Disclaimer: I only own Evie and Dr. Lynn.
A/N: A HUGE thank you to everyone who read and reviewed, I love you all! There's one more chapter after this, which means we're even closer to the end. The flashback is italicized. Enjoy! Read and review!
"I think you are the biggest dumb ass on the planet!" Randy exclaimed opening the door for John. "I still can't believe you let her go like that. This all happened in the house you guys were supposed to live in no less!"
John rolled his eyes as he pushed past Randy. He'd been hearing the same dribble from him whenever they talked. It seemed like he was bent out of shape over the entire situation, whereas Evie remained silent for the last few months.
"This happened seven months ago, Orton." John shrugged. "If she can get over it, I'm sure you can too."
"What makes you think she's over it? Before she left to go see you in Boston she had stopped going to therapy. She's been going back ever since she saw you last."
His lips turned down into a frown. Randy's news tore at his heartstrings. Evie had gone back into therapy because of him. If he had taken her back that night, then they would probably be somewhere by now. Instead, here they are, running circles around each other.
"I know I told you she skipped her sessions before she went to go see you, but soon afterward she went back." He sat down on the couch, muting the TV. "Whatever it is that you talked about really hurt her. I think she was even second guessing herself at one point."
John hung his head in frustration. How could he have messed this up? She poured her heart out to him and all he could see was how she had hurt him. Evie had chosen him over Ted and he said he couldn't trust her.
"I fucked up." John finally muttered, shaking his head. "Where is she?"
On the outside, Randy was smirking, but on the inside, he was giddy with glee. The meathead finally figured out something he had known all along.
"Her session is supposed to wrap up soon." Randy replied, getting up. "I better get going."
"Where are you going?"
"To pick her up."
Chewing on his lower lip, John stopped Randy from walking any further. An idea had suddenly hit him.
He and Evie were going to fix things. No more of the drama that was surrounding them. Thinking long and hard about it, John was over it. He'll be damned if he was going to let her slip through his fingers.
"Why are you going to pick her up?"
"Long story short, I caught her trying to ditch a session once and I've driving her to and from since then. I was serious about her getting through everything. She was depressed and I couldn't stand watching her like that, especially when she had help available."
"You've been a good friend to her, Randy."
Randy only nodded his head. He didn't know what to respond back with. "Can I go pick her up now?"
The Massachusetts native shook his head, a small smile crossing his lips. "Where is this place? I'll go pick her up."
"We've been sitting here for an hour and a half now, Evelyn. Was there anything at all that you wanted to say to me?"
Evie was in her own world. Her hands were clasped together, resting on her thighs. Head was tilted to the side. Her big eyes showing signs of being in her own little world.
She had been sitting in her car for a half hour now. Waiting to grow the courage to get out and bring herself to his front door. Normally, she wouldn't be so afraid to see him. But, the last time she had spoken to him was nearly seven months ago. Being face to face with him made her nervous.
"You can do this, Evie." She unbuckled her seat belt and got out the car. "He's got to know. You can't string him along. Its his right to know. Things will be better after you tell him."
Her heels clip clapped against the pavement as she nervously made her way up to his doorway. They had been through a lot together and she hoped he understood where she was going. She didn't want to not have him in her life. It would just be under different circumstances. As much as she loved him, Evie couldn't be with him. The constant fear of him leaving her behind would always be in the back of her mind.
"Hey, Evie! I wasn't expecting you." He smiled, opening the door for her. "Come in."
Smiling, she stepped inside, slipping her shoes off in the entryway. Seeing him made her even more nervous. The excitement in his eyes made her feel even guiltier about what she was going to do. It had to be done. If they were serious about moving on, then this needed to happen.
"What brings you by?"
It didn't surprise her that he was curious. They, after all, haven't talked in months. Just out of the blue, she magically decides to stop by.
"I can't stay long." She whispered, running a hand through her dark locks. "I just really needed to see you."
