*THank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
"Are you sure you're ready to do this?" asks Dean as they mic us up for our interview with a famous nightly news program. "Because if you're not ready we don't have to do this," he says.
"I'm fine," I answer, "they're going to keep speculating and the paparazzi are going to keep harassing us until they know the truth. It's better to just get it done and over with now than wait a week or two. It's been a circus, Dean."
"I know but Cody was just arrested last week, we just lost the baby last week and so much has happened in the last week that I don't know if you're ready for this yet."
"I'm ready," I say with a reassuring smile. "I've been ready for this."
"If you say so," he says. I agree with him everything has been crazy for us in the last week from his shooting, the miscarriage, our engagement and Cody being arrested but the media does not let us rest. Every time we go somewhere the paparazzi follows and it has been to the point we don't even want to go outside anymore because despite December chill getting out and getting fresh air is something we try to do every day because we need to get out of that penthouse. It's been a tough week and we still haven't healed from the loss of our baby. Dean has been spending more time at home, running his day to day from his home office and taking care of Zoey and me.
"Hey," I say as I touch his arm. "I'm okay."
"As long as you're okay," he says. "I don't want you to be overwhelmed."
"I will admit the last week or two have been a bit of a whirlwind but I'm okay. I feel like the sooner we get the story out there the easier our life will be."
"That's what you think," he says. "I'm not trying to scare you, Journey. I'm just going to give it to you straight and honest. You're a celebrity now. You're no longer a regular person. You're my fiancée which they will find out in the interview but our lives especially yours and Zoey's lives are about to change. The paparazzi will continue to follow us, follow you, follow Zoey, they will keep asking questions. You can't hide anything from the media everything is up for grabs including your past, your parents' past nothing is sacred anymore. They're going to judge you on how you dress, how you talk and how you carry yourself. They will comment on how we continue to raise Zoey, how we dress her, what activities she participates in, how she's disciplined and what schools she goes to. That secret life you lived before is no more. There is no more hiding things away from the media, they're hounds. You'll find yourself on the cover of tabloids. Your days of privacy are over. I'm going to try to live our lives as privately as possible but sometimes that's not possible, pregnancies, weddings, engagements, friends and family nothing is secret anymore. People will love you or they will hate you. Your life is going to be different with me, Journey. It's not just about this interview it's about our life together are you ready for this, are you sure you want to do this?" he asks.
"I'm sure, Dean, we're in this together no matter what. All of that is worth spending the rest of my life with you and being happy with you," I promise him. "Everything will be okay, Dean I promise."
"I just don't want all this craziness of my life to scare you away. You're marrying one of the most eligible bachelors in New York and one of the most successful business men in the world so this comes along with the territory. I just don't want to scare you away."
"You're not scaring me away," I say honestly. "I'm not going anywhere, not anywhere without you," I smile and he smiles back at me. "I love you, Dean," I say playing with this vest to his three piece suit as he faces me. I look up into his blue eyes.
"I love you too," he says softly before he kisses my lips softly. "I'm going to take you away," he says.
"Is that so? And what about Zoey?" I ask.
"I have already made arrangements with the nanny to keep her while I take you away," he says. "I think you and I need a nice vacation together and alone so we can talk and just unwind from all the stress surrounding us," he says.
"That sounds pretty good," I smile. "I could use a stress free vacation with my man," I say with a smile. "Where are we going?"
"I was thinking somewhere private, somewhere tropical," he says, "but that's all I am saying where we end up is a surprise."
"That's not fair," I protest. "Why can't you tell me?"
"Because I want to surprise you," he says with a soft smile before we are called for a 5 minute warning. "I guess we better go," he says.
"I guess," I say as he takes my hand and we make our way to the set so that we are ready for our segment on the show.
