Charming's Worst Kept Secret

Chapter Fourteen

A/N 

SOOOOOOOO, I'm super excited to have gotten some feedback! I super appreciate it! Sorry about the crazy late update. Life kinda kicked me in the lady balls. Anyway here you go!! New chapter!

After everything cooled down at the clubhouse, Gemma took Luann, who was still distraught, back to her house. Leaving me and the guys there. I don't even know if I want to bring it up to Jax. I have no idea what to do with the information I was given about the club. I mean I knew that were doing some shady stuff, but murder? I had no idea the club would be part of something like that. 

I guess Hap noticed the worried look on my face and starts walking over to me at the bar.

"You alright, Little one?" He asks me in his raspy voice, sitting on the barstool next to me. 

"I'm alright Hap, how you holdin up?" I respond looking over at him.

"I'm used to this kind of shit by now, I know you're not. So I'll ask you again, you alright?" 

"I uh, I don't know. This is-" I let out a breath. "It's all a little much." I say and I feel the tears start to form in my eyes.

"Well, good news." He says, lowly. I let out chuckle.

"What's that?" 

"I've got a pretty bad ass kid I didn't know about." He says and smiles at me.

"How do you know I'm your kid?" I ask him laughing a little. 

"The way you stood up to Hale like that, even after Otto. I knew right then and there, you were mine." He says and I smile and look back down at my drink. "I'm damn proud to be your dad, little one. I know I wasn't there for you when you were growing up, but I'm here now. I'll make up for it. I promise." I couldn't stop the tears from running down my face. I nod my head and keep looking at my drink, afraid of letting all these guys see me cry.

"Thanks, that means a lot." I tell him honestly. 

"Anything you need, you let me know. This club is your family now." He says seriously, which doesn't help with the tears that just keep rolling. I nod again. 

"Now that you mention it, I could use a place to stay tonight and maybe for a couple days." I say and he looks at me concerned. "Me and mom got into it." I explain. "Her asshole husband doesn't make matters any better."  I go on.

"You can stay here, I'm sure there's an extra dorm around here somewhere." I sigh in relief. "Was it about me?" He asks. 

"It was about her not telling me the truth a long ass time ago. And she decided to talk to Mike about this first. It's a long story, I'm sure neither of us want to get into." I tell him and laugh, wiping my tears away.

"I'm here for you, Taylor. If you want to talk, I'm not the most talkative or lovey dovey, but I'm a good listener. This is important to me, to get to know you and be a part of your life. I just want you to know that, kid." He says, still very serious. I feel the tears coming back.

"Thank you. I really appreciate that. This is important for me too." I say and give his hand a reassuring squeeze. 

"Come here." He says and opens his arms up. I start crying again and walk into his embrace. We stand there for a short while and he just lets me cry into him. I finally pull back when I hear Clay say it was time for Church. I wipe my eyes and give Happy a small smile as a thank you. His eyes flicker from me to the room where all the men are piling in and I can see he's trying to make the best decision. So I make it for him. "Go, I'll be okay." He looks concerned still. "I'll be here when you get done." He nods and turns to walk off, looking back to make sure I'm actually okay. It was in that moment that I realized, this is my family. Illegal shit be damned. I can handle a few bad nights like this one if it means I get to truly be a part of something like this family, and motorcycle club.

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I decided after about five minutes of just sitting there waiting, that I'd just go ahead and clean the place up a bit.  I'm standing behind the bar wiping it down when after about an hour, the guys come out of the "Chapel", looking worn down and full of emotions. Jax walks back towards the dorms after making eye contact with me, his eyes telling me that he needs to talk to me. Happy, however, makes his way over to me. 

"You didn't have to do that, Little One, we have croweaters for that." He says, sounding exhausted but sincere at the same time. 

"I know I didn't have to, I just felt like it was the only thing I could do to help out." I say with a sad smile. I throw the rag behind the counter and make my way around. "Are you alright?" I ask him. 

"Like I said earlier, this isn't anything new to me." He says stoically. 

"Your brother just got taken away on murder charges. That can't be something you ever get used to. I'm sure it still hurts." I say honestly, lightly rubbing his back a little in a comforting gesture.

"I'll be okay kid. Just a lot to think about now, with this and us. I think you should go check on Jax, he seems to be taking this hard." He says standing up. "We'll talk more about everything that's happened tonight, tomorrow." I give him a nod and with that, he turns to walk out the front door.

I make my way down to Jax's dorm and knock shyly. Within seconds the door opens to reveal a shirtless Jax who looks even more distraught than the other guys. 

"I came to check on you." I say softly. He opens the door and moves so I can come in. Once I'm in he shuts the door behind me and locks it. 

"I'll be alright, I'm more worried about you, if we're being honest." He says moving to sit on the bed. 

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Jax. It was all a bit too much for me at first. I didn't know what to do or how to feel." He nods his head slowly with a sad look on his face. "Then," I continue, "I had a chance to think about everything. And I decided that there was never even a choice. This club is my family now. Like actually family now that I found out about Happy. Even before, I wouldn't have had to think about it for too long. I want this Jax. I want to be a part of this." I say confidently. 

"Are you sure?" He asks in disbelief. "I mean, what you saw tonight, is just the beginning. This shit happens all the time, Taylor. Are you sure you want to be associated with a bunch of criminals?" He asks, raising his voice a little. 

"You're not just a bunch of criminals, anyone who has spent more than five minutes with any member of this club knows that." I say. 

"But yes, I am sure Jax. I'm all in." He gives me a small smile and pulls me into him for a long passionate kiss.