Looking at him, she could already see the hurt written on his face. From where she was standing, she could feel his heart already breaking. She would have given anything to not be there, to not say what she had to say.
"Is everything okay?" He gestured for her to sit down.
Evie didn't know if she should nod or shake her head back and forth.
"I wish I knew how to answer that." She sighed, trying to avoid eye contact. "This is so hard for me to say. I don't want you to hate me for the rest of my life."
She could see him shake his head from the corner of her eye. His hands clasped together and placed under his chin. She could feel his eyes looking directly at her, trying to catch her gaze. It was hard to tell if he was angry or hurt.
"I love you, Teddy. I really do." Evie began, her voice quivering. "But, I'm not in love with you."
"Where is all this coming from?"
"I've done a lot of thinking over the last few months and it just won't work between us, Ted." Evie continued, making eye contact with him. "The idea of us being together now is just ridiculous. We confused our feelings. In the last year or so, we weren't in love with each other, we were in love with what we had. Look at us now, Ted, we're not the same people anymore. The idea of having someone familiar is what we were craving. All those things we felt were not what lovers feel."
"There's a lot of 'we' in there, Evie." He muttered angrily. "That might have been you, but my feelings are genuine. I really do love you. I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember. I'm not searching for anything familiar or trying to recapture a part of my youth. That isn't the case at all." Ted crossed the room to where she was sitting and dropped down to his knees, resting his palms on her thighs. "I don't know how many times I can say this to you or if there are any other ways, but you have to believe me. You can't throw away everything we've had for John fucking Cena! Dig a little deeper, Evie, and you'll see that I'm right."
Evie could see the desperation in his blue eyes and it killed her. Did she know it was going to be difficult to tell him this? Yes. Never did she think he would be angry one second and so confused the next. If he thought longer and harder about everything, then he would see she was right.
"I've dug deeper than I was supposed to go. This isn't right, Ted. We can't be together." She whispered, gently taking his hands in hers. "I love you, but I'm not in love with you. My heart just isn't in it anymore."
"You're wrong."
"If we hadn't crossed paths again, would you bee feeling this way?"
When he moved away from her, she knew she had hit the million dollar question. Evie watched as he paced the room for minutes on end. Out of nowhere, he abruptly stopped, causing her to flinch.
"Get out of my house."
"Ted-"
"Just go!" He shouted, pointing towards the door. "Leave me alone. Don't talk to me anymore."
Nodding her head, she got up and started to leave. "You knew this day was coming, Teddy. I hope that you'll think about all of this and realize that I'm right. When you do, I hope we can be friends again. No bullshit. No drama. Just good friends."
As soon as she spoke her last words, she left him alone. She knew she shattered his heart and she hated that she did. But, something inside of Evie told her she belonged with John. She just hoped that someday soon, Ted would realize that.
Hearing her name being called dozens of times brought Evie out of her reverie. With a small sigh, she finally looked at her therapist. Apologetically smiling, she leaned forward, unclasping her hands, whilst chewing on her lip. She was so nervous, she didn't know what to do with herself.
"I'm sorry." Evie finally broke her silence. "This whole session has been a waste of your time."
"Its fine, Evelyn." Dr. Lynn softly smiled. "Was there anything you wanted to say before you left?"
"Ted is upset with me." She sighed. "I told him that I didn't want to be with him, that I only wanted to be friends."
"What made him more upset, that you told him that or that you weren't agreeing with what he wanted?" She pushed, trying get more from her patient. "Something you said had to have pushed him to his breaking point."
"It was a combination of the two. I told him how we weren't really in love with each other and that we were in love with what we use to have. My heart just isn't with him anymore." Evie sighed, sitting back into the couch. "He kept saying that I was wrong and that we were supposed to be together."
"Then what?"
"I asked him if he would have felt the same way had we not crossed paths almost two years ago. He was silent for the longest time. He was pacing the room and chewing on his thumbnail. The confusion and anger were written all over his face. Just like that he stopped pacing and told me to leave."
