Chapter 7

The Party Is Over

The car ride from the stadium to the hotel was long, but if Adam Rose is with you in the car, the trip will be everything but boring.

For the entire twenty kilometers, Brad and Adam talked about everything, from something silly like their favorite dish to something personal like their influences to join the WWE. Sometimes they would crank up the volume of the radio to sing along with the songs, but of course with the most off-key voices ever. Sometimes they paused their 'singing' to burst into a loud laughter, tears of laughter rolled down Brad's cheeks. His stomach hurt, he could barely breathe, but that didn't matter. It had been such a long time since he had such a good laugh like that, he felt like he deserved it. Before he had opened his eyes, he would have refused to the very end to let Adam inside his car, let alone take him along on his trip back to the hotel. But now he was having the time of his freaking life with having Adam as his boyfriend. He hadn't had a good time like this with any of his ex-girlfriends...

Seeing Braddy like this made him so happy. Adam had the feeling he had taken all the lemon out of him, Braddy hadn't been cranky ever since the day they started their relationship. Sure, he still acted nervous when they were together backstage, but he understood. Adam gave him the time to get used to all of this, this relationship was still so new to him. When he was dating a guy for the first time a couple of years ago, he was nervous as well. But later on, he got used to it; it felt completely normal. He would ignore the homophobic comments when he was out in public while holding hands with his current boyfriend at that time. Those comments just showed how those people really were, stupid and ignorant. They were just being big lemons. Adam has always been a cheerful and carefree person, and his happiness was only fueled by dating Brad. He felt like he was on top of the world, no, he felt like he was on top of the entire universe! A dream came true when Brad finally became his boyfriend and he didn't want to lose him, not now, not ever.


The car ride went on smoothly and the couple arrived at the hotel just in time for dinner. While they were walking across the parking lot, Brad could see 'The Exotic Express' parked in the distance; apparently the rosebuds had already taken care of it. Every table inside the restaurant of the rather luxurious hotel was occupied with WWE's wrestlers and Divas, but also other staff members, like the writers, technicians and catering staff. One table was occupied by quite a colorful bunch; the rosebuds. Most of them had already got their food (which some of it had spilled over their plates and stained the white tablecloths), but they barely took a bite from their dinners. No, they were way too busy to laugh and talk. They were so loud, some of the visitors of the restaurant had to speak a bit louder to their company so they were audible enough, much to their annoyance.

'What's up, rosebuds!' Adam called out loud. Everyone in the restaurant could kiss their tranquility goodbye.

Upon seeing Adam, the rosebuds immediately burst into a loud cheering fit, nearly making everyone's ears bleed. Brad softly snickered, God, these guys were so fucking batshit crazy. 'I'll be right at ya, gotta pick up some food first.' Adam replied. Together they walked over to the buffet, picked up some food (a salad for the former General Manager, steak with potatoes and peas for the party animal) and eventually settled down with the rosebuds. Some of the WWE personnel looked behind them with their eyebrow raised in curiosity. They had never seen Brad like this before, he was sitting at the rosebud's table like they had been friends forever. He had been acting so different lately... what was going on? But Brad and Adam knew better than that; undisturbed by the looks of them, they enjoyed their dinner along with the rosebuds. Brad didn't feel any disgust for the rosebuds anymore; it felt like they had been friends forever. Adam was glad to see Brad finally getting along with the rosebuds. Yup, the lemon was out of him alright.

After dinner, Adam and the rosebuds already wanted to go the 'The Exotic Express' to party all night long, but Brad didn't really feel like going right away. Halfway through their trip back to the hotel, he didn't feel really well, possibly a combination of traveling at late hours and attending backstage nearly every day. Right now the only thing he wanted to do want to lie down on his bed for a little bit and then come to the party afterwards. He hoped Adam would understand.

'Adam, hold on a moment.' he said when the party animal was about to leave the restaurant with the rosebuds, much to everyone's relief.

