I apologise for the sloppyness of the chapter but i wanted to shake things up a bit and this was the first thing that popped into my head! Sorry for the lateness of the update as well, there are too many exams coming my way D: stupid school, any way enjoy!
Becky
It had been a week since I got back with Alex and we'd agreed to take things slowly, which meant only seeing each other at the arena, for now any way. Besides we were more concerned about the Izzy-Zack situation.
Since confessing her feelings to him (Zack told me all about his plan with Izzy and what went down afterward) Izzy left Zack more confused than ever and no matter what we said or did Izzy refused to talk to him.
"Is he still moping?" Eve asked as we met up with Alex and a rather sad looking Zack Ryder in the parking lot of the latest arena.
"I'm not moping." Zack said defensively, in a tone that resembled one a sulking toddler would use.
"Try telling that to your face." Barbie said, slapping a hand against his cheek as the guys came over to us.
"Anything from Izzy?" I asked Alex as he laced our fingers together and he shook his head.
"All I got was she's too embarrassed, the same excuse as last time." he said sadly and I nodded. I couldn't help but feel sorry for both of them, I could totally see where Izzy was coming from but Zack was so confused about her, he told me that if he sees her and they talk he could probably finally make up his mind. That didn't like it was gonna happen.
"We'll find a way for you guys to talk," Barbie said cheerfully. "Hey, maybe Justin can help!" we all groaned at the mention of her new beau and she shot us all glares. "What, he could!" she protested. "He's not really part of our 'group'." Barbie said with a shrug and Zack wrapped an arm around her.
"Yeah, good idea Barb." he said softly and she sent me a grin as if to prove her point.
"So how's this plan of yours gonna work?" Alex asked and Barbie shrugged.
"I hadn't really thought that far ahead." she admitted before looking up at Zack. "Sorry." she said sheepishly and he shook his head.
"It's fine Barbie, don't worry about it. We're bound to bump into each other one way or another." he said, running his free hand through his hair.
"Ryder I think the only reason you need to talk to her is because you're besotted with her." Eve said with a small shrug. "I mean ever since she ran off after confessing her love to you, you've been depressed. Probably because you didn't get to tell her the same thing." Zack frowned at this for a few seconds before letting out a breath of air.
"I guess." he said with a shrug. "That accent is kinda hard to resist." he said with a faraway look in his eyes and I smiled, I was glad Zack was finally over me and that we could be friends without it being awkward.
"Aww, look at you," I teased and he shot me a small glare.
"Izzy, Izzy, where for art thou Izzy?" Alex said, throwing his free hand in the air while the rest of us struggled to hold in our laughter.
"You're really going there Riley, how many weeks did I have to buy you tubs of ice cream and chick flicks?" Zack said with a small grin and Alex let out a scoff.
"Now we really need to find Izzy, you guys would be soo cute together!" Barbie squealed, a huge grin on her face.
Alex
"Look at him," I whispered in Becky's ear as I wrapped my arms around her waist, Barbie had told us that Izzy had a match tonight so Zack and I had headed for the gorilla position. "It's only been a week and he's mesmerized by her." I said with a small chuckle and Becky looked up at me.
"If I remember rightly it took you a day." she said with a smirk and I shrugged.
"That's different," I said, glancing over at Zack, whose eyes were glued to the screen. "That was love at first sight." I said with a grin, placing a kiss on one of her now scarlet cheeks.
"Guys," Zack said, turning his attention to us for a few seconds. "What do I say to her?" he asked and Becky moved her head to look at him properly.
"Well you managed to figure out what to say to me," I couldn't help but cringe hearing that, I still couldn't get over the fact I'd basically stolen Becky from Zack even if he had forgiven me.
"But this is different." he said with a sigh and I frowned.
"How is it?" I asked and he ran a hand through his hair.
"It's just," he glanced at the screen. "It just happened." he said with a shrug. "Like one minute she was just Izzy, ya know, and now she's like Izzy." Becky let out a small giggle and he shot her a playful glare.
"Well what made her go from spunky sidekick to sexy heroine?" Becky asked, wiggling out of my grip to go over to him and he furrowed his eyebrows.
"I don't know," he said. "It was just the plan was going so well and I had a feeling she kinda liked me and then I heard her talking to you about me and I guess it just kinda hit me." he said before covering his face with his hands. "It makes me sounds like I'm using her 'cause she likes me."
