Chapter 5

"What the hell is what? Are you okay?" Monique felt like her heart might fly out of her chest and looked at the truck on the side of them.

Right in front of her was a GIANT picture of Jon, along with other men and women, and the truck was huge in itself.

"Oh, it looks like the WWE is in town tonight." Monique was a fan of wrestling, unbeknownst to Vallea, who stared at her like she'd just grown a second head. "What? Those men are SEXY on television, girl! Have you ever been to an event before? That man on the truck is Dean Ambrose and GIRL, he is HOT."

That was an understatement. "No, I haven't…"

"How about we go tonight? They always have tickets for sale on the day of the event, usually. I wouldn't mind drooling over some hot, sweaty men in the ring." Monique nudged her with a grin and looked at her phone. "The show is tomorrow night, actually. It's Monday Night Raw and the Shield is gonna be there. Mmm, Roman Reigns…" She purred, making Vallea shake her head and laughed. "What? Wait until you see these men up close and personal, girl. You'll be FAWNING over them like me."

"Uh-huh." Little did Monique know she'd already had the pleasure of having Dean Ambrose -what kind of name was that?- in her bed 2 months ago.

"You'll see," Monique said confidently. "All those hot men, groping each other, it'll be great!"

Now in Jon's defense, the next day he had gotten a phone call and been whisked off to make sure he was ready for his return. He had been very busy ever since. Also, he kind of figured that since she wasn't blowing him up, she was cool with just a one-night stand, which was fine, he supposed.

Maybe he'd hit her up the next time he was in Vegas.

"Ambrose, what's on your mind, man? You're deep in thought again." Joe accused, who was known better as Roman Reigns, folding his arms in front of his chest as the man snapped back to reality. "What's going on up there?" He tapped his fingers against Jon's temple and smirked when Jon swiped it away.

"Just leave him alone, Uce. It's obvious there's something on his mind and he doesn't wanna talk about it." Colby was always the voice of reason in their group and fans knew him best as Seth Rollins. "When he's ready, he'll talk about it. In the meantime, we need to come up with a game plan for tonight's show."

Monday Night Raw was emanating from Las Vegas, Nevada tonight.

"Hey, at least you're home, so you can sleep in your own bed tonight. That's one good thing to focus on."

"As much as he spent in that bed, I doubt he's really keen on going back."

"Or maybe he enjoyed the downtime."

"Or maybe you're just assuming."

"Shut the fuck up, both of you." Jon rolled his eyes, not really in the mood to have them poking, prodding, and dissecting him. They were some of his best friends, no doubt about that, but he wasn't about to discuss the one-night stand who resided here with them.

"We won't pressure you about it again, but stop daydreaming and keep your head in the game, man. Not unless you wanna be shelved for another 8 months."

Colby knew Joe had a point. "Tonight, let's just focus on the show, and then he can deal with whatever's going on in his head." He was the Architect for a reason and could tell Jon was in turmoil about something.

Something he'd been in turmoil over since he returned.

This was not a good idea. This was a really bad idea. Vallea normally wasn't nervous about anything; it took a lot to rattle her nerves, but going to this wrestling event, where she knew Jon was performing, made her nervous. Monique didn't get front-row seats like she wanted, but they weren't far from the ring either. Balcony seats just above floor seating. It would be the perfect view, at least to her, for all the action. Vallea had no idea what to wear, so she went with black capri's and a red and white tie-dyed sleeveless top, pulling her hair up in a fanned style on top of her head. Slipping her white sandals, Vallea took another look in the mirror before leaving her condo to head to the venue, meeting Monique there.

This was a cluster bomb, to put it mildly, Monique loved it. She loved bustling crowds and the sounds of thousands of souls clamoring for the same thing. Basically, Monique was relatively crazy, but that also seemed to be a prerequisite to be friends with Vallea.

"Well, don't you look spiffy!" She teased playfully, wearing one of her wrestling t-shirts with a pair of shorts. "Ready to see some hot guys in next to nothing?"

"Sure."

