It was June 11, 2001 when Diana McMahon passed away in her sleep. The doctors had said that it could not be attributed to pre-existing conditions and that it was due to natural causes, but it failed to distract Jessica from the fact that her grandmother was gone.

Diana's funeral was on a sunny Friday morning. Per her request, Jeff would not be attending the service, as she wanted to merely be with her family and friends back in her hometown.

The only regret Jessica had when it came to her now ex-boyfriend was that she had led him on to an extent, only to break things off in the wake of tragedy. Surprisingly, though, Jeff understood that she needed some time to herself and figured that if they were meant to be in a relationship, they'd make their way back to each other eventually.

The first thing she had done, though, when she arrived in West Newbury was taking trip back to the house in which she grew up, which as stated in Diana's will, now belonged to her. It had been hard for her to bare, going back and knowing that she'd never grace the halls again and that Jessica would never walk through the door to the familiar scent of her cookies in the oven. The mere thought of it killed her.

The community would soon be gathering to celebrate the life of one of their most beloved residents. The Cenas, including Carol and Steve, would be coming out for the occasion, as well. Yet nothing could take Jessica's mind off of the fact that Diana McMahon was gone and she was never coming back.


"John, are you… crying?"

"What?" he replied quickly, snapping shut his wallet and wiping urgently at his face.

"It looks like you've been crying," Liz sat down on the bed next to him and placed her engagement ring clad hand on his leg. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" he trailed off, staring out the window.

"Nothing, huh?" she shook her head. "Who was that on the phone?"

"My dad," John sighed sadly. "Diana McMahon died a few nights ago."

Liz suddenly tensed up, "Wasn't that Jessica's grandmother?"

"Yeah, so?" he turned his gaze toward his fiancée.

"Here we go again…" she rolled her eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. Would you mind telling me why your suitcase is packed with practically everything you own?" Liz gestured to the overstuffed piece of luggage at the foot of their bed.

"Because I'm going up there for the funeral," he replied simply.

"You know, John," she got off of the bed and put her hands on her hips, "Sometimes, you're such a sucker."

"Excuse me?" he shot back angrily. "Could you please repeat that for me? I couldn't hear your words over your bitching."

"You know EXACTLY what I said, Cena," she replied curtly. "And it's true. You ARE a sucker. Every single time something happens to Jessica, you're ready to run back like an abused puppy!"

"Who says I'm going just for her?" he folded his arms over his chest.

"Okay, John, I'll bite…" Liz rolled her eyes noticeably. "Who are you going for?"

"Did you ever think, for one second, that maybe… just maybe, I was going because she was my neighbor for my entire life?" he offered. "Or perhaps because she was like a second mother to me?"

"Or because Jessica will be there?" she miffed at him, mentioning a notion which John had yet to even think about much.

"That's it, isn't it?" he smirked at her.

"Oh… please do fill me in on your little epiphany, John," she mused at him.

"All this time, even after all these years… you've been constantly competing with Jessica," he explained. "Even when she wasn't around."

"Yeah… okay, you caught me," she laughed at him sarcastically.

Ignoring her comment, John continued, "I told her to try and get along with you and she tried, for my sake, but all along…" he trailed off, rubbing his jaw line in marvel. "It was you. You were the one who couldn't get along with my best friend, who made fun of my brothers and ignored my parents' hospitality. You were the reason I made my life this way. You were the reason I bought this," he stated, holding up her left hand and gazing at her engagement ring.

He slid the ring off of her finger and inspected it between his fingertips for a while before pocketing it in his gym shorts.

"And now, Liz," John shook his head at her, fighting off certain consumption by his emotions, "You're the reason I'm taking it back."

John dropped her hand immediately and it smacked into her thigh instantaneously.

Liz watched him carefully, running her shaking fingers through her dark blonde hair, as he scurried about the room, picking up his important items that he hadn't already packed away.

"What are you doing, John?" she tapped her sandal at him.

He placed the last of the items in his gym bag, zipped it up, and slung it over his right shoulder as he picked up the suitcase in his left.

"Something I was too stupid to do a long time ago… leaving," he stared at her bitterly and pushed the door to the bedroom, leaving Liz standing in what used to be the bedroom they shared, only to cringe as the front door slammed shut.


The sun shone down brightly on the funeral procession as the friends and family of Diana McMahon gathered to say goodbye to the woman they adored for the last time.

Jessica stood before the cherry wood casket and stared at the casing which held her grandmother. For her, it was hard to believe that she was really in there. For a while, she thought that Diana might jump out from behind the gathering, but Jessica knew that wasn't her style. The truth sunk in more than ever as tears began to flow freely from her hazel orbs.

