AUTHOR'S NOTE: I posted a chapter fifteen earlier. On the advice of TakerReigns, I took it down and changed things around. I'm still going to use a lot of that content, but a little later in the story. Sorry if that confused anyone. Here is the correct Chapter Fifteen.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It's been three weeks since my return. Yesterday, I did what I have been fighting myself on. I filed for divorce. Then I spent the night bawling my eyes out while I curled up in Colby's arms. He didn't say anything. He just held me. Somehow, that was all I needed.
I'm better today. I know I did what I had to. It's just so hard to believe it's over. I thought Phil was the only man who would never hurt me, but he's done it worse than anyone. I refuse to let him do it anymore.
I'm looking forward to tonight. I've planned a surprise to cheer Rosa up. She's finally been transferred to a long-term facility and Saraya, Tenille, and Foxy are coming with me to visit her. I know Rosa needs some girl time, even if having Drew by her side is fun for her.
Foxy drives, God help us all, and I relax as Saraya starts making inappropriate comments and rambling about things that don't matter. It's nice to think about things that don't matter.
"So, we're working on really developing my storyline with Taylor," Tenille tells me. "Emma and Bo went over great with the crowd, better than Santino even. Creative thinks we can do a lot with it. I'm really excited."
"That's great!" I tell her.
"Yeah, you guys are super cute together," Foxy says. "Is there anything you want to tell us, Tenille?"
"No, not really," Tenille says.
"Please," Saraya says with a roll of her eyes. "You're totally crushing on Mr. Bo-Lieve!"
"I am not!" Tenille says. The color she blushes matches Taylor's and betrays her feelings. "Alright, maybe a little bit… He's just such a sweetheart…"
"I knew it! You owe me ten bucks!" Saraya declares to Foxy.
"You two bet on my crush status?" Tenille asks.
"We were bored," Foxy says with a shrug.
We've arrived at the long-term facility in an alarmingly short amount of time. I wonder how Foxy still has a license, or if she still has one. Maybe I should check her wallet and make sure it hasn't been suspended.
Drew is holding Rosa's hand and they're both laughing when we arrive. I almost feel like we're interrupting. She spots us in the doorway and immediately starts bouncing as much as she can without much use of her legs.
"Oh my God! You guys!" She squeals with excitement.
"Visitors!" Drew greets us.
"Hey, Drew," I say with a hug.
"How are ya, lass?" He asks me.
"Better," I tell him. "And you?"
"I'm great. Rosa here is excellent company. So, what are ya lasses doing here?"
"Sorry, Handsome, but we just hijacked today and made it Girls' Night," Foxy tells him.
"But bring that sexy accent around again soon," Saraya says.
"Very well," Drew says. "I'll leave ya lasses to it, then. Have fun. Call me when ya want me to come back, Rosa." He graciously leaves the room.
"What are you all doing here?" Rosa asks. "You should be at RAW tonight."
"We took a night off," I say. "A little while back, when I was in a very dark place, you showed me the light with a girls' night and some Harry Potter. I'm going to return the favor."
Rosa looks genuinely touched by this. "You guys… Oh my God. Seriously. I don't have words right now."
I smile. It's not easy to leave Rosa speechless. "So, we've got popcorn, movies, and tons of non-alcoholic beverages for your enjoyment," Tenille informs her.
"And snarky comments," Saraya adds.
"That sounds like heaven," Rosa says.
We settle down and pop in the first of several cheesy movies from the 1980's, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Foxy paints Rosa's toenails while Saraya styles her hair. Tenille is seemingly fascinated by the movies. I crawl into Rosa's bed and snuggle next to her, enjoying seeing her happy. It's time to worry about someone other than myself. I've been having a nervous breakdown for too long and Rosa's been here for me. I owe her.
"I've been watching WWE," Rosa says when the first movie ends. "What's up with you and Bo, Tenny?" Rosa asks.
"She Bo-lieves!" Saraya says.
We all start laughing. "Shut up!" Tenille says, tossing a pillow at her.
"Tenny and Taylor, sitting in a tree!" Foxy sings.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Saraya and I join her.
"You are all evil and I hate you!" Tenille declares.
"Oh my God, you two are going to have the perkiest babies!" Saraya declares. "They'll be Bo-lieving and doing the Emma before they can talk!"
"They'll give motivational speeches by the age of two!" Foxy adds.
Tenille's turning a million shades of red. Rosa's laughing. "I think it's sweet," she tells Tenille. "Taylor is a nice guy."
"We're not together… Taylor's not into me like that," Tenille says.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," I say, "but I didn't tell you that."
"Really?" She looks so excited I think she may burst into song.
"He's crushing on you, too, but he's too shy to say anything."
"Awwww!" Rosa declares. "See? Young love at its finest!"
"And you, Miss Rosa? What's up with your sexy Scottish mancandy?" Saraya asks.
"Drew's been my rock," Rosa admits. "He's been here for me through the hardest time of my life, but we're just friends… For now. I really like him. Hell, I might even love him, because I fall in love really easily and he's essentially the perfect man. But I can't do a relationship right now. I have to focus on getting better. I'm starting to build the strength back up in my legs little by little, and the feeling is coming back slowly. I will walk again, and I'm going to find a way to wrestle again, so for now, that has to be my priority. Now, in a few months, maybe I can explore whatever is or is not between us, but for now, Drew is just my best friend and the guy who literally saved my life."
"Your head's on straight, girl," Foxy tells her. "That's good. I don't know that I could focus on anything but that accent if I was surrounded by that all day."
"It's not easy, I admit," Rosa says. "Next movie?"
