Okay, next chappie. As you can see, I'm using song titles, or just lines or quotes for these chapters…But when I put myself in Lena's shoes - she'd do the exact same thing. So. Again, I own Lena, no one else.
"Owwwww." Kevin whined. I'd just smashed his nose in for the second time since we've known each other. His eye was already bruised up, and he looked a mess. But I'd just started with him. He'd hurt my Mikey…I just called him MY Mikey…god, what did I eat wrong that's making me so protective?
"What was that for?" He asked me, and I raised my eyebrows. "For hurting Mike!" I said gruffly, and he rolled his eyes at me. "Would you like a matching set?" I snapped. "God, you're an ass-hole Riley!" I snapped at him. He didn't believe his ears. "What…did you just call me?" He asked, and I repeated myself, hoping he'd get the message this time.
"You. Are. An. Ass. HOLE!" I said slowly. "The man who gave you EVERYTHING, including a career here, is currently staring at the oven, like he was been for the last three hours. You'd be a nobody were it not for Mike, and you…kick him away just like Alex!" I snarled at him. "You are no better than your persona, ALEX." I spat, turning on my heel and leaving the room, shutting the door on Kevin Kiley for what I hoped was the last time.
But, beggar's can't be choosers, right?
I went back into Mike's and my own hotel room, and heard the shower running. I tapped on the shut door carefully. "You okay?" I asked quietly, and waited for his answering call. It came hesitantly, but it came. "No…" He murmured, and I sighed gently. "I'm here if you have to talk, okay? You're not the only one Kevin's hurt." I reminded him, and I heard a choked sob. "Mike…can I come in?" I asked him. When he told I could, I opened the door.
Steam rushed out to greet me, and I choked on it for a second. He was sitting in the shower, fully clothed, just running his fingers through his wet hair. Sighing, I reached in and turned the water off, before I sat beside the shower, and took his hand. "You have no reason to drown yourself. C'mon, let's get you dry…" I said quietly, and with my help, he stepped out of the shower, and dried his hair.
I let him get changed before I joined him again. He looked worse off then he had been two days ago, when Kevin had kicked him away to the side of the road, like an abandoned puppy. I sat down beside him, and wrapped my arms around him. I was reminded of a time when Mike had done this for me. I kissed the top of his head gently, rocking him softly while he cried into my shoulder.
"You were there for me, when you shouldn't have had to have been…When I had no one else to turn to…now it's my turn." I whispered to him, and he whimpered. He fell asleep there eventually, and I wasn't cruel hearted enough to move him much further than the right end of my bed. I lay beside him and watched him sleep. He looked a lot less troubled. I was glad Kevin couldn't trouble Mike in his sleep. I ended up falling asleep with him.
When I woke up, my fingers were linked through Mike's, and I had my head rested on his shoulder. He was awake, but unmoving. He blinked once, before he turned his head towards me, and I caught his eyes again. He really was wounded by all this. "You really loved him, didn't you?" I whispered, and Mike nodded his head again. It was all he seemed able to do sometimes.
I smiled at him and whispered gently. "I'm sorry." I whispered to him, and he put an arm around me. "Thank you for last night." I heard him mumble. "I really need a friend now…" He said, a little louder, and I smiled. "I'm happy to be here." I told him gently, and smiled.
"D'you want breakfast?" I asked, and he nodded his head at me, smiling gratefully. I knew he'd be okay…just take some time to stitch himself up. And if I could help, I'd make sure those stitches didn't come undone.
We were at the RAW TV session, and Mike was a mess. "I'm about to lose my mind." He whispered to me, and I sighed softly, rubbing his back. Kevin was flaunting off with his new girlfriend, and Mike hadn't even given her a 'hello' through gritted teeth, just turned on his heel and left. I'd managed a wave, and had made to follow Mike as quick as I could.
And now we were here. I offered him a script, to see if he could read it well enough to calm himself down a little. He took it from me, glad for the distraction, and flipped through it, while I went through next weeks. I felt the breath catch in my throat, and tapped his shoulder.
"Mike?" I asked, and let him read it. His eyes widened a little, and I think I was as startled as he was about the whole thing. "…you okay with this?" He asked me, and my own eyes widened. "Am I okay with this? What about YOU?" I asked him, and he shrugged it off.
"I'll be fine with it." He told me, and sighed when he and I got called. Mike beat Rey up, with lots of encouragement from me, before the three of us got in the put his arm around my shoulders like he was meant to, during most of it, and then Kofi came out to fight him.
I practically deafened Cole when Mike won. I jumped into the ring and he swung me around in his arms happily, before he went about showboating. I noticed that when Mike was being 'Miz', he never looked like anything could hurt him. I decided to talk to him about it.
"You need to be Miz more in your real life." I told him once we got backstage. He looked at me like I'd killed somebody. "What? Miz isn't ME, Lena…"
"You need to make him you, Mike. Out there, you didn't look like anything had ever hurt you. Even those jerks who wouldn't let you change in the main locker-rooms don't look like they could bother you out there. You need to put a hard coating on, Mikey, or people will keep hurting you."
"Will you?" The words themselves didn't surprise me. It was the way they were said that nearly terrified me. He sounded like a small child, watching their mother get taken away from them, or a small child getting…bullied. I put an arm around his shoulders and shook my head.
"Never." I promised him, and he gave me a shy smile. I think to both our shock, I leaned over and pecked his lips.
"Practice for next week." I teased, and fled, with him chasing me, making threats of everything from handcuffs, to red hot pokers. What he planned on doing with the pokers, I couldn't have told you, but I'm glad he caught me before the Bella twins saw me.
"How is it…" he asked, when he had me sitting back down. "How is it that whenever I feel I'm at my lowest, you run in and save the day?" He asked me, and I shrugged. "I have an awesome sense of timing?" I suggested playfully, before I answered honestly.
