Alrighty, starting with a disclaimer! I do not own anything but the plot here. With the exception of Brandi Reed, all characters are owned by the WWE. She, of course, is a former employee. So read, review, and enjoy!
She should have been happy that he had come home. Every other time that he had gotten a chance to be there, she was always happy to see him. It was different this time, though. They had been together for years, and living together for a little over a year. Everything seemed great after he had proposed to her only a few months prior, but now something just wasn't right. For the first time in the entire time Cody had known Brandi, she was cold and withdrawn. It was almost as if she was a completely different person. He bit his lip as he walked into his house, almost afraid to speak. He attempted to study Brandi's features as she walked up to him, holding something in her hand. As she took his hand and placed the item into his palm, his heart dropped into his stomach. He stood there in shock as she left the room once more and reemerged with two suitcases. "Can't we talk about this?" he choked out as he watched the woman he loved walk to the door.
Brandi set her suitcases down and walked over to him. She placed her hand on his cheek and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "To be honest Cody, my heart just isn't in it anymore. I still love you, and I probably always will. This just isn't right for me anymore."
Cody grabbed her wrist, looking into her eyes with a desperate plea. "Just tell me what I can do, Brandi. I will do anything for you. You are everything to me."
"I just don't know if I can believe that anymore, Cody," she said in an even tone. "I'm sorry." She walked back to the door, walking out of the door and out of his life to the cab waiting for her outside.
Cody stood in his living room in shock, looking down at the diamond ring that Brandi had returned to him not knowing what to think. Once what had happened finally sunk in, he threw the ring across the room and shouted in frustration. She was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. He had tried, but she wouldn't let him. She waited until he had come home to leave, so he could be thankful about that much. That didn't make him feel any better about the whole thing, though. He didn't know if he would ever be the same after that. After taking a shower and getting dressed he made his way to a nearby bar. For the rest of the night, he just wanted to drink as much as he could. He needed something to take the pain away.
…
Cody returned to work on Monday looking like a zombie. He was still a little drunk, but it was the lifelessness that stuck out to everyone. He was always happy and joking around with everyone. Now he was just quiet and empty. It was almost as if someone had stepped on his puppy or something. Wanting to make sure he would be able to do their backstage segment that night, Kaitlyn carefully walked over to the table where he was sitting in catering. She sat down across from him, placing his copy of their script in front of him. A small smile came across her face as he slowly looked up at her, though his blood shot eyes did not go unnoticed by her. "Bad weekend, sweetie?"
"That's a bit of an understatement," Cody nodded, running his hand over his face. He had felt the need to cry it out a few times, but he hadn't let himself yet. "I'm sorry, Kaitlyn. I know that I'm supposed to leave this shit at home."
Kaitlyn shook her head, reaching over to take his hand to stop him from fidgeting with his phone. "The show hasn't started yet, honey. We have plenty of time to get into character. Until then, feel free to call me Celeste." When he didn't respond, she frowned. Noticing that it had a lot to do with his current mood, she quickly swiped his phone from him and looked at the screen that he currently had up.
"You might not wanna..." Cody went to grab his phone back from his colleague, but she pulled it out of his reach.
Kaitlyn sat back as she saw a text conversation between Cody and Brandi on the screen. She tilted her head as she read through each text.
Cody: Where are you?
Brandi: I've gone back to Michigan. I think that we need this time apart.
Cody: Could you at least tell me what I've done?
Brandi: Think about it, Cody. All of these years with the company, and you're just now getting romantic storylines? You didn't even have a girlfriend while you were doing that whole "dashing" thing.
Cody: I don't understand what that has to do with us, Brandi. That's all storyline. It's not like I asked to suddenly have this line.
Brandi: Like you're complaining that you get to spend more time with her. I've been watching, Cody. I've seen how you look at her.
Cody: You mean on camera? Brandi, you used to be employed by the company. We're just acting. You know how this all works.
Brandi: I think that there is a chance that you're actually into her, and you owe it to us to find out.
The two-toned current Divas champion looked up once she finished reading the conversation, biting her lip. Where she was more than willing to admit she found Cody attractive, she never allowed herself to think of him like that because he had been in a relationship the entire time that they had known one another. Her heart sank down into her stomach as she slid the phone back to the man across from her. She wasn't disgusted by the fact that Cody may be attracted to her, and she wanted to make sure that he knew that. At the same time, she also knew that she couldn't exactly throw herself at him. He had proposed to this girl. He truly loved her. The last thing Kaitlyn ever wanted was to be the reason that a happy couple were no longer together. Problem was, that was exactly what had happened. "Cody..."
