Enzo's sitting at home, watching Smackdown, tucked up in blankets and absently scritching Kilo every time he gets close enough. It's an alright show, though he's more interested in seeing Cass. Leaving him behind after Raw ended to go home had stung, but WWE had told him he wouldn't be cleared, so Enzo had agreed, if only to take the tense stress off of Cass' face. He's mulling over all of this, wondering when he would be cleared again, when he hears their music on the TV and perks up, staring at the screen with a grin as his best friend makes his way out, eyes shifting left to right. "That's right, buddy. Don't let 'em see ya sweat!" he exclaims.

He watches intently, displeased as the Vaudevillians hit the ring and double team him, but Cass is strong, and angry, and he fights back, sending Gotch flying, hitting English so hard, Enzo thinks his pa probably felt it. Axel, too, gets it real good, and Enzo's cheers for his best friend slowly fade away as he watches Cass stand tall over them, confident and full of justified rage. Instead of feeling proud or happy for his friend, Enzo is startled to find he just feels... empty.

No qualms about it, he loves the big guy and Cass deserves all the success and fame imaginable, but still. This is the first time Enzo really worries about getting left in the dust, and it kinda aches in a way he's never felt before.

He's still lost in thought when his phone chimes and he glances at it, not too surprised to see it flashing his tag partner's name. Hey Zo, how's it going? I came upon this word in somethin' I was reading, and it reminded me of you.

Plumply

In a wholehearted manner and without hesitation or circumlocution forthrightly.

Emzo smiles a little and exhales, forcing himself to look away from the screen before his headache ratchets up further.

If I didn't know better, bro, I'd say you're just makin' up neologisms now.

A couple minutes pass before Cass responds, and Enzo leans his head back, letting his eyes rest before he has to refocus when the phone vibrates in his hand.

Now who's using big words?

But seriously, you doin' alright, Zo? I hate being gone this long so soon after you got outta the hospital.

Enzo smiles to himself, shaking his head before resuming typing. Leave to Cass to be in the middle of a really important night of his career and still only fuss about Enzo and his damned head.

Yeah, man, no worries. Trust me. I'm right as rain, and as soon as I'm back on the road, all those fools are gonna wish they'd never met ol' Zo.

There's a pause and while Enzo waits for Cass to get his large fingers to work around the small keyboard of his phone, his mind wanders. Back to what he'd seen on Raw, how confidently Cas had worked without him, how easily he had handled himself.

He's dropped his head back, still lost in thought, when his phone vibrates almost angrily in his hand. He blinks and looks back down, frowning. "Huh?" he mumbles before lifting the device up to read it.

There's four texts waiting, growing in worry as the time passes. Enzo bites his lip, stares at the messages before slowly reading through them.

Hell, yeah, Zo. I can't wait until that day.

A few moments of silence. Enzo? You still there?

Hopefully you're not in bed, but you're kinda worrying me so I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your sleep, but then... not really.

Yeah, Cass, I'm here. Just got lost in thought, I guess. No worries.

You're thinking? This is scary. Maybe that concussion really did something bad to you. :P

Haha, Enzo responds, much quicker than the previous text. You know, I am pretty wiped out. Think I'm gonna head to bed. See you in the morning?

Of course. Take care of yourself, Zo. You were missed tonight.

Enzo stares at the screen for a minute, those last four words rattling around in his head. Instead of answering, he decides to put the phone down and just do what he said. For the first time in at least twenty years, he goes to bed before 10 PM. And he leaves his phone in the other room as he does.

He can't stop thinking, tossing and turning, too restless to find any sort of comfort, his head aching worse and worse with every time he moves. When and how he falls asleep, he's not sure, but it feels like only a few minutes have gone by when the door to the apartment is forced open, loud footsteps rushing through the rooms.

"ZO! Hey, Zo, are you- where are you?!"

"Cas?" he mumbles, blinking lazily before Cass lunges through the bedroom door, staring down at him.

"Christ," he breathes. "Enzo. You're alright." He sinks back against the door and breathes deeply. "I thought... I couldn't get ahold of you, and... you..."

