Why Seth? Why? I was not ready for Raw last night :( I'm so sad that Seth turned on Dean and Roman.
So after the last couple of chapters, it's unanimous that Jon needs to grow a pair and tell Layla how he feels. I did particularly love all your reactions to him sleeping with Rosa.
Sorry it's been a while since I updated. I've been writing a lot of the later stuff instead of doing this chapter. But it's here now :) I'm actually pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. I've completely changed how a later part of this story is going to happen, starting with stuff in this chapter. But I like it better now and hopefully so will you soon :)
Jon stood there clenching and unclenching his fist, anger coursing through his body. Joe and Colby had told him about what had happened between Layla and Carter's sister a couple of days ago and to say he was pissed off was a major understatement. How the hell could this lady think Michaela was lying? Yet, he still couldn't go over and talk to her, pull her into his arms and hold her close to him like he wanted to. Instead he just stood there, getting his suitcase out of the rental along with Joe and Colby, and watched her as she walked into the arena with AJ and Celeste, looking tired.
"You should go talk to her; you always seem to know what to say to her to make her smile," Roman said patting him on the shoulder.
"Maybe; you guys go in, I need a cigarette. I'll find you in a bit."
Colby and Joe just looked at each other, shrugging before heading in to the arena.
"There you are tiger. I've been trying to get hold of you all day. You left before I was awake, again." Rosa purred, running her hand up his chest.
"You know the deal we have, this is just sex. Nothing else, so stop trying to make it something it's not. And stop calling me tiger."
Rosa pouted. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. After finally getting Jon into bed, she thought her plan had finally come full circle. Needless to say, she was disappointed when she woke up the next morning to find Jon gone. Even more disappointed when he ignored her the rest of that day.
After finally catching up with him the day after that, she was seething on the inside when he told her he had used her for sex. He didn't want a relationship with her, he didn't have any feelings for her; it was just sex. This didn't happen to Rosa, no one used her. She had always been the one to use people to get where she wanted, manipulate them. She always got what she wanted, whatever it took.
And she wanted Jon.
She just needed to rethink her plan, nothing that couldn't be solved. It would just take longer than expected. She wasn't about to lose Jon to some hair stylist. She'd had Jon in her bed once and he had been even better than she had expected….a lot better. She wasn't about to let him go.
That's when her new plan came to her. Jon wanted sex. She wanted Jon. What better way to get him to fall for her than to spend more time with him? It just happened that that time would be spent in a bed, a locker room, a rental car. Any place the urge overtook them. She wouldn't forget the surprised look on Jon's face when she suggested they effectively become fuck buddies. The way his eyebrow rose, a smirk curved his mouth. The way he took her right then and there in the locker room.
That had been a week ago, and now she was getting fed up of waking up to an empty bed, to Jon ignoring her whenever they weren't having sex.
"I know we have a deal, don't forget I was the one who suggested it. But deals can change." She turned to walk away, looking over her shoulder as she did. "See you later...tiger."
Jon rolled his eyes, looking the other way as he finished his cigarette. This deal wasn't working out with Rosa. It seemed she found a new way to bug him every day. When was she going to get it through her head that it was just sex? Nothing else, and that wasn't about to change. Jon needed a distraction, something to take his mind of Layla. Something to help him ignore any feelings he had for Nick's sister. That's all Rosa was to him. A distraction. Not a very good one though.
After that first night with Rosa, he hadn't planned on it happening again. Then he had seen Layla wearing a Clash, London Calling, sleeveless top, laughing at something AJ had said, her face lighting up and he was reminded of how she was the perfect woman for him. The chemistry they had, how perfectly she had fit in his arms when he held her after Carter's appearance. She understood him better than any other woman ever had; she was the first woman in years he actually wanted something other than a one night stand with. That scared him.
When Rosa had cornered him later that day, he had meant what he said about not wanting her. Yet when she mentioned no strings attached sex, needing something to take his mind of Layla, he took up the offer. It seemed like a good idea at the time. A way for him to pretend that he didn't have feelings for Layla, feelings that scared the shit out of him.
The hand closed around her throat, cutting off her air supply before she knew what was happening, as he pushed her against the wall. Through the tears in her eyes she saw the unhinged look in his cold eyes. There was no love there, no light. Just darkness. Reaching out, she tried clawing at him, tried pulling his arm away, tried anything she could to get him off her; tried fighting the dark spots appearing in front of her eyes. It was useless though. He just laughed, grabbing the hand she tried clawing at him with he pinned it above her head against the wall.
