#kenny omega x OFC

[spine-buster]

portofino ft. kenny omega

gif credit @/stukky

Length: 23k Summary: You and Tyson have history.  Lots of it.  When you met, you could have never envisioned he would be in your life the way he still is.  But things get complicated, and tricky, and complex.  Things hurt – lots of things hurt.  And things can only get worse before they can get better, right? A/N: my first wrestling fic since 2017. The formatting and spacing on this is super fucked up and not idea and I apologize for that, but Tumblr's new and "improved" text editor is literally the fucking worst and glitches SO much that the most I could do was this. This will also be posted on my AO3 (@/spinebuster) if you prefer there!

10th May 2023

it only hurts this much right now was what i was thinking the whole time

You were crying again.

At this point, you were basically just leaking.

You didn’t want Tyson to find out, so you tried with all your might to stop yourself, rubbing away your tears with the back of your hand and trying to steady your breathing.  You breathed in and out, in and out, in and out.  You hoped no-one else around noticed.  But it was hard when there were so many people, hard when you were friends with practically all of them, hard when any little hint of water or redness of your eye could cause someone like Austin or Hikaru or Dustin to speak up and ask you what was wrong.  You almost wanted to hide in a closet until you calmed down, but that was childish. 

You went into one of the washrooms backstage anyway, not bothering to go into a stall but checking them all quickly anyway to ensure nobody else was with you.  When you knew you were clear, you stood in front of the sink, looking at yourself in the mirror.  Your cheeks were red, your eyes were watery.  You sighed.

“Get it together, Hazel,” you mumbled to yourself.  You so desperately needed to get it the fuck together.  “Stop crying.  You’re such a baby.”

The pep talk didn’t help much.

***

“Have you seen Hazel anywhere?” Tyson asked Nick as he unraveled the tape around his wrists.

“Nah,” he answered, shaking his head.  “Probably went back to the hotel a bit early.”

“Why would she do that?” Tyson asked.  Matt, from behind his brother, gave one of his best friends a look.  “Oh.  Right,” Tyson realized.

“Don’t think she wants to hang out here anymore than she needs to,” Nick commented.

“Can you blame her?” Matt asked his brother.

“Not in the slightest.”

***

You had the TV on for background noise as you went about your routines and wandered aimlessly around the hotel room.  It was pitch black outside in Detroit; you couldn’t even see anything out the window besides the lights from the hotel parking lot.  What a view.  You tried to distract yourself with the TV, sitting down on the suite’s couch, but you couldn’t even do that.  Your legs pushed you back up to wander more.  You’d check your phone and texted your mom back.  You texted Hikaru that maybe brunch would be a better idea tomorrow instead of meeting her in the lobby for the continental breakfast, knowing what tomorrow morning would probably look like. 

At some point, you heard some noise and voices from outside your room.  Not long after, the sounds of a key card swiping, and finally the turn of the doorknob.  You were greeted with Tyson – or, more so, Tyson was greeted with you, since you were the one in his room.  It wasn’t a surprise that you were there, but it was still a welcome sight.  It was better than being alone.

“Hey,” you greeted him.  It had been about an hour since you stopped crying, so you hoped your eyes and face had stopped showing it.

“Hazel, hey,” he said, smiling at you, despite what he had just been through.  He wheeled his bag in behind him before the door shut on its own.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you lied.  “Are you okay?”

“I’ll live,” he shrugged.  He’d been saying that a lot lately.  You hated when he did.  “You left early.”

You nodded quickly, apologetically.  “I didn’t want to stick around.  Knowing that he’s lurking around, you know…I just didn’t want to have to deal with it.”

“I didn’t even see him, for what it’s worth.  If you stayed in our locker room you would’ve been good.”

The two of you didn’t even have to say his name for you to understand.  In some ways, you were glad he acted as a buffer, an excuse you could pull, that way you could hide why you really left early.  “I watched most of the match, I swear.  Until I couldn’t anymore.”

“When was that?”

“When you guys broke the cage,” you were finally honest, just slightly.

“So you didn’t see Don stab me with a screwdriver.”

You winced.  “No.  But you at least told me about that.  You didn’t tell me the cage was going to break.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice solemn.  “You know how these matches get put together.  Things get added.  Things get taken out.”

Did you ever.  But you still couldn’t get used to how…well, violent Tyson’s matches were getting.  Unnecessary violence.  Unnecessary risk.  There was no reason for Tyson to bleed, and now you felt he was bleeding every week.  You didn’t know how much longer you’d last.  “How’s your knee?” you asked, since you saw it get caught up in the cage when it broke, causing you to cry in the first place.  He’d just taken time off for double knee surgery; you were scared he was taking it too far.

“Knees are fine.  As good as they can be,” he assured you.  “Can you…can you help me with something else, though?”

“Of course.  What is it?”

“There’s, umm, there’s some scratches on my back.  I need someone to take off the big bandage, apply this cream the doctor gave me, and tape on a new bandage.”

“Okay,” you nodded slightly.  You’d done a version of this countless times before but it never got easier.  Just like watching him do these kinds of matches never got easier.  “Do you want to sit on the bed?”

He changed out of his gym shorts and into his pyjama shorts first so he could sleep right afterwards.  You watched as he sat on the bed, handing you the ointment.  When you unravelled the bandage, your stomach was in knots about how big it was.  “Ty…”

“It’s going to look worse than it feels,” he warned.  “It doesn’t feel that bad, Hazel.  I promise.”  He took off his shirt then, slowly, grunting slightly.  The bandage covered nearly half his back.  You held your breath, trying to keep your emotions in check.  “The tape that’s holding the bandage in place – it doesn’t hurt.  You can just peel it off,” he instructed.  “I have more for when you put the new one on.”

You started peeling away the tape, discarding it beside you as you.  When it was fully peeled, the bandage still stayed in place, which only meant to you it was sticking onto his skin because of the blood.  You held your breath again as you took the bandage off, but fully gasped loudly in horror, your breath taken away when you saw the state of his back.  “Oh Ty…” you cried.

“Hazel—”

“Tyson, what did you do?  What did you do?” you begged from him.  You brought your hand up, tracing the scratches and cuts delicately with your fingertips.  “Tyson…” he had to hear the pain in your voice.

“I’m sorry, Hazel.  I’m sorry,” he said.  “I’m so sorry.”

And that’s when it began again: the tears.  You grabbed the ointment and unscrewed the cap, taking in the full picture of his back.  You cried silently, tears falling down your face as you would apply small bits of ointment to your fingers before rubbing it along all the scratches.  You would do this for Tyson until the day you died, but you hated that it had to be like this.  The two of you had always looked out for one another – Tyson more so, for obvious reasons, but that was a whole other story – but seeing his body mutilated like this twisted something in you that you couldn’t kick.  It was one thing to see Kenny after a 60-minute match with Okada, body bruised and banged up but all in one piece; it was another thing to see barbed wire and nail scratches, cuts, and footprints on his face.

He winced in pain every so often and you’d keel, hating yourself for hurting him when you were supposed to be helping him.  You tried not to let him hear you cry, but you were sure the couple of sniffles gave it away.  When you finally asked for the tape for the bandage and your voice cracked, you were positive.

Tyson handed you the tape, but turned around slightly to see you.  “You’re crying.  Why are you crying?” he asked.

You shook your head to ignore him.  You unravelled the tape and began ripping strips to use.  “Turn around.”

“Hazel—”

“Sit still.”

Tyson stayed silent.  You positioned the bandage to cover all the scratches before taping it into place.  When you were done, you tossed the tape to the side, the rest of his back looking fairly normal besides the scars you already knew about.  Unable to control yourself, you leaned forward and pressed your cheek to his skin on his back between his shoulder blades, inhaling and exhaling deeply.  Tyson felt what you were doing, the skin-to-skin contact an instantaneous feeling, and breathed in and out along with you.  You savoured the feeling of the Tyson you knew on your skin.  Not mutilated Tyson.  Not banged up Tyson.  Just the Tyson you knew for twelve years, the Tyson who looked out for you, the Tyson who was your mentor.

“I’m sorry, Hazel,” he whispered, his words sincere.  He hated seeing, feeling you so upset.

“Can I stick around tonight?” you asked.

“You never have to ask.  You just can.”

When you crawled to step off the bed, Tyson grabbed your arm to prevent you from going anywhere momentarily.  You wanted to get the feeling of tears off your face, but he had other plans.  You were right at his side, so so close.  “I really am sorry,” he told you.  “I hate seeing you like this.”

Tears were coming again.  You didn’t try to stop them this time.  You still shook your head and tried to wipe them away.  “It’s just getting harder and harder for me to watch you put your body through these hardcore matches,” you admitted.  “Sometimes I just wish you’d stick to what you’re good at.  And that’s not to say you’re not good at the hardcore stuff, because you are – you’re good at everything.  I just wish I didn’t have to see your body be mutilated for the sake of spectacle.  I hate—I hate seeing what you have to do.  You, more than anyone, know how to put on a spectacle without having to do that shit.  I hate seeing you destroy your body, Ty.  I just hate it.  I’m sorry.”

He nodded his head in understanding.  “I know it’s hard.  I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry,” was all he could say.

Tyson waited for you to wash your face and put on one of his t-shirts before the both of you got into bed.  You wondered if you should get close at all, possibly even touch him, and you were about to decide against him until he winced again, trying to get into a comfortable position.  It was at that point that your body physically moved towards his before your mind knew what it was doing.  It was like a fight-or-flight response.  He found a comfortable position sleeping on his side, and you curled up right against his back like the big spoon, despite being two-thirds his size. 

In the quietness of the room, with the low hum of the air conditioner the only noise, you placed a kiss on his shoulder.  He didn’t say anything, but you knew he felt it.

***

The next morning, you woke up still snuggled into Tyson.  You both had inevitably shifted throughout the night: Tyson was lying on his back, apparently able to do so without pain, while you were sleeping right up against him.  When you opened your eyes, you saw that he was still sound asleep, one arm draped over his chest.

“Haze?” you heard him mumble in a groggy voice.

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t fully asleep.  “Hmm?”

“Thank you for last night,” he said.

You didn’t answer right away.  “I’ll always be there to help you, Tyson.  You know that.”

He moved so that the arm that had been squished against you was now around you, pulling you into his body even more than you already were.  The usual smell of him filled your airways; it practically made you drunk.  Drunk enough to fall back asleep, his body bringing you peace as much as it did pain.

***

11th May 2023

time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it i'd like to be my old self again, but i'm still trying to find it

When you were back in Orlando, you settled into the solace of your apartment, unpacking immediately and throwing your clothes in the washing machine.  You were called a psychopath more than once by Stephen for being that type of person – especially after it became a meme on the internet – but you couldn’t help it.  You had even packed Tyson’s shirt that you’d slept in last night, seeing it mixed in with your other clothes before you threw in a Tide Pod and closed the door.

After unpacking, you set your suitcase in your closet and resolved to have a bowl of lime tortilla chips as you sat on the couch and scrolled through Instagram and cuddled with your ragdoll cat, Zadie.  You needed to disconnect from wrestling for a bit, from flashbacks of seeing Tyson’s scratched-up back whipping through your mind every other minute.  But as you sat down on your couch, bowl or tortilla chips in hand, you couldn’t help but notice your most prized belongings: your wrestling accolades you had organized neatly on the wall and in the media unit that surrounded your TV.  Your Match of the Year plaques from 2014 and 2015.  Your Woman of the Year awards.  A women’s belt.  Framed photographs of you wrestling.  Frame photographs of you with your friends.  With your family.  With Tyson.

Sometimes it felt like a lifetime ago and sometimes it felt like you had to retire yesterday.  You had enjoyed an amazing but short career.  You’d had a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of heartbreaks, a lot of memorable moments.  There was the time you’d gone 20-minutes with Toni Storm in a match that ended up getting over a million views on YouTube.  You’d performed in infamous Reseda, in the PWG arena, to the most raucous crowd you’d ever performed in front of.  You had travelled to America, Japan, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Mexico, and Ireland to wrestle.  You had hype.  You had respect.  People wrote about you.  People paid to see you.  People lined up for you at meet and greets.  People wanted your autograph and your t-shirts at shows, handing you wads of cash for two medium and two kids’ t-shirts so the whole family could match.  While you had made a name for yourself, you’d racked up the injuries too.  There was the broken wrist early on, which wasn’t that bad – from a show in Toronto where you just landed awkwardly.  You were able to finish the match, and thanks to the Canadian health care system you held so dear, it was in a cast just a few hours later.  There was a broken ankle that actually forced you to stay back from a tour of Ireland that many of your friends went on.

At one point in 2014, you were booked to wrestle against a women’s wrestler, fairly new to the scene, named Bea Priestley.  The both of you had gone over the match beforehand, but once in the ring, she did nothing you two spoke about.  That was fine – you were a professional – but Bea was wrestling stiff, and you were getting angrier every passing moment in the ring, even warning her to cool it.  When she actually did one of the sequences you’d called beforehand, she ended up breaking your sternum.  You had to be out for twelve weeks.  You never heard from Bea.  It was fine.  Whatever.

But the next time Bea Priestley wrestled you, she broke your neck.

You told her you didn’t want to take anything too risky.  “Why?  You don’t trust me?” she had the audacity to ask you.  During the match, when she picked you up and flipped you upside down, you knew what was coming, so you tried to get into a safe position.  But none of that mattered.  Nothing would have saved you.

You remembered dropping on you head, and you remember seeing a light, and you remember your whole body going limp.  It felt like you weight a million pounds; you were completely paralyzed from the neck down.  You couldn’t move, and it was the scariest seconds of your life.  Rick Knox immediately noticed.  You closed your eyes and willed your brain to wiggle your fingers, and after about five or six seconds, you felt them rubbing against each other, even just slightly.  You remembered seeing Bea try to kick you, but Rick Knox earnestly holding her back.  When he pushed her far enough away, he knelt down by your head.  “Haze, what happened?” he asked.  You knew your body.  You knew what this was.  You told Rick not to touch you, that you had broken your neck. 

You remember him throwing up one of the most emphatic X’s you’d ever seen and the whole crowd going silent.  Rick was screaming something, but you were focused on the worst pain you’d ever felt in your neck as you began feeling again in your extremities.  After that, so much was a blur.  You remember Austin somehow being beside your face too, telling you everything was going to be okay – you later learned he was watching from the back and ran out the second Rick threw up the X.  You remember Dustin being there too, doing much of what Austin was doing, giving Bea dirty looks – you later learned he was the one who called the ambulance.  Austin and Dustin were very likely the reasons things weren’t worse, the reason why you were still walking. 

At the hospital they ran x-rays and MRIs and other tests, as usual, and they put a neck brace on you.  Dustin had followed you to the hospital to explain everything to the emergency doctors, Austin and Kyle and Candice following close behind in a car.  When the results finally came back, it was even worse than you – than everybody – thought. 

“Your disc hit your spinal cord, which is why you saw the white light,” the doctor explained.  “That’s what caused the temporary paralysis.”

“So I broke it, like I thought,” you wanted the confirmation.  People had recovered from broken necks before.  So many had been able to get back into the ring.

The doctor sighed.  “Miss Fiore…” she began.  “Your disc hit your spinal cord.  You didn’t fracture your neck.  You didn’t break it.  What you suffered is what we refer to as a spinal cord concussion.  You don’t have to sever your spinal cord to be paralyzed for life, you could just touch it and be paralyzed for life.  This…what happened to you…is technically worse.”

You remember feeling as if the blood drained from your body.  “Paralyzed?”

She sighed again.  “Miss Fiore…you have a very, very similar injury to Christopher Reeve.  Your C2 is what controls your breathing.  The truth is, when it hit your spinal cord, you should have suffocated to death in the ring.  Out of the five percent of people that survive this injury, ninety-nine percent are paralyzed.  It’s quite literally a miracle that you are still able to walk.” 

You had emergency spinal fusion surgery less than 24 hours later.  Four screws, a rod, and sixteen staples created a gnarly, awful scar on your neck that was still visible whenever you had your hair up. 

Your wrestling career was over.

Your phone buzzed loudly from your coffee table, breaking your train of thought.  At least it kept you from crying.  When you picked it up, you noticed Tyson’s name flash across the screen.

Want to come up and watch some Netflix or something?  We can even keep watching that German duchess show you like.  Promise.

He lived in one of the penthouses on the 34th floor, while you lived in a two bedroom on the 18th.  How embarrassing was that?  Even your living situations were inextricably linked.  You swiped your phone open and texted him back quickly. 

It’s okay.  I need some time alone.  Let’s go for coffee tomorrow or something.

It was Dustin who had to make the call to Tyson when you were in the hospital.  He was in Japan on a tour, and word hadn’t gotten to him.  Dustin told you he had freaked out on the phone, like completely freaked out.  After your surgery and after all your visitors had left, your room surrounded by flowers and get well soon cards, you FaceTimed him.  He picked up on barely the second ring.  It was the first time you’d ever seen him tear up, though you later learned he didn’t completely break down until after he hung up.  You tried to cheer him up, telling him the first thing you were going to do when you were cleared was go to Japan to see him.  He made you promise not to fly unless a doctor said it was okay.  He had two weeks off in about a month’s time and resolved to stay with you for the duration to help you.  You told him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted.

Those two weeks were when you realized Tyson would be in your life forever.

You’d still done well for yourself since then.  You ended up starting a variety of projects – a podcast, becoming a semi-influencer on Instagram.  But perhaps most successful, and what kept your memory alive in the hearts and minds of wrestling fans worldwide despite not fighting in the ring anymore, was your YouTube series.  Kick Out in the Kitchen.  A series you started, inspired by the memory of your dad who was a chef, where you invited wrestlers to help you cook increasingly complex dishes.  You’d interview them along the way, teach them how to properly cut an onion, and make sure they didn’t slice off a finger in the process.  It was hysterical, and it was a hit.

Your life was good.  It really was.  You had amazing friends, you had your career, you had your mom in Winnipeg, you had an apartment, you had Tyson.  But sometimes you ached for the past; sometimes you wanted to still be in the ring, winning championships and changing the wrestling landscape just like your close friends were doing.  That just wasn’t in the cards for you, and that’s okay.  But it still hurt sometimes.

Your phone buzzed again, the badge rolling down from the top of your screen. 

Are you sure?  Need to talk?

I’m good.  Thanks Ty <3 see you tomorrow.

***

It all began with Portofino. 

Well, it all really began with Tyson making a remark about how you always carried a book around in your gym bag.  You were in Winnipeg then, training to become a wrestler, and he’d visited the school on a trip home from Japan in 2011.  “I promised my mom I’d graduate university before pursuing wrestling full-time,” you had explained to him.  “She wants me to have a degree.  It’s a non-negotiable.”

The book in question that he saw that day was An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro.  He was intrigued by the Japanese name of the author more than anything, although when you told him the synopsis, he perked up quite considerably. 

He was 28 at the time.  You were 20.

You were so, so young, but you were the only one that had spoken to him at length about your vision of what pro wrestling is and what pro wrestling could be.  You listened to him more intently than anyone else in your class when he spoke of his time in Japan.  You’d seen the match he had at his cottage.  You saw his match against nine-year-old Haruka and against Yoshihiko the blow-up doll.  Some of your fellow trainees looked at you weird.  You were the only one who had expressed any interest in travelling somewhere other than the United States for pro wrestling – maybe go to the UK, or do a tour of Europe, or, if you were lucky enough, do a tour of Japan. 

By the end of the week, Tyson gave you his number and said if you were ever in Japan to contact him.

You did more than that.  You didn’t just wait the two years between meeting him and graduating to speak to him again.  You actively kept in touch with him.  You became friends as you learned more about each other.  So much so that after local shows on weekends, travelling to Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, and Pasadena in the summers to wrestle, and graduation, when you arrived in Japan for the first time he picked you up from the airport. 

He looked out for you.  He always did.

He always would.

***

PORTOFINO, 2014

i'd live and die for moments that we stole on begged and borrowed time

You found yourself squished in the backseat of a tiny Italian car between Matt Jackson and Kenny Omega, Tommaso Ciampa in the driver’s seat and Nick Jackson in the passenger’s seat.  That’s who they were last night, anyway, participating in matches and stealing the show in Genoa, Italy.  Today, you were just Matt, Tyson, Tommaso, Nick, and Hazel going to Portofino.

The promoter who had lured you all (and more) to Italy for a mini tour had mentioned the famous Italian Riviera town was only an hour away, so on the two days off you had between shows, you all decided to go.  Nick had found the hotel and booked the rooms.  Tommaso volunteered to drive.  A car with Austin, Kyle, Johnny, Candice, and Bobby were following close behind you.

“You’re not squished, are you?  D’you have enough room?” Tyson asked as he looked down at your frame, tiny in comparison to the bulk that surrounded you.

“I’ll live,” you assured him.  “Besides, you’re the one with your knees up to your chin.  Why didn’t you demand the front seat?”

“I couldn’t leave you in the middle between Matt and Nick,” he said, as if it was his moral obligation to protect you from two of the nicest guys on earth.  “Besides, Nick wants to learn more Italian.”

“Nick can barely speak English.”

“Whatja just say about me?” he hissed playfully from the backseat.  A smile spread across Tyson’s face.  “You’re gonna pay for that, Hazel.”

“I’m terrified.”

“You’re fearless, huh?” Tommaso joked from the front seat, looking at you through his rearview mirror.

“Not fearless.  I’m scared of a lot of things,” you clarified, being honest.  “But Matt and Nick aren’t one of ‘em.” 

When you all got into town, you checked into the hotel.  It was obvious that Matt and Nick would share a room together, just like it was obvious Johnny and Candice would, too.  After Austin paired up with Kyle (they were, technically, the other couple on the trip), and Tomasso paired up with Bobby, you and Tyson were inevitably the only pair left.  Was it normal for a young female wrestler to sleep in a room with her mentor during a trip to Italy?  Who knows.  You (and Candice) were used to being the only girls in the room a lot.  This was no different.  All you knew was that it didn’t matter to you: you knew Tyson, and everybody else, and it was the last thing on your mind because what really mattered was that you were in Italy.

Tyson unlocked the hotel room, the both of you pulling your bags in behind you.  There were two single beds placed together in the room, a window and a door out to the balcony providing the perfect cross breeze. 

“Okay, we’re not in a university dorm,” you commented, scoffing at the setup of the beds before pushing them together.  Tyson just watched.  You looked up at him.  “You need sunscreen?”

“Uh, yeah,” he nodded his head.

You found it in your bag and tossed it over to him.  You walked over to the small balcony and stepped out, taking in the view of the harbour from the room.  You guys got lucky, the way that this hotel was even available on such short notice – and five rooms at that.  The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  That alone told you that it was going to be a great day. 

You had been admiring the view of the harbour so much that you almost didn’t hear Tyson step out and join you on the balcony.  It was so small that between your bodies and the two chairs, it was full.  “Matt and Nick texted to meet in the lobby in fifteen,” he said.  “Are you good with that?”

Your bathing suit was already on underneath your sun dress, so you nodded your head.  “Just need the sunscreen,” you mentioned, and he handed it to you.  You perched your leg up on one of the chairs to slather the sunscreen on your leg, bringing it all the way up to the tops of your thighs.  Tyson couldn’t help but stare at your legs and not the view of the harbour.  You tried not to smile about it and looked away instead.  “Do we know where we’re going, by the way?  Portofino doesn’t exactly have a beach.”

Tyson furrowed his brows.  “How do you know?”

“My dad was from around here, remember?”

Tyson nodded at your reminder.  “That’s right.  Sorry, I forgot.”

You’d told Tyson a lot of stories about your dad since you met him, and every time you told a story, mentioned a characteristic, an odd quirk your dad used to do, he’d always listened intently.  You’d lost your dad to cancer at fifteen years old, and you missed him every day since.  It left a hole in you.  Understanding how close you and your dad were, Tyson always made sure to remember the details.  You mentioned to him once how you actually liked speaking about him because it meant you were keeping his memory alive, and Tyson told you he thought that was the most touching thing he’d ever heard.

“You don’t have to apologize,” you said, moving on to your other leg.  “I remember coming here as a kid.  The beaches are really rocky.  Either we get lucky and there’s nobody, or we have to find our own private place.”

He watched your hands travel up your thighs.  “You should take the reins on that, then,” he said.  You could see his Adam’s apple bob in his neck.  “Tommaso’s Italian is shit.”

You did.  Eventually, when you and the group made it down to the harbour, you asked in your broken Italian where the best place was – you probably sounded like a caveman – and some delightful locals pointed you in the right direction.  Like you remembered, it was rocky, but you found enough spots on huge flat rocks for towels and bags.  The best part was you were right beside a climbable cliff, so you knew all the guys would be doing crazy jumps.  The entire afternoon was spent between tanning on the rocks and cooling off in the water.  You had jumped off the cliff with Candice, with Tyson, and with Austin.  You swam in the water and got your hair wet and let the sunlight hit your face.  You’d caught Tyson’s eye so many times you lost count.  You felt pure happiness.

There was a moment after you jumped off the cliff for the second time with Tyson – a good photo op, according to Matt taking them – where you held hands as your ran and plummeted into the water.  Even underwater, despite the pressure, your hands stayed clasped.  It was only when you got back to the surface that your hands separated.  You could see Tyson’s smile.  “You alright?” he asked.

You only nodded.  You paddled the small distance over to him and attached your whole body to his.  You don’t know what came over you, but you wrapped your legs around his torso underwater, and as you did you could feel his hands go to your thighs.  Your arms wrapping around his shoulders, attaching yourself to him piggy-back style.  He looked behind his shoulder to see you.  “You sure you’re okay?”

You nodded again.  “I just feel like being close to you,” you admitted.  “Is that okay?”

There was a slight pause.  “Of course,” he said.  “You want to stay out here for a bit?”

“Yeah.  Just you and me for a little bit,” you said.  “Are you having fun?”

“I’m having the time of my life.”

“It sucks that we only get one day.  This area of Italy is so beautiful.  Have you ever been?”

“No.  This is my first time,” he revealed.  “I’m just happy I’m getting to spend it with you.”

You smiled, giving him as much of a hug as you could by squeezing your limbs around him tighter.  “You’re going to have to come back and spend a decent amount of time here.  I remember coming here when I was nine to visit my dad’s family, and, Ty—Portofino isn’t even the most beautiful town on the water.  And the food – the food!”

He smiled.  “We’re going to have to find a place tonight.  You’ll have to use your Italian again.  Find us the best restaurant in the town.”

There was silence between the two of you, the noise from the waves and from your friends and the other tourists filling the air instead.  You leaned your head forward so it was settled right into his shoulder.  “Hey Ty?” your voice was low this time.

“Hmm?”

“I’m happy I get to spend it with you, too.  Sometimes I feel like all I want to do is spend time with you.”

Tyson felt the same.  His breath caught in his throat.  All he could do was nod.  “Yeah…yeah.”

*

That night, after showering the salt water off and changing into another flowy dress, you all went out for dinner and had the best pasta and fish and wine you’d ever had in your life.  The waiter fell in love with your group and kept bringing you goodies: glasses of wine from the cellar, shots from the bar, extra plates of tiramisu or bombe.  Your stomach was full but your heart was fuller, and you didn’t want the day to end. 

Retiring back to the hotel meant you and Tyson would be alone again.  After the both of you packed away your things so you were already packed for tomorrow morning, you changed into pyjamas and got in to your pushed together beds.  Tyson browsed through his phone a bit before setting it on his beside and turning over to his side to sleep.

You, on the other hand, could not. 

You kept thinking of the feeling of his hands on your body.  It wasn’t like it was a new sensation – you trained with him constantly.  But there was something about the way he touched it when you were both in the water, the way nobody could see how his arms wrapped around you or how his hands went to your thighs to wrap your legs around his body as he gave you a piggy-back ride.  Even at dinner, sitting beside you at the table on the patio overlooking the water, his forearm rubbing up against yours underneath the table since your group was so squished together.

It was electric.  And now, all that electricity was in you with nowhere to go.

So much time had passed that you were 95% sure he was asleep.  If you were to say anything, you’d definitely be waking him up from his beauty sleep.  “Ty…” you mumbled out, still unsure if you even should as you stared up at the ceiling.

“Hazel?”

Well, at least you felt less bad about it now.  “Can you sleep?”

“Nah,” he said.  “Can you?”

“I think the sun today energized my body to the point where I can re-enact Shawn and Bret’s iron man match.”

You could hear Tyson giggle from his side of the bed.  “Are you Bret or Shawn in that scenario?”

“Both.”

He snorted.  You could feel him shift positions so that he could look at you now.  You turned over to your side as well.  “I’m dead serious.  I feel, like, buzzed.”

“I’m sure one of the guys has melatonin if you’re really worried,” he said.

You shook your head.  “I’ll be fine,” you assured him.  “Can I see all the pictures you took today?”

Tyson had learned a long time ago from his good friend Rami Sebei that he should be taking pictures of all the places he went and everything he saw and did (just as Rami did), so he made it a point since then to do just that.  He leaned over and unplugged his phone from the nightstand, and when he began to set back into his spot in bed, you didn’t let him until you had fit yourself into his side.  He didn’t even think twice as you did so, wrapping his arm around your body as you nestled your head against his chest.  You were so close he could smell the product you’d put into your hair.  You giggled through all the photos, at Austin’s terrified face the first time he jumped, versus Matt and Nick contemplating whether they could do a shooting star press into the water.  You saw the pictures he took of you and Candice hugging each other, and the pictures Bobby took of you and Tyson together on the rocks and posing in the shallow part of the water.  The more you laughed and smiled, the more he did too. 

When you’d seen all the photos, Tyson put his phone back on the nightstand but you stayed right where you were.  He laid back, savouring the feeling of your head on his chest, of your arm draped across him, how your fingertips had tip-toed and glided along his skin every time you laughed at a picture.

“Can I ask you a question?” you asked, moving to look at him.

“Of course.”

“How lame did you think I was the first time you met me?”

He giggled again.  So distinct in its sound; you’d be able to hear it from a mile away.  “I didn’t think you were lame at all,” he was smiling at you.  “I was actually shocked at how mature you were for your age, and how much you could talk about pro wrestling – more than anyone else in that class, that’s for sure.  You were a bit of a freak, but I liked you.  I don’t think you’re lame, or were lame.”

“I feel like you’re lying to me.”

“I’m not lying,” he assured you.  “I’d never lie to you.  Trust me on that one.”

“I’d never lie to you, either,” you said, butterflies in your stomach. 

You were looking right in Tyson’s blue eyes then, hyperaware of the feeling of his fingertips grazing over the skin on your arm.  His sunkissed skin, his eye crinkles, the scruff of his beard – it all added up in making you push yourself up so you could kiss him.  It was very soft at first, but not hesitant, and when you pulled away you looked into his eyes, only to kiss him again. 

He kissed back, moving his lips in perfect sync with yours as you continued, kiss after kiss after kiss.  You don’t know how long you’d been kissing for, but eventually, it was your tongue that grazed his lips first, and soon you were tasting each other.  After more time, he pushed back slightly so you were on your back, and gently, gently he got on top of you. 

“Is this okay?” was the only thing he mumbled between when you started kissing and that moment. 

“Please, Ty,” you nodded your head slightly and quickly.  “We’ve been waiting all day.”

You both took it slow, surprisingly, despite all the pent up energy from the day.  You wanted to make it last.  Tyson’s body loomed over yours for a while, kissing your lips and your neck with such expertise you hadn’t experienced from anywhere else.  You remembered cradling his face and running your fingers through his curly hair and thinking to yourself how lucky you were to be under him, to be with him like this so intimately.  It wasn’t just that he’d been kind to you from the beginning, or that he’d taken you under his wing and acted as your mentor, especially in Japan, or that he’d looked out for you anywhere you found yourselves.  It was that he was so considerate in his everyday life, so wise and so funny – God, did he ever make you laugh – and so passionate about his dreams and goals.  A translation of that was happening right now, on a twin bed in a hotel room in Portofino, Italy.

Tyson had already been shirtless in bed, so all you really had to do was push down his boxers.  You could feel the length and size of him against your body then, and your breath could only hitch in your throat in anticipation of what was to happen very soon.  Your breathing got heavier as he helped you pull off your pyjama top, and you didn’t feel an ounce of self-consciousness as he looked down at your nearly naked body.  He brought his kisses down your chest and along both your breasts before pulling down your bottoms. 

He kissed you as he entered you, but you broke it as you let out a soft “Oh Jesus” at the feeling.  His lips left yours and looked into your eyes then, making sure everything was okay without even saying anything.  He grabbed each of your hands in his, intertwining your fingers before pushing them above your head, looking deep in to your eyes without looking away.  You began moaning softly, involuntarily, at the pressure you felt of him holding you in that position as he moved in and out of you, your hips crashing together with every one of his thrusts.  His eyes were blue – so blue – but you knew they were filled with fire.  You were sure that your moans got slightly louder as the time passed, mixed in with your pants of his name every time he hit just the right spot.

