"Um...Mizzy...There's something I need to ask you..."
The Miz and John Morrison had been tagging together for around four months since randomly being placed together to win the WWE Tag Team Championships and the two had since become very close, trusting friends.
They were in the ECW locker room after a match, the rest of the show still running. Morrison knew that good friends looked out for each other, but Miz had been acting strange lately, often over reacting when he thought Morrison was hurt during matches.
Last week on the last ECW show, Morrison had been hit by Finlay's shillelagh and had received a nasty bruise across his forehead from it. Miz had sat with him in the first aid room and got angry whenever the medics hurt Morrison while examining his injury, then demanded he hold the icepack to his team mate's head instead of the medic assigned to do so.
The Miz put away the rest of his gear into his locker after changing into his street clothes and turned to face his long-haired team mate who was sitting on a bench, still in his wrestling gear.
"What's up John?" The Miz asked pulling one of his usual facial expressions, head tilted to the side, eyebrows raised. Morrison looked at his friend, suppressing a smile at The Miz's stupid facial expression.
"Uh...about last week..." John said, his hand drifting to the spot on his forehead where there was still a faint bruise from the attack by the fighting Irishman.
"What's wrong? Does it still hurt? You're not dizzy or anything are you?" Miz said in one breath, immediately beginning to worry. Morrison sighed.
"No Miz. I'm fine. I was actually going to ask...why you keep having mini panic attacks each time you so much as think I'm hurt..." He said, dropping his hand from his head.
"Because John..." The Miz said, striding across the room in his usual smug walk and sitting on the bench beside Morrison. "You are my tag partner; I have to look out for you..." The Miz paused, causing an awkward silence. Seeing Morrison's eyebrow raised he added "More importantly... You're my... best friend, isn't that enough reason?"
Morrison rolled his eyes and looked around the room during another awkward silence.
After a minute or so, he looked back at his tag partner to find he had been watching Morrison the whole time, an odd look on his face as if he were fighting against himself over something.
Morrison swallowed nervously, then decided to ask the question he'd been meaning to the whole time. "Um...Mizzy..." He said. 'Mizzy' was the nickname he'd started calling his friend not long after they'd become close friends once they'd won the tag titles, but only when others weren't around. "Do you...like me...?" He finished, quickly looking down at his feet nervously.
'Why'd I have to ask such a stupid question?' He thought.
"Of course I do John! I just said you were my best friend!" The Miz replied, shocked.
"No Miz- Do you like me?"
"Why do you want to know...?" The Miz answered in his usual manner, asking a question instead of answering the one asked of him.
"Because... I just want to know!" Morrison snapped in frustration then, knowing Miz wasn't exactly know for his honesty, added "-And I want an honest answer!"
"Well...um..." The Miz began, trying to think of a way around the question. "Do you like me?"
"Mizzy! I asked YOU!"
"Yep. And I asked you!"
"God Miz! Why do you always do that? You never answer questions!" Morrison said angrily, still looking at his faux-fur covered wrestling boots he was still wearing, feeling heat beginning to rise in his cheeks.
'Great! Now I'm gonna look like an idiot!' He thought, annoyed with himself as well as Miz now.
"Why do you need to know anyway?" The Miz asked him carefully, realising Morrison was getting upset; having never looked away from his older friend who was starring at his shoes. Morrison's long, wavy brown hair hiding most of his face, but Miz noticed he was going red as if he were embarrassed...
'Or,' Miz hated to think it 'I've upset my best friend-something I have a go at everyone for- and he's going to cry... I'm such an asshole sometimes...' He silently admitted to himself.
Morrison ignored him, turning slightly so Miz couldn't see his face at all.
Miz silently berated himself for upsetting his friend.
"...Jomo?" He called to his friend, combining letters from the start of each of John Morrison's names to give him a nickname.
"I have the right to know whether or not somebody likes me!" Morrison snapped at him, finally answering the question, but still not looking at The Miz.
The Miz smiled and replied with "Melina likes you..." using a teasing tone to try and stop his friend from being upset with him.
"Melina also cheated on me with BATISTA! In case you forgot!" Morrison shouted, turning to face Miz as he did so, but turned away again straight after.
Miz swore at himself silently- he had forgotten. 'Damn it! Now I look like an asshole...'
Miz watched his friend, who was sitting on the bench sideways, his feet up and chin on his knees and arms folded around them, hiding his face. Miz swung a leg over the other side of the bench so he had one leg either side of it and was facing Morrison.
They sat in silence, where to Miz the minutes felt like hours.
"Does Mizzy like me...?" Morrison finally asked, his voice muffled because of his hidden face.
"You really want to know that badly...?"
