Rolling With the Punches

Chapter 29

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not meant to negatively reflect on anyone referenced or portrayed. I only own the original characters that I've created.


A/N: Hi my loves. Sorry for the delay. It has been an incredibly busy week, and now I'm back in NY for Thanksgiving with my family. Which reminds me...Happy Thanksgiving :) I have family coming over...actually right now, so I'll make this quick. But I want to say that I am thankful for every single one of you reading this. You all don't know how much I appreciate the reads, reviews, follows, favorites. It makes me so happy, even when I'm having a crappy day. Enjoy this day. Oh...and don't hate me for what happens in this update. I love you guys. Lots and lots XoXoXo


Dallas was ready for bed. After her match, she'd received nothing but compliments and congratulations, which was nice. While she wasn't one that needed to be patted on the back, she didn't have a problem with being complimented on her in-ring work. She and Saraya had had one hell of a match. To be recognized for that was important to Dallas. She loved her friend and didn't want to be responsible for making her look bad.

And now she was the number one contender for Charlotte's Diva's Championship title. Dallas still didn't understand why she was getting the spot and not Saraya. But her best friend insisted that she deserved it.

Laying in her bed at the hotel, Dallas wore a pair of black boyshort underwear and a red Cesaro shirt that was long enough to cover her rear end. The next morning, they would be back on the road, so she was ready to enjoy some much needed sleep.

Once her head hit the pillow and Dallas got comfortable, there was a knock on her door. She groaned with frustration and turned on the light. Climbing out of bed and heading towards the door to see who was interrupting her sleep, she was not a happy camper. Not by a longshot. Once she opened the door and saw who her visitor was, she was even more unhappy.

"Yes?" she curtly greeted.

"Hey. Uh...can we talk?" Kevin asked her, as his eyes taking in the sight of her scarcely clothed body.

"I'm tired. Really? You want to do this now?"

"Please, Dal? You've avoided this for long enough."

"Fine. Fine," she breathed, relenting.

"Thank you," he said, walking into her hotel room, while she shut the door. Kevin sat on the couch. She sat on the opposite side of the couch, sitting with her feet in front of her, hugging her knees to her chest. She brought her chin onto her knees.

"So, talk," she encouraged, wanting to get this over with and get back into the bed that was calling her name.

"Alright, well, first of all, that match was insane. You killed it. Congrats."

"Thanks."

"Seriously. You were amazing out there."

"And still...thanks."

"Anyways, I'm sorry for the shit that I've done to you," he apologized. "Going to Stephanie, being a dick, flipping out in your hotel room...all of it. I'm sorry for everything I've done."

"Listen, I appreciate your little apology and all, but maybe we should start with why you've been such a complete asshole to me. I'm not the one who went behind your back and cheated on you. I didn't walk out on you," she pointed out, though her tone made it clear she didn't want to be bullshitted.

"I don't know, Dal. I guess...when I found out that you were gonna be here, I panicked. When we broke up, I just kind of left. We didn't hash shit out or anything. And I didn't really know what to expect. As for being a dick, you know that's my default."

Dallas rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I know that, but it was never that way when it came to me."

"I know. I shouldn't have acted that way towards you."

"And the Tom thing? You honestly think that people will judge you based on what your ex-girlfriend does? That's bullshit. Why did you really do it?"

Kevin sighed. "I...uh...well...I guess I just don't really like the idea of you with another guy. And I just snapped, I guess."

"Why does it even matter? Trust me, he's not the only guy I've been involved with since we broke up...far from it, actually.'

"I know. And I was pissed off about that, too."

"Kevin, you're the one who left me. You're the one who cheated on me. Why the hell would you care about anything that I do?" she questioned.

"Listen, I love my wife...but...we just...we had something different."

She furrowed her brow, not understand where he was going with this. "Meaning what? Yeah. We had five years together, and we did have something different...something special. But you threw it away for her. I'm not the one chasing you. I'm trying to avoid you. You're the one who's chasing me."

"Caused I fucked up."

"How?"

"By cheating on you...and walking out on you. I should have never done any of that," he breathed.

Dallas rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Give me a break. You cheated on me, and I would've stayed with you. Even though you went ahead and knocked her up, I would've stayed with you. You're the one who left. Not me."

"You didn't care," he replied. "You were so closed off, and you just didn't care. It was driving me crazy. You wouldn't go to therapy. You wouldn't talk about anything. It bothered me. I was upset, and I did something so stupid."

Dallas laughed bitterly. "Oh. I see what this is about."

"What?"

"When we started dating, I told you that you wouldn't be able to handle it. I fucking warned you, Kevin. I told you. And what a fucking surprise, I was right. You know, you're nothing but a fucking coward. You didn't know how to help me, so you threw me away like I was nothing. What a fuckin' joke. Five years. I wasted five fucking years with someone who treated me just like everyone else in my life did."

