A/N And here's the next already. For the moment no more Mike (yeah I'm sorry too, but he will be back), but a lot of Cody and a little bit of Jack and most of all, loads and loads of drama. I loved writing the last chapter; it was so much fun, so I'm so excited that you guys thought it was funny too. I try to bring back more fun later on.
Thank you lknight91, kristi, Legacychick and Volcomstonebabe, YouCantSeeMe.x, miamitravel and GreyLionDiva for the reviews of the last chapter. And most of all thanks to my beta-reader chaingangprincess, without you this story wouldn't be half as good.
I hope to update soon again, but I have so much to rewrite and so little time to do it (I hate work: why can't they just let me write in piece) and there are my other stories which need attention (especially Another World (Randy/OC), please read it and let me know what you think. I think Play the Game is rubbish myself, so I think I will remove it soon and just keep writing it for my own pleasure -it's where I put all my Nick Nemeth fantasies, yummie, I love him - without the pressure to make it any good). Ok enough blabbering... It's obvious time to go to sleep now.
Anyway, read, enjoy and afterwards I would appreciate reviews again.
Chapter 7 First Class
Julia
Hanging with Jack had major advantages. With his smile and attitude he managed to get the two of us into first class for the long flight to Sydney for the yearly Australia tour. The rest of the crew, divas and superstars flew coach or business class. We stood to board the plane before any of the others, and as we did, the hair on the back of my neck began to stand on end, and without even looking, I could feel that Jack and I were being watched. While our tickets were being processed, I took a quick peak around Jack's huge frame, and was surprised that it was two pairs of gorgeous blue eyes that were watching us, not just one. The first pair I noticed looked so upset that I had to force myself to look away. I couldn't stand seeing such a depressed look on his face. The second pair, on the other hand, made me smile. Mike's amused gaze stared back at me, and I could have sworn I saw a sparkle of something. Whatever it was, it sent a shiver down my spine...
A few minutes later, when we were comfortably sitting in our luxurious seats, strapped in for takeoff, Jack leaned towards me, a flirtatious look in his eyes, his trademark smile on his face.
"So Julia, a kiss would be an appropriate reward for this fine accomplishment."
I looked at him with fake disgust. "If you think I would ever kiss a hairy, oversized barbarian like you, you are wrong. Don't you ever shave?" I traced my hand over the stubbles on his face.
He just laughed. "You forgot insanely handsome, impossible strong and smart as hell." Wow, could this man be any cockier? I rolled my eyes at him.
"Come on girl. Everybody thinks we're doing it. Why not give it a try? It's going to be worth it, I promise."
I frowned, finding it hard now to work out if he was being serious or not. Did everyone really think he and I were having sex? Although, when he was acting like this, I couldn't help but wonder why I wasn't... this arrogant Jack was extremely attractive.
"Don't you want to be a member of the mile high club?"
I just smiled. I already was. It was a little souvenir from my fling with Dolph Ziggler, but I wasn't going to let Jack into that secret. Anyway, if it wasn't that I didn't want Jack to mess with my already crazy life right now, I would have given into him without any bribes.
Loving Cody and having a crush on Mike all of a sudden were enough to keep my mind and heart busy. I still couldn't get Cody's saddened gaze from my mind. Why did Cody have to act like this, just when I was thinking about moving on? I felt defeated and confused.
"Hey what's wrong?" Jack said, sensing my mood. "Not still hung up on Mr. Rhodes?" He frowned, seeing the look in my eyes, "I see," He was quiet for a while. The second the seatbelt signs went off, he left without saying a word, leaving me behind, lost in my own thoughts.
Cody
I didn't think I would even be the same again. I never had any patience for people feeling depressed. I always thought they just had to pull themselves together, stop whining and move on with their lives. But now I knew how it felt to hate yourself, to feel like you'll never be happy again, to know deep down that you're a really bad person. For the past six months I felt like I was empty inside, filled only by a black cloud of despair. I lived my life in a daze. I couldn't enjoy the things I had loved before. My performances in the ring were bleak; I could barely pull anything off anymore. If Randy, Ted and my father hadn't vowed for me, I would probably have been fired already. I couldn't care less. I didn't care about anything anymore. Nothing except for Julia, anyway.
I had closed myself away from most people, trying to act like the person I had been before. That's where the cocky attitude came in handy. Well, it was good for people who didn't know me so well. They expected that from me all the time... but as for the ones who were close to me, it didn't fool them at all. Ted didn't even ask. He had never been much of a talker. He hung close to me, though. He had meant it literally when he had said that he'd have my back from now on. I appreciated this, I didn't want to talk, but it felt good to have my best friend at my side, knowing that he would listen to me the moment I finally decided to open up.
Randy did try to talk to me; he tried it the nice way and he tried to bully it out off me, but I just told him to fuck off. The asshole then asked my brother to talk to me, and later even my father. I could easily tell Dustin to fuck off as well, but that didn't work with my father. I couldn't tell him the truth; my father would not understand how I could feel like this over a girl. He wouldn't understand the bigger problem either. It wasn't just about Julia anymore; it was about me being a bad man, a man who didn't deserve to be happy, a man the world would have been better off without.
