A/N: I'm still away, but I found some time to write. This whole "vacation" has been really stressful, and writing kind of eased the stress a little. Also, I missed writing Jon and Amber so much, and it feels really good to be back.

Chapter 7

Hey, I know when you left we weren't on good terms, but I would really like to work on the relationship. I'm sorry things turned out the way they did, so please make it home whenever you can. Also, I couldn't find my ring on the dresser; do you have it?

By the way, you looked good on Raw; I just wish I was in the crowd cheering you on. I miss you.

He couldn't go back to sleep after he read it. In fact, the sun was already up, shining directly into his eyes. He had to go back home to straighten things out; there was no question about it. He just had to figure out how he was gonna break the news to Amber.

She was out like a light. The opportunity was right there; just grab his things, and leave a note. But he couldn't when he knew that would be like rubbing salt into her wounds.

He sighed, then ran his fingers through her hair lightly. There was one person he knew could help him, but he was afraid of the earful he was gonna get when he explained that he cheated on his fiancée with the same girl he ditched them at the bar for. He was scarred after the time he caught him flirting with a bartender and he twisted his ear.

He rolled out of bed and made his way to the bathroom with his phone. As he scrolled through his contacts, he stopped on Roman's name then brought the phone up to his ear. It didn't take long for him to respond, which was odd since he seemed to always be busy.

"What do you need?"

Jon chewed on his thumb, then took a deep breath. "I cheated on Christina."

Roman let out a disappointed sigh. "With who?"

"Well… it's a long story. But, it was the girl at the bar—"

"How the fuck did you manage to cheat in five minutes? We didn't even leave you out there for long, and—"

"No, I didn't cheat on that night," he sighed. "I used to date her for a really long time back in the day, and then after Raw I went to her house and I'm still at her house, like right now."

"Then get out! Tell her you gotta go home to your soon to be wife, and do some grand gesture for Christina." There was some noise in the background, followed by a loud sigh. "I got my own family to take care of, Dean. You go take care of yours."

He tapped the phone against his chin, wondering exactly what he was going to do.

Roman didn't understand. He knew that he saw Amber as just another ring-rat and Christina was the girl who would be able to ground him. But he couldn't just break it to Amber that he was engaged after stirring up her feelings within the past few days; that would be wrong.

But he was also wrong for cheating on Christina. Although, in his defense, he thought their last argument was bad enough for the whole relationship to be over, which is why he took the ring with him when he left for Raw rather than leave it in the house like he usually did.

"Jon?" he heard, causing him to sigh. There wasn't enough time to plan properly.

He walked out of the bathroom and back to the room, trying his hardest to plaster a fake smile on his face. "You're up early," he said, noting that it was 6:45.

"Why wouldn't I? I have to wake up earlier than this on normal days," she croaked, stretching her arms above her head. "What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be using your off days to relax?"

He shrugged, not really knowing what to say. It was gonna be hard to just leave, especially when he was having so much fun with her. "I'm just… I wasn't tired," he lied, running his hands through his hair. He was tired; exhausted, actually.

"You seem like you are. Your face is expressionless like it is when you're really tired," she explained. "Or I might be wrong and you're just not happy. In which case, you have to tell me what's wrong." She tapped the space that he previously occupied on the bed, hoping he would lie down next to her.

He took up the empty space, sighing as his body settled onto the creaky mattress. "I gotta leave soon," he confessed. "Tomorrow morning, to be exact."

She sighed, then sat up once again, careful to avoid eye contact. "Well, have a safe flight," she mumbled.

"You're not upset?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Maybe he wasn't as important as he thought he was. Which, of course, wasn't his main concern, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt him a little.

She shook her head. "I've lived without you for five years. I know how to live on my own, Jon." She took a deep breath and smiled at him. "No worries; I promise."

He nodded, then sat up, scooting closer to her. "What do you wanna do on our last day together?" he asked to try to get rid of the obvious awkwardness.

"You can do what you want, but I'm staying home," she answered. "My ankle, you know… can't be out and about."

"I'll tell you what… Since I'm the one leaving you, I'll get sit through a chick flick with you," he chuckled, snaking his arm around he shoulders.

"Yeah, because making you sit through a movie you don't like is gonna make me feel much better," she laughed. "But, seriously, there's no need. Movies sound cool, but you can watch what you want."

He smiled and squeezed her slightly. "Is that movie you liked back then still your favorite movie?" he asked.

She shook her head. "If I told you my new favorite movie, you wouldn't agree to watch it."

"I'll watch anything, I swear," he declared. "It can be the sappiest movie on earth; I don't care. Just as long as you like it, I'll watch it."

"You promise?"

"Scout's honor."

"Fuck!" Jon flinched at the jump-scare and buried his head onto Amber's lap. She purposely chose it, knowing that he hated horror movies. She figured it would be more entertaining that way. "C'mon, it's just a creepy looking apparition," she laughed, running her fingers through his hair

"Fuck off," he mumbled into her thigh. "I hate you."

