Chapter 4

After lying in bed, tossing and turning for an hour, Trish finally gave up on her dream of going back to sleep. She rolled over and grabbed the remote off the night stand and clicked on the TV. She flicked through the stations, nothing in particular catching her interest. She finally decided on some talk show. She wasn't really interested in the talk show; she just hoped it would bore her enough into sleep. About an hour later, Trish's phone vibrated on the night stand.

Hey, are you awake? – N

Yes... – T

Couldn't sleep? lol – N

Not funny. I tried like hell though :) – T

Tyson is headed down to the gym. I don't feel like going. Mind if I come up? – N

Did you really just ask me that? – T

:) I'll be right up – N

A few minutes later, Trish heard a knock at her door. She smiled to herself as she walked over to unlock the door to let her friend in. She must have been down standing outside my door when she sent that text, she thought chuckling. Trish pulled open the door to be greeted with a big smile from her best friend.

"What were you doing? Standing out here the whole time?" Trish joked.

"No, I was down the hall," Natalya said, sticking her tongue out at her friend.

Natalya walked past Trish into the small hotel room. She flopped down on the edge of the bed and let out a sigh.

Trish knew this meant Natalya wanted to talk about something… And it was probably going to be something Trish didn't want to talk about. She walked around the bed, crawled back into her spot and pulled the covers up around her. The two girls sat there in silence for a few minutes. She could see on Natalya's face she wanted to approach some sort of topic, but was searching for the right way to say it.

"Alright… What is it?" Trish asked, finally breaking the silence.

"What?" Natalya asked, pretending to not know what Trish was talking about.

"There's something on your mind, it's all over your face. Let's go, out with it."

Natalya smiled, "Am I that transparent?"

"No, I just know my best friend. So what's up?"

"Well I was talking to Mike…"

"And?"

"John's probably not coming to dinner tonight."

"Why not?"

"The gist I got from the conversation is he doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable. He doesn't want a repeat of last night, so he's gonna avoid the whole situation. He thinks you'll have a better time if he doesn't come."

Trish didn't say anything for a minute. She immediately felt bad that her actions had caused John to feel that way. "Well, that's not true. I don't not want him to come."

A small smile pulled at the corners of Natalya's lips. "Well Mike tried to talk to him, Randy tried, Tyson tried, and I tried. He's not having any of it. He just keeps saying, no, that he's going to say at the hotel, order room service, and watch TV for the night."

Trish frowned. She felt terrible that her actions had made John feel like he wasn't wanted. She did want him around. She enjoyed spending time with him. He was a sweet guy and he was incredibly funny. Being around John was always a good time. It never turned into a bad time until AJ showed up. Trish realized she was being too hard on John. The truth was, she liked being around John, although she wouldn't tell him nor any of their friends that. Being around him was so easy. He just had one of those personalities. He was like a magnet. He drew people to him because he was so fun to be around. And truth be told, he was gorgeous. She wasn't blind.

"Why don't you like being around him?" Natalya questioned.

"I never said I didn't like being around him. I don't mind at all."

"Soooo… Why do you try to avoid him like the plague?"

Trish threw herself back to lie on her pillow and sighed, "I don't know, Nattie."

"I think I know."

Trish stayed silent.

"Because you're afraid you're going to like him… You're afraid if you let him get close to you… And you're afraid you're going to get hurt again."

Trish remained silent again. She frowned. She hated how her best friend knew her so well sometimes.

"You can't compare everyone to Jason," Natalya said softly.

"I know," Trish whispered. She felt an all too familiar twinge of pain in her heart as her friend spoke his name.

"John's not Jason. You can't hold John accountable for Jason's mistakes. It's been two years since you left him. You haven't been with anyone since. And you're far too pretty to be my forever single, crazy-cat-lady best friend. I refuse to let that happen," Natalya added with a smile.

Trish couldn't help but to laugh. "I don't even like cats. I'm more of a dog person."

Natalya grabbed hold of a pillow and threw it at Trish. "Smartass."

Trish grinned at her, "It's the truth."

"I think you should call John and invite him to dinner tonight. And if he argues with you about going, I think you should pull the 'But I want you to' card."

"Call? How about I text him?" Trish asked with a lopsided smile.

Natalya laughed, "Text?"

"Yeah. I'll text him."

"I guess that'll work. Better than nothin," Natalya said with a roll of her eyes.

"Baby steps, Nattie. Baby steps."

Natalya picked up Trish's phone and handed it to her. "Let's go. Get those fingers texting."

Trish sucked in a breath of air as she scrolled through her contacts, in search of John's name. She flipped her phone to her "J" contacts and soon her cursor sat on John's name. She stared at her phone for a minute as her stomach started to tie itself in knots with nervousness. She looked up at Natalya, who was already giving her the 'come on, quit stalling' look. She clicked on John's name and her phone brought up the conversation box. Here goes nothin, she thought.

John laid stretched across his bed, staring at the ceiling. The TV was on but he wasn't paying any attention to it. It served more as background noise then anything else. Randy had decided he wanted to hit the mall after their workout session. John was enjoying the time to himself. As he laid there, staring at the ceiling, he heard his phone signal he had received a text message. He rolled over to his stomach, and stretched to the night stand to reach for his phone. What the hell could Randy possibly want now, John thought. He clicked the button to turn his phone on and his home screen lit up. New text message it read. John clicked on the little envelope, and it popped up 'Trish.' No way, he thought.

I think you should come to dinner tonight with us – T

Thanks for the offer but I don't really feel like going out tonight. Room service and my TV are in store for me – J

I'd really like it if you'd come :( – T

John blinked and reread her last text message four times to be sure he read what he thought he'd read. That can't be Trish, John thought. He clicked on the info just to check to see if it was the right number. It was… After a few minutes, his phone went off again.

John sat there, still in shock. Not quite sure how to respond.

I guess that's a no? –T

John laid there staring at the screen of his phone. He wasn't sure if he should be excited or if someone was playing a prank on him.

I'm here. Sorry about that. Randy called me... But if you really want me to come tonight, I will –J

I really want you to come – T

Are you sure? – J

Yes I'm sure. But if you really don't want to go, I won't force you :( – T

No, no. If you want me to go, then I'll go – J

Good!. Then I guess I'll see you tonight? :) – T

Yeah. Definitely. See you tonight – J

John dropped his phone on the bed next. He rolled back over to lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling, mulling the conversation he just had with Trish over in his head again. He couldn't help the smile that crept across his face. He took his arms, crossed them, and put them under his head. What if it wasn't her? What if Natalya or someone texted me from her phone, pretending to be her? What if it really was her? It's too late to back out now. You said you'd go Cena, John thought to himself. John heard the door open, and Randy walked in. He dropped his bags on the floor and looked at John, sprawled across his bed, with that big shit eating grin on his face.

"And why the hell are you grinning like a Cheshire cat?"

"Trish texted me."

A look of shock came across Randy's face. "She did?"

"Yeah."

"And? What did she say?" Randy added impatiently.

John grabbed his phone and threw it to Randy. "Here, ready it for yourself."

Randy caught it and immediately went to the conversation he wanted to see. Randy stood there silently for a few minutes reading the conversation. Randy got to the end of the conversation, and his cocky smile spread across his face.

"I told you," Randy said as he tossed John's phone back to him. "I take it you're going to dinner tonight?" Randy asked with a sly smile as she sat down on his bed.

"Is that really even a question?"

A/N: So what did you guys think? So reviews, tips, and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!