Chapter 22
Dave sat in the living room of his home, the home that he was supposed to be sharing with Britain, shaking his head at the phone. He still hadn't taken down the large sign that she made for him; it still hung over the front door: Welcome to our home! And it broke his heart every time he looked at it. It had been a month without so much as a word from Chase or Britain and the loneliness was making him crazy. He'd called Britain several times, only to leave long messages on her answering machine; messages that she never answered.
"Come on, bro, I don't have a birthday party everyday you know, I gotta get my groove on while I still can." Randy was pleased to hear a small laugh from Dave's mouth. He had talked to him on the phone everyday since that night in Anaheim, and everyday he sounded more lost.
Randy convinced Dave that getting out would be good for him. Hell, he now had 90 days off after the Hunter attack, what else was he going to do? A person can only go to so many soccer and volley ball games. Knowing Dave, he was smothering his other daughters to make up for not talking to Chase.
"It's not even your birthday...you had it in April, remember?"
Randy sighed, so what if it wasn't his real birthday, it was his unbirthday. Why did everyone need a reason to have a party anyway? "I don't care...we didn't get to do anything in April. Besides, how often can I get John to pay for something? This party's his idea...drink all you want, that fucker's paying."
"Randy, I want you have a good time; I'm not much fun right now."
Randy laughed, "Bro, you're never fun...but that's why I need you there. You gotta keep me out of trouble." Randy thought if he should say it or not. "Britain will be there."
Dave sat up straight; he could feel his heart start to race. "She won't talk to me." No matter how much he hoped that he could get through to her, he knew his apologies fell on deaf ears.
"Well, you gotta make her talk to you. I'll get you in the same room; all you have to do is convince her you were a dick." Randy laughed. They may have all teased him about how he was with her, but every one of them, even Hunter, knew that he was in love with her. "Your ticket is at the airport, courtesy of Cena. I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up before Dave could change his mind. Randy turned to John, who had just hung up with Christina, "Done."
John smiled, "This better work."
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"I don't want to go." Britain unpacked the bag that Christina had just packed for her.
"Come on, chica, it'll be fun." X said putting the items back in the bag.
Britain sat down; she was tired of going over this. It's not that she didn't want to celebrate Randy's birthday with him; although she could have sworn that his birthday passed already...it's that she knew that Dave would be there.
Christina sighed and grabbed her hand. "Think about it, you and me...Atlantic City...we're cute, young and single...think of how much trouble we could get into."
"How are you going to get in trouble if John's there?" Britain still wasn't really sure what this thing between John and X was all about. If anything, she was surprised that John called X to invite them. John wasn't the type to actually call anybody back after he took them to bed.
"Oh, I'll find a way." X laughed. "Besides, I'm not seeing him. It was one night, no harm no foul." She sat next to her best friend on the bed, "...he told me that Dave hadn't been invited." She watched as Britain looked up with hopeful eyes. She jumped up and clapped. "We can drink, dance on some tables and find the finest Vatos there...just like back in the day." She wiggled her eyebrows and pulled Britain off the bed to help her finish packing.
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"BODY SHOTS!" John yelled over the music, in the ballroom of the Radison Hotel. Randy's unbirthday party was in full swing. There had to have been about 200 people at this party, and he and Randy didn't know half of them. It didn't matter really, little did Randy know, he was getting the bill for half of the party anyway.
Britain was surprised that she was actually having a good time; then again, after, 4 beers, 3 screwdrivers and 13 shots of Tequila, who doesn't have a good time?
John pulled X off of the table that she and Britain were dancing on. "Come on...it's body shot time." He wiggled his eyes at her.
"I want Brit to do it." She motioned for Britain to come down. "Let's show these boys how it's done." Both she and Britain were drunk beyond belief, but they were having so much fun. The music was loud, filled with heavy baselines, there was food, free liquor and they had no where else they needed to be.
Just as Britain started to jump off the table, she spotted him, walking in the door. She suddenly felt her abs clinch at the sight of him. He was wearing the blue jeans and short sleeve lyrca shirt that she had bought him in LA. That was the shirt that showed every one of his muscles and looked like it was painted on him. Pissed at him or not, she couldn't help but to lick her lips at the sight of him in that shirt. S
She sucked in her breath and jumped down and grabbed the salt shaker from John. She poured salt on X's neck and took a shot of Tequila off of the tray that he was holding, while X put the lime in her mouth. Slowly, keeping her eyes on Dave, she licked the salt of off Christina before wrapping her entire mouth around the rim of the glass and tossing it back without the use of her hands. She swallowed down the liquid as X removed the glass from her mouth, then wrapping her arms around X's waist, she leaned down and took the lime out of her mouth, making sure to kiss her slowly as she did.
Randy screamed louder than everyone, at watching these two beautiful women make out. X and Britain laughed and hugged just as X grabbed John to do a shot off of him.
Britain's smile dropped as she saw Dave approach her. "Dance with me." She said to Randy, leaving Dave standing there alone.
