"I don't know, Dwayne," Jessica sighed and hopped onto the corner of her L-shaped kitchen counter, grabbing a cookie from the jar beside her.
"What's there to know, Jess?" the man, also known inside the ring as the Rock, asked her, slicing up the cucumber on the kitchen island, his back to her.
"Whether I go to the wedding or not," she reminded him with a half-chuckle, before taking a bite of her chocolate chip cookie.
"First of all," he began, placing his knife down on the wooden cutting board and reaching into the fruit bowl ahead of him, before tossing an apple over his head to her, "Apples are healthier than cookies."
"Yes, Dad," she rolled her eyes at him and took a spiteful chunk out of her apple.
"Second of all, you said it was his brother, right?"
"Mhmm," Jessica replied over the rhythmic chopping he had resumed.
"Well then, I don't see where there's a decision," Dwayne shrugged.
"It's not like John's going to skip out on his brother's wedding, Dwayne," Jessica said before taking another bite of her apple.
"Look, Jess," he ceased his chopping and turned around to lean on the edge of the counter, "You grew up in this town and you live next door to his parents. Sooner or later, you're going to have to deal with him. And quite frankly, it might as well be on your own terms."
"I guess you're right," she shrugged and took another bite of her apple.
"Oh, come on, Jess," he laughed at her. "You know that the Rock is always right."
"But you're not the Rock, you're Dwayne Johnson, my best friend, and you are therefore, transitively, NOT always right," she corrected him.
"There you go again, using that college degree of yours again."
"Hey, I'm a wrestler. I've got to use it some time, so shut up!" she laughed and threw a cherry tomato at him, which he caught in his mouth and wiggled his eyebrows, a grin plastered on his face. "And apparently, you're not only a gifted wrestler, but a human vacuum, as well."
"But I am a good looking vacuum."
"Maybe in your own mind…"
"Shut your mouth, McMahon, you know it just as much as I do."
"Well, there you go again," Jessica laughed. "Confusing yourself with the Rock. How many times do I have to tell you…?"
"I know, I know, but come on," he cracked a smile at his friend, "Don't I at least bare some resemblance to the Rock?"
Dwayne stood tall and tilted his chin upwards a little bit as Jessica eyed him carefully.
"Maybe," she admitted, "A little bit in the eyebrows, but that's about it."
Jessica sat in the bright room of the reception hall at her nearly empty table. The table had consisted of Steve's best friend, Eric, his wife, Jamie's best friend, Julie, Carol, John Sr., Sean, Dan, Matt, and herself, but now, everyone was up on the dance floor and Jessica was indulging in a glass of champagne.
She silently chuckled to herself, knowing that if Dwayne was there, he'd have gotten her a glass of water and told her it was less calories. While "a guest" was invited, Jessica knew she had no one to bring, but didn't understand why they did.
Unless they really think…
"Jessica Juliette McMahon!" a male voice called to her from the edge of the dance floor. "Get your sorry ass out here!"
"Nah, Steve," she waved him off and held up her glass of champagne, "I'm good."
"Jess…" his new wife, and Jessica's good friend, Jamie, whined, "Come on. Please…."
Suddenly, the DJ slowed down his set with the Spice Girls' "Goodbye" and Jessica could only stare at the painfully white linen table cloth before her and pick at a nonexistent thread on her royal blue dress.
Before she knew it, Jamie had grabbed onto her hand a pulled her to the dance floor.
"What are you doing?" Jessica asked her, nearly stumbling in her equally blue high heeled shoes as she reached the hardwood of the floor.
"Getting you to dance," Steve answered, holding on to another person's arm. "And look who showed up late to the reception…"
"Oh hell no!" she protested as she took a look at who it was he was clutching.
"Come on, Jess," Jamie continued to beg her, nudging her forward.
"For old time's sake," Steve added, still attempting to coerce her into relenting.
"If you wanted something for old time's sake, Steve, I would have brought you a pink mitten," she mused sarcastically.
"Please, Jessica," Jamie plead with her softly, "If for no other reason, than for my wedding."
She was not going to do this; she was not going to give in. She had made it this long and she was not about to relent. She was not going to give it this time.
"Oh, alright," she sighed heavily.
So much for not giving in.
"Thank you," her friend mouthed in return and went off to dance with her husband in the middle of the floor.
"Hi," he managed to say, staring slightly at his feet.
"Hello," she replied coldly and approached his body awkwardly.
He extended his hand for her to take and hesitantly, she grasped it, as he placed his other one on her waist.
"You look beautiful, Jessica."
"For once, you have a line that applies to the occasion, John," she retorted.
"I mean it," John assured her, his piercing blue eyes catching hers. "I like what you've done with your hair, better than when it was pink… not that it wasn't nice when it was pink or anything…"
If her mind would have let her, she might have cracked a smile at his efforts not to anger her. He really was trying this time.
She held his gaze as they swayed lightly to the music.
"Um… thank you," she replied with a lighter tone. "I think."
So…" John trailed off, trying to keep the conversation running. "I would have assumed that I wouldn't have been able to dance with you today. I figured that there'd be another guy in the picture."
