Chapter: 3: Do What You Have To Do

Author's Note: I was going to be a lot more regular with updates and post these chapters once a week to give me a chance to finish writing it, but I'm getting impatient and overexcited. Haha. Plus, there's not TOO much left to write. So, here's another chapter, early. Takes place the night of the "I Quit" match. Hope you enjoy. =)

"You're an idiot." Chris's voice spills through the speakers the second Mike answers the phone.

"Hello to you, too." Mike replies, scowling at the device just a bit.

"Care to explain to me why Alex rode in with Justin Gabriel tonight?" Chris asks politely, and Mike immediately freezes up.

Gabriel? He'd ridden in with Gabriel? Why had Alex ridden in with Gabriel? What the actual fuck?

"What the actual fuck? Gabriel?" Mike demands aloud.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you? You didn't even know where he was?" Chris says incredulously. "Just how bad was this fight?"

Mike takes a deep breath, dropping into one of the chairs in the dressing room and scrubbing a hand over his face.

"It wasn't a fight. I ended it." he mutters, his voice almost laced with guilt. "Told him to get his shit and get the fuck out. That I'm over it."

There's a deep silence that stretches out between them like the flooding Mississippi for a few long moments. Finally, Mike takes a breath in through his nose that's very reminiscent of a sniffle, and Chris is speaking again.

"Mike...What in the hell are you thinking?" Chris finally questions softly.

Mike waits a bit before he responds, as if he has to decide whether or not to tell Chris the truth. The blonde has to admit, it hurts a bit. When Mike does speak, his voice is small, scared even, and it makes Chris feel even worse.

"It's the only way they'll leave him alone."

Chris pauses. That's it?

"Mike, that is the most idiotic-" he tries to explain to the younger, but Mike doesn't let him get a word in edgewise.

"Chris, you don't understand! They know we...were," and fuck, that's painful to say, "together, and they're mad about it. I know it's part of the reason they took the title from me."

The blonde isn't really surprised, but that doesn't make it suck any less. He'd had a feeling something like that was going to happen. It's not as if Mike and Alex had ever really been private about their relations. Then again, it's not as if Chris hadn't warned the younger, either. But Mike was nothing if not stubborn, and resilient, and he really did love Alex, so he'd been determined to stick it out. Apparently, Chris thinks bitterly, everyone has a breaking point.

"I thought you were going to tough it out?" Chris gives it a shot anyway, even if it is futile.

Mike scoffs, chokes on a sad laugh. "That was before I knew how much ammunition they had to use."

"You're stronger than that though, Mike! So what if you lost the title? I lost the title plenty of times! They've thrown way worse than that at you before." the older tries almost desperately. The last thing he wants is to see Mike give up on something he really is so passionate about.

"It's not about me, Chris. It's about him." Mike mutters. He lets out a pained sigh. "Always about him."

And suddenly, Chris gets it. Honestly, he's unsure why he hadn't seen it coming sooner, now that he truly thinks about it. The sound of Mike's voice makes him zero back in on his friend.

"It's been killing him. They keep making us fight, and I have to say the most vile things to him. It's disgusting. I mean, we both know it's not real, but he always looks so crushed. And the way they've been treating him in the ring? Every single week, he comes out just to get his ass kicked! Shit, I think he's taken more bumps in the last few months than I did my entire first year! And he'd always come back to the room so sore and tired..." Mike trails off, as if he's lifting off, drifting up into his own head.

And Chris knows, has been watching, but for some reason hadn't really been taking all of that into consideration. He should have been, he knows. If he had, he gets the sinking feeling they could have avoided some of this. He feels partially responsible, despite the knowledge that he's very much not.

"I'm really sorry, man. I should have done something." Chris says somberly.

"What could you have done? It's not like we hadn't been fighting them tooth and nail since the beginning anyway. I knew what was going to happen, and I just kept pushing. So, they pushed back." Mike replies. The jaded edge to his tone makes Chris ache for him. It's the sound he'd hoped he would never have to hear, the sound of truly being "broken in" by the company. "But, they pushed too far, and I had to put my foot down. I just, I, he...I can't let them keep hurting him. And if it means sacrificing my own happiness with him, then so be it, I guess that's what has to be done."

"Maybe this isn't the best course of action, though." the older explains slowly, almost as if he's speaking to a teenager. Sometimes, he kind of feels like he is. "Think about it rationally for a minute, Mike."

