This chapter is the chapter I've been wanting to write even before the first one. I hope you all enjoy! Thanks to Hi14 x, therealchamps, Pinayprincesa, awesomeone21, my time is now, 1222mercedes1222, and Cena's baby doll for reviewing the last chapter. You guys keep me going :)

Two Months Later

This was definitely not how he envisioned today to be. He was supposed to be reuniting with Alyssa, asking her out, eating with her, being with her. But no, his flight had to be cancelled. It was just his luck. He'd have to wait another day to see her. After weeks of being away, it should've been easier by now. But it wasn't. There was never a day that passed that John didn't wish he was with Alyssa instead.

"More time to plan how to ask you out, I guess."

He sat on the swivel chair, restless. The walls of this particular hotel room had been home to him the last three months, and there were many nights he gladly called it that. After long hours of work, all a man could really ask for was sleep. But now, all John could ask for was to be back in America. He longed for that proximity with Alyssa. The fact that he was getting ready to finally ask her to be his girlfriend was making him even more impatient.

"Damn, I could ask you to marry me already."

John chuckled at the thought of proposing to her. They weren't even officially together, and he was already thinking about marriage. How crazy was he?

"But I suppose I wouldn't mind calling you my girlfriend first."

He leaned onto the desk and grabbed a piece of paper. This was a familiar routine for him; he was going to further perfect his plan to be officially off the market.

Alyssa wasn't happy to hear John's homecoming was being delayed, but right now, she had other things on her mind. She was in a hotel room with Randy. He was sitting in front of her with a stack of paperwork on his lap with absolutely no readable expression on his face. He was looking through divorce papers.

"I can't believe it took this long for them to be filed," he said softly. His eyes traveled along the fine print until his fingers worked its way to sign on the dotted line. He showed no signs of hesitation. It's like he'd been removed from emotion entirely.

"You okay?" Alyssa asked. From experience, she's known Randy's aloofness was never a guarantee that he was okay. He'd always been good at concealing his true feelings. In fact, he was so good, he often believed his lies, too. Alyssa usually saw right through it.

When Randy began tapping the pen on his lap, instead of answering her question, she piped up. "Randy! Are you okay or not?"

He looked up at her impassively. "Yes"

Yes, my ass. "Well, if ever you feel anything, please do come and tell me. It'd be good to know my best friend still actually has a heart."

Randy formed a small smile. His best friend had jokes. She was always cute when she acted displeased with him. "To be honest with you Al, I don't have one."

Before she could reply, her phone went off. It was John. "Well, if you excuse me, I'm gonna take this call outside."

Randy barely reacted as she got up to exit. She picked up once she settled herself against the wall across Randy's door.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby, how are you?" John's voice was low and husky. Alyssa's heart didn't fail to pitter-patter like usual.

"I'm alright. I'm with Randy right now, and he just signed the divorce papers."

"Oh yeah? How's he holding up with that?"

"Well, he's too detached from his feelings, and I feel like it's gonna blow up in his face one day."

"So does that mean the divorce hasn't changed anything between you two?"

Alyssa silently repeated his question. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, I don't know." John's voice trailed off, and she could tell he was after something.

"John, what do you mean?"

"I'm just wondering if he's pulled any of that stunt he did the last time we drank with him."

The last time we drank with him…

Alyssa's memory was failing her, and she didn't know what to say.

Her silence was making John nervous, and he didn't hide it. His voice filled with worry. "Remember when he tried to kiss you?"

"Oh!" Alyssa exclaimed. It took a second for it to resonate, but yes, she definitely remembered. "When he was drunk?"

"Yeah."

"He was drunk," she stated matter-of-factly. She sounded like her usual self: making excuses for Randy.

"Well, has he tried anything?"

Alyssa sighed. She waited a few seconds to reply, knowing just what it did to him. It was cruel to suspend him, but did he really have to ask? "John, if he did, I would've told you already. Don't you know that?"

Relief washed over him. So, Randy hadn't done anything. John almost felt silly for insisting they continue keeping their secret until he got back. But hey, he wanted to be face to face with Randy when they told him. Alyssa, on the other hand, had stated several times that it was getting harder and harder to keep it from Randy. But ultimately, she respected John's wishes and abided by it.

"Yes baby, I know. I was just making sure."

Alyssa smiled. Overprotective John was kind of cute. It was definitely an improvement from Randy's style of tyranny.

"I can't wait to see you," he said.

"Me too. What time is your flight ag-" Alyssa was interrupted when Randy popped his head out of the room. She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at him curiously.

"I'm hungry. Let's go eat dinner?"

