"Do you think it hurt?"
Eve frowned a bit and looked over at Kelly. They were walking around the arena parking lot, getting some "girl time". Raw last night had been the tribute show to Ted but now Smackdown it was just time to get back to business as usual. Kelly and Eve were at the Smackdown tapings tonight to team up with Alicia to take on Beth, Natalya and Tamina and they were supposed to be meeting up with Alicia to talk strategy, but Eve had noticed that something was seriously wrong with Kelly. She had been trying to act like that wasn't the case but she really wasn't that good at hiding her emotions. "What do you mean?"
Kelly tightened her grip on Eve's arm and swallowed hard. "Do you think it hurt when Ted…you know….when he…"
"Died?" Eve sighed and pursed her lips as Kelly nodded. "I don't know," she said slowly. "I mean, I've never actually died before so it's not like I would know really." She saw the look on Kelly's face and sighed again before brushing some of her hair out of her face. "Kel? Was there something going on between you and Ted?" The question had to be asked. Kelly was taking this a lot harder than she would have expected her to otherwise.
"No…not anymore." Kelly sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "It wasn't like we really dated or anything. We kind of had a short thing after Randy dumped me and Kane made that attempt to stalk me. I was hurt and he and Cody were fighting…it kind of just fizzled out but he was still always nice to me. I just…I just don't understand why people have to die. It's STUPID. It's so STUPID because they die and then they're gone and then everyone that ever loved them are left behind and they don't get a chance to say goodbye or let them know how much they still care…"
Eve had a feeling they were no longer talking about Ted. This was clearly some Test territory right here. She herself had never gotten the chance to meet him but from what she had heard from others and what Kelly had said to her herself, Test had pretty much been the love of Kelly's life at this point. She had never really truly gotten over his death and some blamed his death as the reason to why she just kind of jumped from man to man these days. "You know, there's supposed to be a party tonight," she said, deciding it would be best if they just got off this subject. Staying on it would only upset her more. "That Cooper Lawson guy is throwing it. It's supposed to be a bit of celebration of Ted's li-"
Kelly snorted and rolled her eyes. "Cooper don't give two shits about Ted. He just wants to get drunk and everyone's jumping on board because they're a bunch of assholes."
"Or they need the distraction," Eve said with a wince. She was wondering if she was now in the asshole category because she had brought it up. "We could go for a little while. Just see how it is, get our mind off things."
"I don't know…you don't think it feels wrong? Ted's DEAD and we're talking about going to a party!"
"We'll leave if it gets too obnoxious. I promise. I just…I don't like the thought of you just laying in bed and crying again."
Kelly winced. "You heard that?"
Eve nodded.
There was a moment of silence after that. "Okay," Kelly said reluctantly. "Just for awhile though. And when I say I'm done, that means I'm done. Okay?"
Eve nodded and squeezed her arm tightly. "Okay."
…
"This is going to turn into full fledged debauchery," Phil declared as he looked around the club. Cooper had gone all out, renting out the entire place just for the whole lot of them. It must have cost a small fortune but Phil knew damn well it wasn't his own money he was using. It was James's. He was nearly thirty years old and he mooched off James and his stepmother like a fucking bum. He had never had a real job in his entire life. The only thing he did was watch Connor and even that he didn't do very well. Like right now, Cooper was having the bartender serve him drink after drink after drink while Connor ran wild, tormenting the ever holy fuck out of Jinder Mahal and Tyson Kidd.
"Oh would you stop?" Natalya said out of irritation. "Seriously, you're starting to get on my nerves."
"Yeah really," Beth agreed. She was sipping on a drink of her own, though it was only her first one so she was already better off than a lot of people there. "I don't want to be here much more than you do but you don't see me whining about it."
Phil frowned a bit. "If you don't want to be here then how did-" he stopped as he saw the dirty look Beth threw Nattie's way. "Ahhhh…she got you too?"
"She can be more annoying than a tiny needy dog when she wants to be."
"Hey!" Nattie looked completely offended by that and Phil just had to laugh. "Bitch!" She reached over and punched Beth really hard on her arm.
"Ow!" Beth glared Nattie for nearly making her drop her drink. "You little-"
"Ladies ladies ladies," Phil said, holding up his hands and shaking his head. He needed to try to keep the peace because he was the bystander that would end up getting hurt in the crossfire if they decided to really go at it. "Please. Let's keep the violence down to a bare minimum. The club's not big enough for this showdown."
"We could take it outside," Beth suggested. "Really throw down."
Nattie smirked and downed her drink. "Please. We both know you really couldn't take me."
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that."
…
"Guys guys look," Alex said, leaning over and waving his hand at Mike and Mor's faces. "Look at them." He was pointing to Beth and Natalya with his other hand. "Look. I think they're going to fight or something."
Mike rolled his eyes at his former protégé. "No they're not you idiot. They've done this a thousand times. That glaring is as bad as it's gonna get between the two of them."
"What did if they did fight though?" Mor asked, watching Beth and Nattie seemingly start to bicker and Phil trying (and failing) to play peacemaker. "Who do you guys think would win?"