I had wanted to talk to Julia. She kept trying for months... but I just couldn't have her that close. I wanted to protect her from me, and I wanted to protect myself. I couldn't be just friends with her, I needed to be with her, but that would be egocentric. So I decided that she needed space to get away from me. A better man would've been happy now she was doing just that, getting it on with Jack... or was it Mike now? After seeing her flirt with that jack-ass this morning, I wasn't so sure. Either way, I wasn't happy, like I should be. The only thing I could feel was jealousy.
For me, this just proved how much of a jerk I was. I still felt ashamed about how I gave her permission to be with Jack; like I had anything to say in the matter, like she would really care about what I thought. I could see that she pitied me. Ted told me that wasn't true, that she was worried about me, but I had asked him to stay out of this. And then I overheard some of her conversation with Randy this morning, and I was even more confused and jealous than before. I had thought that Jack and Mike were friends, so I couldn't understand why Mike was trying to steal Julia away from Jack. I could only hope that Jack would win that battle. I didn't think I would be able to live in a world in which my girl - I still thought about her like that - would hook up with a clown like Mike.
I was pondering over this while boarding the airplane to Sydney. It was typical that Jack was the only one to get first class. I couldn't keep from staring at him and the red-headed beauty -my red-headed beauty - as they stood and made their way over to board. I tried to forget about everything once I was finally on the plane myself... thankfully, over the past few months, I'd become pretty good at keeping my mind blank. Now that I was no longer thinking of Julia, or Jack, or Mike, and realising that I was going to have nothing to do for the next fourteen hours that the plane was going to be in the air, I quickly fell asleep.
I woke up shortly after, startled by a nudge from Ted. When I opened my eyes I saw Jack glaring at me.
"I'm so sick of you two whining about each other. Now go up there before I change my mind again. I can't believe I'm actually giving away a very comfortable seat for an idiot like you. I would have brought her over here, but I don't think the flight attendants will find it funny when I carry a screaming woman through the plane."
I didn't really understand what was going on, so I just stared at him.
"Come on Cody, how thick can you be? Go get that girl, or I swear, I will carry you over there myself."
Slowly I understood what he was talking about. I frowned at him, wondering why he was even doing this. Weren't he and Julia together, kind of? Not knowing what else to do, I shrugged my shoulders, before pulling myself up from the seat. I cringed as I noticed the audience we had from the other passengers, and decided on a quick reply.
"Thanks man, I think," I sighed quietly, before I picked up my feet and made myself down the plane towards the first class seats, feeling nothing but insecure the entire way.
Julia
"Hey," he said, "Err, Can I sit down?"
I opened my eyes and looked at him with a bewildered expression in my eyes. "Sure, but how…? Why…?"
"Jack forced me," he must have realised how stupid he sounded, because his eyes grew wide and he quickly added some more before I had chance to speak, "But I'm glad he did. This is much more comfortable." He stretched his long legs out in front of him as he took the seat, trying to make a joke to break the tension.
He failed miserably. I actually trembled from the tension between us. He clearly took this the wrong way, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'll go now." He stood up quickly, but before he could disappear, I took his hand.
"You could never scare me, Codes." He sat down again, softly caressing the palm of my hand with his thumb. He failed to look me in the eyes.
"I don't understand," His voice barely more than a whisper, "Did you break up with Jack?"
I sighed. "There is nothing going on between me and Jack. There never was and there never will be." I was glad he didn't mention Mike. I wouldn't have know what to say then.
He looked at me then, still not believing what I was telling him. "But everybody said, Mike told me…"
"When did you start listening to anything Mike says, Cody?" I shook my head, trying to get my mind around what was happening right now. I desperately needed to know what Cody was doing here. And even more I wanted to know how much of my conversation with Randy he had overheard. I hoped he hadn't heard me shout about him and I really hoped he hadn't heard me talking about Mike. Though if he had, wouldn't he have mentioned Mike instead of Jack?
One thing was for sure, I was going to be having words with Mike later on. I could have killed him for what he had done; he knew very well what the situation was between me and Jack. Although I guess, what Mike and I had was a completely different story, I'd even admitted that to Randy... but now, with Cody sat beside me, holding my hand; everything I felt for Mike disappeared from my mind completely.
"But Jack, he is…"
I interrupted him, "If you want me to be with him, tell me now. He just proposed introducing me to the mile high club. I can always take his offer." I'll be the first to admit that my ability to joke was a bit impaired as well.
He grabbed my hand tight, "No, don't."
We were silent for a while, still holding hands. I was just about to speak up when an unfamiliar voice burst our silent bubble.
"Cody Rhodes! It's really you. Can I please have your autograph?" I almost laughed out loud, seeing what was clearly a businessman in a very expensive suit beaming at Cody. "It's for my kids," He added, "Is Randy Orton on the plane too by any chance? My wife would love his picture."
Cody signed the autographs, let me take a picture of the man and him and just pointed to the business class, "You will find everyone you like down there, just don't tell them you got that from me." The man nodded a thank you, and began to walk over, but Cody shouted after him with an afterthought, "Do me one favor, mate. Pretend you don't recognize the Miz."
