Hi everyone!

This is the new chapter of my story! I'm really really sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've been really busy with school work and exams!

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story! I really appreciate all the nice comments!

Anyway, I'll stop talking now and let you read!

Enjoy!

~ CHAPTER FOUR ~

PREPARATIONS AND REVELATIONS

It was about a week since Cherry had arrived in the WWE. Deuce was still abusing her, and the beatings were getting slowly worse and worse, causing Cherry's fear of her boyfriend to increase at an unbelievable rate. Cherry still saw Shannon regularly, but it was always in secret and often only for a couple of minutes here and there, because she knew that Deuce would be furious if he knew she was still friends with Shannon.

Cherry and Shannon had taken to meeting whenever they could. These times were usually between midnight and either four or five in the morning, once Deuce had gone to sleep and before he woke up. Although Shannon still didn't know for sure that Cherry was being abused by Deuce, his suspicions were stronger than ever, and he was never happy unless Cherry was with him, because he knew that that was the only way that she was absolutely and definitely safe.

Because of the times that they met, Shannon and Cherry were used to seeing each other at perhaps their worst, but they were always happy to see each other and grateful of each moment they had together. Shannon and Cherry did various things during these few hours together, sometimes they listened to music, making sure they kept it quiet, so they didn't wake anyone up, sometimes they watched films and sometimes they just sat and talked about everything from their pasts to their favourite superstars when they were young.

Luckily for Shannon, and even more so for Cherry, Deuce had no idea what was happening. He had no idea that Shannon and Cherry were meeting together because both Shannon and Cherry knew that if Deuce found out then he would not be happy, even though they were just friends. The time that Shannon had spent with Cherry over the last week had made him realise that he was truly in love with her. Although he had only known her for a week, Shannon was certain that love was what he was feeling for Cherry, and he wanted to act on it. Meanwhile, for Cherry the time that she had spent with Shannon had made her realise that there were people in the world who cared about her. She also realised that she was definitely attracted to Shannon, and that she would have to tell him what Deuce was doing to her, because it seemed to Cherry that Shannon already had suspicions about what was happening and it would only be a matter of time until Cherry had to tell him.

It was around 6 o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday morning, which meant that it was the Smackdown tapings that night, and as well as that it was Cherry's first match against Victoria, one of the greatest WWE divas in history. Cherry was understandably nervous and as she and Shannon were walking back to Deuce's room like they did every morning, Cherry said,

"Shannon?"

"Yeah Cherry?" asked Shannon kindly.

"I'm nervous about something!" replied Cherry.

"What is it, darling?" asked Shannon worriedly.

"It's just my match against Victoria tonight!" said Cherry "what if I'm not good enough? What if my outfit doesn't look nice? What if I get injured? What if the WWE fire me?"

"You'll be fine Cherry!" said Shannon, putting his arm around her and squeezing her shoulders "you'll be fantastic and you'll be Divas Champion before you know it!"

"You really think so?" asked Cherry.

"No Cherry," said Shannon, in a firm voice "I know so!"

Cherry smiled, but she was still nervous about her outfit and the fact that she might not be pretty enough, so she said,

"I'm still not pretty enough to be a diva though, and my outfit will probably look horrible too!"

"Cherry listen," said Shannon "you're going to be the most beautiful diva in the world, and if you want, you can come and see me once you've got your outfit on and I'll tell you what I think!"

"Really?" said Cherry happily "oh thanks Shannon!"

"Hey it's all right!" said Shannon "anything that's going to get your confidence up! I know how nerve-wracking it is to have your first match here!"

Before they knew it, Shannon and Cherry were outside Deuce's room, and it was time for them to say goodbye.

"Will I see you later Cherry?" whispered Shannon.

"Of course you will," whispered Cherry "I'll come and see you before my match! You will watch my match won't you?"

"Of course I will!" whispered Shannon, smiling "and when I see you later I can tell you how awesome you did!"

Cherry smiled and hugged Shannon tightly without even thinking about it. Shannon hugged Cherry back, and when they pulled back, both were blushing furiously.

"I'd better go!" whispered Cherry urgently.

"Yeah I guess so," said Shannon "I'll see you later Cherry!"

Cherry smiled as Shannon walked away, looking over his shoulder and making sure Cherry had got into the room all right.

Cherry crept into the room, and to her relief Deuce was still fast asleep. Cherry was so used to creeping around and making no noise that she was back in the bed, beside Deuce, in a matter of seconds.