At some point he let go of your hands and they immediately went to cup his face, pulling him down to kiss you so you could stick your tongue down his throat again.  You didn’t stop kissing after that, your hands making their way up and down his torso, gripping on to his sides before moving up and settling underneath his arms and scratching at his shoulders and back.  You were in heaven.  Everything felt like pure bliss.  The endless kisses, the moans from you and the moans from him.  You had never felt anything so incredible in your life.

You noticed when Tyson’s breathing became more laboured, and you knew he was close.  You were too.  You dug your nails into his shoulders and tried to arch your hips just right.  Hearing him grunt and let out a string of expletives under his breath was all you needed to do it again.  “I’m so close,” you whispered, looking right into his eyes.

“Hazel…fuck…” was all he could let out.

“I want you to come inside me, Tyson.”

He didn’t last much longer after that, but he made sure you got there first.  He looked into your eyes the whole time as he watched your orgasm overcome you, coursing through your body and making you moan out his name and dig your nails into his biceps.  Only then did he allow himself his release, coming inside you, a series of grunts and moans of your name leaving him as he had his head buried in the crook of your neck.

You stayed together for a while, relishing in every last bit of what had just happened between you before Tyson couldn’t hold himself up on his forearms anymore.  There was one last, long kiss before he pulled out of you.  He lay by your side, still so close to your body.  You couldn’t help the smile that overtook your face, and when you turned your head to look at him, he had an identical smile on his face, too.

Despite earlier complaints from the both of you of being unable to fall asleep, you had no trouble doing so now, your eyes feeling heavy and fluttering until you fell into a peaceful sleep.

*

The next morning was quiet except for the sound of birds chirping outside your window.  The light was shining through from the morning sun, and when you opened your eyes and finally came to at least semi-consciousness, you saw and felt Tyson’s body underneath yours.  He had an arm wrapped around you and were using him as a pillow.

Memories of what happened last night flooded your mind as you waited for him to wake up.  From looking at the photos of the day to kissing him and then being under him, you remembered everything in vivid detail.  You hadn’t been part of something so passionate in your life.  It could have only happened with Tyson, too – you couldn’t picture it being with anyone else. 

After a while, you felt him shift underneath you and groan, bringing his free hand up to rub his eyes.  You began to trace shapes on his chest so he knew you were awake too.  When he looked at you, a small, tired smile played on his lips.  “Mornin’,” he whispered.  “You good?”

“I’m good,” you nodded.  “You sleep okay?”

“It was perfect.”

You smiled.  “Even with me hogging the covers?”

“You actually didn’t this time.  I was surprised,” he said, pulling your body so you were anchored right on top of his.  He wiggled a bit to get comfortable, shifting the beds.  “You were right about what you said last night, by the way.  We’d been waiting for a while.”

You bit your bottom lip, nodding slightly.  “You felt it too then, huh?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.  “Of course I did.”

There was silence between you.  Suddenly, a feeling came over you like lightning, seizing your whole body.  You never used to be like this, but once you lost your dad, your emotions sometimes came in quick rushes – tsunamis, you sometimes referred to them – and you could never stop it from happening.  You just had to learn how to deal with it, how to verbalize the emotion to solve it so you could go back to normal.  This time, it wasn’t one of self-consciousness, or full-blown anxiety, or fear of the unknown, or anything major.  It wasn’t even hesitation.  It was just a nervousness; a nervousness of the soul.  “This isn’t gonna change anything between us, is it?” you asked, verbalizing the first thing you became nervous about.  Not having Tyson in your life wasn’t an option at this point. 

“No,” he shook his head.  “No it won’t.”

“And this won’t – I mean, you’re not gonna think differently about me, are you?” you continued.  “Because I don’t – I know what it’s like for women in this business.  I don’t want anybody thinking of me differently because of what we did—”

“Hey hey hey, shhhhh,” Tyson cooed.  “Nobody’s going to think differently about you.  Don’t think that.  Nobody’s gonna know.  It’ll stay between you and me, Hazel.  I mean it.”

“Are you sure?” you asked.  Not having the career you worked so hard to build also wasn’t an option at this point.  People not respecting you wasn’t an option in general.  You knew that respect would be gone if people knew you’d slept with your mentor.  You could already imagine the things that would be said.  You’d never earn anything on your own merit anymore; it would always be because you slept with Kenny Omega. 

“Hazel, I would never,” he shook his head.  “Like I said, we’d been waiting for a while.  It happened.  I don’t—I mean, I don’t think either of us regrets it—”

“—I don’t.”

“—Neither of us regrets it, but I don’t want anybody to know either.  Nobody has to know, anyway.  It’s nobody’s business but our own.”

That had calmed you down considerably.  You were thankful he was so level-headed, thankful that he was so private in his dealings and personal life that you honestly didn’t have to worry.  He wasn’t like so many others who would say one thing and do another; lead you on and then get with another girl.  You had no worries that any of your friends or fellow wrestlers would ever know.  You were able to keep your mouth shut.  So was Tyson.  “This is like Take This to Your Grave.  You know, like the Fall Out Boy album?” you couldn’t help but quip.

Tyson snorted, rolling his eyes.  “Hazel, were you even alive when that album came out?”

“HEY!” you jolted up, causing the beds to wiggle again.  “I’ll have you know that was a seminal album in my life.  “I was twelve and—”

“Oh my God, please stop talking right there,” he stressed.  “Do not say another word.”

You smirked.  “Did I just make you feel really o—”

“—Oh shit.”

You paused.  “What?”

“—ohshitohshitohshit—”

“—What?!—”

“—Hold on!”

Tyson wrapped both his arms around you protectively, and before you knew it, you both had fallen through the beds.  You yelped during the drop, but once you realized what had happened, you couldn’t stop laughing.  Tears were falling from your eyes, rolling off of Tyson as he groaned from the impact – he took the brunt of it after all. 

“Christ Almighty,” he grumbled through your hysterical laughs.  He couldn’t keep the smile off his face.  “That was worse than some bumps I’ve taken in the ring.”

“I can’t believe that just happened,” you managed to get out in a high-pitched voice between your hysterical laughter.  “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed this hard in my life.”

“Yeah, funny for you because I saved you!”

You propped yourself up on your forearm.  Your cheeks were red from laughing, wet from the tears.  “Let me kiss you one last time to make it better.”  Except you didn’t wait.  You just lowered your face and planted your lips on his.  You didn’t know what you meant the kiss to be, but it lasted longer than anticipated, only stopping when the alert from Tyson’s phone went off.  Only then did you pull away.  “That must be Nick or Matt texting about breakfast.  We should clean ourselves up and go.”

Tyson didn’t say anything as he watched you rise from the floor, not bothering to wrap the top sheet or comforter around your naked body.  He stayed on the floor in between the beds as he heard the shower turn on, closing his eyes. 

***

28th May 2023

criticize the way you fly when you're soaring through the sky shoot you down and then they sigh and say, "she looks like she's been through it"

You always found Las Vegas to be way too hot.  It was a decent enough city, and you’d had some fun there, but the heat was always something you could never get over.  Double or Nothing meant that there were so many people and personalities at T-Mobile Arena.  You hung out mostly in the women’s locker room.  At least there, you knew you were safe.

“You haven’t run into him, have you?” Hikaru asked discreetly, chomping down on a baby carrot. 

You shook your head.  “Nah.  But I’ve kinda just been laying low in here.  I hope I’m not overstaying my welcome.”

“That’s impossible,” Hikaru said.  “You can stay in here the whole night if you have to.  I mean, he’s gotta talk to Tyson about what’s happening in a few weeks, right?”

“Yeah.  Worst case scenario I walk in on them during that.”

“Well, if you do, you call me so I can whoop his ass for you.  It’s been a long time coming for that punk ass bitch.”

You couldn’t help but snort at her words.  She had obviously been informed well about the transgressions that had been committed and she was firmly Team Hazel.  Not that it was ever any doubt – you and Hikaru had been great friends ever since your days in Japan.  But the main different between you was that Hikaru would follow through – if she said she was going to whoop someone’s ass, she’d whoop someone’s ass.  You’d mostly just cry about it in an abandoned washroom and in a hotel room afterwards.  It was your specialty.

“You’ve always been my girl, Hikaru.  What would I do without you?” you quipped with a smile.

Hikaru smirked.  “Don’t even go there, girl.  It all comes from here, by the way,” she said, pounding lightly on her chest where her heart was.  “I got you, Hazel.  You want me to grab you something from catering?”

You shook your head, standing up from your chair.  “I shouldn’t be afraid to go get food,” you said.  “You want more carrots?”

Your walk to catering was eventful, having a chat with Christopher Daniels along the way.  Once you got there, you grabbed a plate of food, some Gatorade, and a Greek salad.  You didn’t see Tony Schiavone creep up behind you, but he was a welcome partner to chat with as he picked up some dinner too.  The two of you walked through the halls together, chatting like old friends as your food got cold.  You didn’t really care, because every chat with Tony was so lively, and he expressed serious interest in appearing on Kick Out in the Kitchen.  When you said goodbye as Tony disappeared into one of the guys’ locker rooms, Greg left the one across the way.  The door was slow to close.  You’d think for all the money Las Vegas had, doors would close properly in their arena.

“Right, and so many people shat on her even though it wasn’t her fault,” you heard an all-too-familiar voice from the locker room.  “She got heat for it for months.  She’d be crying every night because all the shitty girls didn’t want to wrestle her.  And when she got to Japan, she already had a reputation.  Took a lot of convincing to get her into promotions.  Bea knew what she was doing in the ring but she got such a bad rap.”

“But you guys broke up a while ago, no?” said another voice.

“Mistakes happen in the ring all the time,” you heard one more voice.

“All the time,” the familiar voice said.  Then a giggle.  “It’d be much harder now to pick her up and drop her on her head, if you know what I mean.”

Everyone in the room, whoever they were, were giggling.  Snickering, even, at his comment about your body.  You froze in place, and by the time their conversation started up again, the door had finally closed, their voices gone.

Your body had inevitably gone through a change after you were forced to stop wrestling.  You had been in such great shape – you had to be, for heaven’s sake – and had worked out often.  But once you broke your neck and had to get the fusion surgery, most of it had to stop.  It might put too much stress on your neck in ways you never thought possible, your doctor said.  And truth be told, you were too scared to do anything too tenuous, because like the doctor told you, you should have suffocated to death in the ring and it was a miracle you were even walking in the first place.  This meant that you had gained weight – about thirty pounds, when all was said and done.  But because of your physique beforehand, it was noticeable.  You didn’t look like a wrestler with muscles and abs anymore, but you still looked like, well, a normal woman with some meat on her bones.  You weren’t unrecognizable.  Nobody cared, nobody commented on it.

Except, apparently, Will Ospreay. 

You don’t know what came over you, but you dropped everything but the Gatorade into the next trashcan you saw.  You felt that if you ate anything, it would just come back up.  That’s how much your stomach was in knots at his comment.  And the laughs.  God, you wished you had just barged in to see who was laughing at the comment, at your body.  Nobody had any idea what you went through, and how bad you took the news that you could never wrestle again.  It ate away at you for months, years even, and now these men were laughing about how your body had changed because of that life-altering event?  Fuck them.  And fuck Will Ospreay.

The same Will Ospreay that had endeared you when you were younger.  The same Will Ospreay that you fancied, that kissed you and made out with you and strung you along for months, always saying no to firm commitment but always calling you late at night to hook up or have fun.  The same Will Ospreay who told you that you could be clingy and overbearing despite not being clingy or overbearing.  The same Will Ospreay that led you on, letting you believe you were the only one.  The same Will Ospreay that sent you a simple text when you had broken your neck and never paid you a visit.  The same Will Ospreay that began hooking up with Bea so soon afterwards that you were sure there was overlap.  The same Will Ospreay that began to date her only a few weeks after your surgery, her smug smile on every uploaded picture only a reminder to you of what had happened in your personal and professional life.  The same Will Ospreay that you fucking hated with everything in you.

You escaped into a washroom, again, and checked every stall to ensure it was empty, again.  God, you felt like you were going to do this every show now.  You didn’t cry this time.  Instead, you began rubbing at your tattoo on the inside of your right wrist: a chef’s knife that you got in memory of you dad.  You made sure to breathe in and out, in and out, in and out.  Closing your eyes, you thought back to the first few months after your neck surgery.  The first few weeks were hard.  You had cried a lot, and you hated your neck brace.  You remember finding out the news about Will and Bea and basically becoming a vegetable in your bed.  The two weeks that Tyson came to stay with you made everything better, but there was one moment that stuck out, that you remembered so vividly.

Tyson had made lunch one day, some chicken thighs and vegetables and he plated some old pasta salad in your fridge.  You were excited to eat, but when you tried gripping on to your fork and knife, you couldn’t.  A common side effect after neck surgery, especially neck surgery like yours, but it hadn’t happened to you yet.  You thought you were over that hurdle, that it would have happened right after your surgery.  You tried again.  You couldn’t.  You tried just the fork, in your right hand, and you managed to keep it in your hand instead of having it fall on the table.  But when you tried to fork a piece of pasta, you couldn’t at all, and your fork fell loudly into your plate.  You started sobbing like a baby.  Tyson rushed over to you – he had been preparing drinks – and asked what was wrong.  You explained through tears and he could barely understand you.  You had lost your appetite you were so distraught.  But then Tyson – bless him – got you to calm down enough that you weren’t a sobbing mess.  He picked up your fork, got a couple of vegetables on it, and held it up near your mouth to feed you.

“Tys…” you remember being on the verge of tears again.  You felt like a fucking baby having somebody feed you.

“Eat, Hazel.  I got you.”

You almost didn’t, because you were too proud.  But when you saw the look on his face, and how he was looking at you, you opened your mouth and ate the food.  You chewed it slowly, embarrassed that it had come to this.  “I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“You’re feeding me like I’m a baby.  This is embarrassing.”

Tyson shook his head.  “This is not embarrassing at all,” he said before forking some chicken.  “What would be embarrassing is if you made me do an airplane to get you to eat.”

He always knew how to get you to smile, even at your lowest point.  You opened your mouth again to eat the chicken.  “Hey Tyson?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.  I mean it.”

Tyson cut up and fed you your entire meal, even gripping your glass for you to drink, before eating himself.  And a few days later, when it happened again, he did it all again without hesitation.  That’s what Tyson had done for you.  That’s what made you realize he would be in your life forever.  And those men in that locker room were laughing.

***

Tyson always made decisions for the good of his company – the company that he helped create and build from the ground up.  Whatever was good for the company was good for him.  Whatever made his friends money and got fans in seats.  That meant that despite his personal feelings towards Will Ospreay, he was working him again at Forbidden Door in Toronto.  They had faced each other earlier in the year at Wrestle Kingdom, for the good of New Japan Pro Wrestling.  Now he’d be facing him for the good of All Elite Wrestling.  Tyson was able to keep his feelings quite personal, never letting anybody know what he really thought or felt. 

Everybody except the two guys who could read him like a book.

Matt and Nick looked on as he spoke with Will about their match in Toronto.  Tyson would be dropping the title – he knew that already – but they were going over spots, storyline, and emotion.  Will focused on spots, but Tyson was focusing on emotion.  What was the story?  What story did Tyson want to tell?

“What do you think about a big spot, like—”

“Another big spot?  Haven’t we got enough big spots?” Tyson quipped.

“Listen, I was thinking of a Tiger Driver—”

“—Oh fuck—” a female voice exclaimed.

Everybody’s heads turned to the doorway to see Hazel popping in her head.  Tyson, Will, Matt, Nick, Austin, Chris Daniels – everyone looked at her.  Tyson noticed her stare fixed on Will before looking at him.  He knew that this was the one thing she didn’t want to happen.  Running into Will.  “Um, I’m sorry to interrupt—”

“—It’s okay sweetcheeks—” Matt offered.

“—I’m gonna, um, bring Hikaru back to the hotel when everything is over, so don’t worry.  Bye.”

She shut the door abruptly.  The men in the room stayed silent for a few moments before stealing quick glances at each other.  Austin looked over at Tyson first, but wasn’t able to read the emotion on his face.  Nick and Matt looked at Tyson too, but he was as stoic as a rock.  Will had already shrugged his shoulders and discounted the experience.  “Anyone else see how her eyes were watery?” Chris Daniels commented.

“Probably emotional because she knows we’re losing tonight,” Nick tried to cover quickly.  He didn’t want to speculate in a room full of men why Hazel Fiore looked like she was tearing up.  It was nobody’s business.  Especially not with Will in the room.

“She’s always been emotional,” Will commented, as if he was an authority on the issue.  Like he had the right to speak about her in any capacity.  “It’s like, you kinda feel bad, but you also understand why, y’know?  She’s got major daddy issues.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Tyson’s response was literally automatic upon hearing the words come out of Will’s mouth, his tone scathing and unlike anything any of the other men had ever heard before.  Will looked at him, shocked, as if he hadn’t said anything wrong, even though Matt and Nick had also voiced their displeasure with words Tyson couldn’t hear through his anger and disgust.  “Seriously, what’s your fucking problem?” he followed up on a dumbfounded Will. 

“What?” he asked incredulously.

“Who the fuck says that about a girl who lost her dad at fifteen to cancer,” Tyson’s voice was still calm but full of disgust.  “It’s so fucking insensitive.  How could you even say that?”

“Ty, come on—”

“—Just fuck off, Will.  Seriously, fuck off,” he stood up from his seat and waved Will off, shaking his head.    “Get out of my fucking locker room.  I swear to God.  I know a lot of dumb fucks, Will, but you just might be the dumbest.”

“Ty—”

“You’re winning the belt in Toronto, so do however many spots you fuckin’ like.  Maybe now at least one of your five star matches will be memorable because I’m in it.  Now get out,” his tone was angrier and threatening.

Will left with a scowl on his face.  All the men in the room watched Tyson as he paced back and forth.  When he noticed Chris look at him, he stopped abruptly.  “What?”

“Nothing.  You did the right thing.”

***

“Please go away.  You’re going to think I’m a big baby.  That I’m still as lame as I was when you first met me,” you bemoaned, Tyson refusing to move from his heat on the edge of the bed.  “I’m serious.  Go to Wendy’s with the Bucks.  Get me a Frosty.  Be anywhere but here so you don’t have to see me like this.”

“Why?  Because I haven’t seen you like this before?” he countered, making you fall silent.  He had seen you like this many times before, but it was still unnerving, still a bit embarrassing to be a 31-year-old woman still emotional about something that happened seven years ago.  And to be like this over a guy you had actively – and successfully – avoided seeing for those seven years?  “C’mon, Haze.  Give me a little bit of credit.”

You sighed, taking a deep breath as you looked him in the eye.  “I don’t mean it like that,” your voice was small.  “I don’t mean to make you mad—”

“—You’re not making me mad—”

“—I just don’t want my problems becoming your problems.  You deal with enough shit already.  You got bit by an adult human male, Tyson.”

The both of you couldn’t help but snort.  The situation had to be lightened slightly.  “Come on.  Tell me.”

You sighed again.  “Something happened earlier in the night, before I walked in on you guys in the locker room.  I had gone to catering and was speaking with Tony and then when he went into his locker room, Greg was leaving the one across.  And while the door was open, I just…you know, heard some stuff.”

Tyson furrowed his brows.  “Stuff?  What stuff?”

“I kinda just overheard him talking.  I don’t know what his breakup with Bea was like, and I really don’t care, but uhhh, he was telling them some sob story about how much heat she got for what she did to me and how it affected their relationship, and he just made this comment, like, ‘It’d be much harder now to pick her up and drop her on her head, if you know what I mean’, and—”

Tyson didn’t even say anything, but you had to stop talking because he stood up at lightning speed and began making his way towards the door.  “Tyson—”

“—Do not stop me.”

Tyson was fast, but you were faster.  You slipped right by him and barricaded the door dramatically, like you were holding him hostage.  You kind of feel like you had to now, based on what you’d just told him.  “Nope.  You’re not leaving this hotel room—”

“—Yes I fucking am—”

“—No, you’re not, because that’s not even the worst part.”

He stepped back.  It was like he couldn’t comprehend what you’d just said.  “What do you mean that’s not even the worst part?” his voice got high pitched.

“Go back to the bed—”

“—Hazel—”

“Go back to the bed, now, or else,” you threatened.  You had nothing to threaten him with at all, but you were serious.  You didn’t want drama, or commotion, or anything of the sort.  Tyson had been through enough over the last year that you thought he should be done for the rest of his life.  There was no reason for him to take this on as his own, to defend whatever honour you had left – if you had any at all. 

You laid one of your hands on his forearm to calm him down.  “It got worse because once he said it, I heard people laughing,” you explained.  You felt him shift, his arm twitching in anger, but it was subtle.  “And I know you’re going to ask who it was, but I don’t know.  I didn’t go in there to see or to yell at them or whatever else.  I just took my dinner and chucked it into the closest garbage can and just…” you trailed off.  “You just…you can’t imagine how awful it feels to be a woman and have your colleagues, your supposed friends, whoever they were, laughing at a joke about your body.  It’s soul-crushing.  And I just…you know,” you shrugged, unable to find the words.  “After everything I’ve been through, I still let this bullshit get to me.”

Tyson pulled you into him to hug you, wrapping his giant arms around you just like he used to during your first visit to Japan, just like he used to after big matches after his shower, just like he always did, really.  Tyson gave the best hugs.  When he engulfed you, it was like all your problems just washed away and you were cleansed.  It was like you were back in the waters of Portofino holding on to him, not wanting to let go.  “D’you remember when I stayed with you those two weeks after your neck surgery and I had to feed you?”

“Of course, Ty.  I actually thought about it after I heard the laughing.  I’d never forget that.”

“Just remember that,” he encouraged.  “Just remember everything I’d do for you before you let anyone of those fuckers get in your head.”

You waited for Tyson to wash his face to put on your pyjamas before the both of you got into bed.  You wondered if he’d get close at all, possibly even touch you, but the second you were both laying down, your question was answered.  His body moved towards yours like a fight-or-flight response, one of his arm draping over your body.  He curled up right against your back, like the big spoon, your body nestling perfectly into his.  Memories flooded his mind.  Memories of the G1 Climax Tournament he won.

In the quietness of the room, with the low hum of the air conditioner the only noise, Tyson placed a kiss on your shoulder.  He didn’t say anything, but he knew you felt it. 

For him, it was getting harder and harder to control.

***

TOKYO 2016

i said remember this moment in the back of my mind the time we stood with our shaking hands, the crowds in stands went wild

You know you will remember the moment vividly as you watch it happen.  You will remember the finished move and how Tyson pinned his opponent.  You will remember the bell ringing after the referee’s hand hit the mat three times.  You will remember the roar of the crowd and the excitement in everybody’s eyes to see the first ever gaijin win the G1 Climax.  You will remember how gruelling of a month it was for Tyson, how emotionally draining it had been.  You will remember it all culminating in this moment.  Of him winning.  Of him making history.

You weren’t able to see him right away.  There were in-ring celebrations and post-match press conferences to be had, and various people from New Japan saw him first.  You had to be on standby, and you could have chewed your nails off waiting.  Even when the suits finished, the handler from New Japan made you wait an additional ten minutes just to see him.

You knocked lightly on his door before peeping your head in.  He was sitting on a giant production case, the tournament trophy beside him.  His legs were dangling off the edge, not touching the floor.  Not many things could make him look small.  He looked your way and when he saw you, the most tired of smiles appeared on his face.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” he nodded quickly, and you slipped in before shutting the door behind you.  “What did you think?”

“I think you’re incredible,” you said, approaching him and standing in front of him.  Your eyes scanned over the trophy briefly before you focused your attention back on him.  “Has it sunk in yet for you?  That you just made history?”

He took a few breaths, shaking his head slightly.  “No.  I guess I did, didn’t I?  First gaijin to win the G1.  I can say that now.”

“Doesn’t it feel amazing?” you asked.

“I’m so tired and drained that I don’t know what amazing feels like right now,” he said, causing you both to laugh slightly.  “I think tomorrow morning as I’m eating breakfast it’s gonna hit me like a ton of bricks.”

You couldn’t help but smile, stepping closer to him so you were standing between his spread legs.  You don’t know what came over you, but seeing him the way he was – in his gear, beside the giant G1 Climax trophy, still trying to catch his breath, the weight of what just happened and what it meant looming over the both of you…you really don’t know what came over you. 

You kissed him.  You held his big, sweaty head in your hands and you kissed him.  Only a couple of seconds after it began, you realized what you were doing and you pulled away.  “Shitsorry—sorry—” you began mumbling and apologizing quickly.

“—It’s okay—”

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry Tys—”

“—Hazel, it’s alright.  It’s okay.”

You put your fingers over your lips, as if that would stop it from happening again.  A physical barrier is what you needed, apparently.  Not a mental one.  You looked in each other’s eyes before one of his characteristic close-lipped smiles spread across his face.  “I’m very happy you’re here,” he whispered.  “I really—I really like you being here.”

“I think you’re just saying that because I act like an idiot and provide you entertainment,” you said, trying to make light of what just happened.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot at all,” he shook his head only slightly, not able to do much else with his body after what had just transpired in the ring.  “Please stop thinking that.”

“I bet you do secretly.”

“No,” he was firmer in his tone this time.  “I know a lot of dumb people, and you’re not one of them.”

Before you could say anything else, there was another knock at the door.  You stepped away from being so close to Tyson.  He looked extremely annoyed.  A man began speaking in Japanese from the other side of the door, and Tyson answered back while rolling his eyes.  The door closed before you even understood what was going on.  “Sorry.”

“What was that about?”

“Driver wanted to know how much longer.  I told him fifteen minutes so I could shower.”

“It’s okay,” you said, nodding your head once.  “Go shower.  We—I’ll meet you in the car.  I know you’re tired, so we’ll celebrate tomorrow.”

The driver drove you both to a local hotel near Ryogoku Kokugikan, the company deciding to put everybody up in the hotel since they wanted to film a press conference tomorrow afternoon.  You checked into your respective rooms, which were only down the hall from each other.  But as you were getting ready for bed, your phone buzzed on your bathroom vanity.

Neck hurts like a motherfucker.

Colour me shocked, Ty.  Are you okay?Do you want me to drop by?  I have some Rub A535.

What are you, my dad?

You rolled your eyes at his response.  He was the geriatric one.

Has neck pain, still acts like a pain in the ass.

You threw on a robe and made sure to grab your key card before making your way over to his room.  You knocked quietly and he opened not long after.  You let yourself in.  “Seriously, Rub A535?  You’re an old man.”

“I bet it’s like looking into a mirror then, eh?” you countered.

Tyson’s jaw dropped.  “You jezebel!”

You both broke out into laughter, making your way further into his room.  You threw your robe onto the extra bed.  He was wearing an old, stupid pair of shorts to sleep in.  “Sit,” you said as you got on his bed.  “Show me where it’s hurting.  I can try to massage it.”

“Are you licensed?  Can I claim you on my insurance?”

You gave him a look.  “Do you want my help or not!”

He giggled, sitting himself on the edge of the bed.  “Right up over here,” he showed you with his hand, “and over here.  Just be careful though, okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” both of your voices were calm at this point.  There was no room for joking around.  “You have to tell me if I’m hurting you,” you warned, with Tyson nodding his head.

You began massaging the first place he showed you, and almost the second you applied pressure, Tyson groaned.  He encouraged you to keep going, that it felt good.  “You know, this wouldn’t be happening to you if you didn’t keep landing on your neck all the time,” you whispered.

“What fun would that be?” he asked.  You shook your head.

Your continued massaging, being as careful as you could, moving on to the other areas that he pointed out to you.  You could hear his little satisfied exhales, the little groans he let out when you hit a spot well.  You switched back and forth between the spots for a while, Tyson appreciating every minute.  You didn’t know if he could feel how close you got once you really got into it, or if he could feel your breath on his neck.  But you were happy you were making him feel better, happy you were with him and his beautiful soul on the biggest night of his career thus far. 

“Ah shit,” you almost didn’t hear him swear under his breath.

You pulled your hands back towards your chest.  “Fuck, did I hurt you?”

“No no, it’s okay, keep going,” he urged.

“Tys—”

“It wasn’t you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

You stayed silent, exhaling slightly before continuing to massage over near his shoulder as you had been, being a little more careful.  You would never be able to forgive yourself if you had hurt him somehow.  He winced at some points and groaned in others, like he had been when you focused on his neck, but you could still tell something was up.  When you looked over his shoulder, you could see him trying discreetly to adjust his shorts, pulling some of the fabric forward as if he was trying to hide or cover something. 

And then it hit you like a ton of bricks.

You couldn’t help but smile to yourself as you kept massaging, garnering another groan from him.  You took your time getting closer and closer to him until you were positive he could feel your breath on his skin.  “Don’t worry about it, Ty,” you whispered in his ear in a knowing tone.  “It’s okay.”

He shook his head slightly.  You were positive the redness you saw in his cheeks wasn’t from the increased blood flow to his neck and shoulders.  “No it’s not.  It’s embarrassing.  This is, like, what happens with pervs.”

“It’s not embarrassing.  It happens.  Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize about,” you assured him.  By this point, you had stopped paying attention to your massaging and had no idea if what you were doing even helped.  You were too busy looking over his shoulder, trying to see through his shorts.  You inhaled quietly.  “D’you want me to take care of it?”

Tyson shook his head, still embarrassed.  “No no no.  Gosh Hazel, you don’t have to do that.”

“I’ll do it, Ty.  I don’t mi—”

“—Hazel…” there was a hesitation in his voice.

There was a pause as your back and forth hung in the air.  “Is it cause you don’t want me to?”

He shook his head.  “That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?” you asked, bringing your lips down to kiss his shoulder.

He stayed silent.  He was almost ashamed because he couldn’t say anything out loud.  How could he?  He knew what he wanted to say, he just couldn’t say it.  He couldn’t let you know; it had to stay inside him.  For his good.  For your good.  He felt you kiss his shoulder again and he inhaled.  “Hazel…”

“Remember Portofino?”

He couldn’t help the small smile that spread on his lips.  “Of course.”

You kissed your way from his shoulder to where it met his neck.  “Do you really not want to?  Cause I’ll stop,” you whispered in his ear.

Tyson shook his head.  He could do many things, but he couldn’t deny this right now.  “I just…I can barely move.”

“You don’t have to,” you assured him.  “I’ll take care of it.”

“Haze…”

“Shhhh…” you cooed, kissing his neck.  “Lie down.”

“Haze—you don’t—I don’t want you to think you have to do that.”

“I want to, Tyson.  I feel safest with you.”

He didn’t lie down just yet.  Instead, he pulled you on to his lap and began kissing you.  You straddled him as you kissed him back, feeling his hands go to your thighs and travel around to your ass, squeezing the flesh there.  You could barely let go of him as his tongue entered your mouth.  Your hands wandered between his toned body and his hair, gripping it at the nape of his neck.  He was so much bigger now, so much bigger than you remember him being.  You didn’t know how long you just sat there making out for, but your lips felt swollen when you stopped, even if it just was momentarily.  “Ty?” you breathed out, feeling his length between your legs.

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to be inside me or in my mouth?”

“Shit Hazel,” he swore underneath his breath.  The way you worded the question almost made him come right then and there.  “In—inside you.”

You gave him a quick kiss.  “Lie down.”

He listened this time, and you both moved to better positions on the bed, him lying down like you demanded.  You helped him out of his shorts, freeing his hard cock.  You took off your own pyjama bottoms, but Tyson raised his arms so he could slide your panties down your legs.  You kissed a trail down his chest before straddling him again.  You reached down between you and positioned his cock so he could enter you, and you lowered on to him slowly, having to adjust to his size.  “Fuck Ty,” you couldn’t help but breath out along the way.  When you bottomed out, a shiver ran up your spine.

“Jesus, Hazel,” he breathed out.  “Fuck, that feels so good.”

You knew he could barely move, and you knew you’d be the one putting in most of the work here, so you took a few more moments to adjust before you began rolling your hips back and forth slowly.  Tyson watched and his eyes rolled to the back of his head at the visual.

You took your time getting into a rhythm, wanting this to last as long as it could.  The last time, in Portofino, your body had been buzzed from being out in the sun all day.  This time around, the both of you were exhausted, but that didn’t mean there was any less energy between you two, or any less love.  You would do anything for Tyson, and Tyson would do anything for you.  So you were taking it gently, and you were taking it slowly, but you knew it would feel just as good as Portofino did two years ago, just as perfect as it did then too, despite nothing happening since.

Tyson’s hands were placed firmly on your thighs at first, before they moved to your hips and followed your movements loosely.  You placed your hands over his, intertwining your fingers slightly.  “Y’okay, Ty?”