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Dave stood close enough to hear as Britain tried to get Randy to take her to bed. "I didn't get you anything for your birthday." She told him.
He shrugged and laughed. "It's not really my birthday, I don't need anything."
The way she tossed her hair over her shoulder and pressed herself closer to him, made Dave's muscles tighten; although he knew Randy was helpless in all of this, just seeing her act like that with him, pissed Dave off.
"Everyone needs presents on their birthday. If you take me to your room, I bet I can think of something to give you." She whispered drunkenly to Randy.
Randy motioned Dave over to them. "I think you better take her upstairs."
Dave watched as Britain grabbed another drink off the tray that was floating by them. "I think you've had enough. Let me take you to your room."
"I don't wanna go to my room... I wanna go to Randy's room." She laughed slurring Randy's name. She pushed her body against Randy's and grabbed the back of his neck before kissing him softly on the lips.
Randy backed away from the kiss. "I don't think that's such a good idea." The last thing he needed was to catch an ass whipping from Dave for his girl being all over him.
Britain frowned. "You sure? You're missing out." There was a distinct giggle in her voice. "I got a mouth like a Hoover..." She turned to Dave and looked in him in the eye and starting to smile. "...just ask Dave. That's what you said, right?"
He closed his eyes, remembering the day they were in bed together, teasing each other about the sex that had just had. It was all in jest, and she knew it; now she was using his words to hurt him.
Dave stepped in closer standing between Britain and Randy. "Come on. Let me take you upstairs."
"I wanna go with Randy."
Dave felt his anger growing, he wasn't angry at what she said, he was angry because she was trying to put herself in a situation that she would live to regret. "Then we'll both take upstairs." He said calmly turning to see Randy nodding his head in agreement.
This wasn't going exactly how Randy had planned; he had wanted them to talk not for Britain to be wasted and trying to through herself at him.
Britain laughed at Dave and pushed him away. "You wanna fuck me too? You want me to do both of you?" She raised her eyebrows and let her tongue dart out over her bottom lip. "That's all I'm good for, right?" She chugged back the shot then started towards the bar for another, pulling him by the arm. "Come on Big Dave, I'll let you fuck me... only... Randy goes first." In her drunken mind, she had every intention of doing both of them, then maybe the pain would go away. But if it was going to go down like that, she had to be drunker than she was at the time.
Dave stopped walking and grabbed her by the waist.
"Get the fuck off me." She said snatching her body away.
He was pissed, he couldn't believe that after all of the shit they had been through together, it had all boiled down to this. He tried being calm with her, he tried to appeal to her drunken senses, but in the end, his anger got the best of him. "Either I can walk you upstairs, or I can carry you; either way, you've had enough!"
Britain laughed and picked up another drink. She put it to her lips as he took it away from her and put her over his shoulder to carry her out of the room. How dare he think that he had the right to tell her what to do? And the fact that he was acting like a bruit really pissed her off. She hit him in the head and kicked him in the stomach with the point of her high heeled boot, screaming at him to put her down
"Would you fucking stop? You're acting like a child!" He yelled, as he started to pace the floor trying to figure out what exactly to do with her.
"Well then, it's a good thing that you don't have to put up with it anymore, isn't it." Britain quickly felt her buzz wearing off. "Just leave me alone." She pleaded with him sadly, trying to balance herself on her own feet. She watched as he put his hands in his hair and walked away from her. She slid down to the floor and closed her eyes.
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Randy ran to find Dave. "Bro, Britain passed out in the hallway." Randy's voice was almost frantic. He had gone to make sure that she had made it back to her room when he saw Dave come back into the ballroom so fast. But no sooner did he round the corner, did he see her laying flat on the floor, unconscious. Randy ran through the ballroom with Dave to lead him back to where she laid.
Dave bent down and picked her up off of the floor, sighing when he felt her arm come around his neck. It felt good to hold her, even if she was a drunken mess. The only problem was, they didn't know where to take her. X had gone off with John and neither he nor Randy knew what room she was staying in. Dave also knew if he took her to his room, all hell would break loose, if that's where she woke up. Out of shear desperation, Dave and Randy settled on taking her back to Randy's room.
"Babe?" Dave's voice was so soft, it made Randy smile. He could tell how much he cared for her.
She opened her eyes and pushed him away. "Please, leave me alone."
Randy's heart sank as he watched Dave get up and walk towards the door. Randy walked over to the bed and smiled at Britain. "You ok?" He asked her stroking her hair.
Britain's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head. "He doesn't love me." She cried, making Dave turn around and look at her. His heart broke watching Randy hold her against his chest.
"Yes he does. He was just being a fuck up." Randy did his best to calm her, although he knew that was not him she wanted to do it.
"It hurts, Randy...it hurts so bad."
He pulled her away and wiped her tears with his thumb. He gave her a small smile, not the cocky one like he normally did; but a genuine smile. "I know it does." He laid her back on the bed as she tried to calm herself down.
"I love him so much...why doesn't he love me?" She asked before closing her eyes and settling to sleep.