Cherry knew it was pointless her trying to go back to sleep as it was now ten past six, and Deuce would be waking up soon. However, Cherry knew that she had to pretend to be asleep and wait for Deuce to wake her up so that he wouldn't suspect anything, so she closed her eyes and waited.

Sure enough a little while later Cherry heard Deuce stirring. She was smart enough to keep her eyes closed, waiting nervously for Deuce to wake her. Soon enough Cherry felt herself being roughly shaken, and she heard a gruff voice saying,

"Get up!"

Cherry faked stirring and she groaned slightly as she rolled over so she could see Deuce.

"Morning Deuce!" she said, in what she hoped sounded like an enthusiastic voice.

"Get up!" repeated Deuce in the same tone as before.

Cherry decided that the best thing to do would be to obey Deuce, so she sat up, and then climbed out of the bed, before saying,

"I'll go and get dressed then!"

Cherry walked towards the door, only to be stopped by Deuce saying in a dangerous voice,

"Did I say you could go and get dressed?"

"N-No!" stammered Cheery in an alarmed voice, as she suddenly realised the mistake she had made.

"Then why are you going to get dressed?" asked Deuce in a deathly calm voice.

"I'm s-sorry Deuce!" stammered Cherry in fear.

"Sorry isn't good enough Cherry!" shouted Deuce, as he grabbed his girlfriend by her arm "you're going to have to be punished!"

Cherry was terrified as she was dragged back onto the bed. She had learnt from experience that it was better for her to not put up a fight during these punishments, so she just laid there and prepared for the inevitable.

Cherry felt Deuce slap her face. Hard. She winced in pain and felt a tear fall down her cheek. However, this did not stop Deuce, as he slapped Cherry again before saying in a menacing voice,

"You do love me don't you Cherry?"

"O-Of course!" stammered Cherry, praying that Deuce would stop.

"You're going to show me how much you love me!" said Deuce in a demanding voice.

At the mention of this Cherry simply started to sob in such a heartbreaking way that anyone except Deuce would have given her a hug and wanted to protect her.

As Cherry felt Deuce take her clothes off and violate her in every way possible, she desperately tried to think of something that made her happy, but even her thoughts of Shannon could not help her escape the pain this time, because the truth was that the pain was just too intense.

After what felt like an eternity of intense pain, humiliation and heartbreak, Cherry felt Deuce put her pyjamas back on. However, she didn't dare to open her eyes or move until he either told her to, or left the room. Sure enough, a few minutes later, Deuce growled,

"Get up and get dressed, and hurry up about it!"

Cherry did not need telling twice as she got up and walked as quickly as possible out of Deuce's room and into her own. Cherry quickly got dressed in a simple jean, t-shirt and hoodie combo that hid the bruises on her arms but did not make her look too conspicuous. After she had got dressed, Cherry walked as quickly as she could towards Deuce's room, getting more and more nervous the closer that she got. Cherry entered Deuce's room to find him sat on the bed waiting for her,

"You took your time didn't you?" he growled.

"I'm s-sorry Deuce!" stammered Cherry in a nervous voice "I tried to be quick, I really did!"

"Whatever!" sneered Deuce "I don't care, you're worthless anyway, now come on I need to train and so do you!"

Without waiting for an answer, Deuce got up and dragged Cherry out of the room towards the gym. When they got there, Deuce sat Cherry on an exercise bike and told her to work out until she had peddled for five miles. Cherry thought this demand was silly, because five miles was a long way and she was shattered anyway. However, she didn't say anything and started to peddle as fast as she could.

"Hurry up you idiot!" called Deuce angrily.

"I'm peddling as fast as I can!" said Cherry nervously.

"Well that's not good enough, try harder!" shouted Deuce "would you like to be punished again?"

"N-No!" stammered Cherry nervously.

"Then get peddling!" shouted Deuce "or else!"

"Y-Yes sir!" stuttered Cherry, as she tried to peddle harder and faster than she ever had before.

"Good girl!" sneered Deuce cruelly, before standing up "I'm going to the pool and Jacuzzi. After you've done five miles on here I want you to do a thousand reps on the rowing machine, a thousand step ups leading with your left leg and a thousand leading with your right leg, then five miles on the treadmill, is that clear?"

"Y-Yes!" whispered Cherry.

"Good," snarled Deuce "I'll pick you up from your room at seven tonight ready for your match. Make sure you're ready or else!"

"O-OK!" stammered Cherry "I'll s-see you l-later th-then!"

"Whatever!" said Deuce harshly as he walked out of the gym.

Cherry sighed with both relief and exhaustion once Deuce had walked out of the gym. Cherry knew Deuce was nowhere near the gym as the swimming pool and Jacuzzi were on the other side of the building, so she immediately slowed down her almost hysterical peddling.