"Well if that's how it happened." I said with a shrug.
"Maybe I just feel guilty." he said sadly and Becky slapped his chest with the back of her hand.
"If you felt guilty you wouldn't have spent the past week talking about her or stood here and watched her match for the past, what?" she looked at me and I shrugged. "10 minutes?"
"I don't know." he groaned, sliding his hands down his face and staring at her. "I need to see her." he said and as if on cue the familiar ringing of the bell came from the monitor.
"Perfect timing." I said, watching as Izzy had her hand raised by the ref while the Bellas mouthed off as they headed up the ramp.
"Oh God." Zack said, staring at the screen. "I don't know what I'm gonna say." he said and Becky put a hand on his arm.
"You'll be fine, where's the confident Woo, Woo, Woo kid gone?" she asked and he sent her a small smile. "Get into, um Broski mode." she said with a playful punch before heading back over to me.
Zack took a deep breath and turned to where the curtains were, ignoring the Bella twins who were walking past us and waiting for Izzy to arrive.
"Maybe I should go..." I said slowly as Izzy neared the curtains and Becky shook her head.
"No stay, he may need backup." she said and I chuckled lightly.
Izzy walked through the curtains and ran a hand through her hair before stopping dead in her tracks.
"Hi Izzy." Zack said softly and she stared at him like a deer caught in headlights. "I was thinking," he said, taking a few small steps towards her. "Maybe we could talk about things?" Izzy shook her head and side stepped Zack.
"I really wish I could but I have to meet someone." she said, focusing on something behind all of us. I turned and tensed when I saw Mike standing there with a smug smile on his face and my hands curled into fists. He sent Izzy a nod and turned down the corridor.
"You're not seriously going with him?" Zack asked, grabbing her wrist before she could avoid him.
"Yeah, he's a real piece of work Izz," Becky warned and I nodded.
"I'm a big girl, I can handle myself." she said shakily. "I'll be fine." she said, sounding less than confident before shaking herself out of Zack's grip and walking purposely down the corridor.
"Go after her." Becky said quietly and I nodded, sending a quick look at Zack and after a curt nod from him we headed down the corridor after her.
Zack
Alex and I slowed down as soon as we heard Izzy's voice.
"What do you want Mike?" she asked bitterly and I frowned, how did she know him? I looked at Alex but he just sent me a shrug.
"Oh come on Isabel, is that any way to treat an old friend?" I heard Mike say wickedly and I clenched my fists, he'd gone after Becky and now he was tormenting Izzy. "Besides if I recall you used to be all over me in OVW." I peeked round the corner to see Mike reach out to brush a stray curl from her face, Izzy however slapped his hand away and glared at him.
"That was then, now I wear contacts." she said with a smug smile and Mike chuckled darkly.
"I always loved your sense of humor Isabel." he said. "I mean that 'thing' you have for Ryder had me in stitches." he said putting quotation marks around the word thing and I gritted my teeth. "I mean come on, you had me and now you want Zack Ryder?" he let out a laugh and Izzy folded her arms across her chest.
The thought of Izzy and Mike as a couple made me feel sick and I suddenly realized maybe I wasn't just feeling guilty after all. Alex put a hand on my shoulder, he could probably sense my dislike to Mike having Izzy drool over him.
"Let's get straight to the point Michael, what do you want?" Izzy asked coldly and I widened my eyes, I never thought a voice so cutting would ever come out of Izzy's mouth, I looked over at Alex who was wearing a similar expression.
"Wow." he breathed and I nodded before turning back to Izzy and Mike.
"There's a lot of things I want sweetheart." he said, running his eyes over her and she let out a scoffing noise, I ground my teeth together, he was looking at her like she was a meal.
"Ok, what do you want with me?" she asked and he nodded.
"Well you see I do believe you owe me a favor." he said, walking around her. "A pretty big one if I'm not mistaken." Izzy sighed.
"What is it?" she asked and he smiled.