“You feel fucking incredible,” he whispered.

“You want me to take my top off?”

“Yes please.”

You giggled at his request of please.  So polite.  You could take the boy out of Canada, but you couldn’t take Canada out of the boy.  You led his hands from your hips all the way up your body, dragging your shirt long with it, before he pulled it off entirely and tossed it to the side.  Your breasts were exposed then, and all it took was the sight of them to give Tyson a burst of energy, moving to sit up.  One arm wrapped around your waist to hold you down on his cock as he attacked your lips with his.  He cupped your breast, which overflowed even in his big hands.  You moaned into his kisses, gripping the hair at the nape of his neck again.  Your fingernails dug into the skin of his shoulder blades where you had been massaging earlier.  “Ty…” you whispered out as he moved from your lips to your neck.  “Ty, lie down.  I got you.  I told you I’d take care of you.”

“You’re so beautiful, Hazel.”

A shiver ran up your spine hearing those words.  You pushed him back down before placing your hands on his chest for leverage as you began to roll your hips again.  Your breathing got heavier; so did his.  You savoured every moment of being on top of him, having his amazing body underneath you as you worked to pleasure the both of you.  You were completely drunk on him, willing that this exact feeling could last forever. 

Tyson had gotten more vocal the longer you two went on.  Between the sight of you on top of him and the feeling of him inside you, he was close.  It didn’t help that he’d gotten a head start during the massage.  “You’re gonna make me come.”

You were desperate – you could admit that.  You didn’t want it to end.  He felt too good inside of you.  You felt too connected to him to have it be over, regardless of how long you’d been riding him.  You couldn’t even keep track or have any idea because you were so wrapped up in the feeling of him.  “No,” you shook your head, biting your bottom lip.  “No, not yet.”

Tyson couldn’t believe what he’d heard.  “What?”

“Not yet,” you repeated more emphatically.  “Want more.  Need more.”

A shiver ran up his spine hearing those words.  It took everything in him not to come then and there.  Instead, he began to move his hips along with yours, and you could automatically feel the difference.  Your moaning got louder.  Tyson almost couldn’t take it.  “You’re getting so deep, Ty.”

“Keep going, baby.”

You clenched when the words left his mouth.  Your hips kept rolling, your clit rubbing against his body as his cock was hitting you so deep and at the perfect angle.  After a while longer, you found yourself getting closer, as you were sure he was hitting your G-spot.  “Ty…oh fuck Ty—I—I—”

You couldn’t say anything else as the most intense orgasm you’d ever felt washed over your entire body.  Your entire body shook with pleasure – you could even feel it in your fucking toes.  You had never felt anything like it before and oh my God, was it glorious.  You swore you could see stars as you clenched around him, repeating his name over and over like a prayer.  At some point, it was all too much for you, and you felt yourself collapsing on to him.  Your breasts were between your bodies, pressing against him as he held you down with his arms.  As he pumped in and out of you, you could feel his release too, his groans and how you felt full from him. 

You felt empty when he slipped out of you, but you kissed him to make up for it, kiss after kiss after kiss.  Were you being sappy?  Both times this had ended up happening, it was truly spur of the moment.  But during both times, there had been so much pent up energy between you that it could only culminate in something like this.  And during both times, you didn’t want them to end.  You knew you’d remember every detail.

In between kisses, you couldn’t help yourself.  “Love you, Ty.”

“Love you too, Hazel,” he responded right after.  It was only then that you heard the true fatigue in his voice. 

He didn’t let go of you as you rolled off him and onto his side.  You were both on your sides now, and he pulled you up against his chest.  All of his muscles, tired and overused as they were, pressed into your back as he tucked his head against your shoulder.  Before the fatigue finally consumed him, he placed a kiss on your shoulder; you brought his hand up and kissed it too, finally drifting off to sleep.

*

The next morning, Tyson could barely move.  He’d need help getting out of bed.  But that was typical.  What really mattered wasn’t his pain or how stiff some of his joints were.  What really mattered was that he was still in bed, with you, looking into your eyes.  One of your hands was playing with his hair.  One of his hands was drawing circles along the skin on your arm.  You were both quiet.  You were both in the moment, since you didn’t have to be anywhere else for a while. 

“You’re career’s about to take off in ways we never would have thought,” you barely whispered.  You wondered if the weight of what he had accomplished last night had finally hit him.  “Are you gonna remember little ol’ me when you’re rich and famous?”

The smallest of smiles cracked on his lips.  “Duh.  You’re unforgettable.” 

“A lot of things are gonna change you, and I want you to know that I think you deserve all the good things coming to you.  Whatever they are,” you continued.  “You know that, right?”

“I do,” he said.  “But it’s not all about me.  You’re going to do some pretty big things too.  Stardom’s gonna shoot you to the moon because you deserve it.  And what’s happening in California when you go back?”

“I’ve got a match with Candice, and a match with Bea Priestley again.  Let’s hope I don’t walk out with another broken sternum.”

“You’re gonna knock both out of the park, because you always do.  Then everybody’s gonna be clamouring for you.  There’s going to be bidding wars over you,” he assured you.  “You’re just as good as I am.  If not better.”

“Oh stop,” you said, blushing and embarrassed at his words.  You buried your face into the pillow so you didn’t have to look at him.  You could feel him move, sticking his face into the crook of your neck as he kissed along it.

“I mean it, Haze,” he mumbled against your temple between kisses. 

When you raised your head back up, he peppered your face with light pecks before giving you quick kisses on your lips.  When you stopped kissing, you took in the silence between you.  “Hey Tys…”

“Hmm?”

Your hand moved to caress his face along his beard.  “I wasn’t—I didn’t just, like, blurt out the words last night and didn’t mean them,” you stuttered out.  “I do love you.  In my own way.”

“I know,” he said.  “I meant what I said last night too.  That I’m very happy you’re here.  That I like you being here with me.  And that I love you.”

“But you don’t…even after what happened in Portofino, we can’t do much more than this, can we?” you asked.  Secret little love affairs.  One-off passionate nights after emotionally charged moments that brought you closer together, closer than you ever thought you’d ever get with your mentor, your best friend, your person. 

His heart broke.  Again, he was ashamed because he couldn’t say anything out loud.  He couldn’t let you know; it had to stay inside him.  For his good and for your good.  “It’s not the right time,” he said instead.

Your heart didn’t break.  It had no reason to.  He was right, but you didn’t want to admit it.  “Not—not that anything would change but if—if—do you think it ever will be the right time in the future?”

He felt his stomach in knots.  He answered with the only answer he could give.

“I don’t know.”

*

A few weeks later, when Matt and Nick were back in Japan, they would watch intently as Tyson was glued to his phone.  They’d give each other a look that Tyson wouldn’t see, and then they’d go about their business, eating their ice cream or searching for directions to a coffee shop.  But one night, after they walked into Tyson’s hotel room at the tail end of an hour-long phone call, Nick made the executive decision.

“Sorry.  It was Hazel,” Tyson said once he hung up.

“Figured as much.  You don’t talk to anyone else on the phone that long but us and her,” Nick smirked.

Tyson shrugged.  “Yeah, well…”

“She doing okay?”

“She’s fine.”

“How was it when she was over here?” Matt piped in.

Tyson was avoiding eye contact.  “It was nice,” he kept his answers simple.  “Nice that I had someone here with me for winning the G1, you know.”  Despite being some of his best friends, they didn’t know what had happened in Italy, and they weren’t going to know about what happened after the G1.

“Mmmhhhmmm,” Nick nodded.  “Must’ve been.”

“Are you gonna tell her how you feel?” Matt asked, getting straight to the point.  “She’s gottta know, Ty.”

Tyson shook his head.  Those observant little fuckers.  “No.”

Nick grimaced.  “Why not?”

Tyson took a deep breath, sighing afterwards.  “It’s just easier if she doesn’t.  Even if it rips me apart.”

***

25th June 2023

you say, "i don't understand," and i say, "i know you don't" we thought a cure would come through in time, now, i fear it won't

You watched with tears in your eyes as the trainer attended to Tyson after his match with Will, going through concussion protocol and range of motion exercises to ensure everything was okay and that nothing was broken.  Tyson sat their quietly, complying with everything, moving his shoulders and legs, blinking once and then twice, maintaining focus then following a light, stretching his neck back and forth and side to side.  That was the most important exercise of all, after what had happened in the ring.  After he didn’t tell you one of the most important spots in the match.

“Everything looks completely fine, Mr. Smith,” the head trainer said, finally, much to everybody’s relief.  Everybody except you.

“God Ty, that Tiger Driver looked brutal,” Nick said.  “Helluva spot, but brutal nonetheless.”  Of course he would say that.

“I thought it looked incredible,” Matt pitched in.  “If anybody could have done it and taken it correctly, it was you.”  Of course he would say that.

“That’ll grab the headlines,” Christopher Daniels said.  Of course he would say that.

“Leave the really big spots for a Canada, huh?” Stephen joked.  Of course he would say that.

It was then that Tyson locked eyes with you – you, staying completely silent across the way of the room, though you knew by now your face was probably beet red with emotion.  You had so much emotion stored inside of you, from the beginning of the match until now, and you didn’t know when it was going to burst.  Forty minutes of your heart being in the pit of your stomach.

Tyson finally noticed.

“Can everyone just…” he began, sighing and trailing off before recollecting his thoughts.  “Just give me a couple of minutes – alone, please,” he ordered, albeit politely.  Everybody stood silent, awkwardly.  “Now guys.  Come on.  Everyone out.”

You didn’t move, but everyone else did.  When they were all out, and you were all alone with Tyson, that’s when all the emotion stored inside of you came out.  One of your tsunamis.  Now.  Of all times it could happen.

“What’s the matter?  What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

His tone meant that the first few tears escaped.  You shook your head vehemently.  “No—no—no—”

“—Hazel—”

“—No—”

“Hazel, c’mere…c’mere,” he cooed.  Even reluctantly, you went over to him, sitting across from him on the medical table.  He grabbed your hands in his.  You weren’t expecting that, but you were shaking, and he probably wanted to stop that.  “What’s the matter?”

“Your neck, your neck,” you kept repeating through your tears.

“My neck is fine—”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing this fucking shit, Tyson?” you demanded, tears fully streaming down your face now.  “Do you think I like seeing your body torn up by a cage?  That I like seeing you be dropped on your fucking head?  And by him?”

“Haze, I’m sor—”

“Sorry’s not gonna cut it this time!” you exclaimed, pulling your hands away from his.  You wiped the tears from your eyes.  “You’re Kenny fucking Omega.  Your worst match is still ninety five percent better than everybody else’s best matches yet you still think you have to do this—this—this absolutely insane shit.  For what?  What’s it all for, Tyson?  You’re already the best in the world.  You’re already a legend.”

“I’m perfecting my craft, Hazel.  You know that.  We talk about it all the time.  This is everything to me.  I left my family, my friends – I moved to a foreign country and was fucking alone for years so I could be at the top.  Every sacrifice I’ve made has been in the name of pro-wrestling because there can’t be a question about whether or not I’m the best.  That’s it, Hazel.  That’s it.”

You absorbed his words, each one of them hitting you like a dagger.  You sat there silently, looking deep into his eyes.  “Is that really all that matters to you?  Is that it?”

You could see the look in his eyes.  You could see the change in his face.  He wanted to say something.  He was so close to saying something.  He was going to say something.  But you couldn’t hear how he would respond to your question – at least not right now.  The door handle being jerked loudly from the outside interrupted your conversation, and when you both looked the way of the door, you saw one person walking through it.

Will fucking Ospreay.

Okay, now you were livid.

“Don’t you know how to fucking knock?” you demanded, not caring how rude you sounded.  You stood up from where you were sitting across from Tyson.

Will’s face scrunched up.  “Who pissed in your cereal?”

“YOU!” you screamed.  “You, you fucking idiot!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?  I came in to see Tyson, not you—”

“Well you’re going to see me anyway!”

“Will you calm down—”

“—Do not tell me to calm down,” you warned.  “What is it?  Huh?  You want to do the same thing to his neck that your ex-girlfriend did to mine?”  Will’s brows furrowed with that rhetorical question.  You didn’t even bother to wait for him to retort.  You just kept going.  “You know what, actually?  This is a perfect opportunity.  Finally you can see it in the flesh,” you turned around, gathered your hair in your hand, and lifted it up.  Your scar was on full display for Will, who diverted his eyes the second he saw it.  “Four screws, one rod, and sixteen staples fixed your girlfriend’s mistake.  I should have suffocated and died in that ring and you didn’t even have the decency to check in on me.  And you want to know why I’m so upset?”

Will clenched his jaw.  “Listen, I’m sorry that happened, but—”

“You’re not sorry it happened,” you interrupted him.  “You want me to believe you’re sorry when you were joking with your friends in the locker room in Vegas about how it would be much harder now to pick me up and drop me on my head?”

It was the first time during your spat that you saw Will’s face drop – that he looked legitimately taken aback, almost even frightened, by what you said.  You had been stepping closer to him with every word, and had backed him up against the wall at this point.  “It must be so empowering to be a man…that you can just exist and be you whereas a woman has to apologize for her existence,” you said.  “If I ever hear that you’ve talked about me or my body again, I will kill you with my bare hands.  I fucking hate your guts.”

“I can feel it,” was all he could reply with. 

You took one final step closer, looking at him with all the venom in the world in your eyes.  “You can hurt me, Will, and you already have, but if you hurt any one of my friends, it’s over for you, and I mean that entirely.  I will fucking end you.  That’s a promise.”

He stayed silent then, looking down at you, because there was nothing for him to say.  You felt like kneeing him in the groin, but that would have been too much pleasure for one night after what you’d just said to him.  It would have been an indulgence.  As the words hung in the air, you backed up slightly before walking out of the room.  Only then had you noticed the door had been held open by Matt, who was watching you intently as you made your exit.

***

Just knocked on your room door and you didn’t answer.  Are you in the shower or something?

I went to the airport early Catching a red eye to Winnipeg

Hazel

Gonna spend some extra time with my mom

I need to talk to you

I know. I’m sorry I blew up at Will in your room. That wasn’t very nice of me and it put you in an awkward position of having to hear me yell seven years of pent up shit at him.

I couldn’t care less about that He deserved it

Am I still allowed to come to the cottage?

Obviously Hazel What makes you think you wouldn’t?

I don’t know The way I spoke to you

***

30th June 2023

all of this silence and patience, pining and anticipation my hands are shaking from holding back from you

You bought Timbits.  It was the quintessential Canadian road trip item, and you couldn’t show up empty-handed, even though the drive to the cottage was only just over an hour.  With your suitcase loaded in the trunk, you hauled the bag of groceries into the backseat.  Tyson always insisted he had food, but protein bars and chocolate milk didn’t count.  When you slipped into the front seat, you held them up near your face.

“You wanna make me fat?” he asked as he shut the door behind them.  “Seriously, woman.  I have a strict diet to maintain this body.”

You rolled your eyes.  “Oh, right.  I forgot about that.  Your diet of energy drinks and Dave’s Doubles and junior cheeseburger deluxes is sooooo healthy.”

“You know it,” he winked.  “What’s with all the food, by the way?”

“You never have food.”

“I have food!”

“I also may have watched The Bear with my mom.”

Tyson giggled.  He put the gear in drive and signalled.  “Yeah.  That’ll do it.  What’re you gonna make?”

“Scallopini al funghi,” you said, eyeing him.  He stayed silent.  “You know, like a chicken marsala.”

“Oh, you mean like from the Cheesecake Factory?”

You chopped him across the chest.  As always he was overdramatic in his response, though he knew exactly what he was doing when he brought up the Cheesecake Factory.  “You take that back right now, Tyson.”

“Man, you still got it,” he rubbed at his chest where you chopped him.  “You been practicing without me or something?”

“Apologize!”

The smirk hadn’t left his face.  “I’m sorry I brought up the Cheesecake Factory when you mentioned making a fancy shmancy Italian dish,” irony dripped with every word that came out of his mouth.

“Thank you,” you smiled just as ironically.  “How was the rest of the time in Toronto?”

He shrugged.  “Just the usual.  Lots of media.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  I was able to go to a few places and get some gaming stuff, which was nice.”

You almost didn’t want to ask, but there was something in your chest that was making you.  “How’s your neck?”

“Neck’s fine,” he said, looking over at you quickly.  “And I’m not just saying that, okay?”

You nodded in understanding.  “I’m excited for this, you know,” you tried to lighten the mood back to where it was.  You didn’t want to talk about what had happened just yet.  It was the first time seeing Tyson in almost five days and you wanted to see him smile.  “I can’t wait to do a 630 splash off the dock.  The water will be warm, right?”

“We’ll see,” he said.  “I’m excited, too.  I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

***

Groceries were put away.  Scallopini were made.  Dishes were put in the dishwasher.

And then…

“BAH GAWD ALMIGHTY!” you could hear Tyson scream in a bang-on Jim Ross impression before you hit the water.  The cold temperature hit your skin like icicles, but you knew it would be only momentary.  You swam a bit underwater before you emerged back up, hearing Tyson finishing his yelling.  “Somebody stop the damn match!  That man has a family!”

You watched as he got a running start and completed a flawless tope con hilo from the edge of his dock right into the water.  You began to backstroke so you could get further into the lake as you watched him come up for air.  “Show off!” you yelled at him, a smile on your face.

He smiled and shook his head.  He began swimming over to you.  “I do that all the time!” he called out after you.  When he caught up to you, easily, he could see the playful scowl on your face.

“Now you’re just bragging,” you said.  You turned away from him and looked out onto the lake.  Streaks covered the sky, the sunset starting showing its beauty over the lake.  Whenever you came here with Tyson – not that it was often, but whenever it did happen – you always managed to get a beautiful sunset.  You didn’t know if it was the time of year, or the weather, or some other force of nature you had no power over.  Regardless, you were very lucky.  You could feel him behind you.  “You get the best sunsets out here,” you commented, your voice no longer yelling.

“I know,” he said. 

You were both quiet for quite a while, just letting the sound of the waves take precedent.  The lake wasn’t particularly lively – at least not at this time of day – but there were some boats still driving around the lake, some families down the coast clearly having their own Canada Day weekend celebrations.  You treaded water easily to stay afloat, but the cold water wasn’t getting any warmer.  You plugged your nose and dunked your head into the water to see if it would help, but when you came back up, it hadn’t.  “Think the water will be warmer tomorrow?”

“Just dunk your head a few more times,” Tyson suggested playfully.  You chuckled, but what you weren’t expecting was to feel his giant hand atop your head.  “Tyson!” you screamed, because you knew exactly what he was going to do.

It didn’t stop him.  He pushed you down and dunked you into the water.  He let you come back up quickly, but by the time you caught your breath, he pushed you back down again.  It was like he was baptizing you, for heaven’s sake.  Under the water, you kicked and punched at him.  If you were being honest, you were aiming for his dick, but when you were above water once more catching your breath, he wasn’t grovelling in pain, so it meant you missed.

“You asshole!” you half-yelled, half-giggled.  “You are seriously the worst, Tyson Smith.”

“Wow, using my full name?”

“You deserve it.”

“Nobody ever deserves that.  You were the one trying to hit me.”

“I was trying to punch your dick.”

“You were what?!” his voice raised three octaves.  “Hazel Ila—”

“—do not say my middle name—”

“—Ilaaarrrrria,” Tyson put on an extremely strong and dramatic Italian accent.

Big mistake.  You splashed a ton of water into his face, discombobulating him.  You couldn’t help but laugh as you kept splashing him, getting closer to him with each one.  When you were close enough, and with whatever vision he had left with tons of lake water flooding his eyes, he reached out and grabbed your arm to stop you.  He pulled you into his body, holding you against him.  Your arms wrapped around his shoulders. 

“You really are a jezebel, eh?” he said, using one hand to wipe the water off his eyes. 

“I always knew you stealing my passport in Japan would come back to haunt me one day,” you said.

“You’re lucky I’ve never told anyone.  Do you have any idea how long and hard Austin has begged?”

You both giggled.  Then silence.  You were close.

Tyson kissed you.  He leaned his head forward and in one swift movement he kissed you.  You kissed him back for as long as you could.  It had been seven years.  Tyson kissed you for as long as he could before he realized what he was doing and pulled away, turning his head to the side.  “Fucksorry—sorry—” he began mumbling and apologizing quickly.

“—It’s okay—”

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry Haz—”

“—Tys, it’s alright.  It’s okay.”

Your hands were cradling his face by this point, and despite his tone and his apologies you continued to look deep into each other’s eyes.  You wondered what was next.  You always wondered what was next with Tyson.  You could feel lightning running through you, running deep in your damn bones.  And when you were sure Tyson would lean in again, a scream across the lake broke the moment.  You both whipped your heads to see a boat pass by, teenagers hanging on to a tube with every inch of their life responsible for the screaming.  The both of you watched as it sped across the lake, taking your moment with it. 

“You’re shivering,” Tyson finally said, filling the silence.

Considering your body was pressed up to his, you weren’t surprised he felt something.  But considering what had just happened, you hadn’t even noticed yourself.  “Guess I’m not used to the water just yet.”

“Let’s go inside.”

“No no, if you want to stay out we can stay out.”

“No way,” he shook his head.  “I’m not gonna make you stay out here shivering.  We’ll come back out tomorrow when the sun’s out.”

You made your way inside.  Tyson gave you space to change into comfortable clothes, and you went into the master bathroom to do something with your hair.  It would inevitably develop a curl, so you decided to brush through it and try to calm your bangs as much as possible before tying it back into a French braid.  The electricity that was in your body hadn’t left, and the moment between you and Tyson in the lake kept playing in your mind.  His blue eyes.  His stupid little giggle.  His voice raising three octaves.  You tried breathing in and out, tried thinking of something else, but nothing could get rid of the electricity or the thoughts.

When you made your way back out, Tyson was already in the kitchen putting a bag of popcorn into the microwave.  When he saw you, he couldn’t help but smile.

You noticed right away.  You thought you looked like a witch.  “What?” you asked him.  “Gosh, I bet my hair looks awful after the lake water,” you grimaced, playing with your bangs and pulling them down to frame your face at least somewhat.

“Nah,” Tyson said softly.  “You look beautiful.”

The electricity that never left had just been amped up to a higher voltage.  It was the electricity that made you act; the second you were close to him in the kitchen, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and kissed him, a reciprocal from what happened in the lake.  He immediately kissed back, his arms wrapping around your waist.  His hands went to your ass and he lifted you in his arms and set you down on the countertop, getting in between your legs.  But when you tried slipping your tongue in his mouth, he pulled away.  As if he were ashamed.  “Shitshitshit…” he muttered.

“Ty—”

“—I can’t do this.”

Your heart dropped into the pit of your stomach.  “Why not?”

He was breathing heavily.  He shook his head.  “I can’t—I promised myself I couldn’t do anything until we talked about what happened in Toronto, and I’ve already broken that promise.”

Your sanity somewhat recovered.  “Can I ask you something first?”

“What’s that?”

“Why don’t you tell me what’s gonna happen in the ring anymore?”

Tyson paused.  He knew he’d have to answer for that one day, and it was apparently going to be now.  He knew they wouldn’t be able to have this conversation without his answer.  “I see how worked up you get, and how much it affects you and gets you worried.  I don’t want to put you in that position to, you know, worry about me.”

He was such an idiot.  Literally the dumbest boy alive.  You brought your hands up, your thumbs rubbing over the stubble of his beard.  “You’d think by now you’d realize it’s been having the opposite effect,” you said.  “When I told you that it’s getting harder and harder for me to watch your more hardcore stuff I meant it.  Leaving me in the dark is just doing more harm.  I’d rather know about it.  I’d rather be prepared.  It would make me less nervous for what’s coming.”

“But I can’t stand to see you cry,” he whispered.  “Every time I do I know it’s because of me and I can’t handle it.”

 “Please, Ty.  Just tell me,” you said, pausing afterwards.  “What are you gonna do at Blood and Guts?”

Fuck.  You could see Tyson visibly grimace, his eyes fluttering closed.  “There’s gonna be thumbtacks,” he began.  Your stomach was already in knots.  “And uh, there’s this thing…it’s a nail bed—”

“—a nail bed?!—”

“—and I’m going to take a body slam on to it.”

Your tears began almost instantaneously.  “Tyson—”

“—I know, I know—”

“Tyson,” you buried your head into the crook of his neck, resting it on his shoulder.  “Tyson, please,” you were desperate, desperate for him to listen to you. 

“Hazel, Hazel, don’t cry,” he cooed, rubbing your back.  “It’s gonna be okay.  Look at me, look at me,” he gently pulled away before placing a finger underneath your chin so you could look at him.  “You’re breaking my heart by making me see you cry.”

“I hope I am!” you said with more emphasis than normal.  “I get that you want to be the master of your craft but this isn’t it.  Say you’re injured.  Say you can’t do it.  Please.  I don’t want to see you ripped to shreds.”

“Hazel,” you could hear the heaviness in his voice, “you know as well as I do I can’t be the only guy not taking a spot during the match.”

You knew that, but your judgement was clouded right now.  If you had your way, none of the guys would be taking any spots on any damn nail bed, but it wasn’t like you could control these things.  You wished you could.  You knew you would have to suffer through it and there was nothing you could do about it.  You knew it would result in waiting for him to return to gorilla afterwards and having to see him aching.  You knew you’d be in the locker room with him as he got patched up, holding everything in (or, maybe this time, you’d let everything out, in front of everyone). 

You sighed, feeling Tyson wipe away the tears that had fallen from your eyes with the pads of his thumbs.  “You’re so adamant about this.  Why?” he asked.

“Because I’m selfish, Tyson.  I want you around for a very long time.  I’m selfish and I want you with me for a very long time.”

You finally verbalized, praying to God that it would finally get through to him as to why you were the way you were.  He looked into your eyes for any hint of uncertainty or ambiguity, but there wasn’t any.  “Hazel…”

“Don’t you want the same?”

You watched as he gulped, and you could feel his hands grab yours and hold them gently in his.  “You know before Will came in…and you asked me ‘Is that really all that matters to you?  Is that it?’ when we were alone in my room?” he asked.

“Yeah…”

“I didn’t get to…what I wanted to say was…” he trailed off.  “You matter to me, Hazel, a lot.  You’ve mattered to me for years.  I just—I should have—back in Portofino, and back in Japan, I should have said something, and I didn’t because I was too focused on wrestling, too focused on being the best.  And I thought I was old, and there you were, and you were so young and so good, and I just couldn’t do that to you.  But you do matter to me Hazel.  You do.  More than anyone.”

“Tell me what you want, Ty,” you were desperate to hear the words.

“I want it to be the right time.”

Memories of your time in bed together after the G1 Climax in Tokyo together flooded your mind like a tsunami.  You felt a shiver run up your spine, the electricity from deep within you igniting again.  You nodded slightly.  “It is the right time,” you assured him.

He kissed you again, just like he did in the lake earlier, and you responded right away to the feeling of his lips on yours.  Your hands escaped his hold so you could wrap your arms around his broad shoulders; his own arms wrapping around your waist.  You sat there on the counter with Tyson between your legs for what felt like hours, the taste of him so intoxicating you were running out of breath.  You didn’t know how to describe his kisses any other way except full – full of emotion, of passion, of love, of seven years of waiting and all the pent-up feelings that came with that.  So you took every moment and cherished it, burning it into the back of your mind.  Every feel of his curls as you ran your hands through them, every feel of the stubble of his beard rubbing against the bare skin of your face and your neck, every feel of his muscles tightening the more you squeezed your legs around his torso to bring his body even closer to yours.

You found your hands creeping underneath his shirt, his skin of his back so delicate underneath your fingertips.  He still had some scratches on his back from the cage match with Jon, and the scar from the gash he got at the G1 Climax tournament in 2016.

Tyson pulled away slightly, quickly.  “Do you still feel safest with me?” he asked.

You nodded quickly.  “Yes, God yes,” you rushed so your lips could be back on his.  “Always, Ty.”

His kisses travelled to your neck and clavicle.  His hands were squeezing at your thighs.  You were sure he was going to leave a mark somewhere, his kisses and bites becoming insatiable.  You were sure your breaths and moans were only fuelling him, but you knew you wanted more.  The slight impatience got the best of you.  You grabbed his hands before widening your legs.  “Touch me Ty,” you breathed out, placing his hand on your hot core over your leggings.  “I want you to touch me.”

That apparently flipped a switch in him, because he picked you up in one swoop and began carrying you through the cottage until he got to his bedroom, setting you down on the bed.  “Touch me, touch me,” you begged absent-mindedly, so desperate to feel him that you pulled off his shirt. 

His hand finally went where you wanted it to go.  Your hips immediately bucked at his touch, even though it was above fabric.  He moved his body to hover over yours as he did so, making sure he could keep eye contact you and watch all your reactions as he did what you wanted him to do.  “Does that feel good?”

“Yeah,” you nodded.

“You gonna let me taste you?”

Your breath got caught in your throat.  You wanted it, you wanted it so bad, but the possibility of it actually happening made you slip up.  He obviously hadn’t done it previously, with the two of you being the way you were getting in the way of it happening in Portofino and Tokyo.  “Y-Yeah,” you stuttered out, nodding.

Tyson gave you a few more kisses as his fingers drew circles and ran up and down the fabric over your core before he pushed himself back on his knees.  He hooked his fingers into the waistband of your tights before pulling them off in one full swoop.  Next, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of your underwear and pulled them off too, exposing your whole bottom half.  He could hear your intake of breath, could see how you were watching his every move.  “You okay?”

“Mhmm,” you mumbled out.  “Just nerves.”

He furrowed his brows.  “Why are you nervous?”

“I don’t know.  Just am,” you whispered.

“Hey,” he moved over your body to kiss you.  “I want to make you feel good, but if you’re nervous, I don’t have to.”

“No no, I really want you to.”

The two of you couldn’t help but giggle at your response, Tyson kissing you again – quick, little kisses on your lips – before pulling away.  “Just tell me if you want me to stop, okay?  I’ll stop the second you want me to.”

You nodded in agreement.  Not that you’d have to tell him to stop.  If he was going to go down on you, there was no way in hell you’d ask him to stop.  There wasn’t a force on God’s green earth that would make you ask him to stop.  You closed your eyes as Tyson began slowly kissing his way down your body, pulling up your shirt to just underneath your breasts so he could kiss your soft tummy, dragging his tongue and lips along your skin before he got below your belly button.  His hands went to your thighs, spreading your legs apart for him. 

“You’re so beautiful, Hazel.”

A warmth washed over your body at the words.  You watched as he got between your legs, bringing his finger up to feel you.  You flinched slightly, already so sensitive.  You could see a smirk on Tyson’s face as he brought an arm around to keep your keep your hips down.

There was no precursor for Tyson – no tentative licks or little flicks of the tongue first to ease you into it.  He just went right in.  He’d waited long enough.  It made your jaw drop, a mewl leaving your mouth almost instantly.  And he didn’t stop from there.  He lapped at you like you were his last meal on earth the entire time he was down there, making you bunch the bed sheets into your fists, your knuckles white.  As your moans got louder, you couldn’t help but start writhing in bed.  But his arm across your hips was limiting your ability to move, which just made it all the better.  You reached down to grab on to some of his curls.  He looked up at you with his blue eyes and you almost came right then and there.

“You alright?” he asked quickly.

You nodded.  “I’m almost embarrassed to tell you how long I’ve dreamt of you doing this to me.”

You watched as the corners of his eyes crinkled.  “Am I better or worse than your little fantasies?”

“Better,” you said automatically.  “So much better.”

The vibration from his proud little chuckle just made the experience even more pleasurable.  After a short while, you could feel a warmth take over your body, and you knew you were close.  You verbalized this to Tyson, who kept doing what he was doing and didn’t change his rhythm at all – thank God.  Eventually, you felt your orgasm overcome you, your body writhing at the feeling.  You tried to stop your legs from coming together and squeezing Tyson’s head between your thighs, but he didn’t seem to mind when you couldn’t control it anymore.  He moved in tune with each buck of the hips, each squirm, never taking his mouth off your pussy, even for a second. 

When your orgasm subsided, and you tried to catch your breath after all the moaning and calling out of his name, Tyson kissed the inside of your thighs before moving back up your body.  You were desperate to kiss him and crashed your lips onto his when he was close enough.  “So sweet,” he mumbled against your lips.

“Christ almighty, Ty.”

He continued kissing you, slow and steady and full just like before, moving to pull your top off.  You played with the waistband of his sweatpants for a bit, just to tease him, before pushing them and his underwear down all in one go.  You could feel how hard he was then, his cock resting between you.  “What other little fantasies have you had about me?” he asked.

You were not prepared for that question.  And you were not prepared for having to think about answering as he was kissing his way down your chest.  “How much time do we have?” you tried to joke.