I pull out The Breakfast Club, an essential film for any 1980's night. We relax and laugh and throw popcorn at each other. It's another fantastic night and I start to think I've been missing out on the whole girls' night thing.
*Skip…Skip…Skip…LATER*
We stay together all night and don't leave until early the next morning. We have to be back for Main Event and Smackdown and none of us slept, so Foxy drives like a madwoman again and I spend the majority of the car ride praying for my life. We arrive safely.
I get back to my room, mumble a greeting to Colby, and crawl deliriously into bed. I can tell Colby is smiling at me as he says, "Fun night, then?"
"Fantastic," I say. "Sleep. Now. Please?"
He crawls into bed beside me and holds me until I fall asleep. I don't wake up for two hours, and when I do, he's still holding me. It's a nice feeling, maybe too nice. I'm getting too used to this routine, and I think I'm okay with that.
"Ready to get ready?" He asks me.
"Yep," I say. "Just caffeinate me please."
"Kill Cliff?" He asks hopefully.
"Nope. I'm not that delirious."
"Had to try."
"And you failed." I laugh. "Who are you fighting tonight?"
"Joe, then a tag match with Glenn against Randy and Joe."
"Randy and Joe make a weird tag team."
"Agreed. What are your matches?"
"Trash talking against trashy Nikki, then I'm fighting Brie."
"Ew."
"Pretty much my reaction. A night of Bellas. It's like I'm being punished."
He laughs. "Good luck."
"You, too."
We get ready and head to the taping. My trash talking isn't much fun. The script they give me is awful and I can't do much with it, but I try. I am so sick of Nikki Bella it's not even funny.
Colby wins his first match by using Glenn to cheat. Randy comes out and attacks them, setting up the tag match.
My match with Brie is boring as all hell. Even I'm not interested in it. I try to spice it up with my personality, but Brie's an awful actress. There's just not much to work with, and they haven't given us much time, just three and a half minutes. Really, we've both done more with less time, but they aren't giving us a lot of freedom for moves either. In the end, Nikki attacks me and Brie steals the win. I literally hate my match. If I'd been watching it on television, I'd have turned it off.
The NXT girls get way better matches than this. Maybe I should go back to development, I think. In truth, I even briefly consider becoming a Knockout. At least at TNA, the girls are given real matches. The Knockouts are respected. They're wrestlers first and eye candy second. I'm so envious, it's not even funny.
"Good match," Colby tells me cheerfully.
"Liar," I say. "It was awful."
"You did the best you could with what Creative gave you?"
"That's better. So, you're the main event tonight?"
"Yep. It should be fun."
"Good luck. Kick some ass."
"I'll be running away halfway through, but don't worry, Randy's fast. He catches me and drags me back into the ring and Joe pins me."
I laugh. "Thanks for the spoilers."
"Now you don't have to watch."
"I'll watch anyway."
He smiles. "That makes me feel better."
A few minutes later, Colby has to go get ready, so Dean comes and stays with me. Nattie's standing nearby, but thankfully, TJ is nowhere in sight.
"Looking a little lonely, Nattie," Dean calls.
She smiles sadly and joins us. "Just one of those nights, I guess," she says. She looks at me. "I heard you guys went to see Rosa. That was sweet. How is she? She keeps telling me she's fine, but she tends to keep things to herself when she's struggling."
"She's good," I tell her. "She's fighting hard to get stronger. You'd be proud of her."
"I'm always proud of Rosa. I'm glad she has you, April. I've been her friend and mentor for a while, but she needs more friends she can trust."
The match starts and we watch from backstage. It seems to go according to plan at first, but when Randy tries to RKO Glenn, Glenn moves the wrong way and knocks Colby down hard. Dean jumps up at the sight of the landing.
"Shit!" He says. I'm thinking the same thing. Colby hit the barricade hard and it wasn't supposed to happen. He doesn't get back up. He clutches his side in a way that I know isn't fake.
"Oh my God," Nattie adds.
Colby doesn't get back in the ring. Glenn stays in character long enough to lose the match and take the pin Colby was supposed to take. When it's over, Glenn helps the trainers walk Colby backstage.
I run to his side. "Are you okay?" I ask.
"Yeah… Ow… I'm fine," Colby insists as the trainers examine him. He's already got a huge bruise forming on his ribcage.
"Colby, I'm sorry," Glenn says. "I don't know what happened. I sort of lost sight of where you were. I didn't mean to knock you over."
"I know," Colby says. "It's fine. It was an accident, and I'll be okay."
"We need to get an x-ray and make sure nothing's broken," one of the members of the medical team says.
"I think it's just bruised," Colby insists. "But yeah, get me checked out."
"I'm staying with you," I tell him. We take the ride in the ambulance together. Joe and Dean drive behind us because whenever one of those boys gets hurt, the other two are by his side.
It takes a while, but Colby is finally told he only has a slight break in one rib. It's nothing serious and the doctors are pretty sure it'll heal quickly. They bandage him up and tell him to take it easy.
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" I scold him when we're alone.
He laughs. "Okay, next time Glenn fucks up a move, I'll pull off a ninja move and fly," he says.
"You better."
"I'm okay, April. I've been hurt worse than this."
I look at him and I think about how serious it could have been. Before I realize what I'm doing, I lean over and kiss him.
It's quick and it shocks me as much as it shocks him. He stares at me and I look at the floor. What the hell did I just do?
"I'm just… I'm really glad you're okay," I tell him lamely. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he says. He pulls me into a hug even though it hurts his ribs. I don't know what this means. I have no idea what I'm doing. I just know that I needed to kiss him in that moment, and even though I'm extremely freaked out by the idea of any physical contact, let alone kissing, I don't regret what I just did.