"Learn to Fly"
A CM Punk/Ashley/Jeff Hardy fic
Thanks to MissMikkiMouse, AshMattXoXo (aw your words really meant a lot! TY!) and Ashleymassarophan1 for reviewing last chapter, you're the best!
Please let me know what you think of the new (super long) one :)
Chapter 21
"A Party with Surprise Ending"
Exiting the little Italian restaurant and walking at a slow, comfortable pace through the busy streets hand in hand with her boyfriend, Ashley let out a perfectly content feeling wash over herself whilst she entwined her fingers more tightly with his.
A satisfied sigh was in order for the blonde beauty at this point, prompting Punk to echo with an amused chuckle.
"Don't tell me you're still debating whether you should have left untouched that second round of chocolate cake or not."
"Absolutely not." She firmly replied with a grin playing on her pierced lips, "I'm still glad I did. For your information I won't be one of those girlfriends who torment their boys with regrets over extra calories or begging them to say those pants don't make their bottoms look any bigger."
"Very glad to be informed of that." He cleared his throat feigning a business-like composure. "But just if you were wondering out of pure, sheer curiosity, I doubt even the existence of a pair of pants that could make you look fat."
"Are you saying I could use a cheeseburger or two?" She dangerously raised an eyebrow in his direction.
"Actually I'm just trying to say you look perfect like you are."
"Aw, my boyfriend the charmer." She let out a giggle rewarding him with a quick peck on the lips "Besides, you've got to live the moment, you know? Therefore that double cake portion is still happily welcomed in my tummy— what now?" She questioned in puzzlement when he wholeheartedly laughed at such assertion.
"I was just appreciating the philosophical consideration." Punk snickered, "Just wondering if your opponent tonight will too. You know, after you will throw up on her instead than going for a simple Starstruck for the pin."
"Very funny," Ashley offered a playful eye roll at his smug expression "but no need to worry. Tonight I'll simply be squashed by Beth Phoenix, so no one will really notice the vomit while I'll be lying on the mat in an indistinct mass of limbs."
"Fascinating. Make sure to let me know exactly when this is on the card so I can come out to carry said hot mess back to her locker room. Heck, maybe even bridal style. Now that would be a true diva exit."
"If you still recognize me by then. Don't forget the mass of limbs."
"I'll look for the pink in the hair and the insanely sexy amount of piercings and tattoos."
"Deal." The self proclaimed Dirty Diva sharply nodded before bursting out with giggles, "Gosh, we can talk such nonsense when we set our minds on that…!"
"I know, right? That's awesome. Perfect match, if you ask me." He grinned back, earning a playful slap on the chest.
"Seriously, though, thanks for the lunch. That was worth of remembering myself of my birthday."
"The lunch only?" He feigned a pout.
"And the company, of course." She clarified with a genuine smile, "Thank you baby, everything was lovely."
"Anything for my birthday girl." Echoed Punk with a soft smile tugging at his lips whilst she let go of his hand to pull him into an embrace, a kiss immediately following.
Once they broke apart gasping for much needed air and came back to their previous positions while keep moving down the road towards the hotel, it was the superstar's turn to let out a sigh now – though not exactly of the same nature as hers a few minutes earlier.
"Ash, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, buddy."
"Okay, first… buddy?!" He questioned in a midst of rather disgusted surprise and amusement, "Where on earth did that come from?"
"I have no idea, I swear." She echoed with a laugh of her own, "Must be my blood all focused on my digestion, sorry."
"Right, then… without answering by calling me dude if possible, please; why didn't you tell me it was your birthday? I mean— I understand if you don't really like to celebrate if for whatever reason, I'm not big on mine either, it's just… I would have preferred being informed of that by you, not being told accidentally by Mickie and Maria. Even if, I don't know, you didn't want me to spend money on you or something— you're my girl; and it makes me feel kind of an idiot noticing I'm the only one around you who was unaware of this." He concluded with a somewhat helpless shrug, stuffing his hands in his hoodie's pocket. "Just that."
