What's the Craik, fellas? How you guys doing? Jean-theGuardian here, letting you all know that yes, I am STILL working on Hard to Handle, and the next chapter should be out sometime soon this month. I've just been overworked as of late, so I need to find some time to update.
But anyway, it is my absolute pleasure and privilege to present to you "Breathe Again", a special presentation of the Core 4 series and my WWE "Hard to Handle" universe, co-written by someone who, in my humble opinion, is one of the best Punklee fanfic writers, maybe even pure writers, on this page and anywhere on the web-the multi-talented, the extraordinary AmandaEchelon!
If you haven't read her work, be sure to visit her page for great Punklee stories such as "All Fall Down" and "Staring At It"—both of which you can find in my special fanfic community, "Punklee Nation." (Check my author's page for the link). Amanda, honey, it is awesome to be working with you, and this is going to be a great story we'll be creating together. (She's the genius behind all the Kaitlyn/Dolph chemistry, folks; she's captured the way I imagine their back-story perfectly.)
This story (probably a two-to-four part-er, not sure yet, we'll have to talk it over) which I believe is only the third of its kind (shame, really, this pairing/triangle has so many possibilities) will focus on the relationship beginnings between the Great White, Sheamus, and everybody's favorite blonde-brunette hottie, Kaitlyn, with a little Dolph Ziggler added in to spice things up. It'll set up things to come in "Hard to Handle" between those characters. Sheamus/Kaitlyn/Dolph Ziggler
This is a prequel to my "Hard to Handle" story and, technically, a prequel to the upcoming "Core 4" story co-written by RonRon10, PikaSixJoy and myself (check out their Core4 stories, "World Tour" and "Keeping Them Apart" if you haven't already, for more details).
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of WWE, song lyrics belong to Sarah Bareilles and Epic Records. In other words, we own nothing.
But enough about that; on to the story. Enjoy!
Breathe Again
by AmandaEchelon and Jean-theGuardian
Part 1
Car is parked, bags are packed, but what kind of heart doesn't look back
At the comfortable glow from the porch, the one I will still call yours?
All those words came undone and now I'm not the only one
Facing the ghosts that decide if the fire inside still burns
- Breathe Again, Sara Bareilles
August 2010
Dublin, Ireland - Farrelly Residence
"So…this is it, then."
Sheamus Farrelly sighed in resignation as he loaded the last of Riona's belongings into her car, parked on the road near their home on the rolling green countryside.
Saying goodbye was never something that came easy to Sheamus. It all started when his grandmother passed away when he was 10. They were close, and on the day of her funeral, the sobs of the little redhaired Irish boy with chubby cheeks and pale skin echoed loudest during the service. He couldn't bring himself to understand why someone he cared for so much, had loved so dearly…could never be with him again.
This wasn't quite the same, he knew that. The pain that he had felt consuming his entire being in the last five days after the small, trim little brunette had walked out of his door, for what would be the last time...hurt just as much.
"Aye. I guess it is." Riona's lilting, soft Irish voice whispered, her light brown eyes looking away for a moment. "That's about all of me things in the car."
Sheamus gave her a solemn, pensive look. "Yer really sure ye want to do this?"
Her lips wobbled for a moment, but her eyes were resolute, unyielding. "Aye, Sheamus. I may no' want to, but it looks like I have to."
His blue eyes stared sadly at her, his face completely stoic. "Sure, I can't change yer mind?"
She shook her head. "Sheamus…I adore ye, ya know that. But I canno' wait around while ye go off on yer flights of fancy and yer tours and this…this lifestyle you chose fer yerself—"
"There's nothing wrong with wrestling fer a livin,' Ria." His soft voice grew a tad harder in defensive reflex at the way she said 'lifestyle,' like it was some dirty word that sullied her mouth. Catching himself, he toned down the edge in his words. "It's fun, and I'm good at it. I can make kids happy... put smiles on people's faces. Isn't that a good thing, mo chroí, something worth doing?"
