Author's Note: It's Kie. Here's another installment of All We Are. Much love.

Disclaimer: ...don't own and never will.

All We Are

Chapter 7: Vent

Logan grinned as she beat Joanie to the shower. "Loser!" She called through the door as Joanie pounded relentlessly. She ignored the name-calling and continuous pounding that Joanie kept up, and by the time she was done with the shower, all was quiet. Logan was suspicious. Joanie was never quiet.

Wrapping a towel tightly around herself, Logan opened the door and stepped out. "Crap," she yelled out once she saw that John was standing there clad in only basketball shorts. Joanie was nowhere to be found.

"Shit, I'm sorry," John covered his eyes and turned around. "Joanie said I could wait here for you. I could leave if you want."

"It's fine," Logan laughed nervously. "Just.. don't look until I tell you to." She scurried over to her luggage and started to pick out articles of clothes before making her way back to the bathroom to change. "Okay, you can look," she said as she came out of the bathroom fully clothed.

John's breath caught in his throat. Although Logan was only wearing fitted denim jeans and a DX tank top, John thought she was absolutely beautiful. It didn't help that Logan's still damp hair was clinging to the side of her face and neck. "Wow," he whispered to himself.

"Huh?" Logan asked him as she started to comb her fingers through her hair. "Did you say something?"

"Uh," John started, trying to find something to say. "How's the hang-over?"

Logan laughed lightly. "I woke up feeling like shit this morning, but I'm okay now," she smiled reassuringly at him.

"That's good," John said, but frowned, shaking his head. "Not the hang-over part, but it's good that you're okay now," he corrected.

Logan couldn't help but giggle. Never has a guy ever been nervous around her before, but here John was, stumbling over his words. "I know what you meant," she told him.

John nodded and the room fell silent for a while. "Um, Logan?" Logan looked up at him and smiled lightly. "Look, about last night," John trailed off, and Logan's face fell. Any sentence that started with those four words couldn't possibly be good, but she continued to listen. "I know we were both drunk but," John nervously ran a hand over his scalp, and Logan's hope was dwindling by the second, "I wasn't lying when I said that I really like you."

Logan looked at him in shock, but John's head was turned down in embarrassment, his eyes intently focused on his shoes. Logan slowly walked up to him until she was inches away. John looked down at her and gave a sideways smile. "I wasn't lying either, John. I really do like you too."

John's smile widened as he rested his forehead against Logan's. "So what now?" Now that they both admitted to liking each other, what more was there to say? Logan only shrugged in response, enjoying being this close to John and knowing that he felt the same way too. John held Logan's hands in his own, intertwining their fingers. "Do you wanna have dinner with me tonight? At seven? That is, if you're not already busy?"

Logan grinned at John. "I'd love to," she replied, and she closed her eyes when John moved to leave a kiss on her forehead.

"Okay," John spoke softly to her. "I'll see you later," he gave her one last smile before leaving a very giddy Logan in her hotel room.

--

Meanwhile…

Joanie grinned to herself as she left the hotel room. Logan is in for a pleasant surprise when she comes out of the bathroom, she thought to herself, recalling how John had shown up at their door, looking for Logan. She had invited him inside and told him to wait for her.

Joanie made her way down to the first floor lobby and headed towards the cafe. Her attention was diverted, however, when she spotted Mickie James pacing the hallway. Joanie made her way over to Mickie, who smiled brightly when she spotted her.

"Hey Joanie," Mickie grinned at her, although Joanie could still detect a hint of sadness in Mickie's eyes.

"Hey," Joanie nodded in greeting towards the brunette. "What are you up to?"

Mickie shrugged sadly, still glancing around. "Kenny was supposed to meet me here a while ago, but he hasn't showed up. He's not picking up his phone either," she explained. "I don't know if I should just leave or wait," Mickie contemplated.

"Well, I'm about to head over to the cafe for some breakfast," Joanie pointed a thumb over to the direction of the cafe. "If Kenny doesn't show up, you're more than welcome to join me," Joanie offered.

