Author's Note: Yippee! I'm starting another chapter! PLEASE REVIEW!
- - - - -
Dangerous Business
Chapter XVIII
Liz had met the others by the door while they picked out driving arrangements. Jeff, Trish, Shane and Dominique were riding in Jeff's car, Tommy and Chris were going in Chris's car, and Brock and Liz had left in her blue Camaro.
Liz sighed quietly, lying on the back of the Camaro, drumming her feet in rhythm as they waited for the fireworks to start and the others to arrive. They were at the left side of the mall where the fireworks were. Sighing, Liz glanced at the clock on the car. She rolled her eyes, looking for the others' cars, but didn't see them. Liz pulled her windbreaker tighter around her as the biting wind picked up, and glared at Brock, who lounged comfortably in a tank top and sweat pants.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked.
"No," he said, shrugging, causing her to roll her eyes. As they sat in a comfortable silence, a firework erupted in the sky with a loud boom, causing Brock to jump slightly.
"That was the five minute warning," Liz explained, amusement evident in her voice. He passed a mock-glare at her. She smiled innocently. "What? I didn't say anything!" She saw his look, and added, "and I wasn't thinking anything either!" she put her hands up in surrender. Bad choice. He grinned, and mercilessly tickled her. She let out a small shriek of surprise before ineffectively trying to push his hands away. She shimmied backward, and fell backwards into the leather seat with a small 'ow!'.
"You talked to Edge or Jeff, huh?" she asked, her voice muffled.
Brock's head loomed in her line of vision, amusement clear in his face, "You okay?"
"You didn't answer my question."
"You didn't answer mine."
"I asked you first."
"So?"
"You're acting like a little kid!" exclaimed Liz, smiling because she knew she was too.
He raised his eyebrow teasingly, and smiled, "No, you see, acting childish involves tickling people and never stopping until someone else stops it."
"You wouldn't dare," Liz said slowly, glaring at him. He smiled wider, cocking his head.
"Would I?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest as he looked down at her. "You obviously don't know me well."
She mock-scowled, tried to sit up, and ended up banging her forehead on the steering wheel.
"Klutz," commended Brock.
"Jerk," retorted Liz, this time being careful to duck her head away from the wheel as she sat back up. Brock didn't say anything in reply, just stared up at the inky sky, sneaking side-glances at Liz. She was leaning back on her elbows as her jade eyes remained fixed on the sky where the firework had exploded a couple minutes ago, often closing her eyes and sighing, as if she was old and tired. Brock sighed too. As each moment of silence past, Liz seemed to slip further into depression, further than she'd already been. Brock, for all his little people skills, knew that Liz had been trying to laugh, trying to smile genuinely. It didn't really seem to work. The laughs were hard, forced out, and her smiles were pained. His eyes traveled across her face, the skin gleaming in the moonlight. He noticed three, short, white lines raised above her skin, an inch or so before her ear. Reflexively, his hand reached out to her face as she turned. She didn't jump back at his touch, but she looked at him quizzically. His thumb gently ran over the scars.
"Where'd you get those?" he asked. Her hand jumped up, as if to cover the scars, but all her hand touched was his hand. She didn't move her hand, but looked down, silently hooking her fingers underneath his hand. For a second, she continued to bow her head, and then she looked up, her eyes glazed in memory.
"When I broke a beer bottle on Austin's shoulder," she said, her voice hoarse. Just thinking about it brought the fact that she had told that to Rob, bringing her thoughts to him, and that's exactly what she didn't need.
Seeing the sadness beginning to form in her eyes, Brock leaned a bit closer, and said softly, "Hey, I thought Edge told you not to think of him tonight?" he asked, recalling what the blond Canadian had told her firmly. He guessed that it was about Rob, not Austin, and apparently he guessed right. She bowed her head, overwhelmed by the sudden emotion of trust toward Brock – that she could spill her heart out to him and he wouldn't think any lesser of her. Liz didn't. The only two people besides her family and Edge that she'd trusted that much had fallen out of her life. Which just brought another pang of pain. The first one was Willow, her longtime friend. She'd been buddies with her until Austin left her and her mom, and then they moved to Canada, where they'd met Edge and his family. Liz had barely kept in touch with Willow, but when they returned to Texas, their friendship started up again, until Liz had left to train for wrestling. Before she left, they'd had the first real fight. Neither of them kept in touch. A few times, Liz found herself itching to grab the phone and apologize, but she never did, and now she thought it was probably too late. "Liz?" Brock said, jerking her out of her thoughts. Liz jerked her head up, and gave him a weak smile.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to," Liz said, in response to his last question. She sighed, looking down at her free hand, suddenly hyperaware of how close they were. Closing her eyes tightly before looking up at Brock, she spoke, "Everything reminds me of him. It's hard not to." Liz went to drop her head again, but Brock's other hand reached out and held it up, a caring smile on his face.
