A/N: Still feeling loved here, haha. Don't ask about the song, I couldn't really think of any good party songs...


"This ain't a scene, it's a god damn arms race! This ain't a scene, it's a god damn arms race!" Blared from the stereo that was turned up seven notches too loud. No one in the whole house seemed to care much though. Alcoholic drinks were spilt all over the rug and tables, people were grinding into each other on the dance floor, the couches were filled up with couples making out, and there was almost no room to walk or move. If anyone else was crammed in, the house would burst due to too much capacity. Kevin heartily let out a bark of laughter as he finished sipping on his Coors Light and placed it on the bar counter before him. Jeff Jarrett, the host of the third wild party this week, sat beside him, grinning like a lunatic as he watched SoCal Val and Leticia Cline out of the corner of his eye. The two were pretty much the sluts of the locker room, but neither cared much. Guys just used them whenever their girlfriends or wives weren't around and girls wanted to look like them.

"Hey, so I take it Alex wasn't in a partying mood?" Jeff questioned as he looked back at Kevin, still grinning. Kevin shrugged and fingered his beer can cooly for a moment before opening his mouth to respond to his friend's voice.

"Nope. Totally flipped on me and Austin in the locker room earlier. Something's been up with that kid." He replied, half paying attention to what he was saying. The music was so loud the two men had to practically scream to hear each other. Jeff nodded his head slowly and drummed his fingers on the wooden counter.

"Hey, he's your friend, not mine." He told Kevin honestly, "I try being nice to him, he blows me off. Don't see what you see in him." Kevin chuckled at that and rested his hand on his knee in thought. Without much hesitation, he allowed himself to answer him.

"Me neither." Jeff's face twisted in a smirk as he laughed. At that moment, Austin decided to plop down into the seat beside Kevin. He hastily grabbed Kevin's beer and downed it all in one huge, swift gulp. Both men slowly stared at Austin unsurely. The Wisconsin man slammed the can onto the counter and frowned slightly.

"Is something wrong with me?" He asked, a bit quieter than either other man had expected him to be. Kevin shrugged while Jeff shook his head slowly, his eyebrow raised. "Because every other woman in this room has danced with me more than once and Christy won't even glance at me."

"Maybe she thinks you're a man-whore?" Kevin suggested with a laugh. Austin's face contorted into something that almost resembled a pout. Jeff grinned at him, feeling a bit more entertained that earlier. "But seriously, man, you want her so badly, go talk to her. She's not gonna bite your head off."

"Yeah, I've talked to her, she's a pretty neat chick." Jeff added as his gaze wandered over to the red head in name. Austin's eye followed his gaze and he sighed deeply. Kevin only chewed on his lip for a bit in thought.

"Alright. I'll be back." Austin's face picked up and his pout turned into a grin as he winked, fixed his hat, and stood up, practically sauntering over to his latest craze.


"Alex? You in there?" The pounding on the door into the hotel continued to grow louder and louder with each bang. Alex mentally slapped himself as he buried his face into his pillow and groaned silently. Chris just wouldn't take no for an answer. Was he not safe from people prying into his personal life anymore? "Come on, man. We need to talk. What you're doing isn't right!" Chris continued pressed on, hoping, and praying, that Alex would open the door or atleast say something. "We used to be friends, remember? Before I went on to win titles and before... you turned into a jerk." Chris' face suddenly twisted from a frown into an 'o' as the door swung open. Alex stood before him, his hair as messy as it could ever get, his eyes red and puffy, and his clothes disheveled. His hands clenched into fists as he closed the door behind him.

"You mean before you turned your back on me." Alex whispered so low Chris had to strain to hear him. Without bothering to give it a second thought, Alex strolled down the hallway, his head bowed to the ground and his fists jammed in his pockets. Chris sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he chased after Alex.

"Come on, don't be like this. You know I was still there for you. You just went all anti-social and jerky on me." Chris retorted, sounding a bit harsher than he originally planned for it to come out. Alex didn't even think about glancing over at the man he once considered his best friend. "I'm gonna say this once and only once because I don't need the guys giving me a hard time about this but," Chris paused, searching for the right words, "Alex, you're scaring me. You're practically committing suicide, and I don't want to lose you. No one does. Deep down inside everyone likes you. You just take all of this shit from everyone and that's why they keep doing it." Alex stopped walking after pressing the button for the elevator. He coldly turned and stared at Chris for a few minutes. As the bell dinged, indicating the elevator was here, Alex's eyes narrowed.

"Then they have a weird way of showing affection." He stated before calmly walking into the elevator. He rolled his eyes while his back was to Chris. Was this guy ever going to give up? He found out one little thing about him and suddenly he wanted to play the hero? He never cared before, what made it so different if he were to die?

"Alex!" Chris called after him as he jumped into the elevator after him just as the doors went to close. "You know I'm right. You just don't want to admit it. You complain about everyone hating you and here I am, trying to care but you're pushing me away! What do you want!?" The Detroit native shouted out in frustration as he threw his arms into the air. Alex leaned against the wall of the elevator as it began to move downward. He eyed Chris up and down for a moment or two.

"What I want is for you to leave me alone and just go back to ignoring me like you used to always do." He responded, his voice heavy with anger as his eyes clouded up angrily. Chris' jaw slightly dropped, but not much. It wasn't like he wasn't expecting an answer like that from Alex. An awkward silence ligered in the air and Alex silently cursed, wondering why the hell the elevator was taking so long today.

"I know you're scared." This comment made Alex practically gag and roll his eyes up to the ceiling, more openly this time. Was Chris this desperate to solve everyone else's problems? "You're scared and alone and confused and I'm here for you. I said I was sorry and I really mean it, Alex." Chris continued on, sincerity in his voice. Alex almost wanted to point and laugh at how pathetic Chris was making himself seem, but stopped himself at the last minute.