About ten minutes after Deuce had left the gym, the door opened, much to Cherry's fear, as she started to peddle even faster than before. However, Cherry was surprised to find that the person who walked through the door was not Deuce, but Shannon.

When Shannon saw Cherry, he grinned and rushed over to her, sitting on the bike next to hers and saying in a cheerful voice,

"Hey! How are you?"

Cherry knew she shouldn't be talking to Shannon, and she knew that Deuce would kill her if he knew. However, there was something about Shannon that made Cherry feel safe, and made her feel like she could talk to him, and take a risk in doing so. Shannon was watching Cherry with innocent eyes and a charming smile simply awaiting her response.

"I'm great now you're here!" Cherry said truthfully.

"Oh wow!" said Shannon happily "I feel privileged, but why weren't you great before I came in?"

"Training!" said Cherry simply.

"Good point!" laughed Shannon, while he and Cherry continued to peddle on the exercise bikes.

"Deuce said I have to do five miles on this and the treadmill, one thousand reps on the rowing machine, and two thousand step ups!" said Cherry quietly "and I'm shattered!"

"That's insane!" exploded Shannon angrily "you don't need to do that much training for one match!"

"Deuce said I do!" said Cherry.

"And where is he?" asked Shannon.

"In the pool and the Jacuzzi!" said Cherry, looking down.

"Oh that's annoying!" said Shannon, clearly annoyed "he's making you do all this and he's not here to support you? I know if you were my girlfriend, first off I would never make you do this much training, second, if you did want to do this much training, I would do it with you to help you along, I wouldn't leave you on your own!"

"Really?" asked Cherry, genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, of course!" said Shannon warmly "In fact, I'm going to stay with you now and do this training with you!"

"Oh wow!" said Cherry happily as she hugged Shannon "thank you Shannon!"

"No problem!" said Shannon grinning "what time are you finishing?"

"Deuce is picking me up from my room at seven tonight, but I want to finish at six so I can show you my outfit!" said Cherry smiling, while also blushing slightly.

"Sounds good to me!" said Shannon "let's get this training done then, and then we might be able to finish earlier!"

"That's a good point!" said Cherry "I'll race you!"

"Oh are you challenging me Missy?" said Shannon grinning.

"Yep!" said Cherry cheekily "but are you going to accept?"

"You bet I am!" said Shannon smiling.

"OK then," said Cherry "you're going down!"

"No Cherry, I think you'll find it's you that's going down!" said Shannon cheekily "now let's go!"

Cherry laughed and peddled even faster than she had been before, and she was managing to match Shannon for speed, so much so that they both reached the five mile mark at the same time.

"Oh that was fun!" said Cherry laughing happily.

"Yes it was!" said Shannon "but you know I won don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah Shannon, in your dreams!" said Cherry "you know for a fact that I won hands down!"

"OK, OK," sighed Shannon "let's call it a draw, eh?"

"All right then!" sighed Cherry, smiling "what's next, the treadmill?"

"If you say so!" said Shannon, jumping down from the exercise bike.

Shannon walked round to the other side of Cherry's exercise bike, and lifted her off of it, bridal style. Cherry blushed and giggled at the same time especially as she could smell Shannon's aftershave. Shannon smiled as he saw Cherry blush, he found her blush so cute and adorable that he fell even more in love with her right then and there.

Shannon put Cherry down and they both rushed over to the treadmills. They had done their five mile run in no time and then they did two thousand step ups and a thousand reps on the rowing machine, all by four o'clock.

"Wow!" said Shannon, helping Cherry up from the rowing machine "it's only four o'clock!"

"Wow!" said Cherry "do you want to come back to my room Shannon, so I can show you my outfit for tonight?"

"Sure thing!" said Shannon, grinning as he swept Cherry into his arms.

Cherry screamed in delight and giggled as Shannon sprinted out of the gym and towards her room before she could protest. He laid Cherry down on her bed and commenced to tickling her viciously. Cherry laughed relentlessly as she tickled Shannon back and they both fell onto the bed giggling hysterically for about half an hour.

Shannon stopped laughing and put his hands behind his head as he lay on Cherry's bed. Cherry lay next to Shannon, smiling from ear to ear, she had not had this much fun in a long time, if ever. Cherry was now convinced that Shannon was meant to be in her life, and she couldn't imagine not having him there for her.

"You all right Cherry?" asked Shannon quietly, after noticing that Cherry was being even more quiet than usual.

