Standing in the small corridor that separated his living quarters from the outside hallway, John knew the scene before him looked bad.

In fact, it looked VERY bad.

Kate was curled up beneath the sheets of his bed in her jeans and an extra tee shirt of his. Yet, to the unassuming eye, she was only covered from the waist up. Then again, the tear stains of black mascara turned to liquid didn't exactly lend well to the situation, either.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he noted that at that moment, the shirt appeared to be at least five sizes too big for her frame. A month or two ago, it would have been a mere four sizes too large.

And it was at that moment, John couldn't resist himself. He knew that he shouldn't because if someone were to walk in, the scene would be horrific.

He was a thirty-one year old man. She was an eighteen year old high school senior.

It wasn't hard to make the connection.

But it was HIS room… and no one could come in without him knowing.

So John Cena did what he wanted… still sleep deprived, he pulled off his jeans, replaced them with a pair of shorts, and slid underneath the blanket beside Kate.

Kate's hazel eyes burned with exhaustion as she struggled to shake the sleep from her weary eyes.

Last night was a blur.

Out of nowhere, her father had shown up at the house, making demands that she was in no way prepared for.

A twinge of anger resonated through her body… he had no right to ask anything of her. Not anymore.

In her frustration, she had sped down Route 9 and the Garden State Turnpike at a rate that was blatantly illegal, but it seemed as though the New Jersey Police Department understood her need.

They weren't even in sight.

By the time she had gotten to the hotel, Kate's lips were moving on their own. She couldn't even remember the words that had left her mouth.

And now… she had no idea as to where the hell she was.

All of a sudden, the bed she was laying in, lost in her thoughts, shifted.

Warily, Kate glanced over to her left… and found John Cena fast asleep beside her.

Last night couldn't have been that hazy… could it have?

"Hey, Kate," the semi-compassionate Randy Orton greeted her, his arm propped against the doorframe.

"Hi," she replied with a forced smile that he instantly saw past.

Concern washed over his face instantly. "Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. When did you get here? What happened? Are you- wait a second. Are you wearing John's clothes?!?"

The eighteen year old's gaze flickered downwards to her attire: a pair of oversized basketball shorts and an equally baggy Red Sox tee.

"Shit," she winced, her mouth slightly open. "I think so."

Randy peered over her shoulder with ease and noticed John's sleeping form, curled up in the large hotel room bed.

His jaw clenched and he slid past Kate, making a bee-line for the older wrestler.

"Randy!" the blonde hissed through grit teeth. "Leave him alone."

Randy leered over him. "Cena, get up."

The Massachusetts native groaned and twisted around in his blanket, attempting to avoid reality for a few more moments.

"I said, get up, John," the gravel-voiced man repeated.

"Randy…" Kate protested and rushed over, placing a hand on his arm. "Please, let him sleep. I don't think he did anything."

His head whipped around to his left, where she was standing. "You don't think he did anything? Oh, hell no. Now he's getting up."

Instantly, he slid his hands under the mattress and flipped it over, causing the older wrestler to tumble to the floor with an incredibly loud thud.

"Randy!"

"What the fuck?" John groaned from the carpet, rubbing the side of his head that connected with the floor as he hit the ground.

"Kate is wearing your clothes, Cena… " He walked with ease around the heap on the floor and towered over his friend. "And I want to know why."

"Nothing happened, Orton," John replied, shaking his head as he struggled to his feet.

Randy scoffed at the notion, "Yeah, because Kate just randomly decided to wear your clothing to bed last night."

"No, Randy, it wasn't like that…" the blonde in the room assured him, reaching for his arm. "Really."

"You don't need to protect him, Kate."

"You assume that's what I'm doing…"

"Kate," John addressed her as he pushed the mattress back onto the bed. "You don't have to tell him anything. Randy knows nothing happened last night."

"But something DID happen last night, John. It's just not what he thinks."

Randy's sapphire gaze hardened to a dark azure color as his eyes wheeled towards John. "I'll kill you."

"My father came to my house last night, Randy!" Kate blurted out.

His head snapped around. "What?"

"My father came to my house last night," she repeated slowly and sank down onto the recently-righted bed. "And I didn't know where to go because my mom wasn't home… so I came here."

"And she stayed the night because she didn't want to go back home, so I gave her a shirt and a pair of my gym shorts to sleep in," John explained further, the pain in his head finally subsiding.

"I probably don't remember all of it because I was just really upset, Randy. I was just flooded with so many emotions… pain, anger, sadness. It was just too much for me to deal with, I don't even remember driving here. It was like I was on auto-pilot," she sighed and ran a hand through her caramel-colored locks. "Do you understand what I mean, Randy?"

"Yeah, I do," he replied with a deep exhale. "Listen, Kate… do you mind if I talk to John for a little while? Just us guys?"

"No problem. I could probably use a shower, anyway."

