35. Matches

It was agreed upon the first night back in Mike's bed – there would be no mention of their upcoming match; they wouldn't discuss it, the topic was officially off limits. Mike and Alex's lives have been so stressful as of late that they thought it best to just enjoy the week they have together. Treat it as if they're on vacation. After all, if everything works out, it could be the last one they get for a while.

Of course they couldn't escape their reality completely. That would be all too convenient, and nothing about their lives together has ever resembled the word.

No, it's not like they could fly to a beach resort on some tropical island paradise in the Caribbean. Needless to say, Mike's favorite part about LAX – the paparazzi – has become a less than ideal situation for him at the moment, especially now that the holidays are over and they're back in full force.

Then there was the thought of driving somewhere, except they realized that they really don't have anywhere to go. It's not exactly the right time for Alex to visit his favorite gym in Venice Beach. They can't even really go to a golf course without special arrangements being made. And they didn't dare consider Las Vegas as an option.

Besides, they shouldn't be seen together in public anyway until they defend their titles. It's about creating anticipation, but it also comes down to a need for privacy.

Ironically, for two guys who thrive on social activities and have never felt the slightest affinity towards a reclusive lifestyle, that's exactly where they find themselves: hanging out in Mike's condo and as it turns out, they couldn't be happier. It can't continue this way, nor do they want it to, but the space between Monday to Monday has given the couple a chance to do something they haven't had much time for in the past. They can relax, and if everything blows up in their faces, they'll figure out their next move come Tuesday.

But this week belongs to them.

xxxx

Alex peeks into Mike's room – their room. "There you are," he says, but he's not sure if Mike's even heard him. Seems to be preoccupied with his mp3 player, scrolling through a playlist. "I was thinking about making pancakes, ya want some?"

Mike reaches out behind him and waves his hand. "Listen," he urges. With a click of a button, a song starts playing and he spins around to Alex with a big grin.

It takes a few bars for Alex to recognize Mike's selection, but when he does, he smiles too. It's a song he knows all too well, and should have known even before sound reached the speakers. His goofy smile stretches from ear to ear when Mike starts jumping around and singing. It's an off-key rendition, but he'd choose it over the original every single time. He leans against the doorway, soaking it all in. Watches his partner's titillating performance until the chorus hits and then he joins in with some singing and dancing of his own. "We're superstars! We are who we are!" he belts.

When the chorus hits for the second time, Alex rushes over to Mike and snakes his arm around his waist, bringing him as close as possible. They kiss, still moving to the beat, but it's slower, more fluid - a visual in perfect juxtaposition to the upbeat song - and soon it doesn't matter what song is playing because when they make love, anything that exists outside of their union fades into nothingness.

When his surroundings come back into focus, Mike turns inward, gazing at his lover. The sheen layer that coats his body and his face gives the illusion of a glow and Mike is all too satisfied knowing he's the cause of it. He runs his fingers through Alex's dampened hair, captivated by such a sight. "Has any other man ever loved the way I love you?"

The tender ache in Mike's voice is enough to bring Alex to his knees if he were standing. He caresses Mike's cheek, the skin beneath his hand rough to the touch. "Only one," he says, admiring his lover who's radiating with an equally beautiful glow of his own.

Blood pumping in excess, swelling his heart, swelling him between the legs again. Two words holding all the arousing power of Alex's most sumptuous kiss. Mike's desire to flip his partner over is waned only by the prospect of saying something he's often thought but never shared. "When McMahon first told me about you, he said you'd complement me, my style. Turns out he was right about one thing. You're my perfect match in every way, Alex Riley." He runs his thumb over the man's lips, holds his chin with an easy grip. "Kevin." The name rolls off Mike's tongue with barely a whisper and he can't help but smile. "I think I knew the first moment I saw you. Somewhere inside me, I knew you were the one. You walked through the door and you were for me. Just me."

"Oh God," Alex chuckles, bringing his hand up to his forehead as he flashes back to the first time he met Mike. "I was so nervous that day. I can't even tell you how many times I changed my clothes."

"Really? Well, I can assure you it didn't show. I don't think I ever saw anyone command a room like that before."

"You were the only one looking."

Mike blushes. "You noticed."

"I never saw anyone look at me the way you were. How could I have been so blind?"

Mike wonders the same thing about himself - how he couldn't have been conscious of the fact that he was standing in front of the one person who laid claim to his heart, his soul, his whole life even before they ever spoke a word. But as time would prove, it was a discovery process they both needed to experience on their own, at their own pace. It couldn't be forced.

