The week had been mentally draining for Dean. Not having CJ was only making it worse. It had only been a couple days but he felt a longing for the blonde. Texting and the occasional phone call wasn't enough for him. He needed her in person, in his bed, cuddling with him, just being there with him.
He had heard about her and Seth patching things up, but CJ had firmly assured him that there wasn't anything between them anymore. She was his, not Seth's, and unless he somehow royally pissed her off that wouldn't be changing any time soon. He found solace in that fact, but he still wanted to see her again so he could leave his mark on her.
Being perfectly honest, Dean didn't trust Seth with her. The man mumbled her name in his sleep, there was no way he could trust that he wouldn't try to make a move on CJ if the two were alone. Judging on how badly she reacted to what Seth had said to her at WrestleMania, Dean couldn't trust that she wouldn't react to whatever moves Seth put on her. She cared about Seth, and Seth still loved her. Dean trusted CJ, just not around Seth.
"Just like that, baby." Seth mumbled in his sleep and Dean sighed, knowing that he was dreaming about CJ. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to handle it much longer, especially since his mind was far from sleep. So he grabbed his phone, his jacket, slipped on his shoes, and left the room to go on a walk. Cold air on his face and some movement would help a lot. Hearing CJ's voice would help more. He knew she had her surgery in the morning and was probably fast asleep, but he'd listen to her voicemail recording a few times and leave a message if she didn't answer the phone.
"You've reached CJ Jericho, if this is Hunter; don't bother leaving a message, since I don't want to hear it. I'll try to call you back but I might not. All depends. If this isn't Hunter, then please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can and that's a guarantee." Her blatant disrespect for that dickhead Hunter always made him smile, since she had no limits when it came to calling out Hunter.
"Uh, hey your highness. I was just calling 'cause I couldn't sleep and...yeah. I know you've got your surgery in the morning, and you're sleeping right now, but I want you to know that I'm thinking about you CJ. Your voicemail message is pretty great, by the way. Call me when you're coherent, alright? I'll let you know when I'm free from responsibilities and maybe I could head up there and go see you? I know I'd like to. This has gotten really fucking long and I'm sorry about that. If you even made it this far into the message- god dammit. I'm rambling. Call me." Dean took a cautionary look around as he hung up the phone, making sure that nobody heard his message, then sighed in relief when he saw that he was alone on the street. The last thing he needed was for Seth to be all over him because somebody tweeted about him having it bad for CJ. Or worse, recorded his message and put it online. The fact that such a thing was even possible made him hate the internet.
CJ was wide awake when Dean called. Only she was on the internet doing some research and paid no attention to her phone going off. She needed to know what she was feeling for both men and who it was she felt more for. She already knew that Adam was going to be upset that she turned to eharmony, cosmo, seventeen, and various online quizzes rather than actually think about it the sensible way, but she did take every quiz twice and answered differently based on each guy so at least she wasn't lazy about it.
"I am so fucked." She groaned, lightly tugging at her hair. She couldn't understand how deciphering her own feelings could be so difficult. It wasn't fair and pissed her off.
"CJ go to sleep." Beth called, knocking on the door in warning. "You have surgery in four hours."
"Alright." CJ called, shutting her laptop and setting it to the side. She was tired, and in disbelief that it was already two in the morning. Time flew by when you were trying to figure out how you felt about two different men.
Once she was comfortable underneath the blankets, CJ found that she was thinking too much to sleep. She had gotten used to being alone in bed once more. She didn't like it, but she adjusted. That didn't stop her from longing for that familiar body heat and the tired mumblings of Dean Ambrose while he held her tight to his chest. At the same time, she wanted the feel of Seth's hand gently rubbing her thigh or back while he kissed her forehead and whispered incomprehensible things into her hair while she rest her head on his chest. She felt safe in Adam's house, but nothing compared to the security she felt while sleeping in the arms of a man who cared about her.
Eventually she grabbed her phone off the nightstand after the screen lit up for what she assumed was the fifth time. She was surprised to see that not only had Dean called her four times, but he had left a voicemail. The voicemail alone was a shocker, because Dean Ambrose didn't leave voicemails. He'd end the call and text what would be his voicemail message before he left a voicemail. She felt special, and listening to the message made her feel even more special. She'd call him back in the morning, since sleep was finally calling her name.
Adam watched as CJ slept after her surgery. Seeing her knee all bandaged up reminded him of all the times he had to have surgery and managed to bounce back from what could be a career threatening injury. Her knee injury wasn't as serious as when he broke his neck, but she'd definitely bounce back quickly. He knew that she was tough enough to handle all the physical therapy, and stubborn enough to cut that eight to twelve months into six to eight months.
