Chapter 3

Is There no Peace?

It was a long, cold drive back to the motel. I hitched a ride with Adam Copeland (who was strangely flying solo) and spent the whole way on the road with my head pressed against the cold window, listening to Adam flip through the radio stations and having no luck in finding something worth listening to. Unfortunately, he wasn't that accustomed to the stations in the county so he eventually gave up and shut off the static box. "Warm enough?" he asked softly.

I nodded, clearly content. "Yeah I'm fine. Thanks for giving me a ride. The last thing I wanted was to travel out with dad and find myself in a bombardment of love-life questions and the lot from 'Show'."

The chiseled face of the Canadian hunk broke into a bright smile and a bit of laughter. "That fun, eh?" He shook his head. "If we would have known, we'd have saved you from that a long time ago!" Nudging me playfully Adam managed to make me crack a smile. For some reason, I hadn't been able to think about anything but the cold stare of Mercy Reso. Was it that bad between her and Amy? I mean, I know there is definite on-stage heat, but this out-of-character showdown backstage was going to be really overbearing.

Before we knew it, we were there. The Holiday Inn. We weren't scheduled for a show until Monday and it was just a matter of R&R through travel time. I didn't mind that thought. I kindly thanked Adam for the ride and felt like a teeny-bopper fan following him around with all the questions in the world. "So what's up for tonight?" I somewhat struggled with the haul of my luggage over to the elevator.

Pressing the button, Adam handed me a room key and kindly reached over to take my bag. I didn't resist. "Well, if you're up for it, Jay and I were discussing a pool party. Interested?" He nudged me again. What was with the nudging? I could only assume it was his thing. Canadians.
Stepping into the open elevator, I nodded. "Sure! Sounds like fun."

As the blond bombshell handed me my bags, I couldn't help but notice the sly smile on his face once again. "Great! Well, I'm gonna wait for the gang. See you down in twenty?"

Ding! The elevator doors began to close.

I nodded and shot him a snap and gun gesture. "Sure! See ya!" I, of course, felt like a grinning idiot as the doors shut and I was left alone with my pounding heart and excited thoughts. Wow, I was invited somewhere, by someone closer to my age. Exciting! I didn't know what to expect, and traveling for a while now – and what seems to be flying solo, I was definitely entitled to having some fun.

Twenty minutes, on the dot. I'd made my way down to the out door pool, scuttling across the cold asphalt barefoot. I held my sandals in my hand and was wearing a red and black bikini underneath a white tank and red sarong. The pool had been closed off to privacy from prying eyes, which was comforting. Voices echoed from across the waters and into the night sky, voices I had recognized as "The Gang". I saw that Show and Rikishi were already diving into the refreshment table, vacating a couple of seats near poolside. Brian, Sean and Terri were hollering at Paul Levesque to get off his cell phone and hop in with them. He kept his conversations a secret but we all knew who he was talking to…I waved over at him and he tipped his head up with a smile, continuing on his cell.

I was pretty much a loner, however. Making my waves to those who noticed me, I parked myself Indian style on a padded pool bench and started staring up at the stars. Turning my eyes back to the crowd, I caught sight of Stacy and Mel and Jeff coming into the pool and then Matt. I laughed getting a wave from Adam Copeland who was heckling the divers at the board which was quite amusing. I actually thought to get up and join him, but was quickly stopped by the sight of Trish and Andrew coming my way, obviously linked in more ways than one.
I awkwardly sat up. "Hey guys,"

"Oh!" awkward pause. "H-hey girl. You hit the water yet?" Trish asked, a little less than nonchalant. She looked a little uneasy, a little worried. Hmm...I wonder why.

Andrew, on the other hand, didn't even look me in the eye. I let it go. Regardless of the fact that my head was spinning in confusion and my heart was pounding harder than hell, I couldn't inquire of this. Not now. Wasn't the right time.

"Huh? Oh no. Go on guys. Have fun." What the hell was that? I asked myself, immediately kicking myself for not regarding that, in the least. My just head wasn't in the right spot to respond to him at the moment.

Looking past them, I had noticed that Jay Reso, Mercy's hottie older brother was all alone at the kiddie end of the pool. I didn't even realize they'd left my side until I jumped at the sound of Stacy and Melanie running over to Mercy with screams. That was the money shot, there. Jay was all alone, I wanted to talk to him. But when the time was about right, when I had actually built up some nerve to go talk to him, something stopped me.

