A/N: One shot, based on a Stone Sour song. I have no idea where this came from, other than me wanting to write something for Pixiella's story contest. And look! No Punk for once!
Say You'll Haunt Me
"It's the classic battle, good versus evil." I rolled my eyes and tried to tune out the voice speaking two booths away, but I couldn't. "People need things to be black and white, simple to sort through, and they're not. That's why the crowd loves wrestling so much. Things are clear when you're watching us. You cheer the hero and boo the bad guy."
I stared down into the drink in front of me, considering it. Despite the fact that I'd heard this speech a million times, I still felt like there was something I was missing under all of it. I leaned out from the booth and glanced back to see him, speaking earnestly with some woman I'd never seen before. Typical. Of course he'd bring some girl he just met here. I picked the drink up and downed it, wishing once again that I could tune him out. What was it about him that made it impossible for me to ignore him?
With a sigh, I stood and tossed a few crumpled bills on the table. The door was past his booth, but maybe I could talk the bartender into letting me use the back door… "Hey, isn't that Maria Kanellis?" the girl said suddenly, her eyes shifting from her companion to me. I froze, caught.
He turned and our eyes met for a long moment before he told his companion, "I don't think so."
"No, it totally is! Don't you know her? Maria! Hey, Maria!"
I bit my lip and glanced at the door beyond them before heading that way. With a smile, I nodded to the fan. "Hi."
"You know the Miz, right?" she asked.
"Of course. Hi, Mike."
He met my eyes for a moment before looking down at the table. "I think Maria is probably busy," he said to his date.
I don't know why I did it, but I smiled and said, "No, of course not. I can spare a few minutes for a fan."
Mike lifted his eyes again, disbelief plain on his face. "Oh. Well, would you like to sit down? Angela, why don't you come sit by me and let Maria sit over there?" I could feel the tension from where I stood, despite the fake smile.
"Good idea!" the girl said, bounding up from her seat and snuggling close to him. "You know, you're my favorite wrestler, and Maria is my favorite Diva! Maybe we can get a picture later."
"Sure." Mike said, his eyes downcast again. I could tell by the way he was furrowing his brow that my being here was bugging him. "That sounds… nice."
I slid into the booth. "So what are you two kids up to tonight? First date?"
Mike grimaced. "Morrison set us up," he said.
"He's been a friend of my brother's for years," the girl, Angela, confided. "I have known Johnny since he was twelve."
"Oh," I said. "That's a long time." I smiled at the girl, then glanced back at her companion. Mike was obviously uncomfortable, shifting in the seat. "But you and Mike just met, huh?"
"Yes," she said.
"Well, he's a sweetheart." I smiled at the two of them, then started to slide out of the booth. That earned me a glare from Mike. "I'd better get going. Morning comes really early when you're working in the studio."
"Oh, stay and have a drink with us!" Angela pleaded. "Just one. I'd like to ask you about being a Diva."
"I suppose I can stay for a few more minutes," I allowed, trying not to smirk at the look on Mike's face.
"Good!" said Angela. "I'm going to run to the little girl's room, and when I come back, we're doing shots, okay? Don't go anywhere!"
"Sounds like a plan," I said cheerfully.
Mike smiled at her. "Hurry back."
Angela waved at us and headed for the ladies room. "So, she seems nice."
The smile was gone from his face. Mike leaned across the table toward me. "What the hell are you doing, Maria?" he asked.
"I'd ask you the same thing, but I think I know." I looked toward the bathroom, then back at him. "Why would you bring her here, of all places?"
He sighed and closed his eyes. "I told you, it's Morrison's fault. He needed someone to keep this girl off his back. She's been damned near stalking him at the last few shows."
"So of course, good person that you are, you volunteered," I said.
"No, of course not," he snapped. "But he's my best friend and he asked for my help. What did you expect me to do?" He opened his eyes and looked at me. "Besides, it's not like I can mourn you forever."
The words made me uncomfortable. "You wouldn't be mourning anything at all if you'd just been honest with me."
"I couldn't," he said. "Why is that so damned hard for you to believe, Maria?"
I glanced toward the bathroom again. "Well, you don't have to worry about it any more tonight. Looks like your date's coming back."
"Don't you know I can't think of anything else?" he muttered.
I stared at him as the girl slid back into the booth beside him. "I'm sorry," she said. "I ordered the shots on the way back, so they'll be here in a minute. Maria, I hope you like Rum?"
"Sure," I said, finally dragging my eyes from Mike, who wouldn't look at me, to his date, who was staring. "Rum is awesome." I saw him flinch across the table and wanted to smack myself for it.