"Pretending you're scared for me and saying how you want to help me doesn't change what you've done to me in the past and it's not going to change how I feel towards you." Alex commented dryly as he stared at the metal doors before him as he pushed himself up, seeing as they were slowing down. Now it was Chris' turn to roll his eyes.

"You think I'm pretending to feel this way? Alex, you're fuckin' cutting yourself. It would scare anyone shitless. I've known you since before we were in grade school. You were my best friend for like ever and I know I was yours. If it helps any, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" Chris screamed the last one as his eyes narrowed and he clenched his hands into tight fists. "How many fuckin' times do I have to say it!?" The doors swung open at that and both men stood there, glaring at each other as if they had killed each other's families.

"Until you mean it." Alex spat before he turned on his heel and swept out of the elevator, leaving Chris alone to his own thoughts.


Jackie smiled and let out a deep sigh as she stared up at the stars in the night sky. The music, which was giving her a throbbing migrane, was still as loud, if not louder, as earlier. She dug her palms into the railing of the balcony and closed her eyes slowly, letting her mind drift. She always enjoyed coming out here to think or just chill out whenever she came over Jeff's. Not many people noticed whenever she would leave the parties. At the sound of a door slamming, she jumped and her eyes snapped open. Turning around slowly, she blinked at the person before her. Their head was bent, their hands were jammed in their pants pockets, and they were slouching as they stomped across the concrete.

Jackie raised her eyebrow at him as names and faces raced through her mind. She knew she had seen him before, she just couldn't remember when or where. Chris? No. Jeff? No. Max? No. Adam? No. She groaned inwardly at the frustration building up in her and mentally slapped herself. Crossing her arms lightly across her stomach, she watched him for a bit more. He continued walking until he was right beside her, acting as if she wasn't there. Jackie secretly wondered if he knew she was there. How could he have missed her?

"Alex!" She suddenly shouted out, grinning as she remembered his name. "You're that guy that hangs around Kevin and Austin. The one with the camera?" She peered at him curiously. Alex only eyed her slowly and nodded, his hair falling into his eyes. He frowned more deeply and looked out over the balcony and down to the cars passing by. Oh, now she noticed him. Jackie blushed, a bit embarrased, and bowed her head, trying to allow her golden locks to hide her face. "Sorry, got a little excited." She mumbled shyly. Alex shrugged lightly and let a shallow sigh escape his lips. He could really care less about Jackie right now. The only thing on his mind was getting away from Chris for the rest of his miserable life. "You okay? You seem a bit upset." The blonde woman noted, trying to make some sort of conversation with the man. After all, they were the only two out here and it was a bit awkward just standing there and not talking.

"I'm fine." Alex almost snapped, he bit down on his lip after that, thinking over his harsh tone. Jackie nodded, her heart in her throat. She hadn't been expecting something that cold sounding to come out of his frail body. "Look, Jackie, I'm not really in the mood to talk. I just came out here to think and clear my head, alright?" He ran a hand through his hair and crossed his arms across his chest tightly, focusing entirely on the lights below him. Jackie nodded, understanding completely, though she wasn't quite sure why. The two stood there in a bit of an awkward silence, or atleast in Jackie's case. She seemed like a nervous wreck; fidgeting, tapping her palms against her thighs, chewing on her lip, twirling her hair, swaying in the breeze, watching Alex out of the corner of her eye, anything really. Alex was the exact opposite. He stood as if her were a statue, just staring out ahead of himself, his arms crossed, his head slightly bowed so his hair covered his mysterious eyes, and his left leg slightly bent against the railing. The two couldn't look so different if they had tried. And to top it all off, the silence lingering in the air between them was deafening Jackie.

"Oh my God! Jackie, you have got to come see this!" Christy Hemme's voice shouted out, ruining any possible thinking or moments that were happening at that time. Alex groaned to himself and rolled his eyes, but acted as if the cheery red head wasn't alive. Jackie turned and her heart picked up speed, half grateful for her friend's rude interruption. "Ew, why are you with him?" Christy's nose wrinkled as she said this, spitting out the word 'him' as if it were a bad taste in her mouth. Jackie shrugged and crossed her arms loosly across her stomach. "Come on, I think if we leave now, no one'll see." The small red headed woman grabbed Jackie's upper arm and dragged her away from Alex. The blonde could only watch Alex as she was dragged away with almost no resistance.


Alex stared at his wrist, watching the blood ooze out of the new scratch indifferently. Even though Kevin and Austin were fast asleep and Chris was far from the room, he couldn't help but feel a bit jumpier than usual. After all, the Detroit native ex-champion had seemed pretty desperate earlier to keep Alex from cutting. Not like Alex cared much. He was probably right, Chris had just wanted to seem like the hero so everyone would still love him.

He chewed on his bottom lip and continued to stare at the scratch before eyeing the knife out of the corner of his eye. Letting out a sigh of frustration, he let his leg stretch out before him while he let his elbow rest on his other knee, leaning his head against the wall. His eyes teared up as he gazed at the ceiling longingly. There had to be an easier way out of this. A faster way. He honestly couldn't handle being here anymore, what with everyone constantly bugging him and being the ignorant jerks they were. Chris suddenly flashed in his mind again. Alex squeezed his eyes shut as memories of the two came rushing back. He couldn't be caving into Chris' caring gestures so early, it just wouldn't make any sense. Chris was a two-faced, back stabbing, asshole who just wanted to keep up his reputation at all costs. The old Chris was long gone. He was never coming back, no matter how much he thought he was. Alex drew both knees up to his chest and buried his face in them, allowing a tiny sob to escape at the thoughts. Acting unemotional was harder than it looked.


A/N: Please R&R!!