Mike laces his fingers with Alex's, grasping his hand with purpose. "You changed my life."

"I turned it upside down."

It would be very easy for Mike to run down the long list of all the ways that would disprove the negativity of such a remark, but there's no need for a lofty speech. "Remember when you told me that you were glad you lost NXT because in losing you actually won?"

A soft smile, Alex being transported back to the night he kissed Mike for the first time; the moment that would forever mark a division in his life. A poor man discovering treasured gold, a blind man knowing nothing but darkness and seeing the light. Any and every grand cliché, Alex readily assigns to that moment.

"And it took you a while before you understood why you lost when we both knew you should've won." Mike pauses, his eyes starting to well up. His cheeks flushed. He knows they promised not to talk about their situation, not even the circumstances leading up to it, but he needs to say what he's feeling while the words are available and the mood set. "I'm glad we went through all that shit, the time we spent apart."

"That's a nice way of putting it." Alex shifts his legs slightly. He's visibly uncomfortable, always is when they talk about what he did. The wound not yet healed. "But I don't see how."

"Because it made us stronger. Unbreakable. If it wasn't for everything we went through, our trials and tribulations as it were…" Mike giggles, doesn't even have to try being adorable, he just is. That alone easing the tension Alex feels. "I might have taken the easy way out and we wouldn't be here right now."

"If I didn't leave you in the first place, everything would've been different. We wouldn't have kissed in front of everybody and then we wouldn't have to be here right now."

"You don't know that. You said it yourself, one day we'd forget where we were and we'd slip up. It could've happened anyway, at some point down the line, or maybe it already would have months ago, and it would've steamrolled right over us. But this way, we still have a fighting chance. See, everything we went through, it makes it all worth it."

To think such good could have come from all the mistakes he made makes Alex tear up. And for the first time since confessing, he really believes that he has been forgiven. Along with Mike's forgiveness and discovering profound meaning in it all, he can finally let go of all the guilt that's weighed so heavy on his soul. "Thank you, baby," he whispers. Holds the connection long enough for Mike to know how truly grateful he is, then leans in and presses his lips to those of his lover. Nibbles on them, tugging at his lower lip and then moves his munching to Mike's jaw line, then to his neck. "You make me so hungry," he growls. Opens his mouth wide, latching onto Mike's warm flesh, a mild gnawing.

Mike giggles - Alex's kisses far too ticklish and his playfulness, contagious. "I do recall you mentioning something about pancakes."

"That's not your name."

And that's all it takes for Mike to flip Alex over, the flipping of pancakes having to wait.

xxxx

There's a limit to how fast Alex can lace up his boots and he's always been appreciative of that fact. It forces him to slow down, allowing him time to think. Sometimes, he'll completely remove the laces and start from scratch, the repetitive nature of the task being therapeutic. The whole process relaxes him and calms his nerves, but his system doesn't seem to be working as well as it has in the past.

When he's finished with his boots, he ruffles through his bag and finds the white tape he uses to bind his left wrist and forearm with. It helps guard against flare ups from an old football injury. It's a necessity he can't afford to go without when he's in the ring. Round and round he goes, another opportunity he uses to subdue rattling nerves. In his periphery he sees Mike get up from the bench and start pacing briskly; the man's nerves presenting in a much more obvious way. Back and forth, back and forth. This prompts Alex to increase the speed of his revolutions so he can tend to a greater need. Using his teeth, he quickly rips the tape off from the roll, tosses it into his bag and walks over to Mike, catches him from behind. He wraps his arms across the man's belly and his chest. Can feel his heart racing, can feel him hyperventilating.

"Just breathe, baby. Like me." Alex inhales deeply, exhales with steady control. The timing of his breaths dictates the way Mike breathes and he just holds his partner until he's settled down.

Mike leans his head back, rests it on a strong shoulder. "I'm so nervous."

Alex kisses Mike's temple. "It's just a match," he whispers against the man's ear.

Mike turns around, looks to Alex with worried eyes. "It's so much more than a match."

Alex nods. "I know." He runs his hands from Mike's shoulders down his arms, wants to hold his hands, but before he reaches his destination, he feels something he shouldn't: bare wrists. "You forgot your tape."

"Oh shit." Mike relapses, reverts into panic mode again. He darts to his bag, frantically searching its contents for what he needs.

Noticing that Mike's stress levels are skyrocketing, Alex reaches out and rubs the guy's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. Let me."

