Ted kept the smiled plastered on his face as he escorted Maryse back up the ramp but his stomach was rolling and he could barely keep himself from shuddering. The only thing he wanted was to brush his teeth with bleach and get the taste of her out of his mouth. As soon as they were clear of the crowd and behind the curtain, he distangled himself from Maryse and ran down the hall to his dressing room. He could see Randy off to one side laughing at him -Randy, laughing, in public. If he didn't feel like he was going to lose his lunch, he would've stayed and listened to it; as it was he only had time to flip his friend and mentor off while jogging past him.
"Oh, come on, Teddy! It's not my fault you had to kiss a yucky girl!" Randy called after him before dissolving into laughter again.
Reaching his room, he dashed inside and slamming the door behind him, he ran into the bathroom and turning his overnight bag upside down, emptied it onto the floor and dived onto his toothbrush like it was a lifeline. He went to the sink and turning the hot water on all the way, dumping enough toothpaste on his brush that it covered most of it, and proceded to brush his teeth for almost twenty minutes before he started on his tongue.
When he heard Amazed playing, he turned the water off and fished his phone off the floor where it had fallen when he had sent everything flying. "Hey, Codes," he said warmly, going to the front part of his dressing room to sit on the couch there. He wondered if he had any mints laying around.
"A girl, Teddy? You kissed a girl? Why don't you just break my heart right now and get it over with?" Cody demanded, theatrically. Ted could picture Cody in his mind, pacing whatever room he happened to be in, waving his arm to puncuate whatever point he was trying to make. "Listen, Cody, it was a promotional thing, you know I can't stand girls that way," he told his boyfriend before frowning. "Wait. How did you even find out about it already? It only happened a couple minutes ago." "Randy figured out how to work his phone and he sent me a pic of you and that-that bimbo!" Cody yelled, working himself up even more.
Ted sighed and tried again. "Listen, baby, you know I would never do anything to hurt you. I swear, it was just a promo. I only found out about it right before we went out there, there was no time to call you or anything. Come on, Codes," Ted told him when the younger man remained silent. "I would never cheat on you, ever. In seven eyars, I've never given you a reason to doubt me." "I know, Teddy," Cody told him, his voice a little calmer. "It was just a shock, that's all. I've been half scared since I got drafted to Smackdown, and I guess seeing that threw me over the edge." Cody laughed softly. "Now that I think about it, you can even see how stiff your face is while she's kissing you. I'm sorry, babe."
"It's ok, baby," Ted assured him, sighing inwardly at the crisis averted for the night. "If it makes you feel any better, I just spent twenty minutes trying to get the taste off her off my lips and out of my mouth." Cody snickered. "Tasted nasty, did she?" "Ugh, you have no idea," Ted told him, shuddering lightly. "I don't know how Randy can stand to kiss girls, never mind fuck them." "Well, maybe they don't all tatse the same," Cody offered, although he was just as bemused by it as Ted. "Maybe," Ted agreed, dismissing the subject.
"I miss you," he told Cody, his voice dropping a couple degrees. "I can't wait til I see you Wednesday." "Oh, yeah?" Cody said, his voice shifting a little lower as well. "Why don't you tell me how much?"
As Ted started down the familar conversation-one he loved having when he couldn't get his hands on Cody right away-he wondered vaguely if he had any mints or anything. He still couldn't get the taste of Maryse out of his mouth and wondered if it would be there until he kissed Cody again. God, I hope not, he thought. Two more days of that and I'll go ape shit. As soon as he was done on the phone he was taking a shower-and brushing his teeth again.