PART 12
LATER THAT NIGHT
Brock Lesnar rested back against the headboard of his hotel room bed, unable to sleep. His mind wandered back to the stare down he'd had with a certain tall Canadian a few hours earlier. If it weren't for that damn "agent" of his, Paul Heyman, Brock would have had things HIS way. He would have marched right down the hall and stomped the shit out of the bastard. After all, Copeland had STOLEN something that belonged to him. And I have every right to take it back. I'll get Britney back again soon enough. As I soon I get rid of Copeland, I'll get back what belongs to ME. I'll be damned if I let some pretty boy with long blonde hair get away with stealing my girlfriend- His thoughts trailed off as he heard the shrill ring of his cell phone. Picking up the Motorola phone, he pressed the button and answered.
A deep, raspy voice replied, "Man, you're not going to believe what I saw tonight." Brock smiled as he recognized the man's voice. He'd asked his new friend to watch over Britney, especially while she was with Adam. The two of them would never suspect a thing. Everyone had always known him to be very nosy, so if he was ever caught eavesdropping, no one would think anything of it. Brock had considered asking Paul Heyman to do the work for him, as he knew the man would do anything with a little bribery, but it would have been too obvious that the Next Big Thing had sent him.
When the man didn't answer, Brock sighed tiredly, "What did you see?"
"You're buddy Copeland, crying like a fucking girl in the middle of the hallway. Jericho was all hugging him and stuff. REAL funny shit, you shoulda been there," the voice said, laughing.
"Aw, poor baby. What happened, did he break a nail or something?" Brock asked his friend, laughing as well. Then, the Minnesota native grew more serious, "Something happened between him and Britney?"
"Actually," he answered, "from what I heard Jericho saying, he found your girl about to do a line of coke. When Copeland found out, he was absolutely devastated. Broke down right then and there."
Brock's smile faded, "I knew it wouldn't be long till that bitch took up crack again. Lord knows it was her favorite thing to do when she was 14."
The man on the other line gave a raw laugh, "Yeah, once a crack whore, always a crack whore. So, uh… after what I saw… he's definitely vulnerable. So, when… when are we gonna 'do the deed?'"
Brock gave an annoyed sigh, "Christ, man, you act like we're murdering the guy!"
"Hey," the man said sternly, "With any luck, we'll kill the bastard and his little friends, too."
"Look man, don't get too caught up in Reso and the others. This isn't about them. Besides, I don't even know what we're doing yet. We might not physically mess with him for a while. I already fucked Britney up enough, so now there's just her little boy toy to get to. I might have more fun screwing with his pretty little head," Brock said. Sometimes he wondered why, as the younger of the two men, he was the more mature.
"Oh, alright. I'll just keep on the lookout then. You know, I'm only doing this to get my hands on that punk ass Canadian for what he did to me."
Brock sighed yet again, "Yes, I do. And I appreciate it. But I really don't care about the other guys, as long as I get my hands around Adam Copeland's throat long enough to choke the fucking life out of him."
With that said, he ended the conversation, flipping his phone shut. The plan Brock had wasn't even a plan yet… he just knew whatever he did, he wanted to prove to Adam that he couldn't mess with him. He also wanted to prove to Britney that there was no way in hell she was getting away from him again. Oh yeah, wait a couple weeks and we'll see just how mentally tough Adam Copeland really is.
DOWN THE HALL
Britney sat alone on the private balcony attached to her and Adam's hotel room. As the gently May breeze whirled around her, thoughts of the night whirled around in her head. Adam still hadn't returned from the show, and she wondered if he even would, after he found out what she'd done. She really couldn't blame him for avoiding her since earlier that night. She and Amy slipped out unnoticed so that Britney could just get back to the hotel. The redhead had offered to stay with her, but the blonde turned her down, just wanting to be left alone for a while. What the fuck was I thinking? I risk losing my job, my friends, everything! And the one man in the world that I love and trust with all my heart probably thinks I'm a crack whore! She was incredibly relieved that Chris had shown up, as her friend had stopped her from making one of the biggest mistakes in her entire life. If she had done the coke, she would have immediately been hooked, and Britney doubted she'd been fortunate to break the addiction more than once. She still couldn't believe herself… she was seconds away from doing what she vowed years ago would never happen again. She sat for a while, silently gazing at the starlit sky. After a while, she grew tired and realized that Adam probably wasn't coming back, and decided it was time to head in for bed. Standing up and stretching, she slowly turned to the door and headed into the room. After she closed the door and locked it, she turned and jumped, startled to see Adam sitting on the edge of his bed. His eyes were locked on her, and Britney guessed he was watching her from the time he got in, whenever that was. As she cautiously moved toward him, his gaze did not move, remaining intensely locked on her. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye, to be forced to see the disappointment on his face. She had heard him yelling and freaking out in the hallway. He must have been so incredibly disappointed in her, even more so than she was in herself. Britney blatantly tried to walk right past him without saying a word, but the Canadian grabbed her by the wrists, pulling her down next to him. They sat in silence for a few moments, Britney's eyes focusing on Adam's bare chest as he continued to stare her down. She felt as though he was yelling at her with his eyes, telling her how much she had let him down.