'What is it, my Braddy?' Adam answered when he took his lollipop out of his mouth. Apparently he thought a lollipop would make a good dessert after dinner.

'Would you mind if I come a little later? I want to lie down a bit, I don't feel really well.'

'Sure, I'll tell the rosebuds. Take your time.'

'I'll be there in half an hour, alright?'

'Sounds perfect. See you then, Braddy!' Adam playfully poked the tip of Brad's nose and gave him a sweet smile.

Brad smiled back and softly chuckled at this playful sign of endearment. 'See you there.'


The former General Manager was right; thirty minutes of lying down did him good.

It may have sounded a bit selfish, but it felt good to be alone for a while. The walls of his hotel bedroom were thick enough to isolate all the noise outside, which was perfect. The silence gave him the opportunity to get a good rest and now he was all better. Brad was looking forward to go to Adam's party, he was in the mood to have a good time with him and have a great night. Dating Adam has been such an amazing experience for him, it had truly opened his eyes. He was no longer interested into girls, he wasn't planning on dating a girl in the future. Right now Adam was the only man he would ever love. Brad had to thank Adam for showing him who he really was, he owed all of this recent happiness to him. It turned out Adam was a great boyfriend to him; he was kind, gentle and understanding, things he had never expected from him.

The thirty minutes had passed and Brad felt much better. It was time to get going; he didn't want to let Adam wait too long. He got up from his bed and took a look at himself in the mirror. His outfit was good enough to wear at the party, his hair was only a little bit shaggy from lying down. With his hand he quickly fixed his hair, grabbed the key of his hotel room and walked out the door.

Brad took his time while walking through the hotel, running was not needed. While he was walking he saw something that quite caught his eye. WWE wrestler Santino Marella and Diva Emma were in the hallway of the hotel, holding hands while walking towards the exit. So the rumors had been true after all... lately Brad had been hearing rumors of Santino and Emma being pretty close together, some wrestlers assumed they were having a relationship. Just before they exited the hotel, Brad witnessed Emma giving a kiss on Santino's cheek. Yup, it looked like the rumors were true. Hey, good for them, they were practically made for each other.

The former General Manager exited the hotel as well and headed straight towards the parking lot. And just like he expected, he heard loud rock music in the distance. He was surprised Adam or the rosebuds hadn't got deaf from the music yet, it would make every normal person's ears bleed. But somehow Brad guessed that if you had been partying for such a long time like they did, you would get used of the music being so loud. When Brad had exited 'The Exotic Express' along with Adam last time, there was a minor ringing noise in his ears. While getting closer to 'The Exotic Express', Brad started to look more and more forward to the night. He secretly hoped they would play a slow romantic song that night so he could have a gentle dance with Adam. The chance they would play a song like that was really minimal, but hey, there was still a chance, right? Having Adam's strong arms wrapped around his waist while slowly dancing to the music made Brad bite his lower lip in excitement, his cheeks colored red at the thought already...

Finally he had reached 'The Exotic Express', some of the rosebuds who were outside greeted him. Brad greeted them back and stepped into the bus. There were more rosebuds than last time inside, it was pretty damn crowded this time. Brad looked around, but he couldn't see Adam anywhere. Where could he be? Was he further in the back of the bus? Maybe it was that. The former General Manager made his way through the partying crowd, which was quite tough to do. The rosebuds were so busy partying they barely even noticed him. Step by step, Brad managed to get further and further while looking around for Adam. Then all of the sudden, on the right side of the bus, he saw the man he had loved so much...

Brad instantly froze.

His heart stopped beating.

He couldn't produce a single sound.

It was like the sound around him vanished away.

He didn't want to believe his eyes.

No...

This couldn't be...

This wasn't happening...

