fifty six hours and twenty five minutes. That was how long it had been since Jon had seen Phil. Not that he was counting, or anything.

The atmosphere was oddly tense as the trio sat waiting for their match to begin. They were the main event that night, so luckily they had plenty of time to relax before they entered the ring. Colby sat talking to Joe, about mindless topics. They even played a few rounds of 'would you rather'. Jon could not seem less interested if he tried, his face remained buried, eyes glued to the screen of his phone as his fingers moved fast.

"Are you gonna give that thing a rest at any point tonight?" Colby laughed, pausing his conversation with Joe as he glanced over at his other team mate. It took Jon a few moments to react but eventually he shook his head.

"No, I'm just waiting for Phil to text me back." Jon smiled, returning his gaze to his mobile phone. By now, Colby and Joe were well aware of the awkward relationship between United States and WWE Champion. They tried not to question it, in fact Joe wanted as little to do with it as possible. In his opinion, it was not his place to involve himself. Colby, was not as easily convinced though.

"Shouldn't he be here by now?" Colby asked, a puzzled look on his face. Phil had been absent during the past few shows, but he was scheduled for Monday Night Raw, so of course he would be arriving at some point. Jon hardly answered, in fact it seemed as if he were totally ignoring his team mate. The only time he tore his gaze away from his mobile phone was when he heard the locker room door open. The locker room was empty, beside the three Shield members. Jon's face instantly lit up as CM Punk walked in. Hoodie zipped up, headphones around his neck and sports bag over his shoulder.

"Don't speak too soon Colby." Jon laughed, finally replying to Colby's earlier comment. Jon stood and walked over to Phil, wrapping his arms around the Second City Saint and kissing him deeply. Phil pulled away almost automatically, and while he would usually throw some sort of insult at Jon, he simply looked over to the other two members of the Shield with a disgusted look on his face.

"Can you two give us some privacy?" It was more of a demand than it was a question. Joe gave Colby a look that spoke a thousand words, but finally they left the room somewhat reluctantly. As soon as they were gone, Phil wriggled away from Jon's grip and locked the door. He dropped his bag in the closest available space and shot daggers at Jon.

"Are you kidding me?" Phil spoke after a moment of silence, it took him more than a moment to figure out what he was going to say. "I mean, are you serious... with that?" He somewhat pointed towards the now closed door, obviously referring to Jon's two team mates. Before Jon even had a chance to answer, Phil shook his head.

"I really do not understand why you think you can trust them." Phil bit his bottom lip, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to cleanse his emotions before locking eyes on Jon again. "I didn't want anyone to know about this, and yet you tell those two?"

"Look I didn't just run up to them and say 'Hey guys, guess what? I'm fucking CM Punk!' They kind of just found out." Jon shook his head, in his defense, he hadn't wanted them to know either. But Jon had nobody else to turn to when things were beginning to get rough between himself and Phil. "It's really not a big deal. I promise you they wont tell anyone, I've been working with them for years and I know I can trust them."

"You know what, whatever." Phil sighed, taking a step closer to Jon. "I really don't want to talk about that right now. The last thing I need right now is more stress."

"I take it Georgia didn't go so well?" Jon asked, his familiar soft side making an appearance. Phil shook his head and laughed to himself.

"I mean, you could say that." He wrapped his arms around Jon, yet another sudden change in his emotion and he planted a soft kiss on Jon's lips. Phil's moods changed minute to minute, and while Jon found it frustrating, he also loved it. There was never a dull moment with Phil. He constantly kept Jon on edge, which was exactly what the Ohio native needed. "We're done. I mean, that's it."

"What do you mean 'that's it'?" Jon laughed, holding Phil close to him. He craved answered to what had happened while Phil was visiting Amy. Jon had been fooled by Phil before, and he was determined to not let it happen again.

