Here goes Chapter 3 - we get a glimpse into the past...

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Alex and Jay had made their way to his black GMC Sierra truck still parked on the street in front of her family's apartment. Jay's hands rested on the steering wheel as he sat in silence, clearly lost in his own thoughts. Alex's heart pounded as she nervously rubbed her hands on her jeans as she waited to see if he was going to change his mind and send her back inside.

Much to her relief, the engine roared to life, and the vehicle pulled out onto the road. Jay was committed to his decision. He had to be—there was no other option. His mother's words echoed in all the corners of his mind, reassuring him that he was doing the right thing. It was her voice that he could no longer ignore. Not after what he saw in that apartment tonight. Jay Halstead was a man of his word after all.

Claire Halstead was in hospice care as she neared the end of her days with the cancer fully spreading across her body. She'd requested to be at home, so she could be as close to her family as she possibly could with the time she had left. Alex was twelve, and it was a struggle to get her to leave the house every morning for school, because she only wanted to be by her mother's side. It wasn't that Claire didn't want her daughter there every second, but she often found herself resting as her body continued to give in to the cancer that was drowning her. She used that time during the day to gather all the strength she could, so she could be awake when Alex walked through that door to tell her about her day.

However, today was extra special, because Pat was out running some errands, and Claire had the full attention of her twenty-two-year-old middle child, Jay. He'd recently been medically discharged from the Rangers, and she was so proud of what he had accomplished and elated to have him home these past few weeks. She was thankful to be alone with Jay for a brief while, because there had been something on her mind, and she knew that it wouldn't be long before her body surrendered to its invader.

She lightly tapped her hand on top of the sheets beside her on the bed. "Jay, come here," she called gingerly with a raspy voice from dehydration.

Jay immediately appeared at her side, trying to anticipate what she might need, so he could get it right away. "What is it, Mom?" he asked with concern.

"Don't worry," she replied with a grin. "I just want to talk." Jay's shoulders relaxed. "I need you to do something for me, though." She paused for a moment. "For when I'm gone."

Those words lingered heavily in the air for a few moments as his chest tightened with anguish. He didn't like talking about the after part of all of this. He was perfectly content stashing those thoughts deep in the vault with all his war horror stories. He affectionately clasped her hand between his own. "Let's not worry about that," he replied.

Claire shook her head, her determination never subsiding. "Jay, I need you to listen." There were pleading undertones to her words that captured Jay's immediate attention, not letting him protest further. This was clearly something his mom needed to say, and he wasn't about to cause her any more suffering by trying to prevent her from saying it—whatever it may be.

Claire took a deep breath, coughing a little afterward. Once she had regained composure, her tear-filled eyes looked directly into Jay's, trying to connect deeply with her son. "I need you to promise me…promise me that you're going to look after Alex." What little hydration she had left in her body had escaped in the form of multiple tears streaking down her cheeks. "Promise me that you'll protect her." Her bottom lip quivered as she knew that she wouldn't be here to do this herself. She wouldn't be here to watch her daughter grow into a beautiful, and no doubt stubborn, teenager. She was going to miss all the moments she had once taken for granted. Her body and modern medicine hadn't been strong enough to beat away the trespasser that consumed her.

Her teary eyes searched Jay's for an answer, for a recognition of the promise. Jay bit the inside of his cheek to fight back the tears—seeing one's mom in pain was enough to bring any strong man to his knees, but the army had taught him a lot about remaining stoic, especially in intense moments. And he knew he had to be strong for his mom, for his family. He squeezed her hand tenderly. "I promise, Mom. I'll be here for her."

Claire leaned over and wrapped her arms around Jay as she rested her full weight against him, her strength constantly fleeting. She let herself openly cry on his shoulder as all her fears consumed her mind, going to any and all worst-case scenarios. Through the tears, she whispered, "You don't let anyone hurt her, Jay. No one."

Jay gripped the steering wheel as he pushed the memory out of his mind. He had a promise to keep and a duty to his sister, so it was an onward march from here.

Walking into the studio apartment, Alex noticed that not much had changed since the last time she had been here over a year and a half ago for a family Christmas with her dad and brothers.

"I see you still haven't gotten a door for your bedroom," she joked, trying to ease some of the tension she felt clinging to the air.

