Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with TNA. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination. This story contains various scenes that are for people 18 years of age and older ONLY.
Chapter Content & Trigger Warnings: Underage drinking

Chapter 2

John Cougar Mellencamp's "Wild Night" reverberated through the Seanoaes' sound system while Joe and his houseful of friends partied and danced throughout the large home.

"As you brush your shoes and stand before your mirror
And you comb your hair and grab your coat and hat
And you walk the streets trying to remember
All those wild nights breeze through your mind"

All the younger girls were giggling through the song and bellowing the lyrics out at the top of their lungs, as the guys playfully danced around with them. Joe grabbed Ella up, and swung her around as she squealed in glee.

In the next couple of minutes, the song ended and the next one began playing. The girls screamed their approval, while the guys all groaned. The song which had earned such a mixed response was none other than "Whatta Man" by Salt-N-Pepa.

"How do you dance to this garbage," James demanded.

"Like this, cowboy," shouted Jessica Kresa, as she jumped in front of him and began bumping up against him in a very inappropriate manner.

"JESS," Ella wailed in horror, averting her eyes.

"Someone's obviously had too much punch," Talia laughed, toying with her long brown hair. "Someone should cut her off."

"Change the song," Joe yelled. "We don't need to see that!"

"No more alcohol for Jess," AJ added, as he grabbed the remote control to the sound system.

In the next instant, "Whatta Man" stopped playing, and the soulful ballad, "When Can I See You" by Babyface began playing. Obviously another favorite song of the girls, they each scrambled for a dance partner, not wanting the song to go to waste.

"I got Joe," Ella called out, hurrying over to him.

No one objected, knowing how close the pair had grown in the past two years.

She smoothed her hands down her peach-colored sundress, and then brushed her dark hair over her shoulder. She had decided to lose her ponytail at Joe's party, since it was a special occasion. She hoped her makeup was still in place. She had let Talia and Angel put some on her, but having never worn makeup before, she felt out of her comfort zone.

"Dance with me," she asked Joe as she nervously patted her hair.

"Well, since it's you…" he teased.

Smiling, Ella entered his embrace and they swayed to the slow, rhythm and blues melody of the song.

"When can I see you again?
When can my heart beat again?
When can I see you again?
And when can I breathe once again?"

Oh, no, Joe thought, why did this song have to play? Now, when I tell her about UIWA and Christy, this memory will make it even harder for her to deal with the situation.

And with a stroke of fate, his plans of broaching the subject gently came unraveled at the seams.

He and Ella were dancing one moment, and then the next, Christy was hugging him from behind and placing a kiss on his neck.

"Happy birthday, baby," the spunky redhead whispered, a smile on her pretty face. Then her blue eyes shifted past Joe to Ella. "Hi, I'm Christy."

"Hi," Ella said, uncertainty clouding her eyes. She pulled out of Joe's arms, and glanced up at his face to see him looking very uncomfortable. She realized the older girl had referred to Joe as 'baby'. Oh, my God… Ella thought, horrified. Please, no. She knew it was inevitable that Joe would have a girlfriend, but it just seemed so…soon.

Joe never had a problem reading Ella's thoughts, and right then was no exception. "Elles, I wanted to tell you when the time seemed right—but Christy sort of caught me by surprise," he chuckled nervously, and turned his attention to his girlfriend. "I thought you weren't going to get here until later." He hoped he sounded cheerful. He honestly did care about her, and he was glad she had made it to the party earlier than expected. He'd just envisioned breaking the news to Ella much easier than the given situation. He could already see the devastation in the young girl's eyes. "Ella, meet Christy Hemme…we've been dating for a few months. Christy, this is Ella Roberts. She's my best friend, as well as Jeff's niece."

"Oh, wow…Jeff Jarrett is your uncle? How amazing," the redhead exclaimed. "Are you planning to wrestle too?"

Ella shook her head. "No," she chuckled, trying to appear collected. "I'm not very athletic. So, how did you guys meet," she asked, trying to put Joe at ease. She felt hurt, indeed, but did not want to deprive Joe of his happiness.

