A month has gone by and Alex still has that uneasy feeling in her stomach. She has Marge looking after Tony while she's at the bar and Jax is with the club. Alex can't help but keep checking her phone to see if anything has happened to either of her boys. "You alright?" Melinda asks from behind the counter. "Alex? Alex!" The blonde jumps as she looks up from her phone. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing. My nerves are just kinda y'know shot from movin and settlin in." She clears her throat.

"You sure?"

"Yeah..." Alex nods, biting her lip. Marge lets herself into the bar with a big paper bag in one hand and her grandson on her hip. "Whatcha got there, momma?"

"I brought you girls some dinner." Marge smiles, sitting the boy on the counter before she starts emptying the bag out. "Soup for Melinda, a burger for Alexandrea, chicken tenders for the boy, and a salad for me." The four eat their dinner together; Wednesdays are the slowest nights.

"You okay, hun?" Marge asks Alex as she's bent over the sink, scrubbing some dishes clean. "You seem like something's bothering you."

"Melinda said the same thing to me earlier. I'm fine." She gives her mother figure a tight lipped smile.

"Sit. I've known you for over ten years so I know you pretty damn well. You've got that crease between your eyebrows you get when you're worried." Alex rolls her eyes as she drops herself on a barstool. "What's up?"

"I don't know. I have this feeling in my stomach that something bad is going to happen." Alex runs a hand through her hair. "I've had this feeling pretty much since we moved back. I dunno."

"Always trust your gut."

"But what am I trusting it for? This feeling won't go away, Marge!" She squeezes her shoulders. "I don't know what it means or- or what to do."

"I don't either, baby." She sighs, hugging her against her chest. "I don't know either."

~

Alex is sitting on the couch in the living room as her boys are sound asleep. It's around four in the morning and she's been up all night. She's been crazy paranoid and hasn't seen able to sleep. She exhales a lungful of smoke while she watches the too bright TV screen, her head aching. She reaches for her cell and decides to call Will. "Hey, sorry. I know it's late."

"It's all good, baby. What's up?"

"Nothin much." She sighs. "How's Huntsville?"

"Fine, not the same since you left." Will lays back on the bed where they fucked the last time she was with him.

"I'm missin Alabama." She says honestly. "Will, can I ask you a question?" Alex gets to her feet, looks over her shoulder then heads out to sit on the back porch. "Don't get y'know mad or anything, okay?"

"Okay?"

"What do you think life would be like if I never left in the first place? Like you and me, what would we be like?" She mumbles around a cigarette she's struggling to light. "Honestly."

"Honestly? We might've been hitched, maybe a baby or two." Will sighs, his hand on his bare chest with his fingers around his cross necklace. "This big house might've been ours and we'd probably be running grandpap's farm." Alex bites her lip. "I don't know. Why?"

"I don't know." Alex chokes back tears. "Do you think I made a mistake coming back to Charming?" Will's silent. "Fuck. I- I- I can't leave now, not when I got Jax and- and now Anthony-"

"Who's Anthony?"

"My son."

Will feels sick to his stomach. "S-son?" His brain springs to the idea that it's his even though it most likely isn't. "Wh-how- huh?"

"Jax and I have a kid." She takes a deep breath. "Now I kinda feel like I have a thousand pound cinderblock around my ankle because I can't just split on them- I can't leave by myself anymore. I can't do that to Tony- I know what it's like to have a parent split on you." She takes a shaky breath in as she bounces her leg. "Fuck, Will. When did life get so fucking complicated?"

"Right about the time when you left here." She chokes back a sob knowing he's right. They both know that if she would've stayed in Alabama, she wouldn't have lost her father and wouldn't have this bad feeling. But, if she would've stayed, she wouldn't have reconnected with Nick or Donna or have her boy.

Charming is both a blessing and a curse.

"Fuck. What do I do?"

"I got no idea, baby." He sighs back, his heart aching for this girl. "I'd say come back but you're between a rock and a hard place."