"You're lucky I didn't wait until night to do this," she said, smiling down at him even though she knew he couldn't see it. It was a real, genuine smile. Even though Jon was about to piss his pants, spending time with him was truly giving her energy and enthusiasm. It was too bad that he had to leave so soon, but it had to come eventually.

"Is it gone?" he asked, peaking through his fingers. "Can't we watch something else?"

"Nuh-uh," she said before shoving a mouthful of popcorn in her mouth. "Scout's honor," she reminded him, although it came out as a muffled mess.

"I wasn't even a fuckin' boy scout…" he mumbled, placing his head back on her thigh. "I would've been much happier with a chick flick, but no. You wanted to scare the shit out of me for whatever reason."

"Entertainment," she replied. "The first time we ever watched a scary movie together happened to be the first time I took you to my dad's grave." She laughed at the thought and continued combing her fingers through his hair. "You thought my dad was haunting you because you made a bad first impression."

"I banged the mother of his only child, and his only child. I'd haunt anyone who did that to me."

It was actually a really sweet moment. Even though she knew Jon was slightly weirded out by the thought of her talking to her dead father, he eventually warmed up to it. They sat there for about an hour, and Jon actually talked more than her.

"Talk," she urged, nudging him closer to the grave.

"Hi Mr. Hendricks," he said, waving his hand slightly. "I'm sorry about all the pain I caused. I'm sure Amber and her mother already said a lot about me, so I figure you already hate me. But, I can assure that I'm a changed man. I love your daughter more than anything in this entire universe."

"Anything else?" she asked as she laced her fingers in his. "He's heard my version of you, and my mom's version of you. It's time for him to hear your version of yourself," she said, giving his hand a light squeeze.

"Alright, well… I'm a wrestler, and—"

"No, not what you do, silly. I meant your personality. Let him know you the way I've come to know you."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "For your sake, I'm not gonna mention the fact that what you said just now makes it sound like you want me to go through the whole thing we went through but with your dad."

"Jon," she whined, smacking him in the chest. "Just talk to him, jeez."

"Fine," he sighed. As he was about to speak, a blue and black butterfly flew in his direction, fluttering onto his shoulder, then flying over to Amber's nose.

"Thanks, dad," she said, holding out her finger for the butterfly to land on it. "He likes you."

He shrugged. "I mean, I kinda figured that when it landed on my shoulder out of the blue."

She shook her head and waved as the butterfly ventured off into the distance. "I was talking about my dad," she corrected him. "Sometimes, he sends a butterfly. Whenever it comes, it's always the same color, same size… I realize this makes me sound like a crazy person."

He quickly patted her back and shook her head. "It doesn't. Don't worry, I believe you." He reached down to hold her hand, needing the warmth of her body to make him less nervous. "I'm ready now."

"Jesus fuck!"

Amber snapped back to reality when Jon literally fell off of the couch after another jump-scare. "I don't think it's very Christian like to use 'Jesus' and 'fuck' in the same sentence," she commented, looking down at him as he clutched his chest.

"Eat shit, Amber," he mumbled, sliding back on the couch. "I'm begging; please watch a different movie, or do something else. I can't take this anymore."

She paused the movie and turned her upper body towards him. "You promised you'd watch anything I chose, and there's nothing else for us to do. Unless, of course, you're thinking of something I haven't thought of yet."

He laughed nervously, looked around the room. "Careful, sugar," he warned. "You used to stay stuff like that and we'd end up having almost sex every time."

"I, uh…" She suddenly felt his nervousness, and didn't know what to say after that. She just turned off the TV and attempted to get off the couch, only for Jon to pull her back down.

"Your ankle," he reminded her after he noticed the look she was giving him. "Stay off of it." She mumbled something under his breath that he didn't catch, but he didn't bother asking her to repeat it. "Where were you going?"

"The bedroom," she replied. "I need to take a nap."

He sighed and scooped her into his lap, then stood up, taking her to the bedroom. He gently placed her on the bed and was getting ready to go back into the living room, but stopped in his tracks when Amber lightly touched his hand. He turned back to look at her. "What is it?" he knew his voice gave off a hint of annoyance, but he really didn't mean to come off that way. "Sorry."

"Never mind," she sighed. She turned his back to her him, curling into a ball. "You can go now."

"I didn't… I didn't mean to sound—"

"I'm going to sleep, Jon."

"Amber, this is the last day we're gonna see each—"

"There's always next week," she mumbled.

He didn't want to tell her that there was a huge chance that he wasn't gonna come back, otherwise that would mean he had to tell the truth about everything. He just figured it was best to just disappear and forget they ever saw each other again. Because truth be told, he knew it was never going to work out. There were always too many complications involved. Always had something standing between them being together, whether it was him being an idiot, her being too skeptical of him, or life in general.

They were example of a story of what almost was. A story of almost happiness. They were nothing but a cautionary tale, and they were both fooling themselves from the moment they crossed over into the "more than friends" territory.

He left the room without another word and decided that he'd be staying in a hotel for the rest of the day.