Chapter 10

Arriving at the hotel with Serice, Jon walked into his room and collapsed on the bed, his eyes landing on his troubled childhood friend. "So food first or talk and food at the same time?"

Serice sighed heavily, knowing Jon was hurting from his match and starving too. "Order the food. We can have this talk while we wait for it to arrive." She said, already knowing what he was going to say as she looked down at her gloved hands. He asked her what she wanted and she just said chicken strips with fries, something quick and simple. Serice had to get up at the crack of dawn to catch her plane back to Cincinnati, so she didn't want anything too heavy on her stomach. "Hold on." She whispered as soon as Jon hung up the phone with room service and grabbed her bag. "I'm gonna change into my sleeping clothes. I'll be right out and then we can talk."

She disappeared into the bathroom moments later and changed into her skull pants and shirt, keeping her gloves on. She took the 50 bobby pins out of her hair, her black hair pooling down her back and over her shoulder in loose curls. Washing the makeup from her face, Serice patted her face dry and finally walked out with bag in hand, setting it by the side of the bed, sitting back down.

"What do you wanna talk about now?"

Jon had changed while she was in the bathroom in black pajama bottoms and a black beater, sitting on the bed facing her. "I got a call from my Mom - Actually first let me back up and say for the record, I do not want you to leave tomorrow. I'm not tired of you, you haven't gotten on my nerves and I would've hated to see you go. But it was your decision. With that being said – moving forward. I'm not letting you leave tomorrow." Serice started to protest and Jon held up his hand, stopping her. "Just let me finish and then you can have your say, I promise." When she gave him a curt nod, he swallowed hard. "The call I took from my Mom was to let me know you don't have a home to go back to in Cincinnati. The government came and took whatever was left behind and they re-rented the apartment you and your Mom lived in. My mother was able to get whatever clothes you left behind, so if you want them she'll mail them to you." Jon moved around until he was squatting down in front of Serice. "Listen to me, I never should've left there without you. I should've either taken you with me or come back for you. I want you to move to Tampa and live with me Serice." She'd be able to read his face and know he was telling the truth about everything.

Serice felt her chest tighten and swallowed hard, not believing Suzanne had called Jon to tell him about the apartment. Now he was asking her to live with him. "No." She shook her head, pulling away from him and stood up, just needing some space away from him. "I've known about the apartment being gone for several weeks, Jon. And I also know what it means. You don't know what you're asking. You don't have a clue what you're asking. If you knew…" Serice stopped herself, tearing her hands through her current curly hair as tears swelled in her eyes. "No, I can't. This is insane and you've completely lost your mind. I'm no good and I'm better off in Cincinnati. It's not your fault that I wound up this way, you left to pursue your dream and to get away from all the bad shit. I'm so proud of you and happy that you did that." Blinking, huge tears slid down Serice's face as Jon came toward her and she immediately moved to the other side of the room, staring out the window. "I have to leave tomorrow. It's for your own damn good, so just leave it alone."

"No, I'm not gonna leave this alone Serice." He walked over and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. Her tears were going to be the death of him, but Jon had to find out what the hell was going on. "Talk to me. Tell me what the fuck happened when I left. I'm not letting you go back to that shithole town just to lose you. You've always been the best part of my life growing up and I know I was the asshole who lost touch with you when I set out to capture my goals. My biggest regret was not coming back and getting you. I know I fucked up by leaving you and I can't even imagine what you had to endure after I left. But I want to know. I want to know everything." Serice shook her head vehemently, getting ready to protest again. "Goddamn it Serice, I can't lose you again!" Jon could feel his temper starting to climb because he was just as stubborn as she was, if not worse.

"I'm not the same Serice I was back then!" Serice snapped, desperation entering her voice as she tried pulling away from him again, but Jon was steadfast. She could see how much he wanted her to stay in his eyes and it killed her – absolutely DESTROYED her inside. "Goddamn it, open your eyes, Jon! I'm DAMAGED goods! You wanna know what happened to poor little ol' me? You really wanna know what I went through and all the pain I had to suffer after you left? Huh?" She suddenly shoved him as hard as she could, making him stumble back a few feet and Serice was past the point of rational thinking. "Fine, I'll tell you everything, you stubborn son of a bitch!" Ripping the gloves off, Serice tossed them at him and held her arms out, the 3 inch deep scars clear as day in his vision. More tears spilled down Serice's cheeks as Jon's eyes shot open, the shock evident on his face. "When I said I was damaged goods, I wasn't lying. After you left, my mother got injured and couldn't…do her 'job', so what do you think she did? She sent her only daughter in her place. Her 18 year old daughter was forced to whore herself out in order to keep putting food on the table and a roof over their heads. Her daughter was still a virgin when her mother's first 'client' took her and he knew it, so he beat the fuck out of her. After a month of whoring around for my mother, I couldn't take it anymore and tried ending my life. I felt so ashamed, disgusting and degraded because of what I had to do. I didn't want to live anymore. So what does my Mom do? She sends me away to an institution for crazy people the state paid for, so she didn't have to worry about me anymore. They actually helped me realize that life is worth living for, no matter how shitty it is. I didn't want to leave that place, but when I was 21, I was released from it. My Mom left me alone after that and, even though we lived under the same roof, we were complete strangers to each other. She died alone in her room with a cigarette in one hand and bottle of Vodka in the other while I went out walking the streets. I refused to let her say her goodbyes to me because I truly hate her for what she made me do, for what she took from me. So do you really want a whore staying with you in your beautiful home in Tampa, Jon? Because that's all I am – a damaged goods whore."

