A/N: In my last post I said that Jay didn't want to yell at Ellie the day before her big day. That was an error it was not the day before the wedding it was two days before. I have fixed that a long with a few spelling errors and grammatical errors. Sorry for the mix up hope you keep reading and that you like it. Reviews are welcomed.

Jay arrived at Sean's a little early. He was the first one there so he was helping Sean set up. It had been Spinner's bright idea to have the stag party at Sean's house but where was Spinner now that there was work to be done?

"I need to ask you one more favor." Jay said firing up the grill in the back yard.

"What's that?" Sean asked as he set up some camping chairs around the back yard.

"Keep Alex's fiancé away from me." Jay stated flatly and Sean could tell he wasn't joking.

"I'll do my best." Sean replied as Spinner, Mike, and Craig walked into the back yard. Sean could see Jay tense up when he saw Mike. This was going to be an interesting night.

Jay waved to the group who had just entered the back yard before walking into the house. He needed a second to get his anger in check. He started pulling steaks and hamburgers out of the freezer and getting them ready for the grill.

"You okay, man?" Sean asked coming into the house.

"Yeah, I'm just hungry." Jay replied pouring some grilling sauce on the stakes to avoid looking directly at Sean.

"Just so you know I'm proud of you for walking away." Sean said patting Jay on the back.

"Gee, I love you too Cameron." Jay said sarcastically rolling his eyes at his best friend. They both laughed.

"Need some help with the food?" Sean offered.

"No, I got it. You should go socialize or what ever it is that grooms to be do." Jay said unwrapping the hamburger and shaping them into patties.

"Alright yell if you need anything." Sean replied before walking back outside to an ever growing number of guys.

A few hours later all the guys except Jay and Sean were pretty well trashed. Jay was looking through Sean's CD collection when Mike walked up to him.

"So you're the high school sweetheart?" Mike asked slurring his words slightly.

Everything inside of Jay was screaming deck the guy and the old Jay would have. The new Jay however just shook his head yes and continued looking at the CDs.

"I've heard she was a real bitch back then. I guess I owe you for softening her up for me." Mike said slapping Jay on the back.

Jay was trying hard to control the anger that was boiling up inside of him. What the hell gave this guy the right to call his Lexie a bitch? Jay looked around for Sean but didn't see him anywhere. So Jay turned around and started to walk away.

"What's your problem?" Mike shouted stopping Jay in his tracks. Jay turned around just as Spinner walked up to Mike.

"He's still in love with Alex." Spinner shot out to drunk to realize what he was saying.

Mike shot Jay a look of pure rage. It was a look Jay was all too familiar with, a look that was always on his father's face right before he'd beat Jay's mother. Jay could feel his control start to slip away. He wanted to beat this guy so bad he could almost taste it. Lucky for Jay Sean showed up.

"What's going on?" Sean asked stepping between Jay and Mike.

"Dumb ass over there thought it'd be fun to tell Mike I'm still in love with his fiancé." Jay explained pointing at Spinner.

"What?" Sean asked completely in shock that Spinner had been so stupid. Okay maybe not completely in shock it was Spinner after all.

The door bell rang and Craig went to answer it. "Looks like we're in trouble," Craig said coming back into the room followed by two women in police uniforms.

"Strippers!" Spinner yelled rushing over to where the girls had started to dance. Mike followed Spinner across the room but not before shooting Jay another angry look.

"Where were you?" Jay asked Sean once Mike had left.

"The bathroom. How was I supposed to know all hell would break loose if I took a five minute bathroom break?" Sean replied.

"This really wasn't a good idea. I'm going to head back to the hotel." Jay said pulling his truck keys out of his pocket. "Enjoy your party."

"You don't have to leave." Sean said trying to convince his friend to stay.

"If I stay, he'll be leaving in an ambulance." Jay explained. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Jay walked out of the house and climbed into his truck. He popped in his hard rock mix and turned the volume all the way up. He drove around town for a little while before heading back to the hotel.

The girls had all gathered in the lobby of the hotel before climbing into the limo that Emma had rented and hitting the town. They had a nice dinner and then headed over to Xellence for some drinking and dancing.

Alex watched her friends dance together on the dance floor. She really didn't want to be there but she hated to bail on Ellie. Alex took a sip of her Jack and Coke hoping to erase all thought of Jay from her head but it wasn't working.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asked coming off the dance floor and sitting down next to Alex.

"Yeah, but would you hate me if I just headed back to the hotel? I'm not really in the party mood and I feel like I'm just bringing everyone else down." Alex said.

"Of course not. I'm just glad you came at all." Ellie said hugging her friend. "Rest up; we have a long couple of days ahead of us."