“Tell me,” his voice was firm, right before he took a nipple into his mouth.

“I’ve dreamt of it all, Ty,” you admitted, closing your eyes to savour the feeling of what he was doing.  “I’ve been dreaming about you since I was, like, twenty-one.  That’s a lot of time.  What about you?”

He stopped what he was doing, coming back up and bringing one of his hands up to move some hair out of your face.  “D’you know how many times I’ve replayed Portofino and Tokyo in my head?” he asked.

So you weren’t the only one.  What a feeling it was to know.  “Yeah?”

“When we fell between the two beds…” he began, his thumb gliding over your lips.  “You don’t forget things like that.”

You nodded because you understood.  You had never forgotten that moment either, mostly because it was one of the few moments in your life when you felt pure, genuine happiness.  “I love you, Tyson.”

He kissed you.  “I love you too, Hazel.”

You kissed each other for a while again, your nails digging into the skin on his arms and back.  It was only when he was biting down at the skin near your collarbone that he spoke again.  “Will you let me make love to you?”

“No.”

Tyson stopped everything.  He looked up at you.  “No?”

“I know you can go harder than that,” you said.  “I haven’t felt you in seven years, Ty.  I need it.”

He was like a man possessed after you said those words, his hands and lips all over you with zero abandon.  In one swift movement, he grabbed onto your hips and flipped you over on to your stomach.  You got excited at the new position.  “Is this okay?” he asked.

“You bet,” the excited grin grew on your face as you got on our hand and knees.

You positioned yourself and purposely crashed your ass into his hips, causing a groan to escape him before you could feel his hand between your bodies, stroking himself several times before using his head to tease your pussy.  You gripped onto the sheets, arching your back and biting your lip.  When he finally pushed inside you, you let out a cry.  He felt just as good as you remembered,  if not better.  “Jesus fuck, Ty,” you couldn’t help but swear as you felt him fully in you.  He was giving you a few moments – you knew that – but you were so desperate to feel him pump in and out of you that you almost resented the fact he wasn’t moving yet.  “Fuck me, Tyson.  It’s been seven years.  Let me feel all of you.” 

With every thrust, you could feel every inch of your body igniting on fire.  His moans and grunts, the way his hands were gripping on to your hips, the movement of your bodies, the song of the sounds you were making – it all came together in the most pleasurable experience.  You got louder and louder as he pounded into you just as you wanted.  “God Ty, you feel so fucking good,” you said, flipping your hair over your shoulder to be able to look at him. 

“Was this one of your little fantasies too?” he asked.

You nodded.  “Yes.”

“Tell me.”

You sighed out, unable to form coherent thoughts.  You knew this was only the beginning of the night.  If you knew Tyson – and you did – he’d be asking you about all of them, and you wouldn’t be able to get out of it.  Not that you wanted to.  “We were doing exactly this, but…”

“But?”

“But you pulled me up by my hair,” you said.

To your surprise, you could feel him wrap some of your hair around his hand before tugging on it and pulling you up so your back was flush against his chest.  He was gentle but still purposeful with his movements, knowing what he was doing to you.  “Then what?”

You gulped.  He had slowed his pace moving in and out of you, but the way you were positioned already made it feel so good.  Your body shivered at what it would feel like when he lost all control.  “You…you had one hand here to hold me up,” you said, grabbing on to his left hand and putting it at the base of your neck.  “Just don’t squeeze,” you added quickly.

“I won’t,” he gave you a quick kiss on your shoulder.  “What else?”

“Your…your other hand was here,” you grabbed on to his right hand, placing it on your pussy so his fingers were directly on your clit.  “You were fucking me so good I was seeing stars, Ty.  I woke up and started touching myself.”

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.  “Was there anything else?”

You nodded.  You took another deep breath.  “You were…you were leaving marks,” you admitted.  “All here…and here…” your hand moved over your neck and shoulders on both sides before settling back on top of his hand that was on the base of your neck.  “When I woke up, after I touched myself, I went to the mirror to see if the marks were real.  I was so sad I didn’t have them.”

Tyson’s lips began kissing at your neck and shoulder.  “We’ll have to fix that, won’t we?”

“Yes please.”

Tyson’s lips went back to your neck and you could immediately feel him sucking at the skin there, no doubt leaving one of the marks you so wanted.  Without warning, he began pumping harder and quicker too, building up a rhythm that hit the most perfect spot in you and made you cry out in pleasure over and over again.  His fingers began massaging your clit, too, and it all truly felt like a dream, a dream you had dreamed for seven, eight, nine – maybe ten years now.

You could feel your throat dry up from how long Tyson had been fucking you.  You knew you were close to your second orgasm of the night – but it definitely wouldn’t be the last.  “Harder, Ty.  I’m so close.”

You cried out when you felt just how hard he started to go, and soon enough, you saw those stars you had once dreamed of.  The feeling was so intense, and just like the previous times with Tyson, you could feel the pleasure rush through your body from your head all the way to your toes, and down deep in your bones.  He was still holding you up, but you felt yourself collapsing, on account of your legs feeling like complete jelly.  But then you heard Tyson moan and felt him come inside you, and another rush coursed through your body – so intense that you had to put your hand over his and get him to stop teasing your clit or else you were sure you would explode and cease to exist.  Whatever you had ever dreamed previously wasn’t as good as this – it was impossible to compare.

Your heart was beating out of your chest.  You hung on to every last feeling of your orgasm until it passed, slowly.  “Shit,” you could hear Tyson curse behind you, his head still on your shoulder.  “Holy shit.  Holy shit.”

“God, Ty,” you breathed out.  His one hand left your neck, and the other hand left your pussy, and when they did, you felt yourself collapse onto the bed.  Apparently your legs were still non-functioning.  You began to giggle at just how fucked out you were, shifting yourself over to your back. 

Tyson smiled too, albeit nervously.  “I don’t know if giggling is the best reaction here.”

“It’s a good thing,” you let out as he sunk down beside you.  You turned your head to look at him, so he could see it in your eyes.  “Trust me.”

Tyson giggled too then.  “I’ll take it.”

“You’re gonna have to start getting used to it.  Especially tonight,” you said.  You rolled yourself on top of his chest, looking down on his face.  “I mean, I’ve had so many other little fantasies…”

“Baby, I’m just getting warmed up.”

***

19th July 2023

and if you never bleed, you're never gonna grow and it's alright now

The nail bed wasn’t supposed to fall down Tyson’s back and arms, but of course Tyson couldn’t take the spot lightly.  And because Tyson couldn’t ever take a spot lightly, his back was now all scratched, gashes and little holes down his entire left side – the same side you’d had to bandage and put ointment on just seven weeks ago.  At least there were no thumbtacks. 

Once he had finished pulling said thumbtacks out of Kota’s back, he hauled himself onto a training table and a trainer began assisting him.  Cotton swabs, disinfectant – there was even a stitching kit ready to go.  Matt was on the phone with Dana, Nick was Facetiming with Ellen, and Kota was in his own world.  It was a good a time as ever to stand next to Tyson.

You weren’t crying this time.  This was already a huge success.

The trainer had cleaned his hands first, bloody from the wreckage in the ring.  You watched as the trainer wiped away the blood on his face, disinfecting the area and making him wince.  When the trainer moved to his back, Tyson looked at you.

“You okay?” he whispered. 

“Yeah,” you nodded quickly.  “I’m not crying, so we’re leaps and bounds better than where we were several weeks ago.”

“Does it look bad?”

“It looks like you got into a fight with a bear at the cottage.  But somehow, you won the fight.”

Tyson’s laugh was interrupted by a wince.  It was obvious the trainer was disinfecting an area.  He grabbed onto your hands, squeezing them at the next sting.  You squeezed back.  “I love you,” he said quietly.

“I love you too.”

As quick as a lightning flash, he brought your hands up to his lips to kiss them.  Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Matt watching, his eyes bulging out of their sockets with his eyebrows raised in shock.  When he saw you looking at him, he smirked and mouthed only one word to you.  Finally. 

Everything was okay.  Everything was alright. 

[lancearcherinrippedjeans]

Eternity - Chapter 9

*************

Is has been ALMOST A YEAR. WOW. So many of you have been waiting, here it is.

*************

Starring - Sawyer Holden, Veronica Rodriguez, Nova Jay, Kenny Omega, Adam Page, WARHORSE, The Young Bucks and many small appearances

Word Count - 6,076

Category - Angst, violence, small comedy bits, but this is a very "dark" chapter

Chapter 9/?

Summary - Full Gear has arrived. How will this rivalry end between Sawyer and Veronica? Their lives are about to change forever.

Warnings/Comments - There's so much violence and anger and NEGATIVITY in this chapter guys. Follow @adriii-omega

*************

ALLELITEWRESTLING- 

BREAKING NEWS : The finals to see who will be the new number one contender for Hikaru Shida’s women championship will now be decided in a Barbed Wire Death Match! The matchup of Sawyer Holden and Veronica Rodriguez will now be the MAIN EVENT of Full Gear this Sunday! 

Warhorse had been lifting in a gym near his home. Music blasting through his headphones, his mind was only on this last rep. The music quieted, meaning a notification had popped up. He sighed, before bending over to pick up his phone. His eyes largened, “Oh no… no. No!” He rolled his eyes, as he already saw tweets from the other AEW wrestlers picking sides. “I got to do something. They’re gonna to fucking get hurt!” He yelled in the gym, which he thanked God was pretty much empty. 

He clicked on Sawyer’s contact name and typed out a text- “I’m calling you in 30 minutes.” Warhorse saw she read it, and shut the phone off before he could see her response. He was determined to wonder what was going on through his friend’s heads, knowing that neither of them were thinking straight.

Sawyer responded to the text, before throwing her phone back down. She got back to her spot on the mat, near Lance Archer. She shouldn’t have any distractions, especially not the night before this huge match. She kept her eyes on the red spots tapped down on the punching bag. She kept going faster and even harder as Lance Archer shouted things at her, keeping the punching bag in place.

They had been training her for this match since the night after the brawl that she claims Veronica started. 

“Left! Right! Stomach!” Archer watched as Sawyer was definitely hitting the targets, but holding back on her strength. He pulled the punching bag away to where she couldn’t reach. 

“What the hell, Lance?” Lance put his hands on Sawyer’s shoulders, “Sawyer, you’re supposed to be my baby murderhawk. And you won’t murder shit if you don’t get your head in the game.” 

Sawyer opened her mouth to protest before he interrupted, “Close your eyes. I want you to think about the match.” Sawyer huffed, closing her eyes and crossing her arms.

“Now imagine, there’s exploding barbed wire all around you. There’s kendo sticks broken everywhere, thumbtacks all over the ground. And you and Veronica are standing face to face, you’re so close to winning that championship,” Sawyer visibly felt angrier, the thought of Veronica winning consuming her, when Lance slapped Sawyer one good time across the face, “And she once again slaps the taste out your mouth.”

Sawyer opens her mouth to yell at Lance before she realizes how angry Veronica made her, stooping that low, like they weren’t even equal anymore. Sawyer opened her eyes, throwing the boxing gloves off and turning back to the punching bag.

Lance held the bag in place as Sawyer delivered punches, this time not holding back. All Sawyer could see was Veronica’s sinister smirk, wanting to beat it off her face. Sawyer’s knuckles started to throb, ignoring it continuing to attack the bag.

The thought of Veronica standing tall at the end of the match made her lose it, causing the punching bag to rip open, sand falling everywhere. Sawyer didn’t even look surprised. She didn’t know how hard Veronica was training right now, but tomorrow, nothing would matter.

Sawyer didn’t want the championship opportunity. She wanted to humiliate Veronica, teach her a lesson. Hell, Sawyer wanted to end her best friend.

*************

 “To the soon to be champions of All Elite Wrestling!” Brandon Cutler raised his drink in one hand, while holding his camera in the other. “Introducing your soon to be tag team champions… The Young Bucks!” Matt and Nick did their signature pose, making Veronica roll her eyes with a chuckle. 

“Ooo me next!” Kenny rested his hand on Veronica’s waist, and with his free arm, flexed his bicep through his shirt. “Fine.” Brandon huffed. “The man who not only will win tomorrow, but go on to defeat Jon Moxley… the Cleaner… Kenny Omega!” The group applauded, as he made a couple faces at the camera.

“Introduce my girl,” he pointed at Veronica, making her grin. “How could we forget,” Cutler said, putting her in the frame, “The lovely, Veronica!”

Matt whistled, “Sawyer or Shida don’t stand a chance.” He smugged, while Nick draped his arm around her shoulder.

“You damn right they don’t!” Cutler screamed from the other side. She looked around in bliss, spacing out as the group joked around a bit. 

Nick nudged her, “You alright? You sort of zoned out on us.” The group turned their heads looking at her, “Yea. Everything is perfect. Just thinking how good we’re all gonna look with the gold tomorrow.” She raised her glass in the air, causing the rest to clink their root bears. 

Veronica stifled a yawn, and sipped on her drink slowly. She squeezed Kenny’s hand making him turn his attention to her, “I’m glad you’re here.” He whispered. She gave him a toothy grin as her heart began to flutter, “I am too. Tomorrow is our night.” He kissed the inside of her palm before setting it in his lap, and continuing his conversation with Nick about a recent video game he started playing. She only heard bits, as the only thing on her mind was not wanting to let down the people around her.

*************

Sawyer sat her phone up on her bathroom sink, just finishing her shower. Warhorse stared at her in silence, before speaking up, “I should be there.”

“Jake-“

“No! It’s true, I felt like I could have prevented this…COME ON A DEATH MATCH?! Whose brilliant idea was that?”

“Try Kenny Omega. You think I would trust myself with that idea?” Sawyer said, finishing drying her hair. He held his hands in defense, “I’m just saying Sawyer, Veronica has won more of these matches. I just don’t want you guys to actually hurt each other out there.”

“Jake, she’s hurt me more times I could count… but when she went against the script to embarrass me on national television, that’s when I knew she was putting that mop head, a championship, and this company over our friendship... I’ve accepted that I’m not getting my best friend back. And if that’s the case, I want her to be terrified of me.”

“Sawyer you don’t mean that,” Warhorse tried to reason with her, “It’s the heat of the moment. When you win and you’re celebrating, all you’re gonna want is Veronica there with you.”

“You can fly in, right? That’ll be enough.” Sawyer tried to say sarcastically, but Jake wasn’t amused. “I mean it, Sawyer. Be a good sport about it. Even if she won’t. Things may never be the same but that doesn’t mean to make the situation worse.”

Sawyer huffed, “Alright MOM. I’ll be a good sport. I guess you got a point.”

Warhorse smiled, “I know I do. Now! Get some rest, partying is the exact opposite of what you should be doing right now.” Sawyer groaned picking up the phone, “I will…but I would like to note that you said “WHEN” I win.” She cheekily grinned, making him groan.

“Oh my god! Goodnight Sawyer! I Love you.”

“Goodnight, Jake. Love you too.” Sawyer hung up, putting her phone on her nightstand. 

*************

Sawyer set her stuff in her locker room. Sighing to herself. So many interviewers, makeup artists, and stage hands came up to her in the fifteen minutes it took to find her door. She looked in the mirror, questioning herself, “Is this all worth it? For revenge? To prove I’m not below her?”

Looking in the mirror, she began to wonder who she had become. The old Sawyer never let her anger get the best of her, but now, she couldn’t even recognize who the new Sawyer was.  Her negative thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock, and before she could even answer, John Silver and Alex Reynolds walked in.

“There she is! The next number one contender!” Alex said, pulling Sawyer in for a hug. Sawyer clenched her teeth, trying to look as unannoyed as possible. “Hey you two! Silver, are you ready for your match?”

Silver put on a cocky smile, “Oh, you already know. Orange will never know what hit him, he’ll be like,” he cleared his throat, putting on a raspy and lazy voice, “Oh my god I can’t believe Silver beat me, I guess I should’ve gotten my hands out of my pockets.”

Alex laughed at Silver’s impression, while Sawyer cringed. Alex and John quickly noticed Sawyer wasn’t laughing, as they awkwardly quieted down. 

Alex put his hand on Sawyer’s shoulder, “Are you okay? You seem…off.” Sawyer shook her head, “I’m great. Just the fact that my best friend has put me through living hell and tonight I’m finally giving her a taste of her own medicine.”

John cheered, receiving a glare from Alex. John mumbled sorry before Sawyer continued, “I mean, this could’ve all been avoided. If she just didn’t slap me on national television. Like what the hell?”

The two men looked at each other then back at Sawyer, nervous looks forming on their faces. “Yeah…about that.” Alex said, scratching the back of his head, shuffling away from Sawyer. She arched her brow, when Silver blurted out, “We were trying to help you out, but we ended up pissing her off…” John cringed, “And we’re the reason she kinda slapped you.”

Sawyer sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “So my life is being risked in a Barbed Wire DEATHMATCH, because you wanted to make her cry?” 

“It was mainly John! He even called her a hoe!” Alex said, pointing at his tag partner. “Alex what the fuck!”

“JUST…get out. Please… before I kill both of you before the Buy-In even starts.” Sawyer said, grabbing her ring gear. 

Alex and John shuffled out the locker room, before Alex peeped in one last time, “You’re gonna do great, Sawyer. The Dark Order is all rooting for you.”

Sawyer smiled, hearing the door shut. Her mood became lighter, as she really did realize that she might have lost a good friend, she was making more along the way.

*************

The preshow had just begun to start. The few fans took their seats around the arena and began to cheer as the countdown to Full Gear was on. Hangman had just come from collecting his new and “improved” gear for tonight when he saw Veronica walking in. 

She looked stressed, her hair was tied up in a messy bun and her sweatpants sagged extra low. She honestly looked like she hadn’t had a good sleep in weeks. Seemingly to be in her own little world, not noticing any of her surroundings. “Thanks for making my gear, I bet it looks awesome!” She thanked the seamstress, before taking her items and beginning to head back. Hangman began to panic, holding his arm out while speaking before he got the chance to think. “I can’t wait to see it!” he shot. 

She jumped in surprise, “Oh…I didn’t know you were here,” she eyed him suspiciously, “Thanks though… and good luck tonight.” She tried to leave again, until he pulled her back. “Wait, no. You’re not just gonna leave me here again. Aren’t we going to talk about-”

“I don’t think there’s anything to discuss. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we all got shit going on right now. I’m not trying to be a distraction.” She spat at him with a bit of venom. It stung him a bit, making him loosen his grip. “You aren’t a distraction to me V! I just thought I finally had a friend around here.” Her eyes softened, but she shook her head with disbelief. “Why do you keep trying with me… haven’t I given you enough reasons not to trust me Adam? I’m no good for you.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me…” He said to her, “Just like you shouldn’t let Kenny keep making decisions for you.” Veronica looked at him in confusion. He chuckled at her expression, “Sweets, you gotta see what he’s doing to you.” He laughed. 

“You… you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This…” he pointed at her, “Has Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks written all over it. You’re their little group project.” He confessed. She clenched her fist to the side, and clicked her tongue. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Veronica responded. Hangman squinting at her, then at the bag in her hand, “Let me see your ring gear.”

“I don’t want to show you. You will have to wait like everyone else.” She pinned the bag behind her back, out of his reach. “Fine. You got me… is that free ice cream?” He pointed down the hall, making her whole body turn quicker than she could get the chance to react. He swiftly snatched the bag out of her hand, “Alright, let’s see…” He placed the bag nicely on a nearby table and began to unzip it. 

A smile formed, as he was in awe of the diamonds. He ran his hand down it, “Wow… Sandra really outdid herself with this one.” His hand stopped as his fingers got tangled, he looked over at her before pulling the jacket out. “TASSELS?”

“Would you be quiet!” She grabbed the jacket back from him, and put it nicely back in the bag. “Mind your business.”

“You have never worn tassels before. That’s new… kinda reminds me of a certain tag team, and those shorts are way… different from your usual baggy style.”

“Am I not allowed to try new things? My baggy pants, and hot tops are still there. I just wanted to spice it up for the pay per view tonight.” She smiled, “Plus… the tassels were a recommendation from Matt. It’s a one time thing.”

He scoffed at that, “He’s always recommending tassels to everyone… they couldn’t pay me enough to wear that shit.” She let out a small laugh before leaning in, “I think you could pull it off almost as good as them.” Veronica complimented with a smirk. “No, I’m okay… I’ll stick to my things, and you stick to… whatever that is.”

“I’m going to make you eat your words, Page.” She picked up her belongings, and made her way back to the locker room. He watched her go, and when she was gone he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Page let his head fall back on the wall behind him, and ran his fingers through his hair. Even after she put him through hell… she was back where she’s been since he met her. In his head. And with his match coming up in less than half an hour… he knew he was doomed.

*************

Nova waited for her cue to go out, which was a certain signal from Ricky and Brian Cage. Taz had come out, yelling at Cody and Darby on the mic. When Brian attacked Darby from behind, with Ricky following him after, she knew she was coming up soon. She watched as Brian threw Cody right into Ricky for a spear.

Right when they grabbed Darby, she ran out, pretending to get in between the two teams. The audience popped, Taz however, was screaming at the top of his lungs for her to move.

She went up to Ricky, pretending to lecture him.

“It looks like Nova and Ricky are having a bit of a disagreement here, Excalibur.” Tony Schiavone said, watching this all go down on the monitor. 

Nova “gave up”, throwing her hands in the air and turning towards Brian, who was holding up Darby by the back of the neck. They stared each other down, when Nova delivered a clean roundhouse kick, straight to the left side of Darby’s face. The crowd was shocked, but no one showed it more than Taz. 

Nova rolled out the ring, yelling at Brian to push Darby out. She dragged him over to the car, which he had made his entrance on, calling Ricky and Brian over. 

Brian hoisted Darby up, before powerbombing him onto the windshield. Nova and Ricky smirked, making their way up to the stage. Taz looked in disbelief, before holding his hand out to Nova.

She hesitated to put hers out, before she finally shook his hand, “Welcome to Team Taz.” He said, yelling at the camera guy to come closer.

“New Team Taz member! Nova Jay! The Supernova!”

Nova smirked, when Ricky grabbed her by the waist, kissing her passionately. They smiled at the camera before making their way backstage, Nova was finally noticed, and she was going to make sure everyone’s eyes stayed on her.

*************

Sawyer cracked her knuckles. Everything and everyone around her becoming quiet. Her earphones blasting. Her heart pounding. This was it. 

“Sawyer you’re on after this break!” Dustin Rhodes called from his monitor, “Go teach that bitch a lesson.” Sawyer handed her phone to Nova, who looked like she was about to vomit. “I’ll be fine.” Sawyer assured her friend, “This needs to be done.” 

“Why did it have to come to this though. Sure, you and Veronica have fought a hundred times before. But this is …” She stopped as she looked over and saw Veronica coming in. New ring gear on display, as she got rid of the baggy pants and went to new revealing shorts and a gorgeous rhinestone jacket with a picture on the back she couldn’t recognize, along white long tassels… it was hard to miss her. 

The wrestlers began to find any monitor they could, not wanting to miss a second of anything. Talking amongst themselves, placing bets. In awe of the reaction that the two had gotten in such a short amount of time. The crowd was awake, and ready for a fight.

“Knock ‘em dead baby! We’ll be here when you get back!” Chuck Taylor quickly yelled, making Sawyer turn just in time to catch him. She gave him a thumbs up, before she headed through the curtain.

Taylor glanced in Veronica’s direction feeling her stare already on him. He rolled his eyes at her before going to find a seat next to Trent and Orange.

 “Popcorn?” Trent offered as Chuck sat down. Orange lazily stuck some kernels in his mouth.

“I’m not sure what trick she has up her sleeve, but I don’t like it.” Chuck gestures toward Veronica who was beginning to warm up. “Her presence is enough to mess with your mind. Don’t worry about it, Sawyer is gonna WHOOP DAT ASS!” Trent said loudly, on purpose earning a scoff from behind them. The three turned around and were met with Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. “You sure are biting off more than you can chew, Baretta.” Matt snarled. Orange looked between the two, lowering his glasses.

Trent spoke up again, “Matt, no matter how hard you try. She isn’t going to sleep. with you. You need to realize that. It’s starting to seem desperate at this point-”

“Choose your next words carefully, momma’s boy.” Kenny got in his face. “I wouldn’t let her name leave your mouth again, if I were you.” Trent bit the inside of his mouth, looking back at his friends. “Forget it man, let’s just watch the match.” Chuck patted down the chairs, getting them to cool it. From the back of his head he could feel Matt began to burn holes through the trio making him smirk to himself. He had hit a nerve with Matt Jackson, and nobody knew that but him.

The beat dropped for Sawyer's entrance music, making the crowd more electric than they already were. She couldn’t help the smile break through as she stood on the ramp. The pyro went off, and she posed for the camera. She removed her jacket, revealing a dark gothic attire. The front row of wrestlers applauded, as she walked down to the ring, she got on the apron and began to take it all in, knowing this was the only bit of peace for a long time.

Veronica tilted her head in Nova’s direction as she passed. Not caring about Ricky clutching her to his side, or the glare they both gave her. She shrugged it off and went out as if this was an actual “storyline.” 

She walked out earning a mix of boos and cheers. She closed her eyes and turned her back. Revealing her jacket, to be a picture of a throwback photo of her, Sawyer, and Nova… with a drawn on angel halo hovering over her, and devil horns drawn on Sawyer. She chuckled at her antics, and spreader her arms to let the tassels gracefully fall, “Let’s fucking go!” She yelled, before making her way to the inside of the ring.

Sawyer never took her eyes off Veronica, ever since her music hit. If looks could kill, they’d both be dead. The bell rang, and Sawyer extended her hands outward for a lock up, while Veronica extended a foot— that connected with Sawyer’s nose. She blindly rolled her up, but Sawyer kicked out before three making the crowd gasp. She quickly backed up in the corner, trying to avoid the ropes from blowing up around her.

“WHAT THE HELL V?” She yelled, getting in her face. “YOU REALLY WANNA START LIKE THIS?” She pushed Veronica, making her fall on her backside. She immediately got back up, getting right back in her face. “Hit me.” She repeated, while harshly shoving Sawyer. “I know you want to.” 

Sawyer raised her fist, only to be slapped by Veronica before she could react. The crowd sat on the edge of their seats in anticipation, watching Sawyer blow the hair out her face, and stare down Veronica between her brows. She slightly gulped, not breaking her stare. Sawyer began delivering rapid kicks to her sides, then quickly delivering an arm drag sending Veronica just inches away from ropes. 

Her eyes widened, as she realized how close she was. Turning around she attempted to run away, but was met with a dropkick that sent her flying into the ropes, immediately feeling the electric wire going off around her. She yelped, as she rolled to the outside, not wanting Sawyer to gain an upper hand. Her skin began to burn, and the wind that was knocked out of her was still trying to come back. 

Sawyer’s first thoughts being to go check on her, before remembering the reason they were in this match in the first place. She shook her head, shaking all the sympathy away. As she climbed to the top turnbuckle, she stood along with the crowd. Phones flashing, their voices rising. Screaming, as she attempted a perfect moonsault to the outside. Suddenly, feeling a devastating crack to her ribs, causing the audience to fall in silence. Veronica held the kendo stick in her hand, leaning on the barricade. She watched Sawyer lay on the floor, refs coming to check on her. She pulled Bryce by his T-Shirt, wanting to continue the damage. She swung another good three times, before rolling her back in carefully. She went for the pin, once again.

1…

2…

“This fight will continue,” Tony yells in his headsweat. Sweat beading off his forehead. “We all knew that wasn’t gonna be enough to put down the Angel Slayer.” Jim added. “It’s almost as if…that name couldn’t be any more truer tonight. The white, the diamonds, the entrance…Veronica is the angel that Sawyer is slaying tonight. We’re in for one hell of a ride.”

The two had been going back and forth for about fifteen minutes. Each seeming to have a counter for each other’s move, and when they didn’t…they just started beating the absolute shit out of each other. Blood was pouring from the hairline of Sawyer, who had been curb stomped on a pile of chairs. While Veronica's left eye was beginning to swell up, as well as a huge slash from being sliced by a piece of the broken table.

Luckily, Sawyer had done her best to avoid the electric wire throughout the whole match so far. The two crawled their way back into the middle of the ring, Veronica kicked pieces of broken table out of her way. She gestured her finger at Sawyer telling her to bring it on. She charged, only to be hit with a drop toe hold. She held her mouth, and realized she fell forward on a steel chair. Immediately, tasting blood. Veronica smirked to the hardcam , rolling out the ring and pulling up the ring skirt. She tossed a couple of kendo sticks on the ramp way, for an emergency. She faked a confused face, before innocently pulling out a light tube. She rolled in the ring, swirling it around. Sawyer saw it, and let out a groan. She raised her middle fingers up, spitting blood at her. Veronica laughed, wiping it off and whispered, “You asked for this bitch” before cracking the tube on her head, glass shattering around them. Quickly covering for the pin. 

1..

2..

Sawyer barely kicked out. Making Veronica throw a tantrum, “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?” She screamed at Bryce, who did his best not to back down. “LEARN TO DO YOUR JOB.” Veronica pointed her finger in his chest. 

“Back off of me. Focus on your match, Rodriguez.” 

“Don’t tell me- AH!”

Veronica was lifted from the ground, and placed on Sawyer’s shoulder, who when no one was looking had wrapped a piece of barbed wire around her kneepad. Veronica tried to scramble, hearing the crowd go crazy as Sawyer signaled for the Go to Sleep with her hands. She successfully hit it, cringing as she stuck to Veronica’s forehead. The crowd gasped, and held their hands over their mouths. She went for the pin.

1…

2…

Aubrey was milliseconds away from her hitting the mat, they could feel it.

“WHAT? VERONICA KICKED OUT. VERONICA KICKED OUT,” Excalibur rose from his seat. “BARBED WIRE IS STICKING TO HER FOREHEAD…WHAT THE HELL?” Jim asked with concern. “What are we witnessing here folks?” 

“This is awesome!” The crowd chanted, if there was a roof on Daily’s Place, it would have been blown straight off.

Sawyer laid in the corner, not knowing what else to do as she stared at her former best friend with widened eyes. Veronica waved towards the entrance ramp, signaling for someone to come out. Sawyer turned her head with confusion, tears forming as she saw Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks dragging a helpless Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy.  She stared in horror as she saw Orange and Chuck get hit repeatedly in the torso with kendo sticks. Their cries making Sawyer furious.

“You bitch.” Sawyer huffed, as she began to drag Veronica back by her feet. Veronica kicked, connecting with her busted lip, making her curse. Veronica quickly snapped up, ducking as Sawyer attempted to grab her. Going around her and connecting her arms for a snap dragon suplex. An idea popped in her head, as she looked at her boyfriend who nodded with darkened eyes. She backed up to the ropes, breathing in, and before she breathed out she delivered a devastating snapdragon sending Sawyer through a ton of pain, as her neck was met with electricity. She hid her face, as she repeatedly hit the mat, doing everything to not let her pain be shown.

Sawyer stumbled to stand, as Veronica began to spit more venom at her, “You thought what they did was bad?” She chuckled, as Matt threw a kendo stick in her direction. She picked it up, and placed it under Sawyer’s chin making her look at her. “Watch this-” She swung, only for it to be caught under Sawyer’s arm. She gritted her teeth, not letting her react to the sting. Veronica did her best to pull it back, but she wasn’t budging.

Veronica reached her arm back to attempt to slap Sawyer again, but she grabbed onto her, slowly looking up at Veronica with angry eyes. Sawyer delivered a headbutt to Veronica’s, “That’s for bringing your boyfriend into this!” Left hook, “That’s for hurting my friends!” She kicked her in the stomach so her back hit the turnbuckles, “THAT is for putting a title over our friendship!” Sawyer balanced the kendo stick in her hand, “And THIS is for all the pain and tears you’ve put me through since July!” She went feral, whacking Veronica left and right. Veronica bawled up on the floor, trying her best to avoid her. Only to get hit harder, not being able to move. She whacked Veronica in the back once more long enough to climb to the top rope. Sawyer stood and looked around the crowd of people and wrestlers, who cheered her on as she finally did what she always wanted to do. A swanton bomb, on live pay-per view. The crowd erupted as Sawyer went in for the pin, without her Canadian Destroyer.

1...

2…

3!

The girls laid there, staring at the ceiling. Their breathing rapid, their faces red. Veronica felt the tears start to form, she scooted away to the other side of the ring, hand over mouth holding back sobs. 

“Sawyer.” Chuck shook her, “You did it baby. It’s over.” He groaned, holding his side. Her head snapped towards him, and Cassidy who were both equally hurting. “Me? I won?” She looked with disbelief. Orange gave her a thumbs up, as she pulled them in for a hug. “I’m so sorry you guys got hurt.” 

“Eh.” Cassidy lazily replied, “We lived.” 

