A/N: My apologies for taking so long to update! It has been massively hectic with heaps going on! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to a happy and wonderful 2017! Also, thank you for the reviews!
Chapter Eight: Confession
Present – Las Vegas, NV
"Are you even listening to me?"
Jon blinked in surprise and looked up at Renee in surprise, "Sorry?"
"Unbelievable," snapped Renee standing up from the lounge in irritation. She carried her empty wine glass across the living room and into the kitchen, muttering angrily to herself.
Jon sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. He felt bad. He had been listening to Renee discuss a matter going on with one of her family members and he had zoned out, his mind going to witnessing Quinn and Nick walking hand in hand along the streets of Barcelona on Thursday.
Jon stood up and headed to the kitchen, entering as Renee placed her rinsed glass in the dishwasher. He walked up to her from behind and slipped his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to below her earlobe.
"I'm sorry, Nee," said Jon, "I was rude to just… zone out on you like that."
Renee pulled from Jon's hold and turned to look at him, "What hurts the most is I know who you were thinking about. You had the same look on your face you did the last time I saw you watching Quinn with Nick."
Jon looked at Renee in surprise, taking notice of the tears in her eyes.
"Am I just a fill in until Quinn decided to return? Someone to keep your bed warm at night? Fulfil your sexual needs?"
"Renee, no, I do love you!"
Renee shook her head, "Do you just love me or are you IN love with me?"
Jon fell silent and Renee gave a nod.
"I think tonight, you can sleep in the guest bedroom. Blue and I will sleep in the master bedroom."
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Quinn tapped the steering wheel as she drove up the street leading to the hotel she would be in for the next two nights. She had driven for nearly eight hours from her sister's place to Wilkes-Barre instead of flying. She found the drive therapeutic as it allowed her time to be alone with her thoughts and to sing along to her personal choice music – which may or may not have included some Backstreet Boys.
Quinn spotted the hotel her itinerary mentioned and turned into the large driveway. An internal groan erupted within Quinn as she saw Jon in the car in front of her. She was surprised to see him arriving alone, without Renee as it was the norm to see them arriving together whenever possible for them.
"Good afternoon Miss. Are you with the WWE talent?" asked the valet as Quinn stopped her car and stepped out.
"Yes," replied Quinn, glancing at Jon to see him looking back at her.
"Excellent. Shall I get your luggage?"
"I can do that," said Quinn walking to the back of her car and popping the boot. She lifted out her duffel bag and reached for her suitcase when a leather clad arm beat her to it.
Quinn looked up and saw Jon right beside her. She stepped back as he lifted it out, placing it on the ground.
"Thank you," murmured Quinn before looking at the valet and handing him the keys.
"No problem," replied Jon.
Quinn grabbed the handle of her suitcase and hastily walked into the hotel wanting to put distance between her and Jon. Him standing that close to her had invaded her senses with his scent, the mix of shades of blue in his eyes, the near impossible to ignore urge to run her fingers through his curls.
She sucked in the clear air around her, plastering a smile on her face at the reception desk.
"Name?"
"Quinn Gallagher," said Quinn pulling her wallet out to show her proof of ID.
"Okay… two nights… you are in a room with a king bed… fourth floor, room twelve."
Quinn nodded and took her room card and headed for the elevator with her luggage. As she pressed the button and waited, she was soon joined by Jon. Quinn ignored him and waited silently.
The ding of the elevator brought no relief as Jon simply walked into the confined space after Quinn, standing right beside her.
"Where's Renee?" blurted out Quinn, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Arriving tomorrow," answered Jon casually, "What about Nick?"
Quinn frowned at the question, "Umm, arriving tomorrow as well."
Jon gave a simple nod as the elevator arrived on the fourth floor. Quinn walked out when the doors opened, as did Jon. Directly across from the elevator was Quinn's room number. She walked over to it and almost cried out in frustration when Jon went to door eleven.
Was fate having a big laugh right now at her expense?
Quinn stared up at the ceiling and stood up with a huff from her couch. His television was so loud she could barely hear her own. Quinn grabbed her room key card and walked out of hers and over to his door. She banged on it with the palm of her hand, crossing her arms over her chest and waited.
As she was about to knock again, the door opened and Jon leaned on the doorframe, looking at her in surprise.
"Could you please turn your television down? It's so loud I can't hear my own," said Quinn politely.
"If I must," replied Jon.
Quinn glared at him and threw her hands up in annoyance, "Forget about it." She turned and started walking over to her door when Jon spoke again, stopping her.
"Hey, no need to be like that!"
"Me?" snapped Quinn spinning around to face Jon, "You just acted as if I were asking you to sacrifice your life!"
