You guys are freaking AMAZING! I want to give a big shout out to everyone that has read the story so far. I want to send a special 'Thank You' to AngelsDestiny22, psion53, adb226, KimmieCena, Randy4rkocenahardy, ElleEnein, Sarah A, Xandman216, WrestlingInLouboutines, xXxFloridaGirlRKOxXx and .. You guys rock! \m/ (^.^) \m/ Here is chapter 7. Enjoy!

The car ride from the airport to the arena was silent. None of us knew what to say. All I could hope was that Mike stayed in his locker room. I was going to wait until Cody and Ted went to film their cut scene with Randy and Fallon and then I was going to see Mike. I didn't know what I was going to say to him but I was going to try to convince him to leave Cody alone.

Cody squeezed my hand as the three of us pulled up into the parking lot under the arena. I tried to smile at him. It was nothing like my usual smile. He leaned in and kissed me, softly stroking my cheek.

We got our stuff out of the trunk and made our way into the arena, again in silence. I noticed as we walked in that Cody and Ted were taking up protective positions around me. I looked back and forth between them. They were completely oblivious to the fact that I knew about the conversation that the two of them had earlier this morning.

Cody rolled out of the bed as quietly as possible. He must have assumed that I was asleep. What he didn't know was that, with the way I was clinging to him all night, I knew the moment he moved. I let him get to the door and close it silently behind him before I got out of the bed and followed him.

He walked down the hall to the den. I hid myself in the darkened doorway as I watched him pace between the TV and the couch. When he had gotten out of bed, he threw his jeans on but nothing else. If I hadn't been so worried about him in that moment, I would have noticed how delicious he looked with the moonlight playing across his naked chest as he ran his hand roughly through his hair.

"Cody? Man, what are you doing up?" Both Cody and I jumped at the sound of Ted's voice as he walked into the den from the doorway across from mine and off from the kitchen.

"Damn Ted. You scared the crap outta me, man." Cody muttered.

"What are you doing up?" Ted asked, repeating his question.

"I couldn't sleep." Ted shook his head.

"Where's Emery?" Cody sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.

"She finally fell asleep. I left her sleeping in our room." I saw him clinch his fists as the nerve in his jaw ticked. "I did shut the curtains first." He picked up his pacing again. Ted sat down on the arm of the couch. Both Ted and I knew, when something was upsetting or bothering Cody, if you just gave him a minute, he would let it all out. Not two second later, he went off.

"How the hell did he think he was gonna get away with this? Did he think I wouldn't notice if Em just up and left me one day?" Ted opened his mouth to answer but Cody never gave him the chance. "I can't believe he had the balls to mess with her and threaten her after I warned him to leave her alone. Next time I see that asshole, he's dead. I'm gonna beat the living hell out of him till he doesn't even remember Emery's name." Cody had worked himself up so much that he was talking through gritted teeth and his fists hanging at his sides were literally vibrating with anger. Ted finally spoke up, holding up his hands, trying to defuse some of Cody's anger.

"Whoa man. You gotta calm down and think about what you're saying. What are you gonna accomplish by hurting Mike?"

"He's gonna believe me when I told him that he should have stayed away from Emery." Ted nodded.

"Okay. Speaking of her, what about Emery?" Cody turned and looked at Ted.

"What about her? None of this is her fault. She doesn't need to be in the middle of this."

"Yeah, I agree but the thing is Code, she IS the middle of this. Em is the reason you want to hurt him right now." Cody didn't say any thing as he let that sink in. Ted kept going. "What's gonna happen when you confront Mike and force him to show his hand? How are you gonna face Emery when she loses her job because you pushed him in to telling on you two?" Cody sighed deeply in defeat. He knew Ted had a point. He sank down in to the armchair across from Ted.

"I can't let her lose her job, Ted." He sighed again and leaned back in the chair. "But I can't let him think that he got away with terrorizing her." He shook his head, trying to keep from getting angry again.

"Cody, man, you and I both know that somehow this is gonna come back around and bite him in the ass. He'll get what's coming to him."

"I know." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Till then," he looked over at Ted, "we try and keep that dick as far away from Emery as we can?" Ted nodded.

"Yeah. You know how I feel about Emery. I got your back."

I followed Ted into the locker room with Cody close behind. We were at the arena very early so Fallon and Randy hadn't gotten there yet and probably wouldn't be there for another couple of hours.