Joe started to answer, but did not stand a chance against the talkative fire-haired girl. "We're classmates, actually," Christy replied, "in high school as well as wrestling school," she giggled. "We have both officially been accepted into the United Independent Wrestling Alliance."

"Hey, Christy," Joe cut in before his girlfriend could say more, "I kind of need to talk to Ella about that—why don't you go get something to drink, and I'll come get ya for a dance in a little while?"

Christy grinned and pressed a kiss to his mouth, "Sure. I'll go take my overnight bag up to your room first. See ya in a bit."

Ella fought hard not to cringe when Christy mentioned her 'overnight bag' and Joe's bedroom in the same sentence. Clearly, the older girl had big plans for later in the night. As she headed outside to get said luggage, Ella let out a nervous laugh, "Wow—your room—your parents really do let you live it up, don't they?" The minute the obviously jealous words were out, she regretted them.

Joe ran his hand down his face and groaned. "They don't know Ella."

"Don't worry. I won't say anything," she assured him in a hurry. "It's none of my business anyway."

"I'm sorry this all got brought up so carelessly. I was going to tell you about all of it in a little while."

Ella glanced down at her feet, "It's no big deal. Uh…When Uncle Jeff and Aunt Nina have their Easter dinner in a couple weeks, you should bring her. Let her meet everyone," she stated, testing the waters. She needed to know how deeply Joe's feelings for Christy went.

He did not answer right away which caused Ella to look up at him.

"That's the thing Ella. I'm not going to be able to make the Easter dinner this year. In fact…" he trailed off and took a deep breath. "I don't think I'll be able to visit for a long time."

Ella's heart sank. "O-Oh."

"I'm sorry, baby girl…but a wrestling career means so much to me."

She nodded, "I know. I understand." She swallowed down her hurt, and pasted a soft smile on her face. "I'll, uh…go hang out with Angel and Talia for a while." She started to walk away but Joe reached forward and pulled her into his arms. "God, I'm sorry," he whispered, rocking her within his embrace. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "The last thing I want is to hurt you."

"I'm fine, Joe," Ella said, pulling out of his arms. "Really. Why do you think I can't handle this?"

He could see his sympathetic actions were making her feel even worse. She was trying to put on a brave front, so he humored her. "You're right. I'm sorry. I think I'll go have a beer. I need another stiff drink after this birthday," he chuckled.

And just like that, he left her behind.

Ella took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Lifting her chin and straitening her posture, she walked across the living room to the patio doors and let herself outside. Looking around the large backyard, she was surprised the party had not found its way out by the pool. She strolled along side it, and made her way over to a hammock that hung between two palm trees. She climbed onto it gingerly and settled herself, stretching out as the hammock swayed back and forth. As soon as it stilled, she gazed up at the night sky and all the stars, finally able to think over the past ten minutes. Tears stung her eyes and she sniffled, causing more tears to well up and stream down her face. Her throat began to burn with the need to let loose a sob. But she held it in, and carefully turned onto her side, facing away from the house. The pain in her heart was nearly physical, it hurt so badly. But still, she kept her anguish in silence.

It wouldn't have seemed as terrible if Joe had told her either about Christy, or about getting into wrestling school and not being able to visit. But to have both sprung on her in a matter of minutes, was almost too much to bear.

And to think—Christy is spending the night with him, she agonized, knowing full well what they would be doing.

"Need some company?"

Startled, Ella almost toppled out of the hammock. Hands reached out and caught her, repositioning her. Her gaze shot upward to find AJ staring kindly down at her.

Even in the dark, he could see the tears on her face, and the redness around her eyes and nose. "Oh, darlin'…Come here," he coaxed, easing his way down beside her on the hammock. He pulled her into his arms and settled her against him. Immediately, the sobs Ella had successfully fought off moments before began tearing up her throat.

"Need to talk about it," AJ drawled softly into her ear.

"Joe…" Ella said between hiccuping sobs. "He said…h-he's going to…wr-wrestling school and won't…be able to v-visit…and…"

"And," AJ prodded. He already knew everything, but he could see the girl desperately needed to talk out the pain.

