There was an uncomfortable silence looming over the clubhouse the next couple of days. Everyone except for Otto was excited for the young couple but they wouldn’t dare share their opinions. Luanne had tried talking to him but he wasn’t having it. He hadn’t even spoken to anyone in days. The thought of his daughter being with Teller had hit him hard. The life of an old lady was full of sex, drugs, violence – he didn’t want that for Harley. She knew that, but she’d be damned if she let Otto choose her life for her. This is what she wanted. This is who she was. And Jackson Teller was who she was meant to be with. Otto needed to get on board with that. She was no longer a child. At 18 she already knew more about the club than any old lady other than Gemma. He needed to accept her place.

“You alright?”

Gemma’s voice was heard coming through the office door of the garage. Harley turned her attention towards the older woman, stress and worry written all over her face. They hadn’t spoken much since the incident between Otto and Jax. She could imagine it wasn’t easy seeing her son at the wrong end of a shotgun but she knew Gemma wasn’t upset at her. There was always a hint of pride behind those dark eyes.

“Yeah.”

Harley answered shortly. She straightened her back to sit up slightly higher on the seat. The least she could do was make herself look like she was fine. She absolutely hated fighting with her father. Everyone knew that. Jax had tried to cheer her up but none of it was working. They were both stubborn in every sense of the word and neither was going to break on this issue.

Gemma pursed her lips. She knew she wasn’t going to get much out of her. Harley would talk when she felt like it. Otherwise, her lips were sealed. The older woman walked to the other chair on the other side of her desk, leaning back on it as she observed Harley’s demeanor. As tough as she tried to look on the outside, that hard shell was bound to come down – usually in a very destructive manner.

“You seen Jax?”

Harley’s eyes lifted the sheet of paper she was blankly staring at to meet Gemma’s. “Huh?”

“Jax, honey. You seen him?”

Her shoulders lifted into a small shrug, barely acknowledging the question. “He’s running errands for the club with Ope..”

“Alright, that’s it.”

Gemma placed her hands over the papers Harley was working on and stood up, leaning over the younger woman. Enough was enough. This girl was a shadow of the young, vibrant, blonde that was running this place. All of this over an argument with Otto. Harley looked at Gemma’s hands before lifting her head again to meet her eyes.

“Get up.” Gemma demanded. “You and your father have been moping around making everyone miserable. Get up and go talk to him about it.”

Harley’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, even Gemma was taken aback by it as the young woman slowly stood up. “Do not – Gemma. I repeat, do not tell me what the fuck to do. If and when I talk to Otto, it’ll be on my own time. Understood? If my ‘moping’ inconveniences you, than thats your problem. ”

She took one more look at the older woman before grabbing her phone and bag from the desk and heading out of the office door, brushing right past Jax without saying a word. Everyone had been on her case lately. Like she should go apologize to Otto. He was the one who shoved her. He was the one who was running around threatening to kill the man she loved. If they thought she would be the one to apologize, they had another thing coming.

---

Jax had just gotten back from doing inventory at their warehouse with Opie. The club was going to put another deal together with the Niners and the last thing they needed was the Mayan’s interfering. He was just surprised Otto hadn’t taken away his prospect patch as it was. He’d been treading lightly around him, not that he’d even been around since the fight. Jax just couldn’t get over the fact that Harley had gotten between him and a loaded gun. Yeah, Otto wouldn’t shoot his only daughter, but it was pretty badass to see. Anything could’ve happened. He could’ve slipped up and shot her by accident, but her only priority was not letting him get hurt. He never wanted at see a gun pointed at her again but damn what an amazing old lady he had.

The two men got off of their bikes, Opie headed into the clubhouse to meet with Piney but Jax wanted to see her. All he wanted to do was wait til she got if work and wrap himself around her. She’d been distant ever since the fight but he knew better than to tell her to snap out of it. Harley had a deep bond with Otto and this was taking its toll on both of them. He felt like shit being the cause of it but he had fallen in love with this woman. Otto had to see that. It was more than a game to either of them.

As he approached the office, he heard Gemma’s voice loud and sharp before he heard Harley’s much lower tone and then she stormed out of the office. She bumped into his shoulder but didn’t even stop to acknowledge him. She just kept walking towards her car. He looked at the door again to see Gemma approaching, arms folded over her chest, a defeated look on her face.

“What was that?” He demanded, knowing his mother wasn’t one to mind her own business.

Gemma sighed, “I told her it was time to stop moping around and go talk to Otto. ”

“Jesus Christ, Gemma.” He let out an aggravated breath as he moved his hair behind his ears, watching Harley’s car pull out of the lot. ” Why can’t you ever keep your mouth closed.”

“She needed to hear it!”

“No, mom. She didn’t!”

He sighed before pulling out his phone to dial her number. The phone rang and rang but he got no answer. After the third try, he put his phone in his pocket and headed inside the clubhouse. Opie was already behind the bar, having a beer with Tig. He walked over to the two, sitting on one of the stools as the man behind the bar slide him a bottle. Jax took a heavy sip before Tig spoke up.

“Trouble in paradise?”

With a deep breath, the young blonde brushed his thumbs against the cold hard glass and shrugged. He just wanted things to go back to normal. Yeah, he liked not having to hide his relationship with Harley but at what cost? Her fighting with her dad? It wasn’t ideal for anyone. He looked up at the crazy blue eyes of the Sergeant at Arms and nodded.

“To say the least.”

“What happened out there?” Opie questioned, facing his best friend with concern.

“Gemma couldn’t keep her mouth shut. She told Harley to get over it.”