She nodded her head then signaled that she'd be with him in a minute. Randy disappeared from view, leaving the door to be in between them once again.

"Baby, I'll call you later. We're about to eat."

"Okay. Enjoy your meal. I love you."

"Thanks. I love you too." Alyssa hung up and walked back into the room.

Randy was standing over the desk with his eyes on the stack of paper.

"Let's go?" she asked him.

He changed his line of vision towards the door and mutely followed her out. Tension settled along his shoulders as he walked and just when Alyssa was going to comment on it, Randy halted his steps.

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me," he muttered bitterly.

Alyssa immediately stopped dead on her tracks and followed where his eyes were. Her mouth dropped.

Sam was standing at the end of the hallway about to walk into a room with some man.

"Out of all hotels in Missouri," Randy spat. He began shaking his head vigorously. "Fuck, dinner. Let's go to a bar right now, Alyssa."

He stomped off towards the elevators before she could stop him.

Who knew one could be consumed with nervousness and excitement at the same time. John's heart was hammering away at his ribs as he walked past the throng of people. Among the airline crowd, he was only looking for one face.

And there it was, more beautiful than he remembered.

Alyssa was standing by a wall, hugging herself. A smile automatically formed her face as soon as they locked eyes. They joined together like magnets.

John picked her up and spun her around. Once he set her down, he immersed himself into her presence "Fuck, I've missed you."

She nuzzled her head along the curve of his neck and returned his tight embrace. "It's so good to have you back."

He released her, then kissed her. The smile on his face could not be wiped away. He was finally home.

"How was your flight?" she asked softly.

"It was good. It led me back to you." He grinned a boyish grin as he looked at her.

Alyssa couldn't suppress a smile of her own. John was finally in front of her again.

And as they stood face to face, he slightly narrowed his eyes. There was something in hers that didn't settle quite right with him. "You okay?"

She narrowed her eyes right back. "Of course, I am. Why?"

He silently held her gaze a few more beats before nodding his head. "I'm just making sure my baby's doing alright."

Alyssa smiled, and it reached her eyes this time. "I am; you're back. You sure you'll be fine going straight to the arena?"

John raised his eyebrows. He almost forgot he'd been assigned to go to the live show as soon as his plane touched down. This was another sad effect to his delayed flight. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Alyssa cupped his cheek before tip toeing to kiss him again. "Let's go to work?"

"With you?" John put his arm around her. "Gladly."

Arm in arm, the two walked out of the airport.

It felt like seconds until John found himself needing to separate from Alyssa again. They were at the arena before they knew it.

"Well, I got some paperwork to take care of," she frowned. "Get some rest before your segment, and I'll see you after?"

"Sounds good." He leaned in to kiss her. "I'll see you soon."

Alyssa winked at him, then pulled away. If she'd stayed a second more, she probably would've never left his side.

Meanwhile, John watched her leave. The only thing that was making this easy on him was the reminder that he'd see her as soon as tonight. That was definitely a step up from the last couple of months.

On his way to his locker room, John decided to take a detour.

He knocked on the door, turned the knob, and peeped in. "Orton!"

"Hey, you're back." Randy looked up as he finished wrapping the black tape around his wrist. "Come in."

John walked in and closed the door behind him. "How are you?"

"Eh, I'm alright. It's been uh…interesting, to say the least. Especially the last couple days."

John raised his eyebrows. He was waiting for Randy to elaborate, and when he didn't, he took it upon himself to ask. "What do you mean, exactly?"

"Well-" Randy stopped. He appeared to be in deep debate. "Something happened."

"Divorce, right?"

"Yeah, that, too." Randy scratched his head. "But something happened after that."

There was a long pause. A long strenuous pause. An obvious struggle was going on with Randy, and when he spoke up, his voice nearly broke. "Me and Al hooked up."

And for John, everything after that became a complete blur.

For the first time, John couldn't bare the thought of seeing Alyssa. He'd just finished his live segment, and fortunately, the crowd was able to provide him some distraction. But now, now he was all alone again and he was suffocating from the thought of Randy's revelation. Him and Al hooked up. Him and Al hooked up.

God, was that why Alyssa looked off today? Because she was guilty?

"Fuck!" John groaned. He punched the wall right beside his locker room door before walking in.

He sat down, feeling like his knees would unbuckle at any minute.

Damn it. He knew something was wrong. He knew there was something hidden in her smile. He'd been away from her for months, but her smile was tattooed to memory. The one she had now was definitely not the one he remembered.

John dropped his head into his hands and sighed. He didn't know what hurt most: the fact that she hooked up with Randy or the fact that she was hiding it from him. Which was more unforgivable?