"Yeah I'm fine," said Cherry, propping herself up on her elbows "just thinking!"

"About?" asked Shannon inquisitively.

"Stuff," said Cherry "life, and how it can sometimes be horrible and unbearable and then you meet someone who just makes your life seem worth living again! You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I think I do!" said Shannon.

"Glad someone does!" laughed Cherry.

"Cherry, you know what you said about life being horrible and unbearable sometimes, what did you mean?" asked Shannon, curiosity overtaking him.

"Oh," said Cherry hesitating "just…that people are sometimes not what you expect and they treat you badly and make your life hell!"

Suddenly Cherry gasped, realising what she had said, but it was too late, and she couldn't take it back now.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Shannon gently, choosing his words carefully as he sensed that his suspicions about Deuce were correct "has that kind of thing happened to you?"

"Yes," whispered Cherry "I trusted people and just got it thrown back in my face!"

"That's terrible!" said Shannon "no one should ever get their trust broken, especially you! What happened?"

Cherry knew she should tell Shannon not to worry about it and that it didn't matter, but for some reason, she couldn't stop her mouth from opening and telling Shannon what was on her mind, even though she knew there would potentially be horrific consequences.

"I just…" started Cherry, before stopping suddenly.

"What Cherry?" asked Shannon gently, putting a hand over hers "what is it?"

"I just gave everything to that one person and they just ended up breaking the trust I had in them and they ended up breaking my spirit and my heart!" said Cherry, almost hysterically "and they're still doing it, and I can't stop them. I don't want to go through my heart getting broken time and time again, I want to get out but I can't! I'm scared!"

"Cherry…" whispered Shannon "Cherry, honey who did this to you?"

"What do you mean?" asked Cherry.

"Who broke your spirit, who hurt you so much that you want to get away from them?" asked Shannon "who was it sweetheart?"

"I…" started Cherry "I…can't tell you!"

"Why not?" asked Shannon "you can tell me anything!"

"I know, but I'm scared!" breathed Cherry truthfully.

"Of what?" said Shannon gently.

"Of how the person will react, I'm terrified they'll come back and get me and really hurt me, perhaps even kill me, or even kill you!" said Cherry, hysterically.

"You don't need to worry about that Cherry!" interrupted Shannon "I can look after myself and I'll look after you if they come after you!"

"And I'm also scared of your reaction!" said Cherry.

"My reaction?" asked Shannon "what do you mean?"

"I'm scared you'll be angry," said Cherry "then I'm also scared you won't want to know me anymore!"

"Cherry," whispered Shannon "I'd never be angry with you, and I will always want to know you, no matter what this is!"

"Really?" asked Cherry, looking up at Shannon, her eyes shining with tears.

"Of course!" said Shannon, smiling.

There was a short pause between the two friends as Cherry contemplated whether she was really doing the right thing. Still Cherry wasn't sure, but she had already said too much to Shannon, so really she couldn't back out now. Shannon watched Cherry intently, patiently waiting for her to say something. She didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, and then she started trembling slightly, before saying,

"I don't know where to start!"

"Just take your time!" said Shannon, in a reassuring voice, as he squeezed Cherry's hand, letting her know he was not going to leave her "I'll stay with you as long as you need me to!"

"I…I just want to escape from the pain!" said Cherry, in a voice that sounded close to tears "I can't cope with pain on a day to day basis anymore, it hurts too much, it's destroying me physically, mentally and emotionally Shannon!"

"What's happened that's causing you pain Cherry?" asked Shannon.

"Everything!" said Cherry hysterically "every minute of every day I'm in pain, I can't stop it from happening, it just does!"

"Cherry, please tell me who or what is doing this to you!" said Shannon.

"What's the point, it's my fault anyway!" shouted Cherry, burying her head in her hands.

"No Cherry, no!" said Shannon in an exasperated voice "don't think that, none of the pain is your fault you didn't ask for it!"

"But if I'd have just been good…" began Cherry, trailing off realising what she was about to say.

"Cherry?" asked Shannon, in an alarmed voice "what do you mean if you had been good?"

"Forget it!" said Cherry, suddenly switching to defensive mode.

"Cherry," whispered Shannon "please, let me in, let me help!"

"I can't!" said Cherry "you don't understand!"

"So help me to!" responded Shannon "is someone hurting you?"

Cherry resigned herself to nodding, maybe if she didn't actually tell Shannon, she wouldn't feel so scared. Maybe if he guessed, she would feel better about it.

"Who is it?" asked Shannon, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I…I…it's…him!" whispered Cherry.