"Seriously?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Yeah, seriously," she retorted.

"You don't think I tried?"

"You gave up. I called it."

That's bullshit. I tried so hard, but you weren't helping the situation." He paused, taking a moment to try and calm down. "I shouldn't have left. Okay? I shouldn't have ever turned my back on you."

"Why? Because of what happened to me?"

"Well, partially. You went through enough. You didn't need to have me just up and walk out on you."

"The last thing that I'll ever need from you is pity. I needed you to let me deal with it in my own way."

"It isn't easy watching the person that you love more than anything in the entire world just suffer alone and close herself off to everything. You wouldn't talk to me about it. You wouldn't deal with any of it."

"You think that is something that I'd want to talk about? To think about? To relive? Especially with you? Do you know embarrassing it was for you to even know? I hated that you knew. And you have no idea what I went through. And for you to act like I should have opened up about it is completely fucked up and not the opinion that you should have had. You knew what happened. You know what it did to me. And I'm sorry that instead of laying around and crying and reliving my own personal hell and playing the part of the little victim, I just wanted to act like it didn't happen, and like my life was normal," she argued.

Kevin thought for a moment. "Instead of doing what I did, I should've told you how I felt about everything. I shouldn't have expected you to do anything. You're right," he conceded, looking at the situation from her end. "I didn't think of it that way."

"The worst part of it all is that...I just wanted to move forward and get passed all of it and just...be with you. And you...you ruined it all," she breathed. "I've had a really hard time since I've been here...emotionally. Between you and Tom and Mox...I feel like I've lost control over everything in my life."

"Wait a second. Jon? What about him?"

"He was just a real thorn in my side when I got here," she groaned, wishing that she had never mentioned his name in this conversation. "Saraya told me that she thinks that a big part of my problem is that I never dealt with our breakup."

"What d'ya mean?"

"I never cried. I never moped around. I didn't talk about it much. Just kept on wrestling and started sleeping around."

"You weren't upset?"

Dallas shot him a look. "I was completely devastated. My heart was absolutely destroyed. I was a shell of myself. I felt completely broken. But I kept telling myself that I'd been through worse, so I'd be fine. And I ignored my feelings...tried to push them to the side."

"I ignored your feelings, too. And I'm sorry for what I did."

She nodded. "Thanks."

"You know...I miss you."

"You have a family."

"You were always my family. You know? I really screwed everything up, Dal. We had something that was so great. I miss our life."

"Well, it was your choice, Kev."

"Doesn't mean it was the right one." He paused. "So, you and Tom, huh?"

"Not quite."

"What does that mean?"

She shrugged. "Tom's great and all. He's sweet. He cares about me. He tries so hard, but I can't put myself in that position again."

"What position?"

"I've lost enough people in my life. I don't need to lose any more."

"Come here."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"Please?"

"Ugh. Fine." Dallas moved closer to him, though she wasn't exactly sure what to expect. She just didn't have it in her to argue.

Kevin pulled her across his lap, his arms around her. "Dallas, I'm so sorry. But understand one thing, my mistake wasn't a reflection on you. Just because I left you, like an idiot, doesn't mean everyone else will, too."

"I never thought you would have left me," she admitted, a frown tugging at her lips.

"I shouldn't have."

Dallas shrugged. "It's a little late to be realizing that now."

"It doesn't have to be."

She shot him a look. "Kev, it is. You're married. You have a kid. It's way too late for any of that." Kevin's arm was around her waist, the other resting on her thigh.

"Dal, it's killing me to not be with you."

"You can't do this, Kevin," she insisted.

"Just...I can...I can fix it."

"How? Do you have a time machine that I don't know about?" she questioned, straight-faced, though the sarcasm laced every word that escaped her lips.

"Dal, you know how good we were together."

"That's right. I know how good we were together...in the past. But too much has happened, at this point. Too much has changed. And quite frankly, I don't think I could ever really trust you again," she honestly spoke.

"We could try. Come on. You know we were great. I screwed up so badly, and I know that. But don't let my stupidity ruin what we had."

"Kevin…" she warningly spoke, shaking her head.

"I love you, Dal. I always have."

"That's not good enough anymore," she told him. "It's over. You're the one who did it. Not me. And it's been over two years since it ended. That's where it ends. There's no getting back together or whatever it is you're looking for. That's not even getting into the whole you're a married man with a kid thing."

"It can't be over. We spent five years together. You can't just forget about that," he calmly argued.

"Uh excuse me? I can't forget about it? You didn't seem to care that much about those five years when you were screwing other people behind my back and walking out on me," she shot, catching an attitude.

"Fair enough. That was stupid of me to say."

"Yeah, it was," she agreed.

"So, you can honestly look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't care about me anymore?" he pointedly questioned.

