Chapter 1

It was cold, there was snow on the ground, and there was snow falling from the sky. Yet, there was still something to be said for Boston in April and it was something that reminded John Cena that he was finally home again, even if it was just for a few days.

Yesterday had been one of the greatest days of his entire life. He had finally won the WWE Championship, a goal he'd worked towards for years and something he desired all of his life.

As he got out of the car to greet his family, John couldn't help but stare at the belt sitting in the passenger seat of his car. It was truly a work of beauty.

"Happy birthday, Danielle!"

"Girls!" the young blonde laughed at her roommates and smiled, taking notice of the birthday cake sitting on the table. "You really didn't have to… it's not like I hit any big milestone. I'm getting old…"

"Yeah, okay," one of her roommates, Kasey, rolled her eyes. "Because turning twenty two qualifies you for the senior discount at the movies."

Danielle Landon couldn't help but chuckle at her best friend's sarcasm. She'd known Kasey Walker for nearly eight years now and had first met the petite, auburn haired girl as a freshman in high school. If it wasn't for Kasey then, she wouldn't have survived high school. If it weren't for Kasey now, she might not survive life.

"At least I stand to graduate this year, Julia," she turned her gaze to her other good friend, Julia Dottrina.

"You know what? I didn't even say anything this time!" Julia put her hands firmly on her hips and pouted.

"Think of this as pay back for eleven years of sarcasm, Jules," Danielle smiled curtly at her childhood best friend. "And for my eighteenth birthday."

Julia had given her a blank photo album for that milestone birthday, for their next four years of college together. However, it wasn't until an hour later than Danielle's other present came: a male stripper.

"Well, you know… it was funny at the time. At least it was in my home and not your's."

"Yeah," Danielle's once-beaming face dropped noticeably. "Home."

John took his time walking up the driveway to his dad's house, taking in everything he missed about being in West Newbury. After realizing what he missed most about his hometown was in fact his family, Cena quickened his pace to the front door.

He rapped sharply on the screen door and was soon greeted by his father.

"Hey, champ," his dad mused. "Come on in."

John was immediately tackled onto the ground by his four brothers, Matt, Dan, Steve, and Sean, along with his cousin, Marc.

"Welcome home, superstar!" the man now known as Trademarc laughed from the top of the pile.

"Thanks, now you mind getting off of me? You're crushing the belt into my ribs."

"Ahh, right."

With that, each body was removed from the pile and John brushed himself off.

"Man, it's good to be home."

"Don't get too comfortable," Matt shook his head at his brother. "It might be too cold for Hampton Beach, but it's never too cold for Boston."

"Whose up for hitting Beantown?" Marc asked

The question received simultaneous nods from the Cena brothers.

"When do we ever turn down a good bar?"

"Oh, Dan, I'm sorry," Julia apologized. "I didn't mean to make you homesick."

"It's okay, Jules… you didn't mean it. I just wish I could spend this birthday back home. Here we are, on spring break, and my parents decide to go on a three week cruise. Last time I checked, my mom didn't even like boats. I guess retirement's paying off for Dad," she shrugged.

"You know what we haven't done in a long time?" Kasey offered. "Gone to a bar."

"That's exactly what I was thinking! 'Cause you know, the first thing Danielle does when she's upset is drink herself to the floor, Kase," after making a face at her roommate, Julia turned back to Danielle. "When was the last time you even had a drink?"

"Um… when I had kosher wine at Passover… five years ago, maybe."

"Case and point."

"Oh shut up, Julia. It's a change of scenery. We'll have fun dancing too. Who knows, maybe we'll meet some guys. Huh? Huh? What do you say?" Kasey wiggled an eyebrow.

To tell the truth, Danielle wasn't exactly looking for a man in her life at that moment. The last guy she'd given her heart to had crushed it nearly a year and a half later. For now, Danielle Landon was focused on graduating and living life her way.

Then again, she could use some fun.

"Sounds like I've got to change."