Ashley's face colored up out of guilt, her lips slightly parted in sudden realization. "Oh God, I'm an idiot." She slapped a palm against her forehead in what came out as some kind of accidentally comic gesture. "Now you think I didn't tell you on purpose— and I can't blame you, obviously, but it's not like that baby… I swear. It's just that— Gosh, how to put it, I wasn't particularly looking forward to my birthday like you said simply cause I've come to realize that having high expectations suck, so it's not like I went around reminding anyone which date was approaching, it even slipped out of my own mind at some point; and I know it sounds stupid and probably even a little pathetic, but I haven't really been socially active in the last year… I always hang out with that same small group of people who already know when my birthday is… and it totally didn't cross my mind that you didn't, instead."
"Oh, okay, I understand." He slowly nodded at her obvious distress.
"You can go ahead and say it, your girlfriend is a total idiot."
Punk begged to differ with a soft chuckle, affectionately ruffling her hair. "I'm not gonna say that. Or even just think it, for the record." He added before she could retort to that.
"You sure? Cause I'd hate for you to think I wanted to hide it from you or something… cause I absolutely didn't, I swear."
"Ash, it's alright. You just explained it, I just wanted to understand the reason… and now I do, really."
"Are we okay then?" She unsurely asked, absent-mindedly biting on one of her lip piercing.
"Of course we are." He sincerely replied, a smile gracing his features.
"Good," the diva let out a relieved sigh "cause heck, fighting with you on my birthday would totally prove my point, phew."
A chuckle followed as he placed a kiss on her nose, "By the way, just so you know beforehand, my birthday is on October, 26th." And with that they turned a corner still hand in hand, smiling at each other once again.
x—x—x—x—x
All things considered, obtaining the privé zone of the small and very fashionably in, at least according to Maria, club to hoist the impromptu party hadn't been that difficult due to the notoriety of whom was asking that little favor; even though Matt Hardy, the one charged with said task, would have surely told you differently for that annoyingly common complex of males of all ages to constantly exaggerate whatever they had to relate. That ascertained, and the room secured, upgrading the latter to the status required for the punk princess' birthday –meaning a triumph of black, hot pink and white decorations — seemed presently a quite harder task.
"You know," Mickie huffed as she came to stand before the much relaxed trio of North Carolinian guys lounging on one of the small couches, hands on her hips just like a mom ready to scold her troublesome children "it would probably help if you three would stop being lazy asses and actually started doing some work around here."
"Let us be," whined Shannon in protest "we've had a long flight to come here."
"You guys came here with your truck." Pointed the diva out while raising an eyebrow at the self-proclaimed Reject… who, shamelessly, didn't skip a bit to counteract once again.
"Oh. Right. Well, it was a long journey anyway."
"Especially if you've ever experienced Matt's driving, trust me." Shane echoed.
"My driving skills are just fine, thank you very much." The Hardy in question simply offered a lazy eye-roll at the accusation, elbowing the closer of the two in the ribs.
"Still," Mickie insisted narrowing her eyes "we were here since this morning and we have a show to put on in a few hours, if you don't mind."
"Yes, but we have Smackdown tapings tomorrow and—"
"Oh shut up, she's right." Came Jeff's slightly amused voice from where he was standing on top of a ladder, "Now stop complaining, and get up, you lazy idiots."
"Says the one who's chillin' on a ladder without doing a thing." Scoffed Shannon in protest.
"I'm chillin' up here to put the paintings on the walls, genius. That, if one of you would do me the courtesy of passing them along, if you don't mind." He added with a matter-of-fact edge in his voice, his half trimmed eyebrow slowly rising up.
"'K, I suppose we could… doesn't sound too hard after all…"
"Thank God." Was the not-so-low mutter that echoed whilst Mickie finally marched back to her previous task, joining Chris and Maria at a table.
"I don't understand," right on cue the redhead pouted in Y2J's direction once she tied the small knot at the bottom of another brightly colored balloon "on tv they always show people speaking in those funny voices after they do this… but my voice is still coming out as usual!"
