Chapter 5…

John tried to ignore the annoying feeling he got whenever he looked at Brianna and her boyfriend. He didn't know why it bothered him so much that she had a boyfriend. He had Paula. It wouldn't exactly be fair for him to expect her not to have someone else. There wasn't anything between them anymore. It was just a little weird having to be around them and see them together. He tried to take his mind off of it, walking over to Raquel and a few other familiar faces. He knew this was what Jeff had been waiting for.

"You made it," Raquel smiled, hugging him.

"Yes I did," he smiled. "And somebody forgot to tell their sister I was coming."

"Was that me?" she offered up an innocent smile.

"Who else?" John smiled.

"You know I've never had a very good memory John," Raquel shrugged.

John rolled his eyes a little, "Jeff Hardy, this is Raquel Davenport, Troy Newman, and Dr. Frank Kavner."

"It's nice to meet you all," Jeff said, trying unsuccessfully not to focus on Raquel.

John scanned the room and stopped when he spotted the third of the Kavner sisters.

"Giovanna DePedrini," he stared. "Is that you?"

A broad smile spread across her face as she ran over, hugging John excitedly.

"Oh my Gosh, it's so good to see you," she gushed.

"You too," he mussed her hair. He looked her up and down. She'd gotten taller, of course, and her hair was longer. The last time he'd seen her she still had a little acne and thick framed glasses. Now she was just as gorgeous as her sisters. "I cant believe you grew up."

"We women tend to do that," she laughed.

John had almost forgotten about Gia. He didn't know how..she'd been like a little sister to him pretty much from the second she moved in with the Kavners.

"Jeff," John smiled. "This is Gia."

"Nice to meet you Gia," Jeff shook her hand.

"You too," Gia smiled. She looked over at John again and hugged him, "I cant believe you're here."

"Me neither," John laughed a little. "Dr. Kavner, I have to tell you..you've got three of the most beautiful daughters in the world."

The doctor didn't really say much. He simply nodded and finished his champagne. John couldn't say he was surprised. Dr. Frank Kavner had never been his biggest fan. John and his brothers had terrorized their entire neighborhood as children and the Kavners' lawn wasn't immune. Dr. Kavner had always viewed the entire Cena family as inferior to his own. When he'd found out what was going on with John and Brianna...he was none too pleased.

"And just how long has this been going on?" Frank asked angrily. John couldn't say that he was easily intimidated but the look in Dr. Kavner's eyes was making him a little anxious.

"Not that long daddy I-"

Shutup Brianna!" Frank ordered. "I'm talking to him

John flinched at the way he yelled at Brianna. He tried to control himself though. He didn't want to make the situation any worse.

Frank stepped closer to John, furious, "How dare you touch my daughter! How dare you-"

"Dr. Kavner I-"

"I don't care what you have to say," Frank pointed. "You are not to see my daughter anymore."

"Dad that isn't your decision to make," Brianna argued.

"Shut up Brianna!" Frank yelled.

"Don't talk to her like that!" John snapped.

"I will talk to my child however I want!" Frank yelled. "You get the hell out of my house."

"But dad-"

"Brianna go to your room!" Frank ordered. She didn't move. Her green eyes filled with tears as they locked with John's. "Upstairs Brianna."

"She's not a dog," John said angrily.

"She's whatever I tell her to be," Frank glared. "Now you get the hell out of my house and away from my daughter."

2 Hours Later…

John stared at the TV, not really paying any attention to whatever was on it, not that it would matter, the picture kept messing up because of the storm. All he could think about was the argument he'd had with Brianna's father. The rest of his family was out of town so he was in the house alone and he just wished he had someone there to talk to. He hadn't expected Dr. Kavner to react that badly. All John was really concerned with though was Brianna. Her father wouldn't hit her but he seemed to have no problem with berating her for hours for and calling her an idiot. He heard a knock at the door and tossed the remote down next to him. His family wasn't due back yet but he figured it was just one of his friends who heard he was visiting for a couple days and wanted to come say hello. Why they would come over during a storm he didn't know but he wasn't too concerned with figuring it out. He just wanted them to go away. He opened the door, surprised to see Brianna standing there, soaked and crying. He quickly pulled her in, closing the door behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

"Bri, what are you doing here?" he asked, brushing her wet hair away from her face.

"I snuck out," she sniffed. Her eyes and nose were red, he could see that she'd probably been crying since he left her house. He pulled her close to him.

"John, I'm gonna get you wet," she pushed him away, running a hand over her hair.

"You know this is gonna be the first place he looks for you," he informed her.

"I don't care,"Brianna sniffed. "I just didn't want you to think that I was gonna listen to him."

"Maybe you should Bri," John sighed, running a hand over his hair. "He's never gonna be okay with this-"

"I don't care," she insisted. "I don't want us to break up because of him."

