A new story!? Whaaat!

I've been playing with this story and this dynamics for a while thanks to tumblr user, juiceortiz (check out her tumblr, its freakin' awesome), who sparked the idea and kept encouraging me to write it. Essentially, its about Juice and Angela (my OC from my other stories) in a totally different setting. A lot of it has already been posted on Wattpad, so if you're following it over there, this is much the same with some little edits here and there

You don't need to read Hands All Over, Overexposed, or It Won't be Soon Before Long to understand what's going on as it is totally separate, just with the same OC who has the same history.

This is set way before Sons of Anarchy when Juice was still living in New York in the early late 90s, early 2000s (which is why they aren't cell phones at the beginning...).

I'm warning you, this one's a slow, slow burn...

I don't own anything except my original characters and this storyline...

She Will Be Loved

Prologue: Central Park

by Love Ink

Juice was strolling through the infamous Central Park. He wasn't a big fan of the tourist attraction, but he'd had to drop off a money bag for the Ozone crew, a sector of the local mob in Queens, and his bosses had picked the popular park for the drop off spot. The drop had been easy enough leaving him to wander around the park at his own pace...until this asshole almost knocked him over. The guy sprinted by him, carrying a woman's purse.

A girl was chasing after the man, her boots loud and clunky as they slammed against the pavement. She wasn't dressed for running which meant it was probably her bag the guy was carrying. Without thinking, he sprung into action, chasing after the guy himself, knowing he might be able to catch him a little faster with the lead he had on her. He caught up to the guy, pouncing on him and knocking him down onto the grass.

He got up, grabbing the robber by the front of his shirt and hauling him to his feet. Before Juice could say anything, a fist whizzed by his face, hitting the asshole square in the jaw and sending him back to the ground again. "That's for taking my fucking purse, asshole," she seethed, kicking him in the side with her boot before pressing it to his chest to hold him there. "You are so fuckin' lucky I left my gun at home."

Juice couldn't help but gape at the girl. She was absolutely beautiful dressed in her ripped overalls with the black crop top tank underneath. Her tan skin was glistening with sweat, hair a mess and falling out of its low braid. He stared at her full lips for a moment before remembering something. Grabbing his own gun from the back of his pants, he stuck it in the guy's face. "I didn't," he said, trying to sound as tough as he could. "I catch you doin' shit like this again, and you'll have Gianone and the Ozone Crew on your ass, you understand me?"

The guy's eyes widened in fear as he nodded. The girl slowly let him up, smirking as the guy sprinted away, leaving her purse on the ground. She picked it up and swung it over her shoulder before nodding to the gun. "You can put that bad boy away now, 'fore someone sees you and reports a man with a gun," she said, a look of amusement in her dark eyes. "Thanks for that, by the way. You saved a damsel in distress."

"Oh yeah, no problem," Juice stated, cursing himself for not being more suave. He tucked his gun back into the waistband of his pants. "Wouldn't call you a damsel in distress, though. Never saw Princess Peach deck Bowzer like that."

She quirked her head to the side as if she was surprised he didn't take credit for it. "No, she definitely did not. Always thought she was kinda useless," she said, giving him a pretty smile that made his heart sputter in his chest. "I'm Angela, by the way. Angela Ruiz."

"Nice to meet you, Angel," he replied, wondering if she'd correct his nickname. He shook her outstretched hand, giving her the biggest smile he could. "Juice Ortiz."

"Juice? Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He nodded, shrugging a shoulder. He knew how dumb his nickname sounded, but he didn't really care. "Really, really."

"Well, Juice, can I buy you a drink to properly thank you?"

Juice grinned at her again, a little excited at the idea of spending more time with the pretty girl. "Sure. You got a place in mind?"

Her cheeks turned a little red as she shrugged a shoulder. "Oh. I'm actually...new here. This is my first week in New York, so I kinda don't know places unless I've seen them on TV or in the movies."

"That why you thought it'd be a good idea to walk through Central Park alone at night?"

"Twilight. Not night. Its not that dark out. I watched the sunset and it was beautiful and I lost track of time and was wandering around trying to find Strawberry Fields and then..."

He chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "You got lost."