"See you in the morning." Alex said finishing her drink and standing up.

Alex headed outside and hailed a cab. She had the driver go past Sean's house so she could see for her self that everything was okay. As they drove past Alex noticed that Jay's truck was no where around and she wondered why he wasn't there.

She then told the driver to take her back to the hotel. Once they pulled up to the hotel she paid and walked inside.

Jay walked into the hotel. As he neared the elevator he saw the door beginning to close. "Hold the elevator." He called out speeding up to catch it. As the doors slid back open Jay found him self fact to face with Alex.

Jay didn't know why but the site of her caused him to take a step back. He stood there for a moment before saying, "I'll catch the next one."

Alex couldn't stop starring at Jay as the elevator doors slid shut. He couldn't even stand to be in the same elevator with her how would he ever be able to forgive her? How could she not have known that Jay had still been in love with her? How could she not have known that she was still completely in love with him? Alex reached up and wiped away the tear that had broken loose and was running down her cheek.

Alex woke up the next morning in pain. She climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She splashed some cold water on her face before looking in the mirror. She cringed when she saw the black and blue marks that had formed on her neck over night.

Mike had come back from the party completely trashed. He'd started yelling something about ex's and love and had grabbed Alex by the neck, shoving her up against the wall. Alex had been terrified. More terrified then she'd been since she'd moved out of her mother's house years ago.

Alex tried to remember when exactly she had changed. When had she lost the tough bad ass that didn't take shit from anyone part of her self? When had she become her mother?

When Jay had left Toronto a part of Alex had gone with him but she still had her attitude. She still dished it out when ever she could. But after the miscarriage a part of her had died. She had felt so alone with out Jay, with out their baby. She had meet Mike a few weeks after that and he had eased the pain some what but the damage had already been done. Alex had changed and nothing would ever bee the same again. She didn't want to be alone and with Mike she wasn't. She now understood what her mother had meant years ago when Alex had asked why she let those men hit her and her mother had said, "Because, baby, I don't want to be alone."

Alex snapped back to reality still looking at her reflection in the mirror. How was she going to be able to cover all of them up? She didn't want to worry her friends and she really didn't want Jay to know about them.

Jay woke up to someone knocking on his door. He climbed out of bed and stumbled over to the door. He opened it to find Ellie on the other side. Jay fought the urge to shut the door in her face. Instead he stepped back and let her inside.

"We need to talk." Ellie said walking past Jay and into the room.

"Why, you want to lie to me some more?" Jay asked sarcastically shutting the door and following Ellie into the room.

Ellie looked up at Jay with sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry that I lied to you and I'm really sorry that I kept things from you, but Alex is my friend."

"That doesn't make it okay, El. We're supposed to be friends too." Jay replied.

"I know that and I know that what I did was wrong but she was hurting so bad Jay. Her whole life was crumbling down around her. I know what it's like to feel like you've lost everything. I just wanted to be there for her." Ellie said trying to explain.

"I should have been there for her!" Jay replied.

Ellie hated to see Jay so upset. She hated the thought of him and Alex not ending up together. "So be there for her now. She's hurting just as bad as you are." She continued.

"She's had five years to deal with this, Ellie. I haven't even had five days." Jay said looking into Ellie's eyes.

"It doesn't mean she's hurting any less." Ellie said pausing briefly so that her words could sink in. "At least think about what I've said."

Jay just shook his head yes as he pulled Ellie into a hug. They walked to the door together and Jay held it open for Ellie.

"Don't throw away your chance at happiness." Ellie said handing Jay a gift bag before heading down the hall away from him.

Jay shut the door behind Ellie. He carried the bag back to the bed and pulled out a 5x7 picture frame. He turned it over to find a picture of him and Alex from dinner the other night. He sat down on the edge of the bed starring at the picture. Was he still in love with her? He wasn't sure he could forgive her and he wasn't sure he could forgive himself if he didn't.

Jay stood in the front of the church trying to keep his eyes off of Alex. Rehearsal was getting ready to start they were just waiting for the preacher to show up. At this time tomorrow Ellie and Sean would be happily married and Jay would be preparing for his trip back to Montreal.

"It's never good when the preacher's late." Jay said jokingly to Sean as he sat down on the edge of the stage.

"That's not funny, man." Sean said nervously.

"You having a heart attack the day before the wedding is not funny." Jay said. "Would you relax?"

Just then the preacher walked in and Jay could hear Sean let out the breath he had been holding. Jay shook his head; he'd never seen Sean so uptight.