Stealing a sideways glance at the diva in question while he mirrored her previous action, the frown on her features was enough for Chris to realize that she was actually serious; naïve him to even doubting that, obviously. "Umm… that's probably cause those funny voices happen when you actually inhale what's inside the balloon, not when you blow air into it."
It took Maria a whole half-minute to digest the info, slowly nodding while she did so, before bursting out into giggles much to the superstar's perplexity. "Oh, you silly, don't you see that there's nothing inside the balloons? They're empty!"
Apparently not even his crestfallen expression seemed to stop the redhead who kept chuckling to herself, unaware of the puzzled glance that passed in between him and Mickie in meanwhile.
"Maria," he patiently began "there's actually helium inside the balloons, even if you don't see it."
"Oooh, gotcha." She vigorously nodded her head, a cascade of red curls bouncing along as she lifted a hand to rub her eyes. Then, undisturbed, she selected from the mass of the already blown up items a transparent one to carefully stare at. "I still don't see anything though," a sigh escaped her lips a bit later "do you?"
"—No," Chris swallowed hard "and that's cause you can't. There's nothing wrong with your eyesight. Helium is an incorporeal substance." It was his turn now to let out a sigh when the diva simply stared back at him, absent-mindedly chewing on her bottom lip. "It's invisible. Nobody sees it, it's not just you."
"Oooh!" She finally brightened up "It's like… magic!"
"No, it's actually as simple as the fact it's a gas, you know—"
"OKAY," Mickie firmly interjected slamming her palms on the plastic surface of the table "I think we have enough balloons to decorate the room, thank you guys."
"Hey," Shane called from the other side of the room while the redhead simply shrugged at the previous interruption, "just out of curiosity, what have you guys gotten for the birthday girl?"
"I don't know," Chris pointedly glanced at his girlfriend "I wasn't allowed to pick a gift myself, actually."
Perfectly aware of the hint, and of the fact that other five pair of eyes were now glued on the two of them with much interest, the brunette decided to settle for an all too sweet smile. "That's cause I know Ashley's taste better, honey, being her best friend."
"Regardless," insisted Y2J "I think a little touch of anything from me would have been appreciated. It's not like I haven't contributed with my share of money." He pointed out with a light scoff, "I've also signed my name on the card, you know."
"Yes, I'm perfectly aware of that," Mickie rolled her eyes "just like I'm perfectly aware of the fact Ash wouldn't have liked anything with sparkles on."
"Hey, that's a lie!" Chris indignantly protested, "You can't know that for sure!"
"Oh, trust me, I do." She muttered lightly sneering at him. "Anyways," she added a bit later turning into Shane's direction "We've got her a CD I know she wanted and a DVD."
"Yeah," scoffed her boyfriend "a Disney DVD… and then sparkles are off limits, absurd if you ask me."
"It's not a usual Disney movie," the diva explained with the unmistakable weariness of one who had already done the same speech time and time again "it's 'Enchanted' and Ash loves it."
"Whatever, I still think my choice—"
"What about you, Ria? Why don't you tell Shane and the guys what you're going to give Ashley?" Mickie overcame the distinct mumbling with another of her killer smiles… when killer stands exactly for the murderous profession indeed.
"Ooh," the redhead grinned in delight "I made her an in-ring outfit myself." She proudly nodded while the others stared at her awe-struck "Mickie saw it, it's all pink & black… and I think she will just love it, right?"
"No doubts on that, girly." The fellow diva offered an excited grin of her own, "I can't wait to see her face when she'll open it, she's gonna rock it on her next match already, I'm sure."
"That's impressive," from Maria's right side Chris sincerely complimented, eyeing the ditzy diva with sheer curiosity "all pink and black, huh?"
"Uh-huh. Just like her hair."
"Cool— umm, have you thought about adding some sparkles in there?"
Whilst the fashion designer wannabe blankly stared back at him, luckily no answer to the tricky question was needed when someone else called everyone's attention on himself, saving Mickie the trouble of smacking her boyfriend across the head.