Randy continued to stroke her back until she was asleep. He walked over to Dave who stood there with tears rolling down his face. "You need to fix this." For Randy to be a guy that often joked around, he meant every word of what he said.
Dave turned around, opened the door and walked away.
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Randy banged on John's door, finding he and X in flagrante delicto. "You were supposed to be helping..." He said pushing past John, noticing Christina on the bed. "and your in here... fucking?"
John smiled at his friend. "Hey this was your idea. I'm always down for a party."
Randy leaned against the dresser, determined he wasn't leaving until John did something to help out. "Where's GQ now?" John asked regretting that he would have to tell Christina he was leaving.
Randy sighed. "He fucking left. She's a mess...she's drunker than you and she's all crying and shit. He needs to talk to her."
X laughed. "You don't know my girl. She ain't gonna talk to him. If he was on fire, she wouldn't piss on it to put him out. He's been cut!" She couldn't stop laughing.
John buttoned his jeans and leaned over to X. "I'll be back...I'll make it up to you, I promise." He kissed her and smiled and walked out into the hallway with Randy.
Randy looked at his friend strangely. John almost looked happy, and not that sex happy, but really happy that she would still be in his room when he got back happy. "What's the deal?" He asked pointing toward John's door.
John shook his head. "I don't know man, but I can't get her off my mind." They walked and talked about X until they reached Dave's door. The door was already open and they were surprised at what they found inside.
Dave Batista, usually the king of calm was in the midst of thoroughly trashing his hotel room. He had taken the pictures off the walls, thrown the TV on the floor, kicked over the mini bar and now he was beating the shit out of the vases with the end of picture frame.
John grabbed Dave from behind, while Randy removed the weapon from his hands. "What the fuck's wrong with you?" Dave turned around and pushed John against the wall. He was on a roll, he'd kick John's ass too if need be. "Your girl is in his room and you're in here having a fucking tantrum?" John said pointing toward Randy.
Dave let John go and walked over to the bed. He put covered his face with his hands. He wasn't use to being out of control; it scared him. "I don't know what else to do." He turned to face his two friends.
"Well to start you need to get your ass down to my room and take care of her." Randy was fed up by this point. Here these two went to great lengths to get them in the same room and Dave was acting like 2 year old. "She's probably going to be sick and you need to be the one there when she wakes up."
Dave heard himself laugh. If only it were that simple. They didn't know Britain like he did. They had only ever seen small glimpses of her temper. If they thought his room looked bad now, just wait until they saw Randy's room if Britain found him in there when she woke up.
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Britain woke up some time later the next day, with a killer headache. She was in a room, different than hers but she couldn't for the life of her figure out where she was. She looked down and noticed that she naked save for the sheet wrapped around her body. Then she heard the bathroom door open, only to see Randy come out toweling his hair.
She tried to speak, but her tongue felt like it had hair growing on it. She looked around again and saw her clothes in a heap on the floor. "Oh God...Randy. Please tell me we didn't...oh no." She said bringing her hand to her head. She laid back on the bed feeling sick, but not sure if it was being hung over or the thought that she'd fucked Randy.
Randy laughed. "No, we didn't." He was a little hurt by the comment but he understood. "You got sick during the night. You threw up all over yourself, the bed...Dave. I just came back here to shower." He made a disgusted face. It was impossible to think that a person so thin could possibly hold that much in their stomach. "What the hell did you eat, yesterday? Tacos?"
She almost laughed, but she suddenly stopped when she saw Dave walk through the door carrying two cups of coffee and a bottle of aspirin. He handed one cup to Randy before sitting his cup on the dresser and walking over to the bed to give Britain the pain relief. If nothing else, he knew her...he knew that she an alcohol tolerance of 2 and that she would be feeling it now.
"This must be the 7th circle of hell." She said shaking her head at the ceiling. It was bad enough to feel like shit, wake up naked in Randy's room...and to top it all off, fucking Dave was still there. She vaguely remembered hearing him comfort her during the night. She could almost still feel his hands making warm circles on her back as she got sick, repeatedly. "Why can't you just let me die in piece?" She asked looking past Dave at Randy and her lips tightened when Randy smiled.
Randy tried to busy himself before he decided that it was just better that he leave. "Guys...I got this thing ...so I'll just...you know..." He didn't wait for a response before bolting out of the door.
"You should take these." Dave said holding two pills out toward Britain. She wasn't about to accept anything from him...not anymore. "Would you leave so I can take a shower?" She asked rudely, pushing his hand and aspirin out of her face.
He exhaled deeply and walked away from the bed. "If you want to take a shower...go ahead. I've seen it all before. I'm not going anywhere."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Figures..." All she knew is she had to get dressed and get the hell out. She didn't want to be on the same planet, let alone the same room with him.
He was fed up; he'd put up with her yelling, her crying her drunken come-ons all night, and now she was acting like he was a pariah. Hunter had been right about one thing; there were a thousand other women lined up to take her place, so why was he putting up with this shit? Because he loved her, no matter how hard he tried not to, he did. "What's your problem? I never cheated on you, never hit you...I never lied to you; why don't I get a second chance."