"What did that do you for you?"
"It solidified my thoughts. He wouldn't have felt the same way if we hadn't ended up working at the same place. All of his old feelings resurfacing were just convenient. I can't be with someone who is only going to love me when he feels like it."
Dr. Lynn nodded her head, jotting down some notes. It seemed to her that Evie knew what she wanted. It had taken her months, but she was finally able to own up to her mistakes and learn from them. She was able to get to the root of her problems and figure out who was good for her life and who wasn't. All that was left for the young brunette to do was find out that she had done all of this.
"Ted reacting the way he did is normal. I think deep down inside he knows that you are right. That probably terrifies him because he thought he had a deep emotional connection to you. Now, he fears that he has to find that with someone else. His wanting to be with you was more of a secure feeling. He had somebody he loves around. Like you, he misread his feelings. Very soon, he'll come to grips with that. All he needs is time."
"Just like I was doing with him." Evie finally realized. Without fully realizing it, she had said almost the same thing to Ted. "Its all clear to me now."
Dr. Lynn smiled at her patient, happy for her breakthrough. Noticing the time, she laid her notepad down on the table next to her, placing her pen on top of it. "We're done for the day, Evelyn. I'm going to skip next week's appointment. However, should you feel like you need to come in, don't hesitate to call me."
"I'll be sure to." She smiled, extending her hand to her therapist. "Thank you so much for everything."
"I was here to guide you, Evelyn, but you did everything on your own. You've come a long way over the last year and a half. I'm proud of you." She smiled, shaking her hand. "Now get out of here."
A few minutes later, Evie stumbled out of the building. Nothing could take away the smile that was on her face. For the first time in a long time, she felt great. Making a breakthrough really made her feel good and she hoped to always feel like that.
Walking up a few more paces, she stopped in her tracks. John stood a few feet away from her, a smile on his face as he signed an autograph for a little kid. She stopped and watched as he interacted with the kid. It was probably the sweetest thing she had ever seen. A giggle escaped from her lips when she saw him high five the little boy.
"Hey you." John smiled, when he saw her.
"What are you doing here?" Evie asked, folding her arms across her chest. "Randy was supposed to come and get me."
"He had a small emergency. So, I offered to pick you up."
"Super Cena to the rescue." She smirked, looking up at him. "What brings you down here? Raw doesn't have any tapings here this week."
"One, I live here. Two, its one of those rare days that I have where I don't have to work." He returned her smirk. "Let's get going. I want food."
Feeling a smile tug at her lips, she followed him to the car. He seemed fine with her. It was like old times to her. The times where they could talk without arguing. Like, how they were before any of this mess happened.
"What's changed in the last few months?" John asked after they ordered.
The diner was all but empty. They had gotten there a couple of hours before the lunch rush, so they would be unnoticed. Which is exactly what they needed.
"I'll talk if you talk." Evie finally said.
She was dying to know what he had been up to. Then she would tell him what had transpired with Ted a few days ago.
"Deja vu." He smiled, remembering the last time she had something like that to him. "I haven't been up to much. Working, visiting my family."
"What about Liz?"
Beating around the bush was making her even more nervous. She really wanted to be with John, but she just really wanted to make sure that Liz wouldn't be a constant in their relationships. Just like he wouldn't want Ted to be a constant in theirs.
"She's been gone since day one. I'll admit that I tried to contact her a few times while we were together. It was only because I wanted to know why she left the way she did." John whispered, lacing his hands with hers. "The more I got to know you I forgot about her. My reasoning was that she was and isn't worth the time. That's why when you said she showed up to the wedding I was surprised."
"You told me that you guys weren't even officially broken up though. That would mean its still standing to this day."
"The words 'we're over' weren't ever used, but I think it was clear when she left."
"Something isn't adding up here, John. Is there something you're leaving out?"
