"Ari? Hey, are you listening?"
Liz shook my shoulder and I jumped. She was saying something about making plans to come to the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view in two weeks since it'd be sealing John's Nexus fate and she hadn't been to a live event outside of the Florida area in a while. I'd been lost in thoughts, it'd been barely a month since I'd become a cog in the Nexus machine and things were worse than ever. Paul and I had fought to the point that Stephanie McMahon-Levesque had threatened us with serious repercussions if it happened again. The whole thing made me a bundle of knots and nerves, unable to unwind.
"What's up with you, Spacey Stacy?" Liz laughed. "Are you alright?"
I tucked my feet under myself on the couch, shaking my head. "No. Far from it."
"And you've been keeping this from me because...?" Liz said.
"I don't mean to," I said, digging the heels of my hands into my eyes. "I've just been so... raw and screwed up lately. I can't even begin to explain how fucked up things are right now."
"It's not like you have to speak in full sentences with me, Ari," Liz said gently, patting my knee. "Just let it flow. However it comes out."
I took a deep breath, recalling for Liz the parts of the story I couldn't remember having discussed with her before. The confrontation I'd had with Paul when I told him about kissing Randy. When he kicked me out of our room, and the scene that happened after at the arena. The stress that had been building up of being in the same group with Paul and six other men I didn't particularly get along with and having little or no reprieve from it all.
"It all just fucking sucks," I grumbled, pulling my knees up to my chest. "And it's also why I'm here hanging out with you and John and not at my house because I can't stand to be around Paul right now. I don't want to be in that house with him."
"But it's your house, Arianne," Liz said. "You deserve to be there, too. And trust me I have no problem with you staying here. I love that you're here, because I miss your beautiful face, but I don't like that it's because you feel like you can't go home. I know that's not entirely it, but it's unfair to you that he's essentially, pushed you out of our own house."
"It's our house. I think that's the biggest mistake I've made. Buying that house with him," I sighed. "After six months? What's wrong with me, Liz?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, Arianne," She said. "You guys were in love, you didn't think something like this would happen. Did you rush into such a big decision like buying a home together? Yes. I wouldn't lie to you, kiddo. But you're young, my goodness you were hardly twenty when you guys did that."
"Yeah, I guess that wasn't the best decision to make, was it?" I said softly.
"Well you're not a psychic, Ari-girl. You could never have predicted things would end this way," Liz said. "It's unfortunate, of course because no one wants to see a relationship they've put so much work into just fall apart. I mean... you two are broken up, at this point, right?"
"As far as I'm concerned, yes." I said.
"Does he know that?" Liz asked.
"I can't imagine he'd think we were still together," I said, tucking hair behind my ear. "I think it was pretty clear that we were finished as a couple the other week with that whole debacle at the arena."
"Were the words expressly said? I mean, you never know, Arianne. Sometimes you have to really lay these things out for some guys or they make assumptions and look like assholes saying they're still with a girl who doesn't want shit to do with them anymore," Liz said. "Sometimes you have to tell them it's over or they live in this fantasy world where they can just keep apologizing and thinking they've made everything okay."
"Liz, I haven't even talked to Paul since it all happened. I'm never around him unless it's work related. Either I keep to myself or I'm with John or Randy." I said.
"But sometimes, Ari, communication when ending a relationship is just as important as it is within the relationship." Liz said, then a small smile broke out across her lips. "Speaking of Randy. How are things on that front?"
I smiled. "Randy has been great. He's super supportive and has been really sweet throughout this whole disaster. He actually offered for me to come and stay with him for these couple days off since he knew I wasn't going to my house. But I wanted to see you so I told him maybe next time."
Liz chuckled. "He wants you so bad he's not even trying to hide it anymore."
"What are you talking about?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Think about it, Ari. Has he been any different at all since that one incident when he kissed you? He's observant enough to tell that this relationship is over and he's slowly trying to make it evident that he's making a play for Arianne's new boyfriend." Liz said, laughing.
"I don't think he wants to be my new boyfriend," I shook my head. "He's just being Randy. He's always been nicer to me than just about everyone else..."
"That's cos he wants to penetrate you," Liz blurted and I couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, Arianne! I know you're young but you're not that goddamn naive! If I'm being a little less crude, he fucking loves you, kid! He loves you and he wants to show you what it's like to have a man who treats you right. Randy is John's best friend, and out of respect for him and you, and because John threatened some serious bodily harm to him a few years back if the touched you, he never came straight out and said it. But he really does have feelings for you."
"How come I'm the only one that doesn't know about this?" I pouted.
"Because you had a boyfriend. He wasn't trying to be some woman-stealing douchebag," Liz shrugged. "He shook that playboy thing and how would it look if he just snatched you out from under some other guy's arm? It'd look really bad on his part and yours. So he respected the fact that you were in a relationship. He didn't like it, but he respected it. He knew that there were boundaries and that bad to be set and he wasn't trying to cross them but he's liked you for a long time."
"I still just can't believe that I'm the type of girl Randy would go for," I shook my head. "It just doesn't make sense..."
"Does it have to? The man is interested in you and I know you're interested in him," Liz said, staring at me pointedly. "Plus once you sort everything out with Paul, you're a free woman. What's the harm in finally giving it a try. At least your brother won't have anything to say about it now."
I sighed. There was no reason that I couldn't give things with Randy a try once I made it clear to Paul that we were done. That, however, was the pressing issue. Getting a moment alone to have a conversation with him about the fact that I didn't want to be with him anymore. I could go home, tell him it was over, pack my things and go back to John's house.