Enzo scrubs at his face, barely sat up before Cass is all but collapsing into him, gripping the back of his shirt and dragging him up into an intense hug. "Hey, whoa, Cass. I- I'm ok," Enzo struggles to say through the tight grip Cass has on him. "I swear, man, I'm good."

"Why-" Cass bites his lip. "Why was your phone in the living room? If something was wrong, if you had gotten worse overnight, how... How were we supposed to know? What if-"

"Hey, hey." Enzo pats his arms, reaches up to squeeze his jaw. "I'm good, man. It's fine. I just... wanted to try to get a full night's sleep without that thing beeping all night, and the doc told me to avoid screens, you know?"

"Well, yes," Cass says with a frown. "I remember him sayin' that, but what if something had gone wrong and you couldn't get help? Zo, I wasn't home, I wasn't gonna be able to..."

"C'mon, Cass,' Enzo interrupts. "I'm sittin' right in front of ya, healthy and as whole as a dude with a rattled brain can be. I wasn't gonna keel over dead or somethin', it was just... I wanted a good night's sleep, and I did my best to get t. That's all."

Cass nods slowly. "Alright. How well did ya sleep then?"

Enzo closes his eyes. "Not well," he mumbles. "Know what the doctor says but I feel naked without my phone, man."

"Why do I feel like there's more to this than that?" Cass wonders. "Yeah, keeping space from your phone is one thing, Zo. But this is something entirely different. We were... were texting, like we do, and you just... bailed. Did I say something?"

Enzo grits his teeth, scrapes his nails against the blanket he's still tangled up in, and slowly shakes his head. "No, it wasn't anything you said."

Cass stares at him, waiting, and when Enzo makes no move to specify, Cass pushes. "Is it something I did, then?" Enzo doesn't look away from the bedding and Cass exhales. "Enzo, please. I know you're going through a lot with your injury and not being able to wrestle, but I just... I want to help you through this. Will you let me? Please."

Enzo exhales. "It's gonna make me sound really scummy, man, and I don't wanna do that to you."

Cass shrugs. "Well, I mean, you can tell me now, or you can tell me later, and it's just going to keep haunting and eat at us until you finally have to say something or explode under the pressure of it all."

"Fine," he sighs after a few moments, giving in under the worried gaze of his best friend. The more he prepares himself to spill all, the more he realizes how slimy his argument is going to be, but he's come this far. Might as well go all the way. "It's just... you, uh. You looked really impressive on Raw," he says. "Like, uh, without me. And I just kinda started thinking you... uh. It looked like just having' me around is holding you back. I've never waned to do that to you, man. You have to know that, you're my best friend and I wan the best for you. Just kinda got selfish, I guess, and thought our partnership was gonna be for the rest of our careers or something ridiculous like that. I know it never ever happens for tag teams, but you know. I guess I was kinda deluding myself."

"You're far from deluded, Enzo," Cass sighs. "Listen, I know things are difficult, especially with your injury, but this, our careers, will never change our friendship." He swallows, looking away for a moment. "I ... uh, I really thought I was gonna lose you just yesterday, you know? I never wanna live without you by my side. Even if our careers go separate ways, I still want you as my best friend. And no matter how cool and put together I look on TV, just know that inside, I'm a nervous wreck who misses the hell out of you."

Enzo stares at him. "Really?"

"Really." Cass smiles at him. "You're not getting away from me that easily, Zo. Now, how about I go get something for breakfast, and you can lay down and try to catch up on some of that sleep you missed out on last night."

"Sounds perfect," Enzo says, already yawning at the mere mention of it. "Thanks, Cass."

"You're welcome," Cass says, continue to sit on the side of the bed. He watches him with a small smile, relieved to see his friend sink down into the sheets and pillows, already half-asleep before Cass could even shift to stand to figure out what they have for breakfast. Leaning over, he lays Enzo's phone down on the bedside table and peeks back over at him before standing up. "G'night, Zo." He leans over ad brushes his fingers through Enzo's hair. "I'll be right here when you wake up. Promise."

He smiles as he leaves the room to begin breakfast, turning the lights off to allow Enzo to sleep as peacefully as possible.