Congrats to my bro ZackRyder hes in the battle royal for the intercontinental title at battleground. hmm what gear tho

Zack grits his teeth as he reads the tweet a few times over, eyes locked on the bunny emoji that punctuates the short missive. "I'm not The Bunny! Dammit," he grunts, almost tossing his phone clear across the room. "Ugh..." He doesn't look at the screen, not wanting his conscience to get the best of him, as he tweets back, simply, I hate you. Gritting his teeth, he tosses his phone towards his bag and zips it up angrily, hoisting it up and leaving the locker room. They have a couple days off and he'll be heading back to Long Island while Dolph flies out in the opposite direction towards Arizona.

He closes his eyes and pinches his nose, shaking his head. He'd been looking forward to the match, just for Dolph's tweet to extinguish most of his hope of walking into this thing without being seen as just some joke, fodder to be thrown out within the first two minutes of the match. Maybe the time apart will be good. Even during their arguments in the past, they'd stayed in the same hotel room or at his apartment, not having the opportunity to breathe without the other one watching.

Even so, when he gets out of his rental and enters the airport, he can't deny just how empty he feels...

-x

Dolph frowns at his phone, grimacing. "Dammit, did it again," he sighs. Things are still up and down with Zack, though they'd been a bit better after the whole Summer and Layla thing, but he's pretty sure the tweet Zack just sent him means he'd undone the progress they'd made in the past few weeks. He was planning on going home, relaxing by the pool, catching up on Arizona responsibilities, maybe check out a few stand up events, and then spend a couple more weeks at Zack's apartment between house shows, but the more he stares at the three, harsh words Zack had sent him, he knows he can't do that.

For a moment, he considers looking for him at the gates, but with heightened security at all airports, he knows it's impossible. Sighing, he drags his bag over to the customer service desk and smiles warily at the woman working there, hoping his charms will push this along. "Excuse me, is there any way I can exchange my ticket to Arizona for one to Long Island?"

The line is long, and he doesn't see Zack anywhere so he suspects they're on different flights, Dolph holding his breath until he's actually on the plane, wedged between two unimpressed men. It's the best he could get at this late hour, however, so he sucks it up and taps his fingers against his knees, waiting impatiently to find Zack, try to make things right again. As personal as things had gotten, even in their breakup all of those years ago, neither of them had ever said hate to the other, and for this reason he can't just let things sit until next week. Of course, he thinks. Zack finally gets another chance at a title belt and this is how I congratulate him... me and my big mouth...

Long Island is warm, bustling, when he lands. There's no sign of Zack in or out of the airport either so Dolph figures that he's left already, paying for a rental car and heading out to find him. His apartment is dark and quiet so Dolph doesn't even bother, continuing on. There are only a few places Zack would bother to go after a lengthy flight so Dolph drives on, bypassing the nearby bar that Zack likes to get Budlight Limes sometimes, heading to the beach. He frowns and digs around in his suitcase, relieved- there's a leftover beach pass there and he holds it at the ready to gain entrance to the parking lot, nodding at the attendant.

Considering the hour, the beach is still really busy, the warm weather drawing families and couples out. Despite this, it isn't that hard to find Zack slumped on a bright purple towel and Dolph nods, kicking sand as he approaches him. "Hey, kid."

Zack tenses and grits his teeth, not bothering to look up at him. "I thought you were going to Arizona."

"Changed my mind," he says simply, sitting down next to him. "Saw your tweet."

Zack huffs and scrapes trails in the sand with his fingernails before standing up and walking towards the water, not even seeming to mind that he's not really in proper swimwear- just a tank top and some shorts. Dolph watches him go, amazed at just how badly he seems to have pissed him off, before going after him. Zack ignores him as he walks through the wake, getting further out into the water.

"Dammit, kid, come on!" Dolph yells, chasing after him. He's tired, and he has a headache, and he'd screwed up a bunch of plans he had for the weekend just to come here, smooth things over with Zack, and he won't even look at him... It's a comedy of errors then, Dolph's distraction working against him as a kid on a surfboard cuts way too close and Dolph has to leap back to avoid getting slammed in the midsection. He lands hard in the water, watching as Zack continues on, unaware of what's going on. "Son of a bitch," he spits, brushing seaweed out of his hair. "Zack!"

The broski ignores or doesn't hear him over the wind and waves so Dolph forces himself up to his feet, unaware of the changes in the water as he gets deeper out, only just keeping Zack in sight as he swims further. Never that strong of a swimmer, Dolph does the best he can even when the water gets deep enough to make him uncomfortable, his breath catching in his throat when Zack disappears from sight completely. "What the-?!" His curse is disrupted when something tickles against his foot and he yelps, losing traction and slipping underwater for just a second, but enough time to inhale a small amount of water.

He struggles up to the surface and gasps in air, completely out of his element and uncertain where he's at now. "Dammit, dammit, dammit," he groans. It's then that he realizes the current is strong in this spot, taking him with it and he pales, the awareness of just how bad this really is washing over him. He fights against it but he's aware the more he does, the better his chances are of going under again, so he tries to conserve his strength while remaining in sight of the beach. "This would make for the lamest headline ever," he whispers to himself, voice hitching in his throat at the thought of not even getting the chance to apologize to Zack- again- when there's a splash not far away and arms wrap around his midsection, drawing him away from the current and back onto the sand.

"Ugh, God," he wheezes, leaning into the arms of his rescuer and glaring over his shoulder. "Dammit, kid. What were you doing this far out?"

"I wasn't this far out, bro," he says, sounding a little shaky. "I turned off and didn't see you, so I thought you gave up following me... but then I looked back and saw you struggling..." He presses his face into Dolph's slowly fading dye job and shakes his head. "Might not have noticed if not for your hair, bro," he mumbles.

Dolph turns around in his arms and stares up at him, deciding not to waste any more time. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? That tweet I sent was stupid, I deserved your anger. Some of these things, they're an easy target and it brings out the worst in me." He sighs. "Will you forgive me... again?"

Zack still looks shaken from Dolph's close call, searching his face. "Yeah, bro, sure," he mumbles, before kissing Dolph. "Just don't scare me like that again, alright? These currents aren't anything to play in... if I hadn't seen you..."

Dolph strokes his arms, smirking vaguely. "I'm ok. Really, kid. Can we leave now?"

Zack nods and takes his hand, leading him back up the beach to where his towel is, collecting it and the other stuff of his scattered around before they head for the car. "Didn't you have things to do in Arizona this weekend, bro?"

Dolph groans, his to-do list for the coming week multiplying. "Don't remind me." Even so, he can't help but smile as Zack wraps an arm around him. Definitely worth it.