"Here," Randy began, searching through his pocket for his keycard and once he retrieved it, he flipped it to his friend. "You can use my shower."

"Just grab a shirt from my bag," John instructed her. "I hope you don't mind wearing the same jeans as yesterday 'cause I highly doubt that any of mine would fit you."

The blonde chuckled lightly as she pulled a green Celtics tee from his suitcase and flung it over her shoulder, along with her jeans. "Thanks, John."

John nodded silently and the duo watched as she retreated out the door, closing the metal panel behind her.

They lingered in absolute quiet for a few minutes before the younger man turned to the older one.

"I didn't mean it, you know. When I said I'd kill you…" he started, a strong hand reaching up to rub the side of his jaw. "I didn't really mean it."

"Yes, you did," John stated plainly. "But that's okay. I'm glad she has two protectors instead of one."

"About that…" Randy trailed off, his hand sliding down his face and over his shoulder to rub the back of his neck nervously. "Maybe… you should cool it a little bit."

"Says the guy that just overturned my bed because he thought I slept with her," John snorted, rolling his eyes.

This time it was Randy who did the eye-rolling. "I'm serious, John. Sometimes you're a little too protective of her."

John arched an eyebrow at him. "If there's something you're trying to tell me, Orton, just come out and say it."

"John, I know you care about Kate a lot," he sighed quite audibly. "But while this friendship you have with her may seem perfectly normal to you, it's not. You've been engaged to Liz for how long now? A year? And you're no closer to setting a date than you were the day before you proposed. It just… looks bad, John. It looks really bad. And the fact that at first sign of distress, you hop on your white horse and play knight in shining armor, doesn't help your case."

"Wait a minute," John halted him, setting his jaw. "Are you saying… do you think I've got a thing for Kate?"

"I'm just saying that if you don't, it sure doesn't look that way to the rest of us."

His blue eyes grew clouded over as he laughed. "You've really lost it this time, Orton. Hah. Me… in love with Kate. Good one."

"I understand why she'd come to you when she feared her father," Randy explained slowly. "It's normal to want to be protected from something or someone you're afraid of. Especially, when you, John, are the one person he doesn't know about yet. It's a way to protect everyone else she loves from being harmed while protecting herself in the process. But I know for a fact that you talk to her more than you talk to your own fiancée and she talks to you more than she speaks to her own boyfriend. That's not how it's supposed to be."

"So what are you asking me to do, Randy? Stop talking to her?"

"No," he answered quickly, shaking his head. "I want you to let her be a normal eighteen year old and deal with her normal eighteen year old problems. She has to learn to do it on her own, with the people she loves at her side. If she runs to you for everything, Kate is going to be destroyed when you and Liz get married because in your new life together, there isn't going to be much room for her in it. You and I both know that Liz is not too fond of Kate. It's not like that's going to change anytime soon." Randy sighed, knowing what he was about to say was going to sting. "Face it John, no matter what you do… you're going to emotionally cripple her."

"Yeah, Mom… I'm fine," Kate assured her mother for the thousandth time over the phone. "It just freaked me out, that's all. I locked all of the doors and came to be with John."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Natalie pressed her further. "I can fly home tonight if you need me to."

"No, no," her daughter shook her off. "Nana and Poppi haven't seen you in a long time, plus… you deserve the vacation. It's beautiful in Florida."

Her mother sighed heavily. "Yes, it's beautiful. But I'm still worried."

"You know John won't let anything happen to me."

"Yes, I know. I guess, if I had to pick any place that you would have gone to, I would have expected it to be Justin's house. But I actually feel a little better knowing you're with John and there's two hundred-something pounds of muscle between you and your father."

"Good… listen, Mom. I have to run. I need to call Justin and fill him in on everything. I might stay here an extra day just to be safe and I don't want him to think I'm bailing on him tomorrow."

"Alright, Kate. Take care of yourself and please call me later, okay?"

"Okay, Mom," she agreed with a nod that was mainly for her own benefit. "I love you. Bye."

"Dude, your phone is ringing!"

"I'm in the middle of something here," the eighteen year old groaned to his thirteen year old brother on the opposite side of the room, desperately trying to beat his high score on Guitar Hero.

The younger brother checked the caller idea and then threw the phone at the older one's back.

"Hey, Justin… it's your girlfriend…" he sang teasingly, his voice cracking slightly.

"Can you please go through puberty already and leave me alone?" Justin rolled his eyes as he paused the video game and flipped open his phone.

"You know you don't want me to… because then, I'll be taller than you. Oh wait, I already am!"

"Hey, Kate," Justin ignored his brother and answered the phone. "What's up?"

"Listen…" her voice calmly asked him as he began to exit the room. "I don't want you to flip out. Promise me you won't do anything stupid?"

He winced. "You know that when it comes to you, I can't promise that."