"Yeah. Really, really lost," she admitted on a laugh. "I've been here since lunchtime. This park is big. Doesn't look that big in the movies, but damn."

Juice laughed, starting to walk in the direction of the closest bar. "I know. Tourists get lost out here all the time," he said, shoving his hands in pockets. "Where you from?"

"California. Oakland, to be exact," she replied, a hint of pride in her voice when she said the city's name.

"Wow. So you're a long way from home. Work, school, or fun?"

"School."

"Yeah? Where you livin'?"

"Brooklyn. My cousin's got friends over there, so they're letting me stay at their place," she answered, hands in her pockets. "You?"

Juice shrugged a shoulder. "Lived in Queens my whole life."

Angela smiled a little, her dark eyes lighting up. "Cool. That's where my school is, actually. You'll have to show me around some time."

"Oh, for sure," he answered, opening the bar door for her. "I'll show you all the good spots."

It was still relatively early, so there weren't many people there. He went for the two lonely stools at the end of the bar, pulling out hers and waiting for her to sit before doing so himself. She looked surprised by the gesture for a moment before she smiled a little at him. "I'll have tequila on ice, and he'll have..."

"The same," he answered, a little impressed by her drink of choice. "So what's in that purse of yours that was worth taking down some douche bag for?"

She smirked a little and shrugged. "Nothin' exciting. Some makeup, a water bottle, some cash. My keys and credit cards and ID are all in my pockets. Was more the principle of it than anythin'. I don't like people taking my shit."

He chuckled at her gall, shaking his head at her. "You're something else, Angel. Ready to die for some lipstick. You're a regular badass."

She grinned at him, an air of pride about her. "Thank you," she said, clinking her glass against his. "So tell me about this Ozone Crew?"

"Oh we're a bunch of guys that are really concerned about the environment. Gotta protect that Ozone, y' know?" he joked, loving the laugh that escaped her lips as she listened to him.

"Goof!" she exclaimed, smacking his arm. "So I'm guessin' it's not somethin' you can talk about."

Juice found he loved her laugh, loved that she called him a goof instead of an 'idiot'. He shook his head quickly. "Nah. Not with someone I just met."

"Fair enough," she said on a laugh. "So tell me something interesting about yourself, then."

He didn't know what to say, so he just started rambling about nothing, and she listened. Listened and added her own comments, laughing and joking like they'd known each other forever. She was funny and smart as hell, not to mention beautiful. He liked her. A lot.

"Hey, you two lovebirds," the bartender said, nodding towards them as he wiped down the bar. "Last call for alcohol. I'm closin' up shop."

Angela's eyebrows shot up in shock as she looked over her shoulder at the clock. "Oh shit," she said around a laugh. "Guess time flies when you're having fun."

"Can I uh...go home with you?" he asked, cringing at his own question. She raised an eyebrow at his awkward choice of words, and he immediately tried to correct it. "I mean, can I go with you to make sure you get home okay? Just in case you get..."

"Mugged?"

Juice smirked a bit, shaking his head. "Nah, I know you can handle yourself. I was gonna say 'lost'. The train can be kinda confusin' if you don't know where you're goin'."

"I think I got the train thing down but thanks for the offer," she said, patting his arm gently.

"Can I at least get your number? Or I'll give you mine 'n' you can call and let me know you got home okay, so I don't worry."

She smiled at him before digging through her purse and pulling out a pen. Grabbing a cocktail napkin, she scrawled a quick note on it and handed it to him before grabbing another napkin. "Now, you write yours, so I can call you."

He smirked and wrote his number, sliding it over to her. "You got someone to go home to?"

"Kinda?" she said, quirking her head to the side. "Been on a couple dates with my landlord's son, so he's in the building, but not in my apartment...below it, actually."

Juice felt a little deflated. He'd been looking forward to taking Angela out on a date, showing her around the city. "Oh. Shit," he said, opening the door for her and allowing her to go out before him.

She looked down at her feet, frowning a bit. "You're not gonna call me are ya?" she asked, shaking her head. "You one of those 'guys and girls can't be friends' kind of guys?"