"You figured wrong," she replied simply, trying to keep her cool.
"But what about…"
"About the Rock?" she arched an eyebrow at him. "Or about Dwayne?"
"I don't get it," he shook his head at her. "Aren't they the same person?"
"Not at all," she pursed her lips at the notion. "The Rock is brash and cocky, but adored. He's a fierce competitor and he's the People's Champion, not to mention is head over boots for Jessica McMahon, but Dwayne Johnson is different. Dwayne is kind and caring, level-headed and a gentleman. He's the type of guy that any girl would be lucky to have, but he is my best friend… and nothing more."
"So you're not…"
"Together?" Jessica finished his statement for him. "No, not at all. Come on, John. You know that not everything in wrestling is real… you're training to be a wrestler, no?"
"I found what I love to do and someday, I'm going to be raising some hell in the World Wrestling Federation, but for now, I've taken a job at a gym down there to make ends meet.
"Sometimes, I guess you just have to start from the ground up again."
"I wish you'd follow your own advice, Jessica," John replied softly as the music subsided.
"There you go again," she dropped his hand and backed away from him, "Trying to pin this on me again."
"No, Jess," he called after her as she retreated from the floor, "I'm not… damn it!"
Jessica's blue gown waved behind her as he saw her form escape through the glass doors of the reception hallway.
"You're just going to stand there, John? Let her leave without a fight… again?" Steve asked him, stepping beside his younger brother.
But Steve received no formal answer as John headed for the doors, as well.
"Jessica!" John called after her again. "Jessica, I'm not trying to pin this on you!"
"Please," she shook her head at him, staring at him out of the elevator, "Please just leave me alone, John."
He watched as the gilded doors of the elevator began to slide shut, "I… I'm sorry."
"I know," she nodded as the doors slid further closed.
"No," he replied with determination as he stopped the doors with his right hand. "No, you don't."
"God, John," Jessica sighed in exasperation, "What do you want from me?"
"A chance to explain. That's all I want," he plead with her, "And then, I will leave you alone. I swear."
"Fine, you've got ten minutes."
Jessica followed John out to the garden and couldn't help but allow her thoughts to race through her head.
He hadn't tried to contact her once in nearly four years before her grandmother died and now, it seemed as though he couldn't leave her alone.
She didn't even know what he wanted from her at this point. What would her forgiveness do for him anyway? Did he think that he'd be able to move on with his life and be an entirely different person? Or did he think that he'd receive the clean slate it seemed that he'd so desperately been seeking?
What bothered her more than anything else was that a little piece of her seemed to remain, a little piece of her that wanted nothing more than to go back to being John Cena's best friend, the person that knew him best.
Then it hit her. No matter if she never spoke to him again for the rest of her life, no matter if he dropped off the face of the planet, Jessica McMahon would always know John Cena better than anyone else.
"You've got ten minutes," she reminded him as they came to a halt in front of a bench and she sat down. "Starting… now."
"Okay," John nodded in acknowledgement and took a deep breath. "I was an asshole. I ditched my best friend for a girl and didn't have the common sense to leave when she started treating her badly. I was stupid when I stopped trying to find you and what you had been doing before I saw you were in the WWF. I had no excuse, Jess; you still lived next door to my dad."
She nodded. If she never agreed with him ever again, she could at least agree that he had been a complete asshole.
"I missed you then, Jessica, and I miss you now," he continued. "I miss being able to look out of my bedroom window, knowing I could look out and see you there if I caught you at the right time. I miss being bored at school and calling you at four in the morning because I knew you'd be working on a term paper. Hell, I miss knowing your phone number."
"You know what I miss, John?" she sighed heavily and looked up at him. "I miss knowing the real John Cena."
"But you do!" John exclaimed and squatted down in front of her, rubbing a hand over his spiky brown hair. "I'm still the same person you met sixteen years ago, Jess. I'm just bigger and taller and…"
"Stupider," she finished for him sarcastically.
"Yeah," he chuckled lightly. "And stupider, I'll admit it. Letting you walk out of my life was the dumbest thing I've ever done, dumber than any fireworks display I'd ever concocted from my backyard, dumber than any weight I've ever tried to lift. I will spend the rest of my life chasing you if I have to Jess."
"Why chase me, John, when I don't need you around anymore?"
Jessica closed her eyes lightly at the question, knowing that it stung him worse than she had intended. Now, she was just being cruel.
"I, I'm sorry…" Jessica winced and bit her lip, avoiding his gaze, "I didn't mean that."
"No," John waved it off, trying to remain strong. "You're right, Jessica. You don't need me anymore. I don't know why I thought you still did," he added, standing up, shoving his hands into the pockets of his black dress pants.
She stood up and looked at him sadly. She really hadn't meant those words.
He glanced down at his watch, "My ten minutes are up. Well… I guess I'm going to head out now. I have a plane to catch in the morning."
"You really don't have to…"
"No," he cut her off. "I do. I'll see you around, Jessica."
