Three years.
It had been three years since she'd left TNA. And it was all because of him.
She regrouped. Wrestled a few independent shows, and then off to the WWE she went. Gone forever.
Maybe on the inside, he hated himself. A little. Hell, much more than that.
For so long, he was haunted by the bitter memory of their last night.
So wrong. He was so, so wrong.
Love. It was something that didn't come often. You were lucky to find it.
Alex, was lucky. Everyone knew it. He knew it.
So what could've possibly made him betray the one person, besides Chris, that he knew he couldn't live without?
To this day, he still didn't know.
He could say, "it was a moment of weakness" all he wanted, but even he knew it wasn't that.
The most likely thing he'd come up with, was that it was an act of sheer stupidity. He would never deny that he was one stupid boy.
Yes, a boy. No man would've been foolish enough to jeopardize his relationship. His perfect relationship.
No, perfect was not exaggerating. What they had was absolutely perfect. She was perfect.
He knew, though, that if he was going to throw away three years of bliss for a few minutes with some skank with nice tits, that he didn't deserve perfection. He deserved nothing.
He never thought she would actually leave.
But that's exactly what she did.
Alex remembered with painful accuracy the images of her throwing all of her stuff into the back of her car, and driving off to her best friends' house in Tampa.
Sometimes, he would curse Maria and Brie. But he knew it wasn't their fault. It was his.
She was gone. Because of him.
It made it that much harder to explain to Chris when he returned home that evening.
The two bedroom house the three shared seemed eerily empty when she was gone.
Chris stood by him, nonetheless. Although he was terrible at making Alex believe he wasn't still talking to her.
Of course he was.
Alex knew he had no reason to be jealous, or to even care that they talked. She and Chris wouldn't stop being friends just because they broke up. That'd be ridiculous.
After all, it was his fault she was gone.
It was also his fault, that he was basically shunned by the rest of the TNA roster by the time they returned.
Kristen had left the company shortly after the breakup, and the rest of her friends weren't too happy about it.
It just made things worse when Alex would defend her against certain "friends" who called her selfish and said she needed to grow up.
What did they know, anyway?
If she felt even a shred of the pain he felt, Alex didn't blame her for leaving. It would be damn near impossible to come back here.
Regardless of the pain, anger, and just about every other negative emotion a human can possibly feel, Alex kept track of her.
He watched her short stint in the Indies. He read all the online articles about her signing a contract with the WWE.
He went to Chris for confirmation, and found his best friend on the phone, obviously talking to her, with tears in his eyes and the biggest smile he'd ever seen on Chris.
She'd made it.
"One day, we'll be there. I promise, we'll make it. Together."
Well, she was half right.
For the next few months, he kept up with everything he could.
A toned down stalker, he felt like. Sometimes.
There was always something new on the Internet.
.Former Knockout Debuts on SmackDown
.WWE Diva Initiates First Female Elimination Chamber
.WWE Diva Dating Indy/Former TNA Star Austin Aries
That one had hit Alex. Hard.
Austin Aries? That couldn't be true.
Only it was.
Pictures surfaced of the two quickly. As sick as it made him, Alex looked at every one he came across.
It was one, of the pair backstage at some WWE show, both geared up and hugging for the camera. She looked beautiful. Happy.
The picture brought Alex to tears.
"That should be me."
It was fourteen dreadful months before they broke up. It wasn't a bitter, crushing one like they'd had. It was a simple, "we have different goals, we need to go our separate ways" break up.
Everything went back to normal.
Alex still hurt, of course.
But nothing, absolutely nothing, would ever compare to the agonizing feeling he had back in May 2010.
Chris had bought them tickets to SmackDown in Jacksonville. Her hometown. Front row.
She would be there.
Alex wasn't sure if it was a good thing to see her or not, but he wanted it. So bad.
That night, from the best seat in the house, Alex watched the love of his life win her first Divas Championship.
Kristen had slid out the ring, and leaned breathlessly against the barricade.
Literally right in front of his seat.
When she turned around and faced her former tag team partners, her smile didn't fall. But her eyes flashed with various emotions.
Confusion, first. Happiness next. Remembrance. Pain.
She adverted her eyes to Chris, and high-fived him as if he was just another fan.
And after that, she was gone. Again.
He stopped keeping tabs on her after that.
It was bad enough that he thought of her every minute, had dreams about her at night. It was just too cruel to intentionally torture himself.
But a while later, Chris informed him that she had lost the championship, and that maybe her career with the WWE was ending. On her terms.
Alex knew it was too good to be true, but he still hoped.
A year and a half later, there she stood.
Tonight was just like any other Tuesday night; iMPACT! tapings.
In his usual spot next to the catering table, he watched as a girl stepped up to the curtain.
Visibly shaking, she shook her head to calm her nerves, sending her straight dark brown locks into a wave of motion.
The sight of the small girl sent shocks through Alex.
No. There's no way.
No matter how much he knew that the black shorts and top she was wearing were made by her best friend, Maria, for him to give her as his birthday gift, four years ago, he wouldn't believe it was her.
Chris appeared beside Alex, and hit his shoulder.
"What's got your eye?" Chris asked, seeing Alex's intense gaze.
When he didn't answer, Chris looked in that direction, and froze as well.
Except his didn't last long.
"Kristen!" Chris called with a shocked voice.
It was unmistakable now.
Her bright blue eyes flashed to them, and her smile was just as happy and pretty as it had always been.
"Chris!" She squeaked back at him.
They ran to each other, and embraced tightly.
Alex watched uncomfortably just a step away.