Britain raised her head and laughed loudly. He had the nerve to want a second chance; that's something that she didn't give...not anymore. Second chances turn into third chances, which turn into people taking your kindness for weakness. No, there would be no of that, ever again.
"You gotta be kidding me." She shook her head and wrapped the sheet around her before going into the bathroom. She refused to argue with him, but that seemed to be what he wanted. "I'm tired, I don't feel well and I want to be left alone. Why don't you get that?" She felt her dander rise when he opened the bathroom door and had a nerve to step inside.
He stood inches from her face, not allowing her to drop her eyes. She was going to hear him...every single word. "I don't get you. You've been with men that used you, that treated you like shit...but you forgave them. I made one mistake…one. And you are acting like I'm the worst person in the world."
His proximity was too close. She tried to walk around him to escape his gaze, but he wouldn't let her move. He had her pinned by the sink, both of his hands resting on it blocking her from walking away. He wanted it; well he was going to get it. "You were the one person who actually treated me like I was more than my looks...you treated me like I actually mattered. I let my guard down and let you in, because I thought I finally found somebody who could love me for who I was, not what I looked like. But in the end, you turned out to be just like them. I trusted you and you broke my heart. So, I'm sorry Dave, I'm fresh out of second chances." Why couldn't he understand that? It wasn't brain surgery, she was hurt...just leave it alone...all he had to do was let her get over him in peace. But, when you love someone, you can't let them hurt alone...that's why he wouldn't let it go.
He backed away from her and shook his head. "Why are you being so difficult? Why won't you listen to me? Do you really think I would have stayed up all night with you, watching you puke your guts out, if all I wanted from you was sex? You really have a high opinion of yourself." He could feel his anger start to rise. She wouldn't listen...he knew she was head strong but this was ridiculous.
She couldn't help but to chuckle at the comment. "No...you have a high opinion of me. What were you expecting, Dave? That you would come here and say a few sweet words...then I'd forgive you...maybe let you take me to bed...and we'd ride off into the sunset? I told you before, I'm easy, not stupid." She turned to walk out of the bathroom, but not before he closed the door in front of her.
She wasn't going anywhere and if he had to barricade them in that bathroom, so be it. "Why do you keep saying that? You're not easy. Don't you know how special you are?" He tried not to raise his voice, but she was pissing him off. She kept putting herself down...so much unlike the Britain that he knew and loved.
She shook her head. "Always the player. But this time, you got played." She dropped her voice to whisper and looked him the eye. " This's what I do, Dave; I'm a good time. I would have slept with you without all the romance."
His sudden yell made her jump back; she wasn't use to him yelling, especially not at her. "What the fuck do you want from me Britain? You want me to beg? Fine, I'm fucking begging you...please...I want you back! I love you!"
She couldn't believe it, not only did he trap her in the bathroom with him, now he was fucking yelling at her. "How are we supposed to move on, if you keep bringing this shit back up? It's over!" She yelled back.
"I don't want it to be over. I fucking love you!" He screamed, his deep voice causing vibrations throughout the small bathroom.
"We don't always get what we want! It's not even about what you said to me anymore...it's the fact that you could hurt me so easily. Jesus, don't you understand? I cared too much, because it wouldn't hurt this bad if I didn't. If I let you back in, you could do it again...and I won't let that happen."
He turned around and swung opened the bathroom door. Talking to her was obviously a bad idea...all he had managed to do was piss himself off more. He walked back in the room ranting, making incoherent threats and yelling only allowing her to understand a few expletives. "You are unbelievable…you fucked up and now you're mad at me. How exactly does that work?" She asked standing in the doorway watching him in disbelief.
"I'm pissed because you won't listen to me!" God, if he could have destroyed Randy's room, he would have...but then he'd have to pay for that one too.
"I am listening Dave. I just don't want to hear what you have say...not anymore. I'm done."
He sat on the bed defeated. He shook his head and buried is face in his large hands. How could one woman make him completely lose control like this? She had the power to fill or break his heart, and he let her do both at the same time. In a last ditch effort to reason with her, he took large strides toward her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a kiss that had every ounce of love that he had for her in it. He held his breath as he heard the soft moan come from her mouth as her tongue played with his slowly. He could swear that she could feel the goose bumps on him as her arms came around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She was kissing him back with just as much passion and love as he was kissing her.
He didn't want it to end, because then she would have time to have time to come to her senses. But he did, he had to look in her eyes. They were grey, intensely so...like the color of the clouds over the sea during a storm. Her eyes didn't lie...she still loved him, she still wanted him.
"I can't do this." She whispered, pulling the sheet tighter around her body.
He took his hands and traced his thumb over her lips, that were still swollen by his kiss. He sealed the glistening moisture from where their lips met into hers, as if he meant for her to keep it for always. "I love you." He said again, before capturing her lips once more. He could feel her heart race he held her so tight, but when he loosened his grip, when she pulled away. He watched her run out of the room and he smiled to himself.
It was a start; she had kissed him and felt everything he did. That kiss didn't lie.