She almost melted at the words 'mo chroí'— the Gaelic words for "my heart." What he always called her when they were alone, before they kissed, after they made love in their bed. But despite the urge to fall back into his arms and let him kiss her until her knees gave out, she steeled herself; she gave him a chance to change, she reminded herself. If he would not make the change, then she would, and that was that.
"And what about having kids of our own, Sheamus?" she asked, staring back at him questioningly. "What about being there to raise a family? Ye can't do that if yer not around more than a few days out of the year. How would that be fair?"
"All this talk about family, Ria, I don't understand it," Sheamus countered, a hint of frustration creeping into his tone. "We're young, we're healthy and we have time. Why can't ye just give me that time?"
"How much time, Sheamus?" Ria blurted out, exasperated. "I've waited two years fer ye to get this out of yer system! What happens next, huh? Does two years become four? And four become eight? And eight become sixteen? We won't be young forever. There are things that I want out of life, Sheamus. I want ta share yer name with ye, I want children, I want to get married and have a life of our own. If ye can't give me that, then all the time in the world canno' fix that."
"Out of my system!" Sheamus laughed bitterly, rubbing his hard across his face. "Ye talk about my passion, my career, like it's a disease! Riona, it's not. It's who I am. It's what I love."
"What of me?" She asked quietly, the hurt shining in her brown eyes, breaking his heart. "Do I not also have yer love?"
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Sheamus took a moment before he could gather the strength to speak. "Ye know you do, mo chroí. Ye always will, but do I have yer patience? Can I have yer time while I try to live out something I've always wanted to do before I give you the life ye want?"
His hopes raised as high as the waves on the coastlines when he saw her hesitate for a moment…and crashed down like those waves again when she gave him a sad look etched in finality.
"I'm sorry, Sheamus," she said softly, regretfully. "I love ye more than you'll ever know…but I canno' hold my breath and wait fer ye to stop chasin' rainbows. I just can't. I'm sorry."
Giving him one last pained look, she slowly turned around and headed into her car. It was only a few seconds, but to Sheamus it might as well have been in slow motion.
For so long, she was all he had ever known of love. She was everything he wanted in a woman.
Now…now she was driving down and away down that gravelly road, away and out of the home they once shared.
Away and out of his life…forever...
Sweetwater Hotel, Austin, Texas
December 2010
All I have, all I need,
he's the air I would kill to breathe
Holds my love in his hands,
still I'm searching for something
Silence filled the air for what felt like days. The only sound he could hear was that of her heavy breathing. His eyes focused firmly on his hands, absentmindedly rubbing them together so he didn't have to look around at the mess he'd created in the form of a blonde-brunette woman.
If the disastrous state of the hotel room wasn't enough evidence that she was done then the tears streaming down her face certainly were. He took in the scene before him, being careful to avoid her gaze. A simple hotel room painting hung crooked on the wall with shattered glass, making it unrecognizable. A broken lamp beneath it, the cause of the cracks. His clothes strewed about the floor and furniture, possibly with a few rips and tears from her assault on his suitcase.
He had destroyed her that much was certain.
But sitting there on the unmade bed that was fresh with the scent of their previous physical intimacy, he still held onto some sort of hope. Hope that he could salvage this, fix what he'd broken, and maybe she would stay with him just a little bit longer.
"I've spent the better part of ten years being the butt of everyone's joke. Finally, I found a woman who could give me every opportunity you know I've earned."
"At what price though?" She questioned, "Your body, your soul?"
"It's no different a payment than any other superstar has given." He countered, "She cares about me…about my future."
"Dolph! I love you!"
It was a sentiment she'd professed often as of late, mostly while they were tangled in passion or in the morning when she thought he was sleeping and couldn't hear the confession. She'd let it slip once at work, Maxine and Johnny Curtis' wedding to be precise. He'd commented on how beautiful she looked in her blue dress and presented her with a bouquet of daisies. Upon seeing her favorite flower, she uttered the three words before she could catch herself.