"Because, Mike, I don't like it when you get hurt." I said softly. "I don't know why, but…Seeing you sad, makes me sad too." I told him, and I could feel him cheering up from across the room. He came and sat down beside me and hugged me again. This had been something that had practically become a given lately. The hugs. I'm not complaining…I like cuddles!
I smiled at him gently and he smirked a little. "C'mon, we best be getting back to the hotel. Get a good nights sleep, go greet the crazy fans, and get out of here towards the house show, sound like a plan?" He asked me, and I nodded. "Dinner first - I could kill for some lamb steaks or something." I said, and he smiled softly at me. "My turn to pay." He informed me, and we left there together.
I let him drive. We passed Kevin and his girlfriend, and I became glad Mike had to concentrate on the road, but cursed the red light. He looked out my window to see what had me distracted. Kevin was kissing this girl like he needed her to live. I looked towards him and wound up the tinted window, too late to stop the tears falling from his eyes.
We ended up just going back to the hotel. Mike was that upset I didn't think he'd eat anyway. I waited until he'd fallen asleep - on the couch - and called someone who's voice I was starting to miss. "Hey, Justin?" I asked into the phone quietly when he voice seemed brighter to hear from me. We chatted for a long time, before I finally got to the point. "Kevin…"
"Yeah, I know…he's hanging around with Heath and Bryan these days. Him and that bitch…" Justin muttered, and my eyes widened. "How long has that been going on?" I asked casually, and Justin paused to think about it. "A month at least." He said, thoughtfully. I managed to get through the rest of the phone call, and also discovered Justin was finding himself interested in Wade. I wished him luck, and hung up.
"I'm going to murder Kevin." I muttered. He'd been cheating on Mike for a month. What kind of a lowlife did THAT to any other human being? It made me feel sick suddenly, and I lost my appetite. I wasn't sure if I should tell Mike what I'd found out. He had a right to know about it, but wouldn't that be sticking my nose in where it didn't belong?
I woke Mike up from the couch soon after, and help him into bed. His knee wasn't bothering him so much now, but he found it got painful if he was tired. I waited until he was asleep to run my fingers through his, now messy, hair.
"You'll always want something you can't have." I murmured to him, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He'd been crying…
When I curled up in my own bed, I found myself crying as well, and ended up texting the one person I knew I could turn to through everything.
Hi Chris…don't know what time it is there, don't care. I need to talk to someone…Can you call me?Your panicky, and upset sister.
I waited for my phone to vibrate at me, and put it to my ear. "Hey…"
"Sestra, what's wrong?" He asked me, and I burst into a quiet explanation, for the second time that night. "...And Justin told me Kevin's been seeing this girl for at least a month now…and I don't know if I should tell Mike, or leave it be…" I murmured, and through the phone I could hear him thinking.
"You need to tell him, Lena…He has the right to know about it, even if it is harsh." He told me, and I closed my eyes. I really had to do this, didn't I? "I was hoping you wouldn't say that…" I confessed, and I heard him laugh a little. "Tell him the truth - that Justin told you, and you told him as soon as you were ready to spill your gut." I rolled my eyes a little.
"Always had to be the one to put it like that, didn't you?" I asked him, and he chuckled at me. "Always…I gotta go, Stan's around, and…"
"I get it. Go, go get your man." I told him, before he spoke to me. "I think you have a little thing for Mike…"
"Don't you ever suggest that again." I said sharply, and he told me goodbye, and hung up. Whatever the extent of my feelings for Michael Mizanin were, I didn't need to hear it from my brother, ever. But what he'd said nagged at me until well into the night.
You have to tell him…I think you have a little thing for Mike…Damn you, Chris…I wasn't getting any sleep NOW. I sighed and tried to relax, but I couldn't. I was going to have to tell Mike, before I lost more sleep than Kevin was worth. I'll tell him tomorrow…I promised myself, but it didn't allow me to get any sleep.
I don't remember much of the greeting the fans thing, just that when I woke up, I was in the car sitting beside Mike, who looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"Mike?" I asked blearily, rubbing my eyes. "Mikey, what's wrong?" I asked, and he shrugged it off. "It's nothing." He whimpered, and I rolled my eyes. "Mike…you're whimpering."
"Really? Shit." He muttered, wiping his eyes. "Just…Kevin messed me up last night, that's all…" Oh, great, now or never moment. I hate them so much, they ruin everything.
"Umm…I was talking to Justin last night…" I started slowly. This was cruel, this was just rubbing salt in the wounds, tipping alcohol over it, and then stitching both up inside the body. "He…he said Kevin had been with that girl for at least a month…" I couldn't bring myself to finish. Mike's face lost the little colour it had, and he pulled over to the side of the road.
"A month?" He asked, and I found myself nodding. "I called while you were asleep…I'd have told you sooner, but I sort of…passed out while we weren't busy." He rested his head on the wheel, and I reached a hand out and rubbed his back. "I'm still here for you, Mike…Kevin can go burn in hell." I said softly, and Mike nodded sullenly, before he shook his head.
"I wish I could make myself think that…but I can't." He whispered to me, and I undid my seatbelt so I could hug him properly. "I'll always be here." I promised him, letting him cry on my shoulder again. I was telling the truth, I would always be there.
But whether it would be for him, or for me, I couldn't tell. Mike's words from yesterday came back to me. I'm about to lose my mind…
Maybe I was…
Okay, that's this weeks RAW episode, now just another chapter in-between. I will try and update this twice a week from here.
BTW - Sestra is Russian for sister. If Lena uses Russian, I'll put the translations down the bottom. If they're inaccurate, blame my limited understanding of the language (I'm getting better!)