Both men winced at the thought. Yeah it had gone on long enough but no one would dare intervene. That was a family affair. Both Otto and Harley were cut from the same cloth. Their bite just as vicious as their bark. At this point, everything was at a stand still. One wrong word from anyone and the two would jump down their throats with pent up aggression towards one another. Even Luanne was scared to get involved.

“Leave it to Gem.”

“Yeah well now I don’t know where Harls is.”

“That ain’t good man. There’s way too much goin’ on for her to disappear.” Tig stood, more alarmed than before.

“Nah, if any one knows how to take care of themselves it’s Harley. Shit, she’s been training in the ring with you since she could walk.” Opie retorted, noticing Jax’s face turning into worry.

“Yeah…” Jax nodded, trying to reassure himself me than anyone else.

“I’ll say one thing.” Tig jumped in again. “We’d never have to worry about anyone getting a word outta her, that girl can keep secrets like no other.”

Jax raised an eyebrow, confused but before he could ask questions, the ringing of his phone grabbed their attention. “Babe?” He answered, after seeing her name come up on his phone.

“Hey.” He softened voice replied. “Meet me at the West Point Heights?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah babe, I’ll be right there.”

He hung up the phone, turning to look at the expectant faces of his brothers. Shrugging his shoulders he finished his beer and stood from the bar stool.

“Wants me to meet her. I’ll see you guys later.”

Taking off on his bike, he was at the buildings in no time. Harley was sitting on the hood of her car, smoking a joint when he pulled the bike into a spot. He looked at the building, confused at why she would want to meet there out of all places, but he wasn’t going to ask. He just approached her slowly, walking up between her legs and she smiled. It was the first real smile he’d seen in days. She flicked the finished bud to the ground and pulled him closer to her, pressing her soft, moistened lips against his.

“Come on.” She whispered as he was about to deepen the kiss. “I got something to show you.”

“What?”

He cocked an eyebrow, getting out of the way and helping her off of the car. She didn’t say another word, just took his hand and led him inside of the apartment building. As confused as he was, he just went with it until she came to a stop at a door 3 floors up. Pushing the door open, the two walked into an empty apartment. Jax looked around the white walls and hardwood floors before turning to look at Harley who had been observing his reaction the whole time.

“What’s this babe?”

She took a deep breath, excitement prominent in her big green eyes. “I know this is totally crazy… but this just opened up and I thought maybe it could be ours. We’re graduating soon. You can’t live at the dorms forever and God knows I can’t stay with Otto and Luanne. What do you say babe?”

Jax smiled. This was one of those rare times he got to see her nervous. It brought a blush to her cheeks. Hell, It’d only been a short amount of time but he was already thinking of proposing to her after graduation. Maybe this was a smaller, slower step towards that so he wouldn’t scare her off.

“Well I don’t know… Spending 24 hours a day with you ….” He teased then looked at the wide eyed blonde in front of him and laughed. “That sounds like a dream come true babe. Let’s do it.”

“Really?!”

She stepped closer in front of him and he placed his hands on her waist, leaning down to steal another addictive kiss from her and nodded. How could he say no? A place of their own sounded like a dream. A sure step to their future.

“Hell yeah, baby”

Harley’s eyes lit up as she wrapped her arms around him. Lifting herself up on her tiptoes, she kissed his lips softly before pulling away to drag him by the hand around the rest of the rooms. It was a single bedroom, bath and kitchen. Just enough for the two of them. He hadn’t seen her this excited in a while. Yeah, they were young. Yeah they hadn’t been dating for a long time, but none of that mattered. He knew deep down that she was the one and he had no doubt that she felt the same.

---

After closing on their appartment, the two couldn’t bring themselves to leave. The clubhouse would be full of members, Harley’s house was practically a war zone, and Gemma’s house would be full of lectures. None of that seemed appealing. They’d gone out shortly to buy an air mattress, some pillows and sheets before locking themselves in their own little world, they were good. Just the two of them together. Soon they’d take the things they needed from their houses and buy things to make it more of a home but tonight they didn’t really need all that.

Harley lay in Jax’s arms. His forehead pressed against hers as he looked down into her eyes. As much as he didn’t show it, he was just as stressed about things as she was. Otto had a deciding vote next week on whether Jax got his patch or not. The way things had been going, it seemed likely that he’d say no. She looked into his eyes. Their deep blue color masking the uncertainty he felt. She hated how all of this had gone down, but her dad had to understand. It wasn’t up to him any longer. She was a woman who could make her own choices. For him to end someone’s life over this was just ridiculous. Maybe for Jax’s sake she could talk to him. If it was even possible to get him to talk to her. He’d been avoiding her like the plague. The look of disgust written all over his face whenever he’d see her. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right.

“Talk to me.”

She heard him whisper. His calloused hands running up and down the bare skin on her hip. She looked down at his soft pink lips as they moved and gave him a small smile. She couldn’t burden him with all of her thoughts when he had his own to deal with. She slid her fingertips down his arm, bringing them down between his larger hand and lacing them together, lifting her head up slightly so that they’re noses were touching.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you Harley. Nothing. Whatever this takes, I’m in it baby. ”

He spoke again. With a small smile, she kissed him softly. There was nothing in the world that felt better than having complete faith in the man by your side. It’d been rocky but hearing the truth behind his words made everything fade into the back ground.

“I love you, Jackson Teller.”

“I love you, Harley Teller.”

Jax smiled as his hand made its way up her body slowly to her cheek. He cupped it gently as his lips devoured hers. The tenderness in his touch setting her skin on fire as he pulled her body closer. Everything she was and everything she would be was his.