Chapter 36

"I really hope the Royal Rumble comes sooner rather than later."

"You and me both."

Both girls were out for the day shopping and currently sat at a Starbucks drinking hot beverages. They were in New York City in December, snow falling gently outside. The pay-per-view, TLC, would be held at Madison Square Garden, the most prestigious arena in wrestling history. Milla wasn't looking forward to tonight because Jon would be losing the United States title to Nick. Due to Joe's betrayal, Colby didn't have match since theirs had been cancelled against the USO's. So instead, Stephanie had the USO's versus the Prime Time Players for the Tag Team titles, wanting all champions crowned. Milla had a match with AJ, slated to win and hoped after this she could start a feud with another Diva since things with AJ had grown stale.

"So have you talked to Jon about holiday plans yet?" Spencer asked, changing the subject since they were both on edge about the pay-per-view that night.

Milla sighed and ran her thumb around the rim of the coffee cup, slowly shaking her head. "With everything that's happened lately, I don't want to burden him further. I would love to spend the holidays with him, don't get me wrong, but I also know his mind is solely focused on bringing Shane down." Jon hadn't pushed her away like he had in Tampa, but Milla could tell he was more intense and focused than ever. "What about you?"

"I'm going with Colby to Davenport for the holidays since we have most of the week off. And then head to my parents to bring in the New Year." Spencer hadn't hesitated in asking Colby what he wanted to do for holidays because Christmas was her favorite time of the year.

"Sounds nice. I doubt Jon will come back to Indianapolis with me considering he hates my brother." Honestly, Milla missed Drake and wished she could spend the holidays with him like they used to, but didn't want to abandon Jon either. "He said he'd deal with Drake in order to be with me, but I don't want to force him into an uncomfortable situation. That's not right or fair."

Reaching across the small table, Spencer took Milla's hand as saddened light brown eyes locked with deep leaf green. "You have no idea how much that man loves you, Milla. He would do anything for you, including getting along with Drake, if it meant your happiness. I know he's been a little distracted lately, but everything he's been doing has been for you. He turned on Shane McMahon and is going after the WWE title against Orton for you. It's all for you." She squeezed Milla's hand, trying to make her understand how intense Jon's feelings were for her.

"But it shouldn't be. He should go after the WWE title because that's what he wants. Bringing down Shane McMahon is one thing and I know Randy Orton is his handpicked corporate champion, but it shouldn't be all about me." Milla reasoned, scrubbing a gloved hand down her face in frustration and leaned back against the chair. "And I'd do anything for his happiness as well, so I guess we're at a standstill."

Spencer smiled desolately and released Milla's hand, taking a sip of her own coffee. "Just talk to him, that's all I can really tell you. You two communicate sexually, but there's more to a relationship than being physical. Tell him how you feel, what you're thinking and he might just surprise you." Glancing at her watch, it was going on 2 o'clock and they had to head back to the hotel to get ready to go to the arena.

20 minutes later, the girls walked into the suite and Colby immediately carted Spencer off to their room. Milla chuckled at their antics, removing her gloves and coat, hanging it up. She unwrapped the scarf around her neck and kicked her boots off by the door, heading to the small fireplace the suite offered. Reaching her hands out, Milla closed her eyes as the warmth from the fire enveloped her, spreading slowly throughout her cold body. The heat intensified when strong arms wrapped around her waist, his 6'4 frame sitting right behind her with his legs next to hers. Her hands rested gently on top of his and began stroking his forearms amorously, feeling hot breath on the back of her neck.

"You're freezing, baby girl." Jon said in a low raspy voice, tightening his arms around her and pressed a kiss over her pulse point. "Did you have fun with Spencer?"

Milla shrugged, thinking back to Spencer's advice and stared into the fire, trying not to get lost in Jon's touch. "We went to a few stores and Starbucks for some coffee, nothing big. Did you go workout with Colby?" She asked quietly, hitching in a breath when his nose brushed against her jaw and rested his cheek against hers.

