Title~ Texas Grace (3/?)
Author~ Cristal
Email~ Talis13@yahoo.com
Rating~ PG13
Disclaimer~ All characters belong to the WWE. ;)
My group~ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cristal-FanFic you should go and join my group: might be a good idea if you like what I write. ^^ Feel free to step over the shameless plug above…lol…
Notes~ Roster split IS in effect.
Summary~ Lita finds an unexpected savior…
He paused at the door: 313. Well, that was what he said. Now he just prayed that he was right. Otherwise he'd have a hell of a time trying to explain himself out of that one. Taking a calming breath, he knocked at the door, waiting a moment. He heard a shuffle behind the door, probably deciding whether or not to open it. He was relieved as the door opened slightly, the chain still up. On bright hazel eye looked out. He nodded. "Hey. Got a minute?"
"Yeah. Just give me a second."
He nodded, waiting in the middle of the hallway as she shut the door. He heard the lock slide back and the door opened. He stepped in at her gesture. And stopped as a surprised burnette came back into the room from the bathroom. She was wrapped up in a big terry robe and looking shocked: big surprise. Of all the people she probably expected to see, he ranked about: five millionth most likely. He shuffled nervously a moment. "Uh, hey Molly."
"...hey Bradshaw..." she shook her head after a moment before looking at Lita with a gleam in her eye. "I'll leave you two alone. I'll be down with Trish and Jackie."
"Molly it's not-" Lita rolled her eyes as Molly passed, giving her thumbs up.
Bradshaw looked on in modest interest as Lita blushed slightly, slamming the door behind Molly. She turned back towards him after she managed to regain control of her blush. "Just ignore her. It doesn't usually help, but you never know."
"Okay..."
"Please, have a seat." he nodded, sitting in one of the chairs at the table, leaving Lita to take the other. "So, what's going on?"
He watched her settle back into the chair, the tiredness obvious in her gaze. His eyes made a quick sweep over her before his brows creased at her bandaged hand. He nodded in the general direction. "What happened?"
She looked up, almost forgetting about her self-inflicted pain. She shrugged, pointing back at the mirror: or rather where the mirror was formerly. Molly had found the mess with Lita right in the middle when she came in, and she helped clean everything up and take care of her hand. He arched an eyebrow at her and she shrugged again, the sadness never leaving her eyes. "The mirror and I had an unfriendly meeting."
He looked from her to the mirror and back again. "Pissed?"
She hesitated a moment. "Something like that."
"Because of Heyman?"
She sighed as she looked back over at him. "I thought I told you not to get involved in this."
He nodded, running a hand through his hair once more: it was an unconscious nervous habit. "I know you did Lita. And I really wanted to maintain that. I was doing good all evening with it even. But then I was brought to the painful conclusion that I'm deeply involved already. And I don't even want to admit who pointed that out..."
She folded her hands on the tabletop, looking at the bandage wrapped around her right hand. He waited, watching as she continued to avoid is gaze. One hand was in a fist, turning her knuckles white with the strain. He heard her breath hitch slightly as she tried to keep from crying in front of a man she really didn't know that well at all... "It's my fault you know..."
He almost didn't hear her. "What?"
"It's my fault. I'm the reason they're giving you hell. And I'll be the reason they give you hell for who knows how long after this. They will continue to do so no matter what...at least until I give Heyman what he wants..."
He moved so fast, she didn't even see him until he was kneeling right next to her on the floor, looking up as he grabbed her hand from the table. "I hope you aren't going to give into that bastard Lita. Please don't tell me you are-"
"It's the only option I've got Bradshaw!!" she cried out, yanking her hand from him as she looked down. "People are going to keep getting hurt until I-"
He pulled her from the chair, hugging her close to himself. Her body molded to his as he looked down at her, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. He just held her a moment, wanting to ease her worry, if only a little bit. "Listen to me Lita..."
She looked up at the dusky drawl in his voice, watching the colors in his eyes shift as he spoke. She never really looked into his eyes like that before: his eyes were pretty. Dark brown...but warm. He brushed her hair back from her face. "I'll take care of myself, okay? The only thing you need to worry about right now is staying away from that son of a bitch. About the last thing you need is to jeopardize your career by getting with him. But that isn't even the most important thing..."