Finally, after a few choked-up attempts, Adam spoke, "Brit… you… you're so smart, and so athletic, and so… beautiful. Why? Why do you want to do this to yourself?"
Britney's eyes instantly filled with tears for the umpteenth time in the last 72 hours. Feelings of guilt and disappointment washed over her yet again. Questions she had asked herself earlier ran through her head again. What the fuck was I thinking? Tears fell continuously down her cheeks as her pained expression grew. The petite blonde took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm her nerves, but it didn't help much.
Her voice was extremely small as she spoke, "I-I… I'm… sorry."
"I know you are," Adam said, "but that doesn't explain WHY. And I want to know why. I can't help but feel like I didn't watch you closely enough."
Britney's head lowered slightly in shame, "I don't know what came o-over me, why I thought I'd get away with it. I don't know why I did it, Adam. If I did, you know I would tell you."
A few more tears slipped down her cheeks. She absolutely HATED lying to him, while she knew damn well what she was doing and why she was doing it, but she just couldn't tell Adam that. He would be so unbelievably disappointed if knew about her past, she just couldn't bring herself to tell him any of it. Adam looked at her, head facing the hands resting in her lap. As the two sat in silence once more, the thought of Britney buying, let alone actually DOING cocaine ran through Adam's mind. Picturing her buying coke from a crackpot dealer on some dark city street did not settle well in his stomach, even if he did know that she had done it before. Suddenly, a question popped into his mind.
"Brit, I want you to be completely honest with me. Does this have anything to do with Brock? Cause if it does, I want to know. I swear, if he did anything, I'll-"
"He didn't," she said, still refusing to look up. "I-I mean, he didn't directly do anything to me. He… he's a, uh… big part of the reason, though."
Adam sighed, that means I could be right. Maybe it was ME who drove her into doing this. Figuring he no longer had anything to lose with her, he asked her, "What about me?" When she didn't answer him, he elaborated. "Was it me? Did I have anything to do with your decision? I… I know I've been kind of avoiding you lately…"
"Yeah, you have," she cut in sarcastically. Okay, Adam thought, I'll take that remark as a "yes" to my question.
"Look, I'm really sorry, I just… I've had a lot on my mind lately," the Canadian said apologetically.
"I… um… sorry about that," she said, referring to her dry interruption.
"No, I should be apologizing. I've been neglecting you over the last few weeks, and I shouldn't have been." Britney sighed loudly, placing her elbows on her thighs and resting her face in her palms. I really am an ass. This man treats me like gold, and how do I treat him back? Like shit, that's how. More tears silently fell as she responded.
"It's not your responsibility to keep me safe or happy. I'm 21 freakin' years old, I should know how to take care of myself by now. I've been doing it all my life," she said, gasping at her final statement. Adam took the opportunity to jump on her statement.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked curiously, even though he already knew the answer.
"I, uh, nothing. Look, all I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't put this on yourself, because it's my own fault, not yours," she quickly said, trying to brush off his question. She prayed he wouldn't pressure her to answer that question again. Adam took a deep breath, upset at how shaky it had sounded.
"So, it… it was everything… all piled into one?" he asked softly.
"Yeah. It just got too hard, and while you were off in your own little world, I had no one to go to. Everything piling up just collapsed on me, and I, I almost…" she trailed off.
"Almost what?" he asked fearfully. Britney raised her gaze for the first that night, her eyes locking with his. He could practically feel the knife thrusting at his heart as he looked in her eyes. The usually bright blue orbs were now red-rimmed, bloodshot, and tear-filled. The emotion filled the room in a dense fog and Adam kept his eyes fixed on her as she answered.
"I almost wanted… to… die." Adam's mouth went dry as ashes. It seemed everything that Shane had told him about her past was happening again----- like she was reliving her childhood.