"I missed you so much." She whispered quietly.
"I missed you, too." Chris smiled.
A familiar A Day To Remember song picked up.
"I'll talk to you after my match." Kristen told him as she stepped back to the curtain.
She and Alex locked eyes for barely a second.
He wanted to scream to her, but she was gone before he could even think to form words.
The tears hit before anything else registered.
He left the arena without a second thought.
...
Alex spent over two hours driving aimlessly around the city.
Where could he go?
Back to that arena? No. She might still be there.
A hotel? Who knows which one she's at.
Home? So he could attempt to sleep, then have her in his dreams?
He felt stuck. Trapped in this little world that he'd brought upon himself.
You'd think after so many years he'd be over it. But no, his life didn't work like that.
So now, he sat in the middle of an empty parking lot. Not having a clue what to do with himself.
Would he be foolish to pour his heart out to her? Tell her how bad he loves, misses, and needs her?
She's back in TNA. They'd have to face each other eventually. Maybe it was time to grow up.
He had no idea how long he just sat there.
After what he guessed was at least a few hours, he let out a heavy sigh, and forced himself to head back home.
...
Unlocking the door, he saw a dressed up Chris spraying himself with Axe.
"Heading out?" Alex asked. The sound of his voice shocked even him. He sounded hurt and exhausted.
"Yeah," Chris replied unsteadily.
"With? A Knockout or some rat?" Alex continued as he opened the fridge.
"You know I'm not like that."
"So the boys?" Alex assumed. He didn't mean to burden Chris, he just wanted a distraction from the thoughts about her.
"Not exactly." Chris replied.
A loud knock told Alex that whoever it was, was right outside.
"I'll let them in." Alex offered.
"Alex don't,"
The warning was too late.
Alex stared back into Kristen's bright eyes.
"Hi." He forced himself to say.
"Hey."
"Were you two, like, going out?" Alex asked absentmindedly.
"Just catching up." Kristen answered.
Alex nodded and stepped aside for her to come in.
As he shut the door behind her, an overwhelming silence took over.
Chris was the one to break it.
"I think you guys need to talk."
They looked at each other, giving looks of defeat.
"It's long overdue, anyway." Was the last thing Chris said before he went off to his bedroom.
The silence returned, and Alex took it upon himself to take action.
"Coffee?" He offered, remembering her love of it.
"No, thanks."
She sat down at their kitchen table, and Alex sat next to her.
Looking down at her hands, she spoke softly.
"I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too." So much more than you know...
"It's been a few years. But I can't say I'm fully over it."
Alex looked down as well. He knew in his heart that one day this exact conversation would take place. He just wasn't ready to face it.
"You're the only person I've ever been in love with, Alex."
Alex hesitated. "You and Aries seemed pretty happy together."
"But he wasn't you."
"I haven't been with anyone since we broke up." Alex admitted.
"What happened to Angelina?" She asked, although he knew it pained her to do so.
"Haven't talked since."
Both fell silent again.
The next words she said, were the words he'd been praying he'd never hear. He couldn't face it.
"You broke my heart." She told him quietly.
"I didn't do mine any favors, either."
She looked up at him. Tears threatened to escape her eyes.
A new wave of hurt made its way through Alex, and he threw his arms around her in defeat. He couldn't hold everything in anymore.
"Kristen, I'm so sorry. I love you. From the very first day I met you, I've loved you. I was the biggest idiot back then and I was stupid enough to throw away everything we had. I'll never be able to take back what I did. But for the past six years of my life, you've been the only hope I've had. I miss you and I love you and I need you. Come home."
He was crying openly now, not even bothering to hide his pain.
Tears trickled down her cheeks as well, but Alex wiped them away.
"Don't cry. This is my fault. Don't cry over me."
"I've cried over you for three years."
"Well today... stop." He whispered.
She calmed down. Her breathing regulated and her tears and sniffles ceased. After a few more minutes with nothing said, Alex's voice almost scared her.
"Where are you living nowadays?"
"Well, after Austin moved out I stayed in our apartment. I'm about to move too, though. Rent's too high. But I don't have anywhere to go." She answered, relieved at the different mood setting in.
"Our door is always open." Hope spread through his nerves.
She smiled.
"Want to see the house?" He suggested, figuring she'd like to see what it looks like now.
"Sure."
Alex stood from the table, and held out his hand.
She hesitated, but intertwined their fingers with ease.
They still fit together perfectly.
...
The last place he took her to was his bedroom.
On the wall next to the door, was a picture.
She and Alex were hugging, with Chris right beside them. All were smiling unbelievably wide.
Confetti drifted all around them, and the TNA Tag Team Championships were firmly in their grasp.
At the bottom of the picture, a strip of paper was slipped into the frame. It read,
"7/11/10 - The day a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world."
A look of pure happiness took over Kristen's features. She remembered that day.
New tears welled in her eyes.
"Ya know, I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you." Kristen told him.
Alex smiled.
"You're always welcome to come back to the kingdom. The kings just aren't the same without their queen."
Kristen wrapped her arms around his waist. "I love you."
"I love you, too. I always have." Alex whispered against the top of her head.
The sound of Chris' bedroom door opening stole their attention.
Chris smiled at the sight that greeted him.
They eagerly welcomed him into a group hug.
"I'm so glad you're back. You have no idea how much I missed you." Chris said.
"Well, I'm not going anywhere any time soon." She assured him with a smile.
"Ever." Alex corrected her.
With a smile, he kissed her forehead.
She smiled back, and with a small giggle she said, "Then the dragons best prepare."
~Long live the thieves~