As the priest concluded part of his sermon, he called her forward to present her eulogy.


It was a little breezy at the cemetery and John was glad that he had worn a suit jacket to the proceedings.

He knew he was a few minutes late to the gravesite, but he didn't want her to know he was there; it would be easier for her. Surely, Diana would have understood.

John leaned against a large tree on his left and watched as the scene unfolded before them. He saw his parents and four brothers, along with Steve's fiancée, sitting in the second row. Before them sat the McMahon family and he assumed that his father was blocking out Jessica, sitting on the aisle beside her brother.

The priest finished his part of the eulogy, dedicated to one of his favorite and most passionate churchgoers, and called upon Jessica on behalf of Diana's family and friends.

She rose to her feet, in the exact place John had assumed she sat, her knee length black dress waving in the light breeze. The five foot, seven inch Jessica McMahon looked substantially taller and he attributed that to her high heels. As he stood there, he watched her carefully and noticed her hair was a bit shorter and her fuchsia tips had vanished. He guessed that she had cut them off for the funeral.

"This is probably the hardest thing I'll have to do in my lifetime," she began, wiping a lone tear from her cheek. "When I arrived in West Newbury in 1985, I didn't know that I would wind up growing up here. For years, I lamented being brought up away from my siblings, but as I stand before you this morning, I realize that I would not have been the person I am today if it wasn't for my grandmother. Diana McMahon was one of the kindest, most caring people I have ever known. She never saw a person's race or religion when she looked at them and despite her obsession with keeping her wooden floors dry," Jessica laughed through her tears and smiled at the thought, "Everyone can agree that she made the best cookies on the planet.

The gathering laughed at this notion and mumbled amongst themselves in agreement.

"But the Diana McMahon I knew behind the green doors and aluminum siding of her house was different than the Diana McMahon that most knew. I was only five years old when my grandfather died and while the few memories I have of him are good ones, I loved hearing her stories about him. Most of my favorite stories would be about our similarities and how we would say and do the same things. She said to me once that I have Grandpa's eyes and shared his passion for life. For a long time, it saddened me that because she married into the family, she and I could never share any traits, but as I thought about what to talk about this morning, over the past couple of days, I realized how wrong I was. While physical similarities may not exist between us, my grandmother and I share a value of honesty and loyalty to those we love and care for the most," Jessica began to tear up again, her voice shaking, and she had to pause to collect herself.

"And that is the imprint my grandmother has left upon me that I will forever bare with grace and gratitude. To Vincent James McMahon, she was a loving wife. To Vince and Linda McMahon, a caring mother and mother-in-law. Too Shane, Stephanie, and Jessica McMahon, a beloved and devoted grandmother. Most importantly, she will always be the woman I model my life after, whose shoes I hope to half fill, and whose shadow I am honored to forever walk in."

After concluding her eulogy, she walked gracefully towards the casket, kissed her fingertips, and gently pressed them upon the wood.

She then made her way down the stairs and looked up for a brief moment, but shook her head and took a seat. Moments later, she found comfort and solace in the arms of her older brother, seated beside Marissa.

After the sermon concluded, the McMahon family took turns shoveling the dirt into the ground as a symbolic goodbye.

Jessica decided she needed some time and space, so she broke away from the pack of mourners and sat underneath a tree by the lake nearby Diana's grave.

Moments later, she felt a hand upon her shoulder.


To John, Jessica looked more destroyed and depressed as he had ever seen, but her eulogy was absolutely beautiful.

Originally, he had planned to leave without being seen, but now, he wasn't sure. He saw her move away from the gravesite and head towards the lake, yet he decided to follow her. He watched as she sat down and pulled her knees to her chest, nesting her arms and chin upon them.

He decided to take the risk and slowly stepped towards her. While it appeared that she intended to achieve some space, and even though five long years had passed, no one knew Jessica McMahon better than John Cena.

Gently, he placed a hand upon her shoulder.

She turned around and a confused look washed over her tear-stained face.

"John?"

"Yeah," he nodded sheepishly. "Can we go somewhere in private for a little while?"


John trailed Jessica into the parking facility across the street from the cemetery in complete silence. They finally stopped in front of a car and she turned around to face him.

Jessica couldn't help but feel indifference at the moment and as she leaned against her car, could only eye him suspiciously.

"You still drive that thing?" he asked her, marveling at her Sunfire.

"You came back to West Newbury, to my grandmother's funeral, to ask me about my car?" she replied slowly, her words laced with bitterness.

"I, uh… no," he shook his head. "I came here because we need to talk."

"No," Jessica sneered at him, "You came here because YOU need to talk. I, for one, was done talking five years ago. You remember that, don't you, John? You hung up on me after telling me that you'd rather be with your precious girlfriend than with your separating parents. Oh wait," she corrected herself, "I'm sorry… your FIANCEE."