John's car pulled into the lot of Tonic somewhere around an hour later. He had no plans on getting plastered that particular night, still buzzing on his win at Wrestlemania the previous evening. A few Coors Lights would certainly hold him over for now.

The bitterness of Boston in the wintertime hit him like a steel chair, catching him completely off guard. For the first time in a while, he had actually opted to wear a pair of pants instead of shorts, yet managed to keep to his personal style with jeans and a Patriots jersey.

His brothers and cousin immediately ordered a round of shots at the bar and headed out to the dance floor.

"Yo, John! You comin'?" his little brother, Sean, aka Boog, called.

"Nah, man. I'll check you later."

John really wasn't much of a dancer, let alone a good one. It seemed as though the other four brothers had managed to get the dancing genes, while it had skipped him entirely. And while some white men could dance, John Cena was not one of them.

An hour had pretty much come and gone when John found himself becoming bored.

So far, a few fans had come over to congratulate him on his win and ask for a picture or autograph. It was never really an issue with him because loved signing autographs and meeting fans. In fact, he wished there were more of them to keep him occupied on an otherwise empty evening.

It was official now: tonight was boring. And while John did enjoy chilling with his family, other than the occasional passing shot at the bar, he really hadn't seen much of them.

What had he seen much of? Drunk girls making passes at him and by drunk girls, he didn't mean one too many beers, he meant about five too many shots of Jager. It was always flattering when a woman showed interest in him, but sometimes he wished she'd at least give him a shot while sober. If they happened to get drunk during the course of the night, well… that was a risk he'd most certainly be willing to take.

Within five minutes of arriving at the bar, Julia and Kasey had managed to vanish into the sea of bodies on the dance floor. Her best friends were entitled to have their fun too, but she just wished they hadn't deserted her on her birthday.

Danielle's eyes roamed up and down the bar, searching for an empty stool to occupy for a little while. Finally, a man left his seat at the middle of the counter and she rushed over, narrowly beating out another woman.

"Um… that was my seat, honey, so you might want to get off your ass and move," the moody, raven-haired, and slightly tattooed woman said sharply.

"It's just a seat, there will be plenty more."

"I'm glad you feel that way. Now you can move," she retorted.

"See, look," Danielle pointed a few seats down. "There's a chair over there, why don't you take that one and move on."

"I want this one. Now get off your ass and find another seat before I remove you from it."

"Believe me, hun," Danielle rose from her chair and stood 5'7" in her heels. She gently brushed off her jeans, smoothed down her midnight black sweater, and ground the heels of her black boots into the floor, before staring down the woman. "I am not the girl you want to mess with tonight."

"And you won't have to… as long as you give me my chair."

"Well," she turned around and expected the chair carefully," It doesn't appear as though you're name is tattooed on it… but from the looks of you, honey, it seems like more than a few of your ex-boyfriends managed to tattoo their own names on you. I'm sure it'll be no time before you find another name to ink on your body here, as well, so why don't you save yourself the awkward morning tomorrow and go find him before you get too drunk to move tonight."

The woman scowled noticeably and turned on her stiletto heels, brushing past Danielle as she went.

"What a night," she mused, steadying herself back on the bar stool. After signaling the bartender, she ordered a diet coke, which never seemed to arrive.

John couldn't help but stare at the confrontation going on over the chair beside him. This one young woman had just walked over to sit down and most likely order a drink when another woman, who clearly recognized him, waltzed over and gave her an attitude for no apparent reason.

Under normal circumstances, he would have intervened on the behalf of a fan, but this lady was being absurdly rude and was certainly not worth it. In the meantime, he'd keep his mouth shut and silently root for the blonde.

A few minutes later, the scene was over and the blonde woman sat down beside him to order a soda for herself. She seemed to have a little spitfire in her, which he found incredibly sexy in women. Not to mention, she was most certainly sober…

"You know," John began, "What you said to that girl before was classic."

