For the eighth time in the last hour, Jessica's phone rang and played the same ringtone.

And for the eighth time in the last hour, she hit the ignore button.

What could he possibly be thinking? Did he really believe that if he got just one more moment of her time that she'd actually be convinced to leave John?

Now that she was in Tampa, she knew that she couldn't pick up the phone; it was easier for him to get to her if he knew that she was there.

Angrily, she threw it into a kitchen drawer and shut it, no longer wanting to hear the noise.

"What did that phone ever do to you?"

The blonde whipped her head around to find her fiancé leaning against the doorframe and scowled, "That's not funny."

He tried to stop chuckling as he approached her and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry. I know you've been a little stressed lately."

Damn. He's noticed.

"I just have a lot on my plate," she covered with a sigh, turning around to continue working on dinner.

At least she wasn't lying.

"I know, baby," John nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist. "But you're going to have to make a little more food tonight."

A wry smile spread across his fiancée's face, "John, don't you think it's a little early for that?"

John laughed heartily, "I'm going to have to take a rain check on that, Jess. I actually invited over some company."

"Oh," Jessica smiled and turned around, just in time to hear the door ring. "I'll get it."

"Alright," the Massachusetts native nodded as he watched her retreat into the foyer.

And just as he turned to the stove to take a taste of the soup on the range, he was halted in his tracks, "Leave it alone!"

"Where's Ron Simmons when you need him?"

Laughing at the wrestler's antics, she reached for the door and pulled it open, "Baby, I don't know if I have enough food for Rob..."

But on the other side of the door, she didn't find Rob Sullivan, John's childhood friend from his Cushing Academy days.

"Dwayne?" her hazel eyes widened as she laid eyes on the thirty-four year old, half-Samoan.

His lips gave way to his sterling grin. "Hey, Jess."

And while she did open her mouth to reply, the only sound audible was her body hitting the floor.


The Diva's eyes fluttered open and locked with a pair of concerned, sapphire ones.

"John?" she asked in a whisper. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Are you alright, Jess? I heard you fall from the kitchen. And it was loud."

"Are you trying to insinuate that I need to lose weight?"

John sighed in relief. Her playful humor had returned.

"Never."

"I remember I mentioned her weight once…" a voice interred, causing Jessica to silently wince. "And I also remember the bruise that I had on my arm as a result. It didn't go away for three weeks."

The twenty-seven year old blonde didn't even want to turn her head in the direction of the voice. After all, she fully knew who it was.

And that was the problem.

She had hoped that it was all a bad dream, a very bad dream brought on by a slip or a fall on the brand new tile in the Tampa house.

But it wasn't. Unfortunately.

"I'm fine," she muttered, rising quickly to a sitting position, much faster than she should have. Instantly, she grew dizzy.

"Whoa," John place a hand between her shoulder blades. "Not so fast there, killer. Dawyne, watch her. I'm going to go get some ice."

"Sure, man," Dwayne assured the younger man with a nod and then turned towards Jessica after he had left the room. "You okay?"

The blonde scoffed audibly, "I was peachy keen until you got here. Why the hell did you come here?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Well, because John asked me to."

"You could have told him no," she hissed, holding the back of her head.

"Plus, I wanted to spend time with you."

"Why am I not shocked?" she shook her head in frustration. "And by the way, thanks for the headache."

"Come on, Jess." The half-Samoan tolled his eyes. "What kind of a husband would walk away from his wife after she possibly suffered a concussion?"

Dwayne was starting to push all of the wrong buttons… and it was pissing Jessica off.

She grit her teeth together. "He's not my husband yet."

"Exactly," he replied with a poignant not. "Imagine how he'll be when you're married."

"Dwayne, I don't have the time, nor the patience for this anymore."

In the nick of time, John returned with an ice pack for her head. "Look what I've got."

Relieved, his fiancée smiled, "I love ice… but not as much as I love you."

He returned her grin boyishly and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you too, Jess. So what's for dinner, babe?"

