The Good Life

AN. Long time no see! Hi there! Enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter Twenty-Five – Hold Onto Me

It seemed like no matter what happened, Alex Riley couldn't seem to get away from the hospital; clingy patients, inquisitive relatives of those patients and strict doctors all prevented him from leaving through those exit doors, and he was beginning to wonder if he would ever make it home that morning.

After completing yet another chart and handing it into the right station, he collapsed in one of the staff rooms on the ground floor, needing a moment just to himself for a little while. He was too tired to even contemplate getting the bus home right now.

"Need a ride?" Just like that, Carly Peterson arrived in his life like the perfect angel-like figure, dressed in a cute summer dress and with her blonde hair down and framing her smiling features.

It always surprised him to realise how pretty she was out of scrubs and in normal clothing. As a work colleague almost always by his side in cases, Carly was often wearing the green, unsexy apparel and had her hair tied up in a tight bun, her face always make-up-less. Looking at her now, it was like looking at a different person.

"Why are you staring at me like that, creep?" And then she opened her mouth and he remembered who he was dealing with.

"Whatever." He stood to his feet. "But yes to the ride. You know where I live right?"

"Avidian Lane, according to your personal records. I can't believe you're living in such an upper class place. Not good enough to live like us normal people huh?"

"It's not as perfect as you're making it out to be," said Alex as they walked towards the parking lot, "and I think the important thing to consider here is why you were looking through my personal records... and how you got them."

"I can't tell you that. A girl has to have her secrets."

"Sure she does." He drawled sarcastically.

Carly merely gave her best teasing smile. They arrived at her car a short while later, and after unlocking it, slipped into their seats. "So with you living on Avidian Lane you're not that far away from me. I'm a couple of blocks out – though I do share my apartment with two other girls."

"Oh yeah? Are they hot?"

She hit him for that. "Do you always have to be so gross?"

"Hell yes, that's our dynamic here: you're the bitch and I'm the disgusting one."

"I guess you're right about that." With a smile, the blonde pulled out of the space and headed for the exit. "Just putting this out there: we don't make a bad team."

"Apart from the times you tease me and try to convince people I'm gay behind my back," said the doctor, laughing, "but yeah, other than that..."

The blonde shrugged and turned on the radio. When Alex gave her a look, silently motioning that he didn't particularly like her choice of music, she gave the elegant response of "tough shit" and turned it up. There was small talk on the ride home, with the adults thinking respectively about the problems they had to face when they got home.

While it was simple for Carly—how should she get Lauren back for borrowing her dress the previous evening and puking up down the front of it?—Alex had a much harder task on his hand. It was no surprise that Eve entered his thoughts. Instantly, he inwardly cursed himself; why was it that no matter how many times he told himself not to think about her he ended up doing it anyway?

"What are you thinking about?"

He left his thoughts of John and Eve having the perfect date together to look at Carly. She broke her concentration on the road for a brief moment to raise a perfectly plucked brow at him. She wanted an answer and he was taking too long. He scratched at the back of his neck. "Just... about how tired I am."

"Boring. I expected juicy gossip." Carly smiled.

And I expected to get over Eve by now. I gave her the ultimatum... she made her choice. He straightened out in his seat. Alex was suddenly realising how ridiculous it was to waste his time over Eve Torres. If she was going to move on with John Cena, why shouldn't he? He'd given her a threat and now it was time to live up to it.

"Carly?"

"Yeah, goofball?"

He turned to her suddenly, enamoured by this new idea of his. "Do you think you might want to go out on a date with me sometime?"

It surprised Tiffany to realise how much she missed the wrestling world. Speaking to Layla about it at dinner yesterday evening, the brunette was full of life about her positive feelings on the matter of being back, even if it was only for a few days, and she'd nodded and agreed with some points but never thought she would have the same enthusiasm as her friend.

Now? She wasn't so sure.

"I feel like we're getting into a pattern now," said Evan Bourne as he walked into the room with two iced coffees in his hand and a brown paper bag underneath his arm. "You, me, coffees – I've never had so much caffeine in my system as I do now and you're clearly to blame."

The blonde assessed his friendly smile as he handed hers over. Was the atmosphere the reason she was happy to be here or was it the guy stood in front of her? "I'd apologise but they're delicious and I know you enjoy them, so it's not going to happen." She teased. "You were quick getting it all though."

"I would have been quicker, but I ran into Kofi as I was coming back into the arena. I might have to head off early for another training session..." He offered an apologetic look.

"It's no problem. If it's alright, I'd love to come and watch you guys. I could say I was there watching the two future tag team champions at the very beginning of their official alliance. Sounds good, doesn't it?"

"Yeah it does – I especially liked the part where you mentioned us as 'future tag team champions'. Sounded fantastic." After taking a sip of his coffee, he made a satisfied noise. "When you go back to your life and leave me here I'm going to tell everyone you're the one to blame for me being hyperactive all the time. All this caffeine, I'm telling you..."

"I was just showing you what you were missing all this time." Winking at him, Tiffany eased herself onto her feet. It was getting trickier every day. The twins were growing all the time... and kicking, too. That part of pregnancy was something she could do without. "So, is the training session starting now? Please don't tell me I went to the effort of standing up for nothing."

"Luckily for you," he swung an arm around her as they exited the locker room and stepped into the arena corridors, "Yes, it is. Here's your salad by the way. Is that all you eat now?"

"No, I just really find myself liking it. It's boring but I'm craving it."

Salad talk turned into general conversation and for the two minutes they were walking towards the set-up ring she was completely at ease. There was a nagging thought in her mind to do with Drew when Evan asked about him, but otherwise, she managed to give her best poker face. When they arrived she waved to Kofi, who was already warming up in the ring with a bottle of water in his corner, and took a seat to get herself comfortable for the session.

