Chapter 3…

2 Months Later…

"I don't know about this," Raquel shook her head, sitting down on the couch.

"I think you should just do it," Troy said. "It could be fun."

"Wrestling?" Raquel raised an eyebrow at her cousin.

"Well, they said you wont have to wrestle, right?"

"Right," She nodded. "But do I really wanna do something like that?"

"Why not just meet with them?" Troy suggested. "It could be fun."

"Will you go with me?" Raquel laid her head on his shoulder.

"I swear, what would you and Bri do without me?"

"Shrivel up and die," Raquel smiled up at him. "Will you go?"

"Of course I will."

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"Hey," Randy walked into John and Jeff's dressing room. "What's up?"

Randy was concerned. His friend had been acting strange and distracted all day.

"Nothing," John shook his head.

"Yeah, I believe that," Randy rolled his eyes. "What's going on?"

John sighed, "You know how Vince has been trying to hire that model?"

"Raquel Davenport," Randy nodded.

"Yeah," John noticed. "She's uh…she used to be a really good friend of mine."

"How good?" Randy smirked.

"Not like that," John shook his head. "Remember when I told you about my ex-girlfriend?"

There'd been a few but Randy knew the one he was talking about. The one John mentioned more than any other.

"Brianna," Randy sighed.

John nodded, "Raquel is her sister."

"Damn," Randy said. "Do you not like her or something?"

"I love Raquel, she's like my sister," John said. "Or she used to be…I just-"

"Think you might see Brianna," Randy finished.

"Right," John nodded.

"John, you're with Paula," Randy reminded him. "Why the hell do you care if you see her?"

"Because of how messed up things are after the last time I saw her," John sighed, running a hand over his hair.

Randy remembered the story as if he'd been there…

2002

Brianna stared, horrified. She was visiting John at college for the weekend and in the process of cleaning his horribly messy apartment she'd stumbled upon a bra that she knew wasn't hers. She felt herself breathing heavily, almost gasping for air, her eyes filling with tears.

"Baby are you okay?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, ordering herself to stay calm. She stood up slowly, turning around.

"John," she breathed, holding up the bra, looking at his forehead, unable to look into his eyes. "What is this?"

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John walked further into the room. Brianna had a tendency to hyperventilate when she got upset, she'd been that way since she was little. His first thought was always to get her to breathe normally before she passed out.

"Don't touch me," she pointed.

"Bri, baby you gotta calm down," he touched the side of her face.

"Stop it," she took a step back. "I am fine."

"No you're not Brianna," he reached out to her and she stepped back again. "Baby just come here."

"Whose is this?" she asked again.

John couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. He still didn't know what had made him do it. He loved Brianna more than anything. He'd never been one to believe in soul mates or anything like that but he could see himself with her for the rest of his life. They'd already been together three years and despite the occasional fight, their relationship couldn't have been better. They'd gotten into a fight a few months before. He didn't like the idea of her moving to LA on her own, especially considering he lived on the opposite end of the country, but Brianna wasn't going to budge, she wanted to move to further her dancing career. They'd argued for hours and then he'd gone out with some of his friends. He'd gotten so drunk he barely remembered what happened but he woke up next to a woman he didn't recognize with a hangover and an empty condom wrapper on the floor.

"What did you do?" Brianna asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Bri, I'm so sorry," he took the bra from her, tossing it aside and taking her hands in his.

"How could you cheat on me?" she sniffed.

"I don't know what I was thinking," he pulled her close to him, resting his chin atop her head. "I'm sorry baby. I love you so much."

"You love me?" she looked up at him, her green eyes watering. She hit him in the chest hard, "You love me?! That's all you can say?"
"I fucked up," John ran a hand over his hair. "I don't know what-"

"Three years," Brianna clenched her fists in her hair, trying not to cry. "Three years together…three years of my life I've spent with you and you fucked up?!" she took the bra and threw it at him violently.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," John said, realizing how stupid he sounded. He didn't know what else to say.

"Of course you didn't," She said. "And because of that..I'm supposed to forgive you, right? Because you just made a mistake and you love me and she meant nothing to you. Right?"

"Bri I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry and I love you," John said. "I don't know what the hell happened but it will never happen again."

"No it wont," she shook her head, walking past him.

"Bri don't leave like this," he followed her. "Brianna!"

She didn't turn around. She walked out the door, slamming it hard behind her.

"John, don't worry about it," Randy said. "Vince is hiring her sister..not her."

"I know that," John said.

"Good."

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Brianna was exhausted, nearly collapsing as she made her way into her hotel room. She'd just performed on the MTV Japan Video Music Awards as a backup for Rhianna. A few of the other dancers had tried to convince her to go partying with them but Brianna was exhausted. She'd thought she was going to be able to go home the week before when she ended her last tour but then she'd gotten the call that one of Rhianna's dancers was quitting and they needed her. Since she'd performed with the singer the month before knew the numbers, she agreed. She really needed to say no more often. This was getting ridiculous. She hadn't slept in her own bed in over three months. She hadn't seen her dog, Z, either and it was driving her crazy. Her father told her she was unnaturally attached to the dog but Brianna didn't care. She'd had Z since she was 15 and she loved him like her own child.