I haven't been prepped on public speaking or how these interviews usually work. I just hope I say all the right things and not the wrong things. This will be my first appearance and I hope that I conduct myself properly which is why I went with something simple but classy to wear for our interview. I chose black dress pants and a mint green sweater that brings out the green in my eyes. I put my hair up into a low bun and had a small amount of make up on my face just enough to bring out my natural look. During the commercial break Dean and I are seated with the newscaster and soon they countdown to the host being back on the air.
"Welcome back," says the female host. "I'm joined tonight by Dean Ambrose and the woman the world is dying to know and to find out about Alexis or Journey; Dean Ambrose's girlfriend," she announces. "Thank-you for joining me tonight," she says.
"Thank-you for having us," says Dean.
"How are you doing after the shooting?" she asks.
"I'm doing all right," he answers, "I'm still in a lot of pain but I got lucky. I could have died that night but thankfully Journey found me in time. I will be undergoing PT to regain use of my arm in a couple weeks and to get the strength back. It was a scary night," he says seriously, "but I am happy to be alive."
"I can't imagine. I hope that your recovery goes well," she says before her attention is on me. "And Alexis, Journey the world is curious to know who you are, let's start easy what's your name?"
"Legally my name is Journey," I answer, "but at one time my name was Alexis it was changed a few months back but I have been going by Journey for years."
"A lot of people in America believe that you had a part in Dean's shooting is that true?"
"I had no part in his shooting. Everyone is going to believe what they want and think what they want but I want to say my piece on the situation. I was at his office party down with the other guests when he was shot but I do know the shooter but had no part in it."
"Who was the shooter?" she asks.
"My husband soon to be ex-husband Cody," I answer truthfully. "I can't give out details because of the case but my ex-husband Cody was responsible."
"What was the reason you changed your name from Alexis to Journey?"
"I changed my name from Alexis to Journey because I am a victim of domestic violence," I begin. "I met Cody when I was in high school. I thought he was everything back then. I thought we would spend the rest of our lives together. I dropped out of high school before I graduated because Cody and I fell in love with one another, I thought it was love but I quickly learned it was not love. After coming from a home where I was raped nightly by my step-father, my mother choosing him over me I was desperate to find the love of my life and I had thought I met him in Cody but I was wrong. Everything started out perfectly, we moved in together, he asked me to marry him and we got along and shortly after we moved in together he started to get emotionally aggressive with me calling me stupid, calling me dumb and tearing me down with his words then came the physical abuse. The first time he hit me because I did something wrong with the laundry. He promised to never do it again but it happened again and again. Sometimes he beat me so badly I thought I was going to die. He always blamed it on his drug addiction but it was who he is. I got pregnant with our daughter and even then he didn't stop abusing me. He continued to abuse me throughout my pregnancy and luckily our daughter made it to full term without me losing her. I thought it would all stop after our daughter was born but it didn't. It just kept happening. I had to make a choice to save my life and to give my daughter a better life. I chose to leave and escape from him. I did everything I could to hide from him including changing my name, changing states but he still found us. He kept coming after us despite the papers I had filed against him. He kept coming after us. I spent years hiding from him but he has always found me."
"I'm sorry," says the host with pity in her eyes for me. "And that's how you met Dean?"
"I met Dean in a homeless shelter for battered women," I answer. "I never expected to fall in love with him but it just happened. I guess it's a rags to riches story in some ways."
"It sounds like it," she says. "A lot of people in America believe that you are using Dean for his money?"
"Love has nothing to do with money," I answer carefully trying to not offend the American population. You have to know the right things to say and how to say them. "You can't help who you fall in love with."
"That's true," she says. "so how do you feel about Dean being shot?"
"I was scared when I found him in his office. I wasn't sure he was going to make it or not. The wait at the hospital was the worst. I waited for the doctor to come out and tell me if I lost my true love or not. It felt like hours passed as I waited almost days but the doctor finally came out and told me that Dean had made it through. I was relieved and grateful. I couldn't imagine my life without Dean, he's everything to me and everything to Zoey."
"I am sure," she responds. "What is next with the two of you? What does your future hold?"