"Beth," Mike answered automatically.
Alex frowned. "Really? Why?"
"Because she's secretly a man."
"…Dude, I'm going to tell her you said that and watch her tear you to pieces," Morrison said with a shake of his head.
"You even try that and I'm giving your head to your boyfriend on a platter," Mike replied. He looked around. "Where is Loch Ness anyway? I haven't seen him hanging off you in forever."
"That's because we're NOT together anymore smart one."
"Oh so the honeymoon's over again? Oh how sad. I guess I'll just keep the coffee machine I was going to give you guys as a wedding present."
Mor gave him one of the dirtiest looks he could possibly muster.
"I think Nattie would win," Alex said, either purposefully trying to head off the upcoming argument or too dumb and oblivious to realize the other two weren't on the subject anymore (the latter was the most likely of the bunch-the boy had a history of being dense). "She's got spunk."
"She's got something alright," Mor agreed.
"She's got a tremendous ass," Mike blurted out.
"Dude!"
"What?" Mike shrugged his shoulders innocently. "She's got a nice ass. I can appreciate some junk in the trunk."
"You think she's got the best ass?" Alex asked.
"No…Mickie James had the nicest ass."
"Oh my god I loved it when she wore those skirts to the ring. That was fucking tremendous."
"I know right? The fucking things I would have done-"
"You can keep those to yourself," Mor said with a wrinkled nose. "I don't want to hear them."
"Aw, what's the matter? JoMo feeling sensitive tonight?" Mike went to pinch his cheeks and got smacked really hard across the face for his troubles. "OW!"
…
"Do any of you guys feel like we really don't fit in here?" AJ asked as she looked around. She was sitting with Kaitlyn and Daniel Bryan, him with a Coke and her and Kaitlyn with beers that were barely obtained because they had to spend like twenty minutes explaining to the bartender that she was in fact old enough to drink. He hadn't even wanted to believe the driver's license she had shown him. It wasn't until Cooper and Jay finally got sick of hearing the argument go on and pretty much bullied the bartender into shutting the fuck up and believing her.
Bryan smirked a bit and shrugged his shoulders. "That's kind of business as usual for us though, isn't it?"
He had a point there. AJ and Kaitlyn didn't really fit into any of the other cliques in the diva's locker room and Bryan didn't exactly have the same interest as the majority of the guys in the locker room. Only reason he was even here was because the girls had begged him to come along and keep them company.
"So is this like really like some kind of send off for Ted?" Kaitlyn asked. "Or is that just some kind of really wrong excuse?"
"Jay told me it was supposed to be one last DiBiase Posse Party," Bryan replied. "But since there's booze involved there's no telling how this is going to turn out."
"Maybe we shouldn't have come," AJ said slowly. "I mean we could have-"
"HIIIIII!"
AJ and Kaitlyn both about jumped out of their seats as Connor hopped up on their table for no apparent reason. Connor didn't even realize how much he scared them though. He was too busy waving and trying to get in AJ's face. "Hi hi hi hi hi hi hi!"
"…H-hi," she said nervously, trying to scoot back and get him out of her personal space. She had never really even met Cooper or Connor before and only just really even heard about them a few days ago when they showed up to travel with Nattie.
"Connor Connor Connor no no no," Bryan said as he tried to reel the notoriously unstable man child back in. "Leave her alone don't-"
"What's YOUR name?" Connor leaned right in on AJ, totally violating her personal space.
"AJ."
"Isn't that a BOY'S name?"
"It can be a girl's name too," Bryan answered. He was looking around for either Cooper or Natalya so he could get them to come over and control him. They, along with James, were about the only ones who could really manage it. "Now come on, back off you can't-"
"My name is Connor." Of course he was ignoring Bryan. Why listen when he could keep right on doing what he was doing? "Do you want to play with me?"
"Play what?" AJ could see Kaitlyn shaking her head out of the corner of her eye but she found herself asking the question anyway. It felt rude not to.
"In-"
"Connor GET over here!" Cooper yelled from across the room.
"But Coopy-"
"NOW!"
Connor let out a high pitched whine before reluctantly getting off the table and trotting over to his older brother. AJ blinked several times before exchanging glances with Kaitlyn and Bryan. "What the hell just happened?"
Kaitlyn had nothing to say while Bryan just shook his head. "Connor Lawson just happened. You'll get used to him…eventually…maybe…depends on how much patience you have."
…
"How many times have I told you to fucking leave people alone?" Cooper asked as Connor came over. He was standing over by the speakers with Jay and Dolph, hooking up his I-pod to the sound system so they could have some music. Dolph and Jay both tried to volunteer their I-pods but Cooper was doing his because he didn't particularly give a shit what anyone else really wanted. The only person in the place he actually liked was Nattie; Jay and Dolph were only with him because out of the others, he could tolerate them the best while drunk.
"I wasn't doing anything!" Connor said defensively. "I was being NICE."
"You were bugging that poor girl."
"No, I was being NICE. Something YOU know nothing about."
