+++

After a brief tour of Charming a couple days later, Alex and Will are looking through her old photo albums as they sit on her bed. "Who's this?" He asks, squinting at a picture.

"Lemme see." She takes a look. "My mom. She was so beautiful." She feels tears form in her chest as she runs her fingers over her mother's picture. "God I miss her."

Will gently squeezes her knee. "You look just like her." He glances between the two. "It's kinda freaky." She smiles slightly as she flips through a stack. "Who's this?"

Her face drops at the image. "That would be Lawrence and Nick with JT and Jax." He gives her a blank face. "My old man with my brother and Jax with his father."

"When do I get to meet your family?"

"Uh, look! It's me and Donna at our last shift at the diner." She changes the subject. "We had so many boys after us in those shorts."

"Alex." She keeps her eyes down. "Y'know I'd never make you talk 'bout somethin you don't wanna talk 'bout but I mean-"

"It's complicated." She repines.

"I've got all the time in the world." She looks up at him. He's giving her his infamous soft smile that makes her feel warm and safe. His whole existence makes her feel warm and safe.

"I'll tell you later." He nods and turns his focus to the pictures on the bed. Alex kneels on the floor and grabs a heavier box, dropping it on the mattress. "I got no idea what's in this one."

"Picture frames." Will picks one up. "Framed mugshots." His eyes widen. "Your framed mugshots. You've been arrested?" The look on her face says it all. "For what?"

"Let's see," she looks at the date on the board she's holding. "Sixteen." She taps her chin. "This one's from, uh, public intoxication and some bullshit joyriding." She moves on to the next one. "Underage possession of an illegal firearm." She clicks her tongue. He notices the dates skip five years. "My most recent is from hitting some guy upside the head with a glass bottle. He was being a real jerk to me."

"You don't seem like this kinda girl." Will says. "What happened to your face?" He reaches over and runs his thumb over the healing make up covered marks.

She pushes his hand away. "It's complicated."

~

"Okay." Alex takes a deep breath. "Okay, you deserve to know the truth." Will looks at her from the opposite side of the booth. It's his second to last day in Charming.

"Okay." He nods, wiping his mouth with the napkin on his lap. "I'm all ears, baby."

"When I was born, my father was patched into the Sons of Anarchy, that group from the bar. He got my mom pregnant with me and my brother before it was totally official. I grew up with Jax and Ope, they were-are kids of other club members and then I uh, started dating Opie. We dated on and off for a few years then my mom died then Jax's old man died and I started sleeping with him behind Ope's back. He found out and I still feel awful so I packed my stuff up and left. I kept driving, I had no idea where I was going until my car broke down in Huntsville and I just stayed."

"What about your dad and brother?"

"Lawrence left after mom died. He used to beat the shit outta my brother. I have no idea where Nick is now." She sighs, running her hands over her face. "My dad came back in town and begged to be let back in to the club, we saw each other and talked and then he hit me." She gestures to her cheek. "Him and Jax got into a fight then Lawrence got arrested and sentenced for a couple months."

"And how do you know Sig?"

"He's a friend of my moms. He took me in when everybody left. Him and Marge are like my actual parents. I love those two more than anythin'."

Will sits in silence, soaking it all in.

"Now you know everything and I don't blame you if you don't want to talk to me any-" Will leans over and presses his lips to her, she lets him. If anything, her twisted life makes her that much more attractive, she's such a strong woman for dealing with such a shitty background. Honestly, when she was living in Huntsville, she was kind of dull and Will now knows why.

What a fucking hellraiser.

Will pulls back. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"Because I thought of I hide it then it isn't what I am, y'know? If I hide it, they won't know- it won't be true." She rubs the back of her neck. He nods and sighs. Alex stands and puts a twenty on the table. "Cmon." She holds her hand out, Will smiles to himself as he takes it. Their hands fit together like they're supposed to be held. "What do you wanna do with your last couple days?" Will has an idea or two but knows she won't go for it. "I can take you out to a lake a couple miles outta town." He nods as they hop into her truck.