"What? I'm not the one acting like a cold bitch here!"
"Whoa? A cold bitch? Where the fuck did that come from?" demanded Quinn, stepping towards Jon, hands on her hips.
"Ignoring me, running away from me, refusing to talk or even look at me," stated Jon leaning on his door frame with his arms crossed.
Quinn let out a laugh of disbelief and shook her head, "Because every time we talk lately you-you blur things, Jon! Things that cannot be blurred between us because YOU have someone else! You can't expect me to sit around and live like a freaking maid while you go about happily with Renee!"
"I can't get you out of my head! I see you laugh, I see your smile and god forgive me, but it makes me… fuck," snapped Jon as he grabbed Quinn by the arm and pulled her towards him in one swift movement.
One arm slipped around her waist, the other tangling in her curly hair as his lips captured her own in a searing, passionate kiss. Quinn responded instantaneously, her body melting against his as her hands slid up his chest to his shoulders. The kiss deepened, both feeling the electric spark ignite between them. It trickled down their limbs as Jon lifted Quinn up, pressing her body against the wall inside his room. Her legs wrapped around his waist as Jon's lips trailed from her lips to her jawline, his hands sliding along the sides of her body, pushing her loose singlet up.
A moan escaped Quinn and the sound of her own voice brought her back to reality.
"Shit, no, no, no Jon, stop, stop!" said Quinn, squirming in his hold as he hastily stepped back, "We can't do this! We can't! I can't be… be the other woman or the one to ruin everything you have with Renee."
Jon looked at Quinn in silence as she looked anywhere but at him, "Look at me."
Quinn shook her head and made to leave the room but Jon stepped in front of the door.
"Look at me!"
Quinn desperately tried to avoid complying with his request but knew she had no choice. She looked at him and let out a deep, shuddering breath.
"We can't do this, Jon. I didn't come back to the WWE to destroy the life you built for yourself. You are happier without me in it," said Quinn, "I'll make sure you get that back."
Quinn moved towards the door but Jon stopped her, frowning.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Jon angrily, "You'll leave again? You think I will let that happen, Quinn? I lost you once. I-I can't lose you again. Don't you get it? I thought I had moved on from you! I thought I found what I want but you… you are the only woman who will ever own my heart. Far out Quinn… I'm still fucking in love with you!"
Quinn looked at Jon silently, willing herself to not cry, "You love the me from four years ago. The me I am now is a different person."
Jon moved to the side as Quinn moved to the door and pulled it open and left him standing numbly in the entry of his hotel room.
Quinn walked into the stadium, keeping her headphones in and sunglasses on. She'd barely slept the night before and had purposely kept her phone on silent to ignore the calls and texts from her sister, Saraya and Nick.
Quinn dumped her bag in the locker room and changed into her gear. The other women picked up the vibe that Quinn wasn't herself and gave her, her space. Once dressed she headed to hair and make-up, once again keeping the headphones in to keep other people away from her. It worked until she got into make-up, where she had no choice but to remove them.
"Ah, Quinn!" said Shane walked in before noticing her appearance, "You okay?"
"Yeah… just bad sleep but I promise you I am fine," reassured Quinn as her hair was brushed out, "Did you need me for something?"
"We have made a change to your music. I've emailed you the updated version – it's a remix with the lyrics. Everyone thinks your character is going far, so we have decided to invest a little more into your character and this will help make your stand out more. Have a listen and spend a bit of time reworking your entrance. Your updated theme starts tonight."
Quinn looked at Shane stunned and nodded in silence.
"Exciting!" beamed Kat next to Quinn.
"Yeah… yeah it is," nodded Quinn, trying to absorb the news in.
Quinn pressed play on the track again and sucked in a deep breath as she counted the initial sounds at the start of the track. She opened her eyes and walked forward, twirling mid step and pausing in her walk, one hand on her hip, while the other tapped her chin with her smirk. She walked forward and twirled, skipping backwards and turned, colliding into a solid body.
"Shit!" cried Quinn, spinning around to see Nick, "Hey, sorry! I should have found a quieter place."
"You're alive," replied Nick taking a step back from Quinn.
Quinn glanced down at her hands clutching her phone and headphones, "Last I checked, I was."
"We had plans to catch up this morning, or did you forget?"
Quinn cringed, "I had shit sleep and only managed a couple of hours this morning. I am so sorry, Nick."
"No, no it's fine. Maybe we can grab dinner after the show – unless you're too tired?"
"Can I let you know?" replied Quinn as she spotted the time on her phone, "My match is in ten minutes. I need to get going."
"Of course," nodded Nick before stepping forward and pressing a quick kiss to the corner of Quinn's mouth, "I missed you."