Veronica watched the three, not realizing her own group was next to her. “Let’s get out of here.” Nick bent down to help her up, she wrapped an arm around his shoulder looking for Kenny who couldn’t meet her gaze. Instead, he angrily stared at Sawyer, who had the biggest grin on her face as she stared back. 

“Kenny-“ Veronica reached out, his demeanor broken, as he saw her covered in blood. “Jesus Christ…”He commented, pulling her away, flinching when he heard her wince. “Careful with her hip, it’s gushing.” Matt commented. 

Veronica tried to respond, telling them that she was fine until she saw Hikaru Shida walk right past her, with her AEW Women's Championship straight to the ring for Sawyer. 

Jealousy filled up, and she couldn’t help looking away as they stared down at each other. The sounds of her boyfriend’s concern were muffled, as all she could do was focus on them. Sawyer couldn’t help but glare past Shida sometimes. Veronica’s tears staining her brain. Eventually, Tony Khan came out applauding as the crowd gave a standing ovation. 

It was over. It was finally over.

—-------

Sawyer tried her best to get rid of the smile on her face, but she just couldn’t. She was on Cloud 9. Of course, something felt off. She knew what it was, Veronica. But she knew, she couldn’t let this affect her celebration. She turned up the music playing from her speaker, hoping that even Rihanna could distract her from this feeling.

Just as she put on the finishing touches of her outfit, there was a knock on the locker room door. “Come in!” Wardlow walked in, bouquet of flowers in hand, “There’s the next women’s champ! God, you’re amazing.” Sawyer gasped, “Michael! You’re so sweet.” She took the flowers, giving him a kiss.

“So, you really gave Veronica hell out there. How about you and I go to dinner? You’re already dressed, and of course, I have another gift for you back at the hotel.” He smirked, grabbing Sawyer by the waist from behind, hands sliding up and down her body.

“That sounds lovely Michael, but some of my friends set up a party for me at my favorite bar downtown. You wanna come with?” She asked innocently, thinking nothing of it. Wardlow’s energy shifted, he suddenly just seemed furious.

“You’re kidding. You’d rather spend this win with vodka and screaming than wine and classical music?” He asked, acting like there was no discussion. “Uh, yeah. It is my celebration.” Sawyer grabbed her purse, heading for the door.

“And let me guess, Chuck set this celebration up.”

Sawyer stopped in her tracks, her mind was telling her a million things, but only one was the right thing to do. “Well, you caught me. Chuck did set this up. And Isiah. Along with Nova and Ricky. And how could I forget ‘your’ buddy, Max? My friends set this up, Michael. They knew this would make me happy and they were right, I’m going!”

“I knew you were still talking to that weirdo! I knew I couldn’t trust you. If you walk out that door, we’re finished.” He threatened. Sawyer only stared back, frowning, tears forming in her eyes.

“After everything I went through tonight,” Sawyer choked on her words, before cutting the act, “You think I’m scared of a white man breaking up with me? I’ve seen some stupid shit, but this has gotta be the stupidest shit ever. We’re done, the third shot is dedicated to you!”

Sawyer cackled, walking out of the locker room, knowing that Wardlow no longer affected her. 

On the other side of Daily’s Place, the Elite got to the back. Veronica doing her best to not crumble in front of the roster. She felt a hand leave her lower back, causing her to stop them in their tracks. “Kenny, what are you doing?” Matt asked, not sure why he stopped walking. 

“You guys go on without me… I have to catch up with Don.” He looked between them, giving a disappointed look toward Veronica, “Just let me know what the doctor says.” 

Veronica’s face grew with confusion, “You’re not coming with me?” Matt held his grip on her wrist, as she tried to walk away from them. “You’re hurt.” He reminded her, “I’ll make sure she gets back.”

“Thanks man.” Kenny spoke, “I got to go fix this. I’m not letting her screw up ruin my future plans.”

Nick’s eyes widened, as a silence fell between the group. Veronica felt her blood begin to boil, as his words finally hit her. “I can’t believe you. I know I didn’t win, but I tried my best and-“

“Save it. I don’t want to hear any more excuses tonight.” He rolled his eyes, before pulling out his phone typing rapidly. Nick and Matt looked between each other, not sure what to do. Veronica pushed through, wincing at every step she took. “You know what? This loss isn’t on ME. It’s on YOU, and you know that. You told the whole world that I was this Elite superstar, and you never once considered my feelings.” Her voice trembled, “Sawyer and Nova want nothing to do with me, because of you, and now I’m finally understanding why.”

She shoved Nick and Matt’s hands off of her as she walked off in her own direction. 

As Kenny watched Veronica walk away, he groaned, throwing his hands up in the air, “I swear to God, I don’t know what her deal is.” He marched off, mumbling to the Bucks about not following him. “She has to be kidding, none of this is my fault. I got her here at the top. In this company, I gave her everything. It’s all-” His own thoughts were interrupted, almost making him stop in his tracks.

“It’s all her.”

Sawyer and Nova stared back, trying their best to hide their grins. “Looks like someone will be sleeping on the couch tonight.” Nova joked. Kenny shook his head, embarrassment beginning to wash over him. 

“You couldn’t even help your own girlfriend, when she needed it most.” Sawyer spoke up, “What makes you think YOU could defeat me?”

He opened his mouth to argue, being cut off by a car honking grabbing their attention, Nova rushed over to the side door leaving Sawyer. 

“One day, Veronica will realize that you were nothing more than a weight holding her down. It really sucks that you were the reason we had to nearly kill each other tonight, but if you think that I won’t stop trying to get my friend back… you’ve got another thing coming.” She pulled her glasses down on her head, letting herself finally relax. 

“Goodbye, and Goodnight Omega.”

◤━━━━━━━━━━━◥

Feels nice to be back, chapter 10 is coming soon.

[delilahcalicocat]

Can i request an AEW Hook x reader fic where reader got pregnant with his baby and she broke up with him without telling him that she was pregnant. Reader returns to AEW 1 year later for Taz's birthday and she brings the baby with her but she tries to hide the baby from Hook. Hook finds out the truth somehow

A/N: Ofc!!! Honestly I made it half-angst half-fluff :) and reader had twins in this I guess-

♡~Wha- How...~☆

{Ratin: Fluff and Angst}

{Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Pregnancy/Birth.}

{Pairing: HOOK/Tyler x Fem!Reader}

You and Hook had dated for sometime, until the night you'd caught him with your own friend in your bed..

A little while after that, you two made up. Until Hook splashed the cold water and said he wanted to break up with you..

You were a mess after that day, watching him move out of your house... the tears mixed with your eyeliner.. the stains on your cheeks for the rest of the day.

You both wrestled for AEW, so what was wrong.. Did He move on?

You didn't know. But you couldn't care because you never told Hook about the secret, you wanted to tell him. But then he broke up with you-

Next thing you know. It's been a few months and you wish you could wrestle, but you had two little Demon spawns crawl into the world a month ago. So you were on the shelf.

But while said spawns were asleep, you flicked through channels on the TV. Knowing if you even wink. Those demons would cry.

So you tried your best to stay awake, but failed majorly. You ended up asleep in 30 minutes probably for not sleeping for almost 2 weeks straight because of your kids.

You eventually recovered, and you were ready to wrestle again. But- you had to travel with your son, since your mom had forgotten to get him out of the car seat from your trip to the shop, so while your daughter Arianna slept soundly in her cradle. You had to deal with Jayson, who was a feisty little mess.

Your jaw dropped when you saw.. Him.

"Fuck- Tyler's coming..." You spoke, hiding your son in your locker room

You heard Hook chatting with Taz, about the birthday plans after the show.. you tried to be as silent as ever so they wouldn't know you and your son were in the locker room

"Alright Dad, I'll see you later- have fun on commentary" Hook spoke as his dad walked off

You on the other hand were still silent, until you left your locker room to go towards the ring.

"Oh! Hey Y/N!" You heard Danhausen say at the worst possible time

"Hi Danhausen!" You said back, trying to act like everything was peaches & cream.

"Hey Y/N-" You froze like a Mouse that was seen by a cat

('FuckFuckFuckFuckFuck') you thought, you were panicked.

"Why do you seem so nervous? Is there something up? Y/N?" He asked

"Oh, I'm just nervous to be back y'know?"

"You sure? Because it seems like your-"

"YES! Fuck! I'm sorry I'm just nervous for my match- I gotta go warm-up." You spat

Quickly you ran off, and handed your son off to your good friend Darby. Since Willow was busy.

"Oh. Hey Darby, what're you doin'?" Hook asked

"Just Watching Y/N's Son-" Darby Said

"Y/N has a son? Wow... I thought she wouldn't have moved on that fast" Hook said

"Dumbass- it's your fucking son. You knocked her up before you left her. So she is a single mother of two." Kenny Omega spoke

"Wha- How-..." Hook looked shocked

After that revelation, he went off to find you. You'd just come back from your match and wanted to go get your son until Hook stopped you.

"Hey Y/N, I found out about Jayson and Arianna" He sighed

"How the fuck did you- why do you- The fuck?!" You spoke quickly.

"Kenny and Darby Told me what happened after our break up." He said

"So? What's the fucking point Tyler? You've probably got some girl waiting for you." You spat

"Actually no. I've stopped my whole streak of cheating, I feel awful that I left you before you could tell me..." He admitted

"Can I actually trust you..?" You asked

"Yes, Y/N I'm sorry.." He said

You both hugged and Hook gave you some time before the big dinner to think...

[thesupreme316]

Hello I was wondering if you could do kisses around the body and face for AEW wrestlers like;

Face - Yuta

Forehead - Darby

Lips - Ethan Page

Neck - Ricky

Arms - Kenny

Hands - HOOK

 Torso - Kingston

Legs - Jeff Hardy

It could be to the wrestler or reader

Dear god I hope I did this right

AEW Stars React to: Their Favorite Kisses

Pairings: Darby Allin X Reader, Ethan Page X Reader, Ricky Starks X Reader, Kenny Omega X Reader, Hook X Reader, Eddie Kingston X Reader, Jeff Hardy X Reader

Word Count: 954

Supreme Speaks: hey yall, thanks to the anon who requested, sorry for the delay (as I am). thanks to everyone for their support. hopefully, I did this right. my inbox and requests are open to all. I think (hope) I kept this gender-neutral/applicable to everyone. P.S you are loved and greatly appreciated.

Warnings: GIFS ARE NOT MINE, i repeat GIFS ARE NOT MINE, none i think, slight talk about insecurities in Eddie's part

Taglist: @hooks-martin @hookerforhook @triscillal @sheinthatfandom @wwenhlimagines @eddie-kingstons-wifey

AGAIN I HOPE I DID THIS RIGHT

Wheeler Yuta (Face Kisses-To Him)

WITH HIS SCRUFF THIS IS SO CUTE

With these kisses, I feel like y’all love cheek kisses

He would look so content and fulfilled after the kisses

To Yuta, it’s so intimate and just feels acceptable everywhere to him

Personally, I think he would love it if you squished his cheeks together (with one hand) and then kissed him on both cheeks

Also, this would be a pre-match routine

Would literally refuse to go out there until he gets his kisses (he’s a brat)

“Where are thy kisses?” (With a fake lisp)

Darby Allin (Forehead Kisses-To You and Him)

OKAY OKAY HEAR ME OUT

He likes the forehead kisses on a particular side of his face (don’t fight me)

I feel like he would tell you to kiss him on the side without facepaint on (so it doesn’t get on you or it doesn’t mess up)

“No, no, the right side! Don’t switch up on me!”

He would kiss you on the forehead because it was the closest body part to him

Also, it’s because he can do it anywhere without it being awkward (like Yuta)

I think he would love you giving him forehead kisses cause it’s like comfort to him

As soon as you kiss his forehead (especially after a match), he feels rewarded and that everything is alright

Ethan Page (Lips Kisses-To You)

MAN HAS A NICE SMILE

Will just kiss you out of nowhere

Will kiss you at any place, any time

The type of person who will grab your face and squish your cheeks together

His mustache and facial hair tickle your face

He is not afraid of PDA (in fact, he encourages it)

“I want a kiss right now. And if you don’t give me one, Imma throw a fit like a toddler right now”

Will bend down to tease you and receive his kisses

Ricky Starks (Neck Kisses-To You and Him)

THIS MAN WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME-

He LOVES to give you kisses on the neck cause he thinks it’s sexy

It’s one of those kisses that feels intimate yet playful at the same time

Will leave marks on you so get your makeup/scarf ready

Loves it when you kiss his neck and leave lipstick stains on him (if you wear lipstick, lip stain, or lipgloss)

It makes him feel like “the man” and loved/desired (ESPECIALLY ON THE NAPE OF HIS NECK OR RIGHT UNDER HIS JAW)

Will not wash it off for segments and says “You all wish you had a sexy ass partner like me”

Kenny Omega (Arm Kisses-To You and Him)

THAT MAN HAS SOME NICE ASS ARMS LEMME TELL YOU

He’ll kiss your arms/shoulders cause he thinks it’s cute

ESPECIALLY WHEN HIS HEAD IS LEANING ON YOU OR WHEN YALL ARE CUDDLING

Within that moment, he will tell you “I love you”

And you? You kiss his arms not because you want to be cute…but so you can bite him (lovingly ofc)

He would walk out to the ring with a bite mark on his arm and just say “Y/N wanted a snack. So they bit me.”

But honestly, I think you would kiss his arms cause you were already holding hands and you wanted to show your man more love

And to bite him again…

Hook (Hand Kisses-To You)

I WANT HIS HANDS IN MORE WAYS THAN-

Ahem, anyways; I don’t think Hook like obvious or obnoxious PDA, but more subtle signs of it

So while you guys are holding hands, he will bring your hand up and kiss it

To him, it’s an intimate way of showing how much he loves you

I also think your hands would be his favorite feature on you besides your personality

He likes the size difference between your hands

DEF will kiss all your knuckles when just staring at your hands

“I love your hands, they’re so delicate. Imagine them with a ring on your finger.”

Eddie Kingston (Torso Kisses-To You)

Listen, I will protect Eddie Kingston with my life (sorry for yelling at ya earlier)

Now this man will save all his kisses until you two are completely alone

Loves to lay with you, with his face either near or on your stomach

Will kiss your chest and stomach as he notices that this is a spot that you might be insecure about

He kisses your torso to show that he loves you and your “flaws” (ya’ll aint got none so move right along)

“Doll, you are perfect to me and I dare you to say otherwise”

Does not kiss your ribs as last time, you accidentally elbowed him in the eye

Jeff Hardy (Leg Kisses-To You)

MY DARLING MAKES A RETURN

Man has no problems with PDA (in fact he thrives on it) But he saves his favorite kisses to give behind closed doors (THIS MAN IS A PLEASER)

Loves to give you foot rubs and in the midst will kiss your calves and thighs (AGAIN THIS MAN IS A PLEASER AND YALL CANNOT TELL ME DIFFERENT)

Does not care if you shave/wax your legs or not

Will watch TV in between your legs and kiss them periodically

When you ask him why he kisses your legs, he’ll just say “They’re just so beautiful to me darling”

As long as you got legs, Jeff will kiss them

[omg-im-such-a-masochist]

𝐘𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝: 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

Summary: When they first met, one would say they didn’t match at all. He was quiet, reserved and shy - unless he was around friends. She, on the other hand, was loud. No matter where she went, she always managed to be the center of attention. Whether it be for her unusual clothes, loud voice or exaggerated laugh. He was just like the earth: Grounded, steady, reliable, trustworthy and predictable. And she was fire in all its glory: Warm, irresistible, uncontrolled, flammable, dangerous. It only took one glance to realize they were never meant to be, at least that’s what everyone thought - including them. But time has only served to prove how wrong they all were.

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC Lolli

A/N: Special thanks to Crystal aka @theworldofotps for her undying support 🥰

Tags: @theworldofotps , @writtingrose , @aerynscrichton , @daddyhausen , @melissahausen , @unoficialy-married-to-ace-austin , @sophiewolfheart-blog , @sultryfandoms , @new-zealand-chic , @crowleysqueenofhell , @thealliasylum , @legit9thlunaticwarrior , @adamjf , @josiewrites , @seeingstarks , @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch , @whenimakeitshine1234 , @moxkindagirl , @sunshinevirus , @im-just-a-mississippi-girl , @ripleyswhore

He tried to swallow for what felt like a hundred times in the span of 30 seconds. This was a bad idea, Kenny should’ve never let The Bucks convince him of doing this. This would never work, after this stupid stunt, Kenny was sure Lolli would never, ever, forgive him for this.

But what can a man do when all hope is gone? “Shit, it can’t get worse than it already is, right?” He mumbled to himself behind the red velvety curtains. The karaoke host introduced the next contender as a “man trying to make things right again” before all of the lights turned out.

The first notes of the harp played along the karaoke bar and Kenny sent a silent prayer to whatever invisible being might be hearing him right now, before he began.

“I'm limited.

Just look at me.

I'm limited.

And just look at you.

You can do all I couldn't do.

Glinda

So now it's up to you,

For both of us.

Now it's up to you.”

The lights slowly turned on, revealing not only the crowd in front of Kenny but also the only person that truly mattered to him.

There she was, as beautiful as always. Her face was a mix of surprise, disbelief, embarrassment, and something deeper…hope? Love? Kenny sure hoped it was the latter. Grabbing the microphone with a deadly grasp, he continued:

“I've heard it said,

That people come into our lives,

For a reason.

Bringing something we must learn.

And we are lead to those,

Who help us most to grow if we let them.

And we help them in return.

Well I don't know if I believe that's true.

But I know I'm who I am today,

Because I knew you”

Fuck, he was sweating so much. Kenny could feel it dripping down his back before being collected by the waistband of his jeans. He was now thankful for not having had coffee before this because fuck, he was so jittery already.

“Like a comet pulled from orbit,

As it passes a sun.

Like a stream that meets a boulder,

Halfway through the wood.

Who can say if I've been changed for the better,

But because I knew you,

I have been changed for good”

Kenny was certain his heart has never beaten this fast before, not even before the most important matches of his career. He was certain that if he stopped to rationalize everything he was doing right now, he’d have a heart attack. Plain and simple, bang! A dead man on the floor.

“It well may be,

That we will never meet again,

In this lifetime.

So let me say before we part,

So much of me,

Is made of what I learned from you.

You'll be with me,

Like a handprint on my heart”

The yellow front lights momentarily blinded him, shielding his vision from who truly mattered to Kenny the most. He needed to see her, needed to see her expressions and try to read what was going through her mind as he pulled the most tone-deaf show of the night. Being unable to see her face from center stage began to annoy him, so Kenny let his feet guide him down the stairs to the crowd.

“And now whatever way our stories end,

I know you have rewritten mine,

By being my friend.

Like a ship blown from its mooring,

By a wind off the sea.

Like a sea dropped by a sky bird,

In a distant wood.

Who can say if I've been changed for the better,

But because I knew you”

There she was! She looked somewhat different, although her hair, clothes, and lack of obvious makeup were still the same there was something oddly different.

Perhaps it was the shocked expression she had plastered on her face. Yes, it was that! It made her incredibly human, which may seem crazy to say considering she is a human, but if you only knew Lolli then you’d understand. That woman is the personified version of a Pit Bull: impressively smart but sometimes incredibly dumb to the most obvious things, annoying, sometimes rude, resting bitchface, fun to tease, mean when hungry, loyal, all over the place, loud, strong, courageous, and cold and emotionless. But similar to the dog, it was all a gigantic façade, a defense mechanism if you will. Lolli’s imposing “fuck you! I don’t need nobody” demeanor was the only way she found to survive through everything life threw her way ever since she was a child. Once you got to know the person behind the character, you discovered that she was incredibly fragile. And that fragility was what made Kenny’s heart tighten in his chest right now, because even though she was sitting amid these unknown people, Lolli was unable to hide what she despised the most: her true feelings.

“Because I knew you

I have been changed for good”

She tried to hide them from him, but they appeared through her watery eyes. Shit, she hated crying in public! Well, she hated crying in general, but especially around people. Kenny could count on his hand how many times she cried in front of him in their 10 years of friendship. Vulnerability scared her like darkness scared a small child, Kenny thought that was an accurate example because similar to a child, Lolli was also terrified of the dark. She screams whenever there’s a power outage in their house, and Kenny can’t help but remember that when it does happen she instantly screams for him to go stay with her because she doesn’t want to be alone in the dark.

Lolli had found in him a sense of security she never found before in anyone else, her distrustful nature didn’t allow her to trust anyone, but devils be damned there was something about that soft, Canadian blue-eyed man that made her open up like a wildflower and now she hates it, regrets it, despises it.

“And just to clear the air,

I ask forgiveness,

For the things I've done,

You blamed me for”

Really, who the hell does he think he is? Does he think this stupid - and incredibly bad - singing will make her forgive him? Has the last 10 years not been enough for him to know her already? This is stupid! Incredibly embarrassing, uncalled for, and completely unnecessary. The closer Kenny got to her the more she could feel the tears on her eyes growing in weight, and Lolli knew it would be inevitable for them to fall sooner or later. Fuck, she hates this! She doesn’t want to cry in front of these people, she doesn’t want to cry in front of him, goddamn it, she refuses to cry right now! She’ll do it either way but in the comfort and loneliness of her apartment. She doesn’t need Kenny nor these people witnessing her weakness, she can’t let him see what he did to her, what he turned her into a big walking mess of tears and pain.

“But then,

I guess,

We know there's blame to share”

*Blame to share my ass!* She thought to herself as Kenny pulled a chair to sit beside her. Okay, maybe this was the anger and pain speaking, if she had to be honest then yes, they were both to blame. But in her infuriated state of mind refused to acknowledge any kind of blame. Until the rage subsided he was the one to blame for all of this! The pain, the tears, the words spoken throughout an empty apartment, the crushed dreams, the lost hopes. Kenny Omega was the bastard to blame for her broken heart.

“And none of it seems to matter,

Anymore”

*Maybe not to you!* She caught herself thinking. Fuck, she missed him. She missed him so much…

“Like a comet pulled from orbit

(Like a ship blown from its mooring,)”

The crowd began to sing along with Kenny and that’s all Lolli couldn’t stand, to be the center of attention of a drama scene. Kenny knew this, he could see the uncomfortableness in her body language, but what the hell was he supposed to do?! She refused to answer the door whenever he went by her apartment, she blocked his number, she took a different path to work so then he couldn’t find her, and she threatened to castrate The Bucks with a razor blade in case they shared information of her life with Kenny. She wasn’t making it easy for him to contact her so this was the only way he found to at least look at her one last time.

As he sat beside her, Kenny turned his body to the left so he could be face-to-face with her. Her heavy tears now rolled down her cheeks, leaving clear trails on her skin that gleamed underneath the pale yellow lights. From behind her, Kenny could see the people singing along with him, some of them were cheering while others held up a lit lighter in their hands.

“As it passes a sun.

(By a wind off the sea.)

Like a stream that meets a boulder,

(Like a sea dropped by bird,)

Halfway through the wood.

(In the wood.)

Who can say if I've been changed for the better.

I do believe I have been changed for the better.”

Much to her annoyance, Lolli found out that hating Kenny was an easier task when she didn’t have to face him. It was easy to hate him after that night, after everything that was said, after the way he stormed out of her apartment. After the night that changed their lives forever, she had made the silent oath of never speaking to him ever again. And she was being very successful at keeping her promise, but she had to admit that it wasn’t as easy now that he was facing her with those big, stupidly kind, and regretful blue orbs.

“And because I knew you

Because I knew you”

This was it, the very last seconds of Kenny’s opportunity were fading and he could hear his voice growing more nervous after every word. He would never forgive himself if Lolli didn’t agree to at least hear him, all of this would be in vain, and Kenny cannot allow it! In the last 10 years, this woman has proven herself to be the most important part of his being. He could live without a lung, a kidney, a leg, hell even without wrestling! But he cannot live without Lolli.

“Because I knew you,

I have been changed

For good”

After the final notes, the crowd began to chant a mix of “forgive him” and “kiss”. Kenny felt incredibly motivated by the support he was receiving from all these strange people, but deep down he knew it was pointless. Lolli lives by her standards and she’s not someone who cracks under other people’s pressure, if anything, pressuring her to do something she doesn’t want to will only serve as fuel for her to do whatever the fuck she wanted to do.

Kenny placed the microphone on top of the table as he heard her mumbling, “Why?”

“Because I’m desperate” He sincerely answered

“Desperation makes us do some dumb shit” Lolli spat, not so subtly giving Kenny her thoughts on what he just did.

“True” Kenny nodded in agreement, deciding that silence would be his best ally for now

After a couple of silent seconds, she asked with an annoyed tone “Are you gonna say something or not?”

Kenny internally celebrated her question because this meant that she was somewhat willing to listen to him and that by itself was already an accomplishment when it came to Lolli.

“Do you want to come to eat a burger with me? We can stop by that chocolate expo and grab something for dessert afterward”

And of course, the bastard was trying to win her over with food! That’s what 10 years of friendship did, no? Make you earn a kind of knowledge about the other person's weak points that will certainly be used to your advantage at some point in the relationship.

Kenny was trying, he was making an effort. Even though the things he said that night didn’t sound like Kenny at all, he was trying to make things right now.

Lolli needed this, the sentimental dumbass in her needed to hear what Kenny had to say, even if it would make her heart ache worse, she needed this. The brain convinced her that this was the closure she needed, but her heart screamed that this was the opportunity for things to be right again.

Lolli did hear her heart in regards to Kenny, and look at where that led her to, a fucking broken heart. But at the same time, she always heard her rational side, and that had also led her to pain countless times. It all sounded like a big lose-lose to her.

‘You can’t win them all’ they say, well it sounded more like you can’t win at all. So if the inevitable result is to lose every time, what should one do when faced with this scenario? Should they listen to the comfort of the mind and let that lead them to sadness and regret or should they listen to the unfamiliar heart that will take them down the path of pain and sorrow?

Independently of the choice, the results seemed mirrored. So now it was up to Lolli to figure out which path of thorns she was going to take from now on.

“Fine” She answered briefly before grabbing her backpack and following Kenny out to the parking lot under the crowd’s endless ‘uuuuhhhh’ cheering.

[obl1vionblackhart]

Ooooo prompt no8 with Kenny Omega 🙈

A/N: MY BBY OFC <33

Is that an invitation?

Kenny Omega x Reader

Requested: yup

Warnings: implied smut, swearing, kenny being a simp, Enemies to lovers 🥹🥹

(GIF NOT MINE)

You’d just finished a match against Julia Hart, you didn’t win but you definitely kicked her ass… and she kicked yours. You limped to your locker-room, letting out an audible groan as you spotted the one person you were avoiding. Kenny Omega. He only smirked, leaning against the door frame. You and Omega had a.. strange rivalry. It started in NJPW and only followed you when you signed with AEW about a year later. He was just.. annoying. The most arrogant, airheaded and ignorant person you’d ever met.

“Damn, I’m not that bad am I?” He chuckled under his breath, amused at your anger. It was no secret you irritated him, although he didn’t have the same raging anger issues you did.

“Well.. yea, you are.” You muttered loud enough for him to hear, as you shoved past him to open the locker room door. He backed up slightly, throwing his hands up in defeat.

“Woah Woah chill Wednesday Adams.. don’t get your panties in a twist” you turned to him, giving him a dirty look as you sat down on the bench to examine your lower half. Your stomach was in agony.. you feared the worst, broken rib. Kenny watched you, a ghost of a smirk still on his face yet clear concern in his eyes as he invited himself in.

“You good? You don’t look too hot..” he said, kneeling in front of you to meet your eyes.

“Fuck you Omega..” you mumbled, wincing as you touched the sensitive part of skin on your stomach.

He paused for a moment, before moving up to the Bench and leaning in towards your ear “is that an invitation?”

You froze, turning your head to look at him. You thought he was joking, swallowing thickly at the look on his face. Before any further reaction, he pulled you into a kiss. You stayed at a still, in complete shock at what was happening before you kissed him back.

“Hey Y/N do you-“ You jumped off of Kenny at the sound of the voice, that voice being Ruby Soho. You looked over at her with a panicked look, Her jaw was practically on the floor. Kenny look pleased with himself, his hand placed on your thigh

“Ruby I-“ you started, before she cut you off with a smirk “no no, don’t let me interrupt, use protection!” She rushed out, before slamming the door. Kenny let out a loud laugh as you smacked his arm lightly

“It’s not funny!” You almost squeaked, as he continued to laugh and pull you into his lap. “Kinda is..” he shrugged, before pulling you into another kiss…

A/N: Enjoy gem bby, you horny biotch <3

[debbiechanclub]

» Back to all masterlists

Note: All works on this masterlist belong to and are written by me, debbiechanclub, and are not permitted to be reposted on any other website by anyone other than myself.

― One-Shots

AEW Brutalizer (Orange Cassidy x Reader) Cold Hands, Warm Heart (Kenny Omega x Reader) First Winter (Wheeler Yuta x OFC) Least Favorite Day of the Week (Wardlow x Reader) Mercury Retrograde (Trent x Reader) Personal Snow Globe (Brandon Cutler x OFC) So You’ve Chosen Death (Luchasaurus x Reader) Still with You (PAC x Reader) The Ghost of Christmas Present (Best Friends) The Worst Thing in the World (Matt Jackson x OFC) Worth Trying (Brandon Cutler x Reader) You’re Welcome (Wardlow x OFC)

WWE/NXT “Chipped Tooth” (Timothy Thatcher x OFC) “Or Something” (Pete Dunne x Reader)

― Headcanons

AEW Adam Page ⇁ One | Two | Three Best Friends  Chuck Taylor ⇁ One | Two Eddie Kingston Ethan Page Joey Janela Hook Matt Jackson  MJF ⇁ One | Two Orange Cassidy Wardlow

NJPW Bullet Club

WWE/NXT Pete Dunne Tyler Breeze

[a-bang-for-your-bucky]

Welcome Home Part 5

A/N: Holy shit it has been a long time. BUT here it is.

Summary: Peyton finds her life being flipped upside down again.

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC (Peyton Rhodes), MJF x OFC (Peyton Rhodes).

Scurrying away from each other, Kenny went to answer the door, while I straightened out my top. He pulled it open to reveal Don, who was pacing in the hallway. He looked into the room and his eyes locked on me. “Oh. She is still here.” He commented rudely, before turning his attention back to Kenny.

“What’s up, man? We were kinda in the middle of something.” Kenny told him, and Don nodded, looking at his disheveled state with disappointed eyes.

“Yeah, I see that. I’ve called a meeting. She needs to go.” Don’s voice was callus as he completely dismissed me. I scoffed, gathering my things. Kenny turned to me with sad eyes. I could already tell this night wasn’t going the way I hoped.

“I’m sorry, Pey. Rain check, please?” He pleaded. I was confused, and hurt. I didn’t know what to do. I mumbled a ‘sure’ as I walked past Callis. He closed the door behind me with a loud slam.

Little did I know, that fateful night in Kenny Omega’s hotel room would change the path of my career and my life.

Months passed and I assimilated into The Elite. I was at Kenny’s side as he took on challenger after challenger. I watched as he collected gold after gold, slowly changing into someone I didn’t recognize. He was at my side as I defended my title against the likes of Nyla Rose, Riho, and Penelope Ford.

In all honesty, things were going great for The Elite as a group. Kenny had three titles to his name, The Young Bucks had the AEW Tag Team Titles, even The Good Brothers were champions. Slowly, I started to notice Kenny pulling away from me. He stopped being at ringside for my matches, we stopped hanging out after shows, and eventually he stopped responding to my messages that weren’t wrestling oriented.

The nail in the coffin of my time in The Elite was when I lost the title to Britt Baker at Double or Nothing. Britt was a great competitor and if I was going to lose to someone, I was happy it was her. As I left the ring that night, I had no idea the title wasn’t the only thing I would lose. Kenny was standing by the women’s locker room when I arrived.

“Pey, we need to talk.” He stated, ushering me into an empty room. The look on his face told me everything I needed to know. Once the door was closed behind us, he sighed. “Pey, look.” He started, “This all started with Tony pushing us together, but we knew it wouldn’t last forever. It’s time for you to leave The Elite.” Kenny decided. He didn’t really give me a choice in the matter.

“Okay.” I agreed, before adding, “I’ll put it out on my socials tonight.” It broke my heart to walk away from my best friend, but he was right, it was time. I gave him a hand shake, and left him alone.

4 months later……

Wrapping up another successful Dynamite show, I was in my dressing room, packing my gear, when Brandi walked in. I acknowledged her presence, but continued to gather my things. “Hey sis,” she started, “I just wanted to give you a heads up, Cody invited MJF to ride with us.” She warned.

I rolled my eyes. “Why does he do this to me?” I groaned, “I’ll call an Uber. I am not sitting in Cody’s truck with that loud mouth.” I did my best to avoid MJF.