No, no she wasn't. Vallea could only hope Jon didn't see her in the crowd and, judging by all the people here, that wouldn't be hard to do. She walked up to Monique, took her ticket, and waited in line along with everyone else.

"Just wait, you're about to have your mind blown WIDE open, girl." Monique grinned, sounding incredibly confident, and jumped up and down excitedly when the line began to move.

A half-hour later, they were in the venue and guided to their seats. Vallea looked around the arena in awe, remembering coming here a few times for concerts, but it was a completely different atmosphere with a professional wrestling event. The ring looked smaller than she would've guessed – did men and women really wrestle in it? She smiled, took her seat that was printed on the ticket, and continued looking around, taking in the surroundings as people began filling the place up.

The squared circle did seem small when there in person, a lot smaller than what you would see on television, but Monique knew it was also the stage for the stories they were about to see physically played out. Of course, Vallea would need updated and quick summaries about who was who and what was going on. Since wrestling was one of her passions, Monique did not feel it was a chore.

"So, should I start filling you in or are you going to just try picking it up as it goes?" She asked, ignoring the sounds of the thousands of others pouring in around them.

"Something tells me this is going to be very complicated, so I'll just watch and try to work out what's going on in my head." Vallea chuckled at Monique's excitement and wondered how long she'd been a wrestling fan. Monique told her around 10 years, answering her question before it could be asked. "Just point out who the wrestlers are as they come out." They would be announced per match or segment, but it was nice to know beforehand since the crowd was so loud, buzzing around her. "So your favorite is…who again?"

"Roman Reigns. The Big Dog and I can tell that man lives up to his name." Monique swooned with a laugh, the t-shirt she had on actually saying 'The Big Dog', which was Roman Reigns' newest merchandise. She had ordered it online a few weeks after it came out.

"Interesting."

"Just you wait, when you see him, you'll see what all the fuss is about. Pictures just don't do that man justice." Monique reassured her, looking down at her shirt before sighing wistfully. "He is so much better in person." This was obviously not the first event she had attended. "Before they get to the actual show, there will be a dark match or two to warm everyone up." The audience, she meant, as well as potentially try out any new people, that sort of thing. "You ready?" It was starting pretty soon.

"Ready as I can be."

The show kicked off with two warm-up matches before the actual show, Raw, kicked off with pyro. That was something Vallea didn't expect and she clamped her hands over her ears because of how LOUD it was. There were a lot of things in life she could tolerate, but loud booms and fireworks weren't one of them. Usually, for the 4th of July, she had her MP3 player at full charge and blasted music in her ears to drown out the major booms. The first hour was full of action and one in-ring promo by some guy named Baron Corbin.

After that promo started hour 2 and Monique began squealing out as the sound of a guitar pierced through the arena followed by some kind of rocker, thrashy music. Her eyes nearly bugged out at the sight of Jon and watched him in his element, nodding when Monique pointed and yelled out it was the Lunatic Fringe. Vallea watched him get in the ring, stalking around like a pissed-off bull waiting for his opponent, and ripped his shirt over his head, wrestling in gray pants and black boots.

Christ, he looked better than she remembered.

Jon loved being back to work and after several matches, he knew his arm was back in top condition. Hell, he was in even better condition now than he was prior to his forced time off. Ripped, better-conditioned body and shorter hair. He may not look as crazy as he had before, but he sure still was a 'lunatic', he was just more intense and focused. His eyes scanned the audience, faces blurring one after another before diverting his attention back towards the stage.

"Tell me that is not one gorgeous piece of flesh? The things I would do to him…"

Again, if Monique only knew the truth of what happened transpired between Vallea and Jon in the past. "Couldn't agree more. He's amazing."

Hazel eyes moved from Jon to the stage as his opponent came out from the back, missing the name completely. Bray something. Again, she didn't care and watched the match get underway between the two Superstars. The way Jon moved in the ring was so fluid and calculated, he never missed a step. Granted, there was some offense by the Bray guy, but other than that, Jon had full control of the match. It was mesmerizing to see, especially live in person.