She shook her head with a laugh as he helped her to her feet. "You and that stomach of yours! It's non-stop, isn't it?"

"That's not all that's non-stop," he replied suggestively with a wink.

"John!" she exclaimed, pretending she was appalled, when really, she was overjoyed at his selection of that moment to make a reference to their sex life. "We have a guest."

"My bad," he apologized half-heartedly. "So… dinner?"

"You're ridiculous." Jessica shook her head once again. "I think it should be ready by now… gentlemen, just take a seat at the table."


Dinner had gone relatively well at the Cena/McMahon household. Dwayne had behaved himself and Jessica had not been forced to kill him.

Although, she had come rather close to offing her fiancé upon his decision to invite Dwayne over for dinner again tomorrow because John would be at his friend, Matt's, for lunch. Jessica wouldn't be joining him, as she had a conference call with corporate tomorrow at that time.

For the better part of the last hour, Jessica had sat in her office on "an important business call," wondering how she could be so angry with the man who had been one of her best friends for her entire career.

In fact, she hadn't been on a business call, let alone on the phone at all.

Instead, she just needed some time to work things out in her head and since Cody wasn't available to talk, there was no one to help her.

Except…

Instantly, Jessica McMahon tried to push the thought out of her head, but it was there. And it wasn't going away until she did what the voice in her head.

She had to make that phone call, no matter how risky it was.


"Hey, it's me," Jessica stated politely into the phone.

"Hey, Jess," the female on the other end replied brightly, "Hold on one second."

For the thirty seconds she was on hold, Jessica heard a mumbled conversation between the young woman and the other person in the room.

And then, a raspy voice was now audible through the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Randy," she greeted him in a tone less cheery than normal.

"Something's wrong," he stated concernedly. "I hear it in your voice. What's wrong, Jess?"

She exhaled deeply, clutching the phone closer to her ear. "You have to promise me you won't say anything to John. Please, Randy. Promise me."

"Jess, I…"

"Randy," his friend cut her off. "You're the best guy friend I have and I love you as though you were my brother. I swear, I love you more than my own sister. I just need you to do this for me. I have no one to talk to."

Randy breathed in and out loudly. "Let me go upstairs."

"So you mean to tell me that Paul never told you that Dwayne is in love with you?"

Jessica nodded for her own benefit, "Well, he eventually did. But he did hide it from me, yes."

"I can't believe him," Randy grit his teeth. "Dwayne's worse. He leaves his wife and breaks up his marriage so that he can try and break up yours? What a fucking asshole."

"Randy…"

"I'm so sick of him. Everything's, 'Oh, the WWE hasn't been the same since The Rock left' and 'I wish the Rock would come back.' But the man turned his back on his roots," he continued to rant, with Jessica now staying silent on the other end of the line. "He says he still loves this business, but he has to make a name for himself elsewhere. Make a name… it's laughable. He has to either go by 'The Rock' or Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in order to be a draw for a movie. But ask him to come back, just for an appearance… no! You can't do that. Because he, the egocentric, narcissistic jackass that he is, can't spare the time to help out the business that allows him to cash in a sweet paycheck from the movie studios. And now, the asshole is trying to prevent your wedding?" the third-generation wrestler seethed and cracks his knuckles. "Over my dead fucking body."

In the silence that followed his verbal rampage, Randy began thinking about their friendship in retrospect, harder than she ever had.

She had always been his constant in a business that was like a revolving door for talent.

When he was a stone's throw away from being kicked out of the WWE, she had thrown him a life preserver in the form of her friendship, saving him from being just another star that burned off way too early in his life.

She was the reason that he was in line for a title run in the next year.

She was the reason that he was dating Samantha and not screwing some random girl from the bar down the road on any given night in St. Louis.

Jessica had given him so much… and now, he was going to repay her for everything she had done.


"You don't have to do that, man," John assured Dwayne as he loaded some dishes into the dishwasher. "I've got it."

"Please," Dwayne shook him off. "It's the least I can do. Jessica cooked a great meal… speaking of which, where is she?"