As per their normal rituals, both Cody and Ted changed into their ring gear. Cody didn't talk much as he changed and sat down beside me to lace up his boots. I could tell by his posture and tense sharp movements that he was still angry about everything. No matter how many times he told me, I still couldn't help but feel like I had brought this on us. It was still my fault.

I laid my hand on Cody's bare knee. At the touch of my hand, he stopped what he was doing to look up at me. I tried to give him a reassuring smile, telling him everything was fine and I was still sorry. I failed. Miserably. He dropped the laces of his boots to cup my face in both of his hands. Mine came up to circle his wrists, holding him in place. He smiled softly at me and kissed me. He pulled back just enough to kiss my forehead.

I let go of his wrists and wrapped my arms around him, laying my cheek against his shirtless chest. I closed my eyes as he let his hands slide down to the small of my back, keeping me close. I took a deep breath, relaxing a bit at the scent of the familiar soap that still clung to his warm skin. I felt Cody lay his cheek against the top of my head.

"I'm not gonna let him get away with this, princess. I promise. I'll figure out a way to keep him away from you." He whispered. I just nodded and leaned back, letting him kiss me again. He gave me that soft smile again and went back to lacing his boots. He stood up and pulled his t-shirt over his head as Ted walked back into the room. "Hey, man, are you staying in here?" Cody asked him. Ted nodded.

"Yeah. Why?" Ted plopped down beside me.

"I need to take a walk. Clear my head before the show starts. While it's still quiet." I stood up.

"Want me to go with you?" I asked quietly. He grinned and wrapped a hand around the back of my neck. He pulled me against him and kissed me. I laid my hands against his chest as he held me in place.

"Not this time, princess." He kissed my cheek near my ear. "I need to clear my head, not think about sneaking you into some dark corner and having my way with you." He whispered against the curve of my ear. I shivered slightly. Not only at his words but at the feel of his hot breath dancing across my skin. He pressed a gentle kiss to my ear and let me go. "I won't be gone long. 10 minutes at the most."

"Alright Code." Ted said as I sat down next to him. "We'll be right here." Cody smiled at me as he shut the door behind him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Cody's POV

I let out a deep sigh as the door clicked closed behind me. I needed to focus. If I kept letting this shit with Mike fester inside of me tonight, more than likely I was gonna screw up a move and hurt myself or accidentally hurt someone else. I couldn't have that. Not only for myself but for Emery too. She was depending on me to keep her safe and take care of her. I couldn't and didn't want to let her down.

I started to walk down the dead quiet halls. Barely anyone was here yet, mostly just the crew. I turned the corner and stopped short when I heard a door come open. It was so quiet backstage that the noise semi-startled me, causing me to stop. I stayed rooted to my spot as the one person I needed to stay away from walked out.

Mike was looking down at his phone, completely oblivious to the fact that I was standing not 15 feet away from him. I knew I should turn away and walk the other direction but every second I stood there, looking at that fucking smirking face of his, my anger flooded back through me, doubling with every heartbeat.

He laughed to himself as he flipped through something on his phone. Somehow, through my anger haze, I got a moment of inspiration. That phone. Everything he had to keep torturing Emery was on that phone. I made up my mind. I moved towards Mike with the sole intention of destroying that damn phone. Every step closer just jacked up my anger even more. If the asshole looked at me wrong...it was on.

"Mizanin!" He looked up, surprised, giving me the opportunity to walk up to him and jerk the phone out of his hand. Before he could react, I turned and pitched the phone as hard as I could into the cinderblock wall. The phone shattered on impact, raining pieces of plastic and bits of electronics to the floor. I turned back to him with a satisfied smirk on my face.

"What the fuck Rhodes?" He slammed both his hands flat against my chest and shoved me. "That was my phone you lispy cock sucker! Why the fuck would you do something like that?" I just let his insults towards me roll off my back. I didn't give a shit about this at this point. I couldn't believe he had the nerve to ask me something like that? I laughed at him.

"You know exactly why I did it." I stepped right up to him, getting in his face. "Now try and mess with my Emery again. You're lucky I don't beat your ass right now for what you've already done to her." Mike smirked at me. In that moment, I knew I was about to break my promise.

"Your Emery, huh?" He nodded and stepped back from me. "She sent you to do her dirty work for her, didn't she? Well, tell her no deal. I told her my conditions. She's gonna have to come here herself."

