Chapter 25

The next day, both AJ and Alex needed to hear from the other side of the argument - from both Mickie and Velvet. Still not getting any texts or such from Mickie, it took AJ hours to find her, but after a while, she managed to find her friend in one of her favorite places - the mall. The tiny Diva caught the Country Diva sitting by herself at the cafe, absentmindedly stirring her straw through her drink. "Mickie, I've been looking all over for you!" she exclaimed, joining her.

She looked up and forced a smile. "Hi." Mickie replied quietly.

"Hi. Mickie, let's just get straight to the point. What is going on with you? You haven't spoken to any of us in days, and Alex and I are worried about you!" AJ said, taking her hands. "I'm your best friend, Mickie. You know that you can tell me anything."

She sniffled and nodded a little. "Ok. I'm sorry I haven't seen you guys in a while, but I've been too heartbroken to do anything lately."

The tiny Diva herself felt like crying for her, since she already knew what was going on.

"AJ, before the last PPV that night, Chris...told me that he had sex with Velvet." it killed her to retell.

Not knowing what to say, AJ bit her lower lip and shook her head.

"Why would he do this to me? I thought he loved me, and the whole time-no, our whole relationship turned out to be a lie! I have never fallen more in love with anyone than I have with Chris. I gave him everything, every part of me, and he chooses not to resist VELVET of all people? April, tell me what I'm doing wrong. What's so wrong with me that every guy that I fall for has to betray me in any way?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.

AJ sniffled and wiped away one of her own tears. "Oh, Mickie...nothing is wrong with you. You've done nothing wrong at all! Those guys before, they're the ones who missed out on someone beautiful, sweet, funny, thoughtful, and strong, like you." she replied, forcing a smile.

"Thanks, girlie. I just wish that Chris knew that."

"Hey, Chris does know all that! He knew what he did wrong that night, but that's why he was afraid to tell you any sooner." the Diva revealed.

Mickie raised an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly. "...How did you know that he was afraid to tell me?" she asked slowly.

She gasped, covering her mouth. "Oops." she squeaked.

"AJ, did you already know that Chris had slept with Velvet?" she demanded.

The brunette sighed. "Yes, I already knew." she whispered.

Mickie stood up and cried, "WHAT? AJ, how the hell could you? You knew all this time that he had cheated on me, and you never even bothered to tell me something this important?"

She felt herself tearing up again. "Mickie, I WANTED to tell you sooner, but I thought it'd be better for Chris to tell you himself!"

"It was WORSE hearing it from Chris!" she snapped. "What, does Alex know about this, too?"

She nodded. "He was the one who told me."

Now more betrayed than ever, the Diva let out a small sob and slowly sat back down, burying her head in her hands.

"Mickie, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I haven't told you any sooner..." AJ reached out for her.

She swatted her hand away. "NO! So now, I'm getting screwed over by my boyfriend AND my best friends? Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"It's not a joke, Mickie. Alex and I were just looking out for you! We begged for Chris to step up and tell you everything!" AJ cried.

"God, this is so-so high school! Cheaters, friends keeping secrets from other friends, this is sick! Is there anything else you're keeping from me, AJ? What, did Chris tell you how and where he and Velvet did it? Was the sex rough? Did they go at it all night, tell me every detail!" she cried heatedly.

"No, I don't know any of that, and I don't want to know." AJ replied bitterly. "I'm sorry all of this is crashing down on you, but you have to calm down."

"No, you have no right to tell me what to do anymore! As far as I'm concerned, I have nobody left, including you and Alex." the Country Diva's voice broke.

AJ slowly shook her head and sat next to her friend, saying quietly, "Don't push away people who are worried about you and are trying to help you. Alex and I are the only close friends you have left, and we don't want to see you suffering like this."

After a pause, Mickie slowly turned to her with tear and mascara stained eyes, before breaking down into her friend's arms, sobbing. "It's not fair..."

April wrapped her arms around her, soothingly roaming a hand up and down her back. "Shh. It's gonna be all right, sweetie. Look, I know that you're pissed with Chris right now, but his heart is literally broken without you. I've never seen him this miserable before, and it's killing me to see you guys so split apart. I mean, you don't hate him, do you?"

She looked up. "I could never hate him. But despite what he did to me...I still love him."

