Disclaimer – I own none of the characters except Vanessa. The rest are trademarked to World Wrestling Entertainment.

She woke up with a start. Already she began to feel the blood trickling from her bottom lip, so she quietly tiptoes to the bathroom.

'He must be asleep now,' she reassured herself. He couldn't still be awake or else he would have pounced by now. Sure, she may have been used to his violent rages but that didn't make them any easier to bear. He was a beast; he had no respect for her. All she was to him was a punch bag and a sex toy. Nothing more. He couldn't help it; she knew he meant well at heart, it's just that when he was drunk, he changed into a completely different person. When he was sober, he could be the most loving, caring man on earth. Unfortunately, those times were few and far in between. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she accidentally knocked over a bottle of pills. She silently prayed to herself that he hadn't heard.

"Vanessa…." his sleepy voice called. She quickly splashed her face with cold water and used a towel to dab at her lip. Now he was awake, he would want sex and she certainly didn't want to disobey him. She bit her lip, holding back unshed tears and opened the door to find him undressed, watching her with hungry eyes. Slowly she walked towards him, while pulling her pyjama top off.

"I'm here for you now," she whispered into his ear, her hands wandering through his blonde mane.

§

"Vanessa! Get up!" He gently shook her awake. She slowly lifted her head up to find him standing directly over her, "Come on, let's go!"

"I still don't understand why I even have to go. It's not like you need me there."

"Just get up and have a shower. We have to be in the arena in an hour."

"What are you going to do if I'm late? Hit me again?" Until this point, he had been running around frantically trying to get ready, but when she said that, it was almost as if time had frozen still. Noticing the increasing awkwardness, she left him standing there to go and have a shower. A little while later, when they were both ready, they entered the car. He was about to put the key in the ignition when he suddenly stopped and turned to face her.

"You do know that I love you Vanessa?" She continued to stare out of the window, not even acknowledging what he said, so he carried on. "I know that I've been terrible to you and you do not deserve any of the shit I've been giving you. So for that, I'm sorry." He carefully turned her head so she was staring directly into his green eyes. "I love you Vanessa Milan."

She softly smiled at him and stroked his chin, "I love you too Adam Copeland."

"I will change if it's the last thing I do. No more drinking, no more hurting you…"

"Let's not worry about that now. We have to go or else you'll be late for the show and we certainly don't want that." He smiled at her once more, then put the key in the ignition and used his free hand to stroke hers. They drove in silence for the rest of the journey.

When they arrived at the arena, Adam was informed by one of the road agents that Vince requested his presence at a meeting urgently.

"What should I do?" Vanessa asked him. Just as he was about to answer, he saw Maria Kanellis walking in his direction.

"Maria will look after you. Have fun", and with that he rushed off with the road agent.

"So you must be Adam's new girlfriend then?" Maria smiled, then moved her head closer to Vanessa's and lowered her tone, "You must be brave. I can't imagine all the stuff he must be doing to you." Vanessa pulled back; startled at how someone she's never met before knew so much about something so personal. But the WWE Diva simply smiled and led her to the Women's Locker Room. On her way, they passed a very attractive young man, who must have noticed Vanessa, because when they crossed paths, he licked his lips seductively and stared at her from behind, long after she had walked past. Maria noticed this exchange and made a mental note to talk about it later. When they reached the locker room, they found 5 other women getting prepared for the show.

"Ladies, I'd like you to meet Vanessa," Maria announced.

"Great, another talentless model hired to make all the horny 12-year-old boys happy." Victoria sneered under her breath, loud enough so that the whole room heard. 2 of the other girls tried to stifle their laughs, but Vanessa heard them. Trying not to let her emotions show, Vanessa simply laughed off the comment.

"Actually, I'm just here with Adam, but I'll take it as a compliment that you thought I could be a model." The whole room fell silent and she saw the women look at each other uncomfortably, which aggravated her. "Tell me then, what have you heard about Adam this time? More useless gossip probably. None of you probably even know him that well, yet you scorn whenever his name is mentioned. You're all so lonely, that you make up rumours about someone else, just to make the fact that none of you could get a decent guy like him more bearable!"

The ladies grew even more embarrassed, so Maria decided to speak up. "To be fair, it's hardly a secret now. Adam's last girlfriend always used to have cuts and bruises all over her and she always used to look so pale. I mean, she was practically a ghost! There's no way of hiding that." She saw Vanessa's confidence shrinking and she was looking at the floor, avoiding eye contact. "I'm not saying you're like that. You're beautiful. Even Victoria mistook you for a model. It does not look as though he's been mistreating you but I suppose you can never really tell properly from outside appearance. Make-up and a false smile can cover even the deepest of wounds, physical and emotional. I should know, I've done it myself." She stood up and went over to Vanessa. "We know everything. Adam spends so much time on the road, it's impossible to ignore all the signs. We might even know him better then you think you do. Everyone shows their true colours when they're always around someone. You can only put up an act for a certain period of time, after that you start to become yourself. He's drunk all the time. I have to admit, he does seem to be improving, but Vince McMahon isn't a very patient man. He has a business to run and since Adam is one of his best superstars, if he's not professional and performing badly, then it reflects the whole company. I'm afraid it's too late."

"What do you mean, 'too late'?"

Maria let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry to be the one telling you this, but Vince is about to fire him and force him into 4 months of rehab."

Vanessa felt paralysed with fear when she heard this. Wrestling was Adam's passion, his life, his everything. Without it, he would probably fall deeper into addiction then he already had. It would destroy him, she was certain of it. Without warning, she dashed out of the locker room ignoring Maria calling her name. On her way she passed the very same man who she saw a few minutes ago. As she walked past him, he grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Where are you off to that's so urgent?"

"Please, I really need to go and find someone," she replied, looking at the floor. She could feel herself blushing profusely and did not want him to see. He observed her reluctance to look at him directly and he lifted her chin towards him in the exact same way Adam had in the car earlier. However, this time, as soon as his hands made contact, a warm sensation passed through her chin and rippled right through her body.

"I'm John Cena," he said in almost a whisper and smiled. Seeing his grin melted her heart and erased all the worries that were previously going through her mind. She could not help but smile back.

"I'm Vanessa."

"Vanessa..." he repeated her name slowly, treasuring every syllable as though they were more precious than gold. "Sorry for holding you back, I just knew I would never forgive myself if I didn't go and talk to you. Didn't you say you were on your way to find someone?"

"Oh yes! I really do have to go now. I'll see you around."

"Definitely," he replied and looked her up and down. She felt him undressing her with his eyes, so she quickly excused herself and rushed off without looking back. As she reached a staircase, she leant against the railing and breathed deeply to try and stop her heartbeat escalating any further. She slumped down to the floor and found herself on the verge of tears. What was even more mysterious to her was that she was not sure whether she was crying because Adam was about to lose his livelihood, or whether it was the realisation that her brief encounter with John Cena in the hallway was the most affection she's ever received in her entire life.