"I've got her a voucher for a free tattoo." Shannon proudly announced, "We were talking about this the other week and she told me she was planning on getting a new one so…"
"That's a really nice thought, bro." Jeff compliment from up the ladder.
"It is, isn't it?!"
"No, it's not…!" Shane frowned at the Reject's self-complacent grin, "I mean, yeah, it could be… but you own the bloody place… there's no effort in that gift!"
"Hey, relax man," Shannon offered a frown of his own "what's your problem?"
"Never mind," Matt interjected with an amused chuckle "Shane had a bit of troubles finding the perfect present. Hence the question in the first place."
"I didn't have troubles at all," protested the Hurricane "I just think it's a considerate thing to put much efforts into choosing the right gift for the person in question." He dignifiedly pointed out.
"Sure," Jeff sneered "and what did your considerate thoughts bring you to, then?"
"A teapot." The older Hardy was the quickest to respond, an obvious amused edge in his voice.
"Nice one indeed." Shannon loudly laughed.
"Yeah, go ahead and mock me…" scowled Shane, "It's easy for you to laugh when you've offered her such a pricey gift for no money at all."
"C'mon guys, it's not about the money. A gift is all about the dedication you put into it… or if it holds a special meaning for the two persons that share it." Maria wisely pointed out, earning impressed — and a bit taken aback — glances from the rest. "At least according to the last issue of Girl Today."
Comforted by the latest explanation, the group got back to the matter at hand, a few eyebrows raised in perplexity towards the questioned guy.
"What?" Shane spread his arms in frustration, "I dedicatedly opted for that particular teapot… and it's green so she can think of me every time she decides to use it."
"Shane," Shannon stated slowly turning to face his friend "Ashley doesn't even like tea."
"Neither I see why she would like to think of you while making it." Chris added with a light frown from the other side of the room.
"Well that's— that's in between Ashley and myself if you don't mind, alright?" He touchily replied, and quite lamely if you will, folding his arms on his chest.
Shaking his head in amusement, Matt decided to take on himself the task of turning such controversial page, earning the silent thanks of the rest of the group. "By the way I've bought her the DVD set of the last series of Gilmore Girls, I hope she doesn't have it already."
"Oooh, she doesn't!" Mickie gladly cleared any doubts on the matter "And she'll love it, that's a great present… well done, Matt!"
"Why, thank you very much." Grinned the older Hardy in satisfaction, not missing the chance of flashing a winning smirk in Shane's direction, who grumpily turned away.
"That's not fair," the latter protested "he's been her boyfriend… meaning obviously he knows her tastes better."
"Yeah, meaning I've been tortured with being forced to watch that show on TV too many times to know she'd appreciate it."
"Says the one who broke up with her after the 5th season," Jeff promptly added "but who had to be tortured for the last two seasons plus all the re-runs?!"
A chorus of laughter followed such indignant comment, focusing all the attention on the rainbow-haired superstar.
"And what have you got her, Jeff?" Maria asked.
"Oh, a pair of shoes." He shrugged as if it wasn't big deal. "Actually a pair of designer Chuck; they're all black with white skulls printed on and when you turn the top inside out the fabric is actually pink & black checked . We saw them in an airport's store a few weeks back and she loved them, but we were already late and couldn't stop any longer to get them."
"Aw, that's sweet." Mickie cooed, exchanging a significant look with her own boyfriend, since they had only recently discussed the nature of Jeff's feeling for the punk princess.
"Yeah, well, I hope she still likes them." The Hardy in question offered a smile… then let out a hiss of pain when something tugged on his black pants with force, something or better someone.
An unreadable expression on his face, Shannon eloquently nodded towards the door, making his best friend understand with no words needed that he wanted to see him outside, right now.
Muttering something about going to smoke a cigarette, Jeff followed the Reject outside in utter puzzlement, crossing his tattooed arms on his chest once the latter suddenly came to a halt and turned to face him with a frown on his face.
