Mel
Chapter 4 - The Match
A/N: Aw...you guys are so awesome xD I'm glad you're all liking this so far. I didn't really think it'd go over this much! Anyway, thanks again, and sorry this chapter took so long!
Disclaimer: Kennedy and Melina are not in an official storyline, so I must not have any input in WWE. I also don't own the Ramada Inn. By the way, one of my awesome readers and reviewers 'annskieesofresh' has coined the term 'Kelina'. Cute, right? xD Kennedy/Melina's official name.
Chapter Summary: The match was settled, the kiss: not so much. Ken and Melina go out and put on a good show, but how much of it is really just acting? Meanwhile, someone watching Raw isn't very happy.
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The four Superstars, Ken, Melina, Ted and Jillian, stood nervously near the gorilla position, also known as the area near the curtain heading out to the ring.
"So, we all set then? We all know what to do out there?" Ted asked the rest of them, to which they all nodded.
They normally weren't nervous about having a match, but then again, they normally had more than an hour to prepare. They had no time for practice or warm-ups. The only thing they knew was what was on that piece of paper.
Ted and Jillian headed out first, to Jillian's entrance music oddly enough, followed by Ken and Melina.
When the crowd heard the obnoxious sound of "Kennedayy!" that started off Kennedy's entrance music, they cheered loudly for the duo that entered the arena. Ken and Melina didn't dare to look at each other, no matter how odd they appeared in doing so, and simply walked to the ring, playing to the crowd positively.
Melina did her signature split and entered the ring, a smile plastered on her face despite her inexplicable apprehension. Ken entered behind her, trying to hide a grin. He couldn't deny that her splits were still cute as hell, regardless of what had happened in the past.
They returned fake glares sent out by Ted and Jillian, and climbed up opposite turnbuckles to acknowledge the crowd further.
Melina and Jillian remained in the ring to start out the match, with Melina getting the upperhand first, applying a collar and elbow tie up before wrenching Jillian's arm behind her back.
Jillian athletically cartwheeled out of it and countered with a kick to the stomach. Melina bounced off the ropes with a clothesline and the crowd cheered her on all the while.
A few exchanged punches and kicks here and there, and Jillian elected to tag in Ted, who made a run at Melina. But, seeing as it was a mixed tag team match and not an intergender tag team match, Mr. Kennedy jumped in and caught Ted off guard with a crossbody.
When he finally recovered, Ken flew at him with a Thesz press and delivered countless hammering blows to his face. When Mr. Kennedy finally left the mounted position and Ted was able to regain some of his composure, he took the easy way out with a thumb to Mr. Kennedy's eye.
This sent Mr. Kennedy back into the turnbuckle, where he was left temporarily unable to see. After rebounding from the corner, Ted caught him with a sleeper hold. Mr. Kennedy began to struggle out of it, the crowd clapping and stomping in support, and he finally countered the hold with a swinging neckbreaker.
Finally, after getting up, Ted came at Mr. Kennedy again, who caught Ted with a kick to the mid-section. Just as Kennedy was preparing for his signature move, the Mic Check, Jillian took it upon herself to enter the ring and distract Mr. Kennedy from doing so. As she looked ready to sing him a song, she ended up eating boot, courtesy of Melina, who had appeared behind Mr. Kennedy.
Melina picked Jillian back up and Kennedy did so as well with Ted DiBiase. Simultaneously, Melina and Mr. Kennedy hit their finishers on their opponents. Kennedy hit the Mic Check and Melina lifted her leg and dropped Jillian to the mat with her split-legged pin.
The two Superstars with contrasted hair colors clasped hands, as the referee counted to three and they obtained a victory. They both eased up into a standing position, huge smiles on their faces at what had just happened. Melina was only doing so because Ken was smiling at her and it proved to be infectious. The referee raised their arms due to their success, and the duo couldn't seem to look away from each other.