"W-what?"
He sighed gently, his fingers tracing down the side of her face. "Your happiness and what you want for YOU. No one else. That should always be your top priority: never settle for less than you deserve. And you deserve the world. Never forget that."
She watched as he talked: he was being so honest. She couldn't say no to him even if she tried. And the fact that he believed what he said and that he genuinely felt she had the choice was comforting. She laid her hand over his that was still at her cheek, her hand dwarfed by his as she pressed her cheek against his palm. "Thank you..."
He was still. He didn't want to move and scare the hell out of her or anything. That and he was afraid of what he might do if he DID move. He waited until she let go of him, sending the slightest of smile in his direction before she sat on the edge of the bed across from the table. He sat back on one of the chairs as she leaned back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to dump anything on you or anything..."
"That's all right," he replied softly as he watched her. "But I needed to talk to you."
She nodded knowingly as they sat back to speak.
Molly nodded excitedly at Trish who continued to just look shocked. "I'm being totally serious Trish!"
Trish shook her head in disbelief. "But…I mean…come on!! Sure any guy would LOVE to go out with Lita: she's beautiful. And, yes, he's eye candy if you go for tall dark and handsome I admit. But…but, LITA AND BRADSHAW?!"
Jackie smacked her arm. "Hey! He's all right! A real sweetheart actually…"
Trish snorted in an unladylike manner. "Please."
"I kid you not girl. You know what he did for me last year?"
"Do we WANT to know what he did for you-"
Jackie smacked Molly that time. "Hush little girl! That wasn't what I was talking about! I'm not saying he wouldn't be good, he's from Texas after all but-"
"Um, not that we're NOT interested in your preferences in men, but you had a point when you started Jackie."
She wrinkled her nose with a huff before continuing. "Anyways, before I was so rudely interrupted, see, last year I was completely dateless for Valentines. And he was so sweet about everything. He tried to help and offered to set me up with his single friends and stuff: it was so sweet."
"What, a bunch of hillbillies? Come on Jackie-"
She sighed as she cut Trish off. "It's obvious you don't know a whole hell of a lot about the man, but I do. He's brilliant Trish: trust me. And don't let his redneck persona fool you either: that man is always thinking."
"So what happened with your Valentines last year?" Molly asked, hoping to defuse the mini war threatening to break out.
She turned back with a smile. "Actually, I didn't much care for the guys he introduced me to. So he took me out instead. It was so great! He's such a sweetie…Lita's really lucky if he IS interested in her…"
"I don't know…" Trish began with a shake of her head. "They like, never talk or anything and then all of a sudden he shows up at your all's hotel room door?"
"I didn't say it made sense, I'm just saying that's what happened." Molly shrugged. "Personally I can see it working if Lita lets it."
"What do you mean?"
Molly looked up at her overprotective friend. "Well…Lita has strange priorities in life. Protecting everyone else is usually over her own happiness and feelings. So, even if she DOES have feelings for him, he'll be hard pressed to get her to admit."
Trish nodded. "You have a point. She's about as open as a locked book."
"Long as she doesn't hurt him we won't have a problem."
"Geez Jackie!" Molly laughed. "You act like she's gonna use him and then ditch him."
"She better not because he doesn't deserve that!"
"I agree, nobody does…"
Both women listened as Trish trailed off. Jackie patted her hand with a smile. "Well I personally hope it works for them! The more I think about it, the more I can see what they might see in each other! Its like looking at different sides of the same coin."
"Well, I wish for the best for the both of them. Everyone deserves to be happy."
"True. But is this a confirmed relationship?" Molly asked.
Both shrugged. "Don't know. We could ask them-"
"Or we could call around to a few people."
"That might work." Molly grinned.
Later that night, Molly finally made it back to the room she was sharing with Lita. She poked her head in the door to make sure everyone was decent. She bit her lip before stepping into the room. Lita was on her stomach on the bed as Bradshaw finished up whatever he was saying to her as he sat in one of the chairs. "What are you two doing?"
