Blood stains Dolph's hair, down his face. He barely looks up as Zack moves around him, packing up their things. The trainer had bandaged him up, deemed him well enough to go, but he still just sits here, watching blankly while Zack finishes collecting their things. He'd lost against Sheamus after throwing a wild headbutt that had left him bleeding, the loss coming not long afterwards. Zack had worried for a minute that he might be concussed, but he'd cleared his IMPACT testing. They would check him over again tomorrow, Zack's sure, but for now, he's fine.
Still doesn't look at Zack, however, when he kneels down in front of him. "Hey, bro," he says quietly. "I think it's time to get out of here, what do you think?" He pats Dolph's knee and tries to smile as Dolph breathes heavily through his nose, clearly not happy with the loss. "I'm glad you're ok, bro. You had me really worried there for awhile." He brushes some of the pink tinged hair out of Dolph's eyes and smiles sadly at him.
"Maybe if I was concussed, it would've been at least some way to excuse away my loss," he mumbles, clearly displeased with himself.
Zack swallows hard and cups his face, forcing him to look at him. "Bro, come on, don't talk like that. The last time you were concussed, it messed up a lot of things for you. I never want to see that happen to you again."
Dolph stares up at him, finally, seeing the worry and uncertainty in Zack's deep, dark eyes. "Oh, I don't know," he says, teeth flashing as he fights to pull himself out of the funk he finds himself in. "All of that mess back then had some benefit. Brought us back together, after all." He tugs at Zack's hands and lifts them up, kissing Zack's knuckles. "I love you, kid."
Zack's eyes glint and he chuckles, resting his forehead against their entangled fingers as he remembers those days, how everything felt finished between them, just to rebound stronger and more passionate than ever. "Love you too, bro," he murmurs. They sit for a few moments, enjoying the relative quiet and ease of the moment, before Zack looks up. "Can we go now, bro, or do you need a little longer?"
Dolph shakes his head. "I need a shower and maybe twenty hours of sleep." He reaches out and tugs at Zack's fingers. "Let's go, kid."
Zack nods, standing and helping Dolph stand. To his relief, the weight seems to have fallen from Dolph's shoulders and Zack's relieved as he watches him head for the door, hoisting their bags up onto his shoulders. Everything's going to be fine, he convinces himself, lips twitching up into a warm, hopeful smile as he follows his significant other out.