Jay chuckled as he dropped her bags along the wall in the bedroom. "You get what you pay for," he quipped.

His apartment was very basic: a small closet was located near the entrance and a kitchen with a narrow island that had two stools resting underneath. There was a small four-person dining table near the window that overlooked the street below from their spot on the 17th floor. The kitchen and dining room openly flowed into the living room where he had a couch, coffee table, recliner, and large TV mounted on the wall that separated the living room from his bedroom. To enter the bedroom, there were openings on either end of the wall that led you in. The room boasted a queen-size bed, two dressers, and a closet along the wall. The bathroom was off the living room and wasn't anything special. There was little decoration and the whole place seemed to have a bland color pallet of deep orange, tan, brown, and white. All-in-all, it was the perfect bachelor pad for someone in Chicago.

"You can take the bed, and I'll be on the couch," he motioned to each location. He suddenly realized that a bachelor pad studio apartment wasn't going to be the best place for both of them to live—he needed privacy as much as she probably did. He tried to keep his reactions in check, not wanting to freak her out as his to-do list was starting to grow exponentially with the spur of the moment decision.

Jay headed into the kitchen and grabbed two glasses from a top cabinet. "Want some water? Are you hungry? I can order us a pizza since I left all the takeout there." He wasn't sure why, but he was starting to feel both nervous and anxious as reality was very slowly starting to settle in now that the adrenaline had worn off. He didn't know the first thing about caring for a teenager, her daily routine, or what she truly liked to eat outside of the fast food he'd occasionally bring her. It was almost like a stark reminder of how uninvolved he'd been in her life during his deployments and after their mother passed away.

Alex met him over by the counter. "Water's fine, but I'm not really hungry." After everything that had happened in the last hour, she couldn't fathom stomaching anything. She pulled out a stool and went to sit down on it, but immediately hissed in pain and stood back up. Her face burned hot with embarrassment as she stared at the glass of water he'd put in front of her.

Obviously, that didn't go unnoticed by Jay, but he didn't want to make her feel worse, so he chose not to make a comment. Truth be told, he was dying to know what had actually happened in the moments prior to his arrival—what had prompted this intense outburst. He was well aware that his dad had a temper that had seemed to worsen after their mom's death coupled with the ever-increasing alcohol consumption driven by years of unresolved grief. And their dad wasn't a stranger to corporal punishment with his kids, but Jay could only remember one occasion when Pat had brought down the belt on him—when he'd gotten into a fight at school, even though he hadn't started it. But judging from Alex's reaction when they spoke in her room and how their dad changed after their mom's death, he knew that this instance had been much more intense than his own experience.

He reminded himself that there would be a time and a place to find out more details, but it wasn't going to be tonight. So, he tried to stow away his detective desire to find all the information and instead focus on more practical matters.

Leaning up against the counter on the other side of the island, he asked, "So tell me what your day will be like tomorrow. When do we need to leave for school? I can drop you off there before I go to work."

Eternally grateful that he wasn't talking about what had just happened, Alex looked up. "'We' leave for school? In case you forgot, I'm sixteen. I'll just grab the L around 7 tomorrow, and I'll be fine," she replied, referencing the Chicago train. "It won't be too far from here." She didn't need a personal escort to get to freaking school.

"How about I go with you for tomorrow?" he asked, trying hard to not sound demanding or authoritative.

"Jay, I take the L by myself every day to get to school. Just like you did, just like Will did. Tomorrow won't be any different." At sixteen, a need for independence was running strong.

He couldn't argue with her logic—he knew that she took the train every day to get to the same private Catholic high school that he and his brother had attended. However, something felt different about letting her leave his house alone to do it. It was the sudden weight of responsibility for her that was starting to crash down on him. "I should probably go with you tomorrow, so we can update some of the contact info they have on file, you know?" he tried a different approach to reasoning.

Alex's brow furrowed at the comment, completely taken off guard. Updating contact information? This was a lot more serious than she had been anticipating…not that she was complaining, but she had fully intended on Jay "working things out" with their father and sending her back by the end of the month. "So, this will be more than a week or two?"

His face was wholeheartedly serious. "Yes, I meant what I said about you coming to live here. Not just stay over a few nights."

Her mind raced with contradicting thoughts as she tried to process what was actually happening, which was near impossible for a teenager to do this quickly. The only response she could form was "Oh."