Jon frowned, stepping closer to Serice since she was breathing hard and tears were rolling down her beautiful face. "Do you think I see you as damaged goods? Whatever you did after I left was because your mother was an asshole, just like my mother was. I barely talk to my Mom, it's not like I'm gonna walk away from you if you hated yours. You've got actual reason to hate her." Jon gripped Serice's waist and steered her back to sit on the bed, kneeling down in front of her again. "I don't care what you did to stay alive. All I do care about is that you're still here now."

Taking both of her hands, Jon turned them over to study the 3 inch scars down her arms. Scars of a survivor. Even though she tried ending her life, it simply wasn't her time to die. Jon placed feather soft kisses against the lengths of the scars on each arm, closing his eyes silently thanking whoever had watched over Serice that day.

"These – These are battle scars. They tell your history, what you survived and show how strong you are now because of them. Dudes dig scars, I dig you and I want you with me in Tampa, by any means necessary." Jon was completely serious and dared Serice to try arguing with him. She would not win this time.

"I didn't want to do it." Serice whispered brokenly, lowering her head only for Jon to lift it back up by her chin, tear-filled citrine eyes meeting electric blue.

He still wanted her with him even after everything she told him. Her whoring around to survive because of her mother and her suicide attempt…none of it mattered to him. Why was she so surprised? This was Jonathan Good and just because he was a major wrestler for the WWE didn't mean he had to change as a person. He was still the same as he was when they were kids, just a little more rough around the edges.

"I'm not catching a plane back to Cincinnati tomorrow, am I?" It was more of a statement than a question and Jon solidified that fact by firmly shaking his head. "You're such a pain in the ass, Good."

"You're not going anywhere that I'm not going. I don't care if we are 90 years old with a 1,000 cats, we're doing it together, Serice." Jon stood up and sat on the bed next to her, lifting her to straddle his lap wrapping his arms around her waist. "If you want your old clothes, call my Mom and tell her. If not, when we get back to Tampa, I can take you shopping for new ones or you can to go with Ganesa. I think she's gonna be a stable in both of our lives for a long time now that her and big man found each other." He kissed the top of her head. "Whatever you need, we'll get or replace. I don't care what it is. If you need it or want it, you tell me and it's yours. I don't care how small, big or expensive it is, do you hear me?"

Serice nodded, leaning her head against his shoulder and sniffled, closing her eyes. For the first time in her life, she didn't feel the need to cover her arms because they didn't seem to bother Jon. There was no way she'd ever ask Jon to buy her anything. She had her laptop and IPOD that was pretty much all Serice had her entire life and they were enough. Jon wanted her to move to Tampa with him and that was fine for now, but what about when he finally found a woman to be with? Serice swallowed hard, knowing she had to find a job to support herself because she couldn't rely on Jon for the rest of her life.

"Alright you win." She looked up at him, feeling his thumbs brush her tears away from her cheeks. "I'll move in with you. But I won't be able to travel with you all the time because I have a stipulation about that. I'll only live with you if I can pay my own way. I'll get a job and pay you half for rent and utilities and travel with you when I have days off." She pressed her finger against his lips before he could argue. "I have to support myself, Jon. I can't rely on someone to take care of me for the rest of my life, not even you. I won't live like that. And I won't live in your home in Tampa for free either. I don't care if you have all the money in the world."

"Hey, so far I got a win-win situation. I'm not pushing my luck tonight." Jon chuckled, running his finger down her cheek. "We'll talk about the job thing. You should inquire what Stephanie had in mind for you. She's fucking smart as a whip and if she had so much interest in you with one look, she's already got an idea for you. She won't disappoint and I'm sure whatever it pays will make you happy and be more than worth it." He reached up to wipe her tears away with his thumb. "No more tears please, Serice. You're killing me, baby." Kissing her cheek softly, Jon leaned back and grabbed something hidden under his pillow, handing over a small box to Serice. "I got you something. You're going to have days when you're gonna wanna walk and explore cities we're in and even at home in Tampa. My place is right off the beach. When you go, you'll take this cell phone with you. My number along with Ganesa, Joe, Colby and Celeste are already programmed into it. Unlimited everything, so go crazy until your heart is content. And since you're not a fan of the touchscreen on my phone, yours has an actual keyboard."

Serice stared wide eyed down at the small box and swallowed hard, not believing Jon actually got her a phone. She'd never had one of her own and slowly opened the box, pulling the contraption out to study it. Jon already had this planned out. He wasn't planning on ever letting her leave to go back to Cincinnati.

"Thank you and you're still a pain in the ass." She felt his arms tighten around her and handed the phone to him so he could show her how to work everything. It was very high-tech, so Serice was thankful it had a keyboard instead of all being touchscreen. "Do you think Stephanie was serious about the job offer?" She asked softly, tucking a black curl behind her ear and looked into Jon's eyes. "Because if I got a job with the WWE, I would be able to travel with you and support myself at the same time." Before Jon could say anything, they heard Ganesa's voice through the door about food arriving and Serice instantly hopped off of Jon's lap, knowing he was starving.

Everyone relaxed for the rest of the night and celebrated in their own ways on the Shield's very first match and victory in WWE.