Chapter 14
Layne walked down to wardrobe later on that night and smiled when they put her in a wine colored tank dress that had gold sprinkled on it, making it shimmer under the lights. Her makeup was the same as always, black eyeliner with shimmery eye shadow and clear gloss, her hair left down and two inch black heels on her feet. She thanked Janet and Tiffany before heading down to the cafeteria, needing to grab a few waters for Randy and the guys. Turning the corner headed for her destination, Layne grunted when she ran into a brick wall and fell back. She blinked repeatedly and tried to clear the cobwebs out of her head before feeling two hands grip her and brought her back to her feet, her hands pressed against a huge chest.
"I'm sorry..." She tried clearing her vision, having smacked her head against the concrete flooring and slowly looked up at who she ran into, blue eyes widening slightly.
Shaking his head, Mark stared down at her, cupping a massive hand against the back of her head, gently feeling for lumps or blood. "You alright, darlin'?" He asked, his voice a deep rumble, green eyes concerned. When she shook her head, apparently trying to clear her vision, he scooped her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. "To the trainer."
"I didn't even- Oh god..." She leaned her head against his shoulder as he carried her down the hallway, blinking repeatedly, not believing how hard she ran into Mark. She didn't even see him coming and felt him rubbing the back of her head, groaning as her vision slowly cleared. "Mark?" She whispered, seeing him nod and cracked an apologetic, painful smile. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry darlin', it's not your fault I'm apparently made out of solid rock." Mark said with a chuckle. He carried her down the hallway as if she weighed next to nothing, which was what he was guessing she weighed to begin with. "Feelin' dizzy?" He asked, glancing down at her, one long leg shooting out to kick aside a bouncing John Cena, ignoring the other man's 'Aww homie, that wasn't cool!'
"A little, but I think walking it off would be better than-" She sighed resignedly when Mark shook his head, knowing she couldn't possibly fight off a near seven foot, three hundred pound man. It wasn't happening, she barely weighed one hundred and twenty pounds, though she'd been eating a lot healthier lately. "I'm really sorry Mark, I wasn't watching where I was going and I was in a hurry."
"That's alright, darlin'." Mark said, stepping into the trainer's room. "She cracked her skull on the floor." He said to Larry, setting her down on a table, one arm wrapped around her incase she got dizzy.
Larry walked over to examine the spot Mark indicated. "You got a lump, Layne." He pulled a mini flashlight out of his shirt pocket and flashed it at her, examining her pupils. "What made you fall?"
Her cheeks tinged red as she looked up at Mark and then down at the floor, biting her bottom lip. "I ran into Mark...literally." She cleared her throat and groaned as she felt the back of her head. "It's my own fault. I was in a hurry to the cafeteria and didn't see him coming. I should've watched where I was going."
"Well, it wouldn't have mattered if you hadn't been hurrying, you would have probably been walking into him anyway. Mark doesn't see things unless they're eye level." Larry teased.
"Trust me, Larry, I would have seen her." Mark assured the man, his arm still wrapped around Layne. "Well?"
"Minor concussion."
Layne sighed gently and knew Mark was being nice about it even though it truly was her fault. "Is it still okay to go out to the ring with Randy?" She asked softly.
"Yeah, but no physicality. Just stand there and look pretty." Larry winked, causing Layne to laugh softly, agreeing with him. "Mark, would you mind escorting her back to the Legacy locker room? Let Randy know what's going on."
Layne couldn't even talk because Mark had lifted her up and was already carrying her out of the trainer's room, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Smirking, Mark stepped back against a wall to let a few of the Divas pass. "Wish I'd let you walk?" He chuckled, sounding amused. When she nodded, he shook his head, an expression of mock apology on his face, his green eyes twinkling good-naturedly. "Sorry darlin', can't risk ya hurting yourself, what with that concussion and all."
"Thanks Mark." She mumbled, not believing how much he'd changed. The last time she saw him his hair was a dark auburn and he had a tear drop on his cheek. He was her favorite wrestler, still was, but she would never admit that to anyone, including her daughter. "I know this is gonna sound really stupid, but I didn't hurt you right?" She blushed when he started chuckling, shaking her head, and covered her cheeks. "That's what I thought."
Mark still wasn't done laughing, shaking his head at her. "Darlin' that was one hell of a question to ask." He looked thoughtful as he continued on his way. "I remember you with knobby knees and buck teeth." He teased, smiling when she blushed. "You've grown into a beautiful woman, Layne."