"Yes I do."
"But...Why...?" Miz questioned.
"Just answer the question." Morrison sighed.
"...What-what if you don't like me because of my answer...?" Miz asked hesitantly.
"Ugh! I won't!" Morrison groaned.
"But you're already getting annoyed..."
"That's because you WON'T answer!"
The Miz hesitated then slowly moved closer up the seat until he was inches away from his upset friend. Even slower he raised a shaking hand and put it on Morrison's shoulder to comfort him.
"D-does...this answer your question...? He asked nervously.
"No. I asked if you liked me! Anyone can comfort someone who's upset!" Morrison snapped, his voice shaking as if he were going to burst into tears at any moment.
Miz sighed. "Do you really care if I like you or not...?''
"Yes and I want a PROPER answer this time!"
The Miz realised he was trapped. If he answered with another question again, he doubted Morrison would ever bother talking to him again afterwards, considering Miz had managed to bring his 29 year old best friend to the point where he was on the verge of tears.
He sighed, defeated. "But...but if I tell ...you... I-I can't be 'Your Chick Magnet, THE Miz'..."
Miz slowly removed his hand from Morrison's shoulder and sat behind his friend nervously while he waited for him to figure out what Miz he just told him.
The silence that followed, The Miz realised, was painful.
"...So..." Morrison mumbled more to himself than his anxious friend. "So...you...do like me...?"
The Miz flinched at the words, worried of the coming reaction.
"...How long...have you then...?"
The Miz noticed the hesitation of Morrison's words and wondered whether it was from realisation...or The Miz worried...disgust.
"Um...be-before we started tagging together...when I first joined ECW..." The Miz mumbled worried by the fact Morrison still hadn't turned around to face him.
"And you didn't say...?"
"I thought if I told you...you wouldn't want to tag with me...or...be my friend..."
"Oh...um..." Morrison hesitated. "Well...I wouldn't not like you...I...I'm not one of those people..."
The Miz thought over Morrison's words carefully, then he realised something...
"Wait...what sort of like do you mean...?"
"Who...? Me..?" Morrison asked pointlessly.
"Yes you Jomo..." Miz sighed. "So...that means...you're ok with me liking you...?"
"Um..." Morrison slowly lifted his head from his knees and nervously brushed his hair from off his face.
"You...like me too...?" The Miz asked cautiously, guessing by the reaction of his friend, hope rising inside him, but he himself was nervous of rejection.
Morrison didn't answer, which in itself was a more revealing response than anything.
A smile slowly started to spread across Miz's face. "H-how...long...?" He choked out in shock.
Miz had never once thought Morrison would like him back, the main reason he had never admitted his own feelings until now.
"Not as long as you...since around the time you started defending me during matches and making sure I was ok afterwards...a little before that..."
"So...so about half the time we've held the tag titles...almost two months...?" The Miz guessed.
Morrison nodded, still facing the other way.
After a brief silence, Miz started to laugh. "So I could have already told you this? I'm such an idiot! How could I not notice? You used to be as talkative off-camera as you were on...How did I not figure it out when you became shy? I mean seriously..."
Morrison waited for his obnoxious tag partner to stop laughing at his own stupidity then sighed, finally turning to face The Miz. "We still have a problem though..."
Miz was suddenly serious, looking at Morrison and was shocked to see him turning around to face him. "What is it John...?" He asked, looking into his friends brown eyes which, Miz realised, wasn't a smart thing to do.
He took in a sharp breath and struggled to stop himself from just reaching out and embracing the man he loved. He wasn't sure how much John liked him and didn't want to scare him, so instead Miz bit down on his lip as he decided he'd have to wait a little longer, until he was sure John cared about him the same way he cared for John.
"Well...for starters...the cameras...and the other Superstars..." Morrison began to explain. He looked at Miz's face and realised he was staring at him, again. Morrison smiled shyly and blushed before continuing.
'Damn it! Why does he have to do that?' The Miz thought as he watched his friend turn red under his gaze. 'As if it isn't hard enough already...But he looks so cute...'
"As I was saying...the other Superstars...might not approve of that kind of relationship...and-and you...have a girlfriend..." Morrison finished. Miz could've sworn Morrison sounded disappointed as he said the last part, but Miz figured that was just what he wanted to hear and was only imagining it.
"You mean Kelly...?"
"Kelly...Kelly..." Morrison added on, a cheeky smile flashing across his face for a second, before disappearing again. "Yeah."
"She doesn't have to know..." Miz suggested, worried that Morrison was saying they couldn't be together.
"Or..." Morrison countered. "You could not be with one of us..."