"Now you know," Cody finally stated in a soft tone after a few minutes of silence. It did feel better that someone knew what had happened. It helped even more that it was her that found out and she hadn't gotten up and ran out of the room in disgust. Because the truth was, Brandi was right. There was a fleeting moment during the kissing contest back on NXT, but that had been so long ago that he had long since brushed it off. Then came the script where they were to bump into each other as she made her way to her match. It was an adorable exchange, and the fans loved it. He just honestly never expected it to become an issue in his personal life.
Kaitlyn took a deep breath as she searched for the exact words to let him know how she felt in that moment. She took out her phone, quickly sending a text to AJ to let her best friend know what was going on. "OK, so..." she looked over to him with a smile. "Where I'm definitely not saying that I'm not into the idea, I'm also not saying that we should run back to the hotel and hop into bed right here and now." She paused, tilting her head. "If that didn't make any sense, I apologize. I've never been in this type of situation before." Cody hadn't admitted that there was a chance that he was into Kaitlyn, but his lack of protest to the idea was confession enough.
Cody nodded with a small smile. It felt good to smile once again, even if he was still completely heartbroken. Kaitlyn understood exactly what was going on in his mind, and that really meant a lot to him. "I love her. I know that you know that. I'm just obviously a mess right now, and just need time to just sort everything out for myself before even trying to see if she's right."
"Hey," Kaitlyn got up and walked around the table to take his hand once more and sat down next to him. "I'm single, and I don't plan on changing that any time soon. We're friends, and I'm more than willing to be just that for as long as you need. In a way this is my fault," she shrugged before continuing, "it would only be right for me to do whatever I can to help you."
"Please don't blame yourself, Celeste," Cody sighed, resting his head on her shoulder. "It's not like you were actively trying to get into my trunks behind the scenes. Nor had I even thought about thinking of you like that. I mean, no offense, but I was very committed to her."
Kaitlyn nodded, "none taken. I get it. You were off the market from the moment we met, and I knew that. I've heard some rumors about other girls in the company, mostly from the past, but I'm definitely not like that."
…
AJ frowned as she walked down the corridor of the arena between the locker room area and catering. Despite their falling out in storyline, AJ and Kaitlyn were still very much best friends. She had just stopped long enough to pull her phone out of her pocket and check the text she had just gotten from the other Diva. She sent a quick response before sighing and continuing her journey. "Poor Cody," she said out loud as she shook her head.
"What about Cody?" Damien Sandow stopped the petite, Hispanic Diva in the middle of the hallway. The tag team may not have been as close as they claimed to be inside the ring, but Damien still considered Cody a close friend.
"Oh, hey Aaron," AJ tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "Celeste is talking to him in catering right now. She knows why it looks like someone ran over his dog."
"Did she tell you?" Damien tilted his head, taking in the concerned look on the young woman's face.
AJ nodded, swallowing visibly. "Brandi left him," she paused, attempting to fathom the reason Kaitlyn had told her, "over the storyline."
Damien stood in silence, stroking his beard. Something like that was so ludicrous that it had to be true. He just didn't understand why the former Diva and ring announcer would take a storyline so seriously like she had. Cody had never shown any signs of actually liking Kaitlyn as any more as a colleague and casual friend. At least not that Damien had noticed, and unfortunately, Damien spent much more time with Cody than Brandi did. "That's just crazy. I mean, I believe that was the reason she gave, but I don't get where she saw that. He is very dedicated to Brandi."
"I know," AJ stated softly as they walked into catering together. "He was crazy in love with her. We all knew that." She sighed, slumping as she spotted Cody and Kaitlyn, "and I'm sure that he still is."
Damien nodded as they walked over to the table. Just as they were about to sit down, Cody stood up, looking over to the duo that had just walked up to them. "Hey... um... AJ, can you come with us?"
It didn't take AJ very long to know exactly what was going on. It was obvious that Cody was on the verge of tears, and being the man that he was, he wasn't quite ready to break down in public. One person was really only needed to comfort him, but Brandi still had friends within the company. If Cody were to go off alone with Kaitlyn, word could get back to Brandi. All of this could have been a test, and it could have easily been failed if someone told Brandi the wrong thing. AJ would be going along for extra support, as well as proof that there wasn't anything currently going on between Cody and Kaitlyn. "Yeah, c'mon, Cody," she said softly as she brought an arm around his waist, seeing as Kaitlyn's arm was already around his shoulders.
Cody looked up to his friend. "We'll talk before the show?"
Damien gave Cody a sympathetic smile as he nodded, "take your time. You're in good hands."
…
The two Divas sat on either side of Cody as he sobbed. He took turns crying on each of their shoulders as he got it all out. It was devastating to see him like this, but they knew that there wasn't anything they could do to help him. At least not at that point in time. Just being there for him was all that they could do. They held him in their arms as they watched the man they knew slowly turn into a broken shell of what he once was. They barely knew him, but they hated seeing anyone like this. Especially when it came to their colleagues. The WWE was a family. To AJ and Kaitlyn, Cody was their brother. They were good little sisters. They were more than ready to do whatever necessary for him. Slowly, they pulled away as they felt him sit up after what felt like hours of consoling the former Intercontinental champion. Cody had successfully gotten out all of the pain he had been feeling. He was still no where near feeling better, but it definitely felt good to get all of that out.