"He's got a girlfriend now."

"Sweetie…I'm sorry," AJ consoled her. Everyone knew how taken Ella had been with Joe since day one. He wiped some tears from her face and hugged her closer. "I know how hurt you must be."

"More like stupid," Ella said bitterly. "I know I'm a little too young for him. And I know I just look like a scrawny little kid right now, but... I still had hopes that one day he might see me differently." She avoided AJ's eyes in her embarrassment. "I should have known he wouldn't be single long enough for me to grow up so I could even just stand a chance of being with him." A new wave of pain washed over her as she grieved for what could have been; what should have been.

"Ella, you're not stupid," AJ told her. "Don't say that."

"But I feel stupid," she cried. "Why didn't I realize there's no chance? Why did I have to set myself up for such a hurt? And why does my heart feel so heavy," she asked him. "Like nothing even matters anymore."

He tenderly stroked her back as he spoke, "Well, honey…that's part of being hurt. It's normal. It doesn't make it any easier, but it sometimes helps to know everyone goes through it at one time or another."

Ella nodded and sniffled, though she wasn't so sure. She felt as if her whole world was crumbling down around her.

AJ used the long sleeve of his button-down shirt to dab at her tears. "It'll get better in time, I promise," he told her.

She nodded again, though she didn't really believe she'd ever get over Joe and be happy again.

"AJ?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"I'm supposed to go home on Sunday, but—would you mind driving me to the airport—in the morning? I don't think I could be around Joe for the whole weekend."

"You do know it'll be a really long time before you see him again, right," AJ asked, wanting her to be sure of her decision.

Ella nodded, and fought back more tears. "Yeah, I know. But—I need to try and...somehow, forget him. The sooner I can accept he'll never want to be with me, the better."

"Okay," he agreed softly. "What time do you want to leave?"

"Before Joe gets up," Ella said. "I know I sound spiteful, but I don't mean to. I'm just afraid to say goodbye to him—afraid I'll do something really dumb, like cry or something. I need to let him know why I'm leaving early, but the only way I could possibly do that is to leave him a note. I'd feel too humiliated, having to tell him in person that I've been crazy about him all these years, and that I'm too devastated to even be around him."

AJ nodded compassionately. "How will you get to your house after the plane lands in Memphis?"

"I'll call mom from the airport before my flight leaves."

"Okay then. You ready to go inside?"

She shook her head. "Can we stay just a little longer?"

"Sure," he whispered, pulling her a little closer when a light gust of wind blew over them. "Are you cold?"

She shook her head and yawned. "No, not really."

AJ knew it would be only a matter of minutes before the young girl would be dead to the world. She shed a few more tears in silence, but soon went limp against him. Then he waited patiently for the party to quieten down so he could take her inside and put her to bed.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Ella awoke the next morning to bright sunlight invading her eyes, and fueling her pounding headache.

She groaned in pain. "This isn't fair—I didn't drink anything but soda."

Slowly, she rose up on her elbows to test out the severity of the throbbing. The pain seemed to ebb away gradually, as long as she took her time. Ten slow minutes later, she was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with her hair tied up in a ponytail. Then she was brushing her teeth and packing up her few items of clothing. She sat down at the guest room's desk and began her note to Joe. She placed the pen against a piece of paper, but no words would come to her. Part of her wanted to tell him exactly how she felt, but her more rational side, was terrified to. Inwardly groaning, she scribbled down a lame excuse for leaving early and apologized for her absence. She ended it by saying she would miss him very much, wished him luck, and then signed the note.

She stood then and grabbed her bag to head downstairs. Hopefully AJ's already up, she thought. She had no wish to face Joe before leaving. She stepped out into the hallway and grimaced as she heard a female giggling in Joe's bedroom. Shaking her head to try and get rid of the sound, she fought off a fresh round of tears, and tiptoed down the stairs. Walking quietly through the living room, she took care to not wake up the many teenagers sleeping strewn across the furniture and carpeting. She did not see AJ in the room, so she sat her bag down by the front door and headed back toward the kitchen. She spotted him at the counter, placing a coffee cup into the dishwasher.