"What's the matter, Shan?"
"What's the matter?" Repeated the latter in disbelief, "What's this story about the shoes— I thought you had gotten her that bracelet you got customized…!"
"Yeah, I know." Jeff let out a weary sigh, allowing his eyes to wander on their surroundings, "But that was only Plan A."
"What do you mean Plan A, that thing is awesome— oh noes. Don't tell me you've forgotten it at home?!"
"Nope," was the dry answer that followed "it's safely tucked in a drawer in my hotel room."
"Oh, alright," Shannon sighed in relief "then I guess you will give—"
"But I'm not going to give it to her."
"Wait— what?! Have you gone insane? Jeff, what the heck, you got that thing done exactly for her birthday… I don't doubt she'll love the shoes, but this bracelet… I've seen it man, and we both know she's gonna flip over it."
"I know that, Shan, but things have changed in meanwhile. You've seen it indeed, and you know it screams more than just a gift for a friend."
"Bullshit, you've never been just a friend to Ashley. You two have a special connection, everybody knows that. Otherwise you would have gotten her a set of cups to go along with Shane's teapot. Maybe rainbow-colored, but still."
"Shan— I can't, okay? I can't let Ashley understand what she means to me— not now."
"But I thought we agreed on—"
"—yes, I had decided to confess I'm in love with her," Jeff sharply cut him off "but that was before. Before she decided to date Punk. And we've already had this conversation Shan, I appreciate the fact you're rooting for me, but I can't tell her now. I mean, just take a look at her tonight in his company if you don't believe me." He spread his arms in a helpless gesture "She's happy with him, and I love her way too much to even take a chance to bring her happiness down. And that's final."
"Where are you going now?" Shannon let out a deep sigh at his friend's sudden departing figure.
"Back inside, this topic is closed for me." Was the dry response that followed before the door got harshly slammed back closed.
x—x—x—x—x
Shuffling through the corridors of the arena at the end of the two hours show, CM Punk came to a stop just before the door he was searching for, successively knocking on it and slightly pushing it open with a foot without waiting for an answer. He then allowed a smirk to curve his lips as he took in the sight of his girlfriend, unaware of his presence while she laced up her shoes with her back at him; stealing a glance right and left to make sure no other diva was inside, he entered the locker room undisturbed and rested with his shoulders against the bare wall, his arms on his chest.
"I heard at last you didn't throw up on Beth then, after all."
"Oh, thought you had suddenly disappeared from the face of earth, boyfriend. You were nowhere to be found during the show… at least after you kicked Cody's ass in the ring." She retorted with a pout, standing up and taking a tentative step towards him.
"Touché, but you can't blame me, really. I had to take care of a certain birthday gift last minute, you know."
"Oooh, interesting." Her expression immediately changed into an excited one, getting progressively closer to him.
"Uh-huh."
"So I guess now you can give it to me?" She grinned in anticipation, lightly resting her body against his.
"What, exactly?" He countered with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"My present, punk pig." Ashley playfully hit his arm, an eye-roll accompanying the gesture.
"Nope," he chuckled "You'll have to wait for another while."
"C'mooon."
"Nope." He shook his head at her failed attempt of puppy eyes.
"Not even if reward you with this?" She insisted capturing his lips with hers and then quickly deepening the kiss once he allowed her full access without any effort of resistance, of course.
"Hmm very convincing…" he mused once they finally broke apart, this time requiring a bit of effort on both parts to let go "But my answer is still no."
"Oh, c'mooon!" She whined, lightly stomping a foot on the floor for good measure.
"And to think you were the one not big on birthdays." Punk commented in amusement.
"I never said I wasn't big on the part concerning opening presents." She précised with a scowl on her features, folding her arms on her chest.
"Convenient enough," he let out a chuckle and planted a peck on her lips, holding her arms down the sides to eventually make her turn on the spot "but still no. And besides we'll have to go now or the others will start to miss us."
"Such a despot you are." Pouted the punk princess exiting the locker room while he went to pick her bags up from the floor.