"Ex-fiancée," he replied, as it was now his turn to do the correcting.

"Well, look at you," she smirked, "You finally wised up to what the wicked bitch of the west was doing all of these years."

"I realized a couple of days ago what she had been doing all along and I know that it took me far too long," John admitted. "But I've been trying, I really have. I'm trying to rebuild my relationship with my parents and my brothers…"

"You call three days trying, John?"

"No, but I can call it a start."

"Well, good for you," Jessica smiled curtly at him. "Would you like a golden star?"

"I would like to tell you that I'm sorry… because I really am sorry, Jessica," he apologized and for a moment, Jessica actually began to feel the sincerity in his voice.

Quickly, though, she pushed it aside.

"Sorry for what, John?" she challenged him, running her hands through her blonde hair. "Sorry for the year I spent crying myself to sleep every night? Or sorry for the fact that I had to spend my entire summer break at your Dad's house, taking care of your brothers while he was at work, because you were off playing house with your girlfriend? You're going to have to be a little bit more specific than that…"

"All of it," he replied simply. "I'm sorry for all of it."

"Oh, why thank you, John Cena," Jessica answered dramatically, "That just erased the last five years of my life and made everything 100 better!"

"What do you want me to say, Jessica?" John asked her in frustration, rubbing his hands over his face.

"How about words that actually mean something to me?" her voice dropped to a slightly softer level, as she looked her former neighbor in the eyes.

"Words that means something?"

"I could have pulled an 'I'm sorry, Jessica' out of a cereal box and it might have meant more to me than that one. What do you really want to say to me, John?" Jessica continued to press him. "I still know you better than anyone else, John, and your eyes are telling me that you want to say more, so say it. Say what you really want to say."

John sighed heavily. The girl still knew him best.

"I was stupid, okay?" he threw his hands up into the air. "I let my best friend go because I fell in love with a girl… a girl who made me believe she was something that she was not and a girl I was stupid to think I could spend my life with."

For the first time in the conversation, Jessica didn't have a comeback or a one-lined putdown. Now she was silent and it finally appeared as though Jessica was listening.

"I never understood the consequences of my actions, Jess," John admitted sadly, "Not until now, anyway. It's time for me to rebuild what I destroyed, try to start something new. I'm moving to California. I sold Liz's engagement ring to get the money for a new place and now I'm definitely going. I'm going to train to be a wrestler."

Jessica couldn't resist as a smile crept across her face, taunting John, "I already am."

"I know, I saw your debut. I saw Backlash. I've seen every show you've been on," John nodded. "I saw you win that title and I saw you lose it."

"Yeah, well so did she," Jessica sniped back at him, tilting her head in the direction of the cemetery, "And she was there for me every single day since I first moved here. What's your excuse?"

"I don't have one."

She shook her head at him and wiped a tear away from her cheek in frustration, "You never could give a good excuse, could you, John?"

"Why should I try to start now?" he shrugged honestly and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"It's just because you can't think of any good ones," Jessica assured him, as she pulled open the door of her car and slid inside, turning on the ignition. "But I can."

Moments later, the car roared to life and she pulled out of the parking spot, aligning her door parallel to John's body.

"Yeah, McMahon?" he tilted his head upwards at her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah," she arched an eyebrow at him in defiance. "You were thinking with the wrong head."

He opened his mouth to speak, but lost the chance as Jessica's car sped out of the parking lot and left a half-smiling John Cena in its wake.

Where she was headed, he couldn't be sure, but he was sure of one thing:

He still brought out the best in her.


A/N: This was the big chapter... it's such a huge turning point in my opinion and it's taken me about three weeks to get it perfect.

I'll let you in on a little secret, since you all have been so loyal and wonderful when it came to reviews: when I originally began writing this chapter, it concluded with John and Jessica burying the hatchet and starting over. But after re-reading what I had written on the overnight ferry from Italy to Greece, I realized that Jessica would never let him get away with abandoning his parents in their time of need. She'd never go down without a fight and by allowing her to just shrug it off, I'd be doing a disservice to her character. Not to mention, it was a fun scene to write. ;-)

The next chapter is going to be a WWF/E TV exclusive and jump forward again, a little bit... but with a minor surprise added in. Alright, it's a major surprise.

Shout out time: writethisdown4you, xXMckenzieXx, PlasticCandy, Daddy's LiL HeartBreaker, Enigmatic Lotus Leaf, and dj-ssdd!

You all rock.

I have a feeling though, after this chapter, the readers might just come out of the shadows and let me know what they think by reviewing... please?

Danielle