Many apologies from both of us! We both spent most of February with writer's block, and we're just now getting back into the swing of things. We're getting very close to the main plot, so tell your friends!
The episode of RAW for the next week had not started filming yet, so most of the roster was backstage hanging around and waiting for the show to start. As usual, the group of the Hardy siblings, Mary, Ted, Cody, AJ, and Kaitlyn was all gathered in the Hardys' locker room while they waited for the show to start. News had reached them that Mary would have to take a week off since the injury of hers got tweaked again.
"At least it wasn't something too serious. By this time next week, you'll be back in the ring," AJ frowned sympathetically at her friend, patting the older woman's shoulder.
"I know, but this week is going to feel like it's dragging on forever. First, I get to sit through RAW, and then there's SmackDown tapings tomorrow. The only good thing is that I'll have you guys here to help pass the time," Mary pouted, leaning back against the wall.
"Would it be a bad thing if I mentioned that tonight you get the pleasure of seeing Alex and Cody together in action again tonight?" AJ smirking, knowing what her friend's reaction would be.
Sitting up quickly, Mary looked over to AJ, her pale blue eyes lit up brightly, "and when, may I ask, did this match come to be? This is the first I'm hearing of it."
"Really? I thought you would've at least heard something about it from Ted. Trips got in touch with Alex and Cody and let them know that they were having a mixed tag match with each other tonight. I'm not really sure if he knows that they're together, but he said that they're in action against Alicia and Justin tonight. Oh, and they also have to do a segment with each other," AJ explained.
"I'd say that it makes me upset that I'm the last one to know, but I'm okay with this. At least now this is going to be the thing to get rid of the whole 'Cody and Alex are rivals' thing that seems to happen with them a lot. Now I don't feel so bad about being sidelined," Mary grinned widely, clapping enthusiastically.
AJ laughed, nodding, "figures it'd take something like seeing those two together on-screen to take your mind off of not being able to compete."
Mary shrugged, "what can I say? I'm a sucker for cute stuff."
Hearing the two talk about the coming match, Matt, Jeff, and Ted made their way into the locker room just in time to hear Mary finish her sentence.
"So when you say that you're a sucker for cute stuff, do I fall into that area?" Ted laughed.
"Do I even need to answer that question, Teddy Bear?" Mary said, smirking.
"I suppose not. You two haven't been too terribly bored while we were gone, were you?" Ted took a seat beside Mary.
"Not really. AJ's just been doing her job as a good friend and telling me about Codes and Alex's match tonight. Which, by the way, I must thank you for telling me about," Mary playfully shoved Ted.
"I figured it'd be funny for you to see everything unfold between those two as the rest of the world will. After all, if I did tell you, you might've found some way to tease him about it," Ted pointed out matter-of-factly.
"I so would not have," Mary gasped with a playful pout. "At the very least, I would've been good and waited to see how those two were going to have things play out. Speaking of, where are those two?" she looked around with a pout.
"We got caught by one of the stage hands saying that it was almost time for their segment to start, so we left them where they had to have it recorded. And, I have to say this, they both looked more than ready to get it done," Jeff stated plainly with a shrug.
"You mean to tell me that the two awkward ones were ready to do a segment together? That's so great to hear," Mary giggled.
"Now all we have to do is sit back and watch things unfurl," Matt said as he and Jeff sat down.
…
"So, no hard feelings about all of the times that I've beaten you in matches, right?" Alex looked up to the object of her affection with innocent eyes.
"Of course not. No point in trying to let stuff in the past mess up our focus for tonight," Cody nodded with his cocky grin.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Alex nodded, "that's a relief. Now, all we have to do is see if our newly formed trust in each other will carry us through our match."
"It will. Just don't try to pull any tricks out there and things will be fine," Cody smiled at her.
"I'll do my best not to," Alex grinned evilly, ending the recording of their segment. "I'd say that went pretty well. We didn't mess up or forget anything."
"Alex, we've been doing this for the better part of a few years. It's a bit safe to say that we don't really have to worry about making that many mistakes," Cody smiled warmly, bringing an arm around her shoulders.
"Still, we're all only human, Codes. It's only natural that we have a few slip-ups sometimes. I know for a fact that it tends to happen with Jeff a lot," Alex shrugged, blushing.
"And I guess I could say that Dustin's had his fair share of minor slips, but it's nothing that ever really got to him," Cody nodded with a smile.
"See? I told that it happens with everyone. Even a lot of the greats have had off days once in a while," Alex stated with a bit of panic still in her voice.
The two went back and forth like this for a few more minutes until it was time for them to make their way to the gorilla position. When they made it there, they already found Justin and Alicia waiting to make their entrances.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the WWE's latest happy couple," Justin looked to the twosome approaching them with a playful smile.
"I still find it amazing that no one seems to think that this a relationship like ours is weird in the slightest. I mean, usually people tend to have something to say about people dating other people older than them by a few years," Alex said with a hint of awkwardness in her voice.
"It's all because of the fact that there's nothing apparently wrong with you two being together. Plus, there's the added fact that you can take most of the guys that'd have anything to say otherwise," Justin said in full support of the girl he was addressing.
Alex, blushed, looking down, "don't remind me. I mean I know that I'm not freakishly strong, but it still freaks a lot of guys out that I know a lot of different technical moves."
"That's because you get it from watching Matt and Jeff always having their own matches on trampolines. And from what Matt would tell me when he was my mentor on NXT, you took to training very well," Justin said reassuringly.
"You're right. I mean, after all, the only people I was ever really able to train with were guys, so that's why I feel so much at ease competing against the guys. Which I hope you don't take as me trying to sound mean, Alicia," Alex bit her lip.