The blush that had formed across her cheeks then was enough of an indication she was embarrassed for letting the words slip. His response was to cut her off before she could apologize and kiss her, backing her up into a crated chest that shook while their tongues dueled.
He would curse her best friend, AJ Lee, for the rest of his life for finding them and leading the cameras to capture footage of the kiss unbeknownst to the petite rookie.
She was the reason for the predicament he was in now. The reason for the former body builder's fury as she delivered the ultimatum.
"You can't even say it, can you?"
The diva's words shook him of his anger towards the Puerto Rican diva and back to the situation at hand.
Kaitlyn had once again professed her love and he, as usual, didn't say it back.
"Kait-"
"I'm done with the bullshit, Dolph," she interrupted, "I'm tired of leaving your bed feeling like a cheap ring rat."
He regarded her words with an incredulous expression before standing and crossing the space between them to tower over her.
"How can you even suggest that?" he shouted, "What we have is nothing like that, no-nothing even close to that-"
"Then it shouldn't be a difficult decision," she whispered with malice, raising her chin a fraction in determination. "Vickie Guererro…or me."
The passion and conviction her voice held was new. She'd always been one to stand up for herself, to the critics to Vickie herself, but the way she stood up to him now different.
Fresh.
Intoxicating.
He reached for her so suddenly she gasped as he cupped her face in his hands, giving him the perfect opening to dip his tongue inside her mouth. Relief flowed through him as she kissed him back. Though he was normally good with words and relied heavily on them for convincing, the other things he could do with his mouth were just as potent.
And if he couldn't convince her to stay by talking, then he'd do it the only other way he knew how.
"Dolph," she mumbled against his lips when he pulled back to breath for a moment before ascending his mouth back to hers. He wouldn't let her talk, he wouldn't let her ruin this…end this.
"Please," she pleaded pushing his shoulders a bit. He didn't budge.
"Dolph!"
Her strong arms pushed him more forcefully causing him to stumble back. The woman had one hell of a shove. He counted his blessings for a second that he hadn't earned a punch to the gut like most of her opponents or other superstars in the locker room when they got too grabby.
Running a hand over his blonde locks he gave her a pleading look before watching her shake her head.
"Choose," she said plainly.
It would be so easy, to give up everything with Vickie. To give up the connections, the networking, the future she had helped him plan. He'd give up all the progress he'd made winning titles with her help and her defense when others berated him. But he would have Kaitlyn. How easy it would be to give up everything for her. Give it all away.
Give it all up for the girl who loved him…a fantasy.
"It's just for a little while longer, Kait," he said, one last ditch effort to change her mind.
She hung her head, her shoulders shaking as she released a sob. Her blonde-brunette locks swaying back and forth as she shook her head, to process his words that she wasn't worth it.
She turned her back to him and gripped the handle of her suitcase and pulled it behind her as she headed for the door. Wiping away the fresh, yet repetitive tears as she grasped the handle to the door and twisted it.
"Goodbye, Dolph," she spoke not looking back.
Processing the silence after the door slammed, he slumped to the floor at the foot of the bed.
So ends another chapter, he thought to himself and he accepted that. But somewhere in the back of his mind a small glimmer of light appeared and a single thought remained and whispered, but the story isn't over.
Out of breath,
I am left hoping someday
I'll breathe again
I'll breathe again...
TBC…
Next: As loneliness engulfs Sheamus, his world turns upside down when he meets the young rookie Diva Kaitlyn for the first time. But with her heart left shattered, is a wary Kaitlyn willing to take a chance on someone new? Or have her leftover feelings for Dolph ruined any chance she may have at finding new love? And just what will Dolph think when he sees Irish eyes wandering Kaitlyn's way?
Read the next part and find out! (Oh yeah, did we mention there would be CM Punk and AJ, as well?) ;)
Well, that's all for now! More to come soon! Remember to leave your reviews, and please check out AmandaEchelon's FF Dot Net page for more of her work. And Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and join the Punklee Nation community page!
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-Jean-theGuardian
-AmandaEchelon