After the rehearsal they all meet up at a small restaurant for dinner. Jay hated being at the same table with Mike. He thought about dismissing himself and heading back to the hotel but the barely visible bruises on Lexie's neck kept him sticking around. He didn't want to be worried about her but he wasn't so sure the new Alex would be able to stand up for her self.

After dinner Mike and Alex disappeared and Jay figured they had headed back to the hotel so he told Sean he was tired and would see him tomorrow before heading out of the restaurant. He spotted Mike and Alex in the parking lot. Mike had Alex pushed up against a black Ford Expedition that Jay assumed was Mike's. Jay walked closer staying out of view until he saw Mike's hand fly back as if her were going to hit Alex. Jay sped up and grabbed Mike's arm as he started to come down hard aimed at Alex's face.

"I don't think so." Jay growled as he stepped in between Alex and Mike.

"Mind your own fucking business. You're not her boyfriend anymore." Mike growled back.

"No but I am her friend and if I ever even think you're hurting her again I'll kill you." Jay threatened as he let go of Mike's arm.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are but if you think you can take me let's go." Mike said stepping back and looking Jay up and down. "Personally I think you're a pussy."

"Go inside." Jay said to Alex as he stepped closer to Mike.

Alex rushed back inside to find Ellie and Sean and hopefully stop the fight.

"Look, man, I don't want to fight you." Jay said once Alex was safely inside the restaurant.

"That's what I though, you're a pussy." Mike said. "I guess it's a good thing I'm not."

Mike slammed Jay back against the SUV before punching him in the stomach. Jay fought back as people began to come out of the restaurant to see what was going on. A short time later the cops had arrived.

"I want this man arrested for assault." Mike yelled at one of the officers.

The officer proceeded to handcuff Jay and put him in the back of a police car. Another officer was asking for anyone who had seen anything but no one had.

"Care to tell us your side of the story?" One of the officers asked Jay.

Jay just shook his head no as he caught sight of Alex from the corner of his eye.

"Suite yourself." The officer said shutting the police car door on Jay.

Alex watched in shock and horror as the police car pulled away with Jay in the back seat. She looked back at Mike who was giving a statement to another police officer. She felt the anger rising up inside of her. Maybe the old Alex wasn't as dead as she'd thought.

"What the hell did you do?" Alex asked walking up to Mike after all the police officers were gone.

"What I had to." Mike yelled back grabbing a hold of Alex's arm a little too tightly.

Sean started to step forward but Ellie stopped him. "She needs to do this her self, Sean." She said.

"Take your hand off of me." Alex said as the fight in her started to come back.

"Or what?" Mike dared.

"Or I'll tell the police exactly how I got these bruises on my neck and ribs." Alex threatened.

Mike loosened his grip but didn't let go. Alex jerked her arm out of Mike's hand before saying, "Pack your shit and get out of my hotel room. We're done!"

Alex walked back to where Ellie and Sean were standing. Ellie hugged Alex tight then put her arm around Alex's shoulder as they walked to Sean's car. They drove in silence to the police station.

Once they reached to station they were told that Jay wasn't going to be released until the next morning. Alex tried to explain what had happened but because she hadn't seen who had thrown the first punch there was nothing they could do. Ellie tried to talk Alex into staying the night with her and Sean but Alex refused.

Back at the hotel Alex walked up to the front desk and requested another room. She was signing for it when Emma walked up to her.

"How's Jay?" Emma asked.

"I don't know. They won't release him until morning." Alex replied exhaustion setting in.

"First thing in the morning we'll go get him out." Emma offered putting an arm around Alex's shoulder.

Alex shook her head yes and walked with Emma to the elevator. She mad her way to her new room and was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

The next morning Alex had Sean, Spinner, and Craig walk her to her old hotel room to get her stuff. Luckily Mike wasn't there. After she showered and dressed she and Emma drove to the police station to pick up Jay.

"Can I help you ladies?" The police officer behind the desk asked.

"We're here to pick up our best man." Emma replied. "Our friend is getting married in less then an hour and you have the best man behind bars."

"Name?" The officer asked.

"Jason Hogart." Alex replied.

"One moment." The officer replied.

A few seconds later Jay was brought out and the three left in a hurry to get to the church.

"Sean's got your tux with him in the Men's dressing room. Go get ready we'll see you out there." Emma said once they got to the church. She gently pushed him towards the Men's dressing area before turning around, grabbing Alex's hand, and pulling her towards the woman's dressing area.

Jay stood in front of the church watching Alex walk down the aisle. She was beautiful in her long, dark blue, bridesmaids' dress that was hugging her in all the right places. Her black hair was down around her shoulders covering the bruises Jay had seen last night. His heart raced like he was seeing her for the first time and despite everything they'd been through he knew he still loved her.