Alyssa pulled her rolling suitcase down the airport terminal. She was very frustrated. Her flight had been delayed due to snow and then then she had to track down her luggage that somehow ended up at the wrong terminal. Needless to say this day was turning into a very disastrous one. She'd tried to call John but she didn't get service inside airports, well unless she stood in the sweet spot. Good luck finding that. With her luck he was probably going to ditch her too. She walked to the area where drivers liked to congregate. Looking around she didn't see a sign with her name on it. She grunted, great just great it was deja vu. Alyssa rolled her stuff over to a bench and sat down. She needed to rethink her plan. Of course she shouldn't have given John a chance. People were all the same, they'd ignore her, then show her some attention , then ignore her again. Boy was that the story of her life. Shaking her head she sighed, she had thought John was different. How stupid she'd been. Checking her phone before she looked around one last time and was disappointed. Well she could probably catch a flight back to Jersey tonight if she hurried up. She shrugged and stood up, no point in wasting her time.

"Lyss!" Alyssa turned around and looked around she saw nothing. Shrugging she turned and continued to walk faster. "Lyss!" This time it was louder and more definite. She knew that voice. Turning around this time, she saw John Cena sprinting towards her with a mob of fans on his tail. It was quite comical to see actually. With his big form running clearly still in his costume for the movie. Finally, John reached her and took a deep breath. He turned to the crowd that had stopped just behind him and spoke. "Please take a step back. I appreciate your time, but I'm running late. I'm sorry no autographs." Most of the crowd disappeared, but a few remained looking sullen. John turned to Alyssa. "You're late." Alyssa raised her eyebrow, was he really trying her right now?

"Well excuse me for having a horrible day." She rolled her eyes angrily and started to walk away. John grabbed her arm. He sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it to come out that way. Look you wouldn't answer your phone and the guy I sent to meet you here said he couldn't find you." Alyssa shook her head.

"I was here."

"Where, he looked all over for you?" Alyssa didn't like his tone.

"Look, first my stupid parents wouldn't answer their phones and somehow I'm going to end up getting chewed out for it. Then my flight got delayed because of the snow, and then to top it all off my luggage was sent to a terminal on the complete other side of the airport. So don't start with me ok?" John took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry all right. It's just when he couldn't find you I got worried. Come to think of it, why didn't your phone answer?" Alyssa rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. She showed it to John. "No service?"

"Yep, for some reason that likes to happen in airports." John rolled his eyes then grabbed her bags.

"We have to hurry back, this was my one break for the day." Alyssa followed John as he practically ran through the terminal back out onto the street. Soon they were in the car and John sped down the highway. Alyssa rested her head into the head rest and took a deep breath. The day had been exhausting both mentally and physically. It was all she could do to hope that John wouldn't let her down. John glanced at her. She looked so down trodden. He had a mix of emotions written all over her face. One day he hoped he'd be able to figure them out.

"So what have you been up to?" She shrugged without opening her eyes.

"School and documentaries."

"Sounds riveting." Alyssa opened her eyes and saw John smiling.

"Jerk." John smiled. He was actually happy to have her around. He was missing his family and knew that the movie shoot would be quite the situation if he didn't have some kind of company to unwind with. Plus, he hoped he could be that dependable force Alyssa needed. Even if it was only for two weeks. He hated to see kids be thrown to the wayside for anything. They hit a red light just before they pulled onto the road where the set was. John smiled, it was time to have a little fun. He downshifted and revved the engine. Alyssa was broken out of her trance as her body was jolted into the seat as John went from zero to sixty in all of three seconds. John laughed hysterically as Alyssa clenched onto her seatbelt for dear life. Finally when he pulled to a stop Alyssa took a deep breath and then scowled dangerously at John. "You could've warned me."

"I could have, but then it wouldn't have been nearly as fun to watch your expression." Alyssa narrowed her eyes and opened the car door. John shook his head and got out with her. "Leave your bags in the car, right now we're needed on set." Alyssa followed along. She was in awe of all the people swarming around and the half broken portions of rooms that would be needed to make the movie realistic. This would be really cool. John was stealing quick glances at her and couldn't help but to smile. He loved the wide eyed look of a rookie, he knew it quite well.