As the referee let go of their hands, Ken acted in such a way that a fan might confuse for overwhelming happiness at their victory. He'd grabbed the sides of Melina's face gently and planted an intense kiss on her slightly parted lips, ignoring the fact that he'd elicited a rowdy response from the Los Angeles crowd.
Melina just stood there dumbfounded, not making any effort to respond to the kiss in any way. As Ken pulled away from her, looking strangely disappointed at her lack of reaction, Melina put on her best look of shock, no one realizing that it was actually fear she was feeling. Truth be told, she had wanted to respond in a very explicit way to the kiss, and it wasn't a negative way.
But she knew she couldn't, because she and Ken were over and there was no point in sending out any mixed signals. 'You wanted to kiss him back. You two aren't entirely over,' a voice said from the back of her mind. While she was having this debate with herself, Ken had exited the ring, not daring to look back at her.
Melina decided to head backstage as well, all the while praying to God that Dave had missed Raw by some miracle on her part. She had two options: She could follow Ken and they could have a long, awkward discussion about what had just happened and she could deny that she had any feelings for him; or, she could head to the women's locker room, pack her stuff, and get the hell back to the hotel.
Needless to say, she picked option two, and as soon as she reached the women's locker room, she regretted it.
There, in a chair in front of the TV monitor sat Dave, who had his head down and couldn't bring himself to look at Melina. The sight of him in this state made her jump in surprise. She looked from him to the TV a couple of times before sighing.
"One of the more disappointing episodes of Raw..." Dave trailed off, still not giving her the satisfaction of a glance.
"Look, if you watched it, then you saw that he kissed me! I didn't kiss him," Melina replied, crossing her arms and feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
"Well, I didn't see you push him away," he stated, finally looking up at her with dark eyes. Melina couldn't exactly be truthful on that subject, because the truth was, she had to struggle so hard not to kiss Ken back, that she hadn't the brain power, nor the energy to push him away.
"It was on the playout sheet. I was just doing my job," she answered, finally settling on what to say.
"I don't give a damn what you were doing. You should've said no. Last time I checked, you were in a relationship with me. You're mine, not his. Those lips are mine," Dave shot back, getting up from the chair and in her face.
"Actually, my lips are mine. They're on my face making them mine," Melina retorted, trying her hardest not to show that she was intimidated.
Dave pursed his lips together as a sinister thought flashed in his mind. 'If you don't shut up and stop talking back to me, your lips will be bleeding.'
Dave's eyes widened, as did Melina's. He saw her tears form, and he squeezed his eyes tightly, breathing loudly. It hadn't just been a thought...he'd accidentally shared that thought with her.
"Mel," Dave started, wanting to make quick with the apology.
"Just stay away from me," she responded, in a voice that was barely there. She reached for her duffel bag which was conveniently on the bench right next to her, and backed away from him. She hurried out of the door quickly, hoping to catch someone who was still in the arena.
She had no idea where her friends and fellow Divas were, and she didn't just want to bunk with some strange guy that she barely knew. All she knew was she couldn't stay with Dave after what had just transpired. Every time she thought about going back to the hotel and being alone with him, her stomach lurched and she felt like she was going to get sick.
She found an empty closet with a lock on it to change in, and she simply chose a pair of tattered sweat pants and a hoodie that didn't match them in any way. She didn't look like the A-list, Hollywood Diva that she had been christened, but at that moment, she couldn't have cared less. After changing, she left the closet and set out again in her search for someone who was staying at a hotel near the area.
Melina felt her feet getting weary, as she hadn't had a chance to sit down since her match, and finally took a seat in a dark area under some non-functional stage lights. She didn't particularly want to be found or interact with anyone, but she knew she didn't have a choice. If she couldn't stay with Dave, she'd have to stay with someone else.
