Chapter One

Alexis didn't know where else to go. She would have jumped off a building if not for the thought of Kristina, Molly, and Nikolas. Her world was crashing in around her, and she went to the docks. She knew she could see Wyndemere from there and she needed to see it. She needed to think of Stefan and what he would say to her. Alexis walked down a small pier with no boats hooked up to it and stood at the edge. It started lightly raining and she was cold. She shuddered and sat on the edge. After discarding her brand-new heels in the water, she dipped her feet in. She was glad that it was summer and the water was warm. It felt good. The rain felt good. It came down harder now. Alexis hadn't cried yet. She just thought of that and then, they came. The tears. No noise. No sobbing. Nothing, just silent tears that hurt. She didn't bother wiping them away because her face was already wet.

"Mrs. Lansing?" She heard an unfamiliar voice call her from behind. She didn't want to respond to that name, but whoever it was didn't see what she just saw. She turned her head and saw the handsome doctor walking towards her.

"Dr. Drake."

"Noah."

She looked up and smiled softly when he reached her. Alexis barely knew this man, but he helped save her life during the epidemic. He helped save a lot of people's lives.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Lansing?"

"It's Davis," she snapped, "Sorry. My last name is Davis … just, call me Alexis."

He sat down beside her, "Alexis." He looked over at her. He had noticed how beautiful she was before, but now, in her sadness, she was more gorgeous than any woman had a right to be.

"Everything okay?" He asked nicely.

"No," she simply answered.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No."

Noah just sat there. He took his shoes off and rolled up his pants, letting his feet drift into the water.

"Well, I had a bad day at work today. I lost two patients and got ripped into by my son."

Alexis looked over to him, "I'm sorry about your patients. I guess you're used to the feeling though. I don't see how you do it."

"You get through it. You survive, you learn. You move on."

"That's good advice for me right now."

Noah looked over, "Care to talk about it?"

Alexis just sat there for a moment, "My daughter. My daughter that I just found, she…just…I just caught her sleeping with my husband."

Noah looked at her like she was joking, "No way."

"Yes, way," she said jokingly, "Yes, definitely … yes, way." She laughed. It was a cold, bitter laugh. The rain came down harder and Wyndemere disappeared from view.

"How could I be so damn stupid? Dr. Drake? How could someone like me, who has been to hell and back, have been so completely naïve and just…stupid? I'm a smart woman. Very smart, actually. I went to freakin' Yale for God's sake! How could I have let my husband do this to me twice?!"

Noah just listened. 'What idiot would cheat on this woman ONCE?' he thought to himself.

"But, I digress, I mean, God, why couldn't I see it coming? Sam, that's my daughter, she is angry at me for wanting her away from Jason Morgan …"

"The mob-"

"Yeah, yeah, the mobster," she interrupted. "Yeah, the man who nearly got her killed because of his life. Yeah."

"So, I understand that she might be angry with you, but, sleeping with …"

"Yes, once again, yeah. My husband. I'm sure he had a hand in seducing her. He would do anything to hurt Jason. But my God, Noah, what could he be thinking?"

"That's what I'm wondering. Mrs. Davis, Alexis, well, first of all, let's get out of this rain. Would you care to join me for some ice cream at Kelly's?"

Alexis looked over to him and laughed bitterly again, "I would absolutely love that."

After walking to Kelly's and finding a table, Alexis finished her story and Noah listened. He just sat there and let her complain, let her cry, let her scream if she wanted to, but she didn't scream, or cry. She had too much class for that. Alexis was tired and needed to sleep. She was emotionally drained and didn't feel like doing anything but fall asleep in her bed. She wondered if they had sex in her bed. She wanted to throw up.

"It's okay to throw up."

"What?" Alexis came out of her daze.

"You said that you wanted to throw up. That's perfectly understandable."

"I was talking?"

Noah looked at her confused, "Look, you're tired. Would you like me to take you somewhere, a hotel … so you can get some sleep?"

"No, you can take me home. I need to get a pair of shoes and some clothes and my daughters, not that one, the other two."

Noah was worried, "What if they're still there, your husband and daughter?"

"They won't see me because you're going to be nice enough to go in for me. Let's go." She stood up and walked out.

Noah smiled. She was so confident. He couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. He wasn't however, looking forward to a confrontation with her husband and daughter, but hey, right now, he'd do anything for this woman.

The car drove up the driveway. Alexis was in the driver's seat and she had told Noah everything she needed from her room. She explained that Viola would help get the girls ready and she'd be coming with them.

"You're okay with this?" Alexis asked Noah, feeling bad for putting this man in this position only minutes of formally meeting him.

"No problem. But what if your husband refuses to let the children come?"

"He won't. Just tell him that I know."

Noah nodded and ran towards the door, the rain still pounding down. He knocked and Sam opened the door.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm here to pick up a few things for Alexis, including Kristina, Molly, and Viola."

Sam's face went white. She knew.

Ric walked in with a scotch in his hand.

Noah just looked at him, disgusted, "I know where everything is." He walked past Sam and back towards where Alexis said the kid's rooms were. After explaining everything to Viola, he went to Alexis' room and got her belongings.

Alexis was sitting in the car watching the windshield wipers do their work. The rain was slowly dying down and she could now see Ric walking toward the car. He knocked on her window. She didn't roll it down, but she did open the door … hard. It slammed into him and he dropped to the ground in pain. She closed the door, locked it, and smiled to herself. She then saw Viola bringing the girls and unlocked all of the doors but her own. They piled into the backseat with three bags of what she assumed were Kristina's toys, Molly's diapers, and some clothes.

"Hey, my girls!"

Noah followed soon after.

Ric just watched. He tried speaking to Alexis while the doors were open, but she ignored him. Ric knew that she knew. She must have seen it.

Alexis sat for a moment, getting the girls situated. Ric knocked on the window again, and like before, she opened the door hard and hit him. He fell once more to the ground and this time, Alexis rolled the window down. She looked at Ric and smiled.

"Ric … twice? You never learn." And with that, she drove away. He knew that she meant twice cheating on her. He needed a drink. Sam ran out and realized it was too late to catch her. She saw Ric on the ground.

"What the hell did we do?"

Ric looked up at her sadly. "We lost her."