6 Chapter 5

When Jax woke, Scarlett wasn't in his arms. However, her spot was still warm. She was on the floor, packing a duffle bag. "Scar? What are you doing?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "P-Packing." "For?" Jax rolled out his shoulders, causing cracking to be heard. He got up, standing over her.

"I-I'm.. leaving. I want.."

"What? But you... after last night... why?" Jax's eyes widened, confused. She was leaving him, after all the time they've spent *together*? He figured he'd be able to talk her out of leaving, so far, he's only convinced her to push it back. "I-It's... it's s-something I need to.. do." "At least let me go with you, please. Please?" Scarlett stood up, facing him. They were only a few inches away from each other, and, Jax was clearly hurt by her decision.

"I.. c-can't do that, Jax. I n-need to do t-this.. on my own. I need... to.. e-experience.. this. A-Alone."

Jax growled, not wanting her to go. She started to walk to the bedroom door, but Jax stood in her way. They sidestepped each other, Scarlett not able to get past him. "J-Jax, please." "When will you be back? What if something happens? How will—" Scarlett took his wrist, interrupting him, pointing to a mark on it. "I.. a-accidentally imprinted on y-you last n-night before I f-fell asleep. You'll k-know if.. s-something h-happens or I.. die. Y-You'll feel it." She gulped, nervous, her stutter increasing to the point where she had trouble getting words out.

"P-Please... let me t-through. I can't.. can't k-keep pushing.. it.. it o-off for y-you." Scarlett looked down, then, with a sudden rush of courage, pushed Jax out of her way. Jax caught her by the arm. "You have to stay, please." He took the bag from her other arm, throwing it across the room. "G-Give the b-bag b-back." She demanded as best as she could, pulling away from his grip, which wasn't strong, to begin with.

"Fine, you want to go? You can go. You wouldn't be here without me." Jax growled in frustration. He's done everything for her, and this was how he was repaid? Scarlett whimpered, taking the bag in her hand. Jax didn't move from the door, arms crossed. He bared his fangs at her, eyes narrowed. Finally, he moved out of the way. "Go. Leave. Do whatever you want."

Scarlett clutched the bag close to her chest, her eyes staring down at her feet as she walked. She couldn't dare look at Jax.

Scarlett turned to face him once she was outside the room, her eyes searching Jax's face. He stared at her, one hand on the door. Without another word, he slammed the door on Scarlett—leaving her in the hallway. "You got what you wanted, you're alone now. Now, go, if you want to leave so bad." Jax called, his voice emotional. Still angry, and, even a hint of pain.

Scarlett whimpered loudly, tears spilling from her eyes. Her body shook, walking down the stairs. The portrait leaned up against one of the walls. For a moment, Scarlett stopped, wishing Jax would come down. Her face became red, eyes puffy as she waited. Still, she didn't hear his footsteps come down the stairs, not even the one creaky stair.

What did hear, caused her to jump. Scarlett looked up, to the ceiling, hearing things move, break, all sorts of things. She figured Jax was furious still with the idea of her leaving. Her eyes flickered over the portrait again. Without a second thought, she took the portrait, carefully placing it in her bag. *'I want you to have something to remember me by.'* Jax's previous words rang in her head.

Tears still streamed down her cheeks as she left, carrying the bag still close to her chest. Now, she ran. Scarlett began to hear footsteps behind her, recognizing them as Jax's. "Scar! Wait! I'm sorry—" He called after her, eventually stopping, seeing as she wasn't going to come back—not now. Jax tangled his fingers in his hair, marching back inside fuming.

"Jax? What happened?" Maya came over minutes later, having not visited him in weeks. Seeing her brother upset, she figured it was something with Scarlett. "Not now, Maya." He waved her off, shoving past her and back upstairs. "Jax! What happened?" She yelled from the bottom of the staircase, running up after him. "Come on, what's wrong? Where's Scarlett?"

"Gone."

"What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"She left, Maya, she left!" His voice came out with nothing but a growl. His back turned to Maya, posture tense. Jax slammed his fist into whatever thing was beside him, eyes red with rage. "She's gone and it's my fault. I chased her away." He rambled on to his older sister, eventually sitting against the wall. Jax put his head in his hands, quiet now. Maya frowned, sighing. She sat beside him, putting an arm around his shoulder. But, Jax shoved it off.

"Why did she leave?"

"I don't want to talk about why she left. Okay? I just want her back." His voice was muffled, still in his hands. "Come on, pick your head up. It's alright. She'll come back, Jax." Maya tried to reassure him, but, it fell on deaf ears. Jax wasn't listening, instead, he continued to ramble on that he had made a mistake.

"Mom and dad will be happy she's gone, then—they'll jump on me to marry that bitch, Hannah. God, Hannah would eat Scarlett alive." Jax whimpered, leaning his head back. His face was streaked with tears. Maya frowned, continuing to listen to her brother. "The one woman I want is gone... I don't know if she'll ever come back."

"She will."

"You don't know that, do you? Who knows long it will be if she ever does? I.. scared her. She's gone, she's just gone and I.."

Maya rubbed her younger brother's back slowly. "She'll come back."

❧

Scarlett had retreated to the forest her and Jax were just at yesterday. Rain began to fall heavily, soaking Scarlett within minutes. She didn't know how long it had been since she left, but she guessed to be a few hours at most. She hid in the forest for shelter but decided to keep waking. Soon, she had no clue which way she came.

Suddenly, she wanted to go back to Jax. Maybe she couldn't do this; maybe she was wrong. Maybe it wasn't something she needed to do. Scarlett began to doubt herself immensely, now seeing as she was lost. She didn't intend to go *this* far into the forest. She's never been out of the kingdom before. Actually, she wasn't even sure if she was out of the kingdom.

Something told her she wasn't. Her instincts urged her to move on. Her mind wandered, wondering if Jax would look for her later on. She didn't know if she would ever return back to him, as right now, she was even afraid to look behind her. All she could picture was his anger. But, that was washed away by almost the past year she's spent with Jax.

Yesterday was the only time he's ever truly gotten angry at her.

"N-No, I need.. to d-do this," Scarlett spoke to herself, trudging through the mud and rain in between the trees. And, she didn't look back, not for years.