Melina sat her duffel bag to the side and brought her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth slowly. She tried her hardest not to cry, and it paid off, fortunately. As a golden bracket on her sneaker caught her eye, a bright image appeared in her mind. It was the gold bracelet she had in her duffel bag, so she pulled it out and shifted it through her fingers, thoughtfully.
Being the thought connector that she was, the bracelet instantly made her think of her ex, Ken Anderson. She happened to know that he was staying at the Ramada Inn, which was the hotel right next to the one she had been staying in with Dave. She considered asking him for a moment, but then dismissed the thought because of how crazy it was. Then again, what other option did she have?
"Ugh...do I ask him? Or not? Ken, why do you have to make things so difficult?" Melina groaned to herself, thinking she was the only person in that part of the arena. Unbeknownst to her, there was someone there to respond.
"I don't know, but I hear I'm pretty good at it," she heard, and she saw the face that had been circling her mind like a vulture approaching her from the distance. Melina shot up off the floor, blushing as he looked her over, confused. She tried to hide her embarrassment at her mis-matched outfit, and remained determined to ignore it as much as possible.
Ken was dressed in normal attire as well, with his bag in hand, about ready to leave.
"What are you doing over here?" He asked her, looking from her to the spot she had just been sitting in. Melina forced a giggle.
"Oh, you know. Just hanging out," she laughed, wrapping her arms around herself. There was a cold draft coming from an unknown source, and it seemed to be blowing right on her, making her shiver.
"I figured you'd have left by now," he acknowledged, his voice growing deeper as he took two more steps toward her. With that, she backed up two steps, instantly deploring it. This would cement the fact that something was troubling her and would ensure that he would bug her until she told him.
"What happened?" He asked her immediately after she stepped back. Melina decided there was no point in trying to keep it from him. Besides, she needed a place to stay, and he was proving to be her only hope.
"I had a fight with Dave," she admitted, before stopping short. Hadn't she just had this same conversation with Dave a couple of hours earlier? Was it impossible for her not to fight with the men in her life?
"What did he do?" Ken asked, a dark swirl in his eyes as he stepped closer to her protectively. Melina looked exasperated.
"He didn't do anything. Why do you always assume that? He just said something that pissed me off," Melina replied, gaining a bit more comfort in his company.
"Then why aren't you with him?" Ken asked, suspecting that there was more to the story than she was telling him.
"I figured I'd make him sweat it out for a while," she said, a devious smirk appearing on her face. Little did he know, it was just a front. It was true that Dave's comment had pissed her off, but more than that, it had scared the hell out of her. But Ken didn't have to know everything.
"Hmm, right. So, where are you going to stay? With Mickie?" Ken wondered out loud, seemingly only making light conversation. Melina's eyes widened, and she shook her head.
"Oh, Jillian, then?" He continued, sure that she would've been staying with Mickie.
"Uh, n-no..." Melina stammered, linking her fingers together uncomfortably. They had been together for three years, but she couldn't bring herself to ask him for this favor.
"You need a place to stay, don't you?" Ken inquired, with a smile. She frowned, ashamed, but nodded. He chuckled, finding her embarrassment slightly endearing.
"Thanks for the sympathy," she answered coldly, grabbing her duffel bag and gliding past him. He caught her by the elbow gently, spinning her around to face.
"Calm down, Mel. You always get so mad over nothing. If you need a place to crash, I have a place for you," he replied, giving her a warm gaze. She returned it, all the while wondering how he could be so unphased by the fact that he had unexpectedly kissed her just twenty minutes earlier.
"Thanks," was all she could muster to say in response, as she allowed him to lead her out of the arena and to his car.
So, she had some things to think about. The main thing on her mind was how she was going to deal with staying with Ken after what had happened. Another thing was how she would quell the butterflies in her stomach every time she saw him. She certainly had an interesting night ahead of her.
A/N: LOL this chapter took me for freaking EVER! It was so hard to write, but I finally got it out! YAY! I hope it was okay, although I think it could've been better. Anyways, peace, love and WWE.
Nikks.