She tried to speak to stop him, but the words seemed to just curl up and die in her throat.
Her hazel eyes watched him walk to the end of the path, under the night sky, until her vision was so blurred by tears that she could no longer see him. Overcome by her emotions, she fell to her knees, her body racked by sobs.
This time, she had been the one to let him go without a fight, all that history and she had been the one to throw it away. Everything she had blamed John for being, she had become, and everything she resented, she had gone and done.
This wasn't the Jessica McMahon that Diana McMahon had raised. This wasn't the rebel who had risen above the circumstances of her life to be someone when no one thought she could, who had superseded the lackluster reputation of her father to become one of the most beloved wrestlers in the industry.
This was the Jessica McMahon who gave up when things got tough, the little girl who hid from her problems.
And in all honesty, Jessica McMahon wasn't liking this version of her former self… at all.
Jessica McMahon looked at herself in the mirror, prepping for what was one of the biggest events of the year in her industry.
A lot had changed in the last four years.
Her hair color, which had ranged from being fuchsia and black tipped, to red-streaked, to auburn, had returned to her natural caramel color with light blonde highlights. Not to mention, it had remained at mid-bicep length for quite sometime now.
After the Rock left the WWE for Hollywood in late 2003, their time as an on-screen couple had ended, as well. They'd used the excuse that he was leaving for Hollywood, to pursue a career outside the ring, and that she needed someone who could remain by her side whenever she needed him, but he could no longer fill that capacity.
In truth, Jessica missed having Dwayne around. Sure, she had the Hardys and Lita, not to mention Randy Orton, who had become her surrogate brother in Shane's absence, but it was hard not having someone who knew what she was thinking just by looking at her face.
As for her family, Jessica had become an aunt to Shane and Marissa's son Declan James McMahon. The entire family knew that in the next generation would lie the future of sports entertainment and that it would start with Declan, the spitting image of his father.
Stephanie had gotten married to Paul Levesque, also known as Triple H in the WWE, and for the first time, Jessica knew her sister was truly happy. The entire family loved and adored Paul and welcomed him into the family.
Her marriage left Jessica as the only remaining single McMahon child. Truthfully, she hadn't possessed any interest in dating in the past few years. Sure, there had been a boyfriend she had met through a mutual friend here or there, but no one who had really caught her eye.
Since being coupled with Edge in the wake of the last brand draft, in which Jessica had been separated from most of her close friends, as they had been moved to Smackdown, she had been having a hard time convincing guys that the WWE was, in fact, fiction. Then again, she was become close friends with Edge and found that she didn't mind having him around. He was a cool guy and truly loved the business, so she didn't entirely mind being paired with him, as there were certainly worse men to be partnered with.
But soon, that partnership would be ending too. The fans were beginning to cheer her, yet boo Edge, and it wouldn't take long for creative to decide that this was not conducive to either wrestler's image. Most likely, this would be one of the last pay-per-views that they would appear as a couple for.
Tonight though, she was the devoted girlfriend that had followed Edge down to the ring and cheered him on as he captured the first Money in the Bank award, entitling him to a championship match at any time he desired.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Jim Ross's voice boomed through the monitor on the other end of her dressing room, "I just don't know how this kid is doing it. JBL is throwing everything he can at John Cena and he just refuses to go down."
Her interest now piqued, Jessica wiped off her face with a towel and headed towards the TV with her bag in her hand.
"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "Cena is going for the FU, Cena is going for the FU, and by God, I think he might have done it!"
Jessica was now intently watching the screen as she watched the incumbent champion hit the mat hard with a loud thud. She could hear the crowd from her own dressing room as they counted along with the ref.
1-2-3.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lillian Garcia beamed loudly into the microphone, "Your new WWE Champion, John Cena!"
Jessica smiled and nodded at the TV as she slung her bag over her shoulder.
"Good for you, John Cena. Good for you."
A/N: Okay, so I'm sure you kind of hated me for what happened at the wedding when you read it, but I hope the ending made up for it… at least a little bit.
I'm sure the place in which I decided to jump forward, closer to the present anyway, was a little out of the ordinary, but I thought it was a good place to do so.
I know this wasn't the way you wanted John to return to Jessica's life, and certainly you didn't want to see him leave, but I have a feeling the next chapter is going to make up for it.
Oh God, I'm giving too much away… I should really stop talking, so I will.
But before I completely do so, I wanted to thank all of my reviewers once again for the record-breaking amount of reviews (THIRTEEN!) you posted. I especially want to thank you readers who have reviewed every chapter… and those of you whom I lured out of the woodwork. ;-)
Shout-outs, baby:
Writethisdown4you, Sammy91, Enigmatic Lotus Leaf, x.Shadowz Arrow.x, always-alone-but-never-alone, cassymae, nic-002001, ginny-potter-07, PlasticCandy, dj-ssdd, ChainGangQueen4Life, Daddy's LiL HeartBreaker, and Adrian Jade.
You guys rock!
Danielle
PS: Anyone else think John's little rampage on Carlito and Kennedy was just too sexy for words? And those smirks… please, God. Kill me.