Raile Jackson had a slight, inconsequential problem. Well, maybe not so slight and inconsequential, given that the problem himself was six foot four and well over a hundred pounds, but he was still a problem.
Maxwell Heyman, formerly known as Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Former jackass extraordinaire, now seemingly changed with the newfound proclamation that he was her best friend's long-lost brother.
And hadn't that news gone off like a goddamn nuke drop? Suddenly she was seeing him every time she visited Elena and her boyfriend, Jake Parnell, and Max was a completely different person.
It threw her for a loop, and she wasn't sure how to act around him anymore. Before all of this, they had both hated each other with an intensity only rivaled by the Heymans and the McMahons, and here Max was, as sweet as could be. Part of her wanted to ask him when the joke was going to be over, but she trusted Elena and Paul with her life. So, despite her reservations, she still joined Elena, Jake and Paul for dinner every Saturday.
She arrived promptly at five-thirty and knocked on the door, smiling politely when Max opened it for her.
"Hey, Raile, good to see you," he smiled brightly at her, and she found herself looking into his eyes for longer than a brief second before she responded.
"Hey, Max. I brought a coffee cake this time," she said while holding up the bag, and he moved to the side so she could come in.
"You keep bringing desserts for us and I'm going to have to tack on extra gym time to my routine," he joked, causing her to snort as she walked in.
"You say that like you're not in there most of the day," she retorted, setting the bag on the counter and shrugging off her jacket which was covered in snow.
"Fair point," he shrugged, taking her jacket from her. "But then again, so are you, so that doesn't really leave room for you to talk, does it?"
"I guess not, but I didn't get the chance to go today with this damn blizzard that we're in," she said with a shrug, sitting on the couch. "I'm lucky I was able to make it here for dinner, honestly. Where is everyone else, anyway?"
"Elena and Jake got snowed in at his mom's, and Dad can't drive on the road with the traffic ban, so he's staying the night at his office," Max said. "They told me to call you and tell you not to come, but I didn't have your number. I'm sorry."
"So it's just you and me here?", she asked him as she relaxed against the couch. "That's fine, I guess. It just means we can eat cake and hang out, and I can finally figure out whether this is some elaborate joke that everyone's playing on me."
He glanced up at her, looking slightly wounded and taken aback.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I don't believe that you're Elena's brother," she said bluntly, never one to sugarcoat her feelings. "I don't know what kind of joke this is, but it's very elaborate. Not very funny, honestly, but elaborate."
Max's eyes grew dark and stormy, and she briefly wondered if he was going to yell at her as he stared her down.
"It's not a joke," he snapped. "I didn't know anything until I bumped into Elena and Paul at a house show and Paul looked like he'd seen a ghost. I spent twenty-four years of my life thinking that my father was the man who raised me, and you think it's a joke? You think that my mother lying to me and controlling me my entire life is just some prank I came up with to pull on you? Hate to break it to you, Raile Jackson, but you're not that special," he spat.
She winced slightly at the dark tone in his voice and realized that she'd crossed a line.
"I'm sorry," she said as she ran a hand over her hair. "I didn't mean...I wasn't trying to say all of that. I just meant that well, you and I have known each other a while and all that time, you've been a massive douchebag. And then seemingly overnight you stop being said douchebag. It's just caught me off guard and I don't know how to adjust. I'm sorry, Max."
He stared at her and she lowered her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"I shouldn't have come over; I'm still unsettled around you and it's not fair to you to have to deal with it. You can keep the coffee cake," she blathered as she stood up, reaching for her jacket that was still in his hands.
Max pulled the jacket away and pinched his nose with his free hand.
"Maybe if I explained it to you, it would make sense, yeah?", he said quietly as he stood up and dropped the jacket on the couch. "You don't have to leave, just...just let me make coffee and I'll explain everything. Elena would kill me if I made you leave in this weather."
"Are you sure?", she asked. "I don't want to intrude if you don't want me here, really, it's fine."
"Just sit on the couch, Raile," he muttered as he headed into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. He shouldn't have felt so frustrated and offended with her, but it did hurt quite a bit that she thought the upheaval of his life was just some big joke.
Then again, he supposed he could see the argument that she only knew MJF, and that did seem like something he would have done before he found out he was a Heyman. So, he couldn't be too upset with her.
He poured them both a cup of coffee, adding cream and sugar to both cups and cutting them each a slice of cake, carrying all of it back out to the living room.
"I don't know exactly how you take your coffee, but I figured you're one of the people that likes it with extra cream and sugar," he shrugged, handing over her mug and plate and smiling politely.