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Chase let out a sigh as she rang Jeff's doorbell. Her eyes were as big as his when he opened the door. She hadn't seen him since that day he had told her about Kelly...it was just too much. After a lot of tears and soul searching, she knew what she had to do. "What are you..." He tried to ask, but when she hugged him, he forgot what he was going to ask. A month was long time to be in limbo.
"I'm sorry I left you." She said quietly stepping back to look at his face. Something wasn't right about it, but she didn't know what it was.
He ran his thumb over her cheek as he cradled her face in his hand. "You're here now."
She walked into his house, looking at how out of place everything was. He had moved his art studio into the living room and there were half finished paintings, wadded up sketches, pens and inks thrown carelessly all around. She looked at him and raised her eyebrows, "Frustrated?" She turned back toward the mess and started to pick it up.
"I thought I lost my muse." He admitted, putting his hands in his pockets.
Chase continued cleaning up the living room without a backward glance. "I called Matt and your dad everyday." She still couldn't look at him; she was too embarrassed by her actions and disgusted by his.
His body was healing. He had the staples removed last week from where he had the chest tube. His ribs were still bandaged, but he only felt pain in them when he moved suddenly. "I should be able to go back to work in a couple weeks. I feel a lot better." He said sitting on the couch and patting it loudly for her to sit next to him. He tried to suppress the laugh that was tickling his throat although he couldn't see anything around him that was funny. He hadn't felt this good in days and having Chase back with just made it even funnier.
Chase ran her hand over his beard and turned his face toward her. "You don't look right. You sure you're ok?"
He smiled. Just the fact that she was there and willing to fuss over him made him feel ten times better. "I'm ok now that you're here." He smiled before leaning over to give her a sloppy kiss. The movement made him flinch against the pain, and it did not go unnoticed. But it was more than his pain, his eyes looked funny...glassy and far away and he looked unkept.
There was something was wrong that she couldn't put her finger on, until she could taste the alcohol on his breath. Jeff didn't drink...not anymore; it was part of his recovery. Chase moved back and studied him again. "Are you taking your medicine?" She asked, noticing the beads of sweat starting on his brow with his sudden ache. He nodded and pointed toward the table in the dining room. Chase walked over to get the pills and studied the jar. It was a 60 day prescription of Oxycotin but when she removed the cap there were only six pills left. "Jeff, where's the rest of your prescription?"
His face dropped and he shrugged. He stood up slowly and took the pills out of her hands and placed the jar on the coffee table. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. He wasn't going to answer the question...she didn't need to know. All she needed to know was he was glad she was there and now he could start getting better.
"Where are the pills, Jeff?" She spoke slowly and softly. She didn't want to come out and accuse him of anything, but she needed for him to tell her. He bit his bottom lip and looked around the room. She moved his face so that he could look her in the eye. His pupils were dilated. He was high or drunk or both...right there in front of her!
"They don't work." He said with an innocent smile. It wasn't like he was hooked on them or anything. He'd only been taking them for three weeks and besides, he had only started doubling up a little over a week ago...then over the weekend, he didn't eat at all, he just popped pills all day. But that was then, now that she was there, he wouldn't need them anymore. He just took them to stop the pain...in his heart.
She pressed her forehead against his. "Jeff. I'm going to ask you a question and I need you to answer it truthfully." She looked at him seriously. "Are you getting high again?"
He let her go and walked away. "How dare you fuckin' ask me that. No...I'm not." He started to pace the room. "You think 'cause I told you about that girl Kelly and that I have a few pills missin' that I'm usin' again? Well you try this shit, Chase. You try to have broken ribs without any pain medicine and see how strong you can be." Of all the people in the world that should have understood, it should have been her.
Even when Matt had been to visit him, he didn't ask about the pills, or how he was spending his free time. Hell, if Chase really cared, she wouldn't have gone this long without so much as a damn phone call. She was supposed to love him, no matter what. And now she was standing there in his house judging him. Well if she didn't like it, she could leave...he wasn't going to stop her.
She remained calm, picking up the pill jar. "Since they don't work...and you're not using them to get high. I'll just throw them out." She walked passed him and headed for the stairs. He found strength past his bandaged ribs as he ran after her, grabbing the bottle from her hands. "You need to mind your own business." He said snatching the bottle away.
She turned to him in awe. "You are my business!" She yelled, snatching the bottle back. This time she was faster, she managed to run up the stairs and get to the bathroom. She dropped the pills in the toilet and flushed it just as he got to door.
The look on his face was somewhere between disbelief and horror. How dare she do that! She was just like everybody else that claimed to love him. His father and Matt and Shannon, they all tried to stop him from taking them. It was only 60 pills, it's not like it was kilo; besides, it was prescribed for his ribs. He needed them to get better. "Why did you do that? Do you know how much pain I'm in?" He couldn't decide if he wanted to hit her or have her just leave. She stood her ground, looking at him, breathing heavily. "Get out! Get the fuck out!" He yelled pulling her by the arm. He didn't need her; it was her fault he was in this situation to begin with. He didn't even feel her struggle against him, until he felt her fist make contact with his broken ribs, causing him to fall on the floor in the hallway.
