Chapter 16:

From Good To Bad

"Okay, Bella, I know that look. Out with it. What's your problem?"

Isabella looked into the irritated, impatient face of John Cena and quickly averted her gaze. They were standing in the half-empty parking lot. It was late, well past the time Isabella thought she would be home by. Everybody was getting ready to leave when Isabella was thrown a curve ball. John had been invited out to a nightclub by some of his co-workers. He wanted to go. She was willing to drive him home, but he wanted to go out with Nikki and Brie Bella and enjoy a taste of the life he used to have. Isabella would have been lying if she said she weren't stung a little by him not wanting to leave with her, but she brushed it off. Nikki had already volunteered to make John her official travel partner when he went back on the road full-time; it would be another three months before his license would be reinstated.

From the candy apple red Mercedes Nikki and Brie had arrived in, Isabella could hear the low boom of bass. She sucked in a breath and turned back to John. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"I think this is a bad idea. A very, very bad idea," she told him pointedly. His face darkened in confusion.

"What's a bad idea?"

Her eyes widened. "This! Going to a nightclub...John, you got out of rehab a couple weeks ago. This is such a bad idea, and John, I hate to be a stick in the mud here..."

"Then don't be."

Isabella blinked, stung by the harsh way the words came out of his mouth. "John..."

"Bella!" His tone was firm. She clamped her mouth shut. He could see the silent anger brewing behind her eyes. He found himself becoming angry at her, but he knew better than to push her and make a scene in front of everybody. He also knew she was still reeling from the turmoil in her life. He shook his head. "Don't do this to me, all right? It's my first night back and I just want to go out and have fun with my friends that I haven't seen in forever. Can I do that?" She shook her head in disgust, silently hating him for making her feel so lousy for being the Voice of Reason. "Can I do that?" he repeated.

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth.

"Good." He smiled. It shocked her how he could change moods so quickly. She didn't smile back at him."I'll meet you at the club." He turned on his heels and bolted for the Bella Car. Isabella forced a plastic smile on her face when Nikki Bella popped her head out of the driver's side window and yelled back that she'd meet Isabella at the cub. Brie waved from the backseat. Isabella mustered a wave back. Internally, she was seething. She wanted to like the Bella twins, but she thought they were being insensitive, taking a man out of rehab to party at a nightclub. She watched the car drive away. When it turned out of her view, she shook her head in disgust.

"Well, this is exactly how I envisioned tonight would go," she murmured sarcastically. Turning, she crashed into Randy. "Jesus!"

"Sorry, Bella," he said sheepishly, reaching out to help her keep her balance. He was dressed in one of his RKO T-shirts and dark blue jeans. He looked and smelled like he had just stepped out of the shower. Isabella could tell that Randy was unhappy. She wondered if it had to do with the situation that had developed with John, Brie and Nikki. "I guess I'll meet you at the club," he told her. She nodded.

"Yeah. I guess so," she said awkwardly.

"Where'd he go?"

"He left with Brie and Nikki," she answered. He made a sound under his breath that she could vaguely hear. "I'll, uh, see you there." The two of them parted ways and went to their cars. Isabella changed CDs and let Randy pull out of the parking space before her. She followed after him. Ruby was supposed to meet them at the nightclub. The entire drive there, Isabella couldn't staunch the niggling feeling within her that she was the odd one out. Nightclubs weren't her scene. They never had been.

The nightclub was a place called Fireball's, a giant red brick building with a neon yellow sign. There wasn't much of a lineup outside, but the parking lot was packed with cars and bodies. Isabella found a parking spot several feet from Randy's. In her rear-view mirror she saw John, Brie and Nikki standing around their car, talking and laughing. Nikki and Brie wore matching dresses in different colors; Nikki's was pink and Brie's was blue. They both wore sky high heels and kept their long, straight hair down around their faces. Nikki was laughing and touching John's arm.

Isabella got out of the car and fell into step beside Randy as they approached the trio. John looked at Isabella, who was making a point not to look at him. It stung him, but he was determined to have fun. Isabella hated that she felt like she was being the selfish one, not wanting to paint the town red with a man fresh out of rehab. But he didn't want to hear her thoughts or concerns.

"We're all just waiting on Ruby, aren't we?" John asked. Isabella nodded. She fished into her purse for her cell phone and sent a quick text message to her roommate. They stood awkwardly for thirty seconds until her phone went off. Ruby was already there, inside the building and looking for a good time like the others.

"Great! Let's get in there and get our party on then!" Nikki hotted. The trio cheered while Randy and Isabella exchanged looks of disappointment and annoyance. Isabella was already counting down the minutes until she could leave and go home. Brie and Nikki linked arms with John and the three of them went inside, while Randy and Isabella sauntered behind them.