John didn't know what to say. The last thing he wanted was to break up with her but he didn't like the problems their relationship was causing. He didn't like her getting hurt.

"John," she sniffed. "Please don't let him do this...I love you."

"I love you too," he said, touching her chin. He leaned down, capturing her lips with his.

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"What the hell is he doing here?" Brianna breathed as she and Troy rushed into the kitchen.

Troy walked over to the freezer and pulled out the ice tray. Brianna was about to start panicking and he needed to get her calmed down.

"Why would she invite him?" Brianna asked, her voice high. "What the hell is going on?"

"Open up," Troy said, walking over to her as she sat on a barstool.

She opened her mouth and he gave her an ice cube. Troy had learned early on after moving in with the Kavners that Brianna's panics weren't to be taken lightly. Thankfully, they'd discovered at a young age that chewing ice helped her calm down. In the past few years she'd barely had any anxiety issues but Raquel's little stunt certainly seemed to bring it back quickly.

"Just breathe, everything will be fine," he said, smoothing her hair.

She took deep breaths, chewing the ice cube, staring down at her hands, "I love my sister..I really do but sometimes I just wanna kick her little ass."

"We all do at some point or another honey," Troy smirked. "Raquel has that effect on people.

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1/2 Hour Later

Raquel smiled at Jeff. She was drawn to him pretty much from the second she saw him. He was an incredibly attractive man. He made no secret of his attraction to her. He'd been staring at her all night. She took a sip of her champagne, toying with the idea of inviting him to her apartment after the party. He looked like he could be a lot of fun.

Jeff stared at Raquel as she talked about...he wasn't really sure what she was talking about. He'd been listening for a portion of the conversation but he'd lost his focus. She looked incredible. She was wearing a dark red shirt with a low neckline and a gray pleated skirt, her hair neatly curled.

"So have you made your final decision about coming to work for Vince?" he asked.

"I have," she smiled, nodding a little. "I think it could be fun."

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Brianna stormed through her apartment. She'd finally recovered from the shock of John's presence and now she was just angry. She spotted Raquel talking to John's friend and made a beeline for her, grabbing her arm and smiling sweetly at Jeff before dragging her away.

"Brianna, if you'd like to talk to me, all you have to do is ask," Raquel laughed a little.

Brianna led her sister up the stairs and down the hall, opening Maya's door and pushing Raquel in. She walked in behind her, slamming the door, "What the hell is going on?"

"What do you mean?" Raquel asked innocently, finishing her glass of champagne.

"I cannot believe you would do this to me," Brianna paced, shaking her head.

"For you," Raquel corrected.

"What exactly are you doing for me Raquel?" Brianna fumed. "I didn't want to see John. I never gave you even one reason to think I did."

"If you don't want him here...then kick him out," Raquel smirked.

Brianna glared at her, "You know I can't do that."

"Then calm yourself," Raquel smiled. She cupped her sister's chin in her hand, shaking her head a little, "Have fun..it's a party."

Brianna continued to glare at her until Raquel shrugged, walking out of the room. Brianna sighed, sitting on the edge of Maya's bed, putting her head in her hands. She didn't need this kind of stress. Not now. She tried to take some deep breaths. The door opened slowly and Brianna looked up, taking another deep breath and putting on her calm, composed face. She relaxed a little when Maya came in.

"Are you okay?" Maya walked over, sitting beside her.

"Yeah," Brianna put an arm around the young girl. "I'm fine."

Troy noticed that John was standing off to himself near the stairs, his eyes locked on Nick. He walked over, standing beside his old friend.

"I see you've taken an interest in the man of the house," Troy smirked.

John shrugged.

"I'll give you a little summary," Troy said. "That my friend, is Officer Nicholas Antonio Larranaga."

"Officer?" John looked over at Troy.

"That's right," Troy nodded. "He's a proud badge and gun wielding law enforcement officer employed by the Los Angeles Police Department."

John shook his head a little, "She's dating a cop?"

Troy nodded, "He goes by Nick primarily and is, as of two weeks ago, 27 years old...He was married once before for about one year at age 21, resulting in that intoxicatingly adorable little child you met earlier, Maya Elise."

"She is a cute kid," John laughed.

"The cutest," Troy smiled. "Anyway, his wife was a very...interesting young bleach blonde woman by the name of Carla..A junkie whom we have the pleasure of getting to see every two weeks when she has her fully supervised visitation."

"That sounds exciting," John said dryly.

"He played football in high school and for the two years he went to college," Troy sighed. "He made quite a bit of money as a boxer a few years back but made the mistake of trusting his cousin to be his manager...His cousin, whose name I believe is also Nick, squandered away almost all of his money."

"Damn."

"Nick fired him and at his next fight he was paid 65 grand and stood to gain a hundred if he won the fight," Troy said.