"No way in hell! You're gonna stay the hell away from her." I nearly growled at him. The stupid fucker smirked at me again.

"Really Rhodes? Well, if your Emery doesn't show up, you're done. Then," he stepped back up, getting in my face this time, "I'm gonna be the one your girl runs to when she needs her late night 'fix'. I'll be the one she begs to take her the way a real man should. Give it two weeks and it'll be my name she's screaming while I fuck her into oblivion." With that last comment, I snapped.

I reared back and slammed my fist into the side of his jaw. He stumbled backwards, giving me enough space to take him down.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I picked up Cody's watch from the bench, looking at it again for the hundredth time. Cody had been gone for nearly 20 minutes. This wasn't a good sign. I looked back up at Ted who was doing Cody's pacing thing across the room.

"Teddy?" He looked over at me. "20 minutes." That was all I needed to say.

"I know, Em." He ran his hand over his short hair. "Shit. We better go find him." I nodded and followed him to the door. The moment Ted opened the door, we could hear some kind of commotion.

"What the hell is that?" I asked, suddenly extremely nervous.

"God knows." He headed off in the direction of the noise with me right behind him. We rounded the corner and froze at the scene before us. Cody and Mike were yelling insults back and forth, nearly at the top of their lungs. They were taking turns at shoving and hitting each other.

"Oh my God, Ted." I said quietly.

"Damn it, Cody." Ted said, just as quietly. We knew we had to do something. A couple of the crew members had stopped what they were doing to watch the fight. None of them were stupid enough to step in between two majorly pissed off wrestlers.

When Cody grabbed Mike roughly by his t-shirt and slammed him into the wall, Ted and I decided it was time to step in. We got to the pair just as Chris Jericho came running up from the other side of the hall. Ted grabbed Cody and pried him off of Mike as Chris tried to hold Mike back. They both fought their holds, still screaming vile insults at each other. I stepped up to try and calm Cody down.

"Cody! Please...stop!" I yelled at him with no effect. Cody reached out and grabbed Mike's shirt again. Ted yanked him back.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Stephanie McMahon yelled from down the hall. Both Ted and Cody turned towards the sound of her voice and froze, along with everyone else. Except Mike. He was already mid-swing.

The last thing I saw was Mike's fist coming full speed at my face. I didn't even have a chance to react. I didn't even feel it as I crumbled to the floor.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Oh shit! Emery?" Again, everyone froze at the sound of her body hitting the floor. As if in slow motion, the whole hall turned towards the sight of Emery's lifeless body laying in the floor. Her cheek just below her left eye, already starting to swell up a little.

"You motherfucker!" Ted hissed moments before he shoved a stunned Cody to the side and lunged towards Mike. Thankfully, Chris was a little quicker. He shoved Mike behind him and barely stopped Ted from grabbing him.

"I didn't mean to hit her! I was aiming for Rhodes!" Mike repeated, trying in vain to defend himself.

Everyone was so intent on watching the pending fight between Ted and Mike that no one noticed Cody dropping to the ground beside Emery. He carefully lifted her so that she was halfway lying in his lap.

"Emery? Princess? Come on Emmy, wake up." He mumbled softly to her. He rocked her gently, trying to coax her awake. "Please, princess..."

"Someone get the medic!" Stephanie yelled as she shoved her way over to where Cody and Emery where in the floor. She knelt down beside them. "Cody, honey, I need you to lay her back down." He jerked his head up to look at her. His grip on Emery's shirt visibly tightened. "Andrews can't check her out if you're holding her. Come on." She laid her hands on either side of Emery's head and helped Cody gently lay her back down. Then Stephanie caught a glimpse of her swollen face.

"Mizanin! Go pack your shit and get out of my arena! You got 30 days on the street!" Stephanie yelled.

"What?" Mike stuttered. "Rhodes started this. I didn't even..." Stephanie glared at him.

"I saw YOU hit her. No one else. You. Now go get your gear and get out of my face before I fire you." She stood up as Dr. Andrews came running up. "Cody, you and her are done for tonight. When she comes to, take her back to the hotel. Let me know how she is later on." She turned and went back to her office to write up Mike's suspension papers.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The whole left side of my face was frozen. Sore and frozen. I could vaguely feel something pressing tight against it. I grumbled as I lifted my hand and shoved what felt like a bag of what I assumed was ice, off. I heard it land on whatever I was laying on and then roll off and on to the floor.