Jay smirked. "He's got a point you know."
"Shut up," Cooper snapped. He quickly finished up with what he was doing, knowing he didn't have long at all before he lost Connor and he started running around like a maniac again. "Find something to listen to," he ordered as he passed the I-pod to Dolph, corralling Connor in further by grabbing him by the scruff of the neck.
Dolph took it, not entirely happy that it was Cooper's choice of music that had won out. He had campaigned for his own because he knew it would actually suit a party; god only knew what Cooper had on his player. "If all I hear is your stepmother I'm going to be pissed."
Cooper shot him the finger. "Fuck you you fucking-"
Hi Barbie
Hi Ken!
Do you wanna go for a ride?
Sure Ken…
Jump in…
I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
"What the FUCK?" Cooper yelled his entire face turning beet red. Both Dolph's and Connor's eyes just about bugged out of their head while Jay just collapsed on the floor in laughter. All eyes in the club turned in their direction and Cooper's face got even redder as he tried to switch the shit. "That is NOT supposed to be on there!"
"Dude-"
Give me time
To realize my crime
"What the FUCK is this shit Cooper?" Phil yelled from across the room.
"I don't know!" Cooper was just DYING inside. "I didn't fucking put this shit on here!" He glared at Connor. "Were YOU messing with my shit?"
Connor glared at him. "I don't even know how to WORK those things. I would have just BROKE it instead. DADDY and MINDY were playing with it."
"Oh my Christ…"
Let me love and steal
I have danced
Inside your eyes
How can I be real?
Do you really want to hurt me?
Do you really want to make me cry?
"Oh my god," Dolph said, cringing as Jay just started howling and kicking his feet on the floor. "That's enough. We're putting on something else." He turned off the device and unhooked it from the speakers before handing it back to Cooper. "Keep your fagalicious music to yourself please."
"Fag-oh fucking Christ I'm going to KILL Dad," Cooper growled. He let go of Connor and stormed over to the bar, doing his best to ignore all the comments that were coming his way. He needed a drink now in the worst of ways. Fucking really am going to kill him I swear to god…
…
Kelly leaned back against the wall, feeling very uncomfortable already and she and Eve just got there. She could see that the majority of the people were already starting to drink way too much, which never led to anything good. It never failed with this group. It wasn't someone "important" in their eyes that died so this "last DiBiase Posse Party" was really just a bunch of bullshit. Fuck it. She just wanted to go but Eve wasn't anywhere in sight. She and Alicia had run off to the bathroom and she had elected to stay behind, not feeling the need to follow them there when she didn't have to go herself. She did that all the time in high school but now it just kind of seemed weird.
She stood there awhile longer, watching everyone around her. Connor had gone back to bug AJ, who was looking at Kaitlyn and Bryan for help. Natalya was too busy bickering with Beth and Phil to notice that Connor needed to be reeled in and Cooper was too busy getting smashed at the bar. Dolph and Jay were fiddling with the sound system (now that Jay was done pissing himself at Cooper's expense), Morrison, Mike and Alex were setting up some kind of drinking contest and had recruited Swagger, Ryder, Cody, Primo, Tyson Kidd and Kofi to join in. The Bellas had Alberto cornered over by the door and Cena was sitting with Randy in the corner. They looked to be the most serious of the bunch and she wanted to join John but Randy being there prevented her from doing so. Not only had he rejected her after their night together on national TV, but then he went on a radio show and not only deny the whole thing never happened, but pretty much called her a slut to boot. No way she wanted to be anywhere near him ever again.
Feeling way too awkward to stay there another minute, she slipped out the side door without anyone being the wiser. Eventually Eve and Alicia were going to notice that she was gone and hopefully they would think to come out here to look for her so she wouldn't have to come back in and tell them she wanted to leave. A slight breeze had picked up since she and Eve arrived at the club and she shivered as she hugged herself. Fuck. She didn't have a coat with her. She rubbed her arms, hoping to warm herself back up as she waited. Every second that went by seemed to last forever. What in the world was taking so long? Being patient was getting harder and harder to do by the minute because she couldn't stay warm no matter how hard she tried. She was going to have to go inside and get Eve she couldn't keep waiting like this.
She turned to do that but before she could even touch the door handle she heard a loud crash behind her. She jumped about a foot in the air and let out a startled scream before slapping a hand over her own mouth to quiet herself. Her brain was telling her that she just needed to go back inside but her feet were completely rooted to the spot in fear. She took her hand off over her mouth and swallowed hard, her eyes darting around frantically to see if she could see anything. "H-hello?" Dumb as fuck to call out like that but she was too scared to even think properly.
She heard a thump this time, this one closer to her. "H-Hello?" She did her best to swallow the giant lump that had formed in her throat. "Is someone there?" Why couldn't she just go inside? She needed to go inside so bad. "This isn't funny you know."
Silence followed that statement. She stood perfectly still for as long as she could stand to, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did she finally went to go inside-only to have someone grab her from behind and put their hand over her mouth to keep her screams muffled as they dragged her away.