"It feels like I've wasted years of my life," he stated softly with a sigh as he wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye.
AJ placed her hand on top of his after he rested it on his lap and shook her head. "Don't say that Cody. The two of you were happy together. Everyone could see that."
"If we were happy, then why did she leave? Why did she suddenly believe a storyline that may not even pan out? I just don't get it," Cody shook his head as fresh tears filled his eyes. "What did I do to make her believe that I may be into someone else?"
Kaitlyn bit her lip, quickly hugging him closer to her once more. "You didn't do anything wrong. It was just like you said, we were acting. It's what we do. And on top of that, we weren't even getting past awkwardness and possible flirting in the storyline. You're more physical with the Bellas. I don't even think that you and I have actually even touched yet in this line."
Cody smirked, looking to the women on either side of him. "You were both better than Maxine. I will admit that I had fun the night of the wedding episode."
Kaitlyn laughed, rubbing his back. "I'm surprised you remembered that."
"Hey, I'm closer to my brother in real life, than in storyline. I actually watched every episode when you two were on NXT," Cody smiled softly.
"I've always found it funny that you two hate each other something fierce in storyline," AJ laughed. "Are we ever going to get to see more of Cody versus Goldie? I know the fans would love it if we do."
Cody looked over to AJ, nodding, "that was fun at the rumble. I have to admit that it was an insane rush to hear the crowd's reaction while we squared off. I would be more than willing to have a full one-on-one match with him. I heard that our fans are petitioning to get us together at WrestleMania. I definitely wouldn't mind."
"Now that your eyes are all red and puffy, are you about ready to head to make-up quick before the show starts?" Kaitlyn smirked.
"Well yeah," Cody laughed softly, "because Cody Rhodes is a big man, and he would never cry."
"Oh, so you noticed that about your character lately?" AJ giggled. "I think you have been compared to a child insisting on being a grown up."
"Where did you hear that?" Cody raised an eyebrow as he stood up.
AJ smirked, standing along with Kaitlyn, slipping an arm around his waist once more. "There's more to the internet than YouTube and Twitter. We know things that the fans think we don't."
Cody blinked, shaking his head, "I bet some of that shit is scary."
Kaitlyn nodded, "oh you have no idea, sweetheart." The girls laughed as they walked Cody to make-up to get ready for the show.
…
Later in the week, Nikki and Brie Bella sat in front of Nikki's laptop with Skype opened up and called Brandi. They both looked less than happy as the other woman answered their call. Brandi had told the twin sisters that she knew that Cody had been cheating on her, and that was why she left him. It was their job to see if she had been right, and to trail him in attempts of seeing if he went right into things with someone else. He hadn't, though. By the time that Nikki and Brie went to check in with Brandi, they realized that there wasn't even a remote reason for Brandi to believe that Cody had been cheating on her.
"What the hell, Brandi?" Brie spat out as soon as the other woman appeared on the screen.
"What... you mean he isn't already bedding one of the Divas?" Brandi casually shrugged as she played with her hair.
"Not even close," Nikki shook her head.
"Yeah, it looks more like someone killed his kitten in front of him, Brandi," Brie continued in disgust. "He's absolutely devastated."
"So there's nothing going on between Cody and Kaitlyn?" Brandi put on a hideously obvious fake frown.
The twins looked to one another, blinking. No wonder Brandi had never made it to the main roster. She couldn't act for shit. "I think that it's time you tell us the truth, Brandi," Nikki scowled.
"Yeah, bitch. There is no reason to think that Cody was cheating on you, and everyone knows it," Brie continued, trying hard not to attempt to punch the other woman through her sister's screen.
Just as Brandi was about to respond, a deep voice in the background asked her if she was ready. The truth was there. There was no more denying it. Brandi was the one that had been cheating on Cody, and instead of telling the truth, she made it out like she believed he was the unfaithful one.
"I guess we have our answer, Nikki," Brie sighed, shaking her head.
"Yeah... it looks like we do, Brie," Nikki clenched her fists. "You know, Brandi. You probably should have just been honest with him. The consequences would have been much less severe." They ended the call and slammed down the cover of the laptop. "We have to tell him."
Brie nodded, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "He deserves to know."
"So... Monday?" Nikki sighed, bringing an arm around her sister.
Brie nodded, "we'll figure something out."
…
The following Monday, The Bellas were the last Divas to walk into the locker room, but thankfully everyone was there. They knew that they weren't exactly popular amongst the Divas division, but they wanted to change that. They weren't the vindictive bitches they were portraying on camera, and they wanted to prove that. Starting with telling the other ladies what they knew.