"I tried, but you make it so hard angel. I gave you everything and you just leave me."
Then she could breathe again, his grip around her throat loosened. The look in his eyes remained the same however. Grabbing her other hand, he pinned it against the wall along with the other one, using one hand to hold them both above her head. A shiver went done her spine when he spoke into her ear. "But don't worry angel, I'm going to remind you why we belong together."
She tried moving her head away when his lips came crashing down on hers, kissing her harshly. "No, no, don't do this," she cried.
"Layla, Layla. Wake up." Nick shook her as she tossed in the bed.
"Please don't do this." She thrashed around further in the bed.
"Layla," Nick called her louder, shaking her harder. Having heard her call out in her sleep, he had jumped straight out of bed knowing she was having another nightmare. He was used to them; had been since the day he had found her back in May. Though they hadn't been this bad for a bit. Sure, they had been bad after Carter's appearance at the hotel, but then they had calmed down again. Now she was back to thrashing around, crying out in her sleep and he knew it was all to do with Carter's sister showing up.
Layla, he didn't normally call her that. Not when he was angry and hurting her. No, it was always angel. Why was he calling her that now? Why did he sound so different too?
Layla's eyes shoot open as she suddenly sat up in bed, gasping for breath, hands going to her neck as if to pull an invisible rope away. Layla was met with Nick's worried face. She was ok, it was just another dream. It was Nick with her not Carter, she could breathe; no one was trying to strangle her. Chucking herself at him, she cried into the crook of his neck. She had had the dream so many times, and while there was always something that changed in each one; something Carter said or a different location. There was one thing that never changed. Carter's hand around her throat, restricting her air supply.
Nick sat there rubbing her back, "Shh, it is ok. I'm here, you're okay."
She kept her face buried in the crook of Nick's neck as she finally spoke. "What if they don't believe me? What if they think I'm lying and he gets let off?"
"That's not going to happen, Lay. Don't let Michaela get to you. He's not going to get away with this." Nick pressed a kiss to her head. Of course he knew it was a possibility that Carter would be found not guilty, but as far as Nick was concerned. One way or another, Carter was going to pay for what he had done to Layla.
Layla's eyes went wide with shock and she thought she was going to be sick. The thought of this happening had never crossed her mind. She had been so wrapped up in the attack, the thought of the jury not believing her, of trying to get her life back on track that it never even crossed her mind. The time spent talking with the police and her lawyer was mainly a blur. Maybe this was why he was avoiding her. Was he mad at her, at the effect it could have on his career? Where they mad at her? too?
Joe stepped forward, "Layla? Baby girl, are you ok?" Nothing, she was just staring blankly at the floor. He brought his hand up to touch her shoulder, worried about her. Layla suddenly flinched backward away from him, her hands automatically, as if on instinct, moving up in front of her as if to protect herself from him. Joe took a step back, him and Colby watching to see what happened next, not wanting to spook Layla further.
Then as quickly as she had reacted, like all the other times it had felt like she had been transported back into a room with Carter, she was suddenly aware of where she actually was again. Tears glistened in her eyes as she looked up at Joe and the hurt expression she knew he was trying to hide. Guilt took over her once again. She knew Joe would never hurt her; she didn't want him to think she was scared of him.
"I-I-I'm sorry. I've g-got to go," she didn't say anything as she bolted out the room.
Running to the room she was working from that night, she dropped to the floor in the middle of the room, tears pouring down her face as she hugged herself. Not realising in her rush to get back to that room that she had passed AJ, Celeste and Big E.
She was therefore surprised when the door opened slightly and AJ and Celeste's heads popped around the door. The girls automatically going over to her when they saw her on her knees on the floor crying.
"What's wrong, sweetheart? Has someone done something?" AJ asked, stroking the blonde's hair.
Pulling back from the girls. Eyes red and puffy, Layla wiped away the tears with the sleeves of her jacket only for more to appear. "I didn't know and now they're going to hate me. What if I ruin their careers? He's already avoiding me, now I know why. He must have found out before them."
The girls just looked at her confused. "Who's going to hate you and why?" Celeste asked.
"He called me earlier, a date's been set. Jon, Joe and Colby have been called as witnesses. If it gets out about the trial and them, everyone will go crazy. What if it affects their career? Jon must have found out earlier, why he's avoiding me."
AJ pulled her into a hug "Hey, listen to me. They are not going to hate you. I don't know what's been going on with Jon lately, but I'm sure it's got nothing to do with this."
