"OWWW! Ouch! Be careful!" Cody shrieked as a medic tried to look at his nose.
"Cody, quit squirming and let him to his job! The more you move, the more it will hurt!" I replied as the medic let out a frustrated sigh for what seemed like the 100th time in the last two minutes.
"I don't think you fully understand how badly this hurts, Jas!" the ingured male retorted.
"Okay, okay. Calm down you two," the medic chimed in, "Cody, I need to sit still so I can see what kind of damage has been done."
The medic placed his hands on Cody's face and examined his nose while Cody winced and tried his best not to squirm. I did my best not to giggle and placed a comforting hand on Cody's shoulder, which he quickly shrugged off. He wasn't the type that enjoyed being touched while he was upset or in pain.
"Okay Cody, your nose is broken, we're going to have to reset it."
"What? Broken? Give me a mirror!" Cody wrenched the mirror out of the medic's hand and cried out in despair. I'd never seen him so upset in all my life, and over a broken nose none the less.
"Okay, okay, just do it," replied Cody as he reached for my hand. The contact sent little chills down my spine.
That was a few months ago. Cody hasn't been the same since. I missed my sweet, happy Cody. I never thought he'd snap like that. I never thought a broken nose would take him away from me. It's almost like he's lost himself because of his "Dashing" image. He wouldn't even let me look at him after the medic reset his nose. He's under the impression that he's not the same guy he was before his nose was broken. But he is. He's still the same guy. Well...maybe not entirely the same. He looks exactly the way he used to, but his mind's been warped. He believes he's truly hideous. I could understand that, as crazy as it sounds, but I thought he really cracked when he started handing out paper bags because the hideousness of the WWE universe offended him. I've tried to talk some sense into him, but he won't have it. I suppose the part that hurt the most was that I was in love with the crazy kid, and he had shut me out once his face had become "disfigured."
All these thoughts ran through my mind as I laced up my boots for my tag team match. It was a mixed gender match tonight and I was really excited to face my opponents. It was going to be me and my partner Daniel Bryan verses Layla and none other Mr. Cody Rhodes himself. I didn't really have anything against Layla, I just didn't really like her. I thought she was kind of annoying. But I was really excited to see Cody. I missed him so much and even though we were on opposite teams tonight, I was still excited to see him. I turned my head as I heard a knock on my door.
"Ready for a fight?" Daniel asked as he popped his head into my door.
"Why do you always do that? I could be changing for all you know, and you just stick your head right in the door. It's called privacy young man, and I expect mine to be respected," I jokingly scolded.
"Maybe I'm hoping to see something," he shot back while wiggling his eyebrows and smirking.
I giggled at this and playfully smacked him as I headed out of my locker room.
"For that comment, Mr. Bryan, you'll be walking out to my entrance music," I stuck my tongue out at him as I jogged towards the curtain. He laughed and ran after me, but it was too late. The techie guys were already on my side. When I Grow Up by PCD blared through the speakers as I ran through the curtain. The crowd went wild as I did my poses at the top of the ramp. Daniel came out after me with his head hung in shame. The crowd laughed at him, and so did I, as we made our way down the ramp smacking as many hands as we could on the way.
Layla's annoying music came on, and she did her thing and then waited at the bottom of the ramp. That meant Cody was coming out next. Butterflies started floating around in my stomach. As soon as his music hit, a wave of nausea rolled through me...damn butterflies. He had his bag-men with him. I rolled my eyes at this. I could have sworn that Cody looked up at me then, but just as quickly as I thought it had happened, it was over. I guess he didn't have time for a speech today, so he just grabbed two bags from his men and walked up the steel steps as his bag-men handed out paper bags to the front row. He slowly walked up to Daniel and glared a hole into his head. He handed him a bag, but Daniel just swiped it from his hand and tore it in two while returning the glare to Cody. Cody shook his head and made his way over to me. He slowly raised his head and looked at me with his beautiful eyes. I missed his eyes. He raised his arm and placed a bag in front of me. I was shocked to say the least. I quickly became enraged that he even dared to present me with a bag, and I swung my arm back and connected with his face mere seconds later. Cody stumbled backwards a few steps and reached up to his face. I shot daggers at him with my eyes as he advanced on me. Daniel stepped in between us as the ref tried to push Cody to his own corner. This was going to be a very interesting match.
Long story short, I was dominating Layla. I was about to slam her into the mat, but somehow she countered and ran over to slap Cody's hand. I held my ground as he ducked under the top rope and into the ring.
"Come on Jasmine! You gotta tag in Daniel," yelled the ref. Daniel was bouncing up and down on the ropes, but I ignored them both and continued to stare at Cody. He wore that stupid face mask that made him look entirely ridiculous.
"Get out of the ring Jas," Cody almost demanded. I saw a flash of softness and sensitivity in his eyes as he spoke my name. The ref began to push me towards Daniel while I tried to fight my way back to Cody. It was useless, and Daniel slapped my shoulder once I was within reach. Cody fought a good fight, but he was distracted, allowing Daniel to secure a win. We celebrated in the ring, but I kept my eye on Cody. He looked up at me as he was walking back up the ramp and shook his head. I needed to talk to him.