"Right now we just want to get justice for what Cody has done to us and I am sure that Journey is ready to move on with her life and take the next step in her life. She has already started her own fashion line for kids called Journey Kids and hopefully she will continue on with her fashions but that's professional in our personal lives we're going to take a couple weeks off, take a vacation together to unwind from the stress we've endured over the last couple weeks. We've been through quite a lot of things so we are going to take some time away to enjoy ourselves and enjoy life together without the media," he says. "And when we come back from our vacation we will have a wedding to plan," he smiles at me.
"A wedding?" she asks with surprise. "There's a wedding coming up?"
"As soon as we choose a date," he answers, "but being shot ruined my plans to propose to her the way I wished and planned so that night in the hospital I proposed to her it wasn't what I planned but the moment was right and it was still perfect in a different way. Of course she said yes and now we're getting married."
"Congratulations," says the host. "That's wonderful news. You haven't chosen a date yet?"
"No date yet but I'm sure we will decide on a date soon," I say with a smile. "It's just been a wild couple weeks we haven't even gotten a chance to sit down and talk about a wedding."
"I understand," she says. "Can we see the ring?" she asks.
I smile and say, "sure," I say before I expose the black diamond ring to the host and then to the camera.
"Beautiful and unique," she says with a smile. "Well, ladies it looks like one of the most eligible bachelors is officially off the market, I'm sure hearts are breaking all over the world," she says with a smile reminding me how lucky I am to have Dean. Millions maybe even billions of women all over the world look at my fiancée and see him as one of the hottest men in America maybe even the world wishing they could be Mrs. Ambrose but out of all those women he chose me one of the least likeliest of people and I still don't understand why when he could have any woman in the world but I am damn lucky to be his.
"And another professional goal," says Dean, "I want to start a new charity for abused teens and children that have been abused sexually, physically and emotionally. I want to help them like I help domestic violence victims they are just as crucial and as important as men and women that have escaped an abusive relationship."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," says the host. "We are out of time but I would like to thank Dean and Journey for coming today and Journey thank-you for telling us your story. And congratulations to you two," she says.
"Thank-you," we say together before the show ends.
"Well," says Dean as we are getting our mics taken off, "you survived your first of many interviews," he smiles.
"Barely," I say. "I was so nervous. I wasn't sure how to answer some questions."
"You did a great job but my PR team will coach you on how to handle the media and how to answer questions. You will also have a personal shopper and dresser that will help you pick out your outfits on a day to day basis based on my approval," he says.
"You don't like the way I dress?" I ask biting my lip feeling as if he wants to change me to be what the public wants to see not who I want to be.
"I love the way you dress, Journey but let's face it you could up your fashion sense a bit dress classy for interviews and appearances, dress classy casual to go shopping no more sweatpants and leggings out in public. Everyone is going to be watching you now," he says. "You're marrying one of the richest men in the world you have to make a good impression on America."
"But I like my leggings," I argue. "I don't see how I dress matters."
"Because you're in the public eye now, I explained this. People are watching you especially how you dress."
"I feel like you're trying to change me," I say. "Are you?"
"No," he says as he touches my cheek softly stroking it with his thumb as my hazel eyes meet his blue eyes. "I'm not trying to change you. I love everything about you and everything that you are. I just want you to look like the successful businesswoman you are and going to be. I want us to be the power couple everyone is talking about," he explains, "but I am not trying to change you. I would love to go out in sweatpants and basketball shorts but I have an image to keep and you becoming my wife have the same image. I'm not changing you," he says. "okay?"
"Okay," I say softly with a soft smile. "Okay." Yet even though he says he's not changing me I feel like I'm not good enough to be in his world and that he is changing me so that I belong. Everything is different now; everything.
*A/N: Where do you think Dean is taking Journey? Do you think they need this vacation away after everything they have gone through? When would you like for their wedding to be? What did you think of their interview did Journey do well? What about Dean's plans to open up a charity for abused teens and children? Do you think Dean is trying to change Journey? Do you think he is ashamed of her? Please review and thank-you for reading.