"What's bothering you, Milla?" Jon had noticed ever since he pushed her away in Tampa she hadn't been the same and it was his fault. "Talk to me, baby girl. You can tell me anything, you know that." He hoped anyway since he fully trusted her.

"It's nothing…"

Growling, Jon suddenly clamped his hands on her hips and lifted Milla, planting her on his lap facing him. "You're lying to me." Just by the emotions swirling through her eyes, he didn't bother questioning her on it. "What is it? Why won't you talk to me?"

"It's stupid…"

"Milla, nothing you say to me is stupid. Why would you ever think that? Haven't I proven my feelings to you? Yeah, I fucked up in Tampa, but I thought we were past that." Jon cupped her face in his strong hands and softly kissed her, no force or urgency behind it. "What's on your mind? If it's what happened in Tampa, then you have to tell me because I'm not a fucking mind reader."

"No it's not that." Milla swallowed hard at the intensity in his electric blues and hated how well he could read her. "You've been through a lot lately and I didn't want to add to it. I'm sorry, it's not that I don't trust you or want to talk to you. I just…I just want to get through the Royal Rumble and then I'll feel better."

Truth be told, Milla was scared to talk to Jon about her brother, the holidays and her fear regarding his match with Randy Orton. The man was sadistic in the ring and hurt people for his own sick twisted amusement. What if Jon ended up severely hurt or his wrestling career was ended by the hands of Randy Orton? She couldn't imagine being in the WWE without Jon at this point or without him in her life, period. Wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, Milla closed her eyes as a few tears fell down her cheeks and tried to remain silent, but he could feel her trembling.

"Nothing is going to happen to me, baby girl. Hey, look at me." Jon forced her to pull back and inhaled sharply at the tears on her face, wiping them away with his thumbs. "That's it, you're talking to me right fucking now about what's going through that beautiful mind of yours. Start with anything, but we're not leaving the hotel until you come clean to me. If I have to miss my match against Nick and forfeit the title without being pinned, so be it. Your choice."

Milla glared at his ultimatum and couldn't believe how stubborn Jon was being right now. "Damn it…" Her eyes lowered from his and felt him take her hands, the fire warming her back up immensely. "Fine, Spencer asked me about what we were doing for the holidays coming up and I told her I didn't know. Taking you back to Indianapolis is out of the question for obvious reasons, so I didn't want to bring it up. I'm staying with you of course, but…" She squeezed his hands, pausing and finally looked up at him through teary eyes. "I miss my brother, Jon. I just hate that both of you loathe each other because I'm stuck right in the middle and it hurts. Christmas is our favorite time of the year and he's been begging me to come home to visit, but I don't want to leave you either. I want to be with both of you and not always feel torn." That wasn't the best way to explain her feelings, but Milla was never good at expressing them.

Feeling chest tightening at her confession about missing Drake, Jon didn't have a clue how she'd been feeling because she never talked about it. He felt like the biggest dick on the planet for not recognizing the signs that his girlfriend was in a state of emotional turmoil due to his past with her brother. Enough was enough, Milla couldn't keep all of this bottled up anymore and Jon knew there was more, deciding he would let her say everything before responding.

"Go on. I know there's more, let it all out." Jon encouraged in a low baritone, caressing her arms soothingly since Milla continued crying.

The floodgates suddenly sprung open and Milla couldn't hold back anymore, clutching his black sweater in her hands. "I-I'm scared about your match at the Royal Rumble against Randy Orton. I don't want anything to happen to you and I know how he is in the ring. He's remorseless in anything he does when wrestling and you know it! What if…What if he hurts you and you end up in the hospital or somehow your career ends? I don't want you walking into this cocky and arrogant like you do with every other match. And I know I'm probably giving that asshole too much credit, but that doesn't make me worry any less about you. I love you and I just want you to be safe. I know he's going to cheat and Shane is going to be out there with him. They'll do whatever they can to keep that damn belt. Just…I just need you to promise me that you won't do something stupid. I need you to promise me that you'll be holding me in your arms at the end of the night when it's all over." Milla finally broke down and voiced her deep thoughts, burying her face in his chest as his arms wrapped tightly around her. "I love you so much and I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you. I can't lose you, Jon."