"OK good, everyone is there," Nikki took a deep breath. "We need to tell you something."
"And why would we want to hear anything from you?" Kaitlyn snarled as she and AJ stood up.
"Because it's about Cody," Brie bit her lip. "We know the truth."
"What truth?" Natalya tilted her head.
"We know the reason why Brandi accused Cody of really wanting to be with Kaitlyn," Brie eyed each of the women in the room.
Nikki nodded, "it's because she had been cheating on him."
"Brandi left Cody to live with some other guy back in Detroit. By the looks of things, they had been seeing each other for a while," Brie bit her lip.
"I'll kill her," Kaitlyn slammed her fist into her palm.
"Even I say that's cold," Tamina Snuka looked up. "Cody is really sweet. He doesn't deserve this."
"I say we teach that little bitch a lesson," Naomi smirked.
"Yeah?" AJ tilted her head. "Got anything in mind?"
"It involves a confession on camera and a shoot. We're gonna go full out Punk style for this," Naomi nodded as the wheels turned in her head. "Nobody messes with our brothers."
Natalya nodded, "I'm in. It's about time we set an example for all of the girlfriends and wives." She smiled as the rest of the Divas agreed and began planning their attack.
…
They wanted to go fully public with their plan, but knowing how expendable they all were, they knew it was best to not go with RAW for what they were about to do. They would reveal everything during the SmackDown tapings. Cody was starting to feel better, and he was having no trouble keeping in character for all of his appearances. During Cody's match against Wade Barrett Nikki jumped up on the apron while Kaitlyn stepped up onto the stage. Brie motioned for Wade to stay back a moment as Kaitlyn took a microphone.
"Cody, I know that you're very confused right now, but we wanted to get all of this out as soon as we could," Kaitlyn bit her lip as she looked into his eyes before turning and motioning up to the Titan Tron.
Cody's jaw dropped as he saw Brandi on the screen with her new boyfriend. "Yeah, I'll admit to it. I've been with Steve for a little over a year. Cody had absolutely no idea anything was going on. I just thought it would be fun to be a mark and accuse him of having an affair with a Diva that he was starting to have a storyline with. I just can't believe it worked."
Wade shook his head in disgust as the video ended. He looked over to the Bellas with a small sigh, "get him out of here." He turned to the official and stated in a simple tone, "this match is a draw." He got out of the ring and walked up the ramp, he placed a soft kiss on Kaitlyn's cheek with a smile. "You got her in the best way you could, love. I'm proud of you for that." He placed a hand around Kaitlyn's shoulders and walked her back to the gorilla position and waited for Cody and the Bellas to join them as the rest of the Divas walked up to them.
Once Cody saw Kaitlyn, he rushed over to her, hugging her tightly. He began sobbing once more, feeling a whole new pain in his heart as he found out what had really happened. Once he was calm enough to walk with the ladies, they began walking him back to the locker room area. They passed by various girlfriends, wives, and random ring rats as they made their way through the corridors. They all glared at the women, sending a message to them. The message was received loud and clear. Nobody messes with the male superstars of the WWE, or they'll have the Divas to answer to.
…
Weeks went by and the line between Cody and Kaitlyn progressed. They were accompanying one another to ringside during their matches, and they had more adorable backstage segments. It wasn't made clear whether or not Cody had turned face, but no one seemed to care. They had been spending a lot of time together when they weren't working, as well. She was help building him back up, but it was beginning to become dreadfully clear that Cody would never be the same man he once was. Kaitlyn and the other Divas had done their best to put the pieces of their brother back together, but he had changed. At the same time, Cody and Kaitlyn were growing very close behind the scenes. He seemed genuinely happy when he won his match one night on RAW. Not only because he was one step closer to possibly be in contention for the World Heavyweight Championship, but because of who was by his side. In the script for their backstage segment after the match, there was an optional kiss suggested to end the segment. Kaitlyn fully believed that they wouldn't be going that route, and that they would just be walking off camera together instead. When the segment came to a close, Cody brought an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He smiled before pressing his lips to hers. "Thank you for everything," he whispered just loud enough to be heard on camera before they walked off together.
Just before reaching the men's locker room, Kaitlyn stopped him. She looked around to make sure they were alone before looking him in the eye. "What was that?"
"What was what?" he shrugged casually.
"Cody... you kissed me," she bit her lip.
"Are you complaining?" he chuckled softly.
"No, I just..." the Divas champion took a deep breath. "Does this mean you want to try this?"
Cody smiled, kissing Kaitlyn once more. "Meet me after the show." He pulled away, disappearing into the locker room to let her think about what had just happened. Maybe the Cody everyone once knew and loved could come back in some form.