He remembered talking to Chris about the surgery when they were together and remembered his guarantee to his friend about an update on her condition. So he stood from his seat and went to the vending machine to grab a cheap snack while he searched his contacts for Chris Jericho Sr., mentally debating just a dimple text over a phone call. Calling won, solely because he wanted to hear how truly interested Chris was in his daughter's condition.
"Hey, man. What's up?" Chris' greeting was casual like always, and Adam had to wonder if he had forgotten about CJ having surgery.
"I'm at the hospital." Adam stated vaguely, curious as to what Chris' response would be. He hated that he already knew that Chris could care less about his daughter and he dreaded Chris' response as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Did something happen to Beth or the baby?" The panic in his tone almost sounded genuine to Adam. Almost.
"No, they're fine. Your daughter just got out of knee surgery, actually."
"Oh? How did that go?" Chris asked and Adam could just hear how bored he was now that the conversation topic was CJ.
"Great, actually. Some rehab is necessary, like with all surgeries, but she should be back in the ring by WrestleMania at the latest. Good news, right?"
"Y-yeah. Great news, actually. So proud of my tough kid. I'll have to send a basket of something edible. Podcast stuff just popped up, I'll call you." Chris rambled before hanging up and Adam sighed, fiddling with the bag of m&ms in his hand as he shoved his phone into his pocket. He couldn't believe how disappointed Chris sounded, and how quick he was to get off the phone. Adam was certain that the basket of whatever would probably have pineapples and walnuts, the two things CJ was allergic to, because Chris so bad at being a father to his daughter that he didn't know what she was allergic to.
"You're sharing those, right?" CJ mumbled, turning her head once Adam walked into her room.
"If the doctor says its okay. But even if he doesn't you're getting some. How are you feeling?" Adam asked, pushing hair out of CJ's face before lightly tapping her cheek.
"I feel fine. I meant to talk to Dean before we came, but I can call him before Raw starts or during the show and leave a message."
"Alright. You going to try moving it?"
"I'm allowed to?" CJ whispered, seeing her surgeon in the doorway.
"Moving your knee can do no harm." Her surgeon explained as he moved to stand beside Adam to start helping her extend it. "See? No harm in this. Ice it for twenty minutes every two to four hours and that'll reduce the swelling. Don't get the stitches wet, and you can remove the heavy bandaging tomorrow. Use your crutches until you can bear your full weight on that knee, since limping around will get you nowhere but back on the operating table."
"Damn." CJ muttered, accepting a couple blue m&ms from Adam. Blue ones were her favorite.
"Hey Dean, it's me. I got your message last night and I would love for you to come up and see me. Also, I hope you and the guys are okay. Needless to say, I miss you. Call me back, okay?"
Dean had to listen to the message three times for multiple reasons; he liked hearing her voice, the ringing in his ear kept making him tune out want she was saying, and there was a worried tone in her voice that he wanted to make sure was absolutely sure he was hearing correctly. After showering and taking a couple deep breaths, Dean felt like he was ready to hit the road and sent CJ a text telling her that he missed her too and would call her when they hit the hotel. She replied with a selfie and he could see how tired she was. The little bags under her eyes gave it away if the obviously tired smile didn't. She was still beautiful to him, she would always be beautiful to him.
That fact scared him.
When he was younger, if a woman didn't look well rested he was immediately turned off and wanted nothing to do with her. But seeing CJ tired just made him want to be with her and ensuring that she was sleeping. He wasn't sure if he was just more mature, since seeing Summer Rae tired made him want to run to the next town. Maybe it was just CJ who brought this mature side out in him? He didn't know. But if it turned out that he was, in fact, changing for a woman, CJ was definitely one hell of a catch that he wasn't giving up any time soon.
He felt bad for Seth, because the younger man didn't even know where CJ was. The younger man had no clue that Dean was willing to fight for what he had with CJ. He wanted to be the one man on her mind romantically, and there wasn't any space for Seth in the romantic picture. He wasn't going to push her to be more until he knew that she wanted more with him, unlike Seth who is really good at saying one thing and going back on that word. As far as Dean was concerned, he didn't need a label as long as CJ was willing to call herself his. If she wanted it to be publicly known or not didn't bother him, because he didn't care about that. He just wanted to be with her.
I'm coming down with some kind of sick. Thank god tomorrow is Friday so I'll be able to sleep a bit more than usual this weekend. No gym grind, but I'll survive somehow.
Thank you TaijiaK, ChelleLew, Guest, angelsdee327, UntilNeverDawns, ILoveAnime89, and AshleighxAwsome for reviewing. You guys are awesome.