Title: Hurt
Rating: T
Fandom: Wrestling, WWE
Pairing: Edge/Christian
Summary: 2001. Ladder match for the tag team titles, E&C vs the Hardys vs the Dudleys. E&C are champs. E's POV. Edge/Christian, slash.
You lie on the canvas face down, waiting for the rush in your ears to clear. You hurt, a pain so all encompassing you can't begin to quantify it. You barely remember the ladder landing on top of you, though you know it happened recently, maybe seconds ago.
Time ticks by slowly as you try to get your bearings, try to get a handle on the match going on around you. You can feel the ring vibrate beneath you, hear the crunch of metal on metal, but you can't move yet.
You feel something grabbing at you and you look down, prepared to muster what defense you can. You relax when you realize it's just your brother's hand, bunching the spandex of your tights as he pulls himself across the mat.
"You okay?" he mumbles from behind a tangle of hair as his hand ghosts along your hip. You wish he'd stay there forever, or at least until the stabbing in your heart subsides. But you're live on pay-per-view, and it's his title too that'll be lost if you don't get up.
"Never better," you force out as you mentally prepare yourself for the monumental task of standing. As always, it's him that brings you back to reality, makes you remember what's important. "Let's win this."
Through what power you make it to your feet, you don't know, but you charge into the fray, trusting, as always, that he's right beside you. He is there for you and you can make or break him. Maybe that's what propels you up that ladder, this idea that he needs you.
You can rest when the titles are back in your hands, when there'll be time to just lie and recover. And maybe he'll stay by your side then, too, sleep with an arm around your waist, a fistful of your shirt in his hand, like he used to when he was a kid. And you'll be able to close your eyes, soak in his warmth, and hurt.