"...Do you want to take me home for a few minutes? I think I need to settle this." I said.
Liz smiled and nodded. I stood up and slid my boots on. Liz grabbed her keys and we headed out the door. My house wasn't far from where John and Liz lived and when we pulled up, Paul's car wasn't in the driveway. I cursed as I got out of the car, heading to the house and unlocking the door. I waved Liz in, heading upstairs to the bedroom and tossed open the door to the closet. Most of my luggage was already at John's house, filled with my newly clean clothes from the road. I pulled another suitcase out of the closet and tossed it onto the bed.
"Want some help?" Liz asked.
"Sure," I called from the closet. "Open drawers and toss in whatever's mine. Doesn't matter if it fits or not. I'll sort it out when I get back to your place."
Fifteen minutes later, Liz and I filled the suitcase and Paul still hadn't returned. Resigned to the fact that I'd have to postpone this yet another day, I drug the suitcase downstairs and shoved it in the trunk of Liz's car. I checked the rest of the house for anything that I needed and we headed out. John was pulling in at the house at the same time that he returned and looked curiously at me when I started hauling an extra suitcase out of the trunk.
"What's going on here?" John asked.
"I went home to get some stuff," I said as John grabbed the suitcase from me. "The original intent was to make things very clear with Paul that he and I were no longer together but he's not home. So I'm stuck waiting for him yet again. I don't want to do this anymore. I just want this to be over so that I can move on with my life. There's other avenues for me to explore."
John nodded as we headed into the house. I ran my suitcase upstairs, leaving it in the guest room where I was staying. When he came back, Liz and I had reclaimed our spots on the couch. John sat down next to Liz, throwing his arm around her. I sighed, pulling my knees up to my chest again, wrapping my arms around my legs.
"I don't know what to do about the house," I said quietly. "I don't want anything from him other than for us to not have to be in contact with each other except for work. I just want some peace in my life right now."
"You could just sell the house," Liz said. "Sell it, split it down the middle or whatever."
"Now I've gotta find another place to live," I sighed heavily. "I can't believe this is seriously happening."
"You know you can stay here as long as you need to." John said.
I nodded. "I know... it's just strange, when you get so used to having your own place, ya know? I didn't think that this would... I guess I should have..."
"Ari, stop. There's no possible way you could have seen this coming," Liz said, reaching over and grabbing my hand. "Sometimes things just go down. Sometimes it doesn't always end up the way you imagine. But you can't beat yourself up for it. You just can't. You'll make yourself so miserable and neither me or John could stand to see you like that. So you're ending a chapter of your life. But I think the new one that's opening in front of you sounds like it's about to start off pretty damn good."
I looked up and Liz was smiling knowingly at me. John had a 'what the hell are you talking about' sort of expression on his face. I rolled my eyes at her.
"I don't think I should even be worrying about that right now, Elizabeth." I laughed.
"What's to worry about? It's right there in front of you!" She giggled.
"Um, what the hell are you two taking about?" John asked.
"I think Arianne and Randy need to get together. He wants her, she wants him, it's all laid out right in front of them. They obviously already have a good relationship, chemistry, tension I'd imagine..." John groaned and Liz elbowed him in the ribs. "Plus look at those two. They'd be so cute together. And it's sorta been a few years in the making, hasn't it?"
"If you count us crushing on each other at separate times from afar." I muttered.
"The technical stuff doesn't matter," Liz waved a hand, still smiling. "I just want you to do whatever makes you happy. Whatever that is. Whether it's being with someone like Randy, or it's being by yourself for a while."
John nodded his agreement. "Exactly. You don't have to got straight into another relationship, Ari-kid. He's gonna be there for you. Hell he's waited this long."
"Okay seriously, why am I only just finding out about all this with Randy? You guys never thought it was a good idea to tell me this stuff," I said, pouting. "There's no promising we would have actually got together but this coulda saved me a whole big pain in the ass."
"Well John was trippin' on you dating a dude like Randy back in the day..." Liz started.
"She was fourteen, Liz!" John blurted.
"That's not what I mean, dummy. When she was like eighteen and you were still freaking out about it. When he told you he was down for her and she was totally of age," Liz said calmly. "You still told him not to even think about it. And this was before she got together with Paul."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Look, as much as I would love to sit here and listen to you guys dissect my love life. I really need to sort out where I'm gonna live once this house sells... maybe I should head back up north, move back to Massachusetts or something."
"Do you really wanna move back home?" John asked.
"Hell no! I didn't say I was moving back home. Maybe Boston or something," I said, shaking my head. "I love our family and all but no way in hell I'm moving back to West Newbury."
"You can't move back to Boston, Ari! I'll never see you!" Liz said, frowning. "Tampa is a big city. You could stay in the area."
"She's right, kid. Don't let him push you out of this city," John said. "I know you like it here, and I know you'd rather eat your shoes than move back to Massachusetts. We'll help you look for places around here. On the other side of town if you want... as long as you're still close enough to us."
"Oh John stop," Liz laughed. "She's a grown woman. If she doesn't want to practically live next door to her brother it's okay. She's still gonna be in the same city, it's not like you can't drive your lazy ass over and see her."
"Yeah, Johnny, you're just gonna have to come and see me," I smiled. "And it's not like I won't come here. I'll just find an apartment or something."
"We'll help you look, Ari-kid," John said. "I'm sorry this happened. But as long as you're okay, and happy, you just do what you gotta do."