Miz couldn't believe what he was hearing! Was Morrison rejecting him; after they'd both just admitted they had feelings for each other?
"Jomo...?" Miz began, feeling like an idiot as he realised he had tears in his eyes.
Morrison flinched as he realised how Miz had interpreted what he had just said and was now the one about to cry.
"M-Mizzy...I didn't...I didn't mean it like that...I mean you don't even like her anymore...you always try and avoid her..." Morrison quickly explained, raising his hands to calm The Miz.
"So...you...want to be with me...?" The Miz asked, trying to fight away the tears.
Morrison sighed, relieved that Miz had understood and was about to answer when the locker room door burst open, causing them to both jump in fright as they quickly moved to sit on the bench properly.
"Hey! What's up champs? You missed the rest of the show! I totally owned my opponent!" Said the ECW champion Matt Hardy as he walked over to his locker.
Miz and Morrison glanced anxiously at each other before getting up to finish packing their things away; or, in Morrison's case, change out of their Wrestling gear.
~~~
Over the next week, the Superstars continued their travelling, meaning Miz and Morrison had no time to be around each other off camera, without somebody else being around. Finally they got a day off and Miz was excited that he'd finally have a chance to find out if Morrison liked him the same way he felt about the long haired Superstar.
He was disappointed when Morrison told him his friend John Cena had invited some of the other Superstars to his house for a party.
"Come on Miz. I barely get to see Cena and Randy anymore...they're on Raw." Morrison said to his tag partner over the phone.
"But I don't want to go..." Miz whined back. "I don't even like Cena."
"Fine. I'll go on my own then..."
"No! You can't!" The Miz accidentally blurted out.
"Why not? You don't want to go..."
"I want to spend time with you..." The Miz muttered into the phone, embarrassed.
"So come..."
"But- ...fine." Miz sighed, giving in just so he'd get to spend time with Morrison, even if it wasn't how Miz wanted it.
A few hours later, they arrived at the party. As soon as they got out of the car, Miz regretted it.
"Hey! John, good to see ya!" Someone said in an annoying voice.
Miz looked up to realise it was Cena, giving Morrison a hug like most good friends do. Even though it was friendly it still made Miz jealous, wishing he could do the same. He got to hug Morrison on camera, but that was as friends and Miz wanted more than that.
"Hey John. Long time no see." Morrison replied, returning the hug and purposely drawing attention to the fact that they had the same name. They thought it was funny, as it annoyed people who called out to 'John' when they stood together.
"Yeah damn tours!" Cena replied, releasing the other John. "Oh hey Miz." He added cheerfully, noticing the self proclaimed 'Chick' Magnet for the first time. "You came together...?"
"Well we do both live in LA...it saves fuel..." Morrison casually explained. It was true after all...
"Ah yes. John Morrison, the eco-friendly..." Cena said in his mocking tone, waving a hand in the air.
"You two...are idiots." Came a voice from near Cena's front door. The three of them turned around to see Randy Orton standing there, a stupid smile on his face.
"Randy! I didn't see you arrive...how's it going?" Cena asked him. His cheerful voice was beginning to sicken The Miz.
"I'm fine. You see me at work Cena, we're on the same show...Hey Morrison." Randy replied, careful not to use the name his two best friends share, he was the main person constantly annoyed by the way they found it funny.
"Hey Randy."
"Come on guys! Come inside. Hunter and Naitch are here..." Cena said, walking towards his house and beckoning them inside.
The party went on, afternoon turning into night as the Superstars caught up with one another. Miz followed Morrison, only speaking when he had to, frustrated that he couldn't be alone with Morrison. He was tempted to just do what he wanted and blame it on the large amounts of alcohol Cena and 'Naitch' Ric Flair were passing around. Ric Flair was the person responsible for people like Triple H and Cena being the borderline alcoholics they were at parties.
Miz decided not to do what he wanted to though, as he didn't want Morrison to be embarrassed in front of his friends, who most likely frowned upon different relationships, Miz figured.
As the night wore on, Miz watched the other Superstars interact with each other. He noticed Brian Kendrick showed up, but his friend Paul London didn't. Kendrick for whatever reason had passed up all the drink offers, though he was a known drinker and drug user. He was playing a video game, which eventually attracted the attention of one of the new members of the WWE Roster Cody Rhodes forming an instant friendship between the two gamers.
Cena was playing a drinking game against Triple h, both being egged on by Flair and other Superstars like Randy Orton.
Miz was sick of watching them all have fun and turned to look at Morrison, who was finishing off a drink.
"John...?" He tried as Morrison put down the empty bottle.
"Yeah Miz?"
"Can we go...to a quieter part of the house...?"