"And you such a cutie when you're disappointed." He echoed with an amused smile, stamping a kiss on her cheek from behind once he reached her out in the corridor.
x—x—x—x—x
Looking around at the unknown faces crowding the dim-lighted room, the Dirty Diva couldn't refrain from slightly cocking her head on a side in apparent confusion.
"I don't understand, where's everybody? It's a little rude to insist on taking someone out to celebrate and then be late, don't you think?" She voiced out her perplexity with a light scoff.
Biting back an amused chuckle at her indignation, Punk folded his arms while he nodded at the privé zone ahead of them, remaining a couple of steps behind his girlfriend. "Maybe we should try in there."
"Mickie didn't say anything about that— but I suppose we could give it a try, it's not like we have better options here." She added in a mutter, accompanying her words with a shrug as she pushed the double sliding doors open and…
"SURPRISE!"
"Oh my God… no way!" The birthday girl screamed in evident surprise at the sight that greeted her, reacting exactly like her friends had expected, and silently hoped for.
Her mouth hanging open for the shock, she instinctively turned back to her boyfriend.
"You trickster… you knew about this?!" She inquired in a midst of amusement and disbelief.
"Don't look at me, I only had a marginal role into making sure you'd show up." He grinned back, hands up to prove his innocence. Not that she could have questioned it, however, since a second later she was literally smothered by two different pair of arms and a loud chorus of Happy Birthday shouted directly into her ears, courtesy of her best friends.
"Did you like the surprise?" Maria cheerfully questioned.
"Duh, this is awesome girls!"
"See? You always have to listen to us." Mickie echoed with a proud smirk.
Giggling at such bone-crushing enthusiasm, Ashley was able to take a better look around to her surroundings only when the two divas let her go; and when she eventually did, awe struck at the herself-look alike portraits hanging from the walls in a murales-like style she knew all too well, a genuine and deep smile was impressed on her features while the unmistakable author of said works marched towards her with a smile of his own.
Meeting him halfway, she had already flung her arms around him and buried her face into the crook of his neck by the time Jeff had whispered a Happy Birthday into her ear.
"Gosh, Jeffy, those are so absurdly beautiful."
"That's probably cause I had the most beautiful muse ever."
"Oh c'mon," she giggled and pulled back what was necessary to playfully slap him on the chest "now that's what I call bullshit."
"Don't you know tastes are personal, dirty diva?" The younger Hardy counteracted with a sheepish grin.
"Fair enough, I guess." She let out another giggle and resumed her previous position, thus hiding the blush creeping over her cheeks. "I can't believe you did all this." She nearly whispered.
His chin on the back of her shoulder, he didn't even hint at letting go of her, unaware of the man who was still standing at the door, right in front of him.
"How do you know it's been an idea of mine? Could've been Mickie's for all you know."
"Sure, it could have been, but it wasn't— was it?"
"Nope." He simply said, a smile tugging at his lips.
Her hands firmly placed on his shoulders, Ashley pushed him back again to look inside his eyes. "You really need to stop spoiling me, Jeff." She let out a content sigh, "I can't reciprocate."
"You already reciprocate more than you'll ever know, Ash." Jeff allowed his face to linger on a serious expression for a brief moment before softening it up again "Besides, you know, anything for my princess."
Another warm smile was shared at this point, broken only when from behind Shannon's voice, not so lowly, demanded to 'pass the birthday girl along'.
"Right," the rainbow-haired superstar chuckled "as Shan elegantly put it I'll let you receive the others' greetings now."
"Sounds like my duty tonight." She grinned back ever so slightly.
"Yup. Then save a dance for me, princess." Added the Hardy boy before setting her free and taking a couple of steps forward, though not before having brushed his lips against the diva's cheek.
Having eagerly observed the whole scene from his privileged spot, Punk didn't let the occasion slip by as Jeff unawarely came to a halt right before him. Nonchalantly folding his arms on his chest, the Straight Edge superstar quickly closed the gap in between them, a subtle smirk tugging at his pierced lips as he stopped right behind the other man's shoulder.
