Next instalment is here as promised ;) Let me know what you think, lots of plotlines crossing over here so I want to know if you likey or dislikey ;) Plenty of excitement and drama to come ;) This chapter is named after Deadly Game by Theory of a Deadman.
Once again, I do not own the WWE or any of its employees. I only own Amber. I am in no way suggesting the story reflects real life, it is entirely fictional. Nor would I ever want any of this to ever be true - except maybe the snuggle parts :) It's just a made-up story. I also do not own any of the songs mentioned in this story at any point, I just like them. Thank you for reading.
The excruciatingly tense atmosphere made me surprised no one else in the room had noticed the altercation happening. I was stood facing Nikki with Nattie, Beth and Maryse either side of me. Brie hung back tentatively behind her twin, Wade and Phil poised angrily behind me, Phil still holding firm on Nikki's arm.
"Phil" Beth warned in a low voice. He ignored her, staring daggers at Nikki who was trying to free herself. Phil pushed through us, backing Nikki up against the wall. "Phil!" Beth shouted, louder this time. He still ignored her warnings, pushing Nikki down onto the nearest seat and standing over her, giving her no route to escape. Brie stayed rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do. Wade remained as he was, making no move to stop Phil, nor leave the confrontation.
I wasn't aware of much of what was going on around me but I saw Mike take Maryse's hand and pull her away from the group. He gestured to Nattie and Beth to follow him. They shook their heads, choosing to stay and intervene if necessary. I felt him take hold of my hand and try to pull me away too but I resisted. "Amber…come on" he asked again, hoping to get as many of us away as he could. I shook my head stubbornly. Maryse followed him as they moved to a table where Mike could help if he was needed but was a safe distance from what was happening. He put his arm around her, protecting his girlfriend.
Phil was visibly shaking with anger. I hoped he could control it, but I couldn't help thinking that Nikki was infuriating enough to push even the best of men to do something they would regret.
"Who the fuck…do you think you are?" he growled, leaning over her. No answer.
"What the fuck do you know about any of us? You can say what the fuck you want about me…I really don't give two shits…but don't you EVER fucking talk about Kelly like that again!" he yelled in her face as Beth tried to pull him back. He shook her grasp from his arm and continued. "I don't like bullies; never have, never will. You need to stay the fuck away from Amber and Wade…okay? You need to stop being such a bitch!" he shouted, breathing heavily. The fact that she just sat and smirked up at him only increased his anger.
"Phil" I said, trying to get his attention, hoping he was done. I hated Nikki, I hated her so much, but I didn't want anyone to get arrested over it. She wanted a reaction, and she was getting one. Finally, Nikki piped up with her response.
"What's wrong Phil? Don't like to hear the truth?" she asked in a mock-innocent voice, pouting. "Don't you agree? You can't hold down a relationship, you're not the kind of guy who settles down, you know as well as I do you'll get bored before you can say 'third trimester'. She's not the kind of girl you like anyway, thought you liked girls with brains" she giggled.
Phil clenched a fist and drew it back. Brie audibly whimpered, seeing the fire in his eyes and the danger her sister was in.
"Phil no!" Beth shouted at him as he braced himself, rage coursing through his body.
Nikki brought her hands up to protect her face as Phil's fist propelled itself forward with force, causing a thundering impact. My hands covered my eyes, unable to watch. I peered from behind them, seeing his fist against the wall, mere centimetres from her head, knuckles pouring with blood. A collective sigh of relief spread over us.
"Phil" a small voice emerged from behind us. He swung around, knowing who it was. "Leave her, she's not worth it" she said quietly.
"I meant it…stay the fuck away from us" he growled before reluctantly following Kelly away.
"Knew you wouldn't have the balls to do anything about it though, because you know it's true!" she shouted to him as he left. Brie walked over to her, scolding her before dragging her outside, embarrassed.
I looked over at Beth, then back at Phil and Kelly. They were at the table, Phil sitting with his head in his hands trying to calm down. I turned around, expecting to find Wade, he was gone. Beth's eyes followed mine.
"Where did Wade go?" she asked. I shook my head, clueless. All three of us made our way to the table where Kelly and Phil sat. I was still reeling from what Nikki had said. I thought I was over it, but her words rang in my ears. "Wade doesn't care about you, he cheated on you first chance he got…"
Mike came over with an ice pack, handing it to Kelly before sitting down next to me. "Are you okay?" he asked, putting his arm around me. I nodded, appreciative of his support. Kelly took a napkin and wiped away some of the blood from Phil's knuckles, he winced at the pain. He didn't lift his head or make eye contact as she held the ice pack over his hand. There was an uneasy silence at the table, everyone looking uncomfortably from Kelly to Phil and back to me, wondering what we were thinking. I broke it.