We looked at each other smiling, some of the tension gone now.
"How are you really doing Cody? You've been avoiding me."
He looked away, but I laid my hand against his cheek, turning his face back towards me. I didn't want to give him the chance to get away again.
"I'm fine." He clearly lied.
"You don't look fine." I was getting angry now.
"It's none of your business." He said that between clenched teeth. That stung, if he didn't want to talk, what was he doing here? I let go of his face and turned away, not wanting him to see the tears in my eyes.
"Julia," his voice was soft now, "It's for your own good. You're better off not caring about me. I'm no good. I hurt you before. I don't want to do that again." It was his turn to cup my face, turning my face towards him. I could see from the pain in his eyes that he'd let all his guards down now. This was all because of my stupid mouth. He had heard me before, and now he was punishing himself because I had said I couldn't move on.
"Do you really think that Cody? That you're a bad guy?"
He only nodded. I couldn't bear to believe what he was saying. I cried about this, tears streaming down my face.
There were tears in his eyes now too. "Please don't cry. I can't bear to see you like this. I never meant to hurt you. I only want you to be happy."
I reached for his hand. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts me to see you like this Cody? I know you're hurting like hell, but you won't let me in. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, but please talk to someone. Talk to Ted, talk to Randy." I was pleading with him now. "I thought we were supposed to be friends?"
I hoped we could be a hell of a lot more than friends, but I was too afraid to admit this. If he turned me down, I didn't want this to happen in an plane. I wanted it to happen somewhere that I could cry my eyes out afterwards.
I was suddenly aware again that a plane wasn't exactly the right place for this discussion, either. Jack was a moron. He could have conspired his little plan to get us together somewhere a little more private. Then again, he probably thought we would just kiss, make up, and that would be it. If it were only that simple.
"I don't think I can be friends with you." He sounded harsh, seemingly having taken my silence to collect himself. He put his walls back up. I was sure that he was going to reject me right now.
"Then what the hell are you doing here?" I was not going to let him get away that easy. "Why do you have to torture me like this?" I wiped my tears away, glaring at him.
"I'm a jerk, remember."
I surprised myself, not just Cody, when I slapped him in the face. "I never want to hear you say that about yourself again Cody," I hissed at him, my hands half way between him and me, wondering what I should do, "You might act like a jerk, but I know you're not, so just drop the act and tell me what you want from me."
"You are really going to force this out of me, aren't you? Look who's torturing who now? You are the one that is hurting me just by existing." I was not the only one who was angry now. "I can't even stand to look at you." Ouch again. "I wish I never met you."
I didn't really understand where any of this was coming from. Before I could think of a way to respond, or to even think... his lips came crashing down against my own.
It was a desperate kiss, deep and longing, both of us clinging to the other. It was a completely different kiss than the last one we had shared, but this was a completely different Cody. For a moment I forgot about everything. I was at the one place I wanted to be, the only place I ever belonged... I was in his arms.
A second later, and it was all over. He slowly pushed me away. "I'm sorry Julia; I didn't mean to throw myself at you. I didn't want to make things more difficult for you," He looked devastated as he closed his eyes, and began to say his next words. "I love you, Julia, so much... but I can never be with you." And with those words left to linger, he walked away.
"I love you too Cody." I whispered. He didn't hear me, he was already too far away.
Cody
I couldn't bring myself to go back to my original seat. I couldn't face Jack, or anyone else for that matter, after what I had just done. I still couldn't get my head around it. After everything, after working so hard to stay away from her for the last six months... I'd just gone and put myself back in square one. Actually, it was even worse this time. Not only had I sprang the fact that I loved her on her, but I'd also told her that I couldn't be with her, either. God, I was so stupid. My heart felt like it had been torn from my chest at the thought of it all.
I wanted to blame Jack. I wanted to storm over to where he was sat and beat the living hell out of him, to scream at him about how this was all his fault. If he hadn't had thrown us together like this, then I would have still been asleep...
But it wasn't Jack's fault. I should have had a little more self control. I knew what would happen, yet I still allowed myself to go and talk to her.
I shook my head back and forth, realising for the first time that I just couldn't do this anymore. I wasn't strong enough to be around her, not when I felt so strongly, yet I could do nothing about it. There was only one option that I had that I could think of right now... and that was asking Vince to allow me to move to Smackdown. I knew it'd do nothing for my career, especially when I'd have to leave behind Legacy... but I just didn't care anymore. I had no desire to follow my lifelong dream now. All I wanted was for Julia to be happy... and there was no way that was going to happen while I was there. She'd even said that herself.
It took another ten minutes for me to pull myself together enough to make my way back to my seat. Or so I had thought. The second I laid eyes on Jack and Ted, I could feel tears brimming my eyes. I hadn't felt this emotional before in my life...
"How did it go?" Jack asked hopefully.
"Mission failed," I shook my head, barely being able to get any words out before my emotions got the better of me. I felt Ted's hand clasp a hold of my shoulder in comfort as I crumpled down beside him and cried.