"I'm glad you enjoyed that. I grew up with people like her. They just need someone to tell them off every now and then. You know, send them back into their place. And if that doesn't work? You can always knock some sense into them," she laughed.

"Well said, well said," John nodded in agreement. "From the way you speak… you're definitely not from Boston, huh?"

"Not originally, no. I've been living here the past four years though. I'll give you ten points if you can tell where I'm from…" she smiled.

John was definitely beginning to like this girl. She was sweet and had a killer smile, but could certainly take care of herself, everything he liked in a woman.

After a moment of deep though he answered, "New Jersey."

"Good guess. Yeah, I'm a Jersey girl, but I was born in the BK. That's…"

"Brooklyn," he finished for her.

"Yep, Brooklyn. I go back there to visit relatives every now and then, but Jersey's my real home. I could see myself living here permanently, but I was homesick, especially today," the woman answered.

He knew all about being homesick. It was what he felt most days that he was on the road, but he knew that he was living his childhood dream and that his family supported him. After all, Johnny Fabulous was his father and wrestling was in his blood. He was fortunate to have a family that cared about him and believed in him and he had no idea what he'd do without them.

Yet, he really felt for this young woman. The look in her hazel eyes clearly gave her away: she missed her family. Boston was a good six hours away from New Jersey, at the least, which probably made travel extremely difficult. He was lucky enough to be able to afford plane rides home whenever he really needed to come home or when he got a short break, usually once a year. Not everyone had the luxury to come and go as they pleased.

"May I ask why?"

"I guess so," she shrugged. "It's not like it's some gigantic secret or anything. Today's actually my birthday."

"Well, happy birthday… um, I'm sorry. Ha. I don't even know your name," John laughed.

"I'm Danielle… Danielle Landon. Nice to meet you," she extended a hand.

John shook it and smiled, "Nice to meet you, Danielle, and happy birthday. My name's…"

"John Cena. I knew that already."

"Really?" he asked in surprise. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Let me tell you something, I've been watching wrestling since I was five, much to the disapproval of my mother, and you know what I figured out after all this time? You're all just regular guys with a passion for what you do. Don't get me wrong, you guys deserve all the success you achieve, but at the end of the day, you deserve to be just treated as a normal person, just the same."

"I like the way you think, Danielle Landon."

"Thank you, John Cena," she answered sarcastically. "And by the way, congratulations on your title."

There was no way that he saw that one coming. Very few girls that watched wrestling didn't out right say it when they met him. Danielle was probably the first and quite possibly the last, but that was just fine with him.

"Thanks. You watched?"

"Of course, I did! Everyone at the gym watches, Cena. Everyone," Danielle stated as though she were shocked at his surprise.

"The gym?" he arched an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, right. Obviously you don't know this… why would you?" she shook her head at her forgetfulness. "I train at a wrestling gym in Malden."

AND she's a wrestler? John found himself wondering just how much better she could get.

"That's pretty cool. Kowalski's gym?" he asked, to which she nodded. "How did you wind up there? That's a pretty exclusive training ground."

"Well, let's just say that it's dangerously close to where I live."

"Sounds good to me. I've been there one or two times in the late afternoon, but usually during the fall. Maybe I'll teach you some new moves sometime, birthday girl," John offered flirtatiously.

"I don't know, Mr. Cena… I've got some pretty good moves of my own," Danielle countered. "I've been training for a little over three years now, pretty much from as soon as I moved here."

"It's not very often that I meet a girl who enjoys wrestling, but even less often that I meet a girl who enjoys being a part of wrestling. Honestly, I give credit to the WWE Divas from the Diva Searches and the girls who are models, but I like having Divas that can roll with the punches. I idolized Hulk Hogan growing up, you know?" he quickly found himself reveling in the memory of tagging with some of his idols in his time on Smackdown and beaming to himself. "Seeing immortal legends like him is what gets guys into wrestling. Who do girls get to see to inspire them?"