"Who Cherry?" asked Shannon, who couldn't keep his suspicions silent anymore "is it Deuce that's hurting you? Tell me the truth, OK, I promise I won't get angry! Is Deuce hurting you?"

Cherry gasped, Shannon had discovered her secret even though she hadn't technically told him. She was instantly fearful of Deuce's reaction, and for that reason, she hesitated in answering Shannon's question, but Shannon didn't pressure her, he knew he was asking her a huge question and he knew she was terrified, so the last thing she needed was Shannon to start pressuring her to tell him things that may not even be true.

Cherry was just about to answer Shannon, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Cherry looked at her watch, seeing that it was only half past five, and wandering who it was who wanted her so urgently. Then she heard the voice which sent chills down her spine,

"Cherry are you in there?"

"Shannon!" breathed Cherry fearfully "he can't see you in here, you have to hide!"

"Why and where?" whispered Shannon.

"Because he hates you!" breathed Cherry "please Shannon, can you wait in the bathroom until you hear us both leave no matter what? Please?"

Shannon nodded letting Cherry lead him into the bathroom as she shouted,

"Just a second!"

Cherry shut the bathroom door, before taking a deep breath and opening the door to Deuce.

"Deuce!" she said, hoping she sounded enthusiastic and surprised "you're early!"

"Why aren't you ready?" growled Deuce.

"Well you told me you were picking me up at seven, so I thought I'd wait a little while!" said Cherry, fear evident in her voice.

"You should be ready!" shouted Deuce "I told you to be ready!"

"I-I'm s-sorry Deuce!" stammered Cherry, shrinking back into a corner "it won't happen again!"

"No, it won't," said Deuce "because you're going to get punished now, and hopefully you'll learn!"

Cherry gasped, but without waiting for her to say anything, Deuce slapped her hard across the cheek. Cherry cried out in pain, as she tried to block out the pain by thinking of Shannon, who she suddenly realised was hearing all of this. Deuce continued to slap and kick Cherry repeatedly until her breathing became quite laboured, and she was just shivering and cowering on the floor.

"There," sneered Deuce "I think you've learnt your lesson! But you do love me don't you Cherry?"

"Of course!" whispered Cherry, through the pain.

"Good, because you're going to show me how much you love me aren't you?" asked Deuce "because you know I love you and I only want to protect you!"

Cherry knew what was coming, and she knew it was in her best interests not to disagree with Deuce or fight him, because it would only be more painful. So she let Deuce drag her to onto the bed and climb on top of her before kissing her roughly. Cherry closed her eyes and sobbed as she let Deuce violate her. The only protests she made were the occasional whimpers or cries of pain, but these went unheeded. Cherry only opened her eyes once she felt Deuce put her clothes back on and climb off her and then, much to her relief the ordeal was over and she had survived.

"Go and get ready!" growled Deuce.

Cherry quickly obeyed him, getting changed into her outfit right then and there, because after all she couldn't risk going into the bathroom. Within five minutes Cherry was ready to go and she was dragged out of the room by Deuce, leaving Shannon alone, undiscovered in the bathroom.

Meanwhile Shannon was sat in Cherry's bathroom, tears streaming down his face and anger boiling inside him. He had of course just heard everything that had happened between Cherry and Deuce and it had upset him so deeply. Every single one of Cherry's screams or cries of pain had been like a knife through Shannon's heart. He had been scared and disgusted enough when he realised Deuce was hitting Cherry and his suspicions had been correct. However nothing could have prepared Shannon for what had happened next. When Shannon realised that Deuce had forced himself onto Cherry, it had took all of Shannon's self restraint to stay in the bathroom. He knew there was the potential that Cherry would get hurt even more if he had gone to help her, and of course, he didn't want that, so he was biding his time until he helped her.

As much as it pained Shannon to leave Cherry in the atmosphere that she was in, Shannon knew that at the moment he couldn't do anything and that he would have to wait until Cherry came to him, which he hoped she would do soon, because after all she must have remembered that he was still in the bathroom, hearing everything.

Shannon sighed as he stood up and exited Cherry's room making his way down to one of the monitors so that he could watch her match with Victoria. He was extremely worried about her, and knew that she was in no condition to wrestle, but once again, he knew that there was nothing he could do, because the match was already booked and also Deuce would be keeping a close eye on Cherry. As Shannon settled down in one of the sofas to watch Cherry's match, he just prayed that she would come to him soon so that he could help her, he had to get her out of there.

So what did you think, let me know! Like I said I really appreciate what you have to say!

Anyway, I'll update soon, so I'll see you then!