Chapter 9

I'm sorry if this isn't up to scratch-I find myself single again (through nobody's fault) so I'm feeling a little down. But I want to continue to write to the best of my ability.

John met Sheamus at the door when he arrived back at the hospital, the polite smile on his face fading when he saw the expression the Irishman was wearing.

'What's up?' He asked. 'You look like you've seen a ghost, dude.'

Sheamus wasn't sure he could tell him for a minute-he knew all hell would break loose when the truth was revealed. But he couldn't keep this from her friends. His conscience was eating him at him as it was.

'I need ta tell ya something, fella.' He replied. 'Something about the Nexus. Something about Sharona and me.' He paused, then added. 'They attacked her 'cause of me.'

John stared at him, stared at him for so long that Sheamus actually thought he wasn't going to say anything at all, until he finally spluttered, 'What the hell are you talkin' about? This has got nothing to do with you.'

Sheamus fetched a sigh, then pulled the note that the Nexus had left him out of his pocket, and wordlessly handed it to Cena.

John took a moment to read it, eyes getting wider and wider as he did so, His hands finally dropped to their sides, and he regarded Sheamus with a look of pure and utter shock and horror.

Cena looked like he wanted to beat the shite out of him-and Sheamus couldn't say he blamed him. After all, the lass he cared about so much was laying in a hospital bed because of him.

'You and…Shar?' He gasped. 'You've been…sleeping together?'

Sheamus nodded, and before he knew where he was, John had slammed him against the nearest wall, big hands curling in the collar of his t-shirt. Sheamus let him, only because he understood exactly how he was feeling.

'It was one night.' He managed to grind out, while trying to extricate himself from Cena's vice-like grip. 'I don't know how they found out fella, but we were only together one night.'

If anything, this only seemed to make John even angrier; with a roar of rage, he swung back and punched Sheamus right in the jaw. As the Irishman crumpled to the floor, trying to catch his bearings, some members of staff came rushing over.

'Stop it!' One of the men shouted. 'You wanna fight, take it outside-this is a hospital, dammit!'

Almost on cue, Punk came barging over, looking furious.

'What the fuck is wrong with you two?' He yelled, dragging John off of Sheamus with a surprisingly effortless tug. 'Shar's back there beaten up and you two are acting like douchebags!' Pointing at Sheamus, who was slowly getting to his feet, he demanded of John, 'What did he do, huh? Pull your hair? Steal your lunchbox?'

'He slept with Shar!'

Everything stopped, following John's outburst. Punk gaped at him, then turned to Sheamus, the exact same horrified expression on his face.

'Is that true?' he asked quietly. Too quietly.

'Ah, jaysus,' Sheamus grunted, finally standing now. 'Yeah, yeah, it's bleedin' true. But I wasn't the only one there, lads. And I didn't force the lass.'

Punk walked over, face set. Sheamus wasn't afraid of him, but he knew that he had an infamously fiery temper, much like Sheamus himself.

'You'd better start from the beginning.' Punk said. 'And don't leave anything out.'

So, Sheamus related everything, starting with Sharona seeking his help against the Nexus, their first and only night together, and the revelation that the Nexus somehow knew all about it. He ended with showing Punk the note they'd left for him.

John still looked furious, but Punk just looked contemplative, which Sheamus somehow found more intimidating than if he'd tried hitting him as well.

Finally, he asked him, 'So Shar slept with you willingly? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but she's never shown any interest in you before, and if I find out that she's lying in a hospital bed because you blackmailed her into…'

Now it was Sheamus' turn to explode-he grabbed Punk by his shirt, shaking him like a rag doll. To the Chicago native's credit, he showed absolutely no fear, just shouting, 'Tell me, dammit! Just tell me that it meant something!'

'I have done a lot of things in my life, fella,' Sheamus panted, trembling with anger and frustration. 'Some of them I'm not proud of. But I have never, in me life, tried to force a girl into my bed, in any way. What happened between us was somethin' we both wanted. As a matter of fact, she was comin' to see me again the night she was attacked.'

Both Cena and Punk now looked furious, but nonplussed, Sheamus went on, 'I never meant for this to happen to her-and those bastards'll pay for what they did. I care about the lass, she…'

And he stopped. Everything stopped, as the realization hit him.

This wasn't about sex-maybe it never had been about sex.

He cared about Shar.

Jaysus, he'd fallen for the lass, without even knowing it.

And judging by the changed looks on Punk and Cena's faces, they were just as surprised about it as he was.

'She means a lot to me.' He admitted. 'And I can swear to ya that the Nexus will wish they'd never laid a finger on her by the time I'm finished with them.'

John looked about to say something, when suddenly, a doctor came rushing over.

'I've just been talking to Sharona's mother.' He told them. 'Sharona has just woken up.'…

Coming up: Sharona has to face her friends after the truth about her tryst with Sheamus has emerged-and the Celtic Warrior makes a confession, and a decision. Please R&R! : ) Ellen.