Falling Down

Chapter 26

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This does not reflect on anyone who is referenced, personally. This is all from my overactive imagination.

A/N: A huge thank you to DeeMarie 426 for her review. These two crazy kids are going to get themselves in a bunch of trouble! Hope you're all still reading and enjoying this. Let me know :) Love you! XoXoXo

The last week had been mostly uneventful. Al and Jon were able to enjoy all of their free time together. Renee was a minimal pain in the ass. It was a good week…that was about to come to an end. The pair, along with the rest of the WWE's roster, were headed to Chicago. That mean they would be seeing Phil. Therefore, they would have to do an amazing job acting as if there was nothing going on between them.

While Al was incredibly excited to finally see her best friend, she was also incredibly nervous that he would figure out exactly what was going on. And that was a very scary thought for everyone involved.

Jon had been driving to the hotel that they would be staying at, while they were there. The two were about an hour or so away from their destination. They had made plans to go to Phil and AJ's house later on that night.

"I think we can pull this off," Al confidently said.

"I don't," Jon replied.

"Seriously? Why not?"

"Because…I don't know how I'm going to be able to pretend that I don't want to be with you."

"You can do it, babe. Don't be nervous. Just pretend like we're just friends. That's all you have to do."

"But every time that I look at you, my heart pounds."

Al smiled. "Aw. That's really sweet. Trust me, I'm gonna reward you for a job well done…in our hotel room," she assured him.

A smirk formed on his lips. "Oh yeah?"

"You know I will. I never pass up an opportunity to…take care of you."

"That's true."

"It's just gonna suck to not be able to tell Phil. But right now, it's the best thing that we can do. He wouldn't be able to handle it."

Jon groaned. "I just wish that we didn't have to hide anything from anyone," he told her.

"To be fair, even if Phil could know, we would still want to keep it quiet because the last thing you would want is to have a bunch of photographers following you around because you're involved with the celebrity train wreck of the decade," Al pointed out.

"Honestly, if it meant that we could really be together and not have to hide in a hotel room or my house, I'd deal with it, Al. I just want us to be able to enjoy ourselves and not give a fuck who says what or thinks what."

She gave him a reassuring smile. "As long as I can fix my life up, I think that at some point, it'll be a lot easier for us to make this work," she told him.

"I hope so."

There was a slightly tense silence between the pair. But Jon reached over and rested his hand on her leg. Al placed her hand on top of his, interlocking their fingers. She smiled at him.

"Jon, I hope you know that I'm really trying here," she said. "You don't understand how hard this is for me. I'm really trying so hard. I've got a lot going on, and I'm trying to do what I can to keep my head above water and make this work," she told him. "I'm not trying to be difficult or make you miserable."

"I know. I'm sorry," he apologized, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I just wish that you'd try to understand where I'm coming from. And I get it. I know. You want to be together…you want us to be in a relationship, Jon, and I would love to be able to do that. I really would. But I have some things that I really need to focus on…like staying alive. I can't put myself in these majorly stressful situations. That risks my ability to stay clean. And that's what has to be my number one priority."

"And you're right for that, Al. It does have to be your number one priority. And you don't need relationship pressure from me."

"I don't. It isn't as easy as it might seem…as easy as I'm trying to make it seem. I just need some understanding from you. I can't be with you right now. I'm with you in every other way. We spend all of our time together. We have sex. We cuddle. We go on our little dates. We share a bed. We hold hands. We kiss. We hug. We talk. We do it all. I just need you to stop giving me the pressure. I'm trying to do what I can. I just need you to cut me a little slack here."

Jon nodded. "You're right. You've given me a lot. You've given me pretty much everything but the official relationship. And I need to give you some space from all of that. I'm sorry," he sincerely spoke. "I just care about you so much, and I want you be with you."

"Trust me, if I could be with you right now, I would be. I just need to keep my mind on staying clean and keeping myself out of trouble…fixing my life. Because if I don't do that, I can promise you, we won't work. I'm trying to fix myself, and when I do that, we'll be able to work, and we can really be together."

"I understand."

"I care about you. I really do. I like you a lot. I wouldn't lie to my best friend about things between us, if you didn't mean anything to me," she assured him. "This isn't the best time for me to be getting involved in anything serious with anyone. But I'm already involved with you. So, I'm doing the best that I can."

He nodded. "I know." Jon brought her hand up to his lips, gently kissing the back of her hand. "I know, sweetheart."

"Are you almost ready?" Jon asked, sitting on the edge of the hotel room bed. He was waiting for her, so that they could leave and go to Phil and AJ's house.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah," she breathed, checking herself out in the mirror one last time. She walked out of the bathroom. "Do I look okay?"

Al stood in front of him, wearing her gray Eileen Fisher Half-Sleeve silk jersey tunic, a pair of black Splendid cotton leggings, and a pair of gray G by Guess Drea platform dress boots. Her hair was down, the ends in soft curls. Her makeup was flawless.

Jon smiled at her. "You look absolutely beautiful," he told her.

She smiled and sat on his lap, wrapping an arm around his neck. "You're very sweet," she told him. "Thank you, babe."

He gently pushed her hair behind her ear. "It's the truth."

She leaned in and kissed him. "You're the only man who I've ever been involved with who I don't feel would ever hurt me or do anything to jeopardize my health. You've made me feel so…safe and…happy."

"I'm trying to, and I know I've made some mistakes. But I'm really trying to show you that I want to do right by you."

"I know you are," she whispered.

He gave her a small smile and landed a quick kiss on her lips. "Are you ready to go to Phil and AJ's?" he asked her.

She nodded slowly. "As ready as I'll ever be," she replied. Al hesitated for a moment but got off of his lap. Jon stood up, while she grabbed her bag.

The pair left their hotel room and headed down to the parking garage.