#chlax

“S’early,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, it is.” She smiled, her eyes falling to her lap. “Goback to sleep.”

He hummed, and pushed up so he was resting on one elbow. “Nevertook you for an early bird, Chlo.”

“I am when I need to be.” She spotted her jeans, justoutside the opened door, but she stayed put, staring at the tattered ends for abeat. “You have plans with Ope today?”

Jax groaned, and pressed his face to her back. “We reallyneed to bring your brother into this? Right now?”

“He’s not going anywhere.” She turned her head to glanceback at him. “I know he said something about working on a bike today. Is thatwith you?”

He shrugged, and dragged his fingers up her back to hershoulder.

Chloe bit her lip.

“If it is, it’ll be later. Hours from now…” His fingershooked in the neck of the shirt and pulled it down. His face fell to her back,warm cheek and nose pressed to her skin.

Her eyes fell shut and she let out a long breath.

“You think too much...” His voice was muffled, mouth scraping at her skin.

“Maybe I’m making up for how much you don’t.” 

He chuckled, and his hand slid up under her shirt to skim across her stomach. “I’m thinkin’ right now...” 

“Not with your brain.” 

Humming, he pressed a kiss to her back, resting his forehead there, and Chloe shook her head. 

“You know we can’t keep doing this.” 

“Why?” It wasn’t playful, but serious, and her heart thudded in her chest. 

“Opie--” 

“Ope’s got Lois, you never kicked up shit about that.” 

“It’s different.” 

“How?”

“It just is.” She licked her lips. “You and Opie, all three of us, we’ve been friends since birth. I mean, I love Lois. She’s my best friend. But it’s different.” 

“You can’t live your life doing what other people want. What do you want? Huh?” He pressed his hand down against her stomach, drawing her back. His chin tucked against the crook of her neck, nose nuzzling against her ear. “You want me or don’t you?” 

She swallowed tightly and bit down hard on her lip, her eyes falling to half-mast. “I...” 

His hand slid down to cup her between her thighs, and she let out a strangled noise, pushing her hips down as her head fell back against his shoulder. She reached down, covering his hand against her, his fingers stroking with purpose. “Jax...” 

He shuffled the shirt up a little higher, his free hand rubbing circles over her stomach. “Stay.” He bit at her neck, let his teeth graze her skin, and she licked her lips and leaned into his mouth. “Just today. We can figure tomorrow out tomorrow.” 

It wasn’t a solution, not really. It was just putting off the inevitable.She knew that, and so did he. But that didn’t stop her from opening her legs and nodding and lifting her arms as he pulled the shirt up and off. 

He turns his eyes to her, stares a second, and then he plucks his cigarette from his mouth, tosses it to the ground, and stamps it out as he blows a cloud of smoke into the air. Pushing off the fence, he crosses the space between them. “You’re sure you want this?” 

She grins up at him. “Aren’t you the one who bought me a typewriter for just this reason?” 

“Sure.” He nods. “Was kind of hoping you’d stick around here though. Write a book or something. Not pack up and never look back.” 

“I’ll look back. A lot. And you can visit me, anytime, every time.” 

He laughs, a huff of a thing, and then he nods. He takes a deep breath, lets it out on a sigh, and pulls her into a hug. And Chloe closes her eyes when they sting. She buries her face against his chest and wraps her arms around his waist, holding on tight. He smells like cigarette smoke and cologne and leather and the open road and Opie. When he pulls back, she swipes at her face and laughs to hide how her heart is thick in her chest. 

He cups a hand around the back of her head and pulls her in, kisses the top of her forehead, whiskers scratching at her skin, and then releases her. “You talk to him?” 

She clears her throat and shakes her head. “He didn’t show last night.” 

Opie chews his lip, scrapes his fingers through his beard. “It’s hard for him. He’s not good at goodbyes.” 

“Yeah. It’s fine.” She forces a grin, but it trembles. “I’ll call when I’m settled, okay?” 

He nods. “Drive safe.” 

She rolls her eyes, but her smile is more genuine now. Circling the car, she climbs into the driver’s side and takes a moment. She looks back at her childhood home, where her mom still lives but can’t be bothered to see her off. Pulling her seatbelt on, she turns the ignition, and lingers, fiddling with mirrors to give her an excuse not to leave. But then she hears Opie’s engine start and she looks back to see him on his bike. 

Taking a deep breath, she pulls her car away from the curb and starts down the road. He stays with her, riding right alongside the car, until they reach a crossroads. One way leads back to town, to the club, and the other to the highway. He looks back at her, catches her eye, and bows his head. Chloe nods back, and they turn in opposite directions. 