Normally, Jon would've laughed at someone concerned about him during a match, but Milla's words had been so heartfelt and real, he couldn't. There wasn't a humorous bone in his body to make him laugh at her. If anything, all he wanted to do was take away her fears about his match as well as his attitude towards her brother. How was he supposed to soothe his trembling scared girlfriend though? This was just as new to Jon as it was to her since he never had a lot of luck with relationships in the past. And truthfully, crying females usually made him run in the opposite direction. But with Milla, once again everything was different and he couldn't run away from her – not now, not ever. They would figure everything out, it would just take a little time, patience and understanding on both of their parts.

"Milla, look at me, baby girl." Jon pried her away from his chest and lifted her chin with his strong hand until those beautiful light brown eyes pierced him. "First off, I told you from the beginning when we decided to be together your brother doesn't bother me. I'll do whatever it takes to be in your life, even if I have to make amends with him. And it sounds like I do." He heaved a sigh, knowing that wouldn't be a pleasant conversation to have with Drake. Jon would do anything for Milla though. "And there's no time like the present, so let's go to Indianapolis for Christmas. I want to meet your family and make things right with Drake because I refuse to lose you over him. I won't lose you, period, not without the fight of my fucking life. You mean everything to me and more, do you understand? You make me a better man, baby girl. So I'm going with you to Indianapolis for the holidays and that's all there is to it. You need to see your brother, I can see how much you miss him. Don't think I don't notice you checking your cell phone for text messages or missed calls at the end of every night while we're on the road or in Tampa. Because I have. Everything about you I notice."

"Y-You really mean it?" Milla sniffled, wiping her tears away and tossed her arms around his neck when Jon nodded, laughing tearfully. "You have no idea what this means to me, Jon. Thank you so much."

Jon chuckled, rubbing her back and held her close, breathing her in as much as he could like always. She was officially the sweetest addiction he ever had. "That's not all I want to say." He pulled back again to look in her eyes again, holding both of her hands against his chest. "As far as Randy Orton goes, you shouldn't be scared for me. If anything, you should be scared for him. And I'm not saying that to be arrogant or whatever, but it's the truth. The fucking idiot can't wrestle and uses cheating tactics to win his matches all the time. I can do his finishing move the RKO better than he can, I used it several times in my Indy days. I appreciate your concern for my safety because you love me, but baby girl, you have NOTHING to worry about. I'm walking in that arena to beat his ass and walking out with the WWE title. And then we're gonna have one HELL of a celebration at the hotel because the only one I want to be with that night is you. I don't care about anyone else, not even Colby because I know he'll be busy with Spencer. Does that clear things up for you?"

Milla nodded, softly kissing his mouth and knew Jon meant every word he said. "I'll try not to worry about you too much. And that's the best I can do because I'll never not worry about the man I love."

"Fair enough." Jon kissed her a little deeper, feeling her fingers delve in his semi-dry blonde curls and groaned from low in his throat. "There's something else…" He mumbled against her mouth, deciding there was no time like the present to bring this subject up since Milla had finally opened up to him.

"What is it?" Milla asked breathlessly, brushing a stray curl away from his forehead.

His mouth suddenly went dry and opened his mouth to speak when Colby and Spencer's bedroom door opened. "To be continued, I promise." He pecked her lips one last time and stood up with Milla in his arms, feeling her cheek rest on top of his head.

Spencer smirked at Milla, seeing the blush fill her cheeks and leaned against Colby, her arm around his waist. "We need to get ready to head to the arena, if you two are finished…" Colby already had his bag in hand along with her laptop, both of them dressed after some much needed sexual activity in the shower.

"Give us 5 minutes and we'll be ready." Milla had showered earlier that day and brushed her lips against Jon's, feeling him lower her until her feet touched the carpeting. "Thanks babe."

10 minutes later, they were on the way to the arena for the TLC pay-per-view and Milla could only hope nothing went wrong, holding Jon's hand the entire drive over.