We are alive
Oh, and though we lie alone here in the dark
Our souls will rise to carry the fire and light the spark
To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart
(We Are Alive- Bruce Springsteen)
When they walked back through the curtains everyone was waiting for them. All eyes watching their moves intently.
"Come on." she grabbed his arm and led him to an empty room.
"What's wrong?" he asked her confused.
"Punk I can think of a million reasons why this will not work." She stood before him trembling slightly. He was still in his ring gear which left very little for her imagination. She had never really been into guys with tattoos but she liked his.
"Name some." he challenged her. He was not going to let her go without a fight. He had lost so much time with her once. He was not going through that again.
"We are two different people. You sit there and watch American Horror Story and The Walking Dead. I watch Once Upon a Time and Pretty Little Liars. You listen to bands like Rancid and H20. I love Brad Paisley and Keith Urban. You make references to Star Wars where I do the same to Harry Potter."
"So you are younger with horrible taste in music." He shrugged. He gave her a smirk after he commented on her music taste. He knew that would annoy her. "But can you honestly look me in the eyes and say that you do not want to at least try?"
"No I can't." she replied.
"Well then there is your answer."
Nick burst into the room while both adults were still staring at each other. Both knew where the other stood. He looked at the his cousin and the Chicago native. He went over and tugged on Phil's sleeve. The wrestler stopped looking at Lex and gave the young child his full attention.
"Lex is having a baby." the boy sang happily.
Phil almost swallowed his tongue. "What!" he exclaimed, his eyes whipping back towards the young woman in front of him. She looked just as stunned.
"Nico, what do you mean by that?" Lex asked very carefully.
"Well you kissed Uncle Punk. Everyone knows that when a boy and a girl kiss they have a baby soon after." Lex began laughing. Oh the things that come out of children's mouths.
"Bud, there is a little bit more to it than that. I'm not having a baby."
"But why?"
"Because I am far too young to have one. Besides Uncle Punk doesn't like babies."
Nick turned to the older man. He placed his hands on his hips and gave Phil his best glare. "What you got against babies?"
"I don't have anything against babies Nick." Phil explained. "Who told you that kissing leads to babies?"
"My friend James." Nick answered. "He said his older brother told him."
"Well like Lexie said there is a little more to it than just kissing." Phil replied.
"What else happens?" Phil looked at Lex panicked. She just smirked and motioned her hand for him to continue.
"Well- you see Nick- come on do I really have to do this?"
"Well you are a guy." Lex said. "His dad isn't going to talk to him about it."
"He's like five."
"I'm six."
Phil sighed. "Ok Nick here's the thing. When a man and a woman feel that they are ready to have a baby they show each other their private parts." Lex had to bite down on her cheek to keep from laughing out loud. As it was she was shaking.
"But the whole world just saw your butt. Does that count?"
"No, because you see the man and the woman have to be married. Only married people are allowed to show each other their private parts."
"Ok." Nick shrugged satisfied with the answer he had gotten.
Phil let out a sigh of relief. "I never want to do that again." he said low enough that only Lex heard him.
"Why you're a natural." she mocked him. He flipped her off. "Seriously that was very good. I am proud of you Phil."
"Yea well I am just uncomfortable." Phil replied. "And we are not finished talking."
"Go and take a shower and change your clothes. I promise we will continue this conversation later. I am going to go find Orton and kill him." she momentarily placed her hand on his cheek before grabbing onto Nick's hand and leading the boy away.
Phil watched her go before shaking his head, they would finish their talk if he had anything to say about it. After waiting a few moments he left the room as well, he could hear whispering as he passed people in the hall, he couldn't help but smirk. For once he did not mind being the fodder for the backstage gossip.
–
Lex walked briskly through the backstage looking furiously for a certain third generation star who she would murder slowly and painfully.
"Lexie slow down. I have little legs." Nick complained. Lex was still holding his hand.
Sighing she slowed her pace. "If you see Randy before I do let me know." She informed the little boy.
"Why are we looking for Randy?" Nick asked.
"Because he was bad and I intend on putting him in a really long time out." she explained in a way she thought was appropriate to the six year old.
"Why'd you kiss Uncle Punk for?" the question made Lex stop in her tracks. She turned to look at the small boy.
"What do you mean?" she countered.
"You cannot answer a question with a question." Nick pointed out. "But do you like him? You must if you wanted to kiss him."
"Nico, sometimes adults do things in the spur of the moment." she crouched down so that she was the same size as him.
"So you don't like him?" Nick's face fell. His little eyes welled up with tears. "But Mak and I want you and Uncle Punk to be together. Please."
"Why do you guys call him Uncle Punk?" Lex found herself asking.