“I’ll let Cody know. I don’t know why he is trying to push you two together.” Brandi leaned against the door.

“Ugh. Cody has always tried to play match-maker for me.” I moaned, annoyed with my brother’s bullshit. It was exhausting dealing with his meddling. “Thanks for the warning.” I gave her a quick hug and grabbed my bag. “I’m gonna go wait in catering until my car gets here.” I all but ran out of the room.

“Woah, slow down, Rhodes.” Moxley said as I slid into the chair next to him. He knew my brother’s bad habit of trying to set me up. He tried to set us up at one point.

“Sorry, running from my brother and his poor attempt to set me up. Again.” I explained as I laid my head on the table, letting out an exacerbated sigh.

“Who is it this time?” He asked, placing an arm around me. I was really happy Jon and I were able to move past the whole ‘Me costing him the title’ thing.

“Maxwell Jacob Freidman.” I enunciate each word. Jon erupted in laughter. I couldn’t help but join, because it was absolutely ridiculous.

“Seriously? MJF?” He snorted, still laughing at the thought. Jon and I made small talk while I waited on my car to arrive. When my phone dinged, letting me know they were here, I told him bye and went on my way.

Arriving at the hotel, I hauled my duffle out of the back seat and made my way to my room. To my surprise, my brother was standing by my door. “Hey Pey,” he said, giving me a small wave. I nodded, continuing in his direction. “ Can we talk?” Cody seemed off, like something was bothering him.

“Of course,” I answered, unlocking my door. Cody followed me in and took a seat at the small table in the corner. He gestured for me to join him. Closing the door behind us, I sat in the chair next to him.

“What’s up Code? Something wrong?” I immediately asked him, concerned. He shook his head ‘no’.

“Brandi gave me a good talking to on the way here and I wanted to say I’m sorry, for trying to play matchmaker.” Cody apologized. I gave him a sweet smile, but was cheering on the inside for Brandi being on my side.

“It’s okay, really. No need to apologize. It’s just, I’m capable of getting my own dates.” I replied, trying not to sound bitchy.

Cody nodded in agreement. “I know. I know. It's just, as your big brother, I want to kick Kenny’s ass.” I was surprised at the mention of Kenny’s name.

“What does Kenny have to do with this?” I questioned nervously, knowing exactly where Cody was coming from. He huffed a laugh, like he didn’t believe me.

“I know, Peyton. Everyone knows. You’re head over heels for your best friend, except for him. I was hoping, if I got you to go out with Max, then maybe, Kenny would get his head out of his ass.” Cody explained. My mouth dropped open.

“Code, Kenny is my ex-best friend. We haven’t really spoken since he kicked me out of The Elite. He isn’t the reason, I mean, it's just that, it's not...” I couldn’t form a sentence because Cody was right. Even though Kenny ditched me, I still had feelings for him.

Cody sat there, watching me try to form an excuse in my head, but nothing was coming together. Cody just laughed. “Look, Pey, I think we both know I’m right.”

I groaned, shaking my head. “Please, can we just pretend this conversation didn’t happen? I’ll go out with Max. I’m sure he isn’t as insufferable as his character.” I tried to reason with my brother.

Cody sighed, standing up to leave, “Fine, but one day, you’ll have to tell him how you feel.” he said, giving me his best big brother look. I nodded. One day, or maybe never, who knows.

I tried my best to get Cody’s words out of my head. The feelings I had for Kenny were my past. Or maybe they were remnants of the relationship we never got to have. All I knew was it was time for me to move on. Cody sent me a text with Max’s number. What’s the worst that could happen?

Please don't hate me

Tags: @rach-supreme93 @demonprincess13

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Everything Has Changed--Ch. 24

Chapter 24

Nick

           Matt sat on the floor facing me, back against the fridge and feet wedged against the wall. I had the trashcan propped between my knees. I couldn’t tell if I was going to be sick again, but it was like I could feel it at the back of my throat. All I could think about was what had just happened. How Shaye had practically just cut me out of her life without a second thought.

           “Hey,” my brother said, nudging me in the hip with his foot. “It’s not as bad as it seems.”

           My head fell back against the wall, sending a sharp snap of pain through my skull. “She practically just told me to never talk to her again.”

           “Nick, she just had Kenny royally screw with her head. He broke her heart. He was a complete asshole to her. It’s not you. Not really,” he said. I  let out a huff. “Seriously. Don’t take it personally right now. Both of you are wound up.”

           “I tried to move in on a girl who’d just been dumped.” Saying the words out loud made them real. Made me think that, no matter how much I’d tried to deny it, I really was one of those guys. “Jesus, Matt… when did I turn into such a douchebag?”

           Matt kicked me in the ribs. Not hard enough to knock the wind out of me, but hard enough to hurt. “You’re not a douchebag, Nick.”

           “I feel like one.”

           “Well, you’re not. And I’m pretty sure that I’m right when I say Shaye probably doesn’t think so either.” He groaned and stood up, his back popping as he did. “You need to eat. And don’t argue.”

           Matt started digging around in my fridge and pulling out stuff to make sandwiches. I pulled the trashcan closer. The sour scent of vomit wafted up, and I thought for a moment that I was going to puke again. Just thinking about Shaye and how she had practically begged me to stay away. To not call her again. It was like the last few days were a fever dream that I couldn’t quite figure out. I couldn’t even work out how I’d ended up on a plane to Winnipeg in the first place.

           All I could see was her face and how heartbroken she’d sounded on the phone when she’d asked if I knew where Kenny was. I’d thought I was doing the right thing going with her. It was like I’d made everything worse, and I didn’t know how to make it any better. Somehow she seemed to hate me.

           “Stop it,” Matt said from the sink. He was banging through pots and pans. “Stop moping. Give her a day or two to get herself together.”

           I hung my head. “A day or two. A week or two. It isn’t going to matter. She’s never going to want to speak to me or see me ever again.”

           When I looked up, Matt was rolling his eyes. “Not with that attitude, she won’t.”

Shaye

           “Are you okay, Sha-sha?” Damon said as he leaned against the counter next to me. My head throbbed and my eyes had gone blurry. He grunted as he hopped up onto the kitchen island. “You look like shit.”

           I dropped my forehead onto the granite. “Thank you so much, Damon. It’s not like I hadn’t noticed.”

           He swung his feet, banging his heels into the cherrywood cabinets. Every thud made my jaw clench. “You’ve been miserable ever since you came back. I can hear you at night, you know. Crying.”

           “Your room is on the other side of the apartment,” I sighed, rubbing my temples hard with my fingers. “That’s impossible.”

           “Not really,” my little brother said quietly. When I looked up, he was watching me with his head cocked to the side. “Sometimes I come sit outside your room.”

           “Why are you outside my room?” I asked, feeling something hollow settle into my stomach. My little brother looked down at his hands, twisting them in his lap.

           He looked so different from the kid who had been on the verge of getting kicked out of another school just a few weeks before. There was something about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

           “I saw you when you and Dad came home from the airport.” Damon paused for a moment. Then he reached out and took my hand. “I don’t know what happened wherever you went, but I know that I hate the way it’s making you feel. You seem so miserable, Shaye. And I know I’m just some stupid kid, but I’m here for you if you want to talk about it.”

           I met my brother’s eyes. How had he grown up so much so fast? For a moment, I hardly recognized him.

           “You don’t have to, Sha-sha,” he added quickly.

           “Kenny and I are over,” I said in a rush. The words came out so fast that I couldn’t remember even thinking them. “He wouldn’t answer the phone for days. I went to Winnipeg to surprise him. Instead, I got surprised.”

           Damon squeezed my hand and sighed. He didn't say anything. Instead he just let me be. He let me have the time to figure out what I wanted to say.

           "I called…" My breath caught in my chest. I forced air into my lungs and back out again. "I called Nick Jackson to find out where Kenny was. That's how I knew to go to Winnipeg. Before I was even on the jet, Nick called to say he was flying in from California. He met me at the airport…"

           "I didn't know you guys were close like that," Damon said softly. I could hear the confusion in his voice.

           "We weren't… aren't… I don't know what we are." Tears burned behind my eyes. My head swam and I was certain I was going to puke. "When we got to Kenny's place, Kota Was there. And Kenny didn't deny the reason why."

           My brother watched me quietly for a moment before grabbing some paper towels from near the sink. He wadded it up and handed it to me. "Here," he whispered.

           I hadn't realized I'd started to cry. I wiped furiously under my eyes. My chest had gone tight and achy.

           “Why did you go to California?” Damon blushed when I looked at him. “I heard Dad telling her about it.”

           I gave a halfhearted laugh. At least I was able to call her Mother. Damon hadn't called her that in a very long time.

           "I asked Nick to take me. I needed somewhere that wasn't…"

           Damon squeezed my hand again. "Neutral territory," he said with a nod. "It looks like it didn't help much."

           "It helped some. But mostly… confused me. About Kenny." I closed my eyes and hung my head. The words and realization rumbled through my head, but I was so scared of telling my brother what had really happened in California. "About a lot of things."

           He hopped down from the counter and smiled before wrapping me in a hug. "I love you, Sha-Sha. I'm here. Even though I'm a stupid teenager."

           I hugged him back hard. "You're not stupid, Damon. Just reckless."

Nick

Matt practically dragged me down the stairs of my apartment complex. A champagne gold Honda sat in the lot next to my beat up Nissan. It was Sam's car. His girlfriend's car. The girl we'd met all those months ago in the concourse of LAX all because I couldn't pick up the right suitcase.

           And Sam was inside, sitting behind the wheel with the seat back and her eyes closed. She looked so pretty, her hair pulled back in a bun and a faint sunburn running across her cheeks. It felt like getting punched in the gut again.

           It had been two days since Shaye had disappeared without saying goodbye. She still wasn't answering my calls or texts, and I'd slipped into a funk.

           "Come on. We're going to Reseda," Matt said as he yanked me by the arm toward her car. "You're not staying holed up in your apartment. Super Dragon wants us at a show tonight."

           I stopped, planting my feet. "I don't have my gear bag and I'm not in the mood."

           My brother grabbed me by the wrist and practically gave me an Irish whip into the side of the Honda. "Good thing we're not on the card. Just a run-in for Cole and Roddy."

           “I’m still not in the mood. Go without me.”

           Matt thumped me hard in the shoulder, backing me up against Sam’s car. It rocked. She hit the horn, scaring the crap out of both of us. “You are not sitting in that apartment and moping, Nick. I’m not having it and neither is Sam. If you’re not going to go after Shaye, the least you can do is not act like an ass. Get in the ring. Do something.”

           The thought of wrestling made me think about the first time I met Shaye. And that made me think about Kenny Omega. And that made me feel sick in a way that I never expected. Nausea rolled through me, bringing along with it rage and disgust and a deep ache that cut like a knife between my ribs. My fists clenched at my sides, and I could feel my lungs straining for breath.

           Suddenly, fighting someone felt like a very good idea. “Promise me I can punch someone,” I said vehemently.

           Grinning, Matt turned and held open the back door. “I’m sure Kevin and Rami would be happy to take one for the team.”

Tag List

@imagineall-the-fandoms​

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[spine-buster]

just friends, pt. 2

aka, another time it could have happened again

gif credit @/besthimbomachine

Length: 3704 words Summary: It's New Year's Eve. Tyson and Hazel's favourite holiday is New Year's Eve. A beautiful dress doesn't quite help any New Year's resolutions. A/N: This series is slowly taking over my mind. This is some more blue balls for you all before we finally get to a sequel.

31 December 2019

Hazel took time to get ready for AEW’s New Year’s Eve party; she took time shaving and exfoliating in the shower, lathering herself in lotion, curling her hair, applying her makeup, slipping into her dress.  She took time looking at herself in the mirror, happy with how she looked.  It took a while to get here, literally and figuratively, but judging by the colour of her dress and the slit that reached up her thigh, she was, firmly, here.  Happy.

The party was to be held in TIAA Bank Arena for the entire roster, and while she knew she wasn’t running late, she knew Tyson would be. 

Can you hurry your ass up?

Perfection takes time, hunny

You are the worst person alive

Hazel snorted to herself at Tyson’s text, if only because she could picture so perfectly him saying it in person, too – if he were ever on time.  Regardless, she waited out in the hotel lobby, scrolling through her phone.  She saw some personal stories posted from some other friends already at TIAA Bank Arena, seeing all the decorations, the bar set up, and the hors d’oeuvres already being served.  She was starving.  If Tyson made her miss the hors d’oeuvres, she was going to kill him.

Her instincts told her to look up, and when she did, she saw Tyson walking towards her wearing a nice button up shirt and a pair of pressed slacks that fit him perfectly.  He looked good, but to Hazel, he always did, even though she couldn’t say it out loud.  She thanked the Lord it looked like he scrubbed all the spray tan off too, and trimmed his beard so it wasn’t too scraggly.  Sometimes she thought it looked so, and she made sure to tell him.  ‘It looks better when it’s shorter, Ty,’ she’d tell him, and usually within twelve hours it would be at a length she loved.  It was kind of like when he told her how he liked her long hair, how he didn’t want her to cut it again after she had chopped most of it off into a long bob a few years ago now.  Hazel went for regular trims so her hair was healthy and grew it out to a length that cascaded down her back.

Okay, so maybe they did say it out loud from time to time.

“Did you order the Uber?” she asked when he was close, but he didn’t answer.  She waited patiently for a response, but didn’t get one.  Tyson didn’t respond because his eyes were travelling from her face down her body, the dress accentuating every beautiful curve and line.  “Kenneth!”

He snapped out of it.  “What?!”

“You’re going to make me miss the hors d’oeuvres,” she said.

“No I’m not,” he said.  “The Uber’s two minutes away.  Let’s go wait outside.”

He walked behind her, watching her ass in the dress.  He had to think of the smell of his hockey team’s locker room from 20 years ago to prevent himself from getting a fucking erection in the lobby of a hotel.  He wanted to punch himself for thinking what he was; for thinking about what he wanted to do to her in that dress.  The things he could get away with.  The things she’d let him get away with.

If it was the right time.

“You look great by the way,” he said nonchalantly, barely making eye contact with her as they stood outside waiting for the Uber to pull up to the door.

“Yeah, thanks,” Hazel was almost bashful, running her hands down the fabric that covered the front of her thighs.  “You don’t—you don’t think it’s too m—”

“Nah, no way,” he cut her off, shaking his head vehemently.  “Everything…you just, you look incredible, Haze.”

“Thanks, Ty.  I mean it.”

He looked at her finally, a small smile on his face.  “If any of the guys hit on you tonight, you’ll know why.”

Before Hazel could say that none of the guys would hit on her as long as he was around (except for Austin, probably, and even then it would be as a joke), and before she could blurt out something stupid like “I wish you’d be the one to hit on me,’, their Uber rolled up in front of them.  She climbed into the back, trying to get her dress not to bunch up too much.  Tyson hopped in after her, staying behind the passenger seat.  “TIAA Bank Arena, please,” Tyson said to the driver before looking out the window to distract himself.

***

At the party, Tyson didn’t appreciate how he and Hazel were separated.  She had been whisked away early on and he watched her order gin and tonic with lime from the bar.  He hung out with some of the guys but the eye he kept on her in the dress was near constant.  New Year’s was his favourite holiday and he wanted to spoil himself by staring at her – sue him. He wanted to spoil himself in more ways, but he knew he couldn’t.  It was getting harder the more he saw her smile, the more he saw her laugh, the more he saw her cheeks flush red and her smile get wider as the night passed, taking pictures and laughing at jokes and singing along with the music.

For what it was worth, Hazel noticed.  She noticed Tyson’s eyes on her almost the entire night, stuck on her as she giggled and smiled and sipped her drink.  She could tease him all night if she really wanted to, and she knew it.  But instead of doing that – instead of teasing him more than she already was – she decided to whisk herself away to the bathroom, if only to cool herself down and reapply her lipstick. 

As she bent over the vanity to reapply her lipstick in the mirror, the door opened and in walked Tyson.  He stared at her through the mirror, smiling as he shut the door behind him and leaned against it.  “Hey,” his voice was soft.

“Hey you.”

“You okay?” Tyson asked quietly.

“Of course,” Hazel nodded.  She picked up her glass filled with ice and a lime.  “This is water.”

“It is?”

“I keep asking the bartender to fill it with just tonic water,” she revealed, smiling.  “You know how I always like to remember New Year’s.”

Tyson couldn’t help but smile at her little scheme, pushing himself away from the door and taking the few steps towards her.  “Yeah.  Of course.  Just like me.”

“We promised, didn’t we?” she maintained direct eye contact with him through the mirror.

“We did,” he said, remembering their conversation and promise in Tokyo all those years ago. His hand went to her waist, without warning. Then it snaked around, his hand resting on her lower belly. Hazel looked at him through the mirror. “Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?” his voice was low.

A smile broke out on her face; one she could barely conceal. “Mhmm,” she nodded her head quickly. She placed her hand over his, intertwining their fingers slightly. “You’re getting real handsy, Ty.”

“Sorry,” he didn’t mean it.

“You don’t have to apologize. You just have to…be careful.”

“Of what?”

“Yourself,” she deadpanned, biting her bottom lip mischievously.  “You’re your own worst enemy sometimes, you know that?”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Smirking at each other through the mirror, Tyson slowly pulled his hand away from her, but didn’t step away from her body.  “Are you having fun?”

“The most fun,” Hazel closed her lipstick, turning around so she was finally facing him and not looking at him through a mirror.  “You know how much I love all these rapscallions.  Are you?”

“Now I am.”

***

When there was about five minutes to go, the waitresses and caterers began pouring the champagne into the flutes.  Hazel watched as each one filled up one by one, everybody gathering together to watch the final minutes.  As the champagne was passed around, Hazel accepted her flute graciously.  Tyson, of course, politely declined. 

“Can I have his?” she asked the waitress, who was more than willing to oblige.

With two champagne flutes in her hands, the final minutes were dwindling.  Tyson stood beside her, watching on, a smile on his face.  The excitement in the air was palpable.  The countdown was always the best part.  And when the last minute of the year hit, he watched as Hazel performed an excited jig. 

Then, thirty seconds left.  They both turned towards the TV again, counting down with the growing number of their friends shouting out the numbers.  Tyson grew more and more emphatic with his screaming of the numbers the closer they got.  Hazel screamed along, careful not to spill her champagne.

Five!...Four!...Three!...Two!...One!...Haaaaaappy New Year!

Hazel screamed along with everyone else, raising her hands with the champagne flutes up in the air for dramatic effect.  Tyson was screaming along with everyone and clapping his hands.  She could see Austin and Britt already sharing a New Year’s kiss, and a few others, too.  She brought the first of the champagne flutes to her lips to drink, to suppress what she really wanted to do.  Hopefully the moment would pass.

When she looked into Tyson’s eyes after downing the second flute, she saw everything she loved about him; everything she was so desperate to have but desperate to keep hidden, to keep locked away in some small compartment within her.  “Happy New Year, Ty.”

His smile was soft, but light, and genuine.  “Happy New Year, Haze.”

***

It was nearing two in the morning by the time Tyson and Hazel decided to call it a night.  There were still plenty of people at the party, and they were still all giggly and smiley, but they wanted to go back to the hotel.  Tyson ordered the taxi as Hazel said goodbye to everyone, kissing everyone’s cheek and hugging them tight.  When they left the venue, Tyson walked behind her again, watching her hips and ass move in her dress. 

The car pulled up in no time.  Hazel crouched into the taxi first, shifting all the way over to the other side.  She could immediately feel how cool the air was in the car, in such contrast to the humidity outside.  As Tyson climbed in after her, her body shivered.  “Hyatt Regency, please,” she said to the driver, watching as Tyson close the door behind him.

As the taxi driver signalled to rejoin the road, Tyson moved so he was in the middle seat, practically in her seat.  Then, his hand went straight to her thigh, where the slit of her dress exposed as much leg as it could.  Her eyebrows rose playfully.  “What d’you think you’re doing?” she asked playfully.

“What?” he asked non-chalant, the smallest of smirks building on his face.  “Not like my hand’s never been there before.  Plus, you shivered.  Body heat is paramount.”

Between training and matches, and between, well…he wasn’t technically wrong.  But he still knew he was pushing it, and Hazel knew he was pushing it too.  While she appreciated the physical touch – she always did with Tyson – she knew it wasn’t the right or the best thing to do.  “Oh Tyson,” she chastised him, leaning back against the window.  “You know what would be even better?” she asked as her hand went to lay on top of his on her thigh, their fingers slightly intertwining.

His hand attempted to go higher, closer to her core, but she stopped him.  “What’s that?” he asked.

“If you gave me a foot massage.”

He pretend gagged and she laughed out, knowing that he hated anything to do with feet.  “Now why the fuck would I do that?”

“Cause you love me,” she said.  “And these heels are awful.”

“They look great.”

“Beautiful but awful.”

“Why don’t you just take them off?”

She rolled her eyes.  Men.  “The first rule of heels is you can’t take them off until it’s the end of the night.  Your feet won’t fit back in them if you do, and it actually becomes more painful to walk in them again.”

Tyson shook his head.  “Beauty is pain, I guess.”

“So I guess I’m not getting a foot massage, huh?” she smiled.

“No chance.”

They chatted and joked for the short ride back to the hotel, wishing the driver a Happy New Year and tipping generously with cash so he didn’t have to claim it.  The second Tyson’s hand left her thigh and his body left her side, she felt the loss.  She hated admitting so.  She buried the feeling again as she stepped out of the car.  But before Hazel could even shut the door, Tyson’s hands were on her again.

Except this time, he lifted her up dramatically into a fireman’s carry.  She yelped loudly, acutely aware that despite her dress still being on and the fabric covering everything it needed to cover, her ass was in the air.  “Tyson!”

“Oh will you stop,” he mimicked Gorilla Monsoon perfectly.  “You said your feet hurt!”  He began walking towards the door and through the foyer.  Hazel could feel her body heat up from embarrassment as she saw the concierge look at them.  What a sight to see at two in the morning.  She was thankful that nobody else was lingering around.  “Better than walking, huh?”

“Can you at least carry me like a normal person so my ass isn’t in the air?”

Carefully, so as to not tear at her dress, they transitioned like they were in the ring in-between wrestling moves, and eventually, Tyson was carrying her bridal style.  She pressed the button for the elevator before looking into his eyes and cradling his face in her hand.  “Hey Tys?”

“Hmm”?

“Thanks for carrying me.”

“I’d do anything for you.  You know that.”

“I know that, but your back is bad.”

“Doesn’t matter.  Your feet hurt.”

Her heart swelled.  Tyson had always been so good to her, and her to him, but she revelled in this sweet moment as much as she could.  It was only when Tyson’s face started to get closer did her heart begin fluttering instead of swelling.  “Ty…” she whispered. 

“You smell delectable,” he mumbled. 

“That’s Jo Malone for you,” she tried to joke, even though she knew it wouldn’t hit.  Tyson’s mind was somewhere else as she dug through her purse for their room key.  She shoved it into the reader, the little light turning green before she opened the door for them.  Tyson carried her into the room without even looking where he was going, the hair on his beard tickling the sensitive skin on her neck.  She couldn’t help but smile and giggle.  “Ty…”

“Let me put you on the bed,” his voice was husky all of a sudden.  He placed her down on the bed but followed her down, his face still in the crook of her neck, his body looming over hers.  “Christ, Hazel…”

Even though she was smiling, and even though almost every inch of her wanted this and could have had so, so much fun with it, she couldn’t.  Trouble – that’s what this was.  They could get into a lot of trouble this way.  “That’s not the best idea, Ty,” Hazel whispered as she felt Tyson’s nose on her décolletage, on her clavicle, on her neck.  She knew his lips were next.

“Why not?”

She giggled.  “You already felt up my thigh in the taxi.  You just want to because you’re hyped from the party.  New Year’s has always been your favourite holiday.”

“Our favourite holiday.”

“Regardless,” she smiled to herself like a Cheshire cat, “you shouldn’t do much more, Ty.  It wouldn’t be right.”

He knew she was right, fuck he knew she was right, but he gritted his teeth and bit his tongue.  ‘Yes it would be right’ he thought.  ‘Anything we do is right.  Anything we’ve ever done has been right.  It’s been right because it’s been with each other.’  He dislodged himself from her neck and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling of the hotel room.  “It’s that dress, too,” he said to mask everything he was feeling, in a tone that covered any agony with humour.

Hazel’s smile didn’t leave her face.  “It’s always the dress, huh?”

Tyson stayed silent, continuing to stare at the ceiling, trying to collect his thoughts.  His arm was up above his head, the back of his hand resting on his forehead.  “Sorry Hazel,” his voice was soft and low.

“You don’t have to apologize.  I just don’t want you doing something you’ll regret later.”

‘But I won’t regret it’ he thought to himself.  “Yeah, yeah,” he nodded slightly.  “Thanks for always looking out for me, Haze.”

“You know I always will.”

Both of them took deep breaths, staring up at the ceiling as they lay in bed.  Tyson couldn’t get the images out of his mind of Hazel at the party posing for photos, laughing, her legs glistening in the light.  Her beautiful smile that took up half her face.  The shine of her hair down her back.   Fuck.

He felt Hazel shift beside him.  When he looked over, she had lifted her knee to her chest, stretching to grab the buckle of her heels.  The material of her dress rode up her thighs, exposing more of her skin.  They came off one by one, with Hazel haphazardly throwing them to the side on the floor.  He watched as she pushed herself up, sitting on the edge of the bed, her back now facing him.  He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Hey Tys?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you unzip me?”

He shot up, but tried not to look too eager.  He moved so he was directly behind her, watching as she gathered her hair over one shoulder.  He grabbed the small zipper of her dress with his big hands.  He took his sweet ass time pulling it down; Hazel knew he would.  A part of her wanted to tease him so badly, only because she knew she had the power to at the moment.

When he was finished, he didn’t say anything.  Instead, Hazel sensed it and she stood up from the bed, not bothering to look back at him.  He watched her as she walked through the room, watched as she reached her suitcase and promptly dropped her dress to the floor, leaving her in only her underwear in front of him.  He caught glimpses of the curves of her breasts as she threw her hair up in a ponytail and dug through her suitcase to find her pyjamas.  His mind took him back to Tokyo and it was like a magic trick how he could remember the feeling of them in his hands when they made love.

Hazel went into the washroom and closed the door behind her, and Tyson knew it was so she could wash off her makeup.  The memories of the night they’d just had flooded his mind, interspersed with memories of Tokyo.  Her dress.  The first time she wore one of his t-shirts after crashing at his apartment in Shinjuku.  Her being backstage after the G1 Climax.  Her laughing at his dumb joke at the bar.  Her lips around the straw of her drink.  Her hand over his when he grabbed at her thigh inside the taxi.

When Hazel got out of the washroom, clean-faced and with her hair in a bun, she noticed Tyson laying back down on the bed, still in his clothes from the party.  When she moved closer, she realized that instead of using the time she was in the bathroom to change, he hadn’t.  Now, he sleeping in his pants and shirt, an arm draped across his chest.  He looked so peaceful in his slumber Hazel almost didn’t want to disturb him.  But she knew what she had to do.

She crawled onto the bed slowly, making sure not to disturb him, and began to pull his belt out of the loop and unbuckle it.  When she tugged slightly, he moved his arm, and it wasn’t until she unbuttoned his pants and unzipped them did he groggily open his eyes.  “Hazel?” he asked.

“Let’s go to sleep.”

Considering what he had been thinking of before he fell asleep, he wasn’t sure if this was reality or a dream.  The fact that her hands were near his crotch was enough to make him confused.  “What’re you—”

“You can’t sleep in your party clothes, Tys.  Lift your hips for me.”

He did as he was told, and felt Hazel pulling his pants down, all the way down, until he was left in his boxers.  She moved to his shirt and started unbuttoning it for him.  In his mental haze of still not knowing if this was a dream or reality, he bought his hand up and placed it over hers.  She stopped and looked at him.  “I’d do anything for you,” he whispered softly.

A smile spread across her face.  “I’d do anything for you too.  Let me take this off you now, okay?”

Her hands were soft as they glided across his chest and up to his broad shoulders to push his shirt back.  It came off easily.  Hazel noticed Tyson’s heavy eyes.  “Get your head on a pillow, Tys.  You’ll be more comfortable.”

He pushed himself back and settled himself; meanwhile, Hazel pulled back the covers, got underneath them, and pulled them over their bodies.  She snuggled into his back, his body heat radiating onto her.  She paused for a moment, her lack of judgement winning out against her better judgement as she placed three kisses along Tyson’s shoulder.  She dragged her lips along his skin between them, making sure her lips lingered on his skin when she was done.  “That okay?”

He groaned slightly in response, nodding his head.  “That feels so nice,” he sighed out.

Hazel couldn’t help but appreciate the sentiment.  “Let’s go to sleep, Tys.  Tomorrow when we wake up there’ll be a whole new year of memories we can make together.”

Always together.

[lancearcherinrippedjeans]

Eternity - Chapter 8

*************

Starring - The OC’s, MJF, Ricky Starks, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, The Dark Order, Matt Jackson and so much more.

Word Count - 5,627

Category - Fluff, angst and violence

Chapter 8/?

Summary - It’s a few days before Full Gear, and Sawyer and Veronica’s match. Will things be a breeze, or will there be blood in the water?

Warnings - VIOLENCE, LOTS OF IT. And drinking and manipulation

Other Author’s Notes - Follow @adriii-omega!!!

*************

Sawyer lay in her bed, curled up in the blankets, some shitty Netflix reality tv on her laptop. There were tissues all around her, and a tear stained pillow right under her. It had been like this ever since her “breakup” with Chuck, she hated it, she wasn’t even like this when her and Wardlow broke up the first time.

“Why couldn’t me and Chuck end up like those two! It’s not fair.” She started to tear up again when she heard banging on her door. She sat up, confused, she wasn’t expecting anyone, in fact she told everyone to leave her alone until she died. She got up to look through the peephole, to see it covered. She sighed, “Who the hell is it and why are you knocking on my door?”

“It’s Maxwell, honey. Open up.”

Sawyer audibly groaned, annoyed that he even spoke, before opening the door. Max almost jumped, looking at her. He gave her a look before pushing past. “Excuse you,” She whined, “You can’t just walk into someone’s room uninvited.”

Max looked around the room before turning back towards Sawyer, who had closed the door and now looked at him, confused. “You look like you’re having a good time.” He sarcastically commented, raising an eyebrow, plopping onto the end of the couch.

Sawyer shuffled her feet and sat next to him, as he examined her and the room, while she stared into space. “Messy room, reality tv,” He paused, “basketball shorts and a shirt that is 3 sizes too big so it definitely doesn’t belong to you. Did you and Wardlow break up?”

Sawyer looked down at her shirt, and began to sob. “T-this is the shirt he gave to me after he spilt his apple juice on me.” she snuffled. “But Wardlow hates apple juice, he’s an orange juice type of guy…that nasty man.” Max shook his head, having Sawyer kick him with her foot.

Hearing the word breakup caused Sawyer to start crying, get up and to plop on her bed, “No you idiot! Your friend forced me to stop being friends with Chuck! And it’s not fair! I miss him! And even after I did it, Michael hasn’t talked to me in four days for ‘punishment’ for being sad about it!”

Max looked at Sawyer, scared, before she continued, “And people won’t leave me alone and it’s so annoying! Can’t I just deal with the fact that I had to stop communicating with the dude I’m in love with?” Sawyer gasped, snapping up and covering her mouth.

Max's mouth hung a bit, his eyes wide. “I did not…I mean-”

“I knew it.”

She instantly shut her mouth, a perplexed look taking over, “You knew what?” Max lightly chuckled before sitting on the opposite side of the bed. “That you’re in love with Chank.”

“His name is Chuck.”

“And, I don’t give a shit. All that matters is that man made you light up in a way Michael never could.” He paused, before taking a deep breath.“The problem with Wardlow is, he can only give so much in a relationship…but with Chuck, the guy’s not even dating you, and he’s willing to give you the whole world, Sawyer. Please tell me you’ve seen the way he looks at you when you’re doing absolutely nothing, or the way he crouches over his phone because he’s grinning like an idiot from just texting you. If that man walked through that door right now, and you looked like this, he would still think you were the finest girl he’s ever laid his beady little eyes on.”

Sawyer wiped her eyes, and sat up. “You’re not funny.” She tried her best to keep her smiling from growing, “Shut up. You know I’m knee slapping hilarious.” She finally let her laugh out, not being able to hide it. “There’s that smile I love.” he sent her a toothy grin before leaning over, and placing his arm around her shoulders, “Everything’s going to be just fine,” he placed a kiss on the top of her head before getting up, “NOW clean this room up, what are you? 7?”