"It's not your fault," he said slowly, "That guy must be crazy; to dump someone like you." Liz stared at him. He leaned closer, their eyes locked together. Her breath caught as his lips came closer. She froze. Just as his lips were going to reach hers, a voice cut across the night.
"Liz!" Liz jerked backward, suddenly aware of what she'd almost let happen, a hollow pit growing in her stomach. She turned toward the direction of the voice to hide the fear in her eyes from Brock. What the hell was she doing? It hadn't even been a day since Rob broke up with her. Hell, it hadn't even been half of a day! A pair of headlights blinded her for a second. Liz stared straight on into them, afraid to turn and take a glance at Brock. "Liz!" Dominique's head was out of the front seat window, her blond hair creating a halo around her face. Liz meekly waved to the blonde. Jeff's car pulled in to the spot next to them, and Chris's pulled into the spot next to him.
The rest of the night went by without incident. Liz was quieter, but took the time to pick Edge apart for telling Brock that she was ticklish. She sat between Jeff and Dominique for most of the fireworks, somewhat avoiding Brock, but no one really noticed…except for him. When the last crashing boom of the grand finale went off, Brock offered to switch places with Dreamer in the cars, perhaps sensing Liz's discomfort.
As soon as Liz stepped inside her hotel room, she locked the door, ready to ignore anyone that came knocking. She sighed quietly, and sunk into the queen-sized bed, glancing at the other bed, remembering that she and Rob were supposed to be sharing this room. When she got there, the manager informed her that Rob had gotten another room. Liz knew that was really good, seeing as how she probably couldn't stand being in the same room as him. So why did it hurt? She slowly changed into a comfy white tank top, and a pair of soccer shorts. Liz sighed, tossing her duffel back onto the floor on top of her backpack and other duffel. She sat in silence, lying on the bed, staring at the intricate pattern of plaster on the ceiling. The silence seemed to mock her, being there only because she had no one to talk to. Liz glanced warily at the phone. Sighing, she knew she needed to talk to someone. She wouldn't call Dominique; she couldn't understand. She couldn't call any of the people that she had just been hanging out with – she'd basically shoved them away when they got back, snapping that she wanted time alone. And a few seconds later, when the quiet fell, regretting it. The sorrow fell in waves. Who did she have that she could turn to? The guys wouldn't understand something like this – and she wouldn't turn to them. She'd worked had to prove herself to be just as tough as them – what would they think if she just broke down? Edge and Jeff would understand, but she wasn't sure of the others. She had just met most of them, and didn't know them that well. She had just been able to smooth things over with her father, and she wasn't going to get a wrong first impression. Well, it seemed like a first impression. Liz couldn't rely on him or her stepfather. Her mom? Yeah, she could turn to her, but it didn't feel quite right. Calling her to tell her that her boyfriend (who her mother loved like one of her own) dumped her, and she'd almost kissed one of her friends? There was Trish… Liz shook her head mentally. She didn't really trust Trish, considering that she went through guys like mad, and Jeff may just be the next on the list. Then there was the answer she didn't want to hear, the automatic one that went on every time she faced something like this. Willow. But they were fighting… Were they, really? Liz sighed sadly. She didn't even remember what caused the fight. Probably something stupid. As stupid as either of them to not pick up the phone.
Liz lifted the phone, her finger pressing '9' a little harder than it needed to. She dialed a Texas number she'd committed to memory a long time ago. The ring echoed through the room. Liz gripped the phone harder.
"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered on the fourth ring.
"H-Hi," Liz said, startled that someone actually answered the phone, "Mrs. Sterling?"
"Yes," she replied, obviously irritated that someone was calling at midnight, "Who is this?"