Inside there were lots of crowded tables, an even more crowded dance floor and thumping house music that blared in Isabella's ears and drowned out the sounds of anything inches in front of her. Beside the DJ table at the head of the dance floor was a DJ table with two cages erected to the left and right of it. Women danced inside, dressed in nothing but fabric and beads. Isabella scanned the club for any sign of Ruby. She found her roommate sitting at a big empty table. Ruby locked eyes with Isabella and waved them over frantically, her movements over-animated and telling Isabella she was already well on her way to being drunk. Isabella approached with the group, trying to keep the smile on her face.

"Hey, John! How did your first night back go?" Ruby asked happily, getting out of her seat to give him a hug. She was dressed in a denim mini skirt and black V-necked sweater, her hair damp from the humidity in the room. He hugged her back half-heartedly. They all sat down around the table. Randy had to pull up a spare chair from the nearest table he could find.

"Great. It's going to be awesome getting back on the road next week," he told her. A waitress came by, a buxom redhead in a little black dress who flirted shamelessly with the muscular men. Isabella ordered some water and a lime. She and Randy tensed when John ordered a beer. The entire time he ordered, he kept his eyes on Isabella, daring her to say anything that would bring the night down. She clamped her mouth shut. She wondered why he was acting the way he was, but she knew he was stubborn about people putting guidelines on his life. Randy ordered a cranberry juice. The others began to pick on him for not getting a beer, but Randy reminded them he had to drive. Nikki and Brie ordered a cosmopolitan and a martini, while Ruby got another beer. Isabella was thankful that at least one other person was going to stay sober with her, even if it was Randy Orton. She wished she had the guts to ask him if he was going to stay sober to look after John, since it was obvious he felt the same way about the get together as she did, but she knew that she would have to ask him when they had time to themselves.

"It's about time you came back," Nikki said to John, draping an arm around his shoulders and drawing him in for a hug. "We've all missed your smiling mug!"

"I've missed all you guys, too. Hell, I've just missed all of this," John confessed. "Feels good to be back. That crowd tonight...man, they were hyped!"

"You'll be champion again in no time, and then imagine that crowd," Nikki told him. Everyone around the table nodded in agreement. Isabella nodded absently, half-listening to Nikki's shameless flirting. She couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't belong in John's circle. She knew that John resuming his career that involved three hundred days of travel would put their friendship into strange, uncharted territory. She didn't know what to make off Nikki Bella hanging off him the way she was, but she didn't think she liked it.

The waitress returned with drinks. John downed half the bottle in a gulp. "Man, this is the first beer I've had in a month," he announced, placing the bottle down hard on the table top. Isabella was surprised the bottle didn't break. He looked at Randy. "Can't believe you pussied out, man. You and I used to light shit up."

"Gotta drive," Randy told him, shooting a pointed look at the Bella twins. Isabella looked down into her water, garnished with a slice of lime, and bit back a smile. It was funny to think only a couple of hours before she had hated and feared the man known to millions as The Viper. Now she saw a glimmer of a good guy and a decent friend. He wanted to be the Voice of Reason, too, but he knew John better than she did. Isabella never thought she would have something in common with Randy Orton, but she'd found something that changed her initial opinion of him.

"We should get on that dance floor!" Brie announced. Nikki grabbed John's arm and tugged him towards the dance floor. He shot a smile at a blank Isabella and allowed Nikki to lead him into the crowd. Ruby got up and followed. She shouted something at Isabella, but Isabella couldn't hear it over the music. Isabella took a sip of her water. After a moment, Randy leaned over her. She felt her nerves stand on end; he was close enough that she could smell his cologne.

"Having fun?" Randy asked. "Because I think this idea is the shits."

"You and me both," Isabella admitted. "I was kind of hoping to be home now, to be honest." There was a beat of silence between them. She scanned the dance floor for any sign of the group, but she couldn't find them. "You here to babysit?"

"Yeah. I've been promising myself I'd be a better friend this time around. I let him down last time. I let him down bad," Randy confessed, hanging his head. Isabella shook her head, to his surprise.

"You got a wife and daughter, right?" she asked. He nodded. "You got a life to live, Randy. You can't beat yourself up. His problems are too big to balance. I'd like to think he's making his way through it." She shook her head. "I'm probably being paranoid here, but I just think going out to get drunk after having a stint in rehab for it is such a bad idea. But apparently I'm just a stick in the mud." She sipped her water.

"I know it's not much of a consolation, considering everything, but I'll be a stick in the mud with you," he said. They smirked at each other and he held up his glass of cranberry juice for a toast. She clinked her glass with him and they awkwardly laughed, shaking their heads.