"Kelly…" I said quietly. She looked up upon hearing her name. "Have you seen Wade?" I asked, beginning to worry about where he'd gone and why.
She shook her head sadly. "Sorry" she replied, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand. Phil looked up.
"How much of that did you hear?" he asked her, speaking finally.
"Enough" she replied. "I assume she said something before you decided to pin her against the wall though" she quipped.
"Are you pissed at me?" he asked, looking back down at the table.
She sighed. "No, she provoked you and I'm glad you didn't do anything stupid" she said, kissing his cheek. "But those things she said about you, I know they aren't true, so that's all that matters" she reassured him.
"But it's not what she said about me" he said, blood boiling at the memory. "It's how she runs her mouth about you, and about Wade and Amber…trying to upset people every fucking chance she gets" he growled.
Kelly sighed again, rubbing his neck. "She's just trying to provoke people" she squeezed my hand again.
"I'm gonna go find Wade" I said, squeezing past them to get out.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Mike asked. "Do you want me to come with you?"
I shook my head. "Be careful…don't leave the building okay?" he said, acting like an over-protective big brother.
"I'll be fine" I smiled at him, giving his arm a squeeze before wandering towards the bathrooms. I pushed the door of the males open and shouted. He wasn't in there. He wasn't at the bar or with Heath and Justin either. I was planning on giving up until I saw the fire exit. There were a few people coming in, having been outside smoking. I stepped out, the cold night air hitting my arms. I heard something so popped my head around the corner. I froze, doing a double-take, not believing my eyes.
Maryse, long hair flowing over her shoulders as she wrapped herself around a big man with dark hair. I breathed a little sigh of relief, at least it wasn't Wade. He sucked at her neck, running his hands all over her. My heart dropped into my stomach, realising what was going on. Maryse was cheating on Mike. I tore my eyes away, hearing another voice from the other side of the wall. I tried to push her infidelity to the back of my mind as I continued searching for Wade.
I found him, leaning against the wall on the phone. He didn't look like he'd calmed down much and it had been quite a while since he'd disappeared. He stopped the conversation when he saw me.
"Just a second" he said before putting his hand over the speaker of the phone.
"What's going on Wade? Why are you out here?" I asked.
"Just got a phone call that's all" he said, trying to act casual.
"From who?" I asked sceptically.
"Vince, it's important, I kinda need to get back to it" he said quickly. "Sorry sweetie, I'll be back in soon I promise" he said, giving me a small smile before pointing towards the door. I sighed and reluctantly left. I stopped dead on the other side of the wall when I heard him continue his conversation, thinking I was already inside.
"I'm not happy at all. Have you really tried? It's not right…No…I can't make her do that…not after everything…No…No…I won't talk to her about it…I'm telling you now that I don't want this to happen…there must be another way…it's too much to deal with right now…No way in hell…I'm sorry Sir but surely you can see where I'm coming from here…" he said angrily.
"I disagree; Amber doesn't need to know about it yet…it's not appropriate, surely they can see that? They must have other cases like this…I know…I know you talked to them…but is this really the only option? It was just getting better…I don't want to put this on her" he sighed, frustrated.
I panicked…he was talking about me. But why? What was he arguing about? What wasn't he telling me?
"Okay…yeah…we'll talk about it tomorrow…but I'm not changing my opinion on this" he said before hanging up. He walked around the corner and froze, seeing I was still outside.
"Shit…Amber…how long have you been there?" he asked, knowing he'd been rumbled.
"Wade…what the hell?" I asked, scared now.
He sighed deeply, pressing his forehead to the wall. "Fuck" he muttered under his breath.
Just then, Maryse rushed around the corner, flattening out her hair. She jumped in surprise upon seeing us out there too. "Hey" she smiled as she made her way inside as if nothing had happened. She clearly had no idea I knew what she was up to. I resisted the urge to shake her and ask her what the hell she was doing. I focussed my attention back on Wade who remained silent against the wall.
"Wade…are you gonna tell me what's going on?" I asked quietly, totally confused by it all. It felt like a mist had descended over my brain, where nothing made any sense; not what I'd seen with Maryse and certainly not the strange phone conversation. Seemingly making a decision in his head, he turned to face me.
"Its fine, I have it sorted. Forget it" he said, moving to lead me back inside. I pulled my arm away. He looked at me, frustrated. "Please Amber…just drop it" he asked.