"I-I… I… my God," he said, unable to form words. Adam's eyes filled with tears as she lowered her head again. "W-why?" he asked a little more harshly than he liked, wincing as he lost the battle to hold the tears in his eyes from falling.
Britney hesitated a long moment before slowly answering, "I… I don't know. I just… I got so accustomed to having you with me 24/7 that it made me forget everything. Well, you kinda… distanced yourself over the last few weeks, and it… it got to me. It made me realize that maybe I'm not okay. I'm still not over this thing with Brock, or a lot of things from my past for that matter. With you not there, it forced me to think about it. I just got so depressed, and my world just kind of… collapsed." Adam breathed an inaudible sigh as he gazed up at the ceiling. He couldn't help but feel that he was to blame for all of this. If he had just BEEN there when she needed him, like he swore he would do, none of this would have happened.
"I'm… I'm sorry," he said sadly, switching his gaze to just above her head on the wall.
"Don't be," Britney said with a sniffle. "I-it… like I said, it's not your fault. It's not your job to…"
"But I promised you that I wouldn't let this happen," the Canadian said dejectedly.
"It's okay. I'm here now, and so are you. I know I'll get over this depression thing, I always do. It's okay, really," she said, though her tone didn't give him much assurance.
"No, it isn't. I promised you…"
"I don't believe in promises anyway," the youngest McMahon interrupted truthfully. "Never have for years." Adam sighed again, rubbing his eyes and then running his hand through long hair.
"Brit, I realize that your past has given you no reason to believe in people's promises, but I'm not a part of your past. I do my damn best to KEEP my promises," he told her. Britney had no response for that, so the two sat once more in silence.
After a few minutes, Britney spoke. "I'll understand if you want to stop rooming with me. I… I haven't been the best roommate in the world. If it's too much for you… just… let me know, and… I'll go," she said regretfully. As painful as it would be for her to leave, Adam just did not deserve what she was putting him through. He certainly didn't ask for all this, and she just couldn't impose on him anymore. "No! I'll admit, it's been a little… crazy… since you came along, but I would never want you to leave! I really love spending time with you, and I would miss you so much if you were gone, even if you were just staying in a different room," he told her.
"But, why? I'm not that special," she said quietly. Adam half smiled as he continued to stare at the wall. "You are to me. You make me feel so strong, so needed. When I'm with you, I feel like I'm ten feet tall. We were so close before, and I think this has definitely brought us closer. I wouldn't give up my time with you for the world." The blonde man stopped to take a breath. "I… when this all started, I really felt, and still feel, like I need to protect you. I want to take all your pain, and everyone that's ever hurt you, and make it all go away. Show you that there are good people in the world. You really have been such a great friend, without even realizing it, and I hope we can stay this close forever, even after our time in the ring is up. You've always been there for me, and I hope I can do the same for you. I just… I'm so sorry I didn't notice…"
"You're crying," Britney interrupted as she looked up at him for the first time in a few minutes. Adam's eyes widened a little… he so didn't want her to notice that.
"I… uh… yeah," he admitted, a little embarrassed.
Seeing his cheeks redden slightly, Britney almost cracked a smile. The half smile faded quickly when she realized why he must have been crying. What the hell have I done? I put the poor guy through hell, and he deserves SO much more than that. Even more tears flowed down the blonde diva's cheeks. She bit back the sob threatening to escape her lips as best she could. She really let him down. She let Chris and Amy down as well, and Britney was positive that if anyone else found out, they would feel the same way. And what would happen if Stephanie or, god forbid, Shane found out? After containing herself for a few moments, Britney just couldn't do it anymore. Much like she had done earlier in the evening, the young McMahon exploded.
"I'm so sorry! I just… I don't know what's going on with me… but, I… I'm sorry!" she cried loudly. Adam jumped, startled upon hearing her cry out.
As she began to sob loudly, the Canadian pulled her into his arms, wrapping her tightly in his embrace. He absolutely hated the helpless feeling he was getting. It seemed no matter what he did, or how hard he tried, he just couldn't make her life any better. It made him feel totally useless. He shifted their bodies around so that they were laying down, Britney's body underneath the blanket and his on top. Not knowing what else to do, he simply laid next to her, holding her tightly as her shoulders shook slightly from the sobs. A tear slowly slid down Adam's cheek as he looked down at the young woman in his arms. All he could do now was hold her, and not let go, until she cried herself to sleep.
