This is a chapter from a new fic I've been working on. I only have 4 full chapters written so far and it should be a pretty long story...if I can get the time to actually write it. In the meantime, hopefully this could act as a good teaser and nope, no summary for the fic except that it's a love story.
Chapter 6 - Distraction.
"Mike!" Alex yells with his arm stretched out in front of him. Mike looks to Alex desperately as his former tag-team partner locks him in his patented submission hold. Mike finds the strength to kick out of it and tag his partner in. Alex rushes towards Morrison and kicks him in the gut. He falls to his knees and Alex delivers a blinding low DDT allowing him to pin the parkour expert as Mike looks on.
Mike stands in the corner, recuperating as John kicks out at two. This is the first time that Alex has been in action since their personal services storyline has gone into effect and Mike can't take his eyes off his protégé. He thinks back to when they were partners on NXT and how well they worked together. The pressure of the competition was immense even though it was on a smaller platform than they're on now. They may be on the grandest stage pro-wrestling has to offer but they have a sense of security that wasn't there before. They have a storyline and they know what they need to do. The atmosphere is more relaxed and the two men are in the zone where they belong.
Things start to grow quiet around Mike as he watches Alex and John square off. He sees Daniel Bryan on the other side of the ring but he's almost a blur, just as the commentators and the audience and even John appear to be. Only Alex remains in focus and then suddenly there's nothing. The arena is dark, the spotlight on an empty ring as Mike stands on the apron alone. He's confused for a split second, doesn't understand where everyone went, why the match stopped before a winner was declared. Just then he feels a warm hand making its way up his leg. He isn't startled because he instinctively knows who it is. It's Alex behind him on the floor reaching up. He massages Mike, pulling him closer by his hip and kissing his exposed thigh. There's a flash and now they're in the center of the isolated ring. There's nothing in Mike that wants Alex to stop so when Alex leans in, Mike embraces him fully. Runs his fingers through his soft hair and then down his smooth body as they kiss, releasing all the tension that had been building up in him for so long. Another flash and they're laying on the mat now. Alex breaks away only to make his way down Mike's defined torso, paying special attention to every erogenous zone along the way until his fingers grip the guy's trunks. Mike lifts himself up just enough and Alex lowers them. Mike is free for merely a second, Alex not wasting any time.
Alex holds Mike's hips down to the mat, runs his wet tongue from the base of Mike's erection up to the tip and then plunges down on Mike, engulfing as much of him as he can in his hot mouth. His tongue making swift revolutions around the guy as he's pulling away.
"Alex," Mike moans, squirming under Alex's strong hold. He lifts his head ever so briefly before his eyes roll back and he loses all the strength he had, his body tingling with pleasure from head to toe.
"Mike," Alex whispers seductively in between suckling kisses. "Mike…Mike!" Alex yells and Mike is transported back to the deafening arena where he sees Alex trying to tag him in.
"Shit," Mike mouths as he reaches out. The lights are so bright he has trouble focusing on his partner. Finally he connects with Alex and stumbles into the ring, almost falling on his face as his boot gets caught on the middle rope. He staggers towards Daniel who flips him over and pins him without hesitation. One. Two. Three. And the match is over.
"What the hell was that?" Daniel whispers so only Mike can hear before jumping to his feet and claiming his victory over his former mentor.
Mike covers his face. That was not supposed to happen but there's nothing he can do about it now. He's almost afraid to look at Alex, can't bear to see the disappointment on the guy's face. What was supposed to be Alex's first win on the big stage is no more than a disaster and Mike knows it's all his fault. He listens as the audience cheers for his opponents and mocks him and his partner as they silently make their way backstage.
"What happened out there, Mike?" Alex finally asks.
Mike's cheeks burn with humiliation. "I-"
"Hey, Alex!" a voice shouts from down the corridor saving Mike from having to explain himself. Alex turns to Justin as Mike lowers his head in shame.
"You wanna go grab some drinks?" the high flyer asks with his soft South African accent.
"Oh, um." Alex looks to Mike as if to ask for permission.
