V removed her hands from Jax's. Moving over on the couch, farther away from him.

"V?" She remained silent. "Come on talk to me."

V played with her fingers, starting at them. "I'm afraid," she whispered. If Jax wasn't studying her so intently, he wouldn't have heard her.

"Of what?"

V looked up at him.

"Of me? You're afraid of me?" The hurt in his voice was obvious. "I would never hurt you."

"Don't say that. That's what everyone says, Jax."

"Who "everyone"?

"I mean everyone. People. They say they'll never hurt you. Why? I don't know. No one is perfect. Sometimes people don't have any control over hurting others."

"That is true, but V, I would never intentionally hurt you.

"I know," she says quietly.

"You don't sound convinced."

V got up from the couch, walking over to the fireplace, running her fingers along the mantle.

"My heart was suppose to be safe with you," she said her fingers still running along the mantle.

"Was?"

She turned to him. "Yes. Have you ever met someone who always made "safe" decisions… in their job, in their lives, on who they chose to love? They spend their whole lives protecting themselves, protecting their hearts. You like to take risks right?" Jax nodded. "I use to work for you and I would see you pass up companies that were easy to raid and would make you a huge profit. They would never cause you any trouble and you would pass them up, go for something more difficult. And in a way, it was the same thing with my heart. You were the perfect candidate for my feelings.

"Why?"

"Because you could never hurt me, not truly. I knew you would never want me. I knew you could never love me and because you could never do that, you couldn't hurt me. You were safe. How I could possibly blame you for not loving me. You could never break my heart. When you were with Brenda, I was happy for you, truly happy for you. I wasn't jealous and never felt vindictive or hurt because you loved her and not me. You were like this impossible dream, that I chose to give my heart to.

"Chose," he asked barely audible. She had chosen to love him? He had never quite heard love being spoken of that way and it hurt.

"Not at first, but after a while…yes. You were this place that I kept my heart for safe keeping. I use to think that I wasn't afraid to be loved, but I was. I would have to give myself completely to someone on a very personal level… share my dreams and my fears with them… be completely vulnerable with them. And because, I could never be those things with you, you were my safety net.

"So then all of this is a lie."

"No."

He raised his voice slightly. "V, you don't choose who you love, you just…love. There's nothing rational about it."

"I know. You know when I dated Scott; I got sick of holding to something that could never be. He was the beginning for me, of finally letting my feelings for you go, because I realized that I didn't want a safety net anymore. I didn't want to hold to something that could never be. And it seems that as soon as I decided to let go, I ended up where I began, but this time it's real…and it scares me. You're my best friend Jax and I'm afraid of taking a chance on that… and afraid not to. You don't have any fears about us?

"No," he said matter of factly. V squinted her eyes, looking at him, trying to figure out how the thought of them didn't frighten him on any level. He stood up walking towards her, "because I trust my feelings and they all lead me to you. This feels good and right. And if you weren't so d*mn stubborn and sensible about everything, you would stop rationalizing us and just…feel. I know you feel something when we're together and you can't tell me those feelings are wrong.

She stayed silent. She could never say their feelings for each other was wrong.

"Besides, I don't know why you though, I could never want you."

"Well besides the obvious," she said looking down at herself, self-deprecatingly, "You were in love with Brenda," she finished quietly.

"Yes I was and I will always love her, but I wouldn't change the course of my life for anything in the world, because if I did, I wouldn't be here with you," he said caressing her cheek. "When you said you chose to give me your heart, that hurt, but I understand. It's so * you *. And your "obvious" is spectacular." V blushed and he wondered if there would ever come a time when she would fully accept his compliments.

"I really wish that I could tell you, that if you walked out of this door today and said you weren't ready for us, I could accept that and let you go, but I'd be lying. He led her to the couch, sitting down with her, touching her face again.

"You trust me right?"

"Of course," she replied, without hesitation.

"Then trust me with you heart because I trust you with mine and I always will." He hugged her tightly.

"We're going to drive each other crazy, you know that," V said, her arms resting tightly around his neck.

"Looking forward to every second of it," he said rubbing her back "but just so you know, you already drive me crazy." She stopped hugging him, grabbing both his hands.

"Come on, dance with me," she said, getting off the couch with Jax's hand in hers.

"Okay," he said, standing up.

"Wait, let me take off these heels first. I'm clumsy enough without them," she said letting go of his hands and sitting down again.

Jax walked over to the radio, turning up the volume as "White Christmas" came to an end. He walked over to V.

"Can I have this dance?"