A knock came to his door before he contemplated an answer. By the time he looked up, Alyssa was already standing in front of him. She'd mumbled something, but his senses had blocked it off.

His heart was ripping to pieces at the simple sight of her. He envisioned Randy's lips on hers, Randy's hands all over her, Randy's name escaping her. He couldn't stop the images from coming even as Alyssa made her way closer. He flinched when she reached for him.

Perplexed, she retracted her hand like she'd touched a burning stove. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he lied. He didn't know what else to say. He didn't know what to do. His whole world had turned upside down today.

Alyssa cupped his cheek and leaned down to kiss him.

The scariest part for John was he felt nothing. Nothing.

She studied his face once more. Her obliviousness was slowly melting away. "What's wrong?"

John took her hands away from him without saying a word. He got up from his seat and stepped away from her.

Alyssa struggled to suppress her panic to this. "John, what's wrong?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Alyssa, you don't wanna do this right now."

"Do what?" She hugged herself, but it didn't provide the comfort she was after, not in the slightest bit.

Stinging silence hung over the air. Seconds passed, a minute, who knows. The both of them completely lost measure of time.

"John, can please talk to me?" Alyssa knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong. He never acted like this.

He stared at the ground. When she stepped forward, he stepped back.

"You've changed." The words were out before she could stop them, but what else was she supposed to say? He wasn't giving her much to work with.

"Changed? I've changed?" John couldn't bite his tongue any longer. Despite the fact that he still couldn't wrap his head around the situation; despite the fact that his heart was shattering to pieces; despite the fact that he still didn't know what to do, he knew he finally had to speak up. "Alyssa, I came back from Europe more in love with you than I was even before I left. I come home and Randy tells me you guys hooked up. Do you really expect me to be the same after that?"

Tension quickly filled the room. Alyssa epitomized a statue as John's words reverberated over and over in her head. Damn it. Why couldn't she speak up? All the words she's ever known suddenly deserted her.

Her muteness only triggered John's fuse. He let out an exasperated breath before bringing a shaky hand to his mouth. He continued to stare at her, and when she still didn't say anything, he shook his head and dropped his hand.

"Now you don't wanna talk?" John pursed his lips together in disappointment.

More time lapsed and the shift between them continued. The space was growing wider and wider.

John dropped his head in defeat and walked away, leaving her all alone in his locker room.

It took awhile for her to regain her senses, but once she did, it took her even longer to move.

What the fuck just happened? She didn't know how to make sense of this. Her and John were fine one minute and now they were in complete shambles.

Desperate for some resolution, she soon found herself knocking on Randy's door. It opened and all the aggression busted out of her.

Alyssa pushed him, forcing him to step backwards. He put up both hands in defense.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on?"

"What's going on?" she stepped forward, returning their proximity. Fire had settled underneath her skin, and she was fuming. Her ears were pounding, her heart was racing, and as much as she didn't want Randy to see, she was convulsing. "You tell me what the fuck is going on."

"What are you talking about?"

"You told John we hooked up? Hell-" Alyssa put up both hands. "I don't even know what's worse. The fact that you went behind my back, said shit about that night- we promised to forget, or the fact that you lied about it."

"Al-"

"Don't Al me, Randall. We did not hook up."

"I know-"

"Then why does John think we did?" Alyssa's glare burned into him.

He couldn't utter a single sound.

"We didn't hook up, Randy. You forced me." Alyssa's voice was barely audible now. The words that came out of her mouth had nearly choked her.

Horror settled in Randy's orbs. He'd never been so guilty in his entire life. "I'm sorry."

Alyssa closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she was tearing up. "Why? Why would you do this?"

"I don't know. I fucked up. I guess I did it to make myself feel better… to remind me that I have you. Because you- you're the only thing that's ever been constant in my life."

Alyssa shook her head and brushed the tears off her face. "Yeah, you're damn right I've been constant. But you know what? I'm starting to think it's only because I've been stupid enough to stay this long."

She looked at him some more, forcing him to see his destruction. She wanted him to remember just how badly he hurt her.

Randy regretfully watched as she walked away, and he knew there was nothing he could do to stop her.

Once Alyssa managed to enclose herself alone in one room, she immediately broke down. The tears that came were relentless. She cried and cried and cried. She'd lost her best friend and the love of her life in one night.

Yes, something happened that night her and Randy went to the bar. It was the worst night of her life. That following morning, she willed herself to forgive and to forget, thinking it would be best. She never fathomed that decision would turn to jeopardize her and John.

Now, Alyssa's world stopped, and she didn't know how it would ever start again.