"Yeah, go ahead. I'll catch up with you later," Mike answers knowing full well he'll see Alex when he predictably comes to his room to hang out.
"You sure?" Alex reaches out and grabs Mike's bicep affectionately.
"Go," Mike demands with a slight chuckle and a tilt of his head. He's still embarrassed and would rather be alone anyway. Plus, it'll give him time to come up with some kind of excuse when Alex inevitably asks him again later.
Alex smiles and it's not completely genuine, like he'd rather Mike have commanded him to stay – and he would have if asked - but now he has no choice but to leave. "See ya," Alex utters awkwardly as he walks towards Justin. Mike resumes in the opposite direction and can't help but glance back at Alex walking away from him. There's something about the sight of it all that makes him feel uneasy, sick even.
xxxx
Alex collects the remote on Mike's end table. Bounces on the foot of the bed a few times to get comfortable and starts flipping through the channels. There's never anything on but night after night, he's built himself this routine.
"Did you have fun with Justin?" Mike asks nonchalantly. He hopes Alex did but at the same time he doesn't.
"Eh," Alex shrugs. "I'd rather hang out with you."
Holy shit, Mike thinks, his eyes fixated on Alex as the guy continues channel surfing. Mike remains perfectly calm on the outside even though quite the opposite is transpiring on the inside.
"Even though I lost us the match tonight?"
With this, Alex turns off the tv and shifts his body on the bed, turning his attention towards Mike. "Yeah, what the hell happened anyway?"
Mike realizes he liked it better when the tv was on. Now it's so quiet and it feels like the eyes of the whole world are upon him.
"I'm sorry man, I guess I just got distracted."
"By what? Was there a hot chick in the front row or something?" Alex jokes.
Mike laughs at the irony of the question and shakes his head.
"Well, what was it then?" Alex scoots forward, curious as to what could have distracted Mike so much that it cost him a match against two of his biggest rivals.
Mike takes a deep breath. He's been waiting for an opportunity to come clean with Alex for such a long time now and it seems like one has finally presented itself. "It was you," he confesses.
Alex immediately gets up, looks more worried than Mike has ever seen him. "Fuck. I knew it. I'm screwing everything up. Mike, this job means everything to me."
Mike steps closer to Alex and places his hands on the guy's shoulders to calm him down. "No. Shit, no. That's not what I meant. You're fine." Mike stands there, less than an arm's length away from Alex, eyes shifting from deep blue to deep blue and down to his intoxicating mouth. It's now or never, he thinks.
"I," Mike gulps, his nerves are overtaking him and the risk suddenly seems to outweigh the reward so he retreats into the darkness like the spotted owl at sunrise; going back to where he knows it's safe. "I get distracted when you call me Mike." It pains him to admit this false truth, if anything Alex saying his name gives him more confidence but it seems to be the only thing he can think of in this moment.
"It does?" Alex frowns.
"You calling me Mike is confusing, I forget where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing."
"I do all that just by saying your name?" Alex asks in disbelief, feels the blush creep to his cheeks.
Mike doesn't notice because he's concerned about the burning of his own cheeks, the tips of his ears feel like they're on fire. If only Alex knew the kind of effect he really had on him! "How would you like it if I called you Kevin out there, ripping you out of character every ten seconds?"
Alex exhales sharply. "I get it. It won't happen again."
Mike is disgusted with himself, this is the first time he's ever out and out lied to Alex and he hates it. He hates the way he's just made Alex feel, he hates himself for being nothing more than a coward and a fraud.
"It's not a big deal," Mike smiles.
"Yeah?" Alex looks up to him with hopeful eyes.
"C'mon, there must be something on tv we can watch," Mike says trying to lighten the mood.
They manage to find a scary movie neither have had time to watch. Alex falls asleep towards the end and Mike only realizes this when he goes to shut off the tv. After what he's put the guy through tonight, he doesn't have the heart to wake him. Instead, he moves to the extra bed and watches Alex's silhouette rise and fall in the darkness until his eyes grow too heavy to stay open. It's the first night they sleep in the same room together.