She scoffs out a laugh, running her cigarette holding hand over her messy hair. "I'm sorry to dump all this shit on you, Will."

"It's no big deal, Alex. I'm just glad I can still be here for you." She forces back another sob. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Okay. Okay, I'm gonna let you go." She sniffles, flicking her cigarette butt over the fence. "Thank you for being so kind, Will."

"Of course, baby." He smiles back. "Talk to you later."

"Sounds good." She nods as she hangs up, taking a deep shaky breath in, wiping her face.

Alex sits on the porch, watching the sunrise with a blank stare. "You alright?" Jax whispers from the door, it's obvious he just woke up.

"Yep." She nods, getting to her bare feet.

She heads to the bathroom and locks herself in, sitting on the floor. "Alex?"

"I'm fine." She murmurs. "Gonna shower."

~

"Hey, VP." Bobby nods the blonde over. "We need a couple of the guys to go to Oakland later this week. It'll be me, you and Ope."

"Sure, sounds good." Jax takes a smoke out of his pack, bringing it up to his lips to light. "We meetin' with the Niners?"

"Yeah, Laroy's needing some more AK's; at least a dozen of 'em." Jax nods, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "When do we leave?"

"Friday."

Opie rubs the back of his neck as he's bent over a bike engine. "You seem off, Jax." He says when the blonde enters the shop. "What's up?"

"I don't know, man." He sighs, leaning against the back counter, a rag in his hand. "Somethings going on with Drea. It's like since we've gotten back she's just been off." He shakes his head. "I don't know, man."

"How's she acting?"

"Quiet." Jax shrugs.

"Have to talked to her?"

He shoots a brunette a sharp glare. "She won't talk to me." Jax tosses the rag on the counter. "Shits been weird."

"Shits always been weird." Jax chuckles. "Until the day we fuckin die, shit'll always be weird."

~

"Ope, Bobby and I are heading to Oakland. We should be back by tonight." Jax tells Alex as she's scrubbing the dishes in the sink. "You gonna be okay by yourself?"

"Yep."

Jax rolls his eyes as he picks up his Reaper Crew hat and a pair of sunglasses. "I love you." He kisses his fiancé then leans over and presses his lips to the top of his sons head. That feeling in Alex's stomach returns.

"I love you too. Ride safe, Teller."

Alex watches Jax walk to his bike before she rushes outside. She grabs the back of his cut and stops him, throwing her arms around his shoulders to kiss him. He slides his hand to the side of her face as he deepens the kiss, holding her close. "I guess the- uh- boys can wait a couple minutes." He mumbles, grabbing her hand to lead her to the bedroom for a quickie.

~

It's been over a week since Jackson came back from Oakland- totally fine and unharmed. Alex is somewhat back to her normal hell raising self but still kind of off.

Currently, Alex is leaning against the kitchen counter as she looks over some bills while Jax is sitting at the table. Sig and Marge are watching Anthony for the weekend and they're super excited. Jackson sets his beer down on the table so he can take a drag from the lit cigarette between his fingers, a newspaper in the other. She sighs as she runs her finger over the amount due on the bill, shaking her head.

Domestic Bliss.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Uh sure." Alex responds, glancing at him as she straights herself up.

"It's, uh, it's just that I'm Samcro's new president." He coughs slightly. "Clay stepped down- well, it was kind of forced but y'know."

"When did this happen?"

"Couple days ago." She takes a deep breath in as she looks down at her bare feet. "What're you thinking?" Alex shrugs, tucking the bill back into the envelope then writes the amount on the front of it with the due date. She slides it into the folder on the fridge with the others before reaching in to get herself a beer. "C'mon baby. What's up?"

"I'm not gonna be able to see you as much anymore. You'll be spending more time away from your- y'know, I'm happy for y'all. Nice to have someone with their head screwed on straight and not up a woman's ass in the president's seat." Jax bites his lip as he looks down. "I just hope that things go well for all y'all boys." She runs a hand through her hair. "Just be careful."

