***Sooo sorry for not updating quicker...it was my birthday and then just a bunch of other things took up my time...no excuse! Thanks again to anyone who followed over to this story and for the reviews. I love them. I love hearing what you all want from the story, I actually change it a little every time I get your feedback and hope to make you all happy! I promise to update much quicker for the next chapter!***

Chapter 2 –

Ashley hung up the phone with Jax and sighed outwardly. She had been really looking forward to spending some quality time with him. She missed being with him. Ever since her mom had come home they had barely spent any time alone together and she knew she was mostly to blame for that. That's why she had taken the time to get ready for tonight, planning some great things to take care of her man and show him that he deserved attention too. She had been pretty proud of herself with all of her ideas, but then Clay went and messed everything up. It figures, she thought.

She paced around the house trying to think of what else she could do with all of her alone time now. She didn't want to sit around and imagine all the possibilities of what Jax was doing tonight. She wanted to keep her mind busy with other things to avoid thinking all together, so she decided to pick up her phone and call Donna, someone else she had been neglecting lately.

"Hello?" Donna answered, sounding exhausted, which only made Ashley feel guiltier about what a bad friend she had been to her recently.

"Hey Donna, you want some company?" she asked, hoping Donna wouldn't figure out from her voice that she was her second choice for tonight.

"Yeah, sure." Donna answered, almost indifferently.

"OK, I'll be right over," Ashley responded quickly and hung up the phone with rapid speed, not giving her the chance to back out.

She grabbed her jacket, purse and keys, heading over to Donna's house. As she walked down the driveway towards her car she noticed a familiar car parked down the street on the opposite side of the road. Suddenly, memories of that stupid note flashed through her mind, it had all seemed so long ago until she saw him sitting there, or at least she assumed it was him, she couldn't really make out who it was from that distance. She wondered if he had been watching her this whole time and she had never even noticed, maybe she was just too busy with her mom and everything else to stop and realize. Or maybe Jax sent him, knowing she was going to be alone tonight. A smile crept across her lips with that realization, that he would even be thinking of protecting her when he was off doing other things.

She got to Donna's house and took a deep breath in before she rang the doorbell. It was always so emotional visiting her. She wanted to be a good friend and support her through all of this, but it was difficult to watch Donna struggling so much and for so long. At some point it had become common knowledge that Opie was not getting out, which had been something they all had to accept. It was sad to think about everything he was missing, especially these important years of his kids growing up. Donna had really stepped up and proven how strong she really was, working full time and taking care of her kids alone. She was also always mentioning her despise for the club every chance she got, but Ashley understood why she would be bitter. It was hard not to put yourself in her shoes and imagine what life would be like...it was such a real possibility. Actually, the chances of marrying a club member and not dealing with him going to jail at some point were pretty much slim to none. Ashley just tended to not think about it so much and just focused on how good her love felt with Jax and on helping her mom stay sober. The fact that she rarely went to Teller-Morrow anymore or the clubhouse really helped with that whole denial thing. Out of sight, out of mind, or something like that.

She rang the doorbell and waited for Donna to answer it.

"Hey," Donna said as she opened the door, a strained grin forced across her face. She was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, her hair thrown up in a messy bun. Her whole body painting a picture of the depression she must have been feeling inside.

"Hey yourself," Ashley said walking inside. "How are you doing?"

"You know how I'm doing," Donna answered, closing the door. Ashley did know. "I have been doing a lot of thinking lately."

"About what?" Ashley answered as they walked over to sit down on the couches to talk, not really sure she wanted to know.

"Well, first, what's going on with you? Why haven't you left this shit hole yet?" Donna asked sitting and looking at her friend with a look which almost resembled jealousy, a willingness to switch lives in a second.

"Oh, you know I can't leave Donna, I have to be here for my mom, plus things have been going really good with Jax so…"

"Too bad...not that I'm rooting against you guys, I just want one of us to make it."

"Donna, you are making it, you are conquering it, I could only wish I would be able to hold things together like you have."

"I don't have any choice that's all."

"So what have you been thinking about?"

"Well…" she paused, her eyebrows wrinkled towards each other, as if she was trying to decide if she should reveal her innermost thoughts to Ashley or not, "Well, I love Opie and I could never leave him, but I think he's going to owe me when he finally gets out. Big time."

"I agree." Ashley said, knowing Donna was more than right.

"So I'm going to tell him that when he gets home, he needs to get a real job and...separate himself from the club." She forced out quickly, exhaling just as quick, glad that was finally out because it had been practically eating her alive.

Ashley sat quietly, trying to let Donna's words sink in. She thought about Jax and how the club was all he knew. Opie was exactly the same way. But she also understood where Donna was coming from, she just wasn't sure the end result would be what Donna was hoping for. "Well, I don't think that's unreasonable at all."

"I'm hoping he sees how he is serving time for the club and that their lives keep going on while his is standing still in one sense and passing him by in another. I'm hoping he will get out and never want to go back. I know he's scared in there, but of course he would never admit that, especially to me. But the shit that happens in prison is unimaginable."

Ashley just looked at Donna with understanding, she knew what a tough position she had been forced into.

"Please don't mention it to Jax, I don't want any problems," Donna pleaded, her eyes begging.