Mickie bit her lip in thought as she gave the hotel lobby another look around. Something in the back of her mind was telling her that Kenny was never going to show up. Mickie shrugged and smiled at Joanie. "Sure, I'd love to," she said as she and Joanie walked side by side to the cafe.

They were seated almost immediately and ordered their food. As their waitress walked away, Joanie decided to make small talk. "So," she started, "I heard that Kenny proposed not too long ago," Joanie tried to smile.

"Yeah," Mickie smiled sadly in reply. "A month ago," she confirmed.

"Then why the face?" Joanie asked concerned, noticing the forlorn look on Mickie's face.

"We're just going through some rough patches right now," Mickie said softly. "Being on different brands is hard, especially when we're in two different cities at the same time," she explained.

"Oh," Joanie simply nodded. Kenny had been drafted to Smackdown just a few weeks prior, and Mickie was left on RAW. "Well, if you really love each other, then things will work out," and for some reason, Joanie could not resist reaching across the table to give Mickie's hand a reassuring squeeze.

Mickie felt a jolt course through her when Joanie touched her, something she had never experienced before. She looked at Joanie, who was smiling at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks," she said, squeezing Joanie's hand in her own.

The waitress soon came with their food and they ate in comfortably, making small talk and joking here and there. Joanie found that she loved the way Mickie's face would light up when she smiled. She did and said anything she could just to keep Mickie smiling.

Joanie had just sent Mickie into a fit of giggles with a joke that she just told, but the laughter died down when a harsh voice called out.

"Mickie! Where have you been!?" Kenny Dykstra walked up to them and crossed his arms over his chest once he reached their table. The look on Mickie's face was no longer happy. "I've been looking all over for you."

"I was waiting in the lobby like you said," Mickie frowned, trying to defend herself. "But you didn't show up."

"I didn't say to meet in the lobby," Kenny said angrily. "I said to meet me at the gym. God, Mickie, are you that fucking stupid?"

Joanie was taken aback. Never did she think that Kenny would talk down to Mickie like that. "Hey, dude. Chill," she said, trying to make things better.

"Back off," Kenny threatened Joanie. "This has nothing to do with you." He then turned back to Mickie and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up. "Come on Mickie, let's go."

"But I haven't finished eating yet-" she started but was cut off when Kenny continued to yank her.

"Let's go," he said warningly. Mickie gave Joanie a tearful, apologetic look as she obeyed.

Joanie, who was glaring daggers at Kenny, looked towards Mickie and smiled reassuringly. "You go ahead, Mickie. I'll take care of the bill." Mickie couldn't say anything as Kenny continued to pull Mickie away. Jeez, what's his problem, Joanie thought to herself as she finished off her meal. She paid the bill before leaving the café, trying to figure out what she could do next to kill time.

--

Frankie was frustrated. It was bad enough that Erik didn't support him in his new job, but now Frankie was stuck in heavy traffic. What was supposed to be a 15-minute taxi ride from Brooklyn to Manhattan was turning into the slowest 45 minutes of his life. Normally, the subway was Frankie's transportation of choice, but with his luggage, the taxi seemed to be best.

Frankie groaned to himself, getting antsy in his seat. He contemplated leaving the taxi, but he was not about to walk a mile to the hotel with his luggage rolling behind him. He would have to suck it up and wait out the traffic.

It seemed like forever before the taxi finally pulled right in front of the Marriot Hotel. "Thank God," Frankie breathed a sigh of relief as he paid the driver, grabbed his luggage, and stepped out. The driver thanked him before he drove off, and Frankie was left standing in front of the hotel.

He glanced at his watch, which read that it was nearing 5pm. He walked into the hotel and spotted Joanie sitting on one of the couches, looking bored. He quickly walked up to her, and when he was near enough, Joanie noticed him and stood up.

"Frankie," she said, unsure. She was dying to know what happened between him and Erik.

Frankie merely took her by the arm firmly but gently and they both made their way up to their room. "We need to find Logan," he simply said. "I need to vent," he explained.

--

Logan gazed at herself in the mirror. She had just finished straightening her hair and was now looking herself over. She was nervous and excited all at once. John Cena, the guy that she has had a crush on since she first saw him, liked her too. And at 7pm, they would be going on a date; Logan couldn't believe it.