He scowled at her, shaking his head. It wasn't a total lie; he'd never even considered having a girl as a friend. Girls had rarely paid any attention to him growing up, and now, the only ones he spoke to were the strippers at the strip bar his boss owned and whatever girl he met while out at the clubs with his boys. Angela was the first girl he'd encountered that wasn't drunk off her ass or trying too hard to flirt with him. She was the first one who he'd been able to talk to as a friend. He liked that. Plus, who knew how long the guy she was with would stick around. "No, no, 'course not. Promised I'd show you around Queens, didn't I?"

"You did, but I'd understand if you didn't want to."

"C'mon, Angel. Have a little more faith in me. I liked hangin' out with you. We can be friends," he said as they walked down the stairs to the train station. "Maybe you can set me up with one of your hot friends or somethin'."

She laughed, rolling her eyes at him as her train rolled in. "Maybe," she said, shifting her bag on her shoulder. "Well, it was nice to meet you. Thanks for everythin'."

"Yeah, no problem. Happy to help," he said, trying to prolong their goodbye. He wasn't ready to let her go just yet. "Call me when you get home, all right?"

She nodded. "Will do. Hope to see you soon," she stated, patting his arm before taking a step onto the train.

"You will, Angel!" he called after her, feeling his heart skip a beat at the way she smiled in response. She gave him the smallest wave, and just like that, she was gone. He let out a long sigh, smiling to himself as he pulled out the neatly folded napkin in his pocket and looked at the numbers scrawled across it. He had a feeling this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

It was a month before Juice saw Angela again. He hadn't called her that night. Not because he didn't want to, but because he thought she hadn't called him like she'd said she would. He figured since she didn't call, she didn't want to see him again. He could take a hint; he knew better than to pursue someone who didn't want him. So he let her be and decided to let her go, though her smile still stuck with him. He just couldn't get over her. Why hadn't she called?

Then his dumbass roommate, Prulow, decided to mention "some chick" had called for him. He'd given him the message about three weeks later, and Juice had almost killed him for that. How could he call her back after three weeks? She probably thought he was just another asshole who couldn't be friends with a girl. He figured it wasn't meant to be...until he went to get a cup of coffee from his favorite bodega, and there she was, paying for a coffee, a backpack slung over one shoulder. She was wearing a backwards A's baseball cap, big hoop earrings dangling from her ears with a simple black wife beater, jeans, and green Converse high-tops. He could hear the owner of the bodega giving her shit for the team on her hat, and she was joking right back, beaming away at the shop-owner. For a moment, Juice felt like he couldn't breathe.

Then she turned, her eyes falling on him. Her smile lessened a bit, though she didn't turn and run like he thought she might. "Hey," she greeted, her expression guarded.

"Angel! Hey! What's up?" he replied, trying not to smile so wide as to creep her out. "What're you doing over here?"

"Getting some coffee before class," she explained as if it was obvious, nodding to the cup in her hand.

Juice nodded slowly. "Right. 'cause you go to school here. How are you? How you been?"

She looked confused for a moment, like she didn't understand why he was being so nice to her. "Good, good. You?"

"Good. I've been...fine just busy," he said, scratching at the back of his neck. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't call ya. My shitty roommate didn't give me the message 'til like yesterday 'n' I thought it was too late after that. Didn't want to bother you."

Angela smiled a little, ducking her head and shrugging a shoulder. "It's all good. I just thought you didn't want to be friends or whatever."

"No! No, definitely not. I promised you a tour of the city, didn't I?" he said, grabbing the cup of coffee the store owner gave him. "Thanks, Sammy."

"No problem, Juicy. You tell Giannone how I took care a ya," Sam said, giving him a wink.

He nodded, lifting his cup as if to cheers him with a smile. "Anyways, I promised you a tour, so that's what we're gonna do."

Angela hesitated for a moment, playing with the strap of her backpack. "I gotta go to class first," she said on a small frown. "I could skip, but my family's sacrificin' a lot for me to go to school out here so..."

"So I'll go with you," he said on a shrug. "What's on the schedule for today?"

"Umm Intro to Psych and a Chemistry lecture," she answered, looking at him like he was crazy as they walked towards the campus. "Which are...crazy boring. I can just meet you somewhere after."

Juice shook his head; no, he wasn't going to chance that. If something happened in between, he might never see her again. "Its cool. I'll go. See what college is like. I'll take notes for you or something."