"Seeing that I'm qualified to speak on that level, I can't really say that as a little kid I saw any females that really caught my attention. I mean, I was a fan of the same guys, but there really weren't any strong females out there yet. I basically wanted to be a girl that could take on the guys. I mean today, there's Lita, who's just unbelievable. She's off the top rope, but can power her way through a match, as well."

"I know what you're saying. She's on RAW, though, so I don't get to see her in action that much, but from what I've seen… rather impressive. Anyway, let's not talk about business right now. How about I buy the birthday girl a drink?" John suggested.

"Oh I don't drink."

John began to let thoughts race through his head. Is she even eighteen? Maybe she's just not twenty one yet…

"Oh, you're not twenty one? Are you at least eighteen?"

"Uhh…"

He immediately caught on to how bad that sounded and laughed nervously, "That's not what I meant…"

"No, I gotcha. I am older than twenty one, I'm twenty two, actually and a student in Boston. That's not the reason I don't drink," she stammered as she blushed. "I'm straightedge, actually."

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. That's cool… you're just being yourself," he assured her. "Can I at least get you a soda or something?"

"Eh… not really in the mood for it anymore, but thank you. I'm starting to get fed up with this whole scene right about now…"

"Same thing here," John began to empathize when an idea hit him. "Hey, it's kind of cold out. Do you drink coffee?"

"I'm a college student, John, do you really have to ask that?"

"Point taken," he conceded. "My brothers and cousin are pretty much in their own world, right now, on the dance floor. There's a café down the street, do you want to go have a cup over there?"

"My roommates are probably doing the same, too. Sure, why not?" she replied.

It didn't take Danielle very long to say yes. After all, he was a nice enough guy and had been nothing but respectful in the past hour or so they'd been talking for. Plus, she could learn a lot from a guy like him and John would definitely be able to give her valuable advice on the business. Not to mention, he'd be a good friend to talk to.

John was rather impressed by this young woman right off the bat. She had the right attitude about life and he could only imagine how she dealt with school and training at the same time. Danielle was original and unique in both the way she lived her life and the way she treated others. There was something about her that made him at ease and for the first time in a while, John Cena found comfort in knowing that although he had the WWE Championship in his possession, and his road there had been difficult, life was sure to get better soon. More importantly, he was glad Danielle had agreed to go out for coffee because he wasn't ready for the night to end. Not yet, anyway.

"Did you bring a jacket?" he asked. "It's freezing outside…"

"Yes," she nodded. "It's in the back of my friend's car. I have a set of keys in case I need to use the car, so I can just grab it and we can go."

"Do you want me to pull my car in front and meet you there…?"

"Actually, I know this sounds insane, but could we walk there?" she asked, biting her lip. "There's something to be said for Boston in April, especially during snowfall."

John stared at her blankly for a few moments, trying to wrap his head around the fact that she had mentioned something that he had never said to anyone else before. It was nothing she could have possibly heard anywhere else, so she must have felt the same way. Suddenly, he began to question if meeting her wasn't any random coincidence.

"Um… Earth to John Cena…John. John," she called to him, trying to knock him from his reverie. "Look, it's JBL!" she shouted suddenly.

"What?" he quickly snapped back to reality. "Where?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It was the only way to grab your attention."

John had to admit that she was getting good at doing just that.

"What was the question again?"

"Do you mind if we walk? There's something to be said about Boston in April, especially during snowfall."

He quickly found himself beaming in her presence.

"I don't mind. I've got to warn you, thought, that I live in Tampa now, so I'm not as conditioned to the snow as I used to be," John laughed.

"I've officially been warned. You might want to grab your jacket then, too. The last thing I need on my conscience is to know that I gave the reigning WWE Champ pneumonia," she smiled and ran her fingers through her golden blonde hair. "I'll meet you out front, Mr. Cena. Don't stand me up."

John closed his eyes and shook his head vehemently, "I wouldn't dream of it."

A/N: Please let me know what you think about this story. I'd really like some feedback. In this chapter it's pretty dialogue-driven, however it's not going to be like this in the upcoming chapters. I promise. :-)