"But you were talking about me…" I reasoned.
"It's fine…I told you, nothing for you to be concerned with" he sighed.
"Wade…if you're discussing me with Vince…and you said you didn't think I needed to know but Vince clearly does - if that was even Mr McMahon on the phone…I think I should know…" I said worriedly.
"Amber…you should trust me by now…if I don't tell you something…I have a good reason" he argued.
"But if it's about me, why do you get to make the decision about whether to tell me or not? Why isn't Vince talking to me about it?" I asked, annoyed at being kept in the dark.
"Because it doesn't just concern you, it's me too…" he reluctantly admitted. "But as I said, I'm trying to sort it…I don't want you being concerned with it when I might be able to fix it okay?" he said, trying not to give anything away but only provoking more questions in my mind.
"Well I am concerned with it now! I heard you, now I'm worried so you might as well tell me" I argued as the cold air bit into my arms. I held back a shiver.
"Let me put it this way…once I've told you, I can't take it back…I really think it's better for you not to know right now okay? Why can't you trust me with that?" he asked, trying not to let this escalate into a shouting match.
"This is what all the edginess has been about all week…it must be something important…just put yourself in my shoes for a second…it's not nice being kept in the dark" I told him.
"That's what I am doing Amber! I know what's best for you right now! Putting myself in your shoes, I know that I'm doing the right thing!" he yelled, getting mad.
"How can you know what's best for me?" I asked, getting upset. I hate it when he shouts; tonight really had sucked. I bit back tears. His expression softened as he pulled me into his chest.
"I'm sorry…I fucking failed…you shouldn't have heard that…but I promise you Amber, everything I'm doing is to protect you…trust me…when you need to know…you will" he said, rubbing my back. The word 'protect' rang in my ears. Fear settled in my stomach. What was he protecting me from?
He had managed to convince me to come back inside without further questioning and I sat down once more beside Mike. I struggled to hide the look of disgust on my face when Maryse began making out with him, practically eating his face. If only he knew where that mouth had just been. I shook the thoughts away, telling myself it was none of my business. I felt a pang of guilt seeing the look in his eyes when she pulled away and smiled at him. Fuck, he was falling for her.
Phil was chatting away to Mike about a vacation they'd been on a few years ago, holding onto Kelly's hand by his side. I was starting to zone out.
"What's wrong Amber?" Mike asked, as I realised I was being stared at.
"Nothing, just sleepy" I said, flashing him a forced smile. He put his arm around me, sensing there was a problem but understanding I wasn't up for talking about it. I thought to myself, he's so lovely, he doesn't deserve this…who in their right mind would give up someone like Mike for a fling?
My blood boiled as she leaned in and started nibbling on his ear. He let go of me and laughed. "Hey you, stop it" he smiled, kissing her neck.
That pushed me over the edge. I stood up and made my way out to the back again, finding it harder and harder to keep up my pretence of being fine in front of my friends. I heard Wade and Mike shout after me to ask where I was going but I pretended not to hear. I really couldn't be bothered to make up an excuse in that moment.
I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes for a second and breathing deeply. Damn had tonight been stressful. I heard someone join me and knew immediately who it would be. He waited a while before speaking.
"How come you're out here?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
"Just needed some air" I told him, running my hands through my hair.
He sat down on the bench next to him and pulled me onto his lap. I fought to get free of his grasp, not really in the mood for cuddling but he refused to let go, tickling me into submission. I sighed, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"What's getting you down?" he asked, knowing he was in danger of starting another argument. I stayed silent for a little while, thinking.
"…Wade…can I ask you something? …Like completely off topic?" I asked, chewing the inside of my cheek.
"…yeah" he answered, furrowing his brow.
"Maryse is cheating on Mike…" I started, not sure if I should continue. Saying it out loud made it real.
"…and you're gonna ask if you should tell him right?" he said after a pause. I nodded.
"Well firstly, you need to be sure something's going on" he said, rubbing soothing circles on my back.
"What would you do?" I asked, biting my lower lip anxiously.
"I wouldn't say anything" he said honestly, as if it was the obvious answer.
"But why?" I asked, confused at his answer.
"Because he's a guy. Guys don't like their pride dented by being the last person to know. Secondly, there's a chance he won't believe you and say you're just stirring things. As a guy, I think he'd prefer to find out on his own. What if it was a one-time thing and she doesn't do it again? It's their relationship, you have to be careful getting involved in it" he reasoned.
