AN: Finally an update! With summer there should be many more updates in a higher frequency. Well we can hope. Tragicfriday should be updating her stories soon as well.
Chapter 18
"Seriously John?" Shannon huffed. "Did we really have to take the stairs? Didn't I exercise enough today?"
"It was only a couple of flights of stairs." John smirked.
"Our room is on the 15th floor." she made out in between deep breaths.
"You'll get used to it." he said passing her a water bottle.
After finishing the contents she walked over to the sink and splashed some cold water on her face followed by a deep cleansing make up remover. Her previous assumption that she looked a hot mess was confirmed after one glance in the mirror. Reaching over the counter with her eyes shut, her hands grasped the air in search of the face towel.
"Looking for this?" she heard right before feeling a towel snap across her bottom making her jump.
"John!" she turned around quickly trying to swat him away but consequently slipped on the marble floor that was now wet. Before hitting the floor, thinking it was inevitable, his arms shot out and caught her. The action had pressed her tightly up against his chest. Without her saying a word, he gently patted her face with the towel so she could see once more and glare at him.
"Not so funny when I almost die is it?" she complained.
"It was worth it because now I have you right where I want you." He looked down at her face and placed a light kiss on her forehead.
Whereas Dave and Eva had silent exchanges that could express their emotions, John and Shannon had always utilized words to achieve their affections. It only felt natural that they could now move beyond expressing what they felt with words and continue to the simple pleasure of a touch.
John managed to turn on the shower, all the while never ceasing his rapture of her lips. He deepened the kiss once they had both managed to stumble into the shower and he wrapped his arms around her waist. The clothes that once covered them were now forgotten memories on the bathroom floor, leaving nothing between their skin's long overdue meeting.
He allowed the water to wash over them, noticing her skin was hot to the touch even before the warm water had made contact. He reveled in her beauty and the simplicity of being alone with her so close.
Watching her lather her hair, he imagined what it would be like to be able to do this on a day to day basis. The thought that insignificant daily activities could turn into something like this, made John feel even more enthralled by her presence.
He began running his hands through her locks of hair as the water poured the shampoo into a pool of suds at their feet, leaving her hair plastered around her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his neck bringing him closer, removing the space between them.
"Finally managed to get me into the shower with you huh?" she gave a small laugh before their lips crashed together once more.
"I knew it was just a matter of time before you caved to the Cena charm." he traced her jar line with his fingertips.
"Oh did you? Well in that case" she paused and then suddenly grabbed the removable shower head and switched the knob to as cold as it could possibly go. Before John could react he was shot in the face with a freezing cold stream of water.
"Did you see that one coming?" she started laughing hysterically at his shocked expression.
"No but I should have." he sighed. "Just like you should have expected this!" In one swift motion Shannon found her bare back against John's chest. His arms were now tangled along with hers in an improvised arm lock to subdue the threat of the shower head still in her hands.
"Now this really is just where I want you." he nibbled on her neck making her giggle even more.
"Well for once I think we are in complete agreement." she met his eager lips with hers prompting him to turn her body to face him for better access and to deepen their kiss.
"I'm not sure how I'm gonna be able to think about anything besides those lips this week."
"Lucky for you there's skype and texting and photos." she raised her eyebrows up and down a couple of times suggestively.
"I love my girlfriend." he said decisively with a smile.
"You know what I love?"she asked looking up into his eyes.
"Oh yea." he said putting his hands on her bare hips.
"Food." she said with a sly smile making him raise his head up to the ceiling and shake it.
"Tease."
"What can I say? I enjoy the tension and buildup." she said the suggestive words with a deliberate innocence.
"I'll give you 10 seconds to get away safely and then you're fair game." John decided with a glint of amusement in his eyes.
"Someone's horny."
"Last warning. 10...9..."
"You're serious!" she yelped hopping out of the shower. By the time she got to a towel he was already at 5.
Shannon took less time than she had ever remembered to grab some clothes on and dress herself. It's not that she hated the idea of being intimate with John, she didn't think any sane woman with two eyes would detest that idea. But if she let these antics go on, they would never leave their hotel room and get on with the night.
There was also that bittersweet pang in the depth of her heart that nagged her about the impending absence of their time together. This was the life they both chose and this would only be the beginning of numerous times spent apart. She would just keep her head up and be thankful for the opportunities that others would kill to have and enjoy the moments with John as they came.
Before she could make herself anymore depressed, John appeared in the bathroom doorway, a smile on his face.
"You got ready fast." he chuckled.
"Yea, well let's say I was really motivated. I'm going to head over to Eva and Dave's so that I'm not too tempted after that towel of yours drops." she winked at him before leaving.
Once John had met the group, they decided to settle with the Asian restaurant in the hotel for convenience and it was already rather late in the evening.
Shannon had let Eva and Dave await the big announcement until after the food had been served and devoured just for the fun in torturing them and for added effect. She always had been one for theatrics when it came to announcements so this one would be no different.
"Will you tell me what it is already before I rip my hair out over here?" Eva had broken into a minor hysteria with the prolonged anticipation. While it was very amusing to Shannon, she started to feel sort of bad and anxious herself at what type of responses she would receive at the news.
"Alright, alright. John and I spoke with Vince today. He's sending Eva and I to a training camp run by Trish Stratus. We are going to train under Trish for the next 2 weeks!" Shannon just short of exclaimed.