It was more of a physical barrier, if anything. Something large and strong took grip of my bicep, refusing to give way. My eyes looked up to see who was restraining me from movement and I saw the face that was clearly unexpected. "Kaylin, please talk to me." he said.

I sighed and sat back down, seeing that Mercy was showing something to Jay, clearly engaged in one of those family conversations with Jay and I didn't want to interfere. Damn. So I decided to sit with Andrew. Heavy reluctance shined in my eyes as I looked at him in pure disgust…no, I wouldn't call it disgust. Disdain, was a prettier word. "What is there to talk about, Andrew?"

"Everything...Anything?" He arched an eyebrow, keeping an eye on Trish as she kept afloat, playing around with Sean Morley who had just arrived on the scene.

I shrugged. "Sorry I haven't talked to you in a while, but I've just been a mess over my dad's surgery and all..."

He got closer to me. "Not that. I know you haven't been talking to me because…of her." Andrew's eyes got all big and googley as he gestured at Trish. I recognized that stare right off the bat, mainly because those were the eyes he gave me, a long time ago.

While he batted his at the girl of his dreams, I simply rolled mine. We started to talk about the night we spent together and how we differed. We weren't even a couple and I felt like I was being dumped? What the hell was this? I finally exploded. The sound effect was all right too, since Matt and Mercy both jumped into the pool making the sound of a blast. All hell was going to break loose.

"Is that why you think we're not talking? Look. You're the one who hasn't talked to me since we went out." I tried to keep my voice as low as possible not to stir too much attention. "Ugh, I can't believe we're still talking about this. Well, whatever we were, is done...and if it's permission you're looking for to date her…I don't know why you even bothered." And so, I commenced with the ever-popular storm away. Paul Wight was like a deer in headlights as he tried to stop me and ask what was wrong but I managed to dodge him and my father who had decided to come a little late to the party. Turning my head slightly, I watched him turn and look at Andrew in anger.

Good.

"Kay are you alright?" Voices from all over the pool were heard.

I had to get away. I felt kind of bad since I left Adam's party early after he'd gone out of his way to invite me to hang with him and his friends but I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe another time, if he felt the urge to forgive me and allow me back to "hang". That was the only thought keeping me sane. Opening the door to my room, I couldn't help but notice Trish's stuff sitting on the bed across from mine and I just rolled my eyes. I couldn't stay here, not now.

My eyes started to glaze over at the relentless stream of random pay-per-view movies that were a waste of time and not to mention, money. The remote control seemed to press itself and even the mindless drone of my tired brain couldn't appease itself. I sighed. I heard a key slip into the lock and Brian had come into his room, alone. He smelled like a bit of alcohol and I flipped him the "Rock On" sign as he entered. It was a smell I envied. Maybe I should have joined him.

"Oh, shit. Am I in the wrong room?" He flushed a bit redder than his blushing cheeks.

Sitting up, I hit "guide" on remote and flipped it to some random channel before tossing the remote over to his bed. "Nah…you alone?"

He looked behind him, still a bit dumbfounded. "Yeah?" His movements and speech were definitely impaired by the drinks. I couldn't help but chuckle. He walked towards the bed he'd claimed and threw the duffel bag on the covered bed.

"Mind if I crash here?" I didn't bother telling him the details, since he probably would ask again in the morning. "I had a nasty spill with my usual roomie."

Narrowing his eyes, Roadie gave me a concerned nod. But even in his state, he managed to notice I wasn't 100 happy. "Hey...are you alright? Anything I can do to help, other than…give up my other bed, that is."

I let out a light laugh, "Yeah I'll be fine. Thanks again, though huh? I'll explain in the morning." Turning over, I fluffed the pillow I intended to sleep on and sighed. "Good night, hon."

"Good night babay!" he said in an Elvis Presley tone, with the lip and all. "I'm here if you need me." Such comforting words. Brian was definitely a good friend of mine, whether he liked it or not.

I was never one to dwell on drama but I was known to keep a lot of things bottled up inside before releasing them and when they came out, it was brutal. I hated thinking about the "what-ifs" and the "what-nows' because it was never a good thing. From here on out, it was going to be awkward, mostly because I didn't take it the right way. But what was the right way, exactly? I was so baffled. I felt a tear roll down my cheek and curled up in the blanket, shivering ever so badly and listening to the clink and clamoring of Brian getting ready for bed, until I fell asleep.