"I do, actually," she smiled back as she took a sip. "Thank you, Max, that's nice of you."
"I can be nice, actually," he smirked at her. "It honestly gets tiring being such a dick all the time."
"And here I was thinking you enjoyed it," she laughed, taking a bite of the cake.
"No, not really," he admitted. "But my mother thought it would be good for my career if I was a heel all the time. I personally hate it, because it means everyone avoids me and I have no friends, so I'm trying to change that about me."
She gave him a considering look as she ate her cake, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well, I suppose if you're serious about changing your ways, then I can set aside my doubts and give you the benefit of the doubt."
Max actually gave her a genuine smile, and she felt her heart do a tiny backflip for reasons she couldn't quite understand and didn't want to voice.
"I really do regret all of the animosity we have," he said gently, slowly sipping his coffee and relaxing against the arm of the couch. "You're tremendously talented in the ring, and you have a lot of character outside of it too. I don't know why I was so hell-bent on being so terrible to you."
"Honestly, it's fine," she told him with a reassuring smile. "I don't actually care if people like me or not, my only concern is being the best that I can in the ring. Making friends is just an added benefit."
Raile took another sip of coffee and cleared her throat.
"You said you were going to explain?"
"Yes," he nodded, staring down into his cup of coffee and taking a deep breath.
"I bumped into Elena at the last show that Jake and I did together, and we looked so similar that Jake made the joke we could be siblings. I laughed it off, of course, because I assumed it was just a joke, until Elena just didn't stop staring at me and then introduced me to Dad. And then, when I met him, he stared at me like he'd seen several ghosts and asked who my mother was. When I told him, shit," he muttered quietly. "He told me that he'd met my mother back when he was still running ECW, and that he thought I could be his son. So, we did a DNA test, one of those ones you can buy online, and as you can see, I'm actually a Heyman. Honestly, it's really nice," he smiled. "I don't have to pretend anymore; I can just be Max Heyman."
"Well, I'm happy for you," she smiled at him. "You have a good family, and it's obviously doing you a lot of good, so I'm happy for you. And if you're serious about turning around, then I have your back. I hope that other people can see that you're serious too."
"Thank you," he smiled back. "That really means a lot to me, because I know that most people might be afraid of you but they still listen to what you have to say because of your talent and how you carry yourself. I would be honored for you to have my back."
"You don't have to sweet-talk me, I already said yes," she teased him. "It would be fun to form an alliance, don't you think? People would definitely start talking about you for a good reason."
"I suppose that's true," he nodded, giving her a playful smirk. "Are you sure your reputation can handle it?"
"Better question is can the fans handle it?", she shot back. "We've been at each other's throats for a year, it's going to be a huge shock to them when we suddenly don't want to kill each other."
"I never wanted to kill you," he admitted with a blush. "I respect you too much. And, you're sort of hot."
Raile choked on her coffee and spit it back into her cup, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow and a slack-jawed expression.
"Come again? You think I'm hot?"
"I said sort of hot," he protested, face going red as he looked away from her. "You wear those shorts and your tops are really tight and-"
"So you're paying attention to my gear choices?", she interrupted, smirking at him. "Wow, Max, I didn't know you were so interested."
"It's not like that," he half-whined, pouting at her. "I just like to watch your matches because you're good at wrestling. Like, really good."
"I'm sure," she grinned, leaning closer to him. "It's not because you think I'm sort of hot?"
"You're a bully," he huffed, folding his arms. "And besides, you don't like me."
She scooted closer to him, moving her hair out of her face and laughing softly.
"I didn't like Maxwell Jacob Friedman. However, Max Heyman seems to be pretty cool," she smiled brightly. "Tell me more about him."
"Yeah, I will," he smiled back nervously. "Just, would you excuse me for a second? These contacts are killing my eyes, I'd like to put my glasses on."
"It's your house, dude, do whatever," she nodded. "I'm going to step outside and have a cigarette."
"No, you can smoke in here," he said with a shake of his head, glancing around for the ashtray that his father kept for Jake and handing it to her. "It's too cold outside for you to be out there, and the snow is coming down really hard. You should stay inside."
"Okay," she nodded, accepting the ashtray and lighting a cigarette. "Go ahead and do what you need to do to be comfortable, man, I'll be fine here with my coffee and my cigarette."
He gave her another warm smile and headed upstairs to his room, changing into a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved thermal shirt, putting his contacts away and sliding his glasses on.
Briefly, he glanced at one of the throw blankets on his bed, wondering if he should bring it downstairs for her in case she got cold, and then figured that it wouldn't hurt to make sure.
So, he grabbed the blanket and tucked it under his arm before heading back downstairs.