John put down a dish and furrowed his eyebrows. "Good question."

"Mind if I go upstairs and look for her?"

"It'll get you to stop trying to clean up…" John laughed. "So go for it."

"Knock, knock…"

Her body froze up at the sound of his voice, but she would not will herself to turn around. "What is it?"

He laughed, "I wanted to check on you, that's all. You've been up here a while. I figured that something was wrong."

Jessica wheeled around slowly, her hazel eyes locking with the chocolate brown orbs of the half-Samoan man in front of her.

She had trusted him with just about everything in her life. In fact, he was the only person she ever spoke to about her issues with John all of those years ago.

"Something is wrong, Dwayne," she sighed heavily, placing her cell phone back onto the desk in the office. "Or rather, someone is wrong. You are wrong."

The six foot, four inch man before her leaned against the wall. "No, I'm not. I know how I feel."

"Correction," Jessica she replied sharply, "You used to know how I felt. You knew how I felt about John all of those years ago and you knew how badly the rift between us was eating me up inside. I used to be able to turn to you with my problems, knowing that you'd be able to tell me what to do because you knew me so well, Dwayne. But now, as far as my relationship with John goes, you've become the problem. And I want you to fix it… I don't want things to be like this anymore."

"They don't have to be like this," Dwayne assured her, folding his arms over his muscular chest, hiding beneath his navy tee shirt. "You could just…"

"No, Dwayne," the young woman cut him off abruptly. "I can't."

Dwayne shook his head and stood up straight. "Can't or won't?

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she shot back, arching an eyebrow at him.

He couldn't help but laugh, "Cute."

"It's not funny. Stay on the subject here. What do you mean 'can't or won't?'"

The bronze-skinned wrestler-turned-actor approached her, "It wouldn't have been okay back then… dating the boss's daughter. Don't you remember how bad it was for Steph and Paul, at first. I mean, I was what? Twenty-seven? And you were barely old enough to legally drink at the time."

Jessica tilted her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

His lips widened into a trademark grin. "Like you don't know. Come on, Jess, admit. Way before Cena came back into the picture and even before Jeff Hardy came around, I was the guy you wanted, but couldn't have."

"You were married," she shot back.

"You and I both know that Dany and I were never happy, not even then. She was the only one who stuck by me through thick and thin during college and my father said that if I had a good image outside of the ring, Vince would be more inclined to give me a push."

Jessica shot out of her chair and onto her feet like a bat out of hell. "My father is not like that."

"Oh yeah?" he retorted, raising his eyebrows. "If that's the case, then why do guys like Randy Orton get punished for being jackasses outside of the ring and then get their push back once they clean themselves back up and put their lives back together."

"It's a reward system for those who can prove themselves," she replied icily. "And DON'T talk about Randy like he's some kind of delinquent."

"That's right, Jess… you were the one who brought him back to the good side. Kudos on that."

"You know, mocking me isn't exactly the best way to get back on my good side."

He let out a slightly chuckle and advanced towards her, "So you want me back on your good side."

"That's not what I said," she warned him.

"I know you too well, Jess. I know that somewhere, deep inside, you still love me the way you used to," he continued to speak as he walked forward, further into the room.

The blonde shook her head, her caramel tresses moving with her, "I'm not going to lie to you, Dwayne. I used to love you… really love you as more than just a friend. But I was twenty-one, maybe twenty-two years old and fresh out of college. I didn't know where I was going in life or what I was going to do. I was three years reconciled with the father I had barely known from the time I was seven until my freshman year at BC. And you were married to Dany, your college sweetheart. I was young, I was confused. I didn't know what I wanted back then. But I know now," she added and then paused for a moment. "I know that I love John Cena, I always have."

The tall, bronze-skinned man in front of her reached out a hand and grazed it along her cheek, finally cupping the skin in his rough palm.

His chocolate brown eyes bore into her own as he spoke softly to the attractive blonde, "But you never said you always will."

