Jon walked out of the dressing room with a new purpose. He wanted Mya and was going to do anything to keep her. First, he was going to tell her how he felt about her and then he was going to… Hell, he didn't know what he was going to do. What if she didn't feel the same way? What if Colby misinterpreted her feelings towards him?
The further he had to go, the more he doubted himself. This was not typical Jon Good behaviour. He normally exuded confidence, he knew he was the best at what he did, but something about Mya made him nervous. What if they dated until she left, and she didn't want him anymore, or met someone else when she went home and didn't come back to him? By the time he found her, he was shaking.
Mya on the other hand, was in her element. She was chatting with Ray, putting some of her appointments into her folder and laughing with Jake about the silly "We the People" selfie she'd taken. Jon looked at Ray's face first, because she looked nervous. She was clutching her phone as if she were waiting for something to happen. He noted her reaction when her phone sprung into life. She muttered about "being right back."
Jon turned his face to Mya, saw her happy expression and decided that this was his time to strike. "Hey Mya, you want to ride with me today? I had to get my own car, the other two were driving me nuts. Plus Ray has to stay here for some photo shoot or something and I… I…" he flustered, not wanting to add the crux to the statement which was "I think I'm falling for you and want you to feel the same way".
Mya smiled at him and nodded "Sure! Do I get to drive? I know you'll be tired after tonight." She realised that she was rambling and couldn't have believed that she would finally be alone with Jon. No Ray, no former SHIELD members, no girlfriends… She shook internally. He still has a girlfriend Mya, knock it off, he's just doing it to be polite. Ben was right.
As Jon was getting tongue-tied with Mya, Ray was fighting her own battle over the phone with a law firm. "What do you mean he got out and no-one was made aware?! Where has he gone?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Bevis, but we don't have to let people know when they leave jail." The voice tried to seem sympathetic, but Ray wasn't having any of it.
"Do you even remember what he did to get there? My woman he stabbed and left to die is with me in America travelling, and the person who made her life a living hell whilst they were together has to now know that he is out and he hasn't seen his parole officer? What do I tell her? Tell me, please, because I don't know what to do." There was a brief pause when the person on the other end didn't know what to say. Of course she didn't know what to say, she didn't have to live through the pain of the memories every day like Mya did. "WHAT DO I TELL HER?!" Ray screamed into the phone before hanging up.
Ray paced up and down the corridor she found herself in muttering obscenities about how awful the prison system in the UK was.
"Hey Ray, what's up?" the low-timbred voice echoed in the hallway. Joe saw her pained expression and put his arm around her and led her towards catering. The chairs were extremely uncomfortable but Ray looked like she needed to tell someone something and Mya wasn't around. Her face stayed in the sad, scared face that he'd found her with. His expression hardened slightly, knowing whatever had occurred had to be bad. "Tell me what's happened"
"Mya," she blurted out, not knowing how to finish the story. She took a huge deep breath and continued, "I think she's going to be in danger. Ben got out of prison early and has… gone missing."
Joe felt his blood pressure rise and his hand form a fist. He gritted his teeth and said "What do you mean by gone missing?" His thoughts drifted to Mya and how wonderful and kind she was, despite all of the things that'd happened to her. Then they moved onto Jon; how would he cope when he found out everything? He would get so mad that they kept the original story from him, but after their conversation about his feelings for Mya, he would not like this one bit.
In the car on the way to the next hotel, Mya and Jon were having a great time. They bonded over music, books and life in general. Turns out that they both loved classic rock such as Queen and Jon was so impressed that Mya's mother had kept a rose thrown into the crowd by Freddie Mercury at a Queen concert in 1979. They both agreed that vinyl records were the way forward and Jon spoke at length about the rare vinyl he'd collected since he'd joined WWE.
"The day after Summerslam, we're in Vegas. You can come see my house and have a look if you want?" he said quickly, hoping that Mya would agree.
Mya looked at him with tired eyes but Jon still thought they looked beautiful. The moonlight streaming into the car illuminated her pale skin, red hair and green eyes and it made her look angelic. "I'd love to come and see your house and vinyl, Jon. How much longer is the drive?"
"About 30 minutes or so Sweetheart," Jon replied. "So tell me about your home, family and things"
"Home is kind of dull really. I go to work, which is okay. I mean, I love being a teacher, but I don't enjoy the paperwork side of it. I don't have that many friends at home, as no-one there really likes me anymore. My parents are awesome, they live about ten minutes from me and I rely on them quite a lot to help me out, especially at the moment when my house is completely empty." She smiled when she thought of her parents and mentally reminded herself to email them.