I tried my best not to sprint to Cody's dressing room, but failed miserably. I reached his door about five minutes after the match had ended because a few people had decided that they needed to congratulate me on the win. I tried to catch my breath before I knocked on the door because I didn't want to look dumb, and I needed to figure out what I was gonna say. I knocked three times, but there was no answer.
"Come on Cody, I know you're in there. You can either let me in or I'll knock down the door." I waited for what seemed like forever, but there was no answer. I sighed and began to turn around and walk away when the door opened to reveal Cody in a pair of dark jeans and a light blue t-shirt.
"What do you want Jasmine?" he asked, his eyes never meeting mine once.
"Jasmine? I thought we were friends Cody? What happened to Jas?" I asked, hurt that he had gone so formal on me.
"Friends? Huh, who would want to be friends with a monster like me? I'm hideous," he replied as he turned around and walked back into his dressing room.
"Hideous? Cody, you're insane. The only reason you're even close to hideous is because you wear that stupid mask on your face. There's nothing wrong with you!" I cried out as I followed him, making sure to shut his door in the process. This was between Cody and I. I didn't need the whole Smackdown roster knowing about our conversation.
"Don't lie to me! I know what I look like! I see it everyday in the mirror!" He spun around and advanced towards me, grabbing my arms in the process. I winced at the sudden pain and he eased up, but kept a firm grip on me.
"You're insane, and if you'd just listen to reason you'd understand that you are still the same "Dashing" Cody Rhodes you've always been. You need to snap out of whatever crazy trance you're in because I miss my best friend. I want him back!" I yelled as tears threatened to escape from my eyes. Cody's eyes softened, and his breath became shaky and uneven. I finally had a chance to look at him up close. He looked tired, and much older, like he hadn't slept in ages. But he was still beautiful to me. I tried to reach up and touch his face but he shoved me away and turned his back towards me once again.
"Cody please," I begged as I reached out to grab his arm. He shrugged me off, so I tried again. And once more, he shrugged me off. "Just...please! Turn around and look at me!"
He hung his head, but began to turn around. He stared down at my feet until I placed my hand under his chin and raised his head. He held this pained expression on his face that forced a few tears to fall from my eyes. I couldn't bear to see him like this. It was my turn to shrug him off as he tried to wipe away my tears. I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm myself before facing him again. He waited very patiently for me while I did my best to compose myself.
"I want to see you Cody. I want to really look at you," I whispered as I slowly reached my hand towards the back of his head. He flinched once he realized what I was doing. I grabbed onto the front of his shirt with my other hand as I silently pleaded with him.
"Please Cody...I need you back," I begged. He closed his eyes and reached up to softly grab the arm that was currently reaching up towards the back of his head. He was silent for a moment, and then looked down at me and in an ever so soft whisper said, "Okay." I let out a small sigh of relief as I reached my other hand up to begin undoing the wretched thing that had kept my Cody away for so long. As soon as all of the straps had been undone, I took a deep breath and took one final look at Cody. He had his eyes closed and looked like he was waiting to be punched in the stomach. I fully removed the mask and proceeded to chuck it across the room. I took my first look at the now maskless Cody and felt my breath hitch in the back of my throat. Once again, tears began to fall from my eyes. He was absolutely beautiful. Cody's eyes shot open as he heard me choke out a sob. He tried to cover his face from me, but I refused to let him.
"Stop it Jas, I told you, I'm hideous. I've reduced you to tears!" He shouted as he tried to fight off my hands.
"No! You're not hideous! You're not! You're perfect!" He froze as I said this and looked directly into my eyes. I took the opportunity to reach up and stroke his cheek with my hand. He shuddered at the sudden contact and leaned into my hand as he closed his eyes. "You're beautiful Cody," I whispered as I slowly closed the distance between us and placed my lips on top of his. He responded almost instantly as he snaked one arm around my waist and the hand of the other one in my hair. I felt a fire in the pit of my stomach as I continued to kiss him, and I ran my hands up his shirt and all over his perfect torso. The kiss was ended, much to my dismay, due to lack of oxygen. Cody kissed my forehead and just held me as we both caught our breath.
"I missed you Jas," Cody breathed into my hair. I smiled at this and looked up at him.
"I missed you too Codes. Promise me you'll never leave me again. I need you Cody," I begged as I held him tightly.
"Okay, I promise," he replied as he kissed the top of my head.
I couldn't take holding back any longer. I pulled away from his slightly and looked up into his beautiful blue eyes. He looked down at me with a puzzled expression.
I took a deep breath and let it all go. I looked up at him with a smile on my face and said, "I love you Cody."
He beamed at me then, and kissed me once more. When he pulled away from the kiss, he pulled me in closer and placed his chin on the top of my head.
"I love you too Jas."