Just as Logan started digging through her clothes to find something decent to wear that night, the door opened and in walked Frankie and Joanie. "Hey guys!" She smiled brightly at them, ecstatic to tell them of what was to come between her and John. However, the look on Frankie's face made her forget the good news. "Hey, are you okay?" She directed the question towards Frankie's frowning face.

Frankie merely shook his head. "Erik is being an asshole," he said sadly. He sat on Joanie's bed and placed his luggage at his feet. "Can we just stay in tonight? I really wanna just talk."

Joanie and Logan looked at each other before they both nodded their heads. "Sure. We can call for room service," Logan suggested. She reached for the room phone and dialed room service to order food.

Frankie silently flipped through the channels on the TV as they waited for the food to arrive. The girls joined him on the bed, grabbing pillows to rest on. They didn't pry Frankie; he'd talk to them when he was ready to talk.

It took a while for the food to come, but once it did, they all grabbed their plates and settled back onto the bed. The TV was left on, creating background noise to block out the deafening silence.

"So," Logan started, as she picked at her food. She looked at Frankie, who was staring intently at his plate. "You gonna tell us what happened?" Her voice was full of concern.

Frankie looked up from his plate at the two girls and nodded. He proceeded to tell them of the conversation that he had with Erik, or lack thereof.

Logan shook her head. "Why are you even still with him? He's not even supporting you," she reasoned.

Frankie shrugged. "I love him," he stated. Though he was just starting to realize that he was only saying that to reassure himself. "We've been together for years. It's hard to leave him."

"But do you want to leave him?" Joanie asked. She looked at him seriously.

"I don't know," Frankie said, shrugging again. "I just wish he'd support me more, you know? If he could do just that, then we'd be fine," he said more to himself.

"But it's not just that, Frankie," Logan tried to make him see from a different perspective. "He doesn't treat you well. You deserve so much better."

"Like who?" Frankie challenged. "I'm picky. And I'm gay. It's hard enough for me to find someone."

"So you're just gonna stick with what you have at the expense of not finding something better?" Joanie challenged.

"We've been together for years," Frankie defended. "I'm not about to drop him just because of this. Maybe I'm just being stupid, and this'll blow over."

Joanie and Logan only shook their heads, but they knew that Frankie was too stubborn to take in their advice. Why couldn't he see what they saw? Was being hurt worth saving a relationship that probably was not going to last?

"Guys," Frankie started, and the two girls looked at him. "I'm not stupid, okay?" He gave them a reassuring smile. "If he ever does something to hurt me, then I'm out the door, I promise. But right now, we just need to work some things out."

Joanie and Logan nodded; that was the best answer that they were going to get from Frankie, so they might as well accept it. "Okay," they both said.

The three friends cleared their plates, put them back on the food cart, and wheeled it out into the hallway for the maids to pick up. They made their way back to the bed, getting comfortable on the pillows.

"So what draws you to him?" Logan asked in pure curiosity. "Other than the sex," she added, grinning.

Frankie grinned back. "Well," he started, "when he's not being an ass, he's actually a really nice person to talk to. I can have an intellectual conversation with him, and I like that," he said, smiling to himself. "And, contrary to popular belief," he playfully glared at the two girls, "sometimes he takes me places and we have fun."

"No way!" Joanie said in sarcastic surprise. Frankie and Logan laughed at this.

Frankie shook his head, still chuckling. "Make fun all you want," he said, raising an eyebrow. "But in reality, you guys are probably just jealous because I've been going on dates and you guys have nothing," he joked.

Dates. At this last statement, Logan's eyes widened as she came to the realization that she was supposed to be going on a date tonight. "Shit, what time is it?" She asked hurriedly.

Frankie gazed at his wristwatch. "6:55, why?"

But Frankie's question was not answered as Logan jumped off the bed and bolted out the door. "I'll be right back," she called out before she completely left.

Frankie and Joanie looked at each other in confusion. "What was that all about?"

--

A/N: R&R. Peace!