Chapter 4

Jalyse couldn't help herself as she followed him to the gym, watching him in the doorway, and wondered where Journey and John were. Probably went to see a movie like she wanted to. John was always a sucker for that kind of thing as she watched him bounce off the ropes, shaking her head. It was still spinning, but nothing she couldn't handle. "So, is this what the big boy does on his time off? I thought you wanted to be OUT of the ring?"

Mark froze, groaning when his knee actually gave out on him, still not used to working it like he had been lately and dropped onto his good leg. His bad one curled underneath him. "Christ woman!" He growled, raking a hand through his hair. "I'm not on leave 'cause I want to be out of the ring. I actually like my fake job…" He sighed, pulling himself up, gingerly testing his knee and thought better of it, rolling out of the ring and gripping the side, gritting his teeth.

Raising an eyebrow at him, concern etched in her features as Jalyse took a step toward him, seeing he was favoring his knee. She actually felt bad for saying that about his job. She had no right as she sighed heavily and raked a hand through her hair. "Look, about that, Mark..." She began, biting her bottom lip, and cleared her throat. "I'm not good with apologies, but I'm sorry for what I said. I've never been one to watch that…show and neither has Journey, which shocked me even more when I found out what you did for a living. Are you okay?" She asked, the worry evident in her tone though she tried in vain to hide it and didn't take a step toward him incase he lashed out at her.

Snorting, Mark was well aware that Journey wasn't a wrestling fan as she had belittled it every chance she got. He nodded, finally looking up at Jalyse. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've beaten my body up and finally it's beginnin' to pay my sorry ol' ass back." He chuckled good-naturedly, finally putting his full weight on his leg, smiling. Even though it actually hurt, knowing he still had a long time ahead of him before he'd be ready to step back into the ring as an actual competitor. "Don't apologize dar-Jalyse, everyone is entitled to their own opinion."

"I had no right to say that about your job though. So just take my apology and let's be done with it." She stated, staring at his limping form, and sighed heavily, wondering what the Hell she was doing here. "I hope your knee gets better." She then turned and walked out of the room, shaking her head, and suddenly stopped when she realized what he'd said earlier. It had finally sunk into her head as she immediately turned around and instantly bumped into a brick wall. "Goddamn it!" She snapped, landing flat on her ass on the floor and stared at Mark.

Mark shook his head, towering over her, his knee forgotten, hands on his hips. "Jalyse, is it just me or are you always this clumsy?" He asked, sounding amused. "You keep injurin' yerself out here and you might as well sue for damages. Come on." He extended his hand to her.

"Go to Hell, jagoff!" She growled, not taking his hand, and stood up, dusting herself off, and crossed her arms in front of her chest, glaring back at him. "Maybe if you would stop fuckin' stalking your guest, me, around the house, you wouldn't be knocking me down every fuckin' chance you get!" She retorted swiftly with a smug tone in her voice.

Mark didn't look the least bothered. Instead, amusement was obvious in his crystalline green eyes as he stared down at her, clearing his throat, managing to make it sound condescending. "Well Jalyse…if memory serves me, and memory rarely does anything else, YOU followed ME in here so please, quit stalkin' me. I don't do autographs on my days off." He walked past her, disappearing into his own room, his laughter echoing throughout the house.

"JAGOFF!" She shrieked, kicking the wall, feeling her cheeks turning four shades of red, and looked like smoke was about to come out of her ears. She stormed into her room, slamming the door so hard, the walls shook. She growled as she plopped down on the bed, groaning when her head started pounding furiously in her ears. "I'll ask for his autograph alright and then shove it up his cocky, arrogant, FAKE WRESTLER ASS!"

Mark heard that last bit and had to chuckle, pulling his muscle shirt over his head and tossing it aside. He pulled his hair back into a low ponytail, shaking his head. That woman had some serious, serious issues. Sighing, he suddenly remembered his wash and groaned. The laundry room was at the end of the guest room hallway, sheer genius on whoever had originally designed the house. He had only added on. Mark sighed, knowing he had no choice and ventured out, not bothering with a fresh shirt.

Jalyse was still fuming with rage as she laid in her bed, not believing what an arrogant prick her cousin was with. She thought John was bad. John was NOTHING compared to this fucker! She sighed heavily, sitting up on her bed, and about jumped a foot in the air when she heard a bang outside her door. She immediately stood up and rushed over, narrowing her eyes to dangerous slits when she seen the asshole of the century flat on his ass, clothes all over the place. "Now who's clumsy, jackass?" She then slammed the door, causing his head to bounce off of it, and smirked smugly before going back to lay down.

