Author's Note: I own diddly squat. The only thing that's mine is Aracely… and anyone else you don't recognise. I got this idea the other day when I was thinking about how you can't judge a book by its cover. Enjoy.

Nothing Lasts Forever

Chapter Four

Lee groaned when Jeff lightly shook her shoulder, "Really? I gotta get up now?" She asked. Jeff chuckled softly before he replied.

"Yeah honey, you gotta get up now. John likes to get up early. He called me and said he'd be here in half an hour."

"Half an hour?" That seemed to wake her up and she scrambled off the makeshift bed she'd insisted on making on the couch to go and shower. John was at the door before she'd left the bathroom and Jeff could only shrug apologetically and offer him some coffee.

Before John could answer though, she appeared. Her hair was damp and looking longer than ever but her makeup was on as usual and she wore another pair of shorts, some boots and an HBK shirt that she'd modified to suit her needs. "Sorry I'm running a little late Cena, didn't realise you wanted to go so damn early." She said, though there wasn't any anger or bitterness in her tone, walking over to her things and making sure they were all together.

"Don't worry about it. I forgot to tell you what time I'd be coming to get you." He said, kindness in his voice. It irritated her a little, like he thought he had to be nice to her because she was adopted or something. Or maybe it had to do with Shawn Michaels being her father. She didn't really know.

"Well, I'm good now." She told him, lifting her bag onto her shoulder.

"Right, well we'll get breakfast on the road. Thanks Jeff, see you." He said politely and turned slightly to leave, watching from the corner of his eye as Aracely gave Jeff a big hug and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks for having me Jeffy, I look forward to many more art nights with you." She couldn't contain a grin and it only grew when Jeff kissed the top of her head.

"Me too. See you Lee. Bye Cena."

With that, Lee followed John out the door, listening to it click shut behind them. She could feel the man's eyes on her as they waited for the elevator. It could have been a little unnerving but she was used to people staring at her. She was different and she knew it, and that often intimidated people. Especially people who seemed as clean cut as Cena.

She got into his car, wondering to herself why she couldn't have just travelled with Jeff. At least they were comfortable with each other- but she supposed that Shawn trusted Cena and wanted her to get to know different people. If she was travelling with him she should have a support network. The sceptical part of her wondered why she couldn't just have Jeff as her support system and leave it at that. After all, she was 17- she would be 18 in under a year and why on earth would Shawn want to keep her around after that?

Her musings were interrupted by Cena clearing his throat. "You hear anything I just said?"

"Sorry Cena, still half asleep. What was it?"

"I asked what you wanted for breakfast." He said, wondering why she insisted on calling him Cena all the time. It felt so impersonal. He wondered if she was trying to distance herself from him, realising it would be hard to break through the walls he thought he could see her putting up.

Although he was wrong about the reason, she did have some walls up. Nonetheless, she answered him, "Oh, whatever you want is fine. I'm not really a fussy eater."

"I figured I'd stop for McDonalds. I try not to eat it too often but you can indulge every once in a while, right?"

She just shrugged. "Sure." Then went back to looking out the window. She felt too awkward to start a conversation with Cena- what the hell was she supposed to say to him? With Jeff everything came easily, talk about art… anything really. Jeff was easy to speak to. Cena she didn't understand.

After a while, once their McDonalds had been both ordered and eaten, he spoke to her. "So… If you don't mind me asking… what happened to your parents?"

She glanced over at him now, once upon a time she would have minded him asking- and it prickled a little more with her that he asked than it had when Jeff asked- but it had been so long now… it was just a fact of her life. She shrugged, indicating she didn't really care that he asked, "They're dead. Have been for nearly ten years now."

"So… you were just in the foster care system since then?"

"I guess." She answered, a little more guarded. She certainly wasn't going to give him any insight into her life before now, other than the fact that her parents were dead and that's how Shawn came to adopt her.

"You know… sometimes it helps to talk. Might make you feel better." Cena offered. She couldn't help a soft snort.

"No offence or anything Cena, but I barely know you. Why would I share things yet? Besides, I feel fine. It's been a long time, I've adjusted. I'm okay." She told him. He said nothing for a little while, but she could tell that he didn't believe her.

"Well… If you change your mind, I'm here anytime." His voice still held that irritating kind tone to it, and she knew that he thought of her like some kind of project, something he needed to fix.

"I'm tired." She responded. "Wake me up when we get there?" And without waiting for his response she awkwardly curled up in the seat and rested her head on the window. She wasn't really that tired but she would legitimately try to sleep. Anything was better than making awkward conversation with Cena, and worse yet, being judged by him. He just didn't understand, she'd done her dealing with it. Nothing about her was a façade, it just was who she was.

Author's note: Sorry it's been a while. Life has been up and down lately. Very up and down. Anyway, this is the newest instalment, kind of fillerish but don't worry, we'll get there, to the more uh… meaty stuff lol. If I've made any hugely obvious errors, let me know and I'll fix it. I'm writing this late at night lol.