Yes, he found Adam. Leaning against the window, he had his arms wrapped around the waist of a girl with long blonde hair and wearing a nurse's outfit. They were sharing a deep kiss and apparently Adam wasn't noticing a single damn thing around him since he had his eyes closed. He was enjoying it... he was fucking enjoying it. Brad saw it all, but he couldn't do anything. His body felt like it was frozen, he couldn't move for one bit. All he could do was watching his boyfriend, his goddamn boyfriend, making out with a girl he had never seen before. It was like everything about his relationship with Adam shattered into tiny pieces, like a mirror being struck by a brick. Those sweet words, the gentle kisses, the happiness... it was all one big lie. One big illusion. Everything about this relationship was an illusion. Adam did mention he was bisexual, Brad didn't mind that, but this...

Adam broke the kiss with the girl. Much to Brad's horror, he saw him gently touching her cheek, like he did with him once. He was saying something to her, he didn't hear what he was saying because of the music... but it only increased the disbelief. The party animal must have heard something, because he was he looked up and looked into Brad's direction. Immediately upon seeing his boyfriend, Adam could feel his blood draining away from his face. His eyes widened with shock. His look was filled with sheer panic. 'Oh shit... Braddy!' he called out loud.

Emerald green met baby blue once more, but this time, it was completely different. When Brad's eyes met Adam's, he could feel the disbelief being replaced with a whole new emotion.

Hatred.

Pure hatred.

Filled with anger, Brad turned around and walked away. 'Braddy, wait!' the party animal exclaimed. But it was already too late. The former General Manager's heart was shattered into pieces, his trust in Adam was forever gone. The love he had was now replaced with hate. He practically shoved the rosebuds away from him, ignoring the offended remarks. Adam was dead to him, so they were dead to him as well. As soon as he got out of the bus, he power-walked away as quick as possible. He wanted to get away from it all; from Adam, the rosebuds, the partying, this entire fuck-up of a relationship, everything. Just then, he heard rapid footsteps behind him. A familiar voice called out his name, which made his blood boil even more.

'Braddy, please wait!'

Right after he was caught, Adam had pushed the girl away from him and went after Braddy. He didn't get panicked easily, but right now he was so panicked he could feel his heart pounding in his head. He wanted to explain everything, this wasn't what it looked like! When he saw Brad he ran as fast as he could.

Oh damn, this was going to be one hell of a heated conversation...

'Braddy, hold on, I-I can explain this!' Adam exclaimed when he finally reached the heartbroken man. Brad turned around. Adam nearly got scared when he saw the look in his eyes; they were burning with anger.

'Get the fuck away from me!' Brad yelled at the top of his lungs, making Adam cringe from the inside. 'You fucking bastard, how could you do this to me?!'

'Braddy, listen, I can explain this, this is not what it looks like!'

'No, I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear a single damn word out of your filthy lying mouth of yours, Adam!'

'Listen to me, please!'

'Fuck you! You fucking scumbag! Making me believe we had something together... How could I have been so damn stupid to fall for a slut like you!'

Hearing that word broke Adam's heart. He wouldn't care if a stranger would call him a slut, but hearing that from the man he loved... it hurt. A lot. He grabbed Brad's shoulders, he started to become desperate. 'Please don't say that, Braddy! I'm not...'

When he felt Adam's touches on his shoulders, a thick red mist clouded Brad's sight. He clenched his fist and punched Adam in the face as hard as he could. He could feel the skin on his knuckles burst on the impact, but he was so angry he didn't even feel the pain. The party animal fell down on the ground; his lower lip had ripped open from the punch, resulting a trickle of blood trickling down his chin. Lying on the ground, he didn't know what hurt the most; the words or the busted lip. Holding his hand in front of his mouth, he stared at Brad in disbelief. The General Manager's eyes burned into his soul.

'We are done, Adam.' he spoke calmly, yet there was still a hint of anger in his voice. 'You and I, we are through. Got it? I never want to see you again.' He turned around, ready to walk away. 'You filthy slut...' Brad walked away, not even bothering to look behind him.

Adam was left all alone on the parking lot, lying on the ground, the blood of his lip dripping on the ground... and his heart shattered into millions of pieces.

'Braddy... no...'