Quinn managed a small smile as guilt plagued her, "Same."
Quinn turned and hurried away, not noticing the figure lurking in the corner of the corridor.
The theme of Nikki Bella blasted around the arena as Smackdown crept into its second hour. Nikki strode out to a loud pop from the crowd. She grinned at the crowd, high fiving a few of the audience members as she walked to the ring and went through the actions of her entrance. As Nikki stepped into the middle of the ring the music changed.
The guitar riff of Natalya's theme struck and the woman from the Hart Dungeons strode out, her face one of pure determination. Nikki looked at Natalya silently, as Natalya glared at her. Natalya stepped into the ring, looked at Nikki and walked over to the turnbuckle, stepping up to make the gesture that she was the Number One Contender in the ring.
Everyone knew Harley was next to come out but the music started differently, just a weird beat.
"I need a gangsta… to love me better…"
As soon as the singing started, Harley walked out, twirling once the beat picked up. She paused at the top of the ramp, hand on her hip as she tapped her chin and smirked at the women in the ring. As the singing started again, she made her way down the ramp, twirling and skipping backwards, pivoting to face the ring at the end of the ramp. She looked up into the ring at the two other competitors in the match before running and jumping up to the side of the ring and ripping her tank top off to reveal her red and black top, which matched her red and black shorts.
The three women stood in the ring looking at each other. It was one of the most anticipated matches of the night and everyone was placing bets as to who they believed would come out on top.
The bell rang and the women looked at each other still. Who would make the first move? Which two teamed up on the other competitor?
The answer was given as Nikki and Natalya both moved towards Harley. Harley ducked and weaved around Nikki and grabbed her from behind and hitting a suplex. She rolled and stood to be met with a boot to the face from Natalya. Harley spun and bounced onto the ropes, her arms hanging over them. Suddenly Natalya hit her in the back with a knee, the rope cutting into her neck.
"Back off Natalya!" yelled the referee.
Harley fell from the rope and clutched at her throat before she was yanked up by the back of her top. Natalya threw her into the nearest ring corner. Nikki shoved Natalya out of the way and ran at Harley, hitting a baseball slide to her mid-section. Harley slumped, leaving Nikki and Natalya to begin working on each other. Harley clutched her middle section and breathed deeply as Nikki hit Natalya with an elbow to the back.
Harley slowly regained her breath as the match played on. As Natalya was standing over Nikki proudly she stood up and let out a yell. Natalya turned as Harley ran and speared Natalya, making her crash down on top of Nikki. Harley jumped up, clutching at her mid-section as she pointed to the top turn-buckle.
The crowd yelled in agreement and Harley walked over and climbed up until she perched on the very top rope. She slowly stood up as Natalya rolled off of Nikki. Harley jumped, springing her body out and slammed down on top of both Nikki and Natalya, her legs slamming into Natalya's mid-section, as her elbows dug into Nikki's. Harley slowly stood, wincing once more as she stumbled backwards.
"It seems like Harley has injured herself," said Mauro, "She did take quite a beating from Nikki and Natalya at the start of the match."
"Are you okay?" asked the referee to Harley.
"I'm fine!" yelled Harley standing up to duck a punch from Natalya and instead hit her in the back with a kick. Natalya stumbled forward but turned to Harley. Both Harley and Natalya ran at each other, hitting a double clothesline.
Nikki quickly covered Harley for a pin.
1!
2!
Harley kicked out, rolling to her side as she clutched at her mid-section. She stood up and managed to avoid a hit from Nikki, knocking into Natalya. The three women looked at each other in silence once more before Nikki and Natalya flew at Harley once more. Harley ducked and the two women fell over the top rope, crashing to the ground outside the ring.
Harley looked at them and backed up. She ran forward and dove between the middle rope and crashed into a just standing Nikki and Natalya.
It was then Harley passed out as her head hit the corner of the barricade.
Jon looked at the television his heart slamming against his ribcage as medics rushed out to check on Quinn as Nikki and Natalya were forced back by the referee. Shane quickly came out to announce the match would continue with just Nikki and Natalya competing.
"Shit," whistled Mike, "That was a hard hit."
"Yeah," nodded Renee from where she sat beside Jon.
Nick stood and ran from the room with Jon forcing himself to stay in his seat.
"Concussion?" asked Maryse.
"Oh most definitely," said Windham, "Quinn will be out for a while. It's a shame though. She was gaining a lot of momentum."
Jon felt his hands clenching into fists on his lap as he stared at the television, which was showing a replay of Quinn's dive. It was perfect. There should have been no incident but when the fall happened, Quinn had bounced from Nikki's hold and slammed into the corner of the barricade. It was clear to see she was passed out within seconds of the hit.