He shook his head. The story did sound odd. It definitely made it sound like he was lying. Surprisingly, it was the truth.
"I told you everything already." He replied, tightening his hold on her hands. "Look, I'll admit, I wasn't faithful to Liz or to any other girl that I've dated before you. You're different, Evie. The more time I spent with you, the more in love with you I became. The more in love with you I still am. Something about you made me change. I've always been faithful to you. Nothing or no one is ever going to change that."
Evie was rendered speechless. He was very genuine and she could see it in his eyes.
"I mean that."
"I know you do." Evie whispered, choking back some tears.
"Don't cry." He let go of her hands and slid in next to her. "I always hate it when you cry. Please, don't."
"I don't think I can even tell you how much I love you." She finally said, somewhat subsiding her tears. "I put you through so much anguish and torment and you still love me. I've done things that would make any other man hate the woman he was supposed to marry. Still after all this time you want me."
"That's how in love with you I am. So much so that I've found a way to get lost in you." He whispered, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "Nothing is ever going to change that."
John had said everything he wanted to say. Now, he was waiting for her to tell him about Ted. The last time they saw each other was seven months ago. In that time, anything could have happened between Ted and Evie. She could have even changed her mind about him and decide on being with Ted. That's probably why she even bothered to go to lunch with him.
"John, I want to be with you." She pulled away from him so that they were face to face. Her hand gently cupped the side of her face. "I really want to be with you."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Whenever I think about you my heart starts to race. You're in my every thought of the day." Evie told him. "When I first saw you today my smile widened. Seeing you interact with that little boy made my heart melt. Call me crazy, but the sight alone threw me into the future. One with kids playing in the backyard and us sitting on the porch watching them."
He knew that she was being serious. As a kid growing up, his mom always told him that if a girl could imagine him in her life with kids, then she was genuinely in love with him. Just like his father told him that if he could see himself married to a girl with kids, then his feelings were genuine too.
"I saw Ted a few days ago and I told him how I felt. I told him that I loved him, but I wasn't in love with him. We were chasing old feelings that just didn't exist anymore. He didn't like hearing it, but I had to tell him. Neither one of us could go on like this." Evie told him. "Of course, he denied the whole thing. I held my ground. I asked him if we had crossed paths would he feel the same way. When I didn't get an answer, I knew I was right. He just hasn't grasped onto the concept yet."
"Then what?"
"He told me to get out and to leave him alone."
"I figured he would do something like that. Considering he tried to use Kristen to make you jealous to get you back."
"What?" Evie questioned, then decided to forget about it. "Forget it. I don't want to know."
"Where does this leave us now?"
"Hopefully, together." She smiled, leaning into his embrace. "I fucked up bad, John. I know I did. A-"
She got cut off when his lips crashed to hers. Almost instantly, she melted into the kiss. It had been so long since she's felt like that. Her heart was racing and the butterflies were swirling around her stomach. Tingling sensations were traveling all throughout her body.
"Let's go." He broke the kiss, getting out of the booth.
"We didn't pay. We'll get caught."
John stopped in his tracks and looked around the restaurant. Who the hell would know if they left without paying? Everyone inside looked so bored and uninterested.
"By all the people." He shrugged looking around.
Laughing to herself, Evie followed him out of the diner and to the car. Within minutes they were speeding off towards his house.
"What do you want from this, John?" She asked when they got inside.
"Everything we use to have."
He picked her up and carried her to his room. Gently laying her down, he hovered over her. His face inches away from hers.
"Marry me again?"
"What?"
"I don't want to go through the whole process again. Let's just get married." He smiled. "We'll move into our house and start our family."
"Yes."
"Yes?"
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gently lowered his face even closer to hers. The smile permanently glued to her face.
"Yes, let's get married."
He didn't think she could have made him any happier. Everything seemed to be falling into place for them.
A/N: She picked John. Wow.