"I have to say it, man, nice work with the paintings. Just like that room back at your place, yeah." He sharply nodded, "Might want to consider ditching wrestling for this since you seem always busy painting stuff for my girl. I heard they pay well nowadays for a plasterer. What the heck, they won't even kick you out next time you'll fall back into your drugs."
"Why not," startled at first but at least apparently not appalled by Punk's not-at-all-subtle hints, Jeff offered an impressed nod of his own "I might consider that after all. Tell you what, I'll start taking care of your guys' place as first task, half the price for you two, of course— oh wait, right. You don't have one, your girl lives still with me."
With a smirk of his own the Charismatic Enigma thus gladly returned the 'friendly' pat on the shoulder Punk had concluded his speech with, then without another word he moved to join his friends, leaving a very sore looking superstar behind.
x—x—x—x—x
Contently sipping on the neon pink straw of her drink while sat alone on a high stool, Ashley couldn't hold back her laughter at the scene developing before her eyes where, perhaps a bit tipsy or even more probably simply crazy like that by nature, Chris and Mickie had launched themselves into an impromptu karaoke exhibition.
While the last notes of Grease's "Summer Nights", with additional chorus from Shane and Shannon, faded out, the punk diva nearly jumped on her seat when something brushed against the back of her arm.
"Sounds like we're the only ones still sober around here." Chuckled her boyfriend's voice into her left ear.
Turning on the spot to face him, she let out a light giggle. "Actually I'm afraid they're not even driven by alcohol… at least not entirely." She said with a nod towards the singing group.
"And what about you, my lady?" He inquired with a crooked smile, lightly tapping her half empty glass.
"Oh, no worries, that's just a bit of rum & coke; nothing you can use as excuse to refuse kissing me." She replied with a playful grin.
"I wasn't planning to." Punk replied with a wink and proved his point while leaning over to place a peck on her lips, at the same time taking the drink from her hand nevertheless.
"Besides, I really needed that. Anesthetic for my poor feet." She emphasized with a grimace, "In between Matt and Jeff I don't know who's stomped on them more tonight."
"Finally, something the Hardys are not good at. Thought they were superheroes or something." He sneered.
Ashley lightly giggled at what she perceived only as a joke, "And what about you, boyfriend? How do you hold yourself up on the dance floor?"
"Oh no, no, no, no." Punk grinned, "You're never gonna find out."
"Oh, c'mon. Pleaaase."
"No way." He lightly laughed "That pout of yours won't get you nowhere with this, as sweet as it is. But I was actually going to say I think it's time for you to open up your present, what do you say about that?"
She immediately squealed in delight, "Really?"
"Uh-huh."
"Hand it over then, baby." She urged in anticipation.
"God, how virtuously patient." Punk commented in amusement while taking something out of his back pocket and eventually obliging to her request.
"Oh," Ashley said in surprise while holding the lime green envelope with her name written on in his neat and small calligraphy "I feel like all of a sudden I'm twelve again. Are you giving me 20 bucks like my great aunt Marie and then tell me to use them wisely?"
The former ECW champion simply laughed at this, slightly shaking his head in the process. "Why don't you find out for yourself?"
"Oooh, maybe it's a check…" she echoed opening up the envelope and sticking a hand inside under the hopeful glance of her boyfriend, "…or maybe even two, you wealthy man. Wait a moment—" she gasped at the two small sheets of light white paper in her hands "These are… OH MY GOD, two plane tickets for Chicago!"
"Happy birthday babe." Punk wholeheartedly smiled "It was a bit short-noticed for me to find something fancy, so since we had discussed about you coming over for a few days thought this might be the perfect occasion to show you my world."
"Aww, this is so sweet baby." She sincerely cooed while flinging her arms around his neck "It means a lot, thank you so much."
Holding her in his arms, a satisfied smile played on his lips "And once there I promise I'll buy you a proper present."
