Chapter 2-As long as I'm here

It was show time, and Maria couldn't think of anything to possibly avoid John, even though now was too late. Hunter was right. Whether she liked it or not, she had to be his kayfabe girlfriend and she had to suck it up and deal with it.

Her first scene was in the locker room with John. Finally it was her cue. She walked into the guy's locker room to find John bent over the bench, tying his shoelaces, and pumped for his singles match against Edge. He looked up and saw Maria, raising his eyebrows as a smile crept on his face. "Hey, Maria."

"Hey John." Maria walked up to him smiling, but hesitant. She twiddled her fingers slightly. "I just wanted to wish you luck tonight." She looked around uneasily. This is so embarrassing she thought to herself.

"You okay?" He asked her, looking serious.

"I just wanted to wish you luck and to be careful. Edge can sometimes be..." Maria looked up at him worried. Maria hated this but she couldn't help that her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his masculine voice.

"Maria, trust me. I know. But thanks. Maybe you could be ringside with me." John stated before stuttering, "You know, to make sure nothing happens." He added with a smile.

"Of course John!" Maria said happily. "See you tonight." She tip-toed to his cheek to kiss it, his arms hesitantly wrapped around her waist. Then giggling, she headed back out of the locker-room. John stared after her with a faint smile.

As soon as she was away from the camera, she frowned. That was the most awful thing I've ever had to do she thought, wiping her lips. She could've swore she smelled the slightest hint of sex on John. Blech!

"Hey Maria, how was it?" asked Trish as she came from backstage.

"Weird as hell." Maria said as she began to walk down the hall with Trish. "You have no idea."

.:.

After that was all over, John sighed with relief as he stretched. He did feel pumped up now, Mickie did give him some energy.

"Hey Cena." Edge came up to him. "Ready for our match?"

"Yeah." It was different from TV. John was glad Edge and Lita were his friends, because they definitely had his back on a lot of things.

Edge suddenly sniffed the air, and looking at John, a sneaky smile started to creep on his face. "Hmm..."

John stared at him and started blushing. "I smell like it don't I? Damn, give me something. It's so weird because I showered and still… Damn."

Edge started to laugh as he opened up his locker door, "So, how was it working with Maria? I was watching ya'll on the screen backstage. You both were pretty tense."

"It was stressful a little," said John, "I don't know. I just don't ever want to see her." He sighed, running a hand through his cropped hair. "I mean, we broke up, and I want us to stay broken up. Let the sleeping dog lie, you know."

"Well, you guys are gonna be working together," Edge said as he tossed John some Axe, "you might as well try to talk to her and make peace. Oh, and you can keep that. I don't want it back after you put it on God knows what."

"Thanks," He said with a sigh. He sat down on the bench. "I can't talk to Maria."

"You're gonna have to." Edge told him, "You're gonna have to be with her all the time. Can't hide forever."

John knew that was true, but he had no ambition to make things up with Maria. Its over, no left over feelings and that was that. He couldn't help but think the way he did, but he wasn't interested in being friends with her. I don't miss her He thought to himself, but he couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the truth.

.:.

It was time for the real show to begin. Maria walked out of her dressing room and jogged down the hall, heading to be ringside for John. She was almost at the gorilla when she bumped into DX.

"I'll give you two some alone time," Hunter said to them both as he walked up a few feet. Shawn and Maria stared at each other.

"Maria, I-"

"Shawn, its okay" Maria said with a sigh. "I shouldn't be mad, you were kinda right." She reached forward to hug him. "We'll talk later but I gotta go."

"Break a leg!" Hunter called after her as she sprinted on her way. He turned to Shawn. "When are you gonna ask her?"

"Not now," said Shawn, "She's still recovering from John." He sighed. "I don't think I have a chance anyway."

"Won't hurt to try," Hunter told him, patting his shoulder.

Maria rushed over to John just as soon as his music hit. The two not even saying a word to each other, headed out for the first main event of the night. Maria looked at John, seeing a smile she rarely saw as the crowd exploded at hearing his entrance. He saluted before continuing to the ring. Maria skipped out next to John, clapping and cheering. Maria was a natural with the crowd, even motioning the "You-Can't-See-Me," which if she admitted it, was something she had always wanted to do for the crowd with John.

John couldn't help but grin at Maria, and not scripted, he really did. She looked like a dream. Her red locks framing her face and her clothes accentuated her beauty. John slid into the ring and held open the ropes for her. She slipped through the ropes and paraded around the ring pointing to John and trying to get some more cheers for him. She hopped down from the ropes and kissed John on the cheek again before Edge entered the ring and she took her respective place on the ground.

"Come on, John!" Maria cheered for him as the match went underway. Even though she wasn't interested that much, she liked the fact that Edge and John wrestled each other for so long that they could basically guess what moves the other guy was about to do. Edge started out by Irish whipping John all over the ring. He got John in the corned and got a few shots at his head before holding his forearm against John's neck, restricting air. The ref counted to three before Edge backed off. John quickly regained his composure before setting Edge up for a 5 Knuckle Shuffle after a few moves. He hit it perfectly, which made Lita angry. John went for the cover but Lita came into the ring and interfered with a leg drop just after the two-count. Maria sped up to the apron but the ref stopped her and told her to stand down. Maria did as she was told, glaring at Lita all the while. Edge had now taken control and after a DDT sandwiched between two suplexes, the fist belly-to belly, the second belly to back, he set John up for the Edge-a-cution. He hit the move and went for the cover. Maria hopped up to the apron again while John kicked out just before the three count. The crowd sighed with relief to see the match not over yet. John was still weak while the aggravated Edge pulled him up to Irish whip him to the corner where Lita was residing. The ref now noticed Maria up on the apron. Lita snuck up to help Edge strangle John while the referee's view was obstructed.