"I brought you this in case you feel cold," he called to her as he came down the stairs, tossing the blanket on her and sitting on the couch. "I honestly don't know if the power is going to hold out any longer, the wind is terrible and-"
The lights cut out and Raile jumped slightly, moving closer to him and reaching for him in the dark.
"Yeah, I guess not," she responded, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. "So, I really am stuck here then."
"Sorry," he winced as he wrapped an arm around her. "This might be some of the worst weather I've ever seen. I wish Elena had given me your number so I could have told you to stay home."
Raile shrugged and finished her cigarette, stubbing it out in the ashtray on her lap and kicking her shoes off to curl her feet under her.
"At least the fireplace isn't electric?", Max tried to smile. "I mean, we don't have much wood, but it might be enough to get us through tonight without freezing to death."
"And I have a lighter, so we could try it?", she nodded. "Maybe find some empty boxes and tear them up for kindling?"
"We have tons of snacks we can eat, so we can tear those boxes up," he suggested, and she smiled at him brightly.
"Good, because I'm getting hungry and it doesn't seem like we can cook anything for the foreseeable future. At least we have snacks?"
"Maybe we could try roasting marshmallows?", he smiled back. "I know we have those; we can make indoor s'mores."
"Indoor s'mores?", she asked. "Like roasting them in the fireplace? That sounds fun. I know how to boil water, maybe we can make hot chocolate and put the s'mores on top?"
"That sounds delicious," Max grinned, getting up to grab the bag of marshmallows and the box of hot chocolate, along with some long forks and a pot full of water.
Raile smiled and sat on the rug in front of the fireplace, crossing her legs to keep her feet underneath her and looking up at him as he sat down next to her.
"Alright, show me how to do this," he said with a laugh, and she took the pot and held it above the fire.
"Okay, so what you want to do is wait until the water starts to boil, and then we add the hot chocolate into what's left of our coffee, and then roast the marshmallows until they're golden brown," she told him. "It's going to taste like a s'more, but with coffee and no graham crackers."
"Sounds good to me," he nodded, putting a marshmallow onto one of the forks and holding it above the fire, next to the pot. "I've never done this before, but it looks fun."
"It really is fun," she beamed. "I love making s'mores."
"I haven't made them since I started taking wrestling more seriously. My mother, she basically controlled what I ate and how I worked out," he winced. "I'm honestly so happy I found Paul and Elena; they make me feel like I'm part of a family again."
"I'm happy for you," she nodded, pulling the water away when it started to boil and dividing it between their two cups. "Everyone deserves to have a happy family. Jake actually taught me how to do it this way."
Max pulled the marshmallow out and waited for her to put the hot cocoa into their cups, topping each of them with a roasted marshmallow and taking his cup from her.
"Cheers," he smiled as he tapped his cup against hers and took a careful sip. "Wow, that's actually delicious."
"Isn't it?", she grinned at him, taking a sip of her own cocoa and licking her lips. "Hot cocoa is one of those things that reminds me of spending time with my family."
"It's one of my favorite winter drinks," he nodded, grabbing a Twinkie from the box and offering it to her. "I wish the power was on, we could do something instead of just sitting here in the dark."
"Well, we could put some music on my phone so that it's not so quiet?", she suggested, grabbing her phone from the table and taking a bite of the Twinkie. "It's not like we can do much else until the power comes back on."
"That's fine with me, I could show you how to dance?", he offered with a nervous smile. "I'm pretty good at dancing, and singing, but showing you how to dance would be less embarrassing than singing in front of you."
"I bet you're a great singer," she giggled, setting her cup and snack on the table and getting to her feet. "We would have to move the couch so that there's room."
"Yeah, I know," he nodded as he got up, pushing the couch back a few feet and carefully moving the table out of the way.
"We can use a metal bowl for the speaker," he said, and she headed into the kitchen to grab a metal popcorn bowl to put her phone in, plunking it in the middle of the table and handing him her phone.
"You can pick the music, if you want. I'm not very good at picking slow music," she said with an embarrassed smile, and he gave her a reassuring smile in return.
"Not much of a dancer?"
"Not unless it's moshing," she laughed. "But I trust your taste."
Max put on a song and turned to her with a playful wink, bowing extravagantly.
"May I have this dance, Miss Jackson?", he asked as he held a hand out, and she laughed and put her hand in his for him to pull her close.
"Why Mr. Heyman, I would love nothing more," she said softly, allowing him to wrap an arm around her waist as her free arm wrapped around his neck.
"Ah, so you do know how to waltz," he teased, and she shook her head.