"I don't want you to die or anything. And if something happened to you, I'd be upset and concerned or what have you. But I will absolutely never be with you ever again. I wouldn't be able to trust you."

"So, you don't have feelings for me?"

"I do. But not the kind of feelings that'll make me do anything stupid...like date you, trust you, invest anything in you."

"You don't love me."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll always love you. It's just...it's a lot different now," she said, her voice low.

Kevin's thumb absentmindedly caressed her leg. Part of Dallas almost felt bad for him. She could see that he was terribly conflicted, and it was tearing him apart, mentally. But she also knew that he was the one responsible for the situation that was causing him the conflict. She brought a hand onto his face, gently running her thumb across his cheek. "Dal, you're so perfect...even if you don't realize it," he told her. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. All of it. From the moment I cheated until right now. I'm sorry for everything."

She gave him a reassuring smile. "It's alright. I forgive you."

He pulled her against his body into a hug. She returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around him. She had to admit that it was nice getting along with Kevin. She felt comfortable. And she had always loved his hugs.

As they pulled back, Kevin paused and caught her eyes. She let a small smile form on her lips. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"This. It's nice not fighting with you."

Seemingly out of nowhere, Kevin pressed his lips against Dallas's. She wasn't sure how to react, and in her moment of hesitation, kissed him back. His hold on her body tightened. She was still confused but at the same time, his lips on hers reminded her of those five years they had spent together. When this kind of thing was normal. It was life that she missed, no matter how hard she tried to forget about it. That's why she finally wrapped her arms around him, allowing herself to kiss him back. He easily stood up, holding onto her body and bringing her over to the bed. He gently put her down, hovering over her body. Her arms remained around his neck, their mouths refusing to part. Kevin's hand grasped her thigh, holding it against his body. She could feel his hardness pressing against her through his basketball shorts.

Dallas had forgotten how great it felt to be with him...how normal it felt, how familiar he was to her. His hand ran up her body, under her t-shirt, grasping her hip. Kevin continued pressing his body against hers. She moaned against his mouth. Kevin knew what she liked. He knew just how to touch her. He was different than Jon was. But she wasn't sure if she would necessarily consider Kevin better than Jon.

Wait. Jon. How could she forget about Jon? She couldn't do this with Kevin when she had...whatever it was that she had with Jon. And Kevin. Kevin was married. He had a kid and all. Dallas pushed him back. "We can't do this," she quickly spoke. "Y-you're married. And I-I-I...I can't do this with you.

Kevin's head fell, as his body was still hovering over hers. "This is right," he breathed. "It feels so right."

"You're married, Kevin. You can't cheat on your wife."

"I just want you, Dal," he spoke. "Just you."

She shook her head. "You can't have me," she told him. "I might be a bitch and a psychopath...hell, I know I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a homewrecker."

Kevin sat back on the bed. "So...we're just...over?"

She pressed her lips together and nodded. "Yeah…"

He nodded slowly. "I'm sorry."

She gave him a grin. "Don't be," she softly said. "Maybe we can actually try and get along now."

Kevin chuckled. "But where's the fun in that?"

She laughed. "True."

He thought for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"I am. You know I'll be fine."

"Is Jon Good leaving you alone now?"

"Mox?" she questioned, putting in her best effort not to smile at the mere mention of his name. "He's not a problem anymore."

"I heard he congratulated you on your match…"

"Yeah…"

"And he hugged you."

"So…?"

"I thought you two weren't getting along."

Dallas shrugged. "We get along now."

"Why?"

"I dunno. We just do."

He eyes her suspiciously. "Are you...involved with him?" he finally asked her.

She raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry. Just asking."

"Kevin, you should probably get out of here before this goes any further downhill than it's going now."

He put his hands up defensively. "Okay. Okay. Sorry." He stood up. Dallas did, as well. "I'm sorry, Dallas," he apologized.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it," she insisted.

He headed towards the door with the brunette following him. "Are we okay?" he questioned her. "I wasn't trying to make things worse."

She smiled. "We're fine. We're good, Kev," she assured him.

"Okay." He scooped her up in his arms, giving her a hug, which she returned. "If you need anything, just let me know."

"Thanks,' she said, as the two pulled back.

"I'll see ya, Dal."

"See ya, Kev."

And with that, he left her room, shutting the door behind himself. Dallas pressed her back against it. Making out with Kevin was wrong. Absolutely. But why did her guilt only set it at the thought of Jon? She wasn't quite sure how that happened. They weren't anything. She was closer to being something with Tom, as opposed to Jon. But she didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt at the thought of Tom. She let out a long breath.

Dallas smiled to herself, as she climbed back into her bed and shut the lights off. She knew that she needed sleep, if she planned on thinking clearly at all. The moment Dallas's head hit the pillow, she banished all thoughts of Kevin. That was easy enough. It was Jon that she couldn't seem to get out of her head...not that she was entirely sure she was even trying.