Fast forward two hours later and Alyssa was bored stupid. Like seriously. The first twenty or so minutes was fun but after watching re-takes of the same scene over and over she felt like pulling her hair out. She figured she might as well take a walk around. John would be occupied for quite a while and she needed to move or lose her mind. Grabbing her iPod she began to move around the set. It never ceased to amaze her as to how a portion of the set couldn't be a real place. They all looked so real in the movies. She shrugged and continued to walk. Her mind started to wander to her parents. Neither of them had called at all today or since she told them they didn't have to hire a nanny for the two weeks. It always left her with this gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach. Always. It was clear, her parents didn't want her. She sighed, it seemed like no matter what, her entire existence would be a complete and total waste. Nothing she ever did was good enough or right.

Eight year old Alyssa was wandering down the hallways of their New York mansion. She could hear fighting but couldn't tell where it was coming from or what it was over. She decided to play it safe and go hide in her room. That usually worked, it made everything better. Barry her stuffed frog sat in the room waiting on her to be her comforter. He was her favorite thing in the world. Alyssa sat with him on the floor and ran her small fingers through his green fur. She loved that frog with everything she had. Alyssa jumped as the yelling got louder. Then she heard footsteps thundering down the hall. She held her breath knowing what would happen if her father decided to come into her room instead of storming outside. Finally, she let her breath out as she heard footsteps pass her door. She smiled happily.

"We did it Barry." Too bad she'd spoken too soon and her door flew open. Her dad was standing there with brown hair instead of his grayish brown hair that he wore now. The frustration in his eyes let Alyssa know that this wouldn't be a fun encounter.

"What are you doing?" Alyssa jumped.

"Um," Her father shook his head disgustedly and entered the room making Alyssa all the more nervous.

"Look at this place? I give you a home and nice clothes and you throw it back in my face! Is that how you repay me?" Alyssa cringed he was getting angrier.

"No sir," she said weakly with her head down.

"Oh really?" Her father took a breath. "Did you finish your workbook for today?" Alyssa thought about it, she didn't want to lie but she knew she hadn't done all of it.

"Well um some of it." Her father's anger exploded and he turned bright red.

"Some of it! Do you think you get to live in this house and have all of these nice things because I did some of it?" Alyssa felt tears rising in her eyes and tried to shrug them off, she knew they would only make things worse.

"I'll do it right now."

"Yes you will." Alyssa nodded and ran timidly around her father and grabbed her workbook off the shelf. She tried to concentrate but her father was still in the room. Every few seconds she glanced over her shoulder to see his expression. After about forty glances James sighed and walked toward his daughter. Her handwriting was barely legible and he couldn't make out heads or tails of the chicken scratch. "You think being lazy is funny?"

"No , no sir," she stammered. James rolled his eyes and wrenched the workbook out from under her hands.

"How is anyone supposed to grade it if they can't read it? Stupid little idiot!" He ripped the page that she'd been working on out of the book then threw the book back at her hitting her in the shoulder. The pain from the hardback book radiated through her small body and she let out a cry. Tears poured from her eyes faster than she could wipe them. "Are you crying?" James was disgusted. He shook his head and reached down for the frog that was laying on the floor. Alyssa held her breath. Please don't take Barry. "Finish your work. I'll be back later." With that he left and took Barry with him. She hadn't seen Barry since even though she looked all over for him. That day a small piece of her died and it was called her trust.

Alyssa was jolted out of the memory by a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see a tallish boy with blondish hair and glasses looking at her. "Hi my name is Devin. I think John is looking for you." Alyssa rolled her eyes, great.

"Thanks, do you know where he is?" Devin nodded and pointed towards the set of the house. Alyssa stood up and began to walk back towards where she came from. She was still a little bit off kilter after remembering that horrid memory. Honestly, her mind was all over the place. Her head was down and she was muttering to herself trying to get herself calm. She couldn't show John just how freaked out she was. She hit a brick wall and almost fell to the ground only to be caught by her arm.

"Lyss?" Alyssa jolted out of her trance.

"John." John sighed.

"Lyss, you can't just wander off. This place is really big and you and get lost easily." Alyssa rolled her eyes.

"I'm seventeen John I can handle myself. I've been doing it my whole life. So back off." She looked into John's eyes and saw a glimmer of anger in them.

"Look, I know you're used to being on your own, but here you're my responsibility. So just humor me and let me know where you're going." Honestly, Alyssa saw his point but given her current mood she didn't want to relent.

"Yeah sorry, that's not gonna happen." John grunted.

"Lyss, don't do this. I know you're not used to someone caring, but I do. Don't cut yourself off before you give yourself a chance." Alyssa was taken back. How'd he know?

"Um." John smiled.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Come on now, let's get you introduced to the cast and grew." She smiled and followed suit. This might not turn out to be such a bad Christmas after all.

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