Mark growled angrily, his temper thoroughly aroused by now. His damned knee had given out again, which is why he'd fallen. Then for this bitch to slam the door against his head. He'd got to his feet, ignoring the warning pain in his knee, and stalked into her bedroom. "WHAT THE HELL IS YER DAMNED PROBLEM?" He bellowed, towering over the end of her bed.

"Mr. Calaway, I don't know WHAT you're talking about, but if you don't stop yelling at me, I'm going to fuckin' make sure you NEVER wrestle again!" Jalyse stated in a threatening tone, her head still spinning from head butting him earlier, and slowly sat up to lean back on her elbows, smirking wickedly back at him. "Damn, that's a nice knot on your head." She commented, snorting.

"You got a fair sized one on yer head too, Idarlin'/I." Mark retorted. "And ya know damned well what I'm talkin' bout. You bounced that door purposely against me. Don't even bother to deny it. I just wanna know one thing. What the Hell did I do to make you fuckin' hate me?"

"You need to keep that big nose of yours out of MY business and fuckin' STOP calling me that!" Jalyse growled back at him, her teal eyes growing steely back at him, and sat up more, her ankles crossed over each other. "As for bouncing your hard head off the door, that was for that comment earlier, you jagoff. I wouldn't ask for your stupid, FAKE wrestler autograph if you were the LAST fake wrestler on earth! Are we clear on that?" She demanded, her lips pursed tightly together, not appreciating this prick barging in her guest room. His house or not, it was rude.

Mark had called Journey darlin' only once and in return, she had told him she didn't appreciate his dumb hick ways and immediately stopped. He couldn't believe it when he felt a twinge of hurt at the mere memory as well as Jalyse shouting at him. He quickly masked it and nodded. "Stay outta my way and I'll sure as Hell keep outta yers." He said gruffly before stalking out.

"Good, I hope your knee blows out, dick!" She shouted out after him, slamming her door shut behind her, and plopped down on the bed. Suddenly, all the anger drained from her as she allowed the tears to fall down her face, not believing how cruel she was being toward this man. Was it his fault that she was with a guy who clearly hurt her every time they had sex? Laying down on the bed, she curled up in a tight ball and cried herself to sleep. These three months were going to be just one big ball of stress and she suddenly wondered if maybe leaving would be the better of the two options.

~Two Weeks Later~

Mark had done his best to avoid Jalyse. Only speaking to her when required. Already knowing Journey would blow it off to him being his 'creepy, freaky' self. He found he couldn't stand being around Jalyse. Afraid of what he might say or do and tended to spend more time out in his garage. Tinkering with his motorcycles gave him a sense of peace and spent the past two weeks out there more than he normally did.

John glanced at his girlfriend from his place in the pool. She was laying on a lounge chair, reading something and asked, "Going to join me or what, baby?"

"No, I'm reading, can't you see that?" She retorted, waving the book at him, and rolled her eyes before going back to reading.

It was actually a book she was quite interested in, giving her a little more aspect on this sports entertainment business. She was quite disturbed to find out that most of the injuries the wrestlers sustained were actually real and felt terrible for what she'd said to Mark. She pushed it aside, having stayed clear of him for the past two weeks, and sighed as the sun baked down on her. She was wearing a black two piece bikini with her hair up in a high ponytail. She hadn't took a dip in the pool, not wanting to at the moment, too focused on her reading material.

Journey strolled out of the house, wearing her own bikini that was actually no more then the barest bits of cloth, covering up what needed to be covered sort of. "Jeez cousin, could you sound anymore cranky?" She teased, diving into the water.

John shook his head, wondering what the Hell was Jalyse's problem lately, and glanced at the cover of her book. She'd been distant from him and he wanted to know why. "Any good?" He asked, trying to get her somewhat interested in him again.

"Yes it's good." Jalyse answered with a heavy sigh and stood up from the lounge chair, not able to look at her boyfriend right now. She was aching from head to toe because every night that they'd been there for the past two weeks, he'd gotten rougher and rougher with the sex. She was near tears the previous night and felt sick to her stomach. She was lucky she was on birth control with how much sex John wanted as she raked a hand through her hair. "I'm going to lay down. I'm not feeling good." She then walked inside the house, closing the sliding glass door behind her, and started down the hallway just as Mark walked out of the garage. She didn't say a word to him and kept walking when his arm bumped hers, causing the book to go flying and skidded across the floor.