"You okay?" Angela asked, turning her eyes to Mike.
"Just a little sore after my match tonight," he said, giving her a smile. "I'm sure John told you how it is."
"Well, actually," she said, "I've been thinking about getting into the wrestling game."
"Oh?" I knew that tone; noncommittal. He wasn't happy about this revelation at all. God knows, I'd heard it often enough over the year and a half we'd been together.
"Yes, isn't that great?" Angela said. "I don't know if I want to be on Smackdown or Raw, though."
"Have you ever wrestled, Angela?" I asked her.
"No, but how hard could it be?" she asked with an innocent smile.
I was glad the shots arrived just then, or I'd have had to answer her. That would have been bad. I picked up my drink and raised it in a toast. "To knowing what you want, then," I said.
"I'll drink to that!" she said, downing the shot.
I could feel Mike's eyes on me, burning. "Do you know what you want, Maria?" he finally asked, before taking his shot.
I looked at him. "I thought I did. I had a job I loved, a man I thought I was going to marry and the start of a music career."
"What happened?" Angela asked.
"Turns out," I said, turning to her, "the job wasn't as stable as I'd thought, the man wasn't who I thought he was, and the music… Well, that's still fine." I chuckled. "Funny how the only thing that hasn't let me down is writing songs about how everything else has let me down."
"Yeah," Mike said, waving to the bartender for another shot. "Sounds funny."
"Anyway, I should let the two of you get on with your date…"
"Let me walk you out," Mike said suddenly. "I need to talk to you about working together again sometime."
I shrugged. "That okay with Angela?"
"Sure," the girl said. "But I thought we were getting a picture first?"
"Right." I stood and the bartender brought Mike his drink. He downed it quickly. Liquid courage, wasn't that what they called it? "Hey, Sal, can you get a quick picture of the three of us?"
"Oh, are you and Mike…" Sal began.
"No," I said quickly. "We don't work together anymore. You know that."
Sal frowned. "Right." He took Angela's cell and we stood together, smiling. Sal snapped the picture. "You look good," he told me.
"Oh, Mike, you weren't looking at the camera," Angela said. She held the picture up and I caught a glimpse. He'd been looking at me.
"We'll take another one when I come back in," Mike promised. "Maria?"
"Right. Sal, could you call me a cab?"
Sal shrugged and went to the phone. "I'll be back in a few minutes," Mike told Angela. "You go ahead and get another drink."
Mike and I walked out together, as we had many times before. The last time felt like yesterday, even though it had been three months. "So," I said. "Nice girl."
He stared out into the night. "I should have told you," he said finally.
"About Angela?"
"About Callie," he said. "But I didn't know how, Maria. I'd just found out myself the day before, and I was trying to make sense of it."
"You could have said, 'Hey, Maria, my ex just called me. Turns out I've got a daughter.'"
"How would you have taken that?" he asked. He still couldn't look at me.
"Better than finding her message on the machine, asking you to meet her for the second day in a row." I said. "We could have worked it out, if you'd been honest."
"I didn't know what to say."
"Don't you wish life was as black and white as wrestling?" I said, smirking. "Then it would have been easy, right?"
"Maria…"
"I have to go," I said, indicating the cab that just pulled up. "My ride's here."
I took a step, intending to get into the cab, but he pulled me back. "Maria, don't go," he said.
"I have to. I have to get up in the morning, and you have a girl to get back to."
He sighed and pulled me into a hug. The cab driver honked. "I can't do this any more," he murmured into my hair. "I love you. I always have. What you said in there about me not being who you thought I was… I'm sorry."
"Mike," I said, glancing past him to the windows of the bar behind us, and the startled face of Angela, "let go. Angela is watching us."
"I don't care," he said stubbornly. "I'm not going to let you go until you see how much this is killing me."
"I see it," I said softly. "But there's nothing I can do about it." The cab driver honked a second time. "I have to go."
"Maria," he said, and he loosened his grip. I saw the tears sliding down his cheeks, something I hadn't seen when we'd broken up. Something I didn't think I'd ever see from Mike "the Miz" Mizanin.
"Oh, Mike," I sighed, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "Come on. We can't…"
He leaned down and kissed me, our lips remembering what it had been like, all those months ago, when I'd thought he was the one for me. The chemistry was still there. "I love you," he told me, our foreheads touching. "I don't want to live without you. Whatever it takes, Maria, I will prove it to you. Nothing else matters." I heard the cabbie drive off into the night, but I didn't care any more. Despite the time that had passed, being in his arms again felt right. Feeling his heartbeat against my chest made me the happiest person on earth.