Thanks to therealchamps, nic-002001, xj0j0x and TwinPhoenixOfDark. Y'all watch Smackdown tonight? Who else is missing Wade Barrett besides me?
Chapter 52: Wild Ones
Sitting in the booth next to Wade, across from Heath and Justin, Riley took a sip of her glass of coke, trying to contain her laughter. It had been far too long since she had laughed so hard that tears poured out of her eyes and yet she couldn't remember a time when she felt so genuinely pleased with what was going on in her life that she could relax enough to laugh.
Slamming her open palm against the table, Riley managed to silence the three boys sitting with her. She looked at them, a serious expression on her face. Justin and Heath looked a little bit nervous at her expression, Wade just relaxed against the back of the booth, waiting for her to speak again. Slowly and surely her lips twisted into a wicked grin before she burst out into laughter yet again, not totally getting over hearing about how Wade and Randy showed up in Massachusetts after she had already gone.
It wasn't something she knew about until that night. She wasn't there obviously and John had neglected to mention that her competing male companions had arrived at John's house just a few hours after she had left. She found it absolutely hysterical how neither man had thought to call her first, she certainly would have told Wade that she was no longer in West Newbury if he had simply contacted her, saving him from an awkward journey with Randy.
"I still cannot believe it." Riley giggled, leaning against Wade, basking in his embarrassment. For once she wasn't the one who had been embarrassed, no thanks to her ADD.
"I beat him there." Wade stated with a smug smirk, Riley laughing harder at his arrogance. Justin laughed along with Riley, finding the girl laughing hysterically even funnier than the story itself.
"But all you had to do was call." Riley shot back, a grin still present on her face. "I wasn't avoiding you, you knew that. If you called me, I generally answered."
"I got caught up in the whole thing okay."
"Wade man, I wish I would have been there to see the look on Orton's face though." Justin chuckled, taking a swig from his glass of beer.
"When he found out that I lied to him about you being-"
"Well wait a second." Riley cut him off, sliding her palms out across the table, stretching her arms.
"What?"
"I get that you told him I was knocked up so that he would tell you where I was but why would he go and tell everyone that you sent me away?" Riley pondered, sliding her arms back towards her body, lifting them off the table.
Justin leaned in closer, wanting to hear every word that Wade was going to say in order to answer her question. Heath lifted his beer glass to his lips and chugged the remaining half of it, lifting his hand into the air to try to get the attention of the waitress. Riley crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Wade, not angry but suddenly not as joyful as she was mere minutes before.
"I assume to make me out to be the bad guy."
"But what would that do for him?" Heath inquired, asking exactly what Riley had wanted to know.
"So he could play the hero." Wade shrugged, not too concerned about what other superstars thought of him, true or not.
Riley let out a sigh and turned to face Wade straight on. She had never completely understood exactly what he had endured while she was absent and now she was starting to piece it together. If she could have gone back in time, she would have done everything completely differently, starting at how she broke up with Randy Orton.
"And you just let him make you out to be this huge asshole?" Riley questioned, looking at Wade with a sad expression. She didn't really want to know what exactly she had caused but she could no longer remain oblivious to what Randy did to Wade while she was gone.
"I have nothing to prove to anyone, they can think what they bloody well want to."
"You're okay with that?" Heath piped in.
"When those people are Punk, Ryder and Kelly Kelly, yes I am okay with that. They mean nothing to me, they have their opinion of me and I'm not going to waste my breath trying to change it."
Riley slid across the booth and pressed her hip against his thigh, wrapping her arms around his middle as she did so. Taken aback, Wade hesitantly slipped his arm around her shoulders and held her against him as she laced her fingers with his. Justin smiled at the two of them, Heath talking to the waitress who had just wandered over, taking his order for more beers all around and wandering away.
"Hey Riley." Heath called over the table, breaking her out of her trance. She was thankful that she had Wade, a man who didn't care what other people thought and loved her no matter what happened.
"What?" She asked back, her voice almost shy.
"Well, you know how Wade was going to propose to you-"
"No!" Riley broke in, moving away from the Englishman, ripping her hand away from his as she stared at him in utter disbelief.
"Oh you didn't know." Heath mumbled, watching as Riley stared at Wade, her eyes wide with fear or shock, maybe a combination of both.
"Way to go man." Justin barked, punching his read headed comrade in the arm.
Wade just looked at her, trying to read her expression. He was unsure of what was going through her mind at that moment. Shock at what he had thought about before she left? Fear of actually being in a committed relationship? Maybe she was thinking he was absolutely psycho for wanting to marry a girl after less than a year of being together.
"You were going to propose?" She asked, forcing the words out through her tightening throat.
"He had a ring picked out and everything." Justin added, a smile forming on his face. The young South African had a soft spot in his heart for Riley and he thoroughly believed that her and Wade belonged together, like Cinderella and Prince Charming or peanut butter and jelly.
"Tell me you didn't." She pleaded, glancing from Wade to Justin then back to Wade, not totally wanting to believe Justin, Wade remaining silent since the beginning of the marriage topic.
"I love you." Wade whispered, reaching his large hand out towards her, his palm resting on the side of her cheek. Justin and Heath just looked at Riley, waiting for her next move.
She tilted her head into his palm and relaxed her arms away from her chest. She nuzzled her cheek against his hand and leaned forward, shifting back across the seat, closing the gap between them. Moving her face away from his touch, she turned to face Justin and spotted the large smile on the former Corre member's face. She then turned her attention to Heath and suddenly felt embarrassed, the smile on his face not quite as large as Justin's but still very much present.
"You wanted to marry me?" She questioned, wrapping her fingers around his bicep, her voice low.