Mark instantly retrieved the book, reading the title and handing it back to her. "That's a good book, Jalyse." He commented quietly, waiting for her to take it. "Though they're exaggeratin' some…Mick took more tacks in his ass then what they're sayin'." It was a feeble attempt at humor on his part and they both knew it, but it was also his way of testing the waters with her.

"It is a great book. How people can do this to their bodies is beyond me. Maybe it does take passion and determination. Mark, I'm-" She couldn't finish when John came walking into the house, disrupting their conversation, and sighed heavily when he came up to her, causing her to look away from him. "I told you I'm going to lay down, John. Now right now." She stated, walking into the bedroom, and closed the door behind her, the book in her hand.

John, for the first time in their three year relationship, felt jealous. He stared at Mark suspiciously, aching an eyebrow before snorting and followed Jalyse. "What the Hell is your problem lately, J?" He demanded, closing the door behind him.

"You wanna know what my problem is lately, John?" Jalyse finally snapped, whipping around to face her boyfriend, the tears building in her eyes, and blinked them back as she raked a hand through her hair. "YOU are my problem! I can't even look at you or dream about you without feeling sick to my stomach anymore! God, you hurt me so much and I'm just tired of it!" She started crying, plopping down on the bed, and curled her knees up to rest against her chest, seeing John was staring at her in shock as her body started trembling. When he went to touch her, she immediately flinched away from him. "Please don't touch me. I don't want to do it right now." She pleaded with him and winced when another shot of pain went through her.

John frowned, honestly not having a damn clue what she was talking about, and sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at her. "J…what's going on?" He asked softly. "How am I hurting you, baby? Please, tell me so I don't do it anymore."

Her chest started heaving harshly as she pressed a hand to her heart, which was pounding furiously against her chest, and shook her head. "Every time we…you…" She couldn't even say it as she leaned back against the headboard, her toes squishing in the comforter below. "I'm sore, John. I'm very, VERY sore from the sex we've been having lately. It's gotten to the point where I actually have to blink back tears in order to get through it without screaming out in pain instead of pleasure. You've gotten way rougher and I can't handle it. You're going to end up breaking me in half if you don't stop it." She explained to him and cried harder as she buried her face in her knees, trembling violently.

His blue eyes widened in shock as he felt his jaw drop to the floor below. "Why didn't you tell me, baby?" He whispered, remorse dripping in his tone. "God Jalyse, Christ baby, I am so, so sorry! I never ever meant to hurt you!" He sounded on the verge of tears. "If you'd just said something…"

"I know I should've, but I didn't want to upset you or anything. I love you, John. How can I tell the man I love that he's hurting me whenever we have sex?" She rhetorically asked, lifting her head up to meet his blue eyes, and raked a hand through her hair, sniffling. "I'm sorry, I should've told you sooner. I didn't want you to hate me." She whispered out heartbrokenly.

"I don't hate you…you should've told me. You know I love you. I don't ever want to hurt you, Jalyse, EVER." John leaned down to gently kiss her, feathering his lips over hers. "God baby, if I'd of known…Do you need to see a doctor?" His blue eyes shone with concern for her, not believing what she just told him.

"No, I'm fine. I just need to take a week or so to heal from it." She whispered softly, pressing her forehead to his, and rubbed the back of his neck as she breathed out raggedly from crying. "Thank you for not being upset with me. I love you so much." She then wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly to her, and buried her face in the crook of it.

"How could I be upset?" John murmured, holding her close to him. "I love you, baby don't you know that?" He ran his fingers through her hair, guilt coursing through him, as well as a bit of lust from just feeling her pressed against him, but he suppressed it. "God…I'm so sorry…" He kept murmuring repeatedly.

"It's fine, John." She whispered in assurance and kissed his lips softly before slowly pulling back, wincing since her body was so sore. "Why don't you go swim some more and have fun? I'm going to lay down for awhile and try to relax." She caressed his face with the back of her hand and smiled softly at him. "Go on, I'm fine. Go have a blast, I'll be out there in awhile after my nap." She winked at him.

John nodded, looking reluctant to leave her. "Alright baby, you just holler if you need anything." He whispered, concern in his blue eyes. He took his sweet time in leaving, shooting her concerned looks before finally walking out. He made his way back to the pool and halted, spotting Journey now laying in a chair without her top on. When she shot him an inviting look, all thoughts, but one flew out of his mind as he took her invitation.