Immediately she slammed the bathroom door and locked it. She could barely hear Matt's voice on her cell phone over the obscenities that Jeff shouted at her while banging on the door. "Matt. I'm at Jeff's...I threw away his pills and he's freaking out." She scooted down between the tub and toilet, trying to make herself as small as possible. "I'm scared Matt. I don't think he'd hurt me, but he grabbed me." She looked at her arm which had a small bruise starting to form, from where he dug his fingers in it.
"I'm on my way." Matt said quickly.
Chase didn't know what to do. She had never seen this side of Jeff before. He was so docile, sweet and loving...not like this. He'd only been taking them for three weeks. You can't get hooked in three weeks...could you?
"So now you're afraid of me, Chase? You think I'm gonna hurt you now? Open the fuckin' door!" He yelled banging on it again. "You did this you know. I wouldn't have needed to take pills, if you would've just left me alone to begin with...you put me through all this shit...and then you fuckin' left me. And now you wanna come back like everythin's fine. Fuck you, Chase!"
The silence at the door scared her. She didn't know whether to open it or not. He may have hurt himself while beating on the door. She wanted to go check on him; but what if he were just waiting for her...to really hurt her? She didn't know what to do. She held her breath and dialed her phone. "Daddy?" Her voice let out a faint cry when she heard his voice. "I need you." She could hear the anxiety in his voice. "Jeff's using again...I'm scared."
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Hunter grabbed the last of his bags and loaded them into his car. He walked back to the house to return the key to Stephanie. "I don't want this, Steph." He said quietly, before placing the keys in her hand.
She held her breath and closed her hand around them. She had never known him to hit a woman. She couldn't get that out of her mind. If he could so freely hit Dave's girlfriend with no remorse, in front his him no less...where did that leave her? "Why did you do it?" She asked him again. She had been filled in on his antics; how he had set up Jeff, the way he had treated Chase and Britain. But Stephanie still didn't understand.
Hunter sat down. He had nothing left to lose. He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I was just so angry...then you wanted a separation...it just hurt to see everybody else happy." It didn't even make since to him, so how could make her understand. She was his everything and she didn't want him. His glance darted away from him as he felt the sting of tears in his eyes. And then suddenly a hand...her hand touched him.
She looked at him with concern, her watery eyes matched his. She knelt before him the chair. "I don't want this either. I love you Paul...but I just don't know anymore." It was all she had left. She had battled over and over again with whether to try to make this work. Then she heard about what he had done and she was sure that she had made the right decision. But now he was here and she could see the hurt on his face. "Why didn't you just talk to me about it? When did we stop talking?"
He honestly couldn't remember. It happened so gradually that it seemed natural. He thought about it, all of it. How he had purposely tormented Jeff, embarrassed Chase, fed Dave's rage and disrespected Britain. Now all four of their lives were in turmoil and he was the sole one to blame. He felt the warm tears run from his eyes and her warmer hand touch his face. "Please don't make me go." He whispered taking her palm and kissing it gently. "I'll do whatever you want. I'll do anger management, marriage counseling...whatever it takes. But please don't leave me...I got nothing left." He had managed to isolate himself from everyone in the past few weeks. And without her, he really had nothing. He expected her to tell him to leave.
But she couldn't. Instead she wrapped her arms around him. "I don't want to lose you." She cried against his embrace. She couldn't for the life of her understand why she needed or wanted him, but she did; and that's all that mattered.
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Why does it seem like when you're in a hurry, everything goes in slow motion? Not only had the flight to Raleigh, NC had delayed, but the rental car company only had small cars...something that a 6'5", 3001b man just couldn't drive. It took them over an hour to get an SUV delivered to the airport...an hour; he could have been in Cameron in that time. Then there was the accident on the highway to deal with, making everyone travel at a snails pace. Hell, he could've walked there faster.
Dave felt his muscles tighten. He wanted so much to stay in Atlantic City and talk to Britain again. She had kissed him back, that meant that it wasn't over...you don't kiss someone like that when you want nothing else to do with them. His lips still burned from hers, the gentle pressure of her tongue dancing with his, the sound of her moan in his mouth, the warm tears touching his cheeks as she pulled away, were all still etched in his memory. Then there was the look she gave him. Her lips were still glistening from his kiss and her eyes were unyielding. He saw it there, he saw that still loved him and wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Her eyes always told him everything about her. He had half expected them to be blue, symbolizing she was angry; but they weren't. They were deep grey, she was happy. She was happy he kissed her, she was happy to be in his arms. Now all he had to do was prove to her that they were meant to be...that is after he killed Jeff.
He got lost a few times in the wooded area near Jeff's home, but 4 hours after his daughter's phone call, he made his way there. He had told himself over and over again that he wouldn't lay a finger on him...unless he had laid one of Chase. But she had ended the phone call so abruptly that he didn't know what to think. All he could do was see Kelly on that table, bloody and bruised...her young body exposed and all those men standing around her laughing and taunting her. What if Chase was next? No. He refused to think about that, because she had called him, she told him he was scared; but it had taken four hours to get to her. That's a long time, when you don't know if you child is in danger.
