Thank yous go out to Love103, charmedbyortonbarrett and Kirstein Renee Orton for the positive reviews. I am very sorry for the long wait between updates, there's simply no excuse and I hope you all can forgive me...

Chapter 4: Just Friends

Cody gently set the large cup of coffee on the table she had been sitting at. He plunked his own bum into the chair opposite her and easily pulled the plastic lid off the cup, glancing at the hot, caramel coloured liquid inside. She stifled back a laugh and followed suit, cautiously taking a sip and smiling at him.

"Just the way you like it?" He questioned.

"It's fine Cody." She giggled back at him, relaxing in the chair.

His eyes scanned her face as she let out a sigh, cradling the coffee in her hands, now in her lap. The warmth from the coffee was a pleasant feeling against her hands and thighs, the cold from the January air had wafted inside the small coffee shop and left her body chilled.

"Good, I'm trying here Quinn." He smirked, knowing that she wasn't quite acting like herself, not since he had left her to head home for the New Year holiday.

"So tell me about your trip home." She pushed, wanting him to do most of the talking, not wanting him to find out that she had, indeed, spent the New Year sad and alone.

Her eyes didn't leave his as he settled into the chair, readying himself for a long, emotion filled story about his small vacation. Just the sound of his voice was enough to relax her nerves the slightest little bit. He was her friend after all and over the last few days, she had started to feel like she had none left. As he sat in front of her now, she could push the idea that absolutely no one cared about her out of her head.

"I saw mom's face first when I was sitting in the airport, god she like yelled out my name and everyone in the damn airport turned towards her. Obviously there were only about fifteen to twenty people waiting there seeing as it was New Year's Eve, but still, it was so embarrassing."

"Yeah, I bet," she laughed, "Momma Rhodes at it again right."

"Oh no doubt about it. I swear to god she lives to embarrass me."

"What about your dad though?"

"Holy cow, I don't think I will ever be able to get the image of him dancing in the middle of the airport out of my head for the rest of my life."

Letting out a laugh, Quinn shifted in her chair, reaching out and setting the coffee on the table. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him, receiving a smile from him in return.

"You love him and you know it." Quinn prodded.

Now it was Cody's turn to laugh. A loud, single laugh escaped his throat as he too secured his coffee on the table top, setting his palms on his knees as he leaned in closer to her.

"Don't ever let me forget it Quinn." He grinned, running his hands over his kneecaps.

"Did he get your mom dancing with him too?"

"Yes, her and pretty much everyone else who was waiting for their planes. Good lord I don't know how they manage to do it. Anywhere they go not only do they end up making fools of themselves but they embarrass me to no end."

"That's what parents are for." Quinn added, immediately letting her mind wander to her own parents.

Her mother, the only parent she could ever rely on, was the one person she had talked to on New Year's Eve about what was really going on. Her mother was a saint to Quinn, always there for her, always ready to do whatever it took to make sure Quinn was all right. There wasn't a single thing that Quinn wouldn't do for her mother, and she knew that her mother felt the same way.

Her father however, he was a totally different story. Having walked out on her mother while Quinn was at the tender age of twelve, Quinn had refused to give him what he wanted, and what he wanted was a daughter who would do anything to be with her father. She had given up on ever wanting anything to do with him, especially when he dragged her sister through hell and back when the time for college came around.

Quinn always felt like she was better off without her father in her life. She could see her mother was way better off without him too, the entire dynamic within the house after he had left took a one-eighty turn. There was no longer a need to step around her father, fearing that the smallest mistake or failure would set him off. Overall, her mother, her sister, and Quinn herself, smiled a lot more once her father had left the house.

"I'm just grateful that my brother didn't join them."

"Oh dressed in his nice gold attire?" Quinn laughed, picturing the older Rhodes brother prancing around the airport in his gold latex suit and platinum blonde wig, his face painted over completely.

"And I thank god every day that he's busy with his own life, that way he stays out of mine."

"Awe Cody, I'm sure he's not that bad." Quinn teased, knowing that Dustin Rhodes was the farthest thing from normal she had ever seen.

"You have no idea."

She listened as he dove into another story about his brother, something about him walking in on Cody and a girl one night when he was younger; the two of them had been locked at the lips. Needless to say, Dustin had chased the girl away without much effort and Cody had learned a valuable lesson to never bring girls to the Rhodes house any more.

Her eyes scanned the small coffee shop, she could hear his words but she wasn't listening to what he was saying anymore. There was a part of her that absolutely adored spending time with Cody Rhodes, they would only ever be friends though, he had made that clear from the moment the two of them met.

She had been wandering around the halls backstage, hours before her first taping of Smackdown. She was lost, she hated to admit it but she was completely and utterly unaware of where she was or even where she was supposed to be. Every time she rounded another corner, she'd let out an irritated growl, every thing just looked the exact same as where she had just come from.