Then, without warning, he leaned in and pressed his lips against her… just as John Cena walked through the open door.


A/N: Okay, so I know it has been forever, but college is a lot more time-consuming than high school. Well, at least that's what I've come to realize anyway.

I'm on a co-ed floor, which is WONDERFUL, and there is this really cute and funny guy that lives on it. He's a sweetheart. I love the guys on this floor. Especially the late night karaoke sessions we seem to have in the lounge.

So this is really going to be the start of all of the drama in the story. Randy knows about Dwayne and how Paul hid it… and now, John is obviously aware of the situation.

It's going to become a very interesting dynamic. I think there are probably going to be the same amount of chapters in this story as in SAR I and II. However, at the end, it's going to flash forward in Chapter 19, flash back in Chapter 20, and then flash forward again in 21, which will be the present at the point in the story. Confused yet? Don't worry, it'll all make sense later on.

And without further adieu…

Simply Priceless – No, you never do get your Cody fill. And now that Cody has the title back, I'm sure your opinion of the writers is excellent at the moment. Just kidding. Love you, Becks.

Sideways anger – Leave it to Creative to screw up a perfectly good opportunity. I mean, now that Steph had little Murphy Claire, it's totally time for her comeback!

Purplefeather21 – I'm glad I made your night, all those weeks ago, better. I hope this one does the same. And as for Dwayne, well… he just might.

Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – Please, the mention of John's boyish grin makes me giddy.

Cenafan1395 – I didn't update soon at all, so I apologize. I'll do better next time. I swear.

2 Die is 2 Live – Thank you! You have no idea how large of a compliment that is. And now, it is definitely too late to tell Jess… but it might be too late for her to tell John, as well.

iNdy MiLk – Have I really made you that paranoid that you're examining everything I've written because I'm sneaky? My bad. No, she's not pregnant. Interestingly enough, I hadn't even thought of that writing that exact description. Good call.

Queen Chaos-Hardy – Girrrrllll, I have stuff to tell you! I hope you like this chapter. MISS YOU!

CanadianBrunette619 – Sorry this wasn't soon enough. But thankfully, Jericho is back to his tights.

Cena-holic8 – Please, I am GLUED to my itty bitty college bed.

Giftiebee – Her life is just f-ed up. How are you doing in your post-Hurricane area?

Preciouskat – STFU! You are so damn lucky, girl! How did you figure that out? Seriously… that's RIDICULOUS. I'm stuck in a tiny dorm at college and you're living near John Cena? SO UNFAIR!

Sambolina – I think she's going to be quite upset about the Dwayne thing now, don't you? Haha. The Chihuahua.

ThatsMe – That seems to be the popular sentiment, but there is A LOT of resistance to that.

Aaron – Total explosion is a very good choice of words.

Westfan – Hey Kace, you think this is enough drama?

Dj-ssdd – Unfortunately, I updated rather late on this one. But I hope this insane ending made up for it.

Nic-002001 – Oh my God! You are so not a bad person! But I am flattered you feel guilty that you didn't review, it must mean that you value my opinion. And ANOTHER girl that can't stop talking about that Cena smile! Are you all TRYING to kill me?

Jun6293 – No review EVER sucks. EVER. I appreciate yours… and I am honored that I was the first author you read an update for.

Latisha C – Hmm… very interesting. I'm glad that Dwayne is starting to appeal to a wider base of fans.

And what a perfect segue to this…

Poll results at this point in time:

John Cena – 78 percent

The Rock – 22 percent

That's very interesting indeed.

On a side note, I have stopped watching RAW because of John's absense (we miss you, JC! Come back soon… like, before my show in December!) and the impending premiere of Heroes tonight (on Sept 22nd).

I don't know. WWE television is just in a severe rut right now.

On a side note… I think I'm going to have to write a paper about the benefits of writing fan fiction in my English class here at Rutgers University.

I'm going to kick ass and get an A on it. I KNOW it.

Peace out and rock out, Rebels!

Danielle