He rang the door immediately following the hard knock he gave it. If Jeff didn't open that door in 10 seconds, he was going to break it down. "Chase?" He called out, his heart started to race. What if Jeff had hurt her? What if she couldn't get to the door? Fuck that door; that shit was coming down, now!
"What do you want?" Matt asked opening the door, looking at the terror stricken face of Dave Batista. Matt and Dave had always been friends, but now neither one of them was so sure. Their relationship changed after Kelly, mainly because Matt defended Jeff. How could he defend someone who let that happen? In Dave's mind, he was just as guilty as the others.
Dave walked past Matt and into Jeff's home, uninvited. He scanned the living room quickly and didn't see her. He looked in the dining room and saw Shannon sitting there with Jeff. His heart started doing flips. Where was Chase? Why were there three men in that house, alone with his daughter? Before he could process the whole scene, he pulled Jeff out of his seat. "Where's my daughter, you son of a bitch? What did you do to her?" His face was hard and his voice firm.
He watched Jeff put his head down and fresh tears come to his eyes. Dave's mind played a hundred different scenarios: he had hit her, or raped her, or even worse, killed her. Dave shook Jeff again, this time his anger getting the better of him. He could hear Matt's voice in the background, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. He watched the guilt all over Jeff's face, just proving his point; he had done something horrible to her.
Just as Dave felt that he would die from holding his breath, waiting to hear what gruesome thing Jeff did to Chase, he heard her voice. It was a high pitched wail of relief that made him release Jeff and turn to her.
"Daddy…stop please?" He could see that she had been crying and his heart cried too as the young girl walked swiftly over to him and hugged him with all the love that a daddy's girl could.
He held her stroking her hair, letting her know how sorry he was for hurting her and that all was forgiven. She cried against his chest, not because of the fight with Jeff, but because she missed him. She always talked to him everyday, even if it was only for a few minutes. She missed him, even if she was the one who tried to hurt him.
Dave pulled away and looked at her face. "Are you ok?" He let the air fill his lungs again when she nodded. "I was so scared." He didn't really care that the other three men in the room watched him fall to pieces in his daughter's arms. They all understood; she was his child and he would do anything to protect her.
He was pulled out of his reunion by the unmistakeable southern drawl of Jeff. "I didn't do nothin' to her, I swear."
Dave turned to see Jeff leaning against the table holding his ribs. Dammit! He said he wasn't going to touch him, unless the situation called for it. Dave turned his attention back to Chase to get confirmation.
"I was scared Daddy, that's why I called you. I knew you'd come for me." She dropped her eyes, feeling guilty that she had put Jeff in this position again. She looked over at Jeff and gave him an apologetic look and was relieved when he gave her a faint smile.
The tension in the air was thick. Dave released his daughter and focused all of his attention on Jeff. Since he was there, they might as well settle it once and for all. "Are you getting high again?" He asked in a smug voice, but quickly he let his superior attitude go when Jeff didn't answer.
Chase walked over to Jeff and put her arm around him. "Sit down. We all need to talk."
Dave looked over at Matt, who was pulling out a chair and slowly went to take one himself. This had been the furthest thing from his mind...talking. The entire ride over he had been planning on how to murder Jeff and make it look like an accident. But it was that damn Britain's fault. If she hadn't of kissed him back and let him think that there was hope, he would be doing just that. Then there was Chase's eyes to deal with. They were so full of hurt and love for Jeff, just like Britain's were after the kiss. Fuck! He didn't want to deal with this, not ever.
"I started takin' the pills they gave me in the hospital and I had a few beers." Jeff admitted to him. He didn't need to explain anything to Dave, but he knew for Chase's sake he did. He had scared her, he yelled at her, he grabbed her; that wasn't Jeff, that was Jeff on drugs. He hated that Jeff; he hated that that Jeff still existed. But if it hadn't been for Chase calling Matt, he may have hurt her. Just thinking that he could possibly harm her was enough to make him sick.
Before Dave could say anything, Chase chimed in. "Daddy...I love Jeff and I'm going to be with him with or without your approval." She spoke firmly and never let her eyes drop from his. He felt a swell of pride, finally after all these years, his uber pleasing daughter had a backbone...but why over Jeff Hardy? "We have some things we need to work out...and he's going to start going to meetings again, but we're going to do this...together." She reached over and squeezed Jeff's hand.
Jeff felt like his heart was going to burst because it was so full. "I know you don't like me. I know you don't trust me...but I would never hurt her, Dave." Jeff's voice was low and soft. He was embarrassed that he could treat Chase so cruelly. He had never been the type of person to say how he felt; he usually just let his emotions take over. Numb, that was his favorite emotion and as long as Jeff found something else to occupy whatever it was he was feeling...enough until his body was numb, he was fine. But now he didn't have that luxury. He loved Chase; he had to deal with that emotion, which gave all of his other emotions free range. It scared him.