Slinging her backpack higher up on her shoulder, Quinn let out a sigh, wondering what they would do if she didn't show up for her match. Nearing the end of another hallway, she stopped in her tracks and pressed her hip against the wall, digging in her pocket for her cell phone. She glanced down the hall, watching carefully now as the handle to one of the doors moved. Praying that she would encounter someone who could help her out, Quinn gripped her phone in her hand firmly and straightened up, putting on a false air of confidence.

As soon as he stepped out she took a deep breath and marched right up to him, the plastic face mask had thrown her off once she saw it, but she shook her head and pushed the immediate desire to ask him what happened to the back of her head. Being rude and nosy wasn't necessarily a good thing to be when all she really wanted was a little help. He turned his head and his eyes locked on her, the fiercest glare ever coming off his gaze.

"Can I help you?" He asked, clearly irritated by her mere presence.

"Um, I'm supposed to have a match tonight and I don't really know where I'm supposed to be right now."

"And I'm just magically supposed to be able to help you?"

"Oh, no, um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you." She shied away from him, disappointed in herself for bothering someone who she had put all of her hopes on.

"Look, what's your name?" He asked with an annoyed sigh.

"Quinn." She mumbled, still trying to decide whether or not she wanted to just turn around and run all the way back to her mother.

"I'm on my way to the ring, if you follow me, I can try to find a crew member to pass you off to."

"Really?" She asked, her eyes brightening up at his offer now. "You'd do that for me?"

"Yeah, just don't tell anyone I helped you and definitely don't think this means that I like you."

Quinn nodded furiously as he turned on his heel and headed down the hall. Hesitating for a second, Quinn smiled at his back and took off in a jog after him, barely able to keep up. She could hardly contain her excitement as he took the lead and let her lag behind. A few minutes later, and a few more corners rounded, he pointed his arm out towards a young man dressed in black dress pants and a simple white collared shirt.

"Thank you." She called after him as he continued on his way, leaving her with what she could only assume was a crewmember, or at the very least, someone who could help her.

"Remember, it doesn't mean I like you!" He called back, not even bothering to look back and face her.

Her eyes fell on the door and she watched as Wade Barrett stepped inside the coffee shop followed closely by Justin Gabriel and a red headed man that Quinn had only ever seen in passing. She had no idea of his name, nor was she interested in looking at him for much longer than she needed. He wasn't her type, the movements he made exuded an air of cockiness that she was all too familiar with in her own group of friends and it was something she was certainly growing tired of.

"Oh man, I thought for sure Barrett had abandoned his little groupies after the Corre split."

"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked, looking at Cody quickly before glancing back at Wade, Justin and the ginger.

Cody reached out and grabbed hold of his coffee, lifting it to his lips before taking a sip. He held it in his hand as he followed her gaze, looking at the three men along with Quinn.

"Do you live under a rock or something Quinn, Wade Barrett used to be part of this lame group called the Corre. Those two were in it with him but one night on Smackdown he just up and leaves them in the ring."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean they aren't friends for real Cody." She shot back, watching them carefully as Wade ordered and Justin pulled out his wallet.

"I guess."

"It's like you and Randy. Sure you guys were in Legacy together and you guys fell apart but you're still friends now, right?"

"Valid point." Cody replied, tearing his eyes away from the three men and looking back at Quinn, her expression on her face signified that she was totally enveloped by their presence in the coffee shop.

"Who's the guy with red hair?" She asked, her fingers wrapping absentmindedly around the seat part of her chair as she leaned closer to the table.

"Heath Slater. I wouldn't mind kicking his annoying face in."

"What'd he do to you?" She pondered, curious as to what the man possibly could have done to warrant a kick in the face from her dear friend Cody Rhodes.

"He just thinks he's all that."

Quinn couldn't contain the enormous laugh that erupted from her throat. She slapped her hand over her mouth, not totally believing the sound had come from her. It was too late though, not only was Cody staring at her but Wade and his two buddies were now looking at her too, most likely wondering who the noise had come from.

"Christ Quinn, what was that?" Cody questioned, looking at her, not totally believing the noise she had produced, rather embarrassed for her now. He slouched down in his seat a little further but continued to look at her.

"I think it was a laugh." She nodded shyly, rather shocked and surprised at her own little outburst.

Cody's lips curled upwards into a smile and before she knew it, he was looking at her, rather amused at what she had just done. It wasn't until three shadows formed on the table over her shoulder that Quinn knew what he was smiling at.

"May we join you?" Justin questioned, motioning at the table.

"Sure." Cody answered, shifting his seat around the table, moving closer to Quinn to make more room.

