but I didn't see another way out of that situation. That's not why I'm feeling guilty."
"Then what's going on?"

She licked her lips a bit and looked down at her hands.

"There's no easy way to say this or soften the blow. I slept with someone at Diosa today. Her name is Venus. She's a tranny that works for Nero. The aromatherapy didn't work. I just ended up thinking about my parents again and doubting us. I tried to talk myself out of it, Nero tried to talk me out of it. I'm so sorry."

Both of them were engulfed in silence and silently letting tears fall. Jax couldn't even bring himself to hate her. He wasn't thrilled, but he understood retaliation.

"Please say something, Jax? Yell at me if you have to, but just do something."
"It was just a one-time thing, right?"

She looked up at him, having been expecting something else, nodding in silence.

"I cheated on you first. We'll chalk it up to retaliation and move on. I don't hate you."

She bit her lip, letting more tears fall as she got up and went over to him.

"Jax, I'm serious. If you're angry then tell me. Yell at me, scream, throw things, hit me if you have to. But don't stand there calmly if you don't mean it."

She watched him as he took her hands, kissing them both.

"The last time I got a good look at your face, I saw a look of pain that I have never seen on you before. I saw how broken you are. How hard I broke you. And to be honest, Holly, I wanted to push you away more because I wanted you to get some distance from the pain I've caused you. That was quickly replaced by the need to put a smile back on your face. The smile that made me fall for you harder than I fell for Tara. The smile that makes my darkest days so bright. Your smile is my favorite thing about you and it's been killing me that I haven't seen that smile on your face for so long. It's why we're here at the cabin. I want you to relax and remember why we're together. And I wanted to surprise you. I'm not thrilled that you cheated any more than you were when you found out about me and the croweater. Neither one of us can take back what happened, but it's over. We can get through this, babe. I know it."

Holly curled into Jax, both of them tangled up in each other as the sun came up, the sheets wrinkled and mussed as Holly played with Jax's fingers, her head laying against his arm, a small smile on her face.

"You said you wanted to surprise me. With what?"
"I was thinking about your dad the other day. You and him had a bond that no one could break. He was the only one that could calm you down easily. I was thinking about how much I wished for your sake that your parents were still around. I can't bring them back for you, but I can help you get to know them better. I called your grandpas and they're sending some pictures and shit for you from when your parents were growing up. I can arrange for you to fly out to their hometowns and meet your families. Maybe you could get the perspective you need."

She looked at him with a surprised smile.

"You would do that for me?"
"I told you, Holly. I'd do anything to keep that smile on your face."

She smiled and kissed him passionately, placing her hand on his chest.

"I don't wanna wait anymore, Jax. I wanna get married."
"Name the time and place."
"At the clubhouse. I want Chibs to give me away."
"Make the arrangements when we get back. Money's no object, darlin'."