"It's alright, Alex. You seem to be forgetting that I've been in the ring with you and Mary before, so I've been looking forward to another chance to go up against you tonight ever since Paul told me about the match," Alicia smiled brightly.
"Same here. I've never had the chance to see a match of yours where you competed against some of the Divas, so this will definitely be a treat," Justin added.
"Well, since it seems like I've got some expectations to live up to, I'll make sure to give you both an awesome match," Alex said as Cody threw an arm around her shoulders.
…
The group back in the locker room watched on as the mixed tag match in the ring unfolded. It was a change from seeing Alex compete against the men, so it was a welcome change for Matt and Jeff. Even Mary was enjoying seeing two of her closest friends in action together.
"I know that I've only seen them in action together once, but this match is pretty awesome," Mary mused with a soft sigh.
"I should've had a feeling you would've been enjoying this, Mare. After all, it's not every day you see two former enemies make up and then team together so well in a tag team match,'' Ted smiled at his girlfriend.
"Not to mention, it's a mixed gender pair that made up so quickly," Mary grinned at Ted.
As the match came to its end, Alex was able to execute a moonsault to Alicia and got the pin, securing the win for her and Cody. After the match, the four shook hands and raised each others' arms in celebration. Once they got their post-match celebrations done with, the group of four left the ring and headed backstage.
"That was a pretty good match we had tonight," Justin said.
"I'm actually just amazed that we were able to get a good amount of Divas time put into the match. And judging from what I was hearing, the crowd was really into it too," Alex smiled.
"That's a sign that we went out there and gave them all a good match," Cody nodded.
"And that's just what we love to do with each and every passing week," Alicia grinned, very proud of what she accomplished, despite her loss.
Soon the four split of and headed their own ways, with each pair headed in a different direction. Alex and Cody were almost back to the locker room when Alex collided with someone who was walking in her path.
"Oww! I think I just hurt my head on someone's back," Alex rubbed her forehead.
Turning around to see who bumped into him, Alex and Cody saw that it was Brad Maddox. Looking to see who it was, Brad immediately donned a nasty sneer. "For the love of all that breathes! You've got four eyes, Hardy. Can't you see out of any of them?" Brad asked in an irritated tone.
"I was watching where I was going. You were the one that was standing in the middle of the hallway," Alex said in her defense.
"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you walked into a WWE official. Now I demand that you apologize and that you do so now," Brad glared at the prodigy Superstar.
Looking up to Cody with a look that said 'Is he serious?', Alex almost opened her mouth to give him a smart aleck type comment. However, she immediately thought better of it and apologized, "I'm so terribly sorry that I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. I promise that in the future I'll do my best to keep my eyes on my surroundings."
"That's better. Now, if you two would kindly excuse me, I've got a match to call. Make sure you don't forget our little discussion just now," Brad said before headed for the ring.
Once Brad was gone, Alex groaned, "and that is yet another reason why I always have my sketchbook with me."
"What would having Brad Maddox around have to do with you needing to keep your sketchbook with you?" Cody raised an eyebrow.
"Well, to explain it this way, Brad is a troll. Trolls are bad and evil. So to help me ignore and get past trolls, I pour my frustrations into my drawings. I remember it was one time that Vince pulled an ultimate trolling on me by making me wear typical Diva ring attire for a few of my matches, and before I knew it, I had drawn enough pictures to fill up a few sketchbooks," Alex sighed, rubbing the back of her head.
"Now that sounds like it was one hell of a stress reliever," Cody grinned.
"I picked it up from Jeff. I always saw him drawing and working on pictures, and that output only seemed to increase when he was angry about something. So, I decided to take that as a stress release tactic of my own. And it hasn't failed me yet," Alex said as they reached their locker room.
"Well, maybe you could show me some of the stuff you've drawn. Just try not to work your hands too much if you decide to have a bout of stress release," Cody said playfully.
"I'll do my best not to," Alex nodded, not quite getting Cody's joke and kissed him on the cheek and opening the door.
…
The others had been sitting in the locker room, waiting for Alex and Cody to come back from their match.
"They should be here by now. I wonder what's keeping them," Jeff said as he paced around in circles.
"They probably just got held up talking to Justin and Alicia. It's really nothing to worry about Jeff," Kaitlyn suggested with a shrug.
"Kait's right Jeff. After all, what do you think could possibly happen from here to the ring and back?" Matt said, trying to calm down his younger brother.
Jeff almost opened his mouth to say something in response when the door swung open and Alex and Cody walked inside.
"Sorry we're a little late getting back guys. We had a minor run-in with an unfriendly force," Alex bit her lip.
"Was this force either Titus O'Neil or Darren Young?" Mary asked in a hopeful tone.
"No. It was packaged in the form of everyone's favorite new headache, Brad Maddox. I walked into him by accident and he made me apologize for an accident that was caused by his carelessness," Alex frowned.
"Well, what exactly happened between you two?" Jeff asked.
"Cody and I were headed back here after we parted ways with Alicia and Justin, and the next thing I know, I just walk into him. Then he's telling me to apologize for it, and instead of giving him a healthy dose of my delightful smart aleckness, I just gave him an apology. And I must say, I'm still a little irked about it," Alex walked across the room to get her stuff out so that she could take a shower.
"Why it was they brought him up to be a referee, I'll never know. I think he only likes being in that position just so that he can be as much of a smartass that he wants and get away with it all," Mary shook her head in disgust.
"That's still no reason for us to pick up the Brad watch. It was probably just a one-time incident and I'm sure it won't happen again," AJ said in attempts to calm Mary down.
"I hope so. Last thing I want to have to deal with is a smartass that I can't fight," Mary said listlessly. There was something on Mary's mind that she wasn't quite ready to tell her friends yet. She just knew that she felt there may be a reason to address it before something happened. However, she would wait until the time was right.