"That's it. What else do you want me to say? I'm not seeing her any more." Phil laughed, he planted his lips on Jon's and tried to steal a kiss from the United States Champion. He really did not want to dwell on the topic. He didn't want to go into detail, all he wanted to do was tell Jon what he needed to know. Jon pulled away from Phil's lips and gave Phil a quizzical look.

"You really mean that?" Jon asked, a slightly unnerving worry niggling at the back of his mind. Once again, his heart and brain were in a fierce battle with each other.

"Oh, I get it." Phil nodded. "You don't believe me. You think I went to Georgia, had lots of heated sex with Amy, lied to her as well, and came back onto the road to claim my reward from you, Right?"

Jon hated to admit it, but Phil was right. He had been questioning that for the past few days during Phil's absence. Perhaps Phil was playing both of them? It would be easy, of course. Sleep with Amy at home, sleep with Jon on the road. He wouldn't have to hide much, except for his tracks, which was also easily done.

"Well, did you?" Jon questioned, his uncertainty getting the better of him.

"No I fucking didn't Jon." Phil shook his head in annoyance and lent forward, attempting to steal the kiss he had previously tried for. When Jon tried to pull away, Phil persisted and forced himself on the United States Champion. God, Jon was so difficult to deal with at times. "Jon, stop fighting me." Phil finally spoke, after a failed attempt at trying to stick his tongue down Jon's throat.

"Promise me you're not hiding anything." Jon looked serious, his face flooded with emotion. It seemed as if everything was hanging on that one sentence. Phil sensed it and closed his eyes, finally loosening his grip on his secret lover. He slowly opened his eyes and looked Jon deep in the eyes.

"I promise you, I am not hiding anything." Phil swallowed a breath and then opened his mouth to speak again, before letting out a light laugh. "I mean, what else can I say?"

Despite his better judgement, Jon nodded his head and allowed Phil the kiss he so desperately longed for. They stayed like that for a moment, blissfully entwined in a deep and passionate kiss that lasted longer than they had anticipated. After a few moments, Phil pulled away and bit his bottom lip.

"I'm not ready to tell anyone about this yet." He whispered to Jon. "Whatever this is. I mean I don't even know what I want right now, so please don't go thinking we're going to come out to everyone."

Jon took a moment, to consider his options. He could stay quiet, nod his head and agree to everything Phil was saying. He could be the ever pliable lover he had always been to Phil, he could do everything he had done before, but instead he took a leap that he would have been terrified to take beforehand.

"I don't know how I feel about you. You know you drive me fucking insane Phil, and sometimes I really don't know how to handle you or the emotional roller coasters that you seem to love going on. But I do know what I want from you." Jon spoke slowly, making sure to use his words carefully. He didn't want to say the wrong thing, he didn't want to trip up and say too much. "I know what I want from you and as soon as you figure out what you want from me, then we'll talk about it. Just please don't beat around the bush. I can't wait forever for you to make up your mind."

"I really can't do this right now." Phil answered.

"I'm not asking you to do anything right now." Jon shook his head, trying ever so hard to be patient with the man that had shown him no mercy over the past few months. After another brief kiss, and few unspoken words, Jon made his way from the room to find his team mates. He knew exactly what he wanted from Phil, he had known for a while now. He wanted a relationship, he wanted everything and nothing. He wanted to feel love and pain but he wanted it all with Phil. But he wouldn't cry over it. If Phil didn't want to be with him, then so be it. Jon would accept it and move on, no matter how hard it might have been. If Phil did want to be with him, then they would make it work somehow. He just refused to be strung along any further. It was fight or flight time, all Phil needed to do was say 'go'.

AN: So, do we still not trust Phil? Is he hiding something? What do ya'll think? Again, I would like to thank those who continue to read this story, considering I started it over a year ago, I am now very determined to wrap it up. We are fast approaching the last few chapters, but that isn't to say there wont be a few more bumps in the road yet! Love aint that easy. - :)
Evanescence - Bring Me To Life - kept me entertained during the duration of this chapter.