"I surely don't need that, I already have you— as cheesy as it sounds, I know." She added with a soft smile, drawing back just what was needed for their lips to meet in what soon became a passionate kiss… at least until the superstar interrupted it.
"Okay, as much as I hate putting a stop to this," he mischievously smirked "we should probably get going."
"Wait, what?" Ashley furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, unsure whether she was missing some joke or whatnot.
"Take a better look at those tickets, girl." Was the only, enigmatic, explanation she received. Doing as she was told, the dirty blonde haired diva couldn't refrain from gasping in yet another surprise.
"They're for tonight…" She announced in almost a whisper, lifting her eyes on his smiling features.
"Indeed they are." he replied with a playful wink "Told you it was a bit short-noticed, so they were the only available ones I found… considering we have wrestling duties on the weekend and stuff. We might hurry up to go taking your stuff, we'd better be at the airport in less than an hour."
"Wait a moment, Phil." She stammered while he pulled her forward by the hand, "I— we can't just leave like that."
"What do you mean?" He let out a confused laugh at her unsure gaze "Of course we can, it's not like we need to give any explanations on where we decide to spend our off days or—"
"No, it's not that," the diva ran a hand through her short hair "I mean now, here, this. We can't just get going and leave the party."
"Ash, I'm not about to kidnap you." Punk echoed in some sort of amused disbelief, "We have time to say goodbye to the others, of course."
"No babe, you're not getting my point." She sighed, "I just can't leave the party at all. I mean— that won't do at all…"
"What are you talking about?" His confusion was evident at this point as he slightly cocked his head on a side, his hands coming to rest on his hips.
Another sigh was in order as this time no laughter or smile was heard in his voice, a frown appearing on his features. "These persons took trouble to throw me a surprise party… they decorated the room, spent money on it, organized everything into the details… I just can't say thanks and leave in the midst of it all. They haven't even taken the cake out or the presents yet… that would be just… rude, you know."
Outstretching her hand to take his at the end of what she thought was a reasonable enough explanation, Ashley surely didn't expect for him to withdraw from her touch.
"Right," snorted he "instead refusing your boyfriend's present is acceptable."
"What? I'm not refusing it— I told you I love it, and I really can't wait to come over and—"
"But not tonight, right?"
"…not right now. Not like this." She slightly shook her head trying to convince him of her point, "This has nothing to do with you, babe. I just, I'd feel terrible for ruining all their work like this, please understand—"
"Why don't you just say it's cause you want to get back to the Hardys household, huh? That would save you the pain of finding an excuse." Punk scoffed, shaking his head. "What, maybe Jeff didn't give you permission to stay a few days at your boyfriend's house? Or that new room of yours is too precious for you to leave it?"
"What are you talking about, this has nothing to do with Jeff— that's just about my friends, all of them." A much perplexed Dirty Diva counteracted.
"C'mon Ash, they're so drunk they probably won't even notice it!"
"They're not." She firmly replied, scowling at him "And I'd wish you won't insult them like this."
"Sure, my bad." Was the scoff that followed, "God forbid for anyone to say anything against Jeff Hardy, how foolish of me."
"Oh God," She huffed "what on earth has Jeff to do with this?!"
"Everything, Ash. Everything." Punk solemnly replied, a humorless smile gracing his features.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Questioned Ashley in utter confusion, helplessly spreading her arms as he started to take a few steps backwards, "And where are you going now?"
"Excuse me," he made a gesture of touching an invisible hat "I have a plane too catch in a few."
"What?! Punk, no, wait—!"
But her shout was left unanswered as the Straight Edge superstar quickly marched away towards the exit with determined steps, leaving behind a suddenly silently crying Ashley to debate on what in hell had just happened there.
Yeah, happy fucking birthday to me.
Please, review; let me know what you think, what you hope to see next... whatever but please give me a bit of feedback :)
Don't hate on me for the ending… yet, answers will be given with the next chappie. Will Jeff benefit someway from the fight? Will Punk & Ash solve this question? It will all be revealed next time while the party night goes on…