"Liz," she answered, imagining Mrs. Sterling smiling over the phone as she talked about how long it had been she Liz had called. But only after scolding Liz not to call her Mrs. Sterling (it made her sound old). "Jessica?" Liz prompted as Mrs. Sterling took a breath.
"Yes, dear?" she replied, "Sorry I was rambling. I just haven't talked with you in ages!"
Liz smiled weakly, "Do you know where Willow is?" Jessica, a.k.a. Mrs. Sterling, was quiet for a second, remembering the rift that had separated the two girls.
"She's at her apartment," Jessica said, "I'll give you the number." Liz thanked her and hung up quickly after a good-bye. She glanced down at the sheet of paper that the hotel had provided, where she'd scribbled Willow's number. A sense of dread grew. Liz licked her dry lips, dialing the number. No one picked up until the sixth ring, right as Liz went to hang up.
"What?" snapped Willow on the line. Liz jerked the phone back up to her ear. She was quiet for a second, realizing that it seemed harder to apologize to her than she'd thought. Apparently, Willow thought that someone was prank calling, because she started to rant. "Hey asshole, next time you call – "
"Willow?" interrupted Liz. Willow stopped dead in the middle of her sentence.
"Who is this?" she snapped in a tone much like her mother's, and Liz reminded her.
"You sound like your mother," Liz informed.
There was silence on the other end of the line, "Liz?" she asked, no emotion finding her way to her voice. Liz nodded, temporarily forgetting that Willow couldn't see her.
"Yeah." Liz took a deep breath, "Look, I'm sorry that we didn't keep in touch…" She waited for Willow's answer.
"You're not the only one," replied Willow grimly. "I take it you called to talk about what happened to you and Rob?"
"What?" Liz sputtered on the end of the line. How did she know?
"I watch wrestling Liz," Willow said, amusement in her voice.
"Why? You never liked fighting!"
Willow giggled, "Hot guys in spandex. You should love your work." Liz smiled weakly, lying down on the bed.
"Glad to see you haven't changed," she murmured. She could almost picture Willow – her deep red hair that earned her the nickname 'Firebird' tied into a ponytail, biting her lower lip while half-smiling.
"Yeah, well, neither have you," she retorted after a small silence, and then said in a sarcastic, joking voice, "Still saving the poor innocent weaklings and killing anyone who gets in your way?"
"And you still overreact to everything I do."
"Are we going to talk about why you called, at all?" Willow laughed, "And maybe I do, but at least I know how to act like a girl when someone breaks up with me," she teased.
Liz scowled, "At least I'm not a blubbering idiot," she snapped, and sighed. "Sorry," she muttered after a second, realizing that Willow had only been teasing. She sighed heavily.
"So you called to talk about Rob…" Willow mused. Liz closed her eyes quietly, and told her everything, including the almost-kiss. Willow was silent and hardly interrupted, which Liz found easier. As she talked, she felt a little better. Not much. Willow sighed heavily at the end. "Damn, girl," she murmured quietly, "You got yourself in real deep."
"Oh, and that's supposed to make me feel better?"
"No," Willow responded, "I'm stating the obvious." She sighed again. "Look… I know that you aren't over Rob – and don't you dare argue with me! Tell Brock that. Tell him that you don't want a relationship. Not now, not yet." She heard Liz sigh on the other end. "You have a show in Texas coming up, right?" Willow asked.
"Yeah," replied Liz sullenly, "The next show. I leave tomorrow. I want to get there early so I can talk to Mom."
"Okay, I'll meet you the day after the show. Call me, okay?" Willow said, her voice straining.
"'Kay," Liz said reluctantly, "Bye, Firebird," she said sullenly, and hung up.
In Texas, Willow cradled the phone in her hands before hanging it up quietly, the noise echoing through the lonely apartment. She couldn't bring herself to tell Liz over the phone, because what she was going to tell her would probably just bring her more stress than she already had. The look on Rob's face when Liz stormed out of his locker room on RAW burned fresh in Willow's mind.
He was still in love with her.
- - - - -
Author's Note: I'm sorry it took so long to get this up. For the past 3 days, either my computer or the website has been screwing up and not letting me go onto the site. Sorry! Anyway, the next chapter will be more interesting, I promise. Please review!