The crowd was chanting 'Ambrose' repeatedly, which only seemed to fire Jon up further. Even Vallea was joining in along with Monique, feeling exhilarated for the first time in 2 months. Now she understood why Jon did what he did for a living because it fit him perfectly and he was damn good at it. When he won the match, both women jumped up and down excitedly, cheering and clapping for him. He stalked around the ring, growling out like an animal before rolling under the bottom rope and heading straight to the back.

"His new character is so damn scrumptious, oh my god!"

Jon was quite pleased with how that had played out. Obviously, a lot of matches were scripted and the writers would toss in some specific moves they'd want to see executed, but after that, it was up to the superstars to choreograph the rest in the ring. It was meant as a way to avoid being seriously injured, and he got it, but sometimes the element of surprise was what made it fun. Bray was good for that because the big bastard would occasionally deviate, though Jon had noticed the other man had avoided doing anything overly evil on his right arm.

Much appreciated.

The rest of the show for Vallea was boring, honestly, and she didn't like anybody else on the roster, not even Monique's favorite, Roman Reigns. He was a big man and could move in the ring, but he didn't hold a candle to Jon, not in her eyes. She was biased and unashamed of it, though she did cheer along with Monique just to show she was enjoying the show. It wasn't too bad and maybe she would start watching it on television just to see Jon. Christ, Vallea had to get a hold of herself already and tried pushing him out of her mind for the time being.

That wasn't happening anytime soon. After the show ended, with Roman Reigns closing it out and winning, they made their way out of the arena with Monique stopping at the merchandise stand to buy something to commemorate and remind her of the great night they had. Vallea wound up purchasing Jon's new t-shirt, deciding she would sleep in it for a nightshirt, and headed out with Monique into the somewhat cool night air.

"Man, you are sweating like a whore in church!"

"You kiss your mama with that mouth, Jonny boy?"

"Call me that again," Jon growled good-naturedly. He was fresh out of the shower. "Besides, I kiss YOUR mama with this mouth."

"Oh, you-"

Laughing, Jon was prepared when he was tackled. Not so prepared when they actually went over the hood of a car, but he never stopped laughing. It occurred to him that they probably shouldn't be out here doing this in the parking areas reserved for the fans, who had paid premium cash for the best parking, but men would be men.

Monique came to a stop. That was her car.

"Oh my god…"

It was Jon and the guy Monique had been fawning over on the hood of her car, each trying to get the upper hand on the other. Monique was stiff and in too much shock to really speak. She stepped in front of her client and let out an ear-piercing whistle with her fingers that stopped both men in their tracks, her hands on her hips.

"Now gentlemen, is that any way to treat a lady's car? Especially a lady who just paid to watch you two perform?"

Monique swallowed hard, not expecting Vallea to speak to the two wrestlers, and felt her cheeks turn a deep crimson.

"Doll, you already know I like it rough." Jon retorted without missing a beat. Hearing that voice, he knew that voice, and his head turned to look at his favorite one-night stand. He regretted that decision a second later when Joe took advantage and pressed his forearm right down on top of his head. "You stink!"

Laughing, Joe moved away from his friend before helping Jon off of the car. "Sorry, ladies." He turned to the women, both quite shorter than him, and then grinned. Jon was smirking at one of them. "Bro, stop leering."

Ignoring Joe, he approached Vallea, smirking down at her. "Thought you weren't a fan, doll."

"You KNOW him?" Monique squealed, coming out of her stupor.

Vallea jabbed a thumb toward a floored Monique and watched the Samoan man approach her. "SHE'S the fan and dragged me here tonight to see what it was about. I saw your picture on the truck, nearly rear-ended someone, and yeah…here we are. Didn't think I'd run into you with all the people here, though." It was almost as if fate was entwining their paths and always finding ways for them to find each other again. "I even contributed to your Asylum?" She raised his t-shirt, making it sound like a question, and looked at it again. "Or whatever you call your fanbase and bought your shirt. Say thank you, handsome."