"What happened?"

"He lost," Troy answered. "Hell, not only did he lose, he got knocked out so bad the doctors forced him to retire from the sport...He met our little Bri-Bri about 8 months ago when she was a guest teacher at Maya's dance class. He came late to pick her up because of work and lucky him..Brianna was the only person willing to stay four hours with the poor child."

"That sounds like her," a very faint smile touched John's lips.

"He's got quite a temper on him," Troy sighed.

John flinched.

"He's never laid an angry finger on her, don't worry," Troy said quickly.

John relaxed, "Good."

"He proposed after six months of dating and they're currently planning the wedding," Troy said. "Though he is quite a looker, he's not exactly my first choice for Brianna. I can assure you that he's not nearly as gorgeous and funny as you are."

"They're engaged?" John stared.

"And you're gorgeous and funny," Troy nodded. "Keep up Johnny...And that ring by the way..paid for with my money."

"Why?"

"He was about to borrow it from her and just not tell her what for," Troy shook his head. "I had to stop him. I wasn't about to let my cousin buy her own damn engagement ring, whether she knew it or not."

"She didn't tell me that," John said.

"That's because she doesn't know," Troy laughed.

"Not about the ring," John said. "About them being engaged."

"Ah," Troy smiled. "See, she's got a funny habit when it comes to that..She tends to just refer to him as her boyfriend..not her fiance...Interesting, isn't it?"

"Yeah," John looked down into his drink. "I guess...You know, I'm gonna go find Jeff..I'm uh..not in the mood for a party anymore."

Troy watched as John walked away. He felt for the other man deeply. Brianna and John were young when they were together but everything they felt was very real. There were residual feelings with both of them and Troy could see them trying to ignore it.

"What's up?" Gia walked over to him, putting an arm around him.

"You know Gi, I guess it's true what they say," Troy sighed. "You never really get over your first love."

"I got over mine," Gia insisted.

"Is that why you still have that box of letters and other assorted mementos in your closet?" Troy smirked.

"How did you know about that?" Gia stared.

Troy shrugged, "I was curious."

----------------------

Brianna chewed on another piece of ice, running a hand through her hair. She was about to turn around when she felt arms wrap tightly around her.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, surprised.

"Brianna I'm so glad you're back!"

Brianna looked up at the ceiling when she recognized Jodi's voice.

"Me too Jodi," Brianna smiled, patting the younger woman's arms. "You can let me go now."

"Sorry," Jodi laughed a little, releasing her. "I just missed you."

Brianna pasted on a brighter smile as she turned to face Jodi, "I missed you too."

She braced herself as Jodi hugged her again.

Jodi McCall was quite an interesting girl. She and Gia met in a film studies class when the two were told to work on a project together. Gia brought her home to do some research and Brianna happened to be there. Jodi was immediately rather...taken with Brianna. She had a tendency to be a tad overenthusiastic but Brianna tried her best to be nice to her. The girl looked up to her, she couldn't really be rude. She'd always tried to make Jodi feel welcome, even allowing her to come to a few video sets with her. The young woman didn't have a big sister of her own and she'd kind of claimed Brianna.

"So tell me all about the tour," Jodi smiled.

"You know what," Brianna said. "I think I see Gia waving at me. You know Gi..always needin' something. I'll be right back."

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"Hey," John walked over to where Jeff and Raquel were talking. "I just wanted to tell you, I'm gonna go."

The smile on Raquel's face fell.

"I appreciate what you tried to do but..things just aren't meant to be friendly with me and Bri anymore," John ran a hand over his hair. "I don't wanna make her uncomfortable in her own house anymore..I'm just gonna go.

Raquel looked upset, "I guess I understand but..I wish you wouldn't leave."

"I'm sorry I just...I gotta go," he said apologetically.

"Well can we have lunch tomorrow?" she asked.

"Of course," John nodded. "I'll come get you at noon."

"Okay," Raquel still looked a little disappointed.

"Jeff, you comin'?" John asked.

"No," Jeff looked over at Raquel. "I'll see you later."

"You do know I drove, right?" John asked.

Jeff smiled, "I think I'll be okay."

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"Come on kiddo," Brianna pulled back the covers on Maya's bed. The party was still going but it was getting late and Maya had school the next day. Luckily, her room was far enough away from the noise for her to sleep peacefully. Maya walked out of the bathroom in her pink pajamas, crawling onto the bed.

"I don't wanna go to sleep," Maya pouted.

"Why not?" Brianna pouted back at her, sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling the covers over her a little.

"Because I'm not tired," Maya stifled a yawn.

"Well too bad," Brianna laughed. "Lay down."

"Fine," Maya sighed, lying down.

"Thank you," Brianna kissed the top of her head.

"Is Daddy a loser?" Maya asked.

Brianna laughed, "A what?"

