Juice

"Hey, baby," I murmured into the phone. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. How are you? What's going on in there? I've been talking to Gemma about you guys getting out."

"I know. I'm okay. Things are kind of hard in here right now. We're trying to get protection from Laroy's boys on the inside. Other than that we're just avoiding the AB. Let's not talk about that though. I'm so sorry, Laura."

She paused on the other end of the phone and took a deep, shaky breath. "You don't have to apologize, Juan Carlos Ortiz. I knew what came with this life when I started dating you. I'm not going to leave you just because of a little jail sentence."

"Baby, it might not be little."

"Doesn't matter. If that happens, we'll be like Otto and Luann. I'll be waiting forever for you."

"Laura, I can't ask you for that."

"Yes, you can. I will always be here for you, Juice. No matter what," she promised. A tear escaped from my eye.

"Baby, I can't make you promise me that. You don't have to stay with me forever. I can't hold you back."

"It's not holding me back, Juice. In fact, I'll start looking for stuff for our house. Then, when you call I'll tell you all about it. I'll describe it so well that you'll think you're seeing it for yourself. And, if you're still in when I'm on Spring Break, I'll come see you in prison and you can brag about how committed your old lady is."

I grinned. She was so passionate about it all. I informed her, "I'll be bragging about how hot my old lady is and how much of a wildcat in bed she is."

She laughed and ordered, "And, of course, you'll be writing me because anything you can't say over the phone can nice and neatly be written in our own little language in a letter."

"And you can write me naughty little things that I know you won't say over the phone and that I won't reply to over the phone because I have more respect for my girl than that."

She giggled again and I heard her sniffle. She'd been silently crying the whole time I was talking to her and the knowledge of that killed me. I murmured, "You know, I should have never dragged you into this lifestyle, Laura. I should have never pulled you into this."

"No, Juan Carlos Ortiz," she snapped. "Don't say that. You didn't drag me into anything. I knew what I was agreeing to when I let you take me out on a date. I knew perfectly well what I was doing and I was okay with it. Just like I'm okay with it now. I still love you. I will always love you. I love my life."

"You're too good for me, Laura Moon. You're way too good for me."

"No. I'm just good enough for you. We're perfect for each other. You're my big bad biker boy and I'm your smart, sexy sweetheart."

I chuckled. I only had five more minutes on the phone. I sighed, "I'll talk to you next week, baby. We're talking to Laroy's boy tomorrow about getting protection. Hopefully, the next time I call you, it'll be to tell you that we have full protection and that we're getting out soon."

"I love you, Juan Carlos Ortiz."

"I love you too, Laura Moon Mase, will be Ortiz."

I hated the soft click sound the phone made as she hung up on the other end of the line.

Laura

I was having trouble focusing in class. I just felt sick to my stomach. I knew something bad was going to happen but I didn't know what. I'd messed up the molar conversion for the potassium chloride three times and I could tell my lab partner was getting aggravated but I couldn't care enough to apologize to her. Molar conversions were easy. I never had trouble with molar conversions. I was fidgety and anxious. I'd talked to Gemma the day before and she told me that they were going to be able to post bail. But I couldn't help but feel sick.

"We'll finish this formula tomorrow," my professor announced to the class. I began gathering my things up quickly, shoving them into my bag and yanking my jacket on quickly. It was frigid for February. It made me miss California weather. I never would have needed a thick coat in Cali. The longer I was in Kentucky, the more homesick I was becoming. I knew it, Kate knew it, Beck and Kevin knew it too.

I missed SAMCRO. I missed riding on the back of a bike with the wind whipping around me and my arms wrapped tight around Juice. I missed the smell of worn leather, barely there cologne, and musky grease. I missed being chased around the clubhouse with Juice right on my heels, screeching as his arms closed around my waist and he yanked me up in the air. I missed dinners with Gemma, cooking in the stuffy kitchen and serving my guy beer in between kisses. I missed Opie, Ellie, and Kenny. I loved the college experience. I just didn't know if I loved it more than I loved my home and my place in the club.

I was on the sidewalk on the way to my dorm, glad I didn't have work, when Kate dropped into place beside me. She said cheerily, "You've got that look again."

"What look, Kate?" I sighed.

"The look you get when you're thinking about leaving this place far behind and just going home," she said matter-of-factly.

"That's a look, huh?"

"Yep. What's going on?"

"Just having a weird day," I answered. It had gotten a lot easier to put up with Kate. She'd been so excited when she saw my wedding ring and demanded that she be allowed to be involved in the wedding. I promised her that she could be.

"Does it have anything to do with Juice being in jail?"

I rolled my eyes. I hadn't told Kate for a reason. I just couldn't bring myself to tell her and have her ask a billion questions about the club. But Kate found everything out, whether I told her or not. Her research skills rivaled that of the best private investigator. I questioned, "Are you going to tell me how you found out?"

"Any arrests are available on the internet due to the public having access to all federal information. Hypothetically, of course," she listed off easily.

"Yes. My mood does have to do with Juice being in jail. But I'm also feeling really homesick today."

"Do you think you're going to return next semester?" She sounded worried.

"I don't know right now. I want to. I'm hoping to. It just depends on what's going on. If Juice is still in jail, I'll probably come back next semester. There will be no use going back home if he's in jail. If he's not in jail, I don't know. It'll depend on how I'm feeling around that time."

"Oh. Why do you miss it so much? I understand missing Juice but the rest of it seems like something you wouldn't really miss. They're bikers who randomly sleep with women, party, and go to jail."

"No, they are not just any of that. They're my family."

"Well don't you have a real family?"

"That's not really a question for right now, Kate. It's a long story that I don't have time for at the moment."

"Well we should have story telling time tonight. You and me and Beck and Kevin. We can all meet up in your room and talk about our lives. It can be how we bond. It'll be awesome!"

I rolled my eyes but agreed, "Alright, we can do it."

"And we can order Chinese?" she added excitedly.

"Yeah, we can order Chinese," I agreed.

**A/N A very Laura-centric chapter will be coming up next. And how she'll react to him being stabbed will be soon.**