He turned when he heard her enter the room, and noted her reddened eyes. She had either been crying, or had nearly cried. "You okay?"

Ella nodded none too convincingly.

"What is it," AJ coaxed. "You can tell me."

"It's nothing."

"Am I gonna have to go beat it out of Joe?"

"No, AJ," Ella cried. "He didn't do anything. Really. I just—heard Christy—in his bedroom."

"Oh, my God," AJ groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. "Why in the world did he let her stay over, when he knew younger girls were staying here too. The idiot."

Ella had no idea what to say. She didn't exactly feel like jumping to Joe's defense, but on the other hand, she didn't feel he was really to blame either. She abandoned her thoughts when she heard jangling. AJ was reaching into his pocket to retrieve his keys and then they headed for the front door and hurried outside as quietly as possible.

Within a couple hours, AJ had hugged Ella tight and made sure she got on the plane back to Memphis after she had called her parents to pick her up at the airport. Then he headed back to Joe's house. When he went inside, all the guests appeared to have left. He figured Joe was still up in his bedroom with Christy, so he headed up the stairs, preparing to jar them both out of their perfect little world.

He stepped onto the hallway's hard wood floor, and heard a door slam. He saw Joe walking down the hallway toward him, mental anguish etched on his face. He was holding the note Ella had left for him.

"Why did Ella leave? Is she really sick," he demanded.

"Where's Christy," AJ shot back deliberately.

"She…left already. She had to be at work," Joe answered, seeing the hostility on AJ's face. "Now, what's wrong with Ella?"

"She's hurting, Joe," AJ said. "You can't see that on your own?"

"I know she was upset about me not getting to visit anymore for a while," Joe hedged around the more accurate answer. "She tried to hide it, but I knew. She'll get through it though. She's a tough kid."

"Joe, I know you aren't that dense. Ella is crazy about you. You have to know that."

The dark Samoan shook his head in denial and rolled his eyes. "It's just a crush. Sheesh…"

"I would have thought the same thing, Joe, but come on—what 'crush' lasts seven years? Especially for a teenage girl. They move on—they find new crushes. They don't hang onto one for nearly a decade. I know it's rare at such a young age, and I've never seen it happen till now—but Ella is in love with you. And you just had your girlfriend—whom Ella had no idea about—spend the night in your bedroom. Do you really think that's appropriate for her or the other girls to see? You should set a better example."

"I'm older than them. Plus, they know guys aren't going to stay virgins forever."

"Joe, you were fifteen your first time. Thankfully, the girls don't know. They're very impressionable at that age. How would you feel if Ella decides to have sex? Or even if she waits as late as seventeen?"

"I'd beat the devil out of the boy who touches her," Joe answered immediately.

"Precisely," AJ said, exasperation in his voice. "I'm not telling you to not have sex, but geez—don't broadcast it around the younger girls. Or rather, don't let your girlfriend broadcast it," he said, rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean? She didn't. Well—she mentioned taking her bag into my room last night, but that's hardly broadcasting it."

"Oh yeah," AJ snorted. "That's right. You didn't realize Ella heard Christy in your room when she came downstairs, did you?"

Joe uttered a curse under his breath and scrubbed his hand down his face.

"Yeah," AJ agreed, "You've really messed up."

"Well what can I do about it," Joe demanded. "I like Christy, and I was glad she was here. So sue me!"

"Honestly, I don't know what you can do to fix it. You sure weren't thinking clear last night. How much did you have to drink anyway?"

"Enough."

"You need to email her, or call her. Try to help her through this."

Joe nodded. "I know. I'll try giving her a few days to clear her head, and then I'll call her."

"Okay, buddy," AJ said, clapping the larger man on the back. "If ya need me, you know I'll help any way I can."

"Thanks, AJ. And…do you think she'll forgive me?"

AJ thought for a moment before speaking. "I think she will. Although, it may take some time."

Joe nodded. He felt AJ was right, and then some.