"All right, goofy, if you insist," she said around a laugh. "C'mon, let's go so we can get a good seat in the back of the class."

Angela didn't understand what would possess a guy she'd met only once before to go with her to two of her most boring classes, but Juice did. He sat there beside her without complaining once, seemingly even interested in what the professor was saying. Every so often, he would lean over and doodle on the edge of her notebook or whisper a question about something. He was handsome as hell. His hair cropped short to his head, his skin a warm shade of caramel, and his smile. God, his smile practically knocked her off her feet the first time she'd seen it. He was actually paying attention, his nose scrunched up, eyebrows pulled down in concentration as he leaned forward in his seat. She stifled a giggle behind her hand, reaching out her pen and running the side of it down the bridge of his nose. He turned to look at her, eyes wide. "What?" he whispered, confused as he leaned in closer, the smell of his cologne filling her nose. He even smelled good.

You're cute, she thought but didn't say. She didn't want him to think she was flirting with him especially since she officially had a boyfriend now. Raj the future lawyer. Son to her landlord, resident of the apartment below hers. When she'd first met Juice, she and Raj had only gone on one date, though she'd lied initially and made it seem like they were together to make it easier to make a run for it should Juice turn out to be a weirdo. He hadn't been though. And meeting Juice had put a wrench in her budding relationship with Raj. She had to admit, she'd been a little smitten with the kid from Queens after their first meeting, but when he didn't call her back, she'd given up and moved on. Raj was sweet, handsome, and smart. He was a good guy, and she liked him a lot. Still, seeing Juice now and spending time with him, made her wish she'd waited just a little longer before diving into her relationship with Raj. "Nothin'. You just look so serious."

"Sshhh," he said, putting his finger to his lips. " 'm tryin' to learn here. Quit distractin' me."

She laughed, sticking her tongue out at him. "Nerd," she murmured. He stuck his tongue out back, which only made her laugh harder. He turned back to watch the lecture, and while she knew she should be paying attention, all she could do was watch him. With Juice there, the two classes which usually seemed to drag on forever, flew by. Before she knew it, class was over and they were heading out of the lecture hall together.

"So where to?" she asked, holding on to the straps of her backpack. "Times Square? Empire State? The Met?"

He shook his head on a chuckle. "You hungry? Can take you on an awesome food tour if you're game."

"Oh, I'm game," she said with a big grin. "Where do we start?"

He took her around the city, teaching her the train system along the way and showing her the tricks and tips he knew from growing up there. She laughed more that day than she had in years. Being with Juice was easy and fun. He was kind and sweet to her and to those around him. But there was a darkness about him she'd caught right from the start when he'd pulled out a gun and threatened the mugger with it on the day they'd met. A darkness she was used to because she'd grown up surrounded by men who carried it as well. Juice might not be in a motorcycle club like her cousin, Happy, and her ex, Esai, but he certainly was no angel, that she was sure of. As much as she liked him, her ex had put her through the ringer. Being the son of the president of the Mayans MC, Esai Alvarez had used his patch as an excuse to cheat on her. He'd demeaned her and even gone so far as to hit her more than once. When her cousin finally pulled her out of Oakland and helped get her into a mortuary school in New York, she'd promised herself she would never date someone like Esai again.

Raj was nothing like Esai. He was smart as hell and crazy focused on his studies. And he was sweet and caring and treated her like his equal. There was no darkness about him and while at times she found that immensely boring, he made her feel safe and cared for. She didn't want to give that up to test the waters with Juice, no matter how that smile of his made her feel. That being said, she wasn't ready to lose him just yet either. If Juice was willing to be her friend, she was going to hold on to that for as long as she could especially since she didn't know many people in New York. As long as Juice didn't pull her into his dangerous illegal shit, Angela had a feeling she'd just found herself a new best friend.

Like I said, this is going to be quiet a different journey for these two. Next chapter will be a bit of a time jump and you'll find out how exactly Juice got to Charming.

Let me know what you think and if you'd be interested in reading more!

I know the cover sucks, but that's about the extent of my photo editing skills, so my apologies!
The title is taken from the Maroon 5 song with the same name. Figured I'd stick with the theme.
I love them and I love this song.

Hope you're all staying healthy out there!

~Love Ink