1999

"What are you getting Brianna for her birthday?" Carol asked as she prepared lunch for her son.

"I'm not quite sure yet," John said. "I wanted your opinion."

"Do ya have anything in mind?" she asked.

"Kind of."

"I'm waiting," Carol said, pushing his plate at him.

"A puppy," John smiled.

"A puppy?" Carol said. "Oh honey are you sure about that? It's not good to surprise someone with an animal, they need time to prepare."

"That's why I'd have to talk to her dad first," John said. "And I know she wants one. She's been talking about it for months now. I want her to be happy."

"Well it's a very sweet idea," Carol said. "But you definitely need to talk to her father first."

"I will."

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1 week Later…

"My eyes are closed damn it," Brianna laughed as John led her into the backyard. "What the hell kind of present has to be in the yard?"

"The kind you want," John said, closing the gate behind them. Before he could tell her to open her eyes, the Miniature Doberman he'd bought her four days before started barking excitedly.

"Oh my God," Brianna put a hand over her mouth.

"I guess the secret's out," John laughed. "Open your eyes."

Brianna's eyes opened and she squeaked excitedly, when the dog raced toward her.

"John," she gushed, picking up the dog. "He's adorable."

"So I did good?" he smirked.

"You did perfect," she kissed his cheek. "But I don't know if my dad-"

"I already talked to your dad," John laughed a little as the dog licked her face. "We got all the things you need and he's fine with you keeping him."

"Thank you so much," she gently put the dog down and jumped up, hugging John tightly.

"You're welcome," he kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad you're happy. What do you wanna name him?"

"Z," she answered.

"That's random," John laughed.

"I know but I was thinking about what I would name a dog the other day and I like it," she said.

"Then Z it is," he said. "It's your dog."

She smiled, "I know."

Brianna picked up her cell phone and pressed 2. After three rings she heard someone pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey," she said, sitting on her bed.

"Bri, how are you?" Raquel asked.

"Tired as hell," Brianna yawned. "My plane gets in tomorrow at 8."

"Okay," Raquel said. "I have a job interview and then some things to pick up with Troy and Gia so I wont be able to pick you up but I told Nick so he'll be there."

"As long as someone's there, I'm happy," Brianna laughed. "What job interview?"

"Just a job," Raquel said. "I'll let you know what it is if I get it. I have to go, Troy and Gia say they love you."

"And I love them," Brianna laughed. "And you."

"Oh I feel special," Raquel said.

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Brianna hung up her phone and tossed it onto the chair next to her bed. Her sister was up to something. She never said if she got something. It was always when. If Raquel Davenport said if something wasn't right.

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"What is going on?" Troy stared at Raquel. "You never rush Bri off the phone like that."

Troy had been sitting next to his cousin during most of her conversation and she was up to something. He moved over a little as Gia returned from the kitchen handing Raquel the glass of water she asked for and then sitting on the floor in front of the couch.

Raquel smiled slyly, "I just realized why I'm considering this job."

"Why?" Troy asked, patting Z on the head as the dog sat in Gia's lap. "Poor thing always looks so sad when Brianna was gone."

"Z or Gia?" Raquel smirked.

"Very funny," Gia made a face at her older sister.

Raquel laughed, sticking her tongue out.

"Back to why you're considering this job," Troy waited.

"John," Raquel said.

"John who?" Gia asked.

"Cena. He's a wrestler, remember?" Raquel smiled.

"I didn't know you missed John so much," Troy eyed her.

"Well I do," Raquel smirked. "And so does Brianna."

"Oh no," Troy shook his head. "Brianna is with Nick woman.

"I know," Raquel insisted. "But she hasn't seen John since they broke up over her moving. I just think it might be good for my little sister to see her first love."

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John flipped to the next page of pictures. He'd never been one to keep up on photo albums, that was always a chick thing to him but his mom had taken a bunch of his pictures when he moved into his new apartment and placed them in leather bound albums. He didn't really know why he'd brought them out but he'd been looking through stuff for about an hour. He stopped when he saw a picture he hadn't seen in years. It was of Gia, Raquel, and Brianna. They all had their arms around each other's shoulders and they were looking at something that was out of the shot. John couldn't quite remember what but he could swear it was his brother Matt running around yelling because John had switched his hair gel with glue. The next picture was one John remembered taking. It was during one of the trips Brianna had taken to visit him at school. She'd brought Raquel with her because they were setting her up with one of his friends. After their double date hadn't gone exactly as they'd planned, they came back to John's apartment to watch a movie. In the picture, both women were sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall. Raquel was in her pajamas, eating a fortune cookie. Brianna sat next to her wearing John's football jersey, her hair a mess of waves, holding the remote and laughing furiously. John had surprised them by taking their picture when they weren't paying attention. Raquel had attacked him with a pillow and Brianna jumped on his back. That night Raquel fell asleep early and John and Brianna stayed up all night talking about where they wanted to get married. The sun was out before she fell asleep on his shoulder. John shook his head. He needed to stop thinking about this. It had been years since he saw Brianna. He had moved on and she probably had too. He wasn't even sure if he was going to see her again. He shut the photo album tossing it onto the coffee table. He needed to get some sleep.

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