The look on Eva's face was one of stunned silence and genuine suprise. Dave asked the question he knew both of them were wondering.
"When are you two heading out?"
"Tomorrow morning, first thing. So after this we should probably pack up and then get to bed if we're going to actually make our flight." Shannon explained.
"That's great. Does this mean you're going to be in the ring when you guys come back?" Dave asked hopeful.
"There are storylines being written to set the course so we are definitely moving in the right direction." Shannon assured him.
"With a couple of speed bumps on the way in the form of Randy, but yea eventually we'll get there." John sighed catching the attention of the other couple.
"Randy?" Eva finally spoke up.
"Oh don't worry about it. Long story short, Randy and I are going to be onscreen as a couple for a little while until John comes along and rescues little ole me in typical WWE fashion." Shannon proclaimed lightening the mood a bit and earning smiles from Eva and Dave.
"No wonder Randy thought he did something wrong and you were pissed earlier." Dave could not help but laugh at Johns expense.
"John has definitely perfected his death glare since finding out the news. But really it's going to be hilarious and nothing more." Shannon insisted.
"So we're not going to see each other for the next two weeks?" Evas face fell a bit when she looked at Dave and it started to sink in.
"We are coming back to Raw for an appearance on Monday night so it won't be two weeks straight." Shannon explained trying to make her friend feel better. "And there's all kinds of ways to keep in touch."
"She's right. Plus Trish is going to be keeping you two so busy you won't even know what day it is. This week will go by faster than you think." John agreed.
The following morning came faster than either of the couple's would have liked. It was 5'o clock in the morning when the alarm went off to signal the start of another long day. Shannon was oblivious to this fact as she continued to curl her body up to John's. It had been a long night following a busy day. After Shannon had finally finished packing and got to bed, her thoughts had been a constant stream that would not allow sleep to come. She had laid awake in bed long after John had fallen asleep and must have finally passed out a couple of hours prior to when she was supposed to be awake.
Thankfully John heard the obnoxious squawk of the alarm and slowly began nudging his girlfriend awake. Waking Shannon up against her will, John had learned quickly was nearly impossible. Saying she was not a morning person was an understatement.
John trudged his way from the bed to the coffee maker and waited for the elixir to fill Shannon's extra large traveling coffee cup. As soon as he prepped it the way she preferred, he made his way back to the bed and set it on the side table. When he finally would wake her, the coffee would be his peace offering and hopefully save him from the impending doom that awaits anyone in his current position.
He had learned from previous attempts, how exactly to go about this process seamlessly. She always slept in the same position, slightly curled up on her side. He made his way back onto his side of the bed and laid next to her once more, so that their faces were across from each other. First he leaned over and kissed her forehead lightly and slowly making his way down to her cheek. This would usually stir her from her slumber slowly enough for her to not immediately want to kill him. Then he would proceed to wrap his arms around her waist and bring her closer while verbally offering her coffee. Not long after the mention of coffee would she decide to get up and search for the cup.
"You spoil me."
"I ultimately benefit having you highly caffeinated in the morning."
"True. What time is it?"
"Somewhere around 5:15. You better get going if you're going to make that flight."
"Can you text Eva and make sure she's up while I shower? I'm gonna try and take a super quick one." she asked kissing him on her way toward the bathroom door.
"No problem."
As it turned out Eva had already been up for the last hour and consequently was dressed and ready to walk out the door. She had deliberately set her alarm earlier than need be so that she would have a bit more time with Dave. If time with him wasn't worth a little less sleep, she didn't know what did.
It had been decided the night before that the girls would not be escorted to the airport since John was going to be staying in town one more day for some publicity events. Dave was supposed to be flying out later in the day so it seemed pointless to make a trip to the airport twice in one day. Plus who would want to prolong the inevitable of saying goodbye.
When Shannon made her way out from the bedroom to the living room of the suite she saw Eva was already present and waiting for her. Scanning over her friend's appearance of white sweat pants and a green tank top and matching white camisole, she was glad to see they would both be comfortable for the long flight. Shannon had settled for navy blue sweats, a white tank top, and a grey hoodie. She had been in no mood to try and battle it out with her hair so she had simply decided to hide it under a baseball cap. It was definitely a minimal, just mascara and eyeliner type of day for the both of them.
"Dave still asleep?" she gave Eva a questioning look from under her cap.
"Nah, but we already said our goodbyes so I figured why drag it all on."
Shannon could tell by her friend's facial expression that she wanted to keep it together, so she tried to avoid saying any more about it. John insisted on carrying their bags down, but really Shannon knew he was just trying to take the minutes he had left.
The cab was already waiting downstairs when they got there and the driver hurried over to grab the bags from John. Eva gave John a quick hug and then made a swift entrance into the vehicle in order to give the couple their moment alone.
"Let me know when you land, will ya?" John insisted.
"Of course. I'm sure you'll get tired of all the texts sooner than later."
"Doubtful. Love you." he said giving her a long and deep kiss.
"Love you too, and I'll see you soon enough." Shannon said soothingly and kissing him once more before getting into the cab.
AN: Sorry it was a bit slow this chapter. We needed to get things out of the way and get to the good stuff. But hey at least there will be more action in the next chapter. Read and review please!