I bet you guys didn't think I'd update this soon, huh. I have to admit, this chapter will probably piss off a lot of people, so I have to tell you: this chapter contains some pretty important stuff as well. Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. Here is Chapter 20.. ENJOY!

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Pinky Promise

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Chapter 20: Baseball

"Are you fucking serious, Bianca!?"

There were three ways Bianca could tell that John was extremely mad at her. One, he used her real first name. Two, he was using vulgar language that should never be spoken around children. And three, he was yelling.

"How could you lose your fucking engagement ring!?" Yet John had every right to be mad at her. Bianca cowered under his stare and shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

"I…I don't know," she whimpered, tears forming in her eyes.

"You don't know!?" Apparently, John didn't think that was a very good answer.

"I didn't mean to lose it, Johnny," she said his name, hoping it would calm him down a bit. "Maybe it's in the house somewhere," though Bianca knew for a fact that the ring was nowhere near the house.

"You better hope it's in this fucking house," John threatened, tearing the cushions away from the sofa to look for the ring himself. "God, Bianca. How could you be so irresponsible?" Even through his rage, John couldn't help but to lecture his fiancée.

"I'm sorry, John," Bianca stood from the couch, her lips formed in a pout as she looked like she was about to cry. She whimpered again before running up the stairs and locking herself in the guest bedroom. Throwing herself onto the bed, she buried her face into the pillow as she immediately started to cry. Maybe I made a mistake after all…

...

Flashback

Bianca looked around in awe as the taxi that she and John were riding in turned into the vast driveway of a light-brown painted house. "Welcome home," John grinned at her just as the taxi came to a halt. The cab driver immediately started hauling their luggage to the front door.

"Johnny," Bianca started as John tipped the cab driver. "It's beautiful."

John smiled down at her and took her by the hand. "Come on. I'll give you the grand tour."

Since Chicago, the WWE had started their way down South, then towards the East coast. When the WWE headed into Florida, John decided that it was time to bring Bianca home…to their home. The couple had spent the next few days lazing around the house. However, when the time came for John to head over to a promotion at the local mall, Bianca found it to be the right time to go looking for some extra cash.

Although John gave her permission to use whatever vehicle she wanted, even John's red jeep—which was the least inconspicuous of his rides—gave Bianca unwanted attention as she drove down a street full of shops. She stared down at her directions to make sure that she was in the right place, and sure enough, right in front of her face, a simple sign that read 'PAWN SHOP' decorated the outside of the building. The red jeep was the only vehicle in the parking lot as Bianca made her way into the store.

Bianca winced as the door chimed, announcing her presence. The lone, middle-aged man sitting at the counter looked up from the magazine he was reading and smiled. "Good afternoon, young lady. Can I help you with anything?"

Bianca wasn't sure if she could trust the look on the man's face. "Y-yeah.." She hesitated, questioning whether or not she should have come here in the first place. "I'm in need of some money," she simply said.

"Then you've come to the right place," the man motioned around him.

Grasping her handbag tightly, Bianca slowly made her way up to the counter. "I have some things that I'm willing to sell to you," she said, setting the handbag onto the table. One by one, she pulled out a silver watch, a pair of gold earrings, a few golden bracelets—gifts from her relatives that have accumulated over time but that she had never worn before.

The pawnbroker took his time to examine each item carefully. When he was done, he pulled back to speak. "Although these items are very valuable, I'm afraid I can't give you much for them," he told her.

Bianca did her best to mask her confusion. How could they be valuable, yet not worth a lot at the same time? It just didn't make sense. "Oh," Bianca said, lowering her head in disappointment. "Thanks anyway," she said as she gathered her things back into her handbag and was about to turn away.

But the man's voice stopped her. "What a lovely ring you have there on your finger."

Bianca turned back around and frowned. "It's not for sale. Sorry." She was about to leave again, but the man continued to talk.

"It must have cost a fortune," he commented, eyeing the ring hungrily.

"Yeah, my fiancé bought it for me," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh-hoh!" The man chuckled. "Then it really must be expensive. What do you say to $1,000?"

"Excuse me?" Bianca raised an eyebrow at the man. Was he really trying to haggle with her? "No."

"Fine, $3,000," the man continued.

"Not. For. Sale," Bianca repeated, putting emphasis on every word.

"How about for $6,000," the man finally said, a confident smile on his face. "Didn't you say you were in need of money?" He reminded her.

Bianca felt torn. Six thousand dollars… She looked down at her ring and contemplated. What was she doing? She wasn't even supposed to be in that shop in the first place. But then again, she really needed the money. What was she going to do?

Closing her eyes, Bianca silently slipped the ring off of her finger and placed it onto the counter. The smile on the man's face couldn't have gotten any bigger…

End Flashback

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Knock knock knock….

"Bianca? Sweetheart? Are you awake?"

Bianca awoke to John's voice and she stared at the door in confusion. Since when did John call her sweetheart? She looked around and realized that she had fallen asleep in the guest bedroom.