"A loser," Maya repeated.

"Where did you hear that?" Brianna crossed her arms over her chest.

"Aunt Raquel taught me," Maya answered.

"No, honey, your daddy is not a loser," Brianna smiled, smoothing Maya's hair. "Aunt Raquel is judgmental."

"What's that mean?" Maya asked, her hazel eyes wide.

"I'll tell you later," Brianna turned the light off. "Go to sleep."

"Goodnight," Maya said, settling into the bed.

"Night Maya," Brianna smiled, walking out of the room and closing the door quietly. She was turning around when she bumped into Nick.

"I'm sorry baby, you okay?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded. "Just tired."

"Do you want me to kick everyone out?" he offered, putting his arm around her as they walked down the hall.

"No," she laughed a little as they started down the stairs. "Raquel wanted this party and she can have it."

"Whatever you say," Nick smiled, squeezing her shoulder a little.

Brianna slowed her pace a little when she noticed John coming toward the stairs. She was trying not to notice but he looked good. Really good.

"Hey," he smiled when she and Nick reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Hi," she mustered a smile of her own.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," he said. "I'm gonna get going."

"John, I hope you aren't leaving because of me I just-"

"It's not because of you Bri, don't worry," John smiled down at her. "I'm just tired."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Nick looked back and forth between them. He didn't like the way this guy was looking at his fiance.

"I promise," John smiled. "I'm just really tired, I've had a busy couple days."

"I understand that," Brianna laughed a little. "It was...it was good seeing you again."

"You too," John nodded. "Be good."

"I will," Brianna laughed.

"Nice meeting you man," John extended his hand to Nick.

Nick pulled Brianna closer, not bothering to shake his hand, "You too."

"Okay then," John laughed. "Bye Bri."

"Bye," Brianna waved as John walked away.

Something was up between those two and Nick didn't like it at all. He'd been able to tell from the second he saw him that John had a thing for Brianna. He didn't know who the hell he was but he was going to find out.

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1 Hour Later…

"John, are you alright?" Paula asked, concerned.

John nodded, "Yeah..why?"

"You've been acting weird all night," she said.

"I'm fine I just...nothing," John shrugged. "I'm fine."

"You can tell me," she touched the side of his face.

"I know," he said. "But there's nothing to tell...I just wanna get some sleep."

"Okay," Paula sighed. "You're sure you're alright?"

"Baby, I'm fine."

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"That's enough cleaning for me," Gia said, tying off a garbage bag. "I have got to go to bed."

"Goodnight Gigi," Troy laughed.

"Night Big T," Gia laughed. She walked over to Brianna, hugging her tightly, "Welcome back sis."

"Thanks Gi," Brianna hugged her back. "And thanks for helping clean up."

"No problem," Gia shrugged. "I gotta earn my keep here some way."

"Goodnight," Brianna laughed, gently pushing her sister toward the hallway where her bedroom was.

Troy looked over at Brianna. She looked exhausted. They'd been cleaning since the party ended about an hour before and there was plenty left to do.

"It was so nice seeing John," Troy said, watching her to gauge her reaction.

She shrugged, "I guess."

"Bri, come on," Troy said. "You two cant be mad at each other forever...You remember how tight we all used to be?"

"Yeah," Brianna smirked a little.

"I don't know about you but I miss it," Troy shrugged.

"I do too but...there's not much we can do about it now," Brianna said, tying up another bag.

She sighed deeply, leaning against the corner, looking away.

"You okay babe?" Troy asked, concerned. She looked deep and thought.

"Yeah," she shook her head. "Just sleepy...I have to be up early tomorrow."

"Well why didn't you say something earlier?" Troy asked.

"I didn't think about it," she shrugged. "I've got a video rehearsal in the morning."

Troy crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a disapproving look. She worked too damn much and just when he thought she was taking time off, she brought up work again. "I thought you were off work for a while."

She smirked a little, "I'm off tour for a while...I'm never off work."

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"So...this is my apartment," Raquel opened the door, waiting for Jeff to come in. She closed it softly behind him, biting her bottom lip as she watched him walk through the entryway.

"This is nice," he nodded.

"Thank you," she smiled, dropping her purse on the couch as she walked into the living room. "When we first found it the residents didn't want to move out but..I convinced them."

"And how did you do that?" he turned to face her, a small smirk on his face.

"I have my ways," she smiled, stepping closer to him. "When I decide I want something, I do whatever I can to get it."

"You know...I'm the same way," he said, taking her hand and pulling her against him.

"Really?" she smirked.

He nodded backing her up until she was pressed against the wall. She smiled up at him and he leaned down, kissing her hungrily. Their tongues tangled and she grabbed the backof his neck, pulling him closer. He trailed his kisses to the side of her neck and bit her hard. Raquel smiled...This was going to be an interesting night.