"But Lita's up too! Look!" Maria fought back, trying to get the official to just turn around.

"Maria! Get back down! I don't need any interferences!" The ref warned. Maria stepped down while pointing over to Edge who was continuously kicking John in the stomach while Lita restrained him with the ropes. The official turned back around. Lita held her hands up in the air, signaling she was doing nothing. Edge walked to the other side of the ring wand squatted down, waiting for the perfect moment to Spear John. John slowly wobbled up and as Edge was about to leap forward, Maria grabbed a hold of his boot. When the referee scolded her once again, she released his boot letting him turn around. John looked unsteady on his feet and Edge was ready to attack. As Edge began to run towards The Champ, John clotheslined him dropping him to the ground. Edge popped back up and John clotheslined him again. Edge got back up again, slightly weaker this time. John the Irish whipped him alomng the middle of the ropes right into a drop toe hold, immediately locking in the STFU.

Just as Edge was considering tapping out, Lita jumped in again and broke up the submission maneuver. The fuming official was tired of the interferences and forced Lita to leave the ring.

Maria had had enough also. She jogged over to where Lita was standing and yanked her hair back, causing her to fall to the ground, yelping in pain. Maria began to kick her fellow diva making her double over in pain. Maria picked her up by her hair and Irish whipped her into the barrier before heading back over to her side of the ring.

John, panting from working Edge in the ring, looked between the divas with a small smile before he continued. The match was almost over. Edge was tired, and John just wanted to end the match. So he went over to Edge, about to get him in FU position. John hit it, causing Edge to lay still in the ring. The crowd went wild as the ref hit the apron 1…2…3 times. John had won!

Maria jumped back up to the apron and raised John's hand in victory. His smile grew more as the realization dawned on him that he won and that Maria was next to him. Her grip released his wrist and he pulled her in for a hug.

"Thanks," He whispered in her ear as his arms tightened around her waist. Maria had almost forgotten everything of their past as they shared this moment, but was reminded when she looked into her eyes and saw the pity shining in them. Her smile faded before she kissed him on the cheek, which was for the storyline. John pulled her in for another hug before the two headed backstage.

They had one more segment for the night which they decided previously to tape now, so they could relax. They walked to the filming area and without another word, they began filming.

The camera zoomed in on Maria wiping herself off after the match. She looked up when she heard John.

"Hey, Maria." He greeted. John walked into the view and wrapped his arm over her shoulders.

"Hey John." Maria greeted with a smile. "Great job on your match."

"You were pretty great out there, too."

"Thanks," Maria smiled before letting it fade, "Lita was getting on my last nerve though! Who does she think she is where she can just interfere like that! Urg!"

"Well you did great. And I was thinking, maybe we could make you coming to the ring with me permanent." Maria smiled at what he was propositioning. She ran her hand over his cheek and leaned in to kiss him. I hate this! She thought. I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! It was just a long peck but it was enough to show that there was still chemistry between the two. Maria pulled away and smiled slightly while she was thinking about how much she didn't want to kiss him ever, ever again… even if his lips were as soft as ever before, and his freshly shaven face feeling as soft as a baby's underneath her fingertips.

Maria left go of John and sighed as she began to head to her locker room. She hated this storyline. Hated it.

"Maria, wait!" John called and grabbed onto her wrist to stop her from going too far.

Maria stopped with a huff and turned to him, not making eye contact. "Yes, John?"

"Maria, you did a great job tonight" He complimented her, looking deep into her green eyes.

"Thanks John" She said, refusing to look into his deep blue eyes, trying to wiggle out of his grip but he didn't let go. "What do you want?" She said in exasperation, finally meeting his eyes.

"Maria, I want us to be friends," John said to her, "Look, I don't want to avoid you anymore, I think that's stupid. Especially since we're going to be working together now."

"Well, John, I'm not ready to be friends with you right now," Maria said sharply to him. "I...Not right now, okay?"

"Why not?" John asked her with a quirked brow. He thinks he figured it out, and he sighed in annoyance. "Look, if its about the whole breaking up thing, then I'm sorry."

"By 'breaking up thing' do you mean cheating on me? Because saying sorry for ruining my life doesn't exactly make it up. I don't want to be friends with you. It'll just make it harder to get over you."

John stared at her. "You still love me." It wasn't a question.

"Good job," Maria sarcastically remarked. "You've finally realized that we're not all heartless like you. You'd think after three years you would've known me better. But I guess you didn't realize that I don't heal easily. Thanks for hashing up that old wound." Maria commented, her voice breaking towards the end of her rant. She tried to be strong but she could only hold up for so long.

John looked guilty now. "Maria..." She tore her arm from his grip before quickly heading down the hallway with tears streaming silently down her face.

He didn't realize that Maria was suffering this much over the relationship. He figured that because she yelled at him all the time when they were together, that she wouldn't miss him all at much. But it turns out that she really was suffering.

Maria kept walking when she saw Shawn appear into view. She sped up her walking and hugged him as she silently cried on his chest.

"Maria, its okay," Shawn's gruff voice said to her quietly, and she continued to cry in his arms. He hugged her tightly, letting her let out all the emotions that was held inside. Shawn glared at John, angry for causing Maria this kind of pain. "He won't hurt you anymore." Not as long as I'm here.

A/N: So now Shawn is there for Maria. Does she want him there? Will John and Mickie last? How does Mickie feel about their storyline? What about that kiss? Will it rekindle old flames? The only answer I can give you is maybe… then you'll find out when you click the next chapter button. (: Lots of Love.