"I need to go see if this will be covered in Talking Smack," said Renee, placing a hand on Jon's arm.
Jon nodded and gave Renee a small smile.
Quinn woke with a start, sitting upright in alarm only to have the Doctor and his assistant quickly calm her down.
"It's okay… it's okay. You took a hit to the head and bruised your ribs. Right now we are getting you ready to be transported to the medical centre for scans to see if you have done any damage," explained the Doctor.
"Okay," said Quinn with a slow nod.
A knock came at the door and a head popped in.
"Where's Dennis?" asked the medical assistant.
"He has had a family issue come up. I volunteered to take Miss Gallagher to the hospital."
Quinn felt her body freeze up at the voice. She started shaking her head, causing the Doctor to frown.
"Could you give us a minute?" demanded the Doctor.
"Sure thing."
The door closed and Quinn shoved the Doctors hands away from her.
"I'll get myself to the hospital. I don't need to be escorted," said Quinn.
"You are in no state to drive, Quinn. It's company protocol to escort all talent to the hospital."
"I will find someone to take me. I'll need someone to be with me! Just-just not that guy, okay? Please. Let me find someone!"
The Doctor sighed and went to the door and opened it up to find Nick standing alongside the other guy.
"Nick!" cried Quinn, cringing when her head pounded.
Nick hurried in and looked Quinn over, "Are you okay?"
"I need to go to the hospital. I can't take myself. Can you take me? Please?"
Nick looked out at the waiting guy, "He is meant to take you."
Quinn licked her lips, "I would prefer it to be someone I know and trust."
Jon found himself walking along the corridors for the medical treatment rooms. He knew it was a dangerous game he was playing but he needed to see if Quinn was okay with his own eyes. Hearing his friends go on about concussion grades hadn't eased his fringed nerves at all. He was also cutting it fine for making it in time for his main event match against Windham.
"Hey man," said Jon to the face he recognised, "Doc still in?"
"Yeah, he's treating that Harley chick."
Jon nodded with a frown. Something peaked in his mind but he couldn't place it. He saw the door was open and saw Quinn sitting up on the bed, talking earnestly to Nick.
"… Talking Smack. I wish I could, Quinn, but I can't."
"It's fine… I'll… maybe Nattie or Nikki can take me."
"Miss Gallagher, I am more than happy to escort you to the hospital. It's what I am here for," spoke up the guy.
Jon was standing just out of Quinn's view and saw her body tense up as she slowly turned to look at the guy. Jon could see the fear and disgust in them and it clicked.
"You're back in Tampa now, bitch. You won't always be safe from me, you know? You were the best I ever had."
"You raped me! You didn't have me willingly you fucking bastard!"
Rage filled Jon as he turned and looked at the guy. Without a second of hesitation, Jon lunged at him and slammed the guy to the ground, a fist connecting with the guys face again and again.
Quinn jumped in surprise as Jon seemed to appear out of nowhere and attack her rapist. She pushed off the medical bed and past Nick, hurrying towards the sudden beat down occurring. She ignored her hurting head and weaved past the sudden influx of people and slid to her knees beside Jon and her rapist.
"JON! JON STOP! STOP PLEASE!" cried Quinn grabbing at his arm, "DON'T LET HIM RUIN YOUR LIFE TOO!"
Jon raised his fist back, a growl rumbling from his chest as he looked at the bloodied face, to a pale, panicked stricken Quinn.
"It was him!" yelled Jon, "He did it, didn't he?"
Tears fell from Quinn's face as she closed her eyes and nodded. Jon let out another growl like noise and Quinn opened her eyes and quickly jumped forward, pushing Jon back with her landing on him.
"He's not worth it! He's not!"
"What the hell is going on here?" came the yell of Shane McMahon with Bryan next to him.
"Oh," said Bryan spotting the guy, looking to Jon and Quinn, "I see."
"You see? I see a man beaten to a bloody mess. Quinn crying and hugging Jon – who should be getting ready to face Windham. What am I missing?"
"Err."
"I can explain," said Quinn pushing herself from Jon and wiping her face clean. She looked up at Shane and sucked in a deep breath.
"Well?" snapped Shane.
Jon sat up, wiping his grazed and bruised knuckles on his jeans. He glared at the man who had hurt Quinn. If it wasn't for Quinn sitting right beside him, shaking like a leaf he would have attacked him again.
"Four years ago… I was raped," spoke Quinn, causing Jon to look at Quinn in surprise as gasps filled the corridor. Quinn pointed to her attacker, "He raped me."
Silence filled the corridor and Quinn felt a wave of dizziness overcome her before she once again passed out, collapsing backwards until Jon caught her.
A/N: And now everyone knows... review!