"Then promise me you'll try," she answered, a little too quickly in his opinion.

He nodded slowly and agreed. "Alright… I'll try."

She took a deep breath before breaking the news. "My father came by my house last night and basically told me that if I didn't testify on his behalf at the hearing, he'd drag out proceedings as long as he could so that Mom could never get anything."

While Justin's parents divorce had been damaging to him and his brother, as the splitting up of families often was, they had at least divorced amicably. Which meant that as painful as it had initially been, they were saved the trauma of warring parents.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Kate.

"Your father is an asshole," he muttered coldly.

"I know."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm better," she replied honestly.

"Do you want me to come and get you?"

"No, I'm with John."

Justin was immediately confused. "You're with Cena? How?"

"He's in East Rutherford for Raw tonight, remember? I told you last month."

"Oh, right," he lied through his teeth because truth be told, he tried to avoid listening to her when it came to the wrestler. "Sorry, I think I'm kind of angry with your dad right now, so I'm not remembering much at the moment."

"You could come tonight, you know."

"And ruin your bonding time with Cena? Nah, I'll take a pass. Maybe next time around, whenever that is."

Clutching the receiver to her ear, Kate smiled. "He'd like that. Listen, I have to take a shower and get myself together. I'll call you after the show."

"No problem, babe. Have fun and be safe. If something happens, call me. I can get there in less than an hour."

"I will," she agreed. "I'll talk to you later. Bye, Justin."

"Bye, Kate."

Justin flipped the cell phone onto his couch and sank down onto the opposite end.

A part of him was incredibly jealous of John Cena. It wasn't why most guys were jealous of the wrestler/actor, but then again, most guys' girlfriends weren't best friends with him.

He loved Kate a lot, more than he ever expected he could.

But as of late, there was a part of him that was beginning to wonder whether or not he'd have to live in John's shadow forever.

Because while he expected to be number two on her list of priorities, behind her mother and her best friend, Julia…

He never expected to be second to John Cena.

After Randy had left, John remained seated on the bed.

He was right, he and Liz weren't moving forward anytime soon. But that didn't mean he didn't want to. It just meant that she didn't want to yet.

He wondered if everyone really saw him and Kate like Randy claimed they did, an almost thirty-one year old who was way too protective of an eighteen year old high school girl for it to be innocent.

Kate was more to him than that. She was the only female friend he had left, a person to confide in about his problems who he knew for certain wouldn't tell anyone else.

Yet, he still had Liz.

And Kate was certainly no Liz.

A/N: I know it's been forever, but winter break is coming around and that'll mean a lot more updates. I'll be home for around nine days by myself (well, I'm puppy sitting, so I'm technically not by myself) because my parents are driving to Florida and I refuse to be stuck in a car for 22 hours with my eight year old sister. Plus, unlike the last time we drove, when I was 14, I can drive outside of state lines and I'm not in the mood to drive down I-95 for five hours straight.

Oh… and Happy belated-Turkey Day and Black Friday. I was on line at Kohl's for my 80 dollar GPS at 3:30 this morning and was 7th in line. Well, $225 later (aside from my numerous coupons that saved me $114.78) … most of my holiday shopping is done! And I got myself two dollar scarves and gloves in EVERY COLOR! It was like 20 bucks, when a scarf and a pair of gloves normally costs that much. As you can tell, I'm on a door-buster high!

However, on a more relevant we're now officially more than halfway through More Than Words. Truthfully, I've had the first fifth of this chapter for about a month, but it took John's PPV and Raw returns to inspire me.

I'm pretty proud of this chapter, as it's definitely a return to my insight-driven chapters as opposed to my dialogue-driven chapters. I must admit, I like the former one better… it means I'm more inspired.

It's definitely going to start to get interesting as the relationship between Kate and Justin is explored in more depth, while Liz and John's relationship starts to take a turn for the worse, as you can see it's starting to.

At this point, the story is in early April… but it will end in late May. Not too much time left to go.

And piggybacking on my statement about inspiration, John's return has inspired me to continue work on my other Cena story, She's a Rebel III: Cupid's Chokehold. I'm aiming for a double update this long weekend, so half is done in MTW.

Shout-outs: miles89, xXBXx, w8ing4rain, Johnny, xtobelovedx, ThatGirl54, dj-ssdd, Fozzy-Floozy, 3.14, Kayla SMiley, OryonUK, .Love, Fighter37, GirlsLikeBoys, Enigmatic Lotus Lead, Teufelkind, Cena-holic8, mcena99, galloptome, CraftyTink529, ShannonxMoore'sxLoverx, and dreamin'BIG!

I have to say though, it's pretty funny that RIGHT AFTER John's injury was the last time I updated and my only update since then came the week of his return. Hmm. Odd.

Well, I missed you guys a lot, so I hope you enjoy this juicy chapter.

Read and review all!

It's good to be back,

Danielle