A smile spread across her face as Layne looked up at him. "Thank you and age has been great to you, Mark." They chuckled together. "God I still can't believe you remember me." When he stopped and stared down at her, letting more Superstars pass, Layne lowered her gaze to her lap, glad her dress was long enough to cover her ass because he was carrying her princess style. "Hey, you've probably gotten knocked in the head a few times over the years. It's just surprising that you recognized me."
"I know and remember just about every face that's come through the WWE, even from back in the day." Mark said with a grin, his teeth flashing at her. "And what's memorable about you is yer eyes." He halted, staring down into her eyes, his own crinkling at the corners.
Layne cracked a smile up at him, midnight blue sparkling up at him even though she had a minor concussion at the moment, and shrugged. "They're blue, nothing special." Her gaze fell to her lap again, knowing Randy was going to have a fit when he found out what happened, and probably wouldn't let her come out to the ring. Layne was going out there, no matter what, and she was mentally preparing herself for the argument that was sure to happen.
When Randy opened the door, Mark offered him an easy smile. "We kinda bumped into each other." He said, shouldering his way into the room, carrying Layne to the couch and set her down. "She has a minor concussion, but Larry says she's cleared to go ringside." Mark fixed his piercing green eyes on Randy.
Randy understood that to mean 'you make her stay back here or my boot goes up your ass' and nodded.
Layne felt the dizziness overtake her again and sighed as she laid down on the couch, biting her bottom lip when Reed walked over, looking concerned. "Mom, what happened? Mommy? MOMMY!" Reed began crying when Layne wouldn't wake up, tears in her eyes.
"Relax honey, I'm fine." She assured her daughter, needing a minute of silence to get rid of the headache that just hit her, and pulled Reed in her arms. "I'm resting up so I can go out to the ring with Randy for his celebration." She couldn't miss that because of her own stupidity.
Frowning, Randy stared down at Layne, sinking on the edge of the couch and pulled Reed onto his lap, hugging her reassuringly. "Lay, I don't think you should go out." He said softly. "You-"
"What happened?" Cody demanded.
"Hi Mark, what's- Lay, you alright?"
"I wasn't watching where I was going and I was in a hurry to get to the cafeteria when I plowed right into Mark. I thought for a second it was a damn brick wall." She sighed heavily, sitting up a little as Cody helped her, cracking a smile up at him. "Larry told me I have a minor concussion."
"You're staying back here." Cody demanded, his eyes stern. "Lay, that's nothing to fuck around with."
"I'm NOT missing Randy's celebration, Cody! I'm just as apart of Legacy as you are and you all wrestle with worse injuries than a minor concussion all the time." Layne was being stubborn, her lips pursed tightly together. "I'm going out there. I'm already dressed and everything. I'm not letting the company or Legacy down. I'm going out there, end of story."
"We're trained for that though, Layne." Ted said reasonably. "Our bodies are conditioned to take hard knocks, yours isn't. You could get dizzy or something out there. Or an accident could happen and you'd get knocked down."
"Besides, you'd be a distraction. Randy would probably be looking out for you instead of his ass."
"If I have to look out for my ass then you two aren't doing your jobs."
"Exactly." Layne glared back at her brother. "You're just bitter because you didn't get what you wanted as far as me and Randy not dating."
"He didn't want you two together?"
"No sweetheart, he didn't, and now he probably wants me out of the Legacy."
Reed's eyes narrowed at her Uncle Cody and crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking identical to her mother at that moment, both of them tilting their heads slightly simultaneously.
Ted was slowly backing away with his hands up, swallowing hard. "I'm NOT involved in this. Let Lay come out if she wants."
Both girls were still giving Cody deadly glares.
"I never said I didn't want you in Legacy, I love having you in Legacy!" Cody said, wondering why the hell she was turning this around on him. "All I'm saying is with a concussion, even a small knock could send you to the hospital. Damn it Lay...why do you have to make everyone a bad guy?" He sighed, shaking his head before walking out of the room, needing a breather.