"Honey, please open the door… I have a surprise for you."

John must have felt bad for yelling at her. It was obvious with all the baby names he was calling her. Bianca felt horrible; she was a bad person…She didn't deserve John, or his sympathy.

"Come on, sweetie. Please open the door." John jingled the doorknob lightly.

"I'll be out in a minute," Bianca called out rather hoarsely. She wasn't sure if it was because she had just woken up or because she had spent all night crying. She hurried to the bathroom to freshen up, and when she was done, she timidly opened the door and headed towards the stairs.

John was waiting at the bottom for her, and he looked up and smiled softly at her. "Get down here, baby. I have something to show you," he said, waving her down.

Bianca slowly descended the stairs, wondering what it was that John had for her. Once she reached him, John motioned for her to look towards the living room. She turned her head, and there, sitting on the couch, were Randy and Sam. Bianca looked at John questioningly.

"They wanted to help us look for the ring," he simply told her, smiling.

"Oh," she said. "Th-thank you. It means a lot," Bianca said, trying to smile. If she felt bad before, now she felt ten times worse.

"Don't worry, Bianca," Sam suddenly got up and engulfed her in a hug. "I'm sure we can find it easier now that there are four of us to look for it," she told her cheerfully.

Bianca tried to smile at her friend, but could only grimace. She glanced at Randy, who had a smug look on his face as he and John took over the downstairs area.

Bianca followed Samantha upstairs to look for the ring. "Don't feel bad, Bianca," Sam continued to think positively as she looked under the guestroom bed. "It'll turn up eventually."

Bianca could only watch helplessly as Sam tried her hardest to look everywhere for the ring. Bianca wanted so badly to tell the girl that it was impossible to find the ring because the ring wasn't in the house anyway, but she didn't want to look suspicious.

"Thanks for all your help, Sam," Bianca said sadly, feeling bad as the other girl was starting to get flustered. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Sam smiled at her again. "Maybe when you're not looking for it, it'll turn up in the most obvious place!" Sam giggled, and Bianca really appreciated how upbeat the girl was trying to be.

"Hey, I'm gonna check downstairs and see if the boys found anything," Bianca said, slowly getting up from her place on the floor. Sam merely nodded as she continued her futile search for the ring.

When she got downstairs, Bianca frowned when she saw Randy sitting on the couch alone, sipping a beer and watching the sports channel. "Where's John?"

Randy turned and smirked at her. "Said he had to go somewhere, and that he'll be back soon."

"Oh," Bianca said, disappointed that she had to be stuck in the house with him. She stood there, watching Randy intently.

After a moment of silence, Randy snorted and shook his head. "You know, you're making this really easy," he told her, that same evil smirk on his face. "At the rate you're going, I might not even need to rat you out. You're doing a good job screwing yourself over." Bianca said nothing but merely glared at him. "I mean, first your job, and now your ring. My, Bianca, you have a knack for losing things, don't you."

"Shut up," she hissed. "You don't know anything."

"Oh yeah?" Randy raised an eyebrow at her challengingly. "I think I know a lot more than you give me credit for. But never mind that now. How about we play a game." Randy stood up from the couch and walked over to her, towering over her short figure.

Bianca glowered at him suspiciously.

"You know how to play baseball, right?" Randy asked in a condescending tone. "Three strikes and you're out," he said, motioning with his arms as if he were hitting with an invisible bat. "You've already got two strikes against you, so you know what that means?" At this point, Randy bent lower to be face-to-face with her. "One more time you fuck up, and I'll make sure you're out," he threatened.

Bianca could only glare at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"Any luck down there?" The two looked up to see Sam heading down the stairs, and they both forced smiles on their faces.

"Nothing here, babe," Randy said, his demeanor completely changing around his girlfriend. Bianca wanted so badly to claw him to death, but all she could do was sit in the loveseat and tolerate him for the next hour.

Bianca felt so relieved once John came home. After thanking the couple profusely for their efforts, John and Bianca headed up the stairs.

Bianca sat on the bed, her back against the headboard and her knees propped up to her chin. She looked at John sadly.

John smiled softly, sitting at the edge of the bed near Bianca. He reached over and cupped her face. "I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday," he said. "I know you didn't lose it on purpose, and I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.

Bianca stared intently at the box, knowing fully well what was inside of it. "John, you didn't.."

"I did," he confirmed as he opened the box to reveal an exact replica of her old ring. "Try not to lose this one, okay?" He smiled lightly as if to lighten the mood.

As John slipped the ring onto Bianca's finger, Bianca's eyes started to water, and she quietly broke down in front of him. All the guilt that she felt was slowly pouring out in forms of tears. John, however, took her show of emotions as her being happy, and he engulfed her in a tight hug.

"No matter what, Bianca," John whispered. "I love you."

Bianca sniffled, trying to calm herself down. "I l-love you, t-too." But I don't deserve you.

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