"Always am, always will be." He winks, trying to lighten the mood but it doesn't work as he watches his fiancé pick up a pack of cigarettes from the bowl in the middle of the counter. She pops one between her pretty lips before she heads out to the back porch to smoke leaving Jax by himself to shakes his head and clear his throat.

~

Alex has herself in the bed of her truck as she's parked by that lake a couple miles outside of Charming. "Figured you might be out here." A familiar voice says. Alex leans up and sees Opie walking towards her. "Penny for your thoughts."

"Hey." She forces a smile, sliding up to sit against the back windshield. "What're you doin out here?"

"Lookin for my girl." He says as he joins her. "What's wrong?"

"What's right?" She asks back, tears forming in her eyes. "Jax is the fuckin president of an outlaw biker gang. That means he's got more and more enemies as we fuckin speak! What are we gonna do if somethin happened to him? What if they come after Anthony or- or my folks or me-"

"Hey." Ope puts an arm around her shoulders. "Take a deep breath, baby."

"I called Will." She sniffles. "I- I- I asked him what he thought we'd be like if I had just stayed in Huntsville, if I never left the first time." She looks down at her fingers. "I can't handle this anymore. I gotta get outta here."

"Huh?"

She sighs, "When I was in Alabama, I saw they had crazy affordable nursing programs and I can get scholarships and grants to finally finish my degree. Finally get a solid paying job that isn't in a fuckin dive bar. Harry, I can't do that to Jax. I can't leave for that." She drops her head in her hands, sniffling quietly.

"It's education; something you've wanted since your mom died." She nods. Her mom left thinking she was going to be a nurse and now that she's a barmaid, she feels like she let her down. "I think Jax would understand where you're coming from."

"I can't do that to him." Opie sighs, rubbing her back. "Holy fuck, what the fuck do I do?"

"Talk to him." He can practically hear her eye roll. "Hey, he doesn't know how you fuckin feel. If you guys are gonna be married, communication is where it's at, okay? Just fuckin talk to him."

"Fine." She huffs, wiping her cheeks. "Thanks."

Opie nods in response before heading to his truck as Alex climbs into the cab of hers. She can't leave Jax but she really can't pass up her nursing degree. She won't have this free time for too much longer.

Times are changing and they're changing fast.

~

Alex takes a deep breath as she steps toward the clubhouse. She squeezes past the boys and heads to Jax's old dorm room where she finds her fiancé sitting on the edge of the bed, reading. He looks over his shoulder at the mother of his child when he hears the door shut. "Hey."

"You didn't come home last night." She states, leaning against his dresser with her arms crossed over her black t-shirt. He sets the journal to the side and glances around the room before settling his eyes on her. "Why?" Jax shrugs, turning his attention to the chunky rings on his fingers. "I, uh," She swallows hard. "I got a scholarship to Drake State."

Jax sits up straight as he puts a hand on his knee, clenching his jaw. "What's that?"

"A VoTech school." She clears her throat. "In Huntsville." Jax's face falls along with his heart. "My credits can transfer from University of the Pacific and-"

"What are you saying?"

Alex runs a hand over her face. "I'm sayin that I should finish school."

"You can't just go back to Stockton? You have to go to Alabama?"

"I don't have twenty six thousand dollars to spend." Jax is silent. "I- If I stay a bartender, I'm letting my mom down. I'm letting Sig down and Anthony and you down but I'm also letting myself down by just letting this chance go by. It's something that's just too good to let go." Alex chews on the inside of her cheek, pulling on a lose thread of her skirt. "I'm doing this, Jackson. I have to, for myself."

Jax has tears in his eyes as he nods. "I don't want to be the one that's holding you back. If you- if you want to do this then do it." He sounds more harsh than he means to be. Alex sits next to him but he stands and walks out, leaving her by herself, alone, in his dorm.