“Alright, mom.” Sawyer shot back, rolling her eyes. “Y’know…I’d prefer if you called me Daddy-”

“GOODBYE MAX.” She shot up, hurryingly shoving him out the door. “Come on Sawyer, you should have known that was coming.” He laughed, as he reached the doorway. “I still hate you by the way.” He lightly punched her shoulder. “Yea, I hate you more though.” She smiled before raising her middle finger, making him act offended. “As if, I came all this way just to get DISRESPECTED. The audacity of some people.”

“We’re in the same hotel.”

“YOU take my kindness for GRANTED!” he shouted as he made his way down the hall. Sawyer shut the door leaning on it for support, as she laughed to herself. “I can’t believe him sometimes.” A vibration from her phone caught her attention, as she finally went to pick it up from where she threw it on the floor a couple days ago. She opened it, letting a chuckle escape as it was a picture of Max with his middle finger raised. Another text came through. “Even my middle finger is better than you. Love you I guess.”

Daily’s Place

Hangman hasn’t had a peaceful sleep in days. His eye bags were more noticeable than usual, and even though his match with Kenny was coming up in a few short days, it wasn’t even his number one priority anymore. He made his way to a familiar locker room, quickly knocking and stepping back as if the door was on fire. “I got it!” a muffled voice yelled from the other side. A small smile escaped, as he could tell who that voice belonged to. to., “Yeah? Oh… it’s you.” Veronica said with a frown, “I don’t really think right now is a good time, Page.” She stared at the ground trying to avoid his green eyes burning holes through her. “No, I really need to talk to you. I know I messed up and-”

“Hey, who was it V?” Matt Jackson popped his head out, opening the door more to reveal Hangman standing in the hallway. “Oh for the love of god, what are you doing here,” he threw his hands in the air, “YOU’RE NOT WITH US ANYMORE.” He shouted, causing  Veronica to jump. Hangman shot a look at both of them, biting the inside of his lip, “With all due respect Matt… I wasn’t here to bother you, I never was, but you always seem to be where she is…so if I have to put up with you to talk to her, so be it. Veronica, come on.” He grabbed ahold of her wrist, before Matt put his hands up and shoved him, “Don’t touch her.” he warned, as he got closer. “Go back to the bar man, you’re embarrassing yourself again.” Matt said with his jaw clenched not breaking his stare.

“You don’t control her…if she wanted me gone, Veronica would tell me herself,” he chuckled, noticing his stance. “You’ve changed.” He blurted. Matt opened his mouth to protest, then was cut off by an annoyed voice. “Are you kidding me?” Veronica squeaked.

“MATT has changed? You’re out at three in the morning getting absolutely WASTED every night, and he’s the one who’s changed? You cost Matt and Nick a championship opportunity, because you know you couldn’t defeat them again. You selfishly thought about yourself to save YOUR title.”

“Veronica, what are you talking about? We-” he spoke up.

“There is no WE Hangman!” She frustratedly pointed between them. “I sat in that bar, and talked to you because for a little bit I actually felt SORRY for you.”

He went quiet for a couple seconds before speaking up again, “So then why the hell did you keep coming back?” His voice rasped within each word, “To make sure for your match at Full Gear, Kenny Omega would be able to pin you in the middle of that ring clean, and you couldn’t make any excuses this time…seems it didn’t work, because the only way you would man up and talk to me is if you had a bottle of whiskey in your system.”

“You’re wrong,” he choked out, “But fine. I won’t talk to you ever again.” He tipped his imagery cowboy hat at her, before turning down the hall with a sober mind but now even a drunker heart.

Hangman couldn’t get the image of Veronica out of his mind, the real Veronica was out of her eyes, she wasn’t herself anymore. Because of them.

He drank the next glass of whiskey in one gulp, before putting it down for another. All sounds surrounding him were just white noise, not even processing that people were speaking to him. “Adam!” He finally snapped out of it, jumping and looking around him, the Dark Order surrounded him, concerned. Adam looked at all of them with sad eyes, “Hey guys. Good to see you.” He turned back to his whiskey glass, taking small sips this time, Veronica now made him too embarrassed to drink.

Stu stepped forward, “You alright, bud? We were going to go out for lunch before Dynamite but we saw you here.” Hangman waved them off, “No, I’m not fine, but go to lunch, I’ll be okay.”

Alan shoved himself in front of everyone, “What happened, Adam?”

Adam took another sip from the glass, before starting to ramble, “I don’t know what I did to her guys. We were fine and now she thinks I'm a drunk who doesn’t have a right to be upset.” The Dark Order all looked at him with worried eyes, “Who?” Uno asked, putting his hand on Adam’s shoulder.

“Veronica! We were doing fine, we were…I don’t even know what we were, she’s with Kenny but she says she wants to be with me…but she doesn’t, she’s confusing! And now she’s changed!”

“Changed?”

“She’s completely under their control! She treats me like I’m garbage, she’s “too good” to drink, and she treats her friends like shit!” Adam ranted, causing other bar patrons to look over. “Who are her friends?” Anna asked, knowing the answer, but not wanting to believe it.

“Sawyer and Nova! They were doing fine when they got here, now Veronica thinks she’s above them. I mean, she says Nova is ‘always in her business’ when she clearly wants to fix things. And don’t get me started on how she treats Sawyer! Veronica let’s Kenny walk all over her! And then proceeds to call her overdramatic! I can’t even say it to her face cause then I’m automatically the bad guy, like Nova or Sawyer,” Hangman finished his drink, slamming the glass down and paying the bartender, “I’m gonna go and try and forget this morning happened. I’ll see you guys later.”

The group watched as Hangman walked away, they all looked at each other, but most of the attention was on Anna and Alan, who were fuming.

“How can she treat him like that! After all he’s been through!” Alan scowled.

“Sawyer and Nova too! They’ve been best friends for years and suddenly she’s above them?” Anna ranted, the two nodded at each other, both thinking the same thing and walked towards the door. “Woah woah, where are you two going?” Preston asked, quickly stepping in front of them.

“We’re not gonna let her hurt our friends anymore! It has to stop!” Alan said, looking towards everyone else to back him up. “Look, we know, we’re all upset,” Stu spoke, “But you both are way too mad. Things could go wrong instead of the way we want them to.”

John Silver stepped up, “Then I think that’s the job for me and Alex.” Alex smirked, giving John a high five. “No way.” Anna said, having some sense of logic.

Uno put his hand up to stop Anna from objecting, “Look, it wouldn’t hurt for them to try. Alex, John…don’t do anything stupid.” John and Alex had a small celebration before walking out the door, everyone knowing this was a huge mistake.

Ricky paced around his locker room, throwing things around randomly. “This is so,” He throws a bag, “Fucking stupid!”

Nova, hearing the commotion, walked into the locker room, where Ricky and Brian Cage were. She almost got hit by a flying water bottle, which was thrown by Ricky. “What the hell, babe?” Nova squawked, throwing it back at him. He flinched, before apologizing over and over, sitting on the bench to calm down, now that Nova was there.

“What’s going on here? This room’s a mess!” Nova yelled, starting looking around. Brian leaned down to whisper in her ear, “He just found out about Darby and Cody at Full Gear.”

Nova snapped her head up, “Wait WHAT? The producers told you months ago it would be you and Cody?” Brian sighed, “So neither of you knew about this?”

They both shook their heads at him. “That title shot should’ve been yours! We aren’t gonna just let this happen!” She yelled, thinking.

She felt a lightbulb turn on above her head, “Here’s what we’ll do. If Darby wins that title, you guys go out and attack him and Cody. Slam Darby through some tables, and use his ‘special entrance’ he planned against him. We’ll show him that Team Taz aren’t people to just mess around with.”

Ricky and Cage thought about it, before agreeing to that plan. “Babe, you’re a genius. We just gotta keep watch for that meathead Hobbs and we’ll be fine.”

Nova blushed as Ricky walked over, hugging her. “Taz has GOT to let you into the team after saturday, no way he won’t.” Brian said, patting Nova on the shoulder. “Let’s hope,” Nova said, “Cause I’m helping you take down Darby.”

“Okay, John we’re here for ONE thing, and one thing only.” Alex Reynolds tried to explain. “Veronica needs to be put in her place for not hurting not only Sawyer and Nova, but now Hangman. She’s been acting funny lately…and she needs to know that.” he said. “No funny business, and nothing to make her too upset. Understand?”

“Yeah, I got it… here she is! FREEZE HOE!” He shouted, making all the makeup artists stop what they were doing. Veronica turned in her chair, perplexed. “JOHN?!” Reynolds slapped his friend on the back of the next, “You can’t call her that!” he ran his hands through his hair, as Silver rolled his eyes. “Well she is!”

“I’m sorry? Can I help you?” She asked, her arms crossed. “I’m sorry for him…he’s just a little upset.” Alex tried to reason. “YOU HURT OUR FRIENDS YOU BLOOD SUCKING INSECT!” John lunged at her, before Reynolds grabbed him by the back of his shirt. “What he’s trying to say is…what you did to Hangman-” “AND SAWYER AND NOVA!” John interrupted.

“What you did to Sawyer, Nova, and Hangman…was wrong. In more ways than one. This isn’t the Veronica who was once more than excited to just sit in the crowd for a couple match tappings…this is a downgrade. We just want you back.”

Veronica uncrossed her arms, shooting a brow to the two men. “A downgrade? I’m still the same person who I was when I first arrived here…I just finally opened my eyes, and realized my worth. Maybe if you two did the same, you’d be used to something other than comedy skits on other people’s youtube channels.” She walked over to one of the mirrors, fluffing her hair a bit, “Plus, Hangman has a match to worry about, and as “friends’' of his you should be helping him prepare.”

Silver and Reynolds walk to where she was staring at their own reflection. “How can you look at yourself knowing Kenny Omega is playing you like a puppet?” Silver asked with disgust, making Veronica turn around. “Listen here meat man, I don’t need this okay. I’m about to go on NATIONAL TV to promote my match that’s going to main event an enormous pay per view. You’re lucky Orange Cassidy has enough star power, or you wouldn’t even be on the card.” Silver and Reynolds gasped. “You heartless bitch,” Reynolds mumbled.

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!” John pointed his finger. “Truth hurts boys, wake up or you’ll drown with Hangman AND Sawyer.” She shrugged before beginning to walk out the door. “That didn’t go as expected…” John began.

“Sawyer’s going to kick your ass at Full Gear!” Alex shouted, making Veronica stop in her tracks. “She can try, but I doubt it.”

“No she will. On my unborn child, Sawyer is coming for blood.”

“She is?” John Silver and Veronica asked at the same time. Alex turnt his head towards Silver and clenched his teeth. “YES. YES. SHE. IS.” John widened eyes, realizing what his friend was trying to imply, “OH. RIGHT. Yeah, Sawyer’s gonna make you wish you’d never cheated to get to the finals-”

“I DIDN’T CHEAT,” She cut him off, “But how are you so sure about this…did she say anything?”

Alex began to shake his head trying his best to throw Veronica off her game. “Oh yea, all the time she talks about renting a couple buses just to run you over with them.” Silver began to blab, “You should have heard her when she found out you actually made it in the finals…” he slowly leaned in, “Kind of got me tight in the crotch area.”

“That’s disgusting.” She backed up a few inches.

“Hey, it’s Sawyer.” Alex raised his hands in defense, going along with Silver’s plan. “She was all,” he cleared his throat, and tried his best girl impression, “She’s gonna wish Nyla actually broke her arm… I’ve carried her throughout the independent scene her whole career… She’ll never live up to the legacy she wanted to create.”

“She actually said that?” Veronica let her guard down, as her eyes softened. “Every word.” Silver lied. She sucked on her bottom lip, nodding her head slowly. “You know what…I’m actually glad you guys told me this. Everyone needs a Silver, and Reynolds in their life.” She plastered a fake smile, before pulling them both in for a hug. “Enjoy the rest of the show.” She waved, before making her way to the curtain.

“We just did something bad…didn’t we?” Silver asked Reynolds with concern in his voice.

“Yea, we just fucked up.”

Sawyer quickly put in Leva Bates for the Canadian Destroyer, getting the victory. She let the ref raise her hand before lending Leva a hand to get up. They shook hands while Leva exited the ring, leaving Sawyer, talking to the camera.

Her small victory was interrupted by Veronica’s theme song, she strutted out with a mic, evil smile on her face. Sawyer faced away from the camera, just to give Veronica a quick smile, ready for this planned face-off.

Veronica’s smile quickly went away as she stepped in the ring. “Well, congratulations on that win Sawyer. Unfortunately, come Full Gear, it won’t be that easy.”

Sawyer smiled, grabbing a mic for herself, “I’m sure it won’t, Veronica. I’ll be facing the best of the best. It’s some tough competition. I’m looking forward to it.” Veronica let out an evil chuckle, “Well, this “best of the best” is going to kick your ass, Sawyer. I don’t care how many matches you’ve won. I am not scared of your Canadian Destroyer.”

“And you think I’m gonna let your two feet on the ropes stop me from winning? You got another thing coming for you.” Sawyer said, still smirking.

“Kinda like how you think Best Friends are gonna be there to save you again? You and your pathetic little friends aren’t stopping me from becoming the next number one contender.” Veronica snapped, getting in Sawyer’s face.

Sawyer’s confidence suddenly left her, the Best Friends comment wasn’t planned when they discussed this last night. Veronica knew a comment about Chuck would throw Sawyer off, and Sawyer was gonna fight fire with fire.

“Unlike you, I don’t need any man to fight my battles for me. Sorry that you’ll need your boyfriend, Kenny Omega, to come out and save your ass.” Sawyer stared into Veronica’s eyes, before smiling as the crowd hyped up Sawyer.

Veronica didn’t even say anything else, like was planned, she just nodded, backing up a bit. Sawyer thought she was leaving the ring, the whole plan of the ref breaking up their petty bickering now out the window. Instead Veronica threw her arm back, delivering a cracking slap that echoed through the whole arena.

Sawyer was slapped so hard that she stumbled, she looked back at Veronica, who had no sign of remorse in her eyes. Sawyer saw red, her chest clearly heaving up and down from anger, before she ran towards Veronica, cutting her in half with a spear.

“Oh come these two girls were best friends one time, are they really going to let a championship get in between them-”

“Yes they are Schiavone! This is a wrestling company, not a romantic movie! I hope they destroy each other before Full Gear even gets here!” Taz evilly commentated, though he wasn’t fully sure what was happening.

More referees had started to pour out of the entrance tunnels, trying to grab Sawyer from where she was trying to claw Veronica’s eyes out. “Get her off of me!” Veronica did her best to kick her legs, not succeeding until Bryce and Aubrey had a strong grip on Sawyer.

“What the hell was that Veronica?” Sawyer shrieked from across the ring. Veronica fixed her clothes before pulling the refs by their shirts onto the mat, and delivering yet another slap, this time not putting a lot of distance between them, as she repeatedly began to punch her in the back.

“Urm— I think we need some help out here, folks. These two are fighting like scolded dogs.” Jim Ross looked at the backstage crew, signaling for more assistance.

A strong pair of arms wrapped around Veronica’s waist, and lunged her across the ring. She quickly dusted herself off to be met with an angry Wardlow. “Veronica, calm the fuck down.”

“No! SHE-”  Veronica was met with a collision, as Sawyer pushed Wardlow to the ropes, and shoved Veronica back into the turnbuckle making her gasp. Sawyer’s knuckles connected with Veronica’s ribs making her hurdle over. The women’s locker room began to pour out, with Shida leading she put herself between the two playing peacemaker. “Save it for Sunday!” She tried to reason with Sawyer, as she placed her hands on her shoulders. Veronica’s blood boiled, as she saw the championship she wanted so badly, and the person who wanted to keep her from it being so close together.

A flipped switch in Veronica’s head, as she turnt Shida harshly to make her look at her. “Stay out of my business!” She yelled. “She’s just trying to help your crazy ass!” Britt yelled as she grabbed her friend’s arm trying to drag Veronica out of the ring, failing as she kicked her in the shin, and headed for Shida, but accidentally knocking her into Sawyer. Anna Jay did her best to check on Sawyer, but was met with a hard hit to the back. “Move!” Veronica screamed, as she tried to grab Sawyer by her hair, but she reversed it and started punching her anywhere she could.

A loud commotion was made, as the rest of the locker room was sent to the ring. John Silver and Alex Reynolds slowly follow behind, trying their best to act like this wasn’t their fault. Ricky Starks, and Nova pulled Sawyer by the shoulders snapping her up.

“You need to chill out.” Nova furiously stated, Ricky nodding in agreement. “She slapped me-”

“AND I’LL DO IT AGAIN!” Veronica yelled from the other corner where Eddie Kingston and Scorpio Sky held her back. “I DARE YOU TO TRY AGAIN, I’M DONE WITH THIS BULLSHIT!” Sawyer screamed back. “I’m ending you.” Veronica cracked her finger, and silently apologized to the two men holding her, before delivering a left and right hook to both of them making their grip loosen and let her slip free.

She shot out dropkicking RIcky and Nova out the way, and marching towards Sawyer. They both began to repeatedly punch each other before Sawyer got a good uppercut in making Veronica stumble. “That’s enough!” Brandon Cutler snapped, as he began to tug at Veronica’s heels. “We’re going back. NOW.”

It must have been a big deal, if The Elite sent Cutler. “Fine.” She put her hands up in defense, rolling out the ring. Cash Wheeler held her by the wrist behind her back, as Cutler began to tell her some stuff about how she was going to be in big trouble, when she got to the back… but it all went through one ear, and out the other as she never dropped her eye contact with Sawyer, who was fighting back a man three times her size, Lance Archer. “Just let me at her one more time!” she pleaded. “Sawyer. You’ve done enough. She’s being escorted out the building. It’s over.”

She looked around the ring, seeing everyone with fear in their eyes…except a man in the corner who tried his best to avoid eye contact. Sawyer stared long enough causing him to look up. “Please.” She mouthed while looking at him, he shook his head fast. Making her pout her lip out. “Fine.” Chuck Taylor mouthed as he pulled Orange to whisper something into his ear. Orange looked over at Sawyer, slightly nodding trying to time everything just right. Lance took a big sigh, before finally moving out of her way and making almost a clear path… with just a few dark guys…and Marko Stunt in her way, she could do this.

She backed up in the farthest turnbuckle before running with all her might and jumping right into Chuck and Orange’s arm where they flipped her into Veronica and many other wrestlers who all tumbled down. “What the hell is wrong with you, you psycho!” Veronica screamed as she did her best to get back up, clenching her side. Chuck and Trent soon pushed her back, “Get out of here.” Orange Cassidy waved. “Buh-Bye!” Chuck exaggeratedly flicked his middle finger off making Sawyer laugh. Veronica rolled her eyes, before feeling Jungle Boy grab her by her shoulder, and Luchasaurus lightly shoving her.

“Thanks for the backup.” Sawyer awkwardly said, as Chuck gave her a tight lip smile and Orange nodded his head, “You’ll beat her Sunday, I know you will.” Taylor lazily said, as he slapped her shoulder. “See you around.” He hung his head, and made his way back to Orange following behind him.

Veronica was dragged backstage first, The Acclaimed had a hold on her arms, while Britt, Jurassic Express and Penelope Ford followed behind, making sure she didn’t run back out there.

Soon after, Sawyer entered the backstage area, Lance Archer’s arms wrapped around her body, carrying her, so she couldn’t escape, the Dark Order, Nova and Sonny Kiss walking ahead to make sure Veronica wasn’t around. “How the hell did you jump over 5 people and the ropes?” Lance asked before setting her down. “I did the long jump in school,” Sawyer looked around frantically, “Where is she? I’m gonna fucking kill her!”

Wardlow finally made his way through the crowd, “Are you okay? Were you hurt?” “I’m fine, I’m just…” Sawyer slowly stopped talking when she made eye contact with Nova, who didn’t look too happy. She spoke up to try and speak with her, but it was all interrupted by a booming voice.

“Veronica! Sawyer! EVP office! NOW!” The crowd slowly split into two, as Veronica and Sawyer looked at the red and angry face of Kenny Omega. He wasted no time walking to the office, and they slowly followed behind.

As they walked through the crowd, all they could see was the disappointed, furious, sympathetic and concerned faces of people like Private Party, Eddie Kingston, Tay Conti and so much more. Sawyer’s heart dropped when she made eye contact with Chuck, he tried to say something but she walked past him quickly. It felt like the class was watching them as they were going to the principal’s office, they hated it.

Once they reached the EVP’s office, Kenny Omega shut the door behind him, and started tearing into them.

“That was SO unprofessional! It was not approved this morning when you came to us. Veronica, I love you, but you slapping Sawyer was NOT needed. I had to convince Tony to not get you fired.” Veronica shrunk, suddenly embarrassed.

“And Sawyer, I don’t care how you feel about me, but keep your anger issues away from my girlfriend! You almost injured her AND other superstars brawling!” Kenny scolded which made Sawyer feel bad.

“Look, Kenny, I’m sorry. Personal issues aside, I love working with you and everyone here and I shouldn’t have-” Kenny put a hand up, stopping Sawyer.

“Save it. Your match at Full Gear is now changed, to a death match,” He turned to face his girlfriend, “One of Veronica’s specialties.” He smirked, pulling Veronica in by the waist.

Veronica looked at Kenny, surprised, before looking at Sawyer with an evil grin, “Well, Sawyer, you better get ready then, you know yourself I don’t play nice in these matches.”

This was music to Veronica’s ears, her and Sawyer have had a death match before, and it didn’t end well for Sawyer. “And you and I both know, I’ve carried more championships.”

Sawyer shook her head out of her thoughts, “Kenny, that isn’t necessary. And, you chose a match that’s specifically Veronica’s specialty! Was it on purpose?”

Kenny got in Sawyer’s face, “This match is the reason you still have a job Sawyer. Stop acting like a fucking brat who doesn’t get her way and get the hell out of my office.” Sawyer shrunk, she eyed Veronica, hoping maybe she would step in, but just smirked as her boyfriend now made Sawyer feel small.

Sawyer just nodded and walked out, leaving the door open.

“Wow babe. You sure told her.”

“You too, Veronica. I can barely look at you right now.” Kenny said, not even giving her a glance as he started to pack up his things for the night.

Veronica stood stunned, before leaving the office herself, and couldn’t help but blame Sawyer as well as Silver and Reynolds for Kenny being angry at her.

Sawyer and Veronica walked away from the EVP office, planning to go their separate ways for the night, not even wanting to look at each other; but they were stopped in their tracks by Nova, furious.

Nova stood in front of them with her arms crossed, fuming. “You okay Nova?” Veronica asked, with a bit of sarcasm. Nova grabbed both of the girls by their arms, not letting go until they reached the Ricky Starks’ locker room. Taz looked at Nova with a surprised yet angry expression, “Woah woah woah! Don’t bring those two psychos in here! This is for Team Taz onl-”

“Taz, this is MY MAN’S locker room, I can be here all I want, and with all due respect. Get. Out.” Taz flinched back, motioning Brian Cage and Ricky to follow.

Ricky whispered “Good luck.” to his friend, Sawyer, before shutting the door behind him.

Nova turned towards Sawyer and Veronica, wild expression in her eyes, “What the fuck was that! I thought you guys were all good but you can’t even let your differences go in the ring?!” Veronica scoffed, “Nova, this doesn’t concern you alright? Me and Sawyer will work this ou-”

“The hell it does! I just had to stop a BRAWL between you two, hell, the whole damn locker room did! Now tell me what the hell is going on between you too before I lose it even more!” Nova snapped, ready to go insane.

Veronica sighed, “Nova, nothing is going on. Sawyer is just all in her head, thinking I’m against her but I’m not. That whole thing was planned and she took it too far.”

Sawyer almost broke her neck looking towards Veronica, “What? The slap was never supposed to happen! We planned this last night and this never came up! And all in my head? If anything it’s you! And Kenny who thinks that I’m-”

Veronica chuckled, “See here we go again. ‘Kenny doesn’t like me.’ ‘Aw it’s all Kenny’s fault.’ ‘Oh poor Sawyer.’ When will you face the facts? Kenny is just trying to be a good boyfriend yet you can’t handle that!” Sawyer stood there silently. “Sawyer isn’t worried about Kenny, Veronica,” Nova said, “And, Sawyer, Veronica isn’t out to get you. Will you both just get over yourselves? You’re making this so hard on everyone who cares about you.”

Sawyer glared at Veronica while V’s face softened. “So, are y’all good?” Nova asked, looking between them. ”Yeah,” Veronica nodded, smiling, “I wanna be good.” She held her hand up, waiting for Sawyer to shake it.

Sawyer could see the manipulation behind Veronica’s eyes, and she wasn’t going to fall for it. She grabbed Veronica’s hand, but instead of shaking it, pulled her forward so they were almost face to face.

“No. We’re not good. You can try all you want, but I won’t fall for your victim bullshit. I’ll see your sorry ass at Full Gear.” Sawyer snarled, Veronica pulled her hand away, Nova watched in horror.

Any sign of Sawyer before was gone from her eyes, just red and hatred as she walked out the door, slamming it, ready for this death match.

[darkorderaf]

Hi! Could I please suggest #s 61 and 62 from the general prompt list for Kenny?

Hey there! Yes, absolutely. Here’s some spicy and sassy Kenny. <3 Thanks so much for sending this in; I hope you like it!

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC. Prompt: “They didn’t just find out. They already knew!” + “You’re not as quiet as you think you are.” Rating: Soft M. Warnings/Content: Little spicy at the beginning! Word Count: 810.

Tag List (asked to be added/removed): @alyhull @boutmachines @lghockey @sillynilly27 @simoneinside @vtriggerbucks

(I don’t own gif; all credit to thunderkiss86!)

“We’re going to have to be quiet,” Kenny grunted in her ear, his hips a comfortable pressure against her ass. “Think you can do that for me, baby?”

“Sure I can,” she panted as she pressed back against him. “You worry about yourself.”

He huffed and took her chin in hand, turned her so he could kiss her as he flexed his hips. Talking wasn’t on either of their minds when they fell into the Elite’s dressing room. It had been too long since they had seen each other. Too long feigning indifference in front of everyone before they found those sacred, secret moments. Kenny had caught her eyes after his match and with the subtlest tilt of his head, she read his mind and followed.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, they set an intense pace. Pants and shorts gone, lips nearly bruised. Curls mussed and his breath hot against her neck. There wasn’t enough time. Her breath hitched as he shifted her and angled himself just right. Kenny chuckled at the sound, pleased with himself, and relentlessly charged ahead to get her to make it again. It was mean, rude even, and she smothered her whine.

She had been doing so well. Just as he fucked into her as deep as she could, her attempts at being quiet were shattered by the breathy, high moan that spilled out of her as her head fell forward. Then there was a knock on the door and the voices of two confused Jackson brothers.

Shit, how long had they been there?

They had been doing so well and it had been months since the last time they were almost caught. Kenny’s hand slipped over her mouth and her hands tightened against the counter. She wanted to say sorry but words? She didn’t know her.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Kenny huffed as he chased his release. The knocking became more insistent and he bared his teeth, sighed as he pulled out of her. He kissed the top of her sweaty spine before he stepped away from her. “Goddamn it, Young Bucks.”

Legs like jelly, she stumbled to get her bearings as she smoothed her appearance out. Kenny glanced between her and the one exit they had. Then the closet. She made a face and shook her head. He made a face back and threw his hands up. It was their only option.

Their only and most uncomfortable option, she found out. In the dark of the closet, her eyes burned holes through the door as she heard Kenny clear his throat and make that nervous laugh of his.

“Oh hey guys, what’s up?”

“Oh nothing,” Nick intoned. “Just checking on you after that clinic you put on out there. You good? We heard a…sound? Like someone was in pain or…maybe not in pain? Dunno.”

She blanched and hid her face.

“What? Pain?” Kenny fumbled out then laughed again, disbelief in his voice. “Oh, I just…tweaked my back! And was stretching it out. Let me tell you, it was one hell of a tweak. That’s probably what it was. No, that’s definitely what it was.”

“You tweak your back a lot, dude,” Matt said with a laugh. “Didn’t you…tweak it here a couple months ago too?” There was a tone to Matt’s voice that made her stomach drop. “Place must be cursed or something, right? But yeah, gotcha. Glad that you’re doing okay there, buddy. Don’t forget to, uh, hydrate and stretch responsibly.”

She heard the brothers clap Kenny on the shoulder and make a quick exit. As soon as they were gone, Kenny whipped the door open and the two stared at each other. What they had was…delicate, to say the least, and something that could easily fall apart.

“They totally know,” she stage-whispered as she climbed out and dusted herself off. The brother’s shared tone and word choice set off warning signs. “Oh my god, they didn’t just find out. They already knew!”

“Yeah, no shit, sweetheart,” Kenny whispered softly. He chuckled and scrubbed a hand over his face. Dragged his fingers through his messy curls then dropped his hands. He raised one as h e offered a potential explanation. “You’re not as quiet as you think you are.”

“Oh, this is my fault?”

Her brows raised, betrayal on her face. Kenny threw his hands up and turned away to begin a slow pace around the room.

“No, that’s not–This being sneaky stuff really is for the birds, alright? It sucks.”

“You know, it’s really not us that you need to worry about,” Matt cut in as the dressing room door opened and two heads popped into the doorway. “It’s, uh, that guy.”

All eyes moved to the TV in the room just as a horse raced across the titantron and her brother charged out to dole out some cowboy shit.

[ghostficwriter]

Keep Your Heart Off Your Sleeve and In Your Chest Where It Belongs - Part 1: He Can Never Know

Pairing / Form: Kenny Omega x OFC / Drabble? Genre: Angst Warnings: Angst; presumed unrequited love, age gap mention (but everyone’s an adult) Word Count: 599 Plot: The Young Bucks’ little sister thinks about all the reasons she shouldn’t be in love with their best friend, and all the reasons that no one can ever know she is. 

Part 2

The trouble with loving Kenny Omega was you weren’t the only one.

Not even close - even if you discounted the hundreds of fans carrying a torch for him, it was a crowded category to find yourself in.

Kenny’s heart, of course, was spoken for, even if he didn’t admit it.

That was okay with her though, because it made him less likely to ever find out she was among those who loved him.

He could never know.

Being the little sister of the Young Bucks came with plenty of positives, of course, but it also meant that she’d known Kenny for years. And like so many, she'd found herself getting lost in his kind smile, his sparking eyes, his soothing voice. And even though she knew nothing would ever come of it -that nothing ever could come of it - she fell anyways.

She was always careful to keep her heart off her sleeve, to hold the butterflies he summoned to her stomach at bay. No lingering glances, no longing looks, no sighs, no swooning. He could never know, and neither could anyone else.

Why?

A hundred reasons. A thousand. A million, but mainly these three:

1. Kenny’s heart, as previously mentioned, was already spoken for. Whether they were happily teaming in DDT, pushed apart by ambition, or separated by the sea, as they were now, you’d have to be exceedingly ignorant to not see that “Golden Lovers” was more than a tag team name. And she did not begrudge them that. 

2. She’d make a fool of herself. Kenny’s friendship might not be all she craved, but it was too precious, too long standing to throw away over a doomed confession. And even if the mere thought of his reaction and the mere concept of parting their ways wasn’t heartbreaking, there was the Bucks. Even if she could stomach the pain of losing Kenny, there was no sane way to avoid him, to give him space from her shame, to give her space to heal. He was too enmeshed in their lives.

3. She was too young. Yes, she was an adult, but when she’d first met him, she was just sixteen. She’d always be the Bucks’ kid sister, and even if he didn’t care, others would. That was part of why she was so careful to never let her feelings show. What if someone wrongfully accused him of making advances on her years ago when she was a minor? He’d only ever been respectful and friendly, but rumors don’t care what actually happened. 

So because she knew his eyes were cast across the sea, because she knew she couldn't escape his presence, because she knew she couldn’t risk his reputation, she held it deep within. A secret that felt dark and dirty but only seemed to grow with the pressure of denial.

It wasn’t just him she had to hide it from - no one could know. Not the Bucks, not the other girls backstage, no one. So yes, it hurt, but she would carry on. She would stand by his side, she would listen to his rants of both pain and passion, she would help him spray tan his back, she would laugh with him at 3AM with her brothers, she would cheer for him at ringside, she would clap at his wedding one day. 

And maybe, maybe someday, she would be able to cut him out of her heart’s desire and truly see him as just a friend. Maybe she would find someone who she could love out loud.

Maybe, but it always felt like a lie.

[omg-im-such-a-masochist]

✨Masterlist✨

Last Updated: May, 2nd, 2024

98% of my writing is smut, so please be a responsible little bean! +18 readers only

WRESTLERS:

Roman Reigns 

Not Everything Is What It Seems 

Coping With Your Fears

A New Experience

Birthday Surprise

Taking Care Of Business

The Problem That Starts With An B

Who?