"Well, I appreciate that. I told him this was a bad idea and he got mad at me."

"I thought the object of tonight's festivities was to make you feel better," Randy said to her. Isabella had thought so, too. She shrugged. "Brie and Nikki are harmless enough. They're young and they just like to party. I knew as soon as those two got their hooks into John that the night was going to turn out like this." Isabella yawned. Randy's revelation made her feel a lot more shaky about John's sobriety on the road.

"I'll be right back. I think I'm going to head over to the bar and get a Coke. I'm starting to feel tired. Can you watch my purse?" Randy nodded. Isabella reached into her purse and got her wallet, pulling out her money. She dropped her wallet back inside and left her purse on the table, in Randy's view. She had to push her way through part of the dance floor to get to the bar. The more people in her way, the more Isabella wanted to throw up her hands and go home. It was hard to be in a good mood, knowing she was in a nightclub with a guy who had allowed alcohol to devastate his life and had a DUI and rehab stint under his belt. She made it to the bar and plastered a smile on her face. The bartender behind the counter had raven hair in braided pigtails. She wore low-rise jeans and a striped bikini top.

"What can I get you?"

"Whiskey sour. What are you having, love? This one's on me."

Isabella turned, surprised to see the man she knew as Wade Barrett standing behind her. She thought he cleaned up nicely, dressed in a lavender button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and black slacks. Even in the fancy lighting of the nightclub, she could see the black eye he was sporting. She flashed him a tight smile. "I can buy my own drink," she informed him. "Thank you, though."

"Oh, you're one of those birds, are you?" he said. "I'm just trying to be nice."

"I'll have a Coke. Just a Coke," Isabella said firmly to the bartender, loudly over the music. The bartender nodded to let Isabella know that she heard the order. Isabella dropped a five dollar bill on the counter.

"You aren't drinking?" he asked her, surprised. She turned to him.

"I have to drive. Don't you?" she asked pointedly. He smirked.

"I came here with some friends, love. We set up a designated driver." Isabella drummed her fingertips on the counter top. The silence that followed was awkward. He looked over over. "You're John's friend."

"I am," she confirmed. She was sure the conversation with Wade would have been a lot friendlier and smoother were she not in a nightclub and in a better mood, but all she could think about was getting John home. He was going to want to go home with Nikki and Brie, she knew, but they were going to be drunk. The more she thought about the situation, the angrier she was getting. She pushed the thoughts out of her head. "You're the WWE Champion."

"That I am."

"Look, Mr. Barrett..."

"Wade."

She smiled. "Wade. Look, I'm sorry if I seem short or irritated with you. I'm really not. I just have a lot going on tonight." He nodded.

"I heard about your brother. I'm sorry about that, love. Just awful business."

"Did John tell everyone?" she asked incredulously, but Wade didn't hear her over the music. She decided not to let it get to her. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

"So what do you do?" he asked. He took a seat at the bar beside her. The bartenders were slammed with a crowd of people. Their drinks were going to take a while.

"I'm a barista. I also go to school," she answered absently, her eyes following the bartenders. He leaned over to her, really close. It caught her off guard.

"What? Sorry, love, you have to speak up - I can't hear you over the music."

"I go to school and I work at Starbucks!" she told him, louder this time. He nodded.

"What are you in school for?"

"Music production." He shot her a look and she shouted the answer at him again. He nodded.

"Impressive."

The bartender finally slid their drinks over to them, apologizing for the wait. Isabella turned as a man crashed into her on his way to the dance floor. She instantly lost most of her soda all over the floor and all over herself. She felt the anger bubble that had been growing all night reach the point of bursting. She exhaled through her mouth to keep her temper in check as the man spun on her. He was dressed in a DTF T-shirt. He had shoulder length blond hair that was styled.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" he sneered at her over the music. He was visibly drunk and she was pretty sure he was looking for a fight, but she was angrier than a wet hen.

"You walked into me," she pointed out. In response, he shoved her. She teetered into the bar. Wade caught her. When she was straightened up, he reached out and grabbed the man by the arm, wheeling him around. Isabella noted Wade was over a foot taller than the man who had just shoved her.

"What is your problem, mate?" he asked over the music. Isabella found herself surrounded by guys. One had shoulder-length orange hair and was dressed like a rock star, while the other had perfectly styled black hair and a beard. Isabella stepped forward and gave him a tap on the arm. He turned to her.

"Let it go. I don't even care," she told him. Wade shot her a look, but let go of the guy's T-shirt. He muttered something under his breath and rejoined his friends on the dance floor. Isabella slammed her glass down on the bar and went back towards Randy at the table. She was done. All she wanted to do was go home and forget about everything that had happened after Raw.