I slowly opened my eyes and instantly shut them back, moaning at the brightness of the light. I flopped my forearm over them, blocking out the light. I stopped moving at the sound of something or some things shuffling around. I suddenly got this weird sensation that someone was standing close to me.

I moved my arm and again, slowly opened my eyes. I screamed. Cody and Ted were hovering over me. Both of their faces were about a foot away from my own. The two of them jumped at my scream. Cody took my hand.

"It's okay, princess. It's just us. No one else is here." He raised my hand to his lips, kissing my fingers. I huffed at him.

"Yeah, I can see that." I grabbed Cody's arm and pulled myself up to a sitting position. "I just didn't expect you to be right in my face when I opened my eyes, Code." I looked around. I seemed to be in one of the rooms off of the medic's station. "What are we doing in here?"

"You don't remember?" Ted asked. I shook my head.

"Do you remember anything, princess?" Cody asked. I could hear the worry creeping into his voice. I looked back at him. I finally noticed the smaller bandage above his right eyebrow and the bruise blooming along the edge of his jaw. I lifted my hand to lay it against the bruise. He closed his eyes briefly, leaning into my touch.

"I remember you and Mike fighting. I remember me and Ted trying to calm you down. I heard Stephanie yell and...I...I woke up here." I dropped my hand from Cody's cheek. "How did we get in here?" Cody kissed the hand he was still holding, again.

"I carried you in here." He said quietly against my skin.

"Why?" I saw the nerve jump in Cody's jaw as he clinched his teeth.

"Mike hit you, Em. He knocked you out." Ted said from his seat beside me. I was taken aback by that.

"What? Why would he do that? What happened?" Ted proceeded to tell me everything that happened. From the moment I was hit till I woke up. I was surprised by everything. I had been out for about a half an hour. "He got 30 days?" I asked. Cody nodded.

"He deserved more if you ask me." Cody muttered. "Steph said that you and I are done for the day. You feel up for going back to the hotel now? Just me and you, princess. We'll order room service and relax in front of the TV for the rest of the night, okay?" I smiled softly at him and nodded.

"That sounds perfect."

By the time Cody and I gathered our stuff and made it back to the hotel, the place was empty. Our co-workers were starting to make their way to either to a local gym for a pre-show workout or to the arena itself. The hotel was nice and quiet.

Lucky for me, well for us, I had a single room. It was small with just a double bed but Cody and I could be alone and had no chance of being disturbed.

Cody dropped me and our luggage off in the room and headed back down to the lobby in search of some Tylenol and an ice pack. On his way back, he filled the bag with ice and grabbed us both a bottle of water. Cody made me get in the bed and take two Tylenol for the pain that he was sure that I was in. I turned it around on him and made him get in bed with me and take his own set of Tylenol.

I curled up against Cody's side where he was propped up against the headboard, with my right cheek pressed against his chest as he held the ice pack against my left cheek. He wanted to make sure there was no swelling left by the time we caught our flight in the morning. I held him close to me, so happy that he didn't get hurt more than he did. Cody and I held each other in the comfortable quiet of the room. He softly stroked my hair as I let some thoughts run through my head.

Why would Mike hit me? I thought his whole thing was that he wanted to be with me, get me away from Cody. Which lead to the question as to what Cody was doing there fighting with Mike?

"Cody?"

"Yes, Em?" I leaned up to look in his face.

"Tell me the truth, Code. Did you go looking for Mike?"

"No, I promise you I didn't. I turned the corner and he was standing there on his phone. All I wanted to do was destroy that damn phone. I knew if he could still use that phone, he could keep torturing you. I just wanted him to leave you alone, princess."

"Cody..."

"If he hadn't said what he said about you, I never would have hit him. It's my fault you got hit. I'm sorry, Emmy. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. If I could take it all back, I would have just destroyed his phone and walked back to you. I was just trying to protect you." My heart melted at his words. He willingly got himself hurt, just to defend my honor. As dumb as his actions were, it didn't diminish the thoughts and feelings behind them. If I wasn't completely and utterly in love with Cody, this would have sent me head long into it.

"Cody?" He sighed, thinking I was getting mad at him.

"Yes, Emery?"