"Not particularly, but I've seen enough movies to know where my hands go."
"Lucky for me," he smiled, slowly moving them both around the center of the room.
She followed his movements and laced her fingers through his, looking up at him with a shy expression.
"You really are good at this."
"I told you," he chuckled, lifting his arm for her to twirl under. "I learned how to do this as a kid, it's kind of like riding a bike."
"Lucky for me that I'm good at riding bikes," she joked, and he laughed this time.
"Yeah, I've seen you do that before and you are pretty good at it," he nodded. "So, dancing should be easy for you."
"It helps that I have a great teacher," she told him, and he blushed softly.
"Thank you, you're good for my ego."
"Oh no, not your ego," she joked, pulling her hand out of his and winding her other arm around his neck. "I think it's big enough to fill the house."
Max wrapped his arms around her waist and chuckled softly.
"You might be right, but I'll never admit it. Besides, that's MJF, not me."
"Fair point," she conceded, tipping her head back to smile up at him. "I like this side of you. It's interesting."
"In a good way?", he asked as he turned her in a slow circle, holding tightly to her waist.
"Yeah. This side of you is easy to get along with. You're surprisingly charming."
His eyes lit up and he smiled wider.
"You think I'm charming?"
"Outside of the ring, like this, yes," she admitted, still holding his gaze. "It's nice to see this side of you, it's fun. I don't actually feel like stabbing you right now."
"Oh thank goodness for that, I'd hate to ruin a perfectly good night with a stab wound," he joked, and she rolled her eyes playfully.
"You're such a nerd."
"You should see my comic book collection," he grinned. "I am, in fact, a huge nerd who likes comics."
"I do too, my collection of Harley Quinn comics almost doesn't fit in its' box," she revealed, and he laughed.
"So, the queen of Hot Topic does have a secret soft side?"
"Tell anyone and I will stab you," she threatened playfully, and he shook his head.
"I wouldn't dare reveal such a secret. I'll take it to the grave," he promised.
"Good, because I would hate to kill you. Elena would be sad, and it would be a waste," she smiled, causing him to raise an eyebrow.
"A waste?"
"Yep, because you are kind of cute from this angle," she said bluntly, causing him to blush again.
"You think I'm cute?"
"From this particular angle," she teased him, pressing closer to his chest. "I like the way your eyes kind of, sparkle, in the light of the fireplace."
"I think that might be the sweetest compliment I've ever gotten," he said softly, looking down at her with a soft grin. "Who knew you could actually be nice?"
"Hey, I could say the same thing for you," she shot back with a laugh, and he laughed along with her.
"Touche, I suppose."
Their laughter faded and he licked his lips, still staring down into her eyes and causing her to bite her lip.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
He played dumb and smiled at her innocently.
"What do you mean? How am I looking at you?"
"You're looking at me like you want to kiss me," she said nervously, eyes flicking to his chest and then back to his face.
Max slowly brought his hand up to her cheek, cupping it and leaning down even closer to her.
"And if I did? Would I have your permission?", he half-whispered, causing her to shiver slightly.
"If you can ask me properly," she challenged, not wanting to give in so easily. "Isn't that what gentlemen do in all these romantic waltzing movies?"
He let out a soft snort and leaned down even further, until their lips were almost touching and she could smell the cocoa on his breath.
"Raile," he purred slowly, lips curling into a charming smile, "may I kiss you, please?"
Her heart thumped wildly and she bit her lip again, feeling slightly dazed but giving him a nod.
"Please, kiss me," she whispered, and he pressed his lips to hers gently. As much as he would have liked to kiss her deeply, he could see that she was nervous and so he would let her take the lead.
Raile shut her eyes and moved her head forward, so that she was kissing him back firmly, arms locked tightly around his neck as neither of them dared to breathe.
After a few beats, she cautiously slid her tongue between his lips and he responded with a soft sigh, holding her tightly to him and reciprocating eagerly, until they were kissing so passionately that they were almost dizzy.
Reluctantly, she was the first to pull away, lip once again caught between her teeth as she looked at him nervously.
"That...that was, um, wow," she blushed, and he let out a soft laugh and rested his forehead on hers.
"Yeah, I agree," he smiled. "That was pretty wow for me too. Your lips are soft."
"Thank you," she squeaked out. "I actually enjoyed that, if I can be honest."
"Would you like me to do it again?", he asked politely, and she surprised him by making the move and kissing him deeply.
It felt really good, holding her in his arms and kissing her in the dimly-lit glow of the fire, and for one brief second he considered that maybe the two of them being stuck in the world's worst blizzard together wasn't such a tragedy, after all.