"She's right; of course we're not going to hate you." Colby said smiling as he and Joe walked into the room.
Layla looked up surprised to see them. "B-but-"
Now it was Joe's turn to speak "Your lawyer called us earlier. Yes, we're witnesses but it's a sensitive situation. Your lawyer seems to think it's unlikely that all three of us will be cross examined in court, more likely they'll just read our statement s out in court and maybe one of us will actually be there physically. Stephanie and Paul are aware too, as they said before, they're going to do everything they can to help and keep this out of public knowledge. More importantly, we don't hate you and that's not going to change anytime soon, babygirl."
"Everything the big man said," Colby added, smiling.
More tears fell down Layla's face as she stood back up, taking a few tentative steps towards Joe. While she knew now that they weren't angry with her about being called as witnesses, she still felt immensely guilty about freaking out earlier when Joe tried making sure she was ok. "I'm sorry about earlier. I-I-"
Joe cut her off, "I know babygirl. I know."
Closing the gap between them, Layla wrapped her arms around Joe's torso.
Steeping back, she wiped the last of her tears with her hands, smiling sadly at Colby and Joe. "You know, with you being called as witnesses, this means we're not going to be able to hang out that much anymore."
Colby and Joe nodded. With the trial now set for the first week of February and them being called as witnesses, they knew they had to be careful spending time with Layla. They knew that Carter's defence would try and twist anything and everything they could. If they knew that Layla was close friends and spent a lot of time with Jon, Colby and Joe, they would try and twist it, claiming Layla was a liar. They couldn't risk that happening and Carter getting away with everything.
"You'll still see us though. We're always going to be here for you. Anytime you need us, you know where we are." Colby smiled at her.
Walking into the hotel room, Joe and Colby weren't surprised to see Jon picking up his phone, wallet and key card, ready to head out. Since he had started avoiding Layla, they had grown accustomed to him going out and drinking. Lately, to him sleeping with as many different women as he could, including the arrangement he had with Rosa.
"Out again tonight I see." Colby said, not even looking up from his phone as he continued to text his girlfriend.
"Always so observant, Colby."
"When's the last time you actually spent a night in?" Roman asked, dropping his gym bag on his bed.
"When did you become so old and boring? It's called having fun. Or did you forget to do that once you got a girlfriend and had a kid?" Jon shot back.
"So that's what this is about, figured as much. I'm going to let what you just said go this time, but you've gotta sort your shit out soon."
"What the fuck are you on about?"
"I'm talking about you going out and drinking every night, sleeping with a load of different women because you're too scared to do something about your feelings for Layla," Roman stepped closer to Jon getting angrier by the minute.
"My feelings for Layla? Are you done with all this shit you're talking?"
"What even happened, bro? You know she thinks you hate her? But we all know that's not the truth. You-"
"Shut up, you have no idea what you're talking about," Jon's voice was low, clenching his jaw, anger coursing through him as he cut Joe off.
"I don't? Why don't you tell us then? What are you so scared about that you'd rather sleep with a different woman every night than tell Layla how you feel?"
"Because I love her!" Silence filled the room as the words left Jon's mouth, Colby's head shooting up. Jon hadn't even admitted it to himself until now, but it was true. He loved Layla.
Before Joe or Colby had a chance to say anything, Jon was out the door.
Reaching the hotel bar, Jon went straight to ordering whiskey after whiskey, wanting to drown out everything around him, numb his own feelings.
He wasn't sure how many he had had when a petite brunette sat down at the bar next to him, ordering a shot of tequila and downing it in one.
"Impressive. I like a woman who can handle the hard stuff," he smirked, turning to face her.
She had an impish grin on her face. "And I like a man who can handle me," she purred in his ear.
"Well then it's your lucky night, kitten."
The grin remained on her face as she looked at him, "What makes you say that?"
Moving closer to her, "Let's get out of here and I'll show you just what I mean" he said before gently biting down on her ear lope, a soft moan escaping her lips.
"Jon, what a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here tonight." Jon rolled his eyes at hearing Rosa's voice.
Standing up, Jon barely looked at Rosa. "I was just leaving, Rosa. A better offer came up." Turning back to the brunette, he smirked. "You ready, kitten?"
The brunette said nothing, standing up she moved to where Jon stood, grabbing his hand. Rosa just looked on in disgust. "What about our deal, Jon?"
"What deal?" was all he said before walking off with the brunette, whispering in her ear everything he was going to do that night.