"Uhh...yeah..." Morrison said slowly, speech slightly slurred by the amount of alcohol he'd consumed. Miz was usually the bigger drinker of the two, but he'd purposely avoided drinking too much, so he could finally do what he'd been wanting to, without it being accused of being caused by the drinks.
They went into the second living room of Cena's house which was, to Miz's relief, empty.
As they were walking into the room, Miz stopped suddenly and grabbed Morrison's wrist, making him stop to.
"John...Jomo...I..." The Miz began, but trailed off, nervous.
"What...?" Morrison asked him. Suddenly fully alert, despite the alcohol.
Miz was thankful the room was only just light enough for them to see each other, but not able to tell if the other was blushing or not. He was confident in himself only seconds ago, until he'd decided to make contact by grabbing Morrison's wrist.
"Are you ok?" Morrison tried again.
Miz hesitated, eventually deciding that it was now or never and gave Morrison a shy kiss on his cheek, to worried he'd freak out if Miz did it anywhere else. Miz then turned his face away from Morrison, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry…" He mumbled. Risking a glance towards Morrison, only to have his face caught by Morrison's hand, forcing Miz to look into Morrison's eyes.
Miz was shocked when Morrison placed a kiss of his own on Miz's lips in return.
"Don't be." He told The Miz, blushing as he did so.
"But Jomo…I-" Miz began, only to be interrupted by another kiss which he returned, the Superstars embracing as they continued to kiss.
Randy Orton watched as Cena crumpled to the floor, finally passed out from all the alcohol he'd had, making Triple H the winner of the two's drinking contest.
"Way to go Hunter!" Ric Flair congratulated The Game, patting him on the back.
"You've made me proud. Woo!"
"Nice going Paul." Orton added.
"Woo!" Triple H echoed, seemingly oblivious to everything else said to him.
"Woo!" Came The Nature Boy's response.
"Woo!"
"Woo!"
Triple H 'Wooed' again and the two continued to trade Woo's until Triple H was finally overcome by the alcohol and crumpled to the floor next to Cena, asleep.
Orton shook his head and looked around Cena's large living room. Kendrick and Cody were still playing games together, Orton sighed now aware that he'd have to put up with Cody's nerdiness later on in his career, as Mr McMahon had informed him they would eventually join forces.
He saw some other Superstars like the Hardy Brothers. Matt was on Cena's computer, which was typical of him and Jeff was dancing to the endless play list of songs on whatever CD Cena had playing. Orton kept looking around; trying to find his other best friend, hoping Morrison would be more sociable than the passed out John on the floor. He then realised the long haired John was not in the room.
Orton got up off the couch and walked through the house in search of him. He checked the kitchen, assuming his friend had gotten hungry and was disappointed when he found the only person in the kitchen was none other than Mr Monday Night, Rob Van Dam.
"Hey," Orton said to the Extreme Superstar, who had his back to Orton as he raided Cena's fridge.
Rob jumped in fright, almost smacking his head on the fridge as he turned around to see who was talking to him.
"Since when do you turn up to these things? No one's seen you since you left WWE the other year…" Orton asked.
"Randy! I-I haven't seen you since I left…You p-punted me in the head…"
"And you haven't been seen since…" Orton reminded him.
"…My wife…" RVD mumbled.
"Oh yeah, Sonya…how is she Rob? Is she any better?" Orton asked. RVD had left the WWE because his wife had been diagnosed with cancer.
RVD stood there staring at Randy, with a blank look on his face and blinked before muttering "Better…" and something about being hungry.
Orton sighed, realising RVD wasn't in any state to get anything intelligent from and walked out of the room. He heard RVD mutter something along the lines of "Cena invited me…" his voice muffled, having stuck his head in the fridge again.
Orton continued down the hallway, reaching Cena's second living room and walked into it. He turned on the light, only to find his friend Morrison standing in the middle of the room, arms wrapped around his Tag Team partner as the two kissed.
"John?" Orton said, shocked.
The Tag partners, like RVD, jumped in fright at Randy's sudden appearance, the two quickly taking a step away from the other.
"Randy…" Morrison blurted out, then mumbled "shit…"
Miz had covered his face in his hands, worried he'd just gotten Morrison in trouble with his friend, hating himself for not waiting until they truly were alone before he'd tried kissing him.
"What….I…uh…" Orton stuttered, confused. "…You're together…?"
"Uhh…" Morrison said, not sure how to explain.
"When…did that happen…?" Orton asked.
"Just…now…" Morrison replied, nervously scratching the back of his neck.