"But surely it'll hurt his pride more if he finds out that it's been going on ages and he didn't know…it doesn't matter if it was a one-time thing, and I'm telling you, it didn't look like a one-time thing…he's one of my best friends Wade…" I sighed, torn.
"I think if you tell him, it's gonna cause everyone more problems, it's only my advice, but I think it makes things easier for everyone if you don't tell him" he said, playing with my hair.
"But the easy way isn't necessarily the right way…I'd want to know…" I said, voice trailing off.
"You honestly think he'd tell you if roles were reversed?" he asked quietly.
I thought about that for a while. "Yes. I do. I think he'd tell me" I nodded. "He looked after me Wade, when I didn't have anyone else…I think I have to do the same for him, even if it turns out to be the wrong decision, my conscience won't let me just watch him be played…" I whispered.
"If that's what you want to do, then you should do it but all I'm saying is, don't expect him to fall at your feet in gratitude" he advised.
"I wouldn't be doing it for gratitude Wade, I don't want thanks, I wish I hadn't seen it. I don't want to lose him as a friend though…" I said, worrying again. He pulled me into him and kissed the top of my head.
"I think you've made your mind up, just try not to stress over it" he said, taking off his black suit jacket and draping it over my shoulders. He lifted me up, placing me back down on my feet once we were both standing. "Come on now princess, you're getting foundation on my nice white shirt" he winked. I smiled a little at that. He kissed my cheek and led me back inside.
People were starting to leave; most of those left were canoodling couples. Nattie was dancing with Heath, Justin with Layla and Maryse was wrapped around Mike who wasn't protesting. Not much into public displays of affection, Phil and Kelly were chatting and laughing back at the table. Though I had enjoyed the night and seeing legends of the WWE, it was mostly a competition for best dressed among the wives and Divas. It seemed that gathering so many stars in one building increased tension, several drunken fights having broken out over the evening.
Wade and I sat back down at the table, joining in the conversation.
"Hey Phil, where do you get your tats done?" Wade asked, opening up a long conversation about body art. Kelly took the opportunity to enquire about my absence.
"You feeling okay?" she asked gently.
"Yeah, just trying to think about too many things at once" I smiled. She opened her mouth to answer and winced, recoiling.
"Are YOU okay?" I asked, worried.
"Yeah" she nodded, breathing deeply. "You know if you have anything bothering you I'm always here" she smiled, winking.
"Thank you, same for you" I smiled. It was drawing near to 2am now and Justin, Layla, Heath and Nattie had said goodbye and retired to their warm hotel beds. Beth waved to me as she left to meet her taxi.
Kelly whimpered slightly from behind me as I said goodbye to John. I swung around to see her clutching the side of her stomach. I shot to her side.
"Kelly seriously, you don't look okay" I said quickly.
"It's okay honestly…it's just the cramps again, it's every night, I'm used to it now" she told me. I told her to let me know immediately if they got too much and we joined the boys in conversation.
"I was telling Kelly last night, just lately I've been getting niggling little things, like pain in my elbows and stuff. I won't take painkillers, it's just annoying. I'm hoping I'm too young for arthritis at the moment" Phil laughed.
"With me it's my back, but it's not been bothering me much lately so I've been lucky there" Wade replied.
"Luck is for losers mate" Phil winked.
Kelly drew a sharp breath as another pain hit her. All three of us turned to look at her this time. "Are you alright Kelly?" Wade asked concerned. She nodded; embarrassed that she'd interrupted conversation.
"Are they bad?" Phil asked, forcing her to look at him.
"Yeah but its okay, no worse than normal, I'll be fine" she insisted. "Just popping to the bathroom" she said, leaving quickly. I shared a look with Wade and Phil and followed her.
I found her hunched over the sink, gritting her teeth. "Kelly, you need to go home and lie down" I told her, placing a hand on her lower back. There were tears in her eyes.
"I'm not ruining another night" she insisted.
Phil pushed the door open a little and peered in.
"You do know this is the ladies right?" Kelly quipped from the sink.
"Come on Kel, you need to go back to the hotel" he said, grabbing onto her hand.
"I'm fine, I told you it's fine" she said angrily.
"You're not fine, we're going back, it's late and we both need to lie down after tonight" he smiled, supporting her as he led her out.
"I'm sorry" she whispered as they left.
"Don't apologise, it's not your fault" he reassured her.
He winked at me as they said goodbye, grabbing a taxi home. I watched as Maryse grinned seductively at Mike, pulling him outside with intentions that were far from innocent. Wade checked his phone again. Yep, tonight was definitely not one of my best.
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