Jon frowned at her mentioning that she had very few friends and was anxious to ask but seeing the listless look on her face decided against it. He tried to somewhat lighten the mood by adding "Any psycho ex-boyfriends I should be worried about?" Jon instantly regretted his question as he saw Mya's head drop down, letting her curly hair cover her face. Jon froze inside, he couldn't believe it. "Don't hide from me Mya, I'm sorry I asked you, it's such a stupid question…"
"You weren't to know Jon. I rarely tell anyone what happened to me." Mya whispered, "It's not a pleasant story."
"Does everyone else know?" Jon asked, trying to remain calm. Why would no-one have told him this? Especially with the conversation that they had this afternoon at the arena? He began to take even deeper breaths to calm himself. He wanted Mya to tell him so that when he saw the piece of garbage he had enough reason to remove his spine and beat him with it.
"Yes," Jon squeezed the steering wheel tightly, "but only because they heard Ray trying to break my door down. You seemed so pleased seeing Jessie for the first time in a long time and no-one wanted to disturb you as we'd all seen how much you needed her to be happy." She took a deep breath and explained everything to Jon; the beatings, the engagement party, the stabbing and his jail time.
Jon listened patiently, only narrowly avoiding pulling onto the side of the road, pulling Mya out of the car and hugging her until he couldn't stand anymore. He'd seen things of this nature growing up, but this was about Mya, his Mya, and someone he definitely now needed to protect.
"Carry on, Mya, I know that there's more you want to tell me." Jon pushed slightly.
Mya sighed, "I think he's going to come and get me and try to get me to come back to him. I worry that I'll let him needle his way back in. He's been sending me messages saying that no-one will ever want me or love me in the way that he does. I'm terrified that he's right."
Jon saw the hotel and pulled into the car park. He cut the engine and looked square into Mya's eyes. He grabbed both of her hands to emphasise his point. "Now you listen here, Sweetheart," he said as he traced delicate circles over her knuckles with his thumbs, "That guy is an asshole. One that did not deserve someone as wonderful as you. I mean, you take care of me and that's hard work, I know that." Mya had a faint smile on her lips, but continued looking at hers and Jon's hands locked together. "I will protect you Mya. With whatever I have left. Trust me, I'm not afraid of a fight. He will never touch you again. I won't let him. I won't let you take him back either. You deserve so much more, so so much more." Jon whispered the last sentence and against his better judgment, kissed both of her hands. "Let's get inside and get something to eat. All this talk has made me hungry." Jon picked up both of their bags and walked inside, ensuring that one of Mya's hands was still in his. He would keep his promise. No-one would ever harm her.
Mya was in her own room and getting ready for bed. Jon had been so accommodating, but Mya was feeling like a burden. She felt so broken, what would happen when Jessie came back and he wouldn't be there for her anymore? She heard her phone begin to chime, making her aware she'd received a message. She picked up her phone, read it and dropped the phone onto the bed. She started to gasp for breath as the words burnt into her memory.
Nice picture. Shame he doesn't know you're mine. You're just hurting yourself and him by denying the truth.
Jon heard her cries and gasps of breath from his side of the balcony as he was having a cigarette. "Mya?! Are you okay Sweetheart?" He looked over the balcony. As they were only separated by a small wall, it was easy enough to get to her. He steadied himself on the chair, swung his jean-clad lower half up and over and dropped with grace. He rushed over to her and held her close. He cared of nothing but getting her inside into the warm. He scooped her up into his arms and she clung to him like a life raft. He was unsure of what to do now. This was much more of a Joe situation. He shifted her so that her legs were wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. Her forehead leant into his neck and Jon wrapped one arm around her waist, using the other one to pull the covers back. He shifted her again so that she was lying on the bed.
As he went to leave her, she turned with teary eyes, and whispered "Please don't leave me, Jon. I'm so scared. I don't want to be alone…I need you." Jon nodded, turned out the light, and crept into the bed next to her. He wrapped his free arm over her waist and pulled her into him. "You're not alone, Mya, you've got me, you've always got me." He heard her breathing level out and whispered into her ear "Let me keep you. I'll do anything to keep you," before kissing her cheek softly.
It took Jon a long time to go to sleep that night, but as he fell asleep he promised himself that whenever Mya needed him, he would be there. It was simple. He loved her.