"Then try and talk to him again. He chose to stay here for you, after all." the tiny Diva smiled a little.

"I can't do that. I'm nowhere near ready to forgive him. But you know who I really do hate right now? Velvet Sky. And that bitch must pay." Mickie replied, heatedly staring into space.

Meanwhile, Velvet had spent the day at the local park, where she was miserably sitting on the swings, lazily kicking her good leg through the sand. "Careful, don't want to get sand stuck in your shoe." Alex announced, strolling up to her.

She looked up. "Oh, hey, Alex. What are you doing here and how did you find me?"

He casually leaned against a pole. "I just did, and I came here to tell you that I'm mad at you."

"Oh? What have you got against me to be mad at me about?"

"It's what you and Chris did to Mickie." he replied, turning to her. "I know that you egged him on to sleep with you."

"Wha-how did you know that?" she asked, nervous.

"Well, I first overheard it from Ziggler in the guys' locker room, and then Chris finally told me the rest. You knew that he loved Mickie and that she loved him, but NO! You have to grab Chris for yourself, without seeing who else is at risk, am I right?" he asked back.

"Alex, look, I can't help it! I've never fallen out of love with him after we broke up, and every time I see him kissing Mickie, or having his hands all over her, I feel so..so angry inside! I needed to have him back with me." the blonde explained.

"So basically, the only reason you even came here to join us was to get back with Chris?" he asked again. "Hell, is your injury even real? Cause if it isn't, you'd be basically skipping out on your job, and I could call Dixie, tell her the truth, and she'd fire you in a hot minute."

Shooting a death glare at him, she snapped, "For your information, Alex, I did NOT fake this injury! I love my job way too much to just bail out like that. I didn't want to spend my days recovering at home alone, so that's why I chose to come with you guys. But you were right about one thing. Part of me did come back for Chris."

"And you were just pretending to be friends with Mickie."

"No, I wasn't. I may be jealous of her, but I really liked her as a friend. But now, things have obviously changed." she sighed. "Now, I've lost them both."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Mickie and I aren't friends anymore, and after finding out that Chris had decided to stay here with her instead of coming back to Impact, I've lost him, too."

As a reply, Alex picked up a handful of sand and said, "Y'know, sand is kind of like a relationship, whether it be friendship or a romantic one. See, you hold it open hand, and the wind will easily blow it away. You hold it tightly, and it'll still sift away through your hands. Same thing for a relationship, if you tend to be so relaxed, not holding onto it, problems will eventually come and the relationship is as good as gone. If you hold on too tight to the relationship, it'll go, too. Too much of something isn't a good thing." he explained.

Velvet studied him thoughtfully. "Wow, I never thought of that. So, you're saying that I should stop holding on so tightly to Chris and just...let go?"

He nodded. "If that's how you want to put it."

"I don't know if I can, Alex. I still love him like mad, and Chris told me himself that he loved me, too! I can't end this so quickly."

"Whatever, Vel, it's your choice. Don't think about who else you're hurting, though." he replied, turning away.

"Alex, wait!"

He turned back.

"Um...how did Ziggler know about my sleeping with Chris?" she asked slowly.

"Well, apparently, he and his little group got ahold of this tape that Dave had found, a recording of you guys doing the dirty. Chris mentioned that Dave was holding that tape against him, saying that if he had intentionally lost our match at the last PPV, Dave wouldn't show the tape to the entire roster." he explained.

She gasped. "How the hell did Dave manage to get ahold of that tape, I had it hidden in my purse!"

"Wait, you KNEW about that tape? Hell, maybe that other story that I heard was a lie, how do I know that YOU didn't purposely set that camera in the room that night? You wanted to record that hot night with him, to view again and again for years to come?" Shelley demanded.

"NO!" she cried, shocked. "That camera was PLANTED in that room, I just happened to find it, and I tried to hide that tape. I didn't want it to get loose. Dave didn't show that tape to anyone else, did he?"

"Hmm, nope, just to his little friends. But still, Vel, think about what I said. Don't create a bigger mess than you've already created." Alex finished, before heading off.

Velvet watched him leave, before picking up a handful of sand and letting the breeze blow it away. "I can't just let go." she whispered. "This is all Mickie's fault, and she's going to pay."