"He still does!" Heath grinned, his body jerking as Wade kicked his shin under the table.
"You still do?" Riley changed her question ever so slightly, the answer though, would mean so much more.
"Yes." Wade breathed, scared as to what she would do as soon as she found out. Her mentally prepared himself for her to move away from him, maybe even run out of the restaurant, never to be seen near him again.
Riley melted into his embrace and pressed her ear against his chest, listening to his heart pound inside his ribcage. She let out a small smile before shifting her head from his chest to his shoulder, placing a small kiss on his jaw, feeling Wade relax a little bit as she did so. She wasn't going to run away, yes she was still a little afraid of marriage but she wasn't about to run away from the one man she couldn't bare to live without.
"We're in Vegas soon for the Raw Supershow." Justin smirked, bluntly hinting towards them.
"Hell no Gabriel, I am not getting hitched in Vegas!" Riley shot back, not even thinking about the reaction she would receive.
"Alright." Justin looked at her, trying to hide his smile.
Wade let out a growl at his two male friends before squeezing Riley's shoulders a little tighter in his grasp. She moved her hands and set her palms on the table, watching now as the waitress reappeared, setting three glass of beer, as well as another Coke for Riley, onto the table.
Heath just watched her as she took a sip of her new glass of Coke, memories from the last time they were out as a group flooded his mind. He remembered her asking if he was upset at people staring at him, suddenly wondering what she meant.
"Can I ask you something?" Heath asked, breaking into the cute little moment going on across the table.
"Um sure." Riley replied, a little uneasy at his tone.
"Remember how you asked me if it bothered me to catch people staring?"
"Yeah." She nodded slowly, wondering where he was going with his thoughts.
"Why?"
Riley shifted her gaze to Wade, he nodded at her, urging her to explain to him what was going on in her head. She took his nod as one of reassurance and focused her eyes on the two guys across the table from her, neither one knowledgeable with her disorder.
"I have ADD." Riley let out a sigh of relief once the words were out.
Heath and Justin just stared at her, Heath's eyes widening at her confession. Wade gently squeezed her shoulders and glared at the two across from him, wondering what was going to come out of their mouths next. He was a little bit afraid of them hurting her feelings after she had worked so hard to get back on track.
"Like you get distracted easily?" Justin asked, breaking the silence, feeling Wade's glare on him.
"I used to. In order to be a part of the Corre, I had to start taking my medication. Before that though, yes, I got distracted easily."
"That explains so much." Heath nodded, a goofy grin taking over his lips.
"Um, ok?" Riley just looked between the two of them, Wade letting out a low chuckle.
"We just thought you were a little slow." Justin admitted, blushing at his statement.
"You thought I was stupid?" Riley asked, her tone clearly full of anger.
"Not stupid, slow." Heath corrected, smiling at her, trying to make her feel a little better.
"Oh my god, you thought I was stupid!" Riley barked at them.
Justin tried to fight off a fit of laughter but upon seeing her glare, he couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. Heath took one look at Justin busting a gut laughing before he too joined in, Wade chuckling at his cohorts behaviour. The only one left not laughing was Riley, she simply stared at them, only joining in when Justin slapped Heath on the shoulder, trying to catch his breath.
Riley stopped laughing at the sight of CM Punk standing at the end of the table, looking at them, wondering what on earth could possibly be so funny. Quickly following Riley's lead, the three former Corre members fell silent, Wade's muscles tensing at the sight of the Chicago native staring at his girl. Justin shied away, hunching over in the booth, Heath occupying himself by drinking more of his beer.
"You know I am truly shocked." Punk stated, setting his hands on the edge of the table, curling his fingers around the wooden tabletop.
"At what?" Riley asked, seemingly the only one who could find her voice in his presence.
"After everything that man," he pointed at Wade, "did to you, you're still cozying up next to him. I thought you were smarter than that."
"He didn't do anything." Riley argued back, remaining strong even though his sadistic smirk made her nervous.
"You're even dumber than I thought if you believe that."
"Oh Jesus fuck, you are an asshole." Riley said with a roll of her eyes, not wanting to deal with his ludicrous behaviour.
CM Punk just looked at her, refusing to break eye contact with her. He was trying to intimidate her, she knew it, she didn't back down. She was tired of backing down. When her and Punk dated, she was generally the one being pushed around, not in a physical way but he was always in control. It was his way or no way and she was done giving up, done backing down. Riley was ready to just clock him like she had wanted to do since they ended things.
"I never sent you away." Punk shrugged, knowing he was getting under her skin.
"No but you also never did anything to make me feel good about myself either." She shot back, Punk slightly taken aback. No one had ever spoken to him like that, at least no one of the female variety.
"I just thought you would be smart enough to realize that you mean nothing to him." Punk stated, jerking his head in Wade's direction.
"And I thought you were smart enough to realize when you're no longer welcome into my life." She snarled, getting vicious now. Wade tightened his grip on her, watching in awe as she stood up for herself against one of the biggest superstars in the WWE. She was doing quite well at not backing down.
"I think you should leave." Wade growled before Punk could even open his mouth to say another word.
With one last glare at Riley, Punk turned on his heel and walked away, trying to show that he was unaffected by her words. Riley looked at Justin, then at Heath and finally she settled her gaze on Wade, a small smile forming on her lips.
"You know you will never, ever, be able to 'send me away' right?" She asked, waiting for him to recognize her unwillingness to budge on the situation.
"I believe you." Wade nodded, not even wanting to think about sending her away.
"If you ever get the chance, feel free to clock him in the jaw." Riley nodded with a smile, the three guys letting out a laugh at her, the table falling back into its amusing atmosphere.
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