Lita looked up with a smile. "Talking."
"Well, yeah, but I thought…"
"Thought what?" Bradshaw asked with a grin.
Molly sputtered for a second before blushing brightly. "Nothing! Never mind damn it!!"
Both watched her pout before breaking into laughter at their red friend. She crossed her arms over her chest. He looked over at Lita, grabbing her bandaged hand, looking down at it. "Keep this cleaned up Li. Don't need it getting infected."
His fingers moved smoothly over the bandage and up her wrist. She had to hide the little shudder that wanted to come out: that wouldn't be good. She managed a shaky nod instead. "Yeah, I know."
He nodded, his long fingers trailing down her wrist again before he let go with a smile. "Well, I probably need to be going. Make sure you let me know if anything happens, all right?"
She stood as he did, Molly moving into the room to get a better view of the two as they talked. She nodded. "Long as you do the same." She opened the door. "I'll see you later, all right?"
"Goodnight."
She smiled with the lightest blush at that comforting drawl. "'Night Bradshaw."
She watched him leave and get on the elevator, sending a wave over his shoulder as he did so. She shut the door with a blush: okay so he knew she was staring at him as he walked off. That's certainly classy. She shook her head before turning towards a very grinning Molly Holly. "What?"
She let out a long, happy sigh. "You guys are so cuuuute!!"
Lita wrinkled her nose at that happy squeal. "We're not seeing each other Molly! What are you talking about?!"
She just grinned. "Honestly Lita, I'm thinking Jackie was right judging by how you're acting…"
"And what pray tell, was she talking about?"
"She thinks he'd be good in the sack since he's from Texas."
"What the hell?! Well, I didn't find out if that helps any."
She just laughed. "Aw, poor Lita!"
"You're being more obnoxious than Jeff! Quit!"
"And he even has a cute little nickname for you already, right 'Li'?"
Lita blushed again with a pout. "Nothing's happening between us, all right?"
Molly took a deep breath as she watched her friend. They'd been sharing a room lately and she'd gotten to know the redhead even better than before. She could honestly say they were friends. And she could even tell little strange quirky things, that you only pick up after spending far too much time with a person. She could also tell when she's in a bad mood or a good one and when she's happy or sad. And while her eyes revealed the most about her, they had been so sad lately…she wasn't sure why, but they were. But right now…there were only touches of sadness in her eyes. Nothing overwhelming anymore…it was refreshing to see the change.
She bit her lip. "I know it may not mean a whole lot to you Lita, but we do care what happens to you, you know? And whether you want to admit it or not, even I can tell he really does make you happy. I can see that just by seeing the effect of his being around you recently. I think it'd be good for you to spend more time with him. Because if he makes you as happy as he seems to, maybe this one's worth your time."
Lita looked over at Molly who was sitting on her own bed at that point, looking pointedly over at Lita. She sighed as her head fell back to the bed. "That may be Molly. But I don't want anyone getting hurt over me."
"But if you're not careful, you'll hurt him a lot worse than anyone else physically would Lita. If you're not interested, that's cool I can respect that. But if you are, you need to stop torturing the man. He doesn't deserve it. And Jackie was the first to point that out immediately. She won't take shit from anyone over her friends. Kinda like you."
"I-I'm not going out of my way to hurt him Molly, I promise. But I don't want him in trouble because he wants to protect me from someone else who works here…it hurts me that he got hurt protecting me last week."
"But it was his decision to help you last week. He didn't have to: he wanted to. I don't know why or even if he has a particular reason. But he didn't have to do anything Lita. If he stuck his neck out for you, there must be a good reason."
"I know…but it still hurts…"
Molly nodded as she flipped off the light between their beds. "That may be Lita…but here's something to think about. Maybe being together would help take care of both of your pains."
Lita was quiet as she pulled the blanket up over herself with a soft sigh. "Maybe Molly…maybe…"
End Chapter 3
Author's Rambles~ As normal, feedback would be great: thanks guys!!