+++

Alex is laying against Will as he has his arm under her head, his other hand around her bicep. "It's so peaceful here, reminds me of home." He whispers, rubbing her inked skin. She nods half asleep, her eyes closed. He lays there and just takes in her beauty, even with the marks on her cheek, she's still stunning. His eyes go to her lips, the lips he finally kissed an hour or two ago. Will gets another boost of confidence and leans down to kiss her again, this time he slides his hand to the side of her face. The innocent smooch turns open mouthed quickly. Alex grabs his shirt before she realizes what she's doing. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She lays back down against him, her stomach full of butterflies when she feels his hardworking hand around her hip. Her body is throbbing and burning, she's never felt this way about Will. Alex looks over at him to see he's already looking back at her. She brings him down to her, kissing him a little rougher as they turn needy. Her fingers pop the buttons on his snap shirt, tugging at the huge 'Rodeo Champ' buckle in the center of his belt. He pushes her tight t-shirt off her body, reaching down to undo her jeans, button and zipper, shoving them down her legs as he pulls her on top of him.

They end up fucking right there in the bed of her truck at the secluded lake a couple miles outside Charming.

Best vacation ever.

+++

Will is giddy as hell that he finally slept with the girl he's been chasing since they've met five years ago.

Sadly, he's packed up his things to head back to Huntsville. "See you later, baby." He whispers, bumping her nose with his. She giggles slightly. "Thanks for havin out here."

Alex nods. "Thanks for comin' out here." She wraps her arms around his middle, hugging him tightly as he holds her close, his chin on the top of her head. "You drive safe, okay?" Her voice is shaky and her eyes are watery.

"I will." He kisses her forehead then tosses his brown leather suitcase into the bed of his truck. Alex watches him climb into his truck then drive off, a tear sliding down her cheek. She missed him more than she thought she would.

"Finally left, huh?" Jax says from behind her, slipping his hand into her back pocket. She nods silently as she tries to stop her tears, keeping her head down. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She sniffles, wiping under her eyes. "Just sad to see him go." Jax moves his arm around her shoulders. He walks her back up to her apartment. "What's up?"

"I gotta run out to Indian Hills next week."

"Indian Hills- Nevada? The hell is in Nevada?"

"Uncle Jury." She nods and sits on the couch, the blanket behind her head still smells like Will. "I just wanted to let you know."

"Wow. Look at you being all mature and shit, lettin me know where you're gonna be." Jax rolls his eyes as he squeezes her thigh. "Ride safe, okay?"

"Always baby."

+++

It's been a week since Will left and Alex hasn't been able to get their intimate moment out of her head. She thinks it's because it was new and a new guy, new surprises. He was good, great really, but not as good as Jax but better than Opie.

Speaking of Opie, Donna's rushing up the stairs to Alex's apartment in tears as she knocks on the door. "What's wrong?" Alex asks, immediately wrapping the shorter woman in her arms.

"I'm pregnant." She whimpers, wiping her face only for her cheeks to get tear tracks again. "Ope doesn't know."

"Holy shit. He needs to know." She sits her down and hands her a glass of water. "When did you find out?"

"A few hours ago." She hiccups. "Holy fuck."

"Take a deep breath, baby." She nods and closes her eyes. "You gotta tell Ope. I know that's terrifyin and shit but you can do it. I'll even go with if that'd make you feel better."

Their heads shoot up when the door opens. "Why aren't you in Nevada?" Alex asks Ope.

"I wasn't needed." He shrugs. "What's up?" He asks the back of Donna's head. She stands and silently walks to the bathroom to calm herself down. "Is she okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I think so." She gives him a blank smile as she sits on the couch, curling her long legs under herself. "What's up, Winston?"

"I've been trying Donna all day and she wouldn't pick up so-" He shuts his mouth when said woman returns, her face red and splotchy. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Alex gives her a look that has her nodding and straightening herself up. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." Alex stands and heads to her bedroom, cracking the door to listen on them.

"I'm sorry, Ope!" She says, grabbing his hands from their spot on the top of his head as he holds his breath. "I really am."

"This isn't your fault." He exhales loudly. "I need some air." She nods and drops herself on the couch.

Alex joins her. "Cmere." She wraps her arms around Donna, rubbing her back. She sobs quietly against her best friends shoulder, her whole tiny body shaking. "If he's not gonna be there for you, I will, always."

"Thank you." She whispers.

The door opens again. "Listen." Opie says loudly. "This is what's gonna happen."Alex gives him a dirty look. "Donna, I love you and you and I are gonna parent this kid."

"You love me?" She blushes as she stands.

"Yeah I love you. We're gonna do great." He squeezes her in a tight hug, smiling. "I'm not gonna split."

"See? I told you y'all would be fine."