"How are you feeling? Are you in pain or hurting anywhere?" He just looked at me, confusion written all over his face. He was wondering why I wasn't getting mad at him. I grinned at him. "Are you?" I asked again. He shook his head.

"No, I'm okay. Nothing hurts."

"Good." I reached up and took the ice pack away from him. I tossed it on the floor beside the bed. "Sugar, will you do something for me?" He nodded.

"Of course, princess. Anything you want." I sat the rest of the way up and moved so that I was sitting astride his lap. I leaned in and kissed him.

"Cody, make love to me." I kissed him again, running my hands up his chest. "Make love to me and help me forget." Kiss. "Help me forget everything he did to us." Kiss. "I just want us to be like we were before." Cody sat up and pulled me close, taking the kiss deeper. He slid his hands up my sides, bringing my t-shirt with it. He pulled it over my head and tossed it away. He sat up on his knees, taking me with him. He let me pull his shirt over his head. He let me go to step off the bed and strip off his jeans. In our haste to leave the arena, Cody never changed out of his trunks. God, he always looks so delicious in his trunks.

I reached for him as he climbed back in the bed. He laid me back on the bed and made slow, erotic work out of removing the remainder of my clothing. I pushed him back on his knees as I sat up. I wedged my hands into the sides of his tight fitted trunks and worked them down his thighs, releasing his hard length. I reached out and gripped him, stroking him softly. He groaned out my name.

"Cody," I whispered as he pressed me back into the pillows. He reached down between us and pulled his trunks the rest of the way off. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close, love the feel of him against me. Hot naked skin against hot naked skin. "I love you so much." He dropped his head and kissed me.

"I love you too, princess. God, do I love you." I arched up to meet his body as he worked himself inside of me. I moaned his name as he kept a torturously slow and easy pace. He rested a forearm by my head so he could cup my cheek to kiss me. His other arm slipped up under my back. He wrapped that hand over the top of my shoulder, keeping me in place as he moved.

I ran my hands up his back, digging my fingertips into his skin, trying to encourage him to move faster or harder. He smiled down at me.

"No need to hurry, Emmy." He kissed me. "We've got the rest of the day and all night." He paused to groan my name as I rocked hard against his hips. He smirked down at me, knowing exactly what I was trying to do. "I'm gonna use every single second to make love to you, princess."

"Mmm...Cody..." I moaned out as he started to move again. We were interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing on the nightstand.

"Let it ring, Emery. They'll call back." He panted. I wanted to agree, but I recognized the ringtone.

"I want to sugar. Ah...I want to. But it's Fallon. Mmm...she's just gonna keep...ah...calling till I answer." I kissed at his jaw as he rocked above me. "Don't move, just pause for a sec. I'll get rid of her." He kissed me.

"Okay, Em." Cody stopped moving but stayed deep inside of me and handed me my phone. I answered quickly, with the intention of telling Fallon I was fine and going to sleep it off and then get back to Cody.

"Hello?" I was surprised at the normal sound of my voice considering the man I loved more than anything was currently kissing the spot below my ear that he knew drove me crazy.

"Oh my God, Emery! Randy and I just got here. Ted told us what happened. Why would you try and help break up a fight between Cody and Mike? Thank God Mike got 30 days. Randy might have killed him. You know how protective he is of you. Good Lord, Emery. Are you okay?" I zoned out on most of her rant as Cody started to nip down the side of my neck.

"Yes, I'm okay." I managed to squeak out.

"Are you sure, Em? You don't sound okay." Cody kissed back up my neck.

"I can't wait anymore, princess. I need you. Tell her goodbye." He whispered in my ear. I bit my lip as he started to roll his hips against mine, going back to the slow thrusts he was using before.

"I'm fine." I said through gritted teeth, trying so hard to suppress the moan that threatened to escape.

"Are you sure, Em? You don't sound fine. Do you want me to come stay with you? I can take care of you."

"No! I'm fine." I ran my hand up the back of his neck, fisting my hand in his hair.

"Are you sure you're fine?" I smiled up at Cody as I watched a bead of sweat run down his temple. He smiled back and kissed me.

"I'm better than fine, Fal. I'm perfect. Everything is perfect."

I would really appreciate if you keep the reviews coming. Please take a couple of seconds and let me know how I'm doing. Just a tip, the more reviews I get, the quicker I'll post the next chapter. Thanks! =^.^=