She tells herself she’s not crying, that she’s not sad or scared or regretting this in some way. But she is, and the tears are spilling faster and heavier than she expects. She’s well on her way out of town, passing the ‘Welcome to Charming’ sign. She takes a deep, gulping breath, shaking her head and telling herself it’s okay, to get it together, that this only hurts now, but it’ll fade, because it’s the right decision. 

She hears the engine before she ever sees him, but then the sun is glinting off the front of his bike, and he’s catching up fast. She wipes her hands over her cheeks and sniffs, brow furrowed.

Jax reaches the side of her car and waves at her to pull over. Stubborn, she wants to shake her head. He had his chance to say goodbye last night and he’d missed it. But her hands are turning the wheel before the thought can form completely, and then she’s idling, hands tight on the wheel, and he’s parked right behind her, still seated, pulling the helmet off and running his fingers through blond hair. 

Swallowing, she undoes her belt and pushes her door open, climbing out and squinting against the sun. “You lost, Jackie-boy? Charming is the other direction…” 

He’s striding toward her, mouth set in a serious line. 

“I can draw you a map, if you want. With a little X-marks-the-spot over the club for easier findi…” 

She trails off as he reaches her, hands sliding over her hips as he pulls her forward and his mouth slants over hers. Hard and hot. And her words scatter, her snark falls away. She reaches for him, hands grabbing onto the fabric of his sleeves and gripping tight. His fingers thread through her hair, cradle her head, and pull her closer, like she’s not already pressed to him so tight she swears she can feel his heart pound out of his chest and into hers. 

His teeth scrape at her lips and his tongue soothes the sting right after, and it’s a rough kiss. It’s full of want and desperation and loss and grief. His tongue writes ‘goodbye’ and ‘I’ll miss you’ and ‘don’t go’ inside her mouth and she swallows it down her throat, unsaid but wholly heard. And when they pull apart, his forehead presses to hers as they pant and hold on to each other and she’s crying now, she can’t pretend she isn’t. But he is too. She wipes a few tears away with her palms and cradles his face. 

He smiles at her, crooked and handsome and so beautiful it hurts. “Be happy,” he tells her, like a demand, like he needs to know that if he lets her go, it’s for a good reason. And part of her wants to tell him no, to come with her, that he makes her happy. But there is a whole world out there, there is a dream she’s been waiting to make real for so long and it’s just in reach. And Jax… He’s not made for Metropolis. He’s Charming, through and through. He’s SAMCRO. 

His hand is shaking as he strokes his fingers down her hair, and he squeezes just once, before he’s pulling her in, hugging her, face pressed to her hair. Maybe if they were younger, if they were still kids, if they didn’t love each other in a way that makes her heart twist up at the idea of not having him there, he’d rustle her hair and tell her it won’t be the same without Little Winston around. But they’re not kids anymore. She knows what it’s like to fall asleep with his heart under her ear, with his whole body wrapped around her, with his voice rumbling against her ear. She knows what it’s like to wake up to him kissing down her back, his fingers twining with hers, his hair dragging across her skin. She knows what it’s like to love and be loved by him, and she can’t believe anything will ever come close to or top that feeling. 

It could be seconds or minutes or hours before he lets go, but he does. He kisses her temple and her cheek and her mouth, and he rubs away her tears with his thumbs. And she knows this is it. This is the moment she walks away and she doesn’t look back, leaving him in her rear-view mirror, a memory. 

She stares up at him one last time, this boy she’s known her whole life. “Be good, Jackie-boy.” 

His mouth ticks up at the corner as he stares down at her. “I’ll try.” 

She smiles, and her eyes burn, but she blinks the tears back. Reaching out, she presses a hand to his chest, over his heart, and she pushes, just once. He falls back a step, grinning, and covers her hand, fingers running over her knuckles. He takes her hand up and kisses the tips of her fingers, and then he lets her go. 

She steps back, pulls her door open again, and hesitates just a second. And then she climbs inside and pulls her seatbelt on with shaky hands. He stands, hands in his pockets, and waits. 

She’s not sure if she’s waiting for him to say something, to ask her to stay, or if maybe she’s waiting for herself to change her mind. But neither happens, so she pulls back onto the road and she keeps going, keeps moving. Away. Until he’s nothing more than a distant point in her mirror. And maybe it’s the right choice, maybe it’s the best decision she’ll ever make. Maybe she’ll make a name for herself at The Daily Planet and know that it was always where she was meant to be. But right then, in that moment, she just wanted to turn back around. She wanted to go back to the Club, to her uncles and her dad, her brother and her best friend. To Jax.