Mike takes a deep breath, hates feeling so dependent, so incapable, but he backs off anyway, giving Alex space to find the tape.

Alex sits on the bench, his partner standing between his parted knees. He looks up with a sweet smile and Mike feels a great calm wash over him. Never has understood how Alex has that much influence over him - with just a look, with just a touch. He watches as Alex kisses the inside of his wrist in the way he always does, and proceeds to wrap the tape around it. There's something so powerful in such a simple gesture and Mike knows why. He catches his breath, having been here before.

Alex moves to the other wrist, kisses it and wraps it with the same consideration. Rips the black tape and secures it with a firm swipe of his thumb.

Mike holds Alex's face, a tender palm meeting a tender cheek. There was a time when he wanted the world's approval. He never admitted it to anyone, barely even to himself, but he clamored for it. He wanted the world to embrace him as a wrestler, to recognize his talent; he wanted to be popular and liked; to be respected. And more recently and more consciously, he wanted the world to accept him for who he is and who he chooses to spend his life with, not because he needs their approval to justify his choice - or more accurately, his lack thereof - but because he feels like he deserves it. Though, as he's drawn into Alex's ever-steady eyes, his heart still fluttering but no longer because of nerves, he realizes none of that matters anymore because in them, he's already found a world of everything he's ever needed, and more than he could ever want. He smiles softly, stroking Alex's cheek with his thumb. In this moment, this familiar moment, there's only one thing he can think to say and he wouldn't dare deny the urge. "I love you."

Alex presses his hand to Mike's. Melts into his touch. "I love you, too."

The pair linger in the moment they've created, but not for too long. There's still the matter of a certain rematch clause they're more than happy to fulfill.

Alex gets up and walks over to the matching set of tag team titles displayed on the table. "Champ," he says with a reverent nod, handing one over to Mike and then he picks up the one that belongs to him.

Silently, they make their way to the staging area and await their cue.

Mike tries to lose himself in his usual routine - to prepare, to get into character, but he can't concentrate. Can't get a grip on a single thought, his body pulsating from within, pushing coherency out of reach with each pounding beat. He's taken even further from the zone he'd like to enter when a signal is given. It's loud and intrusive. Ten seconds to go. He looks over to his partner who's doing some last minute stretching and as if he's said the man's name out loud, Alex immediately looks to him. "I don't know if this'll work out," Mike says, his thought articulate and most certainly spoken out loud this time.

Alex moves closer to Mike and squeezes the back of his neck affectionately, his eyes saying so much and there's no need to reiterate his promise, but he does anyway. "Win or lose."

Smile is reflected with equally joyous smile as music fills the arena. It's their music, it's their cue, and together, they walk out into the bright lights of the unknown.

xxxx

Paths cross and jut away
And paths converge again
Those souls that were once so close
To fulfilling their heart's contract
Shall have a second chance
Of realizing they share a bond that never breaks
But strengthens merely with existence

And that concludes the absolute greatest thing I've ever done.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading. Seriously. I'd love to hear what you thought about it!

I must say, so much praying and meditation went into writing this story and I know none of it would have been possible without God's help. Not a single sentence.

Convergence is my baby, my pride and joy, and so much more.
It took a year of working on my writing technique and developing it, because I didn't have one. I had to figure out what works and what doesn't work for me, had to figure out what I'm actually capable of (for one thing, I was never, ever going to write a love scene!). And also it gave me a chance to really delve into Mike and Alex as characters before I could even conceive of tackling a project this big, not that I ever had any intentions of writing anything this substantive, and then one day, July 22, 2012 to be exact, I had a burst of true inspiration.

The original idea was going to be a one-shot in which Alex and Mike would accidentally kiss in the ring (obviously, that would later become Chapter 32 – The Moth). But an event that monumental needed meaning behind it, it needed context. It needed a proper build-up and it needed a worthy resolution. It needed these things because it's Mizley and they are that special. And if it was going to take 31 chapters to get to that point then that's exactly what I was gonna do…and what I did do! Before I knew it, the whole story was there, already written, alive and breathing in my head (that sounds weird), and so began a grueling, testing, amazing, year long extraction process. And that's exactly what it was, an extraction process. If you only knew! The closest thing I can equate it to is method acting. What these two guys went through in this story was so real to me, so visceral. And now, almost three months after I finished it, I've officially finished it. HOLY MOLY GUACAMOLE!

This is a story I wish I could share with everyone and so I'm very, very happy to have been able to share it with you. I hope you liked it. No, that's not true. I hope you loved it and want to read it over and over again.