She felt content.

"Here is your winner and the NEW World Heavyweight Champion, Drew McIntyre!"

For a moment, the newly-signed Scottish superstar allowed himself a moment to think of the words he'd uttered quietly through his mouth as true. He closed his eyes as he stood in his gym shorts in the middle of the empty ring and pushed his arms out in his signature pose. He could already hear the boos rolling in from around the arena—why wouldn't they hiss at the cocky newcomer who came in so swiftly and won the gold for himself?—and he could almost feel how wonderful the glorious moment would be.

But a sweet girl-ish giggle was not a part of the celebration he'd pictured in his mind and his eyes snapped open to find a familiar blonde looking up at him. Tiffany Terrell was gorgeous, he wouldn't even bother to deny it, and he couldn't help but take note of the long legs she showed off in that cheerleader skirt of hers as she climbed the steel steps to join him.

"Can I help you?" He asked, now aware that he might have looked like an idiot in front of her. He placed his hand on his hips. Would that help him look masculine in front of her? He debated on what pose to go for, casually moving his arms, until she answered him.

"Do you have a twitch?" A smile settled onto her clear-glossed lips as she came to a stop in front of him. Secretly, she thought it was cute that he was making the effort to act as casually as he could in front of her now she'd caught him out. "Anyway, sorry to disturb you..."

"It's alright. I was just finishing up anyway."

"Great."

"Are you meeting someone here?"

Tiffany set down her empty coffee cup in the corner and gave an embarrassed little shrug. "I'm not actually, no. I'm not sure why I'm telling you this really – I mean I think this is the first time I've ever talked to you, so call me crazy for speaking so openly... sorry, I'm rambling. I do that a lot sometimes. But anyway, I like to come here alone sometimes and if I'm lucky enough to get some downtime, I just sit here."

"You just... sit here."

"Well it sounds silly, but it helps me focus. If I'm in the right state of mind – if I imagine something wonderful – then it makes me feel more in control when I go out there for every Smackdown show."

This woman was perfect. Drew was sure of it as he stared at her in a new light. Though she stood opposite him in her ring attire and with her hair up in a messy bun save for the few strands curled around her neck, he'd never seen such a beautiful creature. How had it taken him this long to properly see her for who she was?

"What? Have I got something on my face?"

He cleared his throat. "Would you believe me if I said I was just doing the same thing?"

"Oh yeah?" Intrigued, she asked, "What were you doing in your imagination?"

"Winning the World Heavyweight Championship."

"Ah, in mine I become the number one contender for the women's championship against Michelle McCool. Baby steps," said Tiffany, smiling at him. "Well... I should probably get settled so I can imagine up my title match."

"I'll leave you to it."

He was two steps away from exiting the ring when she called out, mouse-like and unsure, to his back. "Unless you want to stay? I don't mind. We can... get to know each other."

The Scottish wrestler hid his smile before he turned back around again. "Sure, it's not like I have anything better to do." Only when they were lying down on their backs next to each other in the middle of the ring, looking up at the high ceiling and revelling in the silence, did he realise this was the most comfortable he'd felt since joining the blue roster.

"We should hang out sometime – outside of the ring, I mean." Tiffany angled her head in his direction.

Drew turned to look at her. He pretended to consider this for a moment, not wishing to look too eager, and gave a contemplative shrug. "Yeah, I guess we should."

They both turned away from each other and smiled to themselves.

She wasn't entirely sure what happened. One minute she was happily watching Evan and Kofi conversing in the ring, and the next she was off into dreamland and remembering the first time she introduced herself to Drew McIntyre, her now-husband. Tiffany definitely wanted to blame it on the hormones as, highly embarrassed, she let out a loud sobbing sound and both men turned to face her.

The tears came quickly and effortlessly. The pregnant housewife covered her face as best as she could and crumpled into herself, begging for it all to stop. She didn't want to be like this.

"Tiff, are you okay?" She heard Evan's comforting voice nearby. He sounded concerned for her. "Hey, I sent Kofi away for a break if you want to talk, just you and me. I'm here for you."

She looked up and sniffed. The highflyer pulled up a chair beside her and placed a soothing hand on her back. She braced herself. "I haven't told you this... in fact, I've lied to you... but I've been having problems at home."

"With what?"

"With Drew," said the blonde, filling in the blanks, and wiped at her eyes while she tried to pull herself together again. "We've been having issues for a while. It started at the end of our honeymoon. My cast isn't from me being clumsy... it's from an attack on me. Drew just watched as I was attacked and some random guy had to help me before I got hurt or worse. It's been tough for us ever since."

"God, I had no idea. You seemed so cheerful. The stories you told me when we met up for coffee... Tiff, why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I don't know. I just wanted you to believe I have this perfect life. I bragged to you before I left that although I was sad to leave wrestling, this life would be better for me. Now look at me – what is there to brag about?"

"The fact that you're going to be a first-time mother in a matter of months. You didn't brag; you teased. That was the nature of our friendship and it always has been. We're playful together. I know you're stronger than this." He pulled her in for a hug and stroked her hair while she sniffed against his chest. "If there's one thing you are, it's strong."

"You have no idea how much I love you for saying that. Lately I've just felt like a mess, like I don't know what to do with myself."

Evan broke the embrace to look her in the eyes. "And what do you want to do now?"

Tiffany considered the question. All of a sudden it seemed as clear as day. She knew the exact reason why she was behaving this way, and it wasn't to do with the breakdown of her marriage. It was something obvious to her now, something she wanted to work on as soon as possible. "I think... I think I want to go home and fix my marriage before it's too late."

So there's the next (short-ish) chapter. Please review :)

Coming up: There's danger ahead for one of the housewives...