When Cody had first met Damien, his hair was always in imaculate condition.
He always made sure that it was slicked down and tied back, fretting over the tiniest strand out of place. He'd had a habit of disappering into the locker room after matches, not coming out until he felt that he was presentable again.
Cody hadn't ever thought too much of it. Damien was a vain man, this was undoubtable. He refused to be portrayed as a slob, and Cody had just assumed he was very particular with his hair.
When Cody and Damien had started rooming together, Cody noticed other thing. For one, he was never up before Damien. Every day when Cody woke up, the first thing he would usually see was Damien wide awake and already showered and dressed, usually lying on his bed and reading a book.
Even after Damien had mostly dropped the posh act, he still continued to wake before Cody and make sure that he was presentable, even going as far as to cut a couple of inches off of his hair so it was easier to manage.
So of course, Cody began to grow curious.
He refused to believe that Damien was simply an early riser. Before they had roomed together, Damien had frequently mentioned that he wasn't a morning person in the slightest, so why would he change now?
Cody had tried waking up earlier and earlier. On the mornings where he wouldn't hit snooze on the alarm clock, he would be disappointed to find that Damien was already in the shower, if not already awake and reading. Eventually, Cody had given up, telling himself that Damien clearly knew what he was trying to do, and was waking up earlier to avoid him.
The morning when Cody had finally caught him, it had happened by complete accident.
His brother had decided to call him at four in the morning, rambling on for ten minutes about cats until Cody barked at him, telling him what time it was. Goldust had apologized profusely before hanging up on him. Cody sighed and put the cellphone on the table next to him, laying back down so he could get a bit more sleep. His head had barely hit the pillow when he noticed something.
Damien was still sound asleep in the other bed.
Cody shot up into a sitting position. He wasn't sure how to process the fact that he had a completely asleep and ruffled Damien in the bed next to his.
He couldn't see Damien's face. Damien had his back to Cody and was almost engulfed in the duvet and comforter. His hair was sprawled out over the pillow, and he snored softly enough that you wouldn't be able to hear it unless you were really listening.
Cody got out of bed carefully, making sure his feet didn't hit the floor too hard or the rustling of the sheets wasn't too loud. He froze, a cold feeling filling his chest when Damien fidgeted a bit, sighing in relief when Damien snuggled back down into the cocoon of blankets and remained still.
Cody wasn't sure what to do next. Did he wait until Damien woke up? Did he wake him up himself? Or did he go over to the other side of the bed and take a quick peek?
Decided on the third option, Cody tiptoed over to the other side of Damien's bed. Taking a deep breath he glimpsed down at Damien's face.
To find that the other man had already woken, face barely visible in the dark of the room. And he was whisper-yelling at him furiously.
"Cody Rhodes, what in the hell are you doing?!"
Cody jumped backwards, hitting his head against the wall. Cody hissed, sliding down the wall, only to land on the button that turned the floor lamp on.
The sudden brightness that filled the room made both men hiss and shut their eyes. Cody shook his head and tried to open his eyes while rubbing one of them with a free hand.
What Cody found was almost completely unexpected.
Damien was sitting on his knees in the bed, rubbing at his own eyes. His pyjamas were askew and unbuttoned and he looked outright dazed. But his hair was the best part.
When Damien moved his hands, Cody got a full sight of his bangs. Cody hadn't been aware that Damien even had bangs in the first place, yet they were there, drooping into his eyes. He almost looked like an emo teenager from MySpace, had it not been for his beard. Cody would go as far as to call the sight 'cute'.
Oh, who was he kidding, it was downright adorable.
Damien had managed to get his own eyes open at this point. Realizing what was happening, he tried to get up to dash to the bathroom, but Cody grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close.
"Cody, let go of me this instant!" Damien barked, trying to squirm of of Cody's grip.
"Oh no." Cody smirked and turned Damien around to face him, "I've been trying to see this for way too long, I'm not giving it up now."
Damien glared at him, but otherwise stayed still. Cody reached up to touch the bangs, but Damien slapped his hands away.
"Don't touch it." Damien snarled, shaking his head a little so that he could look at Cody a bit better.
"Why are you anal about it?" Cody asked, "I think it looks cute!"
"It is far from 'cute'." Damien looked away, "It's completely barbaric. You'd see this sort of hair on a caveman sculpture in a museum."
"If you hate them so much, why didn't you ever get them cut off?" Cody asked.
Damien didn't answer him, instead blushing a bit. Cody, confused, pulled Damien over to sit on the bed.
"Well?" Cody said, "I'm listening."
Damien sighed and stared at the wall with an intensity that could burn holes through it. "I...I can't bring myself to do so."
"Why not?"
"I've had my bangs since I was a small child. When my...nanny would tend to me and get me dressed-"
"Wait, you had a nanny?"
Damien glared at Cody. "My family was a wealthy one."
Cody nodded. "Sorry, go on."
Damien turned away and continued. "As I was saying, when my nanny would dress me, she would always fix my bangs so they would look endearing. Many of my mother's friends adored the look. But when I got old enough to dress myself, I left them down. It was..." Damien searched for the right word, "More convenient that way."
"Convenient?" Cody asked incredulously, "I honestly can't imagine anything less convenient than having your hair in your face all day."
"Think about what middle school and high school was like back when we were children, Cody." Damien said, "I was the poster child for nerds. You can imagine the kind of bullying that happens to children of that caliber. With my bangs down...I didn't have to look at them. And they didn't really have to look at me. At least, I saw it that way."
Cody stayed quiet as Damien crossed his arms and glared at the ground. When he spoke, he asked, "Why did you start slicking it back?"
"I realized how ridiculous I looked." Damien stated plainly, "And the last thing I desire is to be teased for looking like a ragamuffin."
Cody took Damien's cheek and pulled him to look Cody in the eyes. He reached up to move a few bangs out of Damien's face, but the other man grabbed his wrist.
"Please don't." Damien said, "Just let me go to the restroom and compose myself, and we can forget about this."
"But I don't want to forget about it." Cody said, blowing in Damien's face to move a few stray bangs, "You look adorable. And if you try to tell me otherwise, I'll deck you in the shnoz."
Damien's face was almost completely red now, his chocolate brown eyes glistening. Cody simply couldn't help himself.
He leaned down and kissed the flustered man.
He could feel Damien jump in shock and tremble a bit before settling down and even slightly kiss him back.
When Cody pulled away and opened his eyes, Damien was staring back at him with a mix of emotions that Cody couldn't quite make out. Cody couldn't help but chuckle. "Never been kissed before?"
Damien shook his head slowly. "Always been taught that it was inappropriate." He said somewhat breathlessly.
"Maybe I should give you a quick rundown than."
"It's four in the morning."
Cody chuckled and pressed his forehead against Damien's, bangs ad all. "Don't care."
THE END