The three men grabbed free chairs from the tables near Quinn and Cody's before taking a seat, setting their own cups of coffee on the surface that already housed Quinn's cup. She glanced up at Wade before he had a chance to get too comfortable, when he flashed her a sly smile, her cheeks reddened ever so slightly. Relaxing into her chair, she looked at Cody now and caught his cheeky grin, perhaps he saw something that she didn't.

"How're you guys?" Cody asked pleasantly, trying his best not to kick the ginger under the table. Thankfully Heath Slater's attention was elsewhere in the coffee shop, a couple of bubbly blondes were looking over at the table, not at the red head but he didn't seem to mind. Quinn had noticed their gazes shift earlier as soon as Cody had sat down to join her.

"Can't complain man, and you?" Justin asked right back, a friendly smile present on his soft features.

"He's alright, he was just telling me about his awesome family reunion on New Year's Eve." Quinn joined in, finally finding her voice after her little gaze from Wade.

"You weren't out partying?" Heath teased, his gaze still locked on the blondes. Quinn could tell by the tone of his voice that Heath had a very similar opinion of Cody, although she didn't know for sure if the one man band would ever have the desire to kick Cody's face in.

Running her thumbs along the side of her coffee cup, Quinn let Cody take over the conversation at the table. He seemed to be really hitting it off with Justin, who was definitely the most talkative of the three. She was quite content to just sit and listen, taking in all she could before she was left along once again to deal with the pain of rejection.

Her eyes wandered from the table now back to Wade. There was so much she wanted to ask him, so much she needed to know about his life, but there just wasn't an opportunity. He was merely an acquaintances as far as she was concerned and she wasn't about to just bombard him with questions.

"Something the matter love?" His voice was unusually soft, his whisper barely bringing her out of her trance.

Quickly Quinn glanced around the table, wondering if anyone else had noticed her blank stare, or worse, had they noticed that her stare was directed solely at Wade. Gingerly shaking her head, bringing herself back to reality, she forced a smile at the large Englishman sitting next to her.

"Sometimes I just get lost in my own head." She replied quietly, silently wondering if he thought her response was utterly ridiculous.

It wasn't a new thing for her to have difficulty explaining things, lately she found herself confusing more people than she would have liked but once she reflected back on what had happened, or what she had said, she realized that how she was feeling, or what she was thinking, was rather difficult to put into words.

"Is it a dangerous place in there?"

"Not always." She admitted shyly.

There were days when Quinn wanted nothing to do with the WWE anymore, quite often wondering who would even miss her if she left. Other days she had found her mind wandering off to dark places, places where she would think about harming herself. It was becoming a more frequent occurrence in her life, most of the time the thoughts arouse while she was driving.

She knew that a car accident would cause her to end up in the hospital and if she did it in a particular way, she wouldn't die, at least she hoped she wouldn't. The railroad tracks didn't fair too much better, her creativity taking over, she could always pull onto the tracks, just enough so that the train would clip the rear end of the vehicle. Running her car off the road and into the ditch would cause damage to the car but Quinn knew that it wouldn't necessarily cause enough damage to her body to warrant a trip to the hospital. For the most part, pushing the harmful thoughts to back of her mind was what she ended up doing, not wanting to deal with the aftermath of a crashed rental car, or being hospitalized in an unfamiliar city.

The door of the coffee shops swung open, stopping Cody from saying another word. Wade's eyes traveled from Quinn to the now open door, the obvious glare on his face directed at Randy Orton, the Viper standing just inside the doorframe with his arms crossed over his broad chest. Right behind him, forcing his way into the coffee shop, was Ted Dibiase, Randy taking off after him as soon as he was safely inside.

"Hey Orton!" Cody called out, throwing his hand into the air, Quinn wincing at his actions.

"We should probably be going." Justin broke in, sensing the tension building at the table.

Her body tensed as Wade pushed his chair back and stood up. She fully understood that sometimes people just didn't get along, she didn't really care what happened but the fact that Cody had called Randy and the Viper was now on his way over made Quinn feel uneasy. She knew he had most likely had a wonderful New Year's Eve and she most definitely didn't want to hear him boast about the girl he ended up with. To her, some things were better left unsaid.

Her hand lifted into the air as she threw the three retreating guys a lame wave goodbye, her eyes locking on Cody's as he smiled at her now.

"I don't mind him." Cody nodded.

"Mind who?"

"Gabriel, or Barrett for that matter."

"Oh." Quinn replied before falling silent.

Her gaze followed Randy now as he strode across the coffee shop floor, closing the distance between him and the table. She let out a breath as he sat in the now vacant chair, the one that Wade had been seated in seconds earlier. Her fingers wrapped around her coffee cup as she retreated back into her own thoughts, not wanting to hear how awesome of a time he had last night without her.

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