Dave sat at the table and glared at Jeff. Not being able to get Kelly's face out of his head. "You might not mean to, but things have a way of happening when you're around." He didn't mean for the sarcasm to come out, but it did. He watched Jeff's head lower and Chase's eyes widen.
"What the fuck does that mean?" Matt asked from the other side of the table. Dave noticed the look on both he and Shannon's faces.
"He's been trying Dave, give him some credit." Shannon offered. They couldn't believe how he was acting. Dave had been a role model for them for so long. He was calm, fun, grounded...granted he had a temper, but you had to get him really pissed to ever see it.
Jeff raised his hand to stop them. "I know you blame me. But I never meant for it happen, Dave. She was kid, for Christ's sake. I never meant for her to get hurt." He spoke slowly, before the well of emotions over the situation overcame him. "I've blamed myself everyday, for the past 3 years. When she died, I wanted world to swallow me up...because it was my fault." He pointed to himself. "My fault. She begged me to help her...and I didn't."
Dave clinched his jaws. He still couldn't understand how Jeff could be so cruel. "How could not help her? They used a fucking beer bottle..." His voice showed his disbelief. "She was just a little girl...a baby." And here his baby was with the monster that let it happen.
"Dave, I tried to make up for it. I tried to pay for her surgeries; I tried to give her family money for therapy...I even wrote to her and apologized. I tried. I can't bring her back."
Dave could hear in his voice that he was sorry, but that wasn't good enough. Jeff had let it happen; he just sat there and let it happen.
"What else do I have to do?"
Dave looked at Jeff and then at Chase. "I have three daughters...three of them. She could've been one of my girls. You let somebody's daughter get attacked and you didn't do anything about it. She was Madison's age..." He looked at Chase so that she would understand. Maybe the realization of just how young she was would finally hit home with Chase. "And she looked so much like her..." In Dave's mind, Kelly had been one of his girls; she was a little girl that needed her daddy there to protect her. And he did, he tried...but he had gotten there too late. The damage had already been done. If he would have had to go to the bathroom sooner, instead of playing pool with John, then maybe he would have been able to stop it before it happened.
Chase understood. She walked around and lifted his head. "She wasn't Maddy, Daddy." She smiled at him and spoke calmly so that he would understand. "You tried to save her, and you did. She made it out of there alive because you helped her. You did your best." She knew he had always had a hero complex, but she never really understood why until now. "This isn't about Jeff, is it? You hate him, because you feel guilty; but you didn't know, you couldn't have known."
Jeff sat back in his chair and let the tears from his eyes. He watched as Dave hugged his daughter and cried. He understood the guilt he felt, because he had been carrying around his fair share of it for so long. Now he had to make it right. He didn't know how, but he had to try.
"I tried...I got there too late." Dave whispered as his daughter hugged him. He had always been their hero and he let them down; he let Kelly down. He had only been introduced to her briefly, but he couldn't help but think just how much like Maddy she looked. Her short dark hair and big brown eyes; that same infatuated look in her eyes when she looked at Jeff. He should have been there, he should have insisted that she stay out there and talk to them, or told Jeff that he should take her home. That was no place for a child to be; but at the time, he didn't see anything wrong with it.
Finally Matt spoke. "All of us did things wrong that night. I'm not gonna make excuses for Jeff...I've been doin' that for too long. He was high Dave; he didn't know what was goin' on. You should have seen him the next day, when he found out...he was a mess. He stopped carin' about everythin'. This has eaten him up for years. You gotta find a way to let him let him live it down."
"What if you start really using again? What about Chase?" Dave was torn. He wanted Chase to be happy, but with Jeff? That was a risk that he just didn't think he could take. But he felt his worries lift slightly when Jeff smiled.
"How can I fuck up, when you'll be right there, watchin' me like a hawk?" He had made up his mind after he saw Chase's face, when Shannon finally got her to open the bathroom door. She had this look on her face, she was afraid. It was the same look that Kelly had given him, when she begged for his help. He promised that no woman would ever look at him like that again, and yet he had given Chase a reason to. "The pills are gone. I'm in pain, but...I'll deal; there's no more alcohol. It's all gone." He looked at Chase and smiled. "I love your daughter, Dave. I do...I love her with everything I have. I don't want to lose her; not over this. For the first time since Kelly died, I feel alive...I'm happy. I don't lose that for anything."
Dave looked at Chase. "I love him, Daddy." She said in a trembling voice. He released her only to see her go and hug Jeff. The look on his face, reminded him of himself; it was the same look that he had when he was with Britain earlier. It was a look of hope that things would get better, a look of determination that come hell or high water he would make things right.
There was no need to argue about it anymore. Chase had made up her mind and even though he was scared to death for her, he walked out of Jeff's house without any protest. She knew that if she needed him, he would be there, but he wouldn't just give them permission to be together. If Chase was going to be with Jeff, she would have to do it on her own. She was his little girl and he didn't want to let her go; but he knew that he had to.