"Because that is what he'll be if you guys get married." Nick explained.
"Get married?" Lex laughed. "Are you guys already planning the wedding? And no he would be your cousin, not your uncle."
"But he's so old." Nick pointed out. Lex could not have stopped the snort that left her body if she tried. She quickly covered her face but she could not stop laughing. Nick cocked his head to the side and looked at his cousin with annoyed eyes.
"Sorry dude. It's been a long night. Anyways let's find Randy and kill him."
As it turned out the Legend Killer had been smart and left the arena soon after the last match was over. An even more annoyed Lex caught up with the Straight Edge superstar. He gave her a smile as she made her way towards him. He had been having a conversation with John Cena about something. Cena could only smirk as Lex came to stand before them.
"You find him?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She gave him a look but made no motions to remove them.
"No, the asshole left right after he pushed me through the gorilla." she informed Phil.
The Chicago native nodded. "He's been acting really strange all week." he remarked. Lex titled her head to look up at his face.
"Really? With you too?" Phil looked a little surprised. He had assumed that he was the only one Randy was pestering.
It was then that understanding really hit them both. Randy really wanted them to be together. Why, they were not sure but he really did. "Now Miss Marren I believe we have a talk to finish." They both said goodbye to Cena.
Phil kept his arms around her as they made their way towards the exit of the building. But both stopped when they heard someone calling their names. They both turned around to come face to face with Vince McMahon.
"I expect to see the both of you at the arena first thing in the morning." he told them. His tone was neutral but until right then it hadn't donned on either the wrestler or his best friend that their kiss had been a big deal, to them it was of course, but neither of them took into consideration that it obviously wasn't scripted. They shared a kiss in front of god knows how many live fans. Not to mention neither of them knew if the cameras were still on at that time, so there was a chance that everyone watching the pay-per-view at home had also seen both kisses.
"Umm- Vince I sorta have to catch a plane to go home in a few hours-" Lex started to explain.
"Both of you tomorrow morning." Vince insisted. "Do not make me come looking for you." He walked away from him after that. Lex turned a little green and felt sort of light-headed. Her body sagged against Phil a little.
"It'll be fine." he assured her. They stood there for a minute before Lex felt strong enough to continue moving. She suddenly felt exhausted and emotionally drained.
"Well looks like I am not returning to work tomorrow." she finally said as they made their way to Phil's rental. Phil would not say it out loud but he was kinda grateful to Vince for giving him a little more time.
"So, about our talk." he decided to just jump right back in. He didn't feel like tip-toeing around the subject.
"Look I get what you want and I am not saying that I do not want it as well I just want to think all of this through. The last thing I want is for us to get together and then like a month from now we have a huge fight and then we break up and our whole relationship is ruined. I know it's sounds horribly cliché but I could not survive without you in my life."
He understood her concerns, he really did. He even agreed with everything she was saying. Those few weeks when they were not speaking felt like a lifetime for him. But he was willing to risk it if it meant they had something amazing.
"I get where you are coming from but I have never known you to back down from anything because of what if's" he retorted. "Sure we could break up but at the same time we could have this amazing thing happen and be together for the rest of our lives."
She looked at him surprised. "When you say be together for the rest of our lives what do you mean by that?" she asked. "Like if this were to happen where do you see us in ten or fifteen years?" he was about to turn the car on but he didn't. Instead he rested his hands on the steering wheel and stared straight ahead, he was truly thinking about what she had asked him.
She sat patiently waiting to hear his answer. "I don't know." He looked at her. "I could not tell you what is going to happen a week from now but what I can tell you is that we make each other happy. We understand each other- like I know that no matter what I tell you, you are just going to accept it because you know me like very few people do and the same goes for me about you. Not to mention that people obviously think we are good together seeing as they have literally been harping on us about it. Why not give it a shot."
Lex sighed. "I am not saying no but I am not saying yes either. Let's just sleep on it tonight and then in the morning after we talk to Vince we can go from there." Phil nodded but he couldn't help but be a little disappointed. This was not the answer he wanted, he wanted to be with her. No, it was more like he needed to be with her and that thought scared him to death.
"Alright" he said finally turning the car on. She reached over and placed her hand on top of his. She ran her thumb over the back on his hand, tracing the lettering of his tattoo. She wanted to let him know that in that moment she was there with him. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was rejecting him, because she wasn't. But she was not going to jump into anything half-cocked either.
"You still gonna kill Randy?" Phil asked changing the subject.
"I am undecided at the moment." she replied. "Let's see what happens tomorrow and then we'll go from there. Who knows maybe instead of killing him I'll be thanking him." He liked the sound of that, he really did.