What’s Your Bet?

Guess Who?

The Perfect Opportunity

Papa

Miami Nights

To Catch A Thief

Taking The Reins

In Need For A Private Lesson

Never Forget The Rules

The Peace Maker

Sirius

Sirius Part 2

Don’t You Just Love Birthdays?

Blue Is My Favorite Color

Things You Make Me Do

Someone

Prove Me Wrong

Acknowledge Me

A Night To Remember

Mr. Reigns

Eddie Kingston

First Time

Dexter Lumis

Confession

Verlangen

Teaser

Payback

Limited Time

Wardlow

Period Sex

Gentle Giant

Aleister Black/Malakai Black

Watcher

After Hours

Ask Drabble

Feast

Into The Woods

Unsolicited Visitor

Jay Briscoe 

One Last Time

Kink List

CNC

Mark Briscoe

Kink List

Fish

Jay White

Better The Devil You Know

Ask Drabble

Sinful Sunday 2

It Will Come Back

Cold Blooded

Temper, Temper

Pop That Cherry

No Good

Inmate

Churchyard

Love, hate, love

Behind The Curtains

David Finlay

No Good

Hook

Under The Water

Ghostly Entertaintment

Back To You

Kenny Omega

Being With The Elite

Matt Jackson

Being With The Elite

Feral

One’s Not Enough

Target

Salty 

Salty 2

Salty 3 (ask)

Dawn

Salty 4

Take me to church

Villainous!Matt

Sex w/ Vampire!Matt

T.A.Q.H.N.V

Imposter Syndrome

Nick Jackson

Sinful Sunday 3

Sinful Sunday 4

Being With The Elite

Yoga Partner Gone Wrong

NSFW Alphabet

One’s Not Enough

It Happened Quiet

Target

Villainous!

A different Nick

Red lights

Take me to church

Good Boys Go To Hell Pt 2

The Purge

Dan “Drilla” Moloney

Rubrum

Adam Cole

Video Games

Corrupt!Cop

Judgment Day

Pretty In Pink

Pink Lights

Damian Priest

Just Pray

First Time....With A Twist

A Night To Remember

Nascosto

MJF

Enjoy The Silence

Tommaso Ciampa

Why So Cynical?

Adam Page

Serve Me

Edge

Absolution

Homecoming

Drew McIntyre

Anger Management Part 1

Anger Management Part 2

A Friend To Help You Freshen Up

Paralysis

Let’s (Not) Keep It PG

Let’s (Not) Keep It PG Part 2

Let’s (Not) Keep It PG Part 3

(Her) Bitter Past

Childhood Games

Paul In Blue Overalls

A Little Reminder

In A Heartbeat

Difficult Times

Would You Fancy A Cup A Tea?

Finn Bálor

A Wise Advise

A High Price To Pay

The Choice

Spa Day From Hell

Our Day Will Come

A Demon, But Also A Brat Tamer

Only For Tonight Pt.1

Only For Tonight Pt.2

Nevermore?

Second Chance

Ilinx

Drunk In Love

Sinful Sunday 1

Salome

Jon Moxley

Fire And Gasoline Part 1

Fire And Gasoline Part 2

A Song For You

New Tricks

Kitty

Like Altair and Vega

Pleasant Surprise

One Bottle To Blame

Red Stains

Sleepwalking

Claudio Castagnoli

Dubious Benefits

Not A Sound

Baron Corbin

Cultural Differences

Seth Rollins

Mrs. M

Maybe It’s Called Fate

Sunset Pt.2

Only For Tonight Pt.1

Only For Tonight Pt. 2

Conquest

The Peace Maker

Rhea Ripley

Seraphic

Work For That

Another Day, Another Lesson

Homecoming

Cash Wheeler

Castle

NSFW Alphabets

Kenny Omega

Jay Briscoe

Eddie Kingston

Malakai Black

SERIES:

ILLICITUS (ROMAN REIGNS X READER - CURRENTLY IN HIATUS) 

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

INSANIA (MALAKAI BLACK X OFC- COMPLETE)

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

WHERE I BELONG (EDDIE KINGSTON X READER - IN PROGRESS)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

THE BEGINNING OF THE END (ELP X READER X JAY WHITE - IN PROGRESS)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

THE TWELVE DISCIPLES (NICK JACKSON X OFC X MATT JACKSON)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

STOCKOLM (BLACKPOOL COMBAT CLUB X READER)

Prologue

Chapter 1

THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD (KENNY OMEGA X OFC)

Prologue

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN (MJF X OFC - IN PROGRESS)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

ALL HAIL TO THE KING (BARON CORBIN X READER - COMPLETE)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

CAPITALI POENA (DAMIAN PRIEST X READER - HALLOWEEN SERIES - COMPLETE)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

RESISTERE TENTATIONEM (DAMIAN PRIEST) - TRILOGY

Capitulum I - Hellion

Capitulum II - Tēctus

BOUND (DREW MCINTYRE)

Bound: Part 1 (The Negotiation)

Bound Part 2 (The First Act)

DRABBLES:

Roman Reigns

Ancestral Roots

Baron Corbin

At Your Service

Eddie Kingston

Trigger

I’ve Got To See You Again

Shoop

Matt Jackson

Prettiest Star

Adam Page

Prettiest Star

MJF

Distractions

Lazy On A Sunday Afternoon

Drew McIntyre

Study Material

Seth Rollins

Sunset  (pt.2 is in the One Shot’s section)

Turn On The Lights

Dirty Mouth

Damian Priest

Pillow

Fighting

A Little Decor

HEADCANNONS

MASO’S CHRISTMAS LIST - 2021

MASO’S HALLOWEEK - 2022

EXCEPTIONS (SPECIAL REQUESTS):

Sneaky - Alan 5 Angels (to writtingrose)

DRABBLES (SERIES):

7 DEADLY SINS (COMPLETE)

Wrath (Drew McIntyre)

Envy (Seth Rollins)

Sloth (Seth Rollins)

Pride (Finn Bálor / Prince Devitt)

Greed (Roman Reigns / Tribal Chief)

Gluttony (Jon Moxley)

Lust (Can you guess who it is?)

CAPTIVE (COMPLETE - SETH ROLLINS)

Captive Part 1

Captive Part 2 

Captive Part 3

Captive Part 4

Captive Part 5

THE LAST TEST (COMPLETE X READER - JON MOXLEY)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

[debbiechanclub]

Best Two Out of Three (Rewrite!), Part 1

There’s dissension in The Elite, and Alex and Callie both just want Adam to be happy. But they both need to sort out their own happiness, too.

Pairings: Kenny Omega x OFC x Cash Wheeler & Adam Page x OFC x Matt Jackson (lol if you read the original you know it gets more complicated than this but, ya know) Part: 1/? Word Count: 4.2k Warnings: Language, alcohol use, angst

Masterlist.

A/N: It’s here! With @hotyeehawman‘s blessing as co-writer of the original, I’ve decide to go ahead with my efforts to rewrite Best Two Out of Three (a.k.a. BTOOT) and make it even better than before. I know a lot of people loved the original fic (and I love you for it), and it’s pretty much the entire reason I’m involved in this little community and have made so many friends. But I hope you’ll like the rewrite just as much, if not more so. And if this is the first time you’re reading, welcome! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Tag squad: @statdaddy @hdbngsprnva @knifepervert @rusevday @champhangman @missbrownstone @kawaiikels @meteora-fc @bec0m @betsy-bradock @linziland13 @librathepheonix13 @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @thatgirlforever5 @rocca09 @gabbynorth98 @brokenglassslippers @adriii-omega @sugar-melts-mo-fo​

Wednesday, July 1, 2020 AEW Fyter Fest, Night 1 Daily’s Place – Jacksonville, Florida

“Are you ready for this?”

Alex arched an eyebrow at Trent from across the locker room. “Am I ready? Are y’all ready? You’re the ones fighting for the tag titles.”

“Yeah, but we’re going up against your old boys, and we’re your new boys, so, you know,” he bit off a strip of athletic tape as he finished wrapping his wrists. “It might be emotionally stressful for you to be out there.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine,” she returned; but the amused half-grin on her lips belied the nervous butterflies teeming in her stomach. This was emotionally stressful. It had been a long time coming for Best Friends to finally get a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but as much as Alex wanted this for them, she would have preferred they go up against anyone other than Adam Page and Kenny Omega. Not because she didn’t think Trent and Chuck could beat them—she did—but because Adam was one of her oldest friends in the business, and Kenny was… well, things were complicated between her and Kenny, to say the least.

“And Adam and Kenny were never my boys,” she added, trying to talk down her nerves. “Not in the way you guys are.”

“Knock, knock!” Someone suddenly knocked on the door and called cheerfully into the room. Trent’s mom, Sue. “Is everyone decent?”

“Yeah, come in,” Trent answered. Sue barely waited until the words were out of his mouth before she pushed open the door. She smiled widely at them all.

“Are you guys ready? I was told it’s time to head to the van.”

“I’m good,” Chuck said. “Alex?”

She nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Trent grabbed his jacket, and they exited the locker room and made their way toward where Sue’s white minivan sat just outside the amphitheater. It had been Tony’s idea to have Sue drive them into the match, and Alex was somewhat relieved that she was. It meant she wouldn’t have to worry about running into either Adam or Kenny backstage right beforehand.

“Are we all piling in the back, or?” Alex asked as they arrived at the van.

“No; I figured you’d ride shotgun,” Trent said, and he opened the passenger side door for her. She smiled at him and got inside.

“Okay, Alex,” Sue said to her as she climbed behind the wheel. “Make sure no one hurts my Greggy.”

“What about me?” Chuck asked, wounded. But Trent talked over him.

“She’s doing commentary, mom.”

Alex grinned as she buckled her seatbelt. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll run down with a steel chair if I need to.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“Are you sure you don’t want me at ringside?”

Callie looked up in question at Adam as he shrugged on his vest. He seemed irritated as he answered. “Yes, Cal. Alex isn’t gonna do anything; she’s on commentary. And she wouldn’t do anything even if she wasn’t. I don’t know why you think she will.”

Callie glanced down in annoyance at her nails. “I just don’t trust her,” she muttered.

“Yeah, we know,” Kenny commented.

Callie rolled her eyes; she couldn’t wait for this match to be over and done with. At first, Best Friends had just been yet another team for Adam and Kenny to defeat in their reign as AEW World Tag Team Champions. But, at some point over the last three weeks, the story of the match had suddenly shifted from the titles themselves to Adam’s rocky relationship with Kenny—and whether Alex Hawthorne thought they truly gelled as a team. She knew Adam, everyone said; they were old friends, they’d come up in the business together, and if anyone would have insight into Adam’s true feelings on teaming with Kenny, it was her. It irked Callie. She was Adam’s girlfriend, but no one seemed to give two shits about her opinion on the matter.

And she knew exactly why: because she hadn’t fucked Kenny Omega.

“Whose idea was it for her to be on commentary, anyway?” she asked.

“Tony’s, I think,” Adam responded. Callie didn’t say anything in return. At least, not with her words. He noticed. “Look, I know you’ve been feeling overlooked lately, and I know this situation with Alex isn’t helping. But you knew it was gonna happen as soon as Best Friends got the title shot.”

Her brow lowered. “No, actually, I didn’t.”

“We should go,” Kenny abruptly interjected and stood from his seat. Callie cut her eyes at him. She had half a mind to ask if he’d had anything to do with Alex getting so much undue attention lately.    

“Just focus on your Dark match, okay?” Adam suggested, and he leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips. She barely returned it.

“I’m gonna go find Matt and Nick,” she breathed, and she got up and pushed out of the locker room without so much as a backward glance.

* * * * * * * * * *

“There’s something to be said about trust with partners, and there was a long time we weren’t sure about the trust between Hangman and Kenny Omega, but I think that’s all behind them now. And I know, Alex, I know you’re probably not pulling for Adam and Kenny here, but you have to agree that they’ve proven to be one of the strongest tag teams in AEW, if not the strongest, as the champions.”

Alex grinned across the commentary table at Tony Schiavone. They were barely ten minutes into the match, but that was double the amount of time she’d expected to pass before someone pried her on her thoughts on Adam and Kenny. “Well, there’s no probably about it, Tony—I’m not pulling for Adam and Kenny at all. I want Best Friends to win, so jot that down.”

“Noted,” he returned.

“But yeah, of course they’ve proven to be one of the strongest teams in AEW,” she admitted. “They wouldn’t have held the championship for what—it’s been over a hundred fifty days or something, hasn’t it?”

“Almost two hundred, I think,” Excalibur supplied.

“Right, so they wouldn’t have held the titles for almost two hundred days if they weren’t a strong team. But they’re not Best Friends.”

“Pun intended?” Tony remarked—but Alex didn’t get the chance to respond.

“What the hell’s this, then?” JR interjected, and they all looked to their right. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler had appeared on stage carrying a cooler between them and folded beach chairs over their shoulders. Alex shifted in her seat.

“Who invited them?” she asked.

“Well, no one,” Excalibur said. “But apparently they’re interested in this match.”

They stopped right beside Alex and started setting up shop. “How you doin’?” JR asked. “Good to see you guys.”

“You want a beer? Something to drink?” Cash asked. He looked at Alex. She ignored him and focused back on the match.

“Well, we’re working right now,” Tony said. Cash held up his hands as if to say okay. But when he sat down, he leaned forward and looked at Alex again.

“You sure you don’t want one?” he said, offering her a bottle. She looked down her nose at it.

“Is that Bud?” she scoffed. “Come back with Yuengling and maybe we’ll talk.”

A corner of Cash’s mouth quirked up. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, and before he sat back, he sent her a wink that made Alex’s cheeks unexpectedly burn.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie had been on the edge of her seat far more than she’d expected to be for this match. She held her breath as Chuck Taylor hit Kenny with a nasty looking spike piledriver and went for the pin—but Adam scrambled back into the ring and broke it up at the last second. She breathed out and rubbed clammy palms on her jeans.

“That was too close,” Nick lowly said. Callie glanced furtively at Matt, but he remained quiet, his attention zeroed-in on the television in front of them.

Meanwhile, JR abruptly pivoted on commentary. “FTR in a big tag team match next week, an eight-man tag, they’ll be teaming with the Young Bucks. I can’t wait to see how that evolves; that’s an interesting neighborhood to live in.”

“Just don’t leave your back exposed, that’s all I have to say,” Alex remarked, presumably to FTR. It made Callie roll her eyes.

“I’m still waiting to have a match with her. She could use a good kick upside the head.”

“Take it up with Kenny,” Nick returned with a laugh.

“She’ll be waiting another year, then,” Matt commented. A smile tugged at the corner of Callie’s lips. Lately, it had seemed like he was the only one on her side.

They fell back into silence as the match went on. The back-and-forth pace continued, with neither team truly gaining the upper hand until Chuck pulled Kenny out of the ring, climbed to the top turnbuckle, and jumped off to help Trent fold up Adam in a Strong Zero. Aubrey started the count.

One.

Two—

Kenny dove through the ropes with a millisecond left to break up the pin. Callie’s heart was in her throat. Thank God they hadn’t lost like that.

“Wow,” Alex breathed on commentary. “That was pure ring awareness on Kenny’s part that saved the match there.”

“Absolutely,” Excalibur enthusiastically agreed. “Hangman didn’t kick out of that; it was only through Kenny’s intervention that the champions retained!”

Callie bristled. She wouldn’t mind kicking Excalibur upside the head, either.

Kenny traded blows with Chuck until he caught him and lifted him onto his shoulders. He was going for the One-Winged Angel; but Chuck managed to reverse it into an Awful Waffle. Luckily, neither he nor Kenny were the legal men. Even so, Chuck clearly sensed a win within Best Friends’ reach—and while Kenny rolled out of the ring, he grabbed Trent and pulled him into a hug.  

“The Best Friends giving the people what they want!” Excalibur exclaimed. But, almost as soon as he did, Adam charged. Chuck pushed his partner out of the way only to be knocked backward through the ropes by a big boot to the face, leaving Adam alone in the ring with Trent. Trent didn’t have the wherewithal to fight back as Adam hit him with rolling elbow strike to the face, and then another—but then he got an unexpected second wind and reversed an attempted powerbomb into a pin. That time, however, Adam did kick out. Callie grinned to herself. That should shut up Excalibur.

Both men got to their feet at the same time; but Adam was just a tad quicker, and he grabbed Trent and hit him with a Deadeye. He hooked his leg.

One.

Two—

Trent kicked out.

“Come on!” Callie proclaimed.

“He’s got it,” Nick assured, and they watched as Adam pushed himself up and stepped out onto the ring apron. He gritted his teeth, and then he slingshot himself over the top rope back into the ring and laid Trent out with a hard Buckshot Lariat.

He dropped down into the cover and hooked both of Trent’s legs. Aubrey counted.

One.

Two.

Three.

Ding, ding, ding! The bell rang, and as Adam’s music started up, Callie let out a sigh of relief.

“That was way too nerve-wracking,” she breathed. “And they have to do it again tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but Private Party shouldn’t be as hard to put away,” Nick figured. He looked at his brother. “I’m not looking forward to our match.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Matt agreed; but his brow furrowed. “And what the hell are they doing?”

Callie and Nick both looked back at the TV. Cash and Dax had left their seats and stepped into the ring, two beers in each their hands. Cash offered one to Adam. To Callie’s surprise, he took it.

“Do they not know Kenny doesn’t drink?” Nick wondered aloud.

“Even if he did,” Matt returned, but he didn’t finish the thought. Instead, he stood from his seat. “I’m going out there.”

He took off, and Nick and Callie followed, walking fast. They made it out to the ring just in time to see Kenny pour out the beer Dax had given him—and neither Dax nor Cash looked happy.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Matt and Nick jumped in between Kenny and FTR. Meanwhile, Callie looked up at Adam in question.

“What’re you doing?”

But he didn’t even acknowledge her. Instead, he walked over to the guys and started yelling—at Kenny.

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t be an asshole about it!”

“I don’t drink!” Kenny returned.

“Oh—you don’t drink,” Adam echoed, fed up, almost mocking him. Callie put a hand on his arm.

“Adam! Seriously?”

“What? Are you really defending him?” he charged with a point at Kenny. Callie bit down on her jaw.

“Well, you have to defend the tag titles again with him tomorrow!”

Adam looked away in agitation and took a swig of beer. Callie looked over at the others. There was a notable divide in the ring: FTR and Adam on one side; Matt, Nick, and Kenny on the other. It made her stomach turn.

“He doesn’t drink,” Matt repeated. “Relax.”

“Are we good?” Nick asked.

“Oh, we’re good,” Dax said, pointing between himself and Cash. “I don’t know about y’all.”

He fixed dark eyes on Kenny. But Kenny was clearly over it all. “You guys figure it out; I’m leaving,” he said, and with that he ducked out of the ring and into the right entrance tunnel. And as she watched him go, Callie couldn’t help but notice Alex get up from the commentary table and disappear down the tunnel after him.

* * * * * * * * * *

Thursday, July 2, 2020 Jacksonville, Florida

“I need a drink,” Chuck announced as he, Alex, Trent, and Orange arrived on the terrace at TIAA Bank Field, just across the way from Daily’s Place. He wasn’t the only one. Taping the second night of Fyter Fest the day after working the first night live had taken its toll—and it didn’t help that Orange had lost in the main event against Chris Jericho. Best Friends had come up oh-for-two, and they could use a round of drinks (or two, or three) on Tony Khan’s dime to make up for it. That alone was their motivation for going to the company Fourth of July party following the taping—free booze.

Well, it was the only motivation for Chuck, Trent, and Orange. Alex had an additional reason; one that only she was privy to.

“Hey, there’s beer pong,” Trent noted with a nod toward where a group of people had gathered around two tables set up with red plastic cups. Nearby, a dry erase board sat on a chair with a list of names written on it. It looked like they were having a tournament.

“Wanna be my partner?” he asked Alex.

“Sure,” she smiled. “Let me just go get a drink.”

He nodded. “Cool. I’ll go enter us,” he said, and he walked off toward the tables. But before Alex could head to the bar, someone called her name.

“Alex!”

She whirled around. Adam beckoned from a few yards away. “Come here!” he called. He was with FTR and Callie. Notably, Kenny and the Young Bucks weren’t anywhere to be seen.

She made her way over to them. Cash and Dax smiled at her. Callie didn’t. “We were just talking about you,” Adam said.

Alex shot him a curious look. “You were?”

“He was just telling us about how you met in college,” Dax explained.

“Yeah, I didn’t realize y’all went that far back. I thought you met in ROH,” Cash added. Out of the corner of her eye, Alex noticed Callie take a drink of her bright pink cocktail in effort to hide a look of annoyance.

“No, we met in college,” she confirmed. “I sat next to him by chance the first day of the one class we had together.”

“And the rest is history,” Adam cut in. “Seriously—she didn’t even watch wrestling before we met, and now she’s here.”

He smiled wide, his face flushed. It was obvious he wasn’t on his first drink. Adam had never been one to turn down a good time, but he’d been drinking a lot more than usual lately, Alex noticed.

“You live in Orlando, right?”

She looked back at Cash. “Oh, yeah. I moved there after graduation in hopes of signing with NXT. That didn’t pan out, obviously… but there’s such a big wrestling community down there that I just stayed.”

Cash nodded. “Yeah, I’m still there, too. Dax moved back to North Carolina, though.”

“I missed home,” Dax said. “And having seasons.”

Adam nudged Callie with his elbow. “See, I’m not the only one.” He looked at Dax and Cash. “She’s been trying to talk me into moving down here.”

“Why?” Dax asked, but Alex tuned out of the conversation as Callie responded. She glanced over her shoulder, looking for Trent; but instead, she found Kenny as he arrived at the party with Matt and Nick. Their eyes met. He smirked. Alex felt suddenly parched.

“Well, I need a drink,” she interjected as soon as there was a break in the conversation.

“Alright,” Adam said.

“Cheers,” Cash added, and Alex sent him a tight smile and took off for the bar, her heart pounding.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie usually loved a party, but she wasn’t having any fun at this one. For one, Adam seemed perfectly content to ignore her in favor of Cash and Dax; and for two, Matt and Nick were pissy because they’d lost the eight-man tag match—and they clearly weren’t happy about Adam’s budding friendship with FTR, either. So, Callie had decided to just avoid all of them. She was sick and tired of constantly having to play mediator between her boyfriend and his teammates—and it had only gotten worse since Adam and Kenny had won the tag titles.

“So have you convinced Adam to move to Orlando yet?” Britt asked. Callie had joined her and Rebel out on the lounge chairs overlooking the field as they waited for the fireworks show to start.

“No,” she regretfully answered. “I swear he’d become a hermit if he could.”

“Wait; I thought you were planning on moving in with him in Virginia?” Rebel asked.

“I am,” Callie returned—maybe a bit too forced. Britt noticed.

“But?” she pressed. Callie sighed.

“But… as much as I love Adam, I really don’t know if I want to trade Southern California for middle-of-nowhere Virginia. That’s why I've been trying to talk him into Orlando. At least moving there wouldn’t be such a culture shock.”

Britt snorted. “Cash lives there. Maybe he can persuade him now that they seem to be best buds.”

Callie glanced over her shoulder to where Adam stood with FTR among a crowd of people watching Anna Jay and John Silver play beer pong against Alex and Trent. She waited, hoping that he’d look over and realize he’d been neglecting her all night. But he didn’t. She sighed and looked back out over the field.

“Well, I’m staying with him until next week’s Dynamite, so I guess I’ll see how I like it there,” she said.

“Hey, everyone!” Tony suddenly called out over the party. “It’s last call, so get your drinks before the fireworks start! Thanks for coming out and happy Fourth!”

A few cheers broke out as people echoed the sentiment. Callie looked down at the drink in her hand. It wasn’t yet empty, but she could use another.

“I’m gonna get another drink,” she said as she stood up.

“Okay, we’ll save your spot,” Rebel returned.

She made her way to the bar, stealing another glance at Adam as she went. That time, their eyes met. But Callie looked away again almost as soon as they did.

She ordered another Cosmopolitan, and as the bartender turned away to make her drink, she felt someone place a hand on the small of her back. She looked up and over her shoulder. Adam.

“Hey. Where you been?”

She scoffed and turned to face forward again. “With Britt and Rebel.” She could have said more, but she didn’t. She didn’t want to fight tonight. They’d been doing that too much lately.

The bartender returned with her drink, and Adam ordered a beer. Callie fidgeted and looked up at him. He nudged his head toward the field as the bartender set the beer in front of him.

“Come on, let’s go get a spot for the fireworks.”

He led her back out onto the terrace, over to a pair of lounge chairs somewhat separated from everyone else. Callie sat down on the edge of the seat, her back stiff.

“Did Cash and Dax not want to watch the fireworks?” she commented. Adam didn’t miss the edge in her tone.

“They’re good guys, Cal. I think you’d like them if you gave them a chance.”

“That’s not,” she cut herself off with a huff. “Never mind.”

“What?” Adam asked. “You’ve been short with me all day.”

“Because I’ve been feeling like I don’t matter!” Callie proclaimed. “Things are obviously still not okay between you and Kenny and the Bucks, but you won’t talk to me about it! Instead, you’re going off and getting drunk with Cash and Dax!”

“Oh okay,” Adam breathed, a wry grin on his lips. He was withdrawing already. But they needed to have this conversation.

“No, listen to me. I want to be here for you, but you won’t let me, Adam.”

She looked at him with pleading eyes, but Adam couldn’t meet her gaze. Five seconds of tense silence passed, and then five more. Callie was ready to just give up when he finally said, “I just don’t want to burden you with my bullshit.”

He looked back at her, and she saw that deep loneliness in his eyes again. It seemed to have become a permanent part of him as of late. It broke her heart.

“You wouldn’t be burdening me with it,” she softly returned. “I’m literally asking you to share with me so that you don’t have to carry it yourself. Don’t you get that?”

He turned his gaze downward again. “Yeah,” he said.

But Callie wasn’t sure if he’d only said it to appease her.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Watch my drink—I have to go to the bathroom.”

Alex set here beer down next to Trent and took off for the restroom. After two successful rounds of beer pong, Anna Jay and John Silver had knocked them out of the tournament in the semifinal, and Alex had just the right amount of buzz going. The party had turned out to be pretty fun, after all— even if she was a bit distracted.  

And after she finished in the bathroom, she came face-to-face with the reason for her distraction in the hall. Kenny.

He flashed a crooked grin. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed playfully. “Did you follow me?”

“What?” he laughed. “No. Should I have?”

Alex leaned back against the wall, her hands behind her, the surface pleasantly cool against her skin. “No. I figured you’d find me eventually.”

He stepped closer. “Did you?”

She nodded. “Mhm.”

He smiled at her, and Alex felt a rush of heat shoot through her core. She hated what Kenny did to her. But, at the moment, she didn’t care.

“Congrats on retaining the tag titles,” she said. “Again.”

“Thank you,” he returned. And then, “Should we celebrate? Again?”

Alex snorted. “Last night was not a celebration.”

He cocked his head at her. “No? So what was it, then?”

She bit her lip as she looked up at him. There were a lot of adjectives she could use to describe last night. Unexpected. Thrilling. Satisfying. But she didn’t say any of those.

“A lapse in judgment,” she answered. But the coy grin on her lips said otherwise.

“Oh, really?” Kenny returned, clearly onto her bluff. “It didn’t sound like that when you were in my bed.”

“Well… just because it was a lapse in judgment doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.” She smirked up at him from underneath long lashes. The alcohol in her veins was leading her to speak more freely than she would have otherwise. Kenny moved closer.

“Well… maybe you should have another lapse in judgment tonight.”

He bent his head toward her, and she lifted her chin, the scent of his cologne filling her nose—but the distinctive clack-clack-clack of heels on linoleum suddenly put Alex on alert, and it was only growing closer. She gently pushed Kenny back and stepped away from him just as Rebel rounded the corner.

“Oh,” she hesitated when she saw them. “Sorry,” she added, and she continued past them into the bathroom. The interruption sobered Alex. A repeat performance would be a bad idea.

She looked back up at Kenny and offered a demure smile. “I’ll see you later,” she said, and she turned and made her way back to the party, trying to remind herself of the pain Kenny had caused her two months ago, and not the pleasure he’d given her last night.

[waywardwrestlewritingwaif]

Smarten Up

This is the fluffiest, most saccharine thing I've ever written. Sorry for the tooth decay.

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC

Word count: 1,028

Content advisory: sexual content (non-explicit)

Your eyes widen a little when you open them. Truthfully, you’ve barely slept, or at least what you’ve been doing has only approximated sleep. The whole time, you’ve been aware of where you are, who you’re with, and that it’s both exciting and uncomfortable. Still, when you can see that it’s real by the light of day, you have trouble believing it.

As if sensing your eyes on him, Kenny wakes, those crystalline eyes immediately connected to yours. There’s a long moment where neither of you speaks and you find yourself smiling a little.

“Did we do something bad?” you finally asked.

He grins. “I think we did a lot of bad things. Good bad things.”

It’s impossible not to admire the sculpted curves of muscle, the hills and valleys of his body. You hadn’t ever thought you’d see them in person again. You’re a little shaken from anything but you bite your lip as you look at him. Still so beautiful. Catching the way your gaze travels down his body, he stretches and flexes his arm.

“I meant, was this a mistake?:

You can’t help worrying. Just being around him again for a few hours has your head all scrambled. It’s like you weren’t ever apart. It’s like he’d just been on another long trip.

“This wasn’t a mistake,” he reassures you. To emphasize his point, he reaches out and strokes your cheek, the way he always did when he wanted you to know what he was saying was serious. “The mistake was breaking up to begin with.”

You see his eyes trail down your body and when they reach your breasts, he smiles a little. That was how it had started last night. Sure, it had technically started when you were picking up an order at your favorite Vietnamese restaurant and saw him there doing the same. All you’d been able to think was that he’d somehow gotten even more beautiful, enough that you’d simply stared at him until he came up and shyly asked how you’d been doing.

The two of you had chatted at the pick up counter until you noticed the staff looking a little annoyed, so you’d suggested that since you were both eating, you might as well go back to your place and catch up.

You’d been broken up for three years, a little over not that you knew the exact date (April 14, 2018) and had mourned it every year since. And yet, it was just like the way you used to talk after not seeing each other for a few weeks. You could still talk about everything that was happening in each other’s lives. You knew the cast of characters. You knew each other well enough to understand why something had been funny or sad or frightening.

You’d leaned over to clear away some of the dishes and as you did, your loose top had become a little revealing. When you caught him looking, you’d given a comically shocked reaction, making sure it was very comic so that he’d know you weren’t really annoyed.

“What?” he whined. “You look great. They look great. Better than ever. I’m only human and you’re you.”

And now here you are, lying next to your ex-boyfriend, feeling all the deliciously naughty pains of a night before. There had been other guys in the intervening time but it wasn’t ever as good as it was with him. It wasn’t just that he was so good, he was but the real difference, as corny as it sounds, was that you loved him. Until last night, you’d thought that was in the past, but it all came back as soon as he had followed you into the kitchen and touched his lips softly to your neck, as soon as he’d started to run his hands down your body while you made a show of trying to rinse the dishes.

“You still make me weak,” he whispered.

Resistance would have been futile, not that you tried.

“Breaking up was stupid,” he pouts. “I can’t remember why we even did it.”

“I didn’t want to move to Japan,” you remind him.

“I’m not living in Japan anymore.”

You give an exasperated sigh. His stubborn insistence on steering away from a serious conversation is apparently the same as it always was.

“It wasn’t just about moving to Japan, Kenneth, it was-”

“I know what it really was,” he cuts in. “You didn’t think you should have to drop your whole life and move to a new country where you were half a world away from your friends and family, where you didn’t speak the language, and where you wouldn’t have been able to work for months. You didn’t want to give up everything and be dependent on me.”

“I don’t remember being that blunt but, yeah, that was it.”

“You weren’t that blunt. I managed to figure it out on my own, which took me a long time because I’m not that bright.”

“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

“No, if I was smart, I would have been able to hear it at the time. I just loved you so much and I wanted to be with you.” He touches a finger to your lips as you go to speak. “You were right. I was too much to ask, or at least, I shouldn’t have expected you to answer without giving you time to think about it more.”

You give his fingers a playful little nip. He still tastes the same. He laughs and you let your own fingers run down his chest, over the crease that leads down to his prick, already showing some signs of life.

“Well good morning,” you giggle.

He rolls onto you, squeezing at your breasts and showering your face and neck with little kisses.

“This is a good morning,” he coos. “This is the best morning in a long while.”

You gasp as his now erect cock brushes against your already wet pussy. This is the best morning you’ve had in years. Breaking up when you could have worked everything out with time was stupid.

“You’re right,” you breathe. “About everything.”