Layne wasn't letting him walk away that easily. "Cody Runnels, get your ass back here right now!" She ordered, shoving Randy away as she stormed outside after her brother, whipping him around by the arm, blue eyes glaring daggers. "I don't make anyone out to be a bad guy, YOU DO! You're so damn scared that I'm going to run away again when you're the one who's pushing me away and not letting me live my life! You're the reason why Randy didn't make a move until now to be with me! When are you going to get it through your head that I can only apologize so many times for what I did Cody? When are you going to realize that I'm not going anywhere?" Layne was ignoring the pain in her head at the moment, too pissed off at her little brother to care. "I'm going out to that ring tonight, concussion or not, because if there's one thing I've learned in this business is that the show goes on no matter if you're injured or not. I will be out there celebrating with the rest of you and nobody is going to stop me unless Randy does HIMSELF!"
"This isn't about you running away you moron, it's about you GETTING HURT!" Cody shouted, his anger boiling over. "You have a concussion Layne, you-" He stopped when Mark placed a hand on his shoulder, looking back at the locker room leader, and deflated. "I'll be back when it's time to go ringside." He muttered, slinking off.
Layne was shaking so hard that her fists were clenched tightly at her sides. She needed a cigarette before she ended up murdering her baby brother. 'I'm older than him, the damn idiot!' She thought angrily and tore her hand through her hair, feeling the lump on the back of her head gingerly with a heavy sigh. "I'm not missing Randy's celebration as champion, I'm NOT." She didn't even realize Mark was behind her as she paced back and forth slowly, rubbing her temples, trying to get rid of the headache that was currently pounding from yelling at her brother. Layne wasn't stupid, she was highly intelligent actually, and knew this went past her getting hurt. This was about her and Randy being together and Cody not being able to deal with it. "Stupid asshole..."
Mark stared down at her, watching her pace back and forth and leaned back against the building, folding his arms over his chest. He was still in his wrestling tights, the straps pushed down, not minding the cool night air. He wondered if Layne was even aware he was there.
"Darlin', calm down." He ordered softly.
She stopped and turned to face Mark, raising an eyebrow, the anger slowly diminishing out of her blue eyes. She couldn't ask him what he was doing out here because he could go wherever he wanted. He was the locker room leader.
"Sorry." She mumbled and headed back inside the arena, needing to take some aspirin before going out for Randy's celebration on Raw.
Mark reached out and gently grabbed Layne by her arm, pulling her back towards him. "Darlin', don't be too hard on him. He's young and afraid. You got to remember, he grew into an adult without you."
"I know." She whispered softly, knowing Mark heard about what she did, and sighed heavily as the tears stung her blue eyes. Mark pulled her into his arms for an embrace and Layne accepted it, burying her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. She trusted Mark simply because she knew him since she was a teenager. Granted, he hadn't seen her in ten years up until recently, but he was offering her comfort she needed at the moment. "He's been very hard on me and I've had enough of it though. I made a mistake and I'm done paying for it. I did what I thought was right at the time." She was talking to nobody in particular, just getting her feelings out. "I can only say sorry so many times."
"Darlin', I'm fairly certain he wasn't tryin' to throw that at ya. He's worried about yer concussion. And he's right. Anythin' could happen to you out there. But the decision ain't his to make either. It's yours." Mark said softly, able to see it from both their view points. He tilted her face up gently, brushing a thumb across her cheek, catching a tear.
She sniffled softly as a few more tears fell, wrapping her arms around herself and cleared her throat as she wiped the rest of them away, trying not to smear her makeup. "I'm going out there. It's just a promo. There's nothing going to happen except Paul coming out and I'll be out of the ring by then. I have to be out there for Randy's celebration, especially after last night. I'm apart of the group now, I have to be out there and I WANT to be out there." She wanted to be there for Randy, to be by his side no matter what, and was glad Mark was seeing things from her point of view as well as Cody's. "Thank you for taking care of me tonight, Mark. I appreciate it."
"Considering it was my chest you bounced off of..." Mark trailed off, amusement once more in both his tone and his sparkling green eyes, not looking away from her face. "You do what you feel like doin', darlin'. If anything happens, you got three men ready to take care of you."
"That really was my stupidity and thank you for letting me make this decision for myself." She smiled, pressing a hand to his chest, and wiped the rest of her stray tears away before squaring her shoulders. "I have to get going inside. I'll talk to you later, Mark. Thanks again." She left him and walked back inside the arena to Legacy's locker room. She seen Cody still wasn't there and sighed with relief before sitting on the couch, Randy in the shower and Ted had probably taken Reed to the cafeteria for those waters.