"Oh…"
Orton walked over to one of the couches and sat down, motioning for the other two to join him, figuring it would be more comfortable then standing up. Morrison sat down on the couch facing Orton's, crossing one leg over the other, Miz slowly following as if pulled by a magnet and sat next to Morrison on the opposite end of the couch.
"I didn't think you were…" Randy said awkwardly to his friend.
"If I were gay…" Morrison said defensively. "I wouldn't have dated Melina…"
Orton decided not to push the matter, fearing he'd annoyed his friend. "Okay, okay…"
He said, raising his arms to calm Morrison down. Yelling would likely bring the others to the room; they might not be as accepting as Orton was. "I did tell you that Miz kept looking at you strangely whenever he saw you John…"
"Yes I know Randy…but at the time I just though you were being annoying."
"I know, you told me…"
"You're…not going to tell anyone…are you?" Morrison asked.
"What? No, I'm your friend John. I don't do things like that. It's your life…and Miz's…therefore it's your right to tell people…if you choose to…" Orton reassured him.
"Thanks. At least one of my best friends isn't afraid of being different…"
"Oh yes…Cena…" Randy recalled. "He's not too fond of these things, is he…?"
"What a jerk!" Miz said, suddenly snapping out of his daze. "Now I definitely hate him!"
Orton laughed and got up from his seat. "Yet you came anyway…"
Miz went to say something in retaliation, but Orton stopped him saying "Hey, I'm just glad it's with someone who'll look after him. Morrison's like a brother to me…if you hurt him in anyway…"
"Geez Randy. It's nice to know you're a caring friend, but you don't need to look after me. I'm not a high school kid…"
"Complain all you want John but I'm still gonna watch out for you. Despite how I act on Raw, I do actually care about friends and family…"
"And I appreciate it…but the way you said it before sounded like one of those protective dad…" Morrison said, trailing off as he realised something.
"Your dad…" Orton guessed.
"He'll be mad…" Morrison added.
"I remember him telling us and Cena once he only supports a traditional relationship…like Cena…"
"Great. I'm going to have so much fun telling him…" Morrison leaned forward in his chair, covering his face with his hands and groaned. Miz saw and finally moved from his spot at the other end of the couch and crawled over to sit next to him, draping a comforting arm around Morrison's shoulders as he did so.
"Relax john. You're a smart guy, you'll figure it out…besides, you don't have to tell him. Then again, you're the kind of person who doesn't like lying to people…" Orton commented.
"Thanks for reminding me…" Morrison groaned as Orton walked out of the room to rejoin the rest of the party.
"Fuck…" Morrison swore into his hands, shocking Miz as the dark haired man rarely swore.
"Don't worry Jomo… We'll sort it out…" The Miz said, wrapping his other arm around Morrison and gently moving back to where he'd originally sat on the couch, pulling Morrison along with him.
Now that Miz had stopped moving and was back at the end of the long couch, Morrison lifted his feet from the floor and curled them up on the couch, leaning into his tag partner's embrace. He leaned his head on The Miz's shoulder, so Miz moved his arms from Morrison's shoulders to around his waist so Morrison could rest his head properly.
"We'll sort it out…" Miz repeated softly.
"Later…" Morrison mumbled sleepily, the effects of the alcohol finally hitting him.
Miz smiled, noticing Morrison was comfortable enough with the current situation to actually fall asleep without moving away. Morrison wasn't the kind of person to fall asleep anywhere, he wouldn't even sleep on plane and car trips between shows if he wasn't comfortable with the people around him. This was the first time Miz had seen him fall asleep.
"Ok…" Miz replied as Morrison fell into a deep sleep. Miz smiled again and carefully moved him so that his head was resting in Miz's lap, as it was bound to be more comfortable than Miz's shoulder.
When he was sure he hadn't disturbed his partner's sleep, Miz gently brushed his hand through Morrison's hair; marvelling at how soft and shiny it was.
It had driven him insane at work when they entered the ring together, striking their infamous poses in Morrison's slow motion entrance. Miz would turn his head slightly, to catch sight of his friend as they showed off. Miz raising his arms, hands stretched out before him; Morrison raising one arm slowly, only to suddenly switch arm and throw that one upwards instead, his perfect hair blowing from an unknown wind source as if an invisible fan floated in front of him wherever he walked and the precious stones on his fake fur coat sparkling. Miz wondered how he'd ever been able to restrain himself from embracing the self proclaimed 'Tuesday Night Delight' then and there each time.
Miz eventually stopped stroking the other man's hair and slowly leaned forwards enough to kiss Morrison's head, his lips brushing softly against Morrison's hair. Miz then moved so his mouth was level with his tag partner's ear and whispered "I love you." Before sitting back up and eventually falling asleep too.