"There's no reason for me to say anything to Jax, this is between you and Opie."

"I just keep thinking...about my life. This is not what I had planned for myself. I never imagined that I would be here, in my twenties, two kids, husband in jail, barely paying my bills. I feel like I'm stuck and I don't see it ever getting better, and definitely never being even close to how I want it to be. Part of me wishes I could do some things over or something, to try and get closer to the result I always dreamed of. I hate thinking about it."

"I know it's tough right now Donna, but you have to focus on the good things in your life. You have two amazing kids who love you and look to you like you have all the answers. They are reason enough to be happy with anything. Start with them and everything else will fall into place." Ashley said, not sure if she even believed herself.

"Sure, it's easy to say, but when you're living it and it's constantly in your face, it's really hard to stay focused."

"I know."

The two women sat in silence. One not knowing what to say, the other sick of saying it.

"We should have another beer and nachos night," Ashley suggested with a smile.

"Yeah that's definitely needed. I would drink anything at this point." Donna laughed quietly to herself.

Ashley tried to lighten the mood and gossip about celebrities and nonsense things. She wanted to distract Donna, try to get her away from the depression that seemed to be swallowing her up. She tried to get her to focus on other things, even though it was obvious there was no way that would really happen. But if she could be happy again, even if it was for a couple of hours, maybe it would help her get through the next day better. So she kept talking and talking until Donna was participating almost as much. They talked and talked, until the couches seemed like the most comfortable place in the world. Until Ashley couldn't even imagine getting up off of it, her comfy new best friend, and the thought of driving home was not even a possibility for her heavy eyes. Until they both fell sound asleep.

Ashley woke up to the feeling of her phone vibrating against her leg. She had it out before in case of anything with her mom or Jax and must have rolled on top of it when she drifted off to sleep. It took a minute for her eyes to wake up enough to register whose number was flashing on her screen. Jax.

"Hello?" Ashley huffed out half asleep.

"Hey babe, where are you?" Jax asked, sounding alarmed.

"Huh? Uh...I'm at Donna's."

"Why? Is everything OK? It's two in the morning."

"I must have fallen asleep talking that's all."

"Oh, I drove by your house and didn't see your car so I was worried."

"Sorry Jax."

"You want a ride home?"

"Sure," she said as she rubbed her neck. The couch that had felt so comfortable before had actually contorted her body in positions it shouldn't be sleeping in and the thought of her pillowy bed was very appealing right now.

"OK, be there in a sec."

"OK."

She hung up the phone and quietly gathered up her things, tiptoeing to the front door to look out for him, she wanted to be able to go out right away so Donna wouldn't wake up from the noise of his motorcycle idling. As soon as she heard him she stealthily slipped out. She smiled big when she saw him sitting on his bike waiting for her, there was something sexy about the way he sat on his motorcycle, like it was nothing. But then again he looked sexy all of the time. Maybe tonight could still redeem itself she thought to herself smiling as she walked towards him, but as she got closer to him she could see splatters of blood all over his white t-shirt.

"Jax, you're bleeding." She said to him, her eyes wide with concern.

"Ah, no it's not mine, just some idiot's who was making things harder than they needed to be tonight."

She glanced down at his hands which were injury free, so her mind naturally wandered to the thought that Jax might have shot the guy. She had tried so hard to pretend this stuff didn't really happen. She hardly ever saw him after he was off "taking care of something" so she lived peacefully in her little happy bubble for the most part.

Jax must have noticed the panic in her face. "Babe, he's going to be fine, not that he deserves to be."

"Why, what did he do?" she asked before she could stop herself, genuinely wanting to know. He turned off the bike, sighing and parked it. He got off and walked over to her, staring down in her eyes.

"You really want to know?" he asked her.

"Yes," she answered, and she did want to know. Maybe it was time she knew a little more. Bits and pieces seemed OK, to let it all sink in slowly. He looked back and forth between her eyes, trying to decide if she could handle it, or if she would just freak out and give him shit the next time he had to do something for the club.

He decided to try, "He was trying to rape some woman, she was strung out so he wanted to take advantage."

She just looked at him trying to process what he said. Her mind was racing with questions. Where was he that some guy was trying to rape a woman, and a woman on drugs for that matter? But instead of giving him a hard time she chose to focus on the fact that as messed up as everything he just said sounded, underneath all those dysfunctional layers of events, he had done something good.

"Oh," was all she could come up with.

He just looked at her waiting.

"That's a good thing that you did."

He smirked at her. "And what were you doing with Donna?"

"We were just talking."

"How is she?"

"Not so great. She's really struggling with everything."

"I know, I wish there was more I could do for her."

"Me too, I tried to cheer her up, not sure I was very successful though."

"You have a big heart. You're always taking care of people...like a little nurse or something." His eyes sparkled at her playfully.

She smiled at that. "Not always. I haven't been taking care of you lately."

"I don't want you to take care of me. I want to take care of you."

"You sure? Because I had some big plans to take care of you tonight...but...if you don't want me to." She smiled innocently.

"What? No, yes I mean." He said a little caught off guard and she laughed at him. "So what big plans did you have? Did it involve dressing like a nurse?"

She laughed at him again, "Well...my first plan is to get you out of that nasty shirt."