"You think I haven't? You think I just woke up one morning and decided to break up with Alex? Decided on a fucking, a fucking whim or some shit to throw away the best thing that's ever happened to me? No, I've fucking thought about it." Mike practically hisses. Chris is taken aback. It's been a long time since he's seen this side of Mike. "Dammit, Chris, I will not let them break him."

Chris falls silent. He can't even argue with his friend. He knows exactly how that feels, remembers saying the same thing about the young man he's speaking to, even if Mike will never know about that. Still, he hates that it's come to this, that Mike is having to rip apart a wonderful relationship over this kind of prejudice. He hears Mike sigh again, and his mind is instantly made up.

"Well, I'm flying out there." he says in his sternest voice. Of course, Mike's the only one that would argue with it.

"What? No, Chris, you can't." the younger objects hurriedly.

"Why can't I? You're one of my best friends, and you're hurting, and you need your best friend. And, since you just dumped him, I'm the next best thing." Chris returns matter-of-factly.

"Chris, seriously, I'll be okay. You really don't need to fly all the way out here." Chris smiles at the way Mike's arguments are growing weaker.

"No, you won't. I know you, Mike. You're going to do something stupid, and I'm going to have to fly out to handle it anyway. Right now, I'm just going to cut out the middle part, and go ahead and come handle things now." the blonde says as if it's set in stone.

Mike scoffs, rolls his eyes. "Really? Really? I don't need a babysitter."

"Says you. You're one emotional breakdown away from the front page of Perez Hilton's asinine site." Chris fires back. "Now, shut up, and go to your match. I'll be there later on."

Chris hangs up before Mike has a chance to say anything else. Not that he really has words right now anyway. He tilts his head back against the wall with what almost sounds like a whine.

How in the hell had he managed to forget about the match?

XXXXX

"You guys, I really don't think I can do this."

Alex's voice is shaky, and it makes Justin frown. The younger is pacing back and forth in front of the bench the high flyer is sat upon, wringing his hands worriedly ever few seconds like a nervous tick.

"Oh, come on. Nut up, man. It's just Mike." Heath responds, almost snickering, like the former champ is a joke.

The redhead pulls his clean shirt over his head, leaning down and zipping his bag up before moving over to sit next to Justin on the bench. The South African is glaring at him, and he stares back, shrugging a bit, what? He notices Alex has stopped in front of them, and is looking at them both with a downright crushed expression. Heath kind of feels like a dick, ducking his own head down. Justin stands, taking Alex's upper arms into his hands firmly (he has to actually make an effort to ignore the way the boy's nerves are making the muscles flex under his hands), stares him straight in the eyes (he also has to make a point to not fall too deep in the baby blues right now).

"Alex, you're going to be fine. It's just a match, even if you do have to work with him. You're the new Alex Riley, remember? And the new Alex Riley can work just fine with his ex, and put on the best performance of his life." Justin says, his voice low. His face colors lightly at the small smile Alex manages.

"Okay. Alright. You're right, new Alex Riley." the younger mutters with a nod.

"And I'll be right here when you finish, no matter what." Justin tells him, just loud enough for him to really hear it.

The smile widens a bit.

"Thank you, Justin. You have no idea how much this means to me." Alex repeats for possibly the tenth time in the last few nights.

Justin just laughs. "It's fine! Now, go out there and kick some ass."

Alex stands up a bit taller, gives the high flyer a final nod, before turning and heading out the door. The second it's shut, Justin's facing Heath once more, glare set in place again.

"What?" Heath asks as if he really doesn't understand why Justin's so angry.

"That was really rude. Mike broke his heart, and now he has to go out there and act like everything's normal." Justin crosses his arms over his chest. "How would you feel?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be acting like such a pussy." Heath counters.

"I'm not so sure about that." the older mutters under his breath, turning and rifling through his bag. It's just loud enough that the redhead hears it, however.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he demands, standing and striding over to his friend. Justin stands up to face him.

"It means you've been acting like such a bitch lately, I was wondering when you were going to get off your period and go back to being my best friend." Justin says with a glare. Heath is shocked. It's been a long time since Justin snapped at him like that. "Whatever your problem is, you need to check yourself. I'm starting to dislike being around you."

With that, Justin turns and storms out of the dressing room, leaving Heath alone with his thoughts. The redhead is unsure why all of them revolve around grabbing Justin's angry face and kissing the snarl right off him.