"Alex Riley." I felt Alex tense up next to me and I frowned at him, what did Mike want with- "I made him, and how did he repay me? We were like brothers you know," he said and I looked round the corner to see him pacing around Izzy. "I didn't want that storyline to happen, I liked having a friend there for moral support, but he didn't want that. He said I'd done all I could for him and it was best we parted ways." I frowned, what was so bad about that? "The sudden attention went to his head, he, he did the unthinkable!" I looked at Alex who just shrugged. "He slept with my girlfriend!" he spat and I turned to see Mike practically seething with rage, when I looked over at Alex however he looked confused as hell. "He needs to go back where he belongs; he should be where I am now, small air time and mass house show appearances. I mean who cares about the house shows?" he asked her and Izzy stared at him. "Or better yet become a has-been before he's even won some gold!" he said.
"You're insane." she said and he stared at her.
"I'm insane?" he asked followed up by a maniacal laugh. "Have you forgotten that little recording I have of you?" he asked her tauntingly, what the hell was he on about? It better not be a sex tape or I swear to God-
"You wouldn't." Izzy said sounding defeated and Mike laughed.
"I always get what I want Isabel," he said. "It's either your career, or Alex's." he said and Izzy sighed.
"You're crazy," she said. "How am I supposed to take down Alex?"
"Through his weak spot."
"No." Alex breathed, shaking his head and I instantly knew what was coming. I grabbed his arm and shook my head, now wasn't the time to go out guns blazing, that would only happened if he laid hands on her.
"Becky."
"No!" I heard Izzy yell. "You can't expect me to do that, even with your stupid tape, they're my friends." she let out a cry of pain and I instantly let go of Alex and flew round the corner to see Mike with a fistful of her hair wrenching her head back.
"I always get what I want." he growled as Alex and I marched towards him and he let out an irritated sigh as he caught sight of us. "Oh look, tweedle dum and dee are here, right on cue."
"Get the hell away from her." I demanded as Alex stepped beside me and Mike grinned.
"Or what?"
"Or we'll kick your ass into next year." Alex said. "And you know I'm capable of it." he said with a smirk, cracking his knuckles and Mike's smile faltered for a second before reappearing.
"You wouldn't dare, two against one, you'd both be suspended." he said and Alex shook his head.
"It's in the interest of someone defenseless." Alex said with a shrug.
"Oh yeah, she's totally defenseless. A WWE diva trained to fight." he said sarcastically and I took another step towards him.
"Let go of her Mizanin." I growled and he looked at both of us before sighing and slowly releasing her hair. She looked relieved and I slowly let the anger drain out of me, that quickly changed when he shoved her forward and took off.
I hadn't realized how quickly I'd moved until I found Izzy in my arms.
"Are you ok?" I asked, adjusting the catch into a hug and Izzy nodded.
"I'm fine." she said, looking up at me.
"What was that about?" Alex asked moving towards us and she sighed, pulling away from the hug and running a hand through her hair.
"Don't worry." she said, shaking her head and I frowned.
"Izzy, he could've done something much worse than tug your hair if we weren't here." I argued and she folded her arms across her chest and gave me an un-amused look.
"I didn't ask you guys to follow me." she said plainly and I sighed.
"We were worried about you."
"And if we hadn't have done what do you think would've happened, he wouldn't have let you go just out of the kindness of his heart." Alex said and Izzy sighed.
"I guess you're right." she said with a small shrug. "Thank you." she said rather reluctantly and I nodded.
"So um, can we know what that was about?" I asked, I was worried about her, he was using something against her and I needed to find out what it was and stop him from using it. Izzy shook her head.
"It's better if only Mike and I know." she said and Alex frowned but neither of us pressured her, I'd just have to find out another way.
"Well I have a match to get ready for." Alex said, clearly sensing the awkward atmosphere that was brewing. "You kids have fun." he said, sending me a look as he started to back away from us.
"Izzy," I said once he was out of earshot and she looked up at me expectantly. "Will you at least tell me what's going on?" I pleaded and she sighed, moving closer to me.
"Zack," she said softly, shaking her head. "I know what you're trying to do, but you don't have to look out for me." I frowned at her. "Yeah I like you, a lot," she added with a blush. "But just because you feel guilty doesn't mean you have to protect me, I'm fine." she said and I stared at her.
"I don't feel guilty," I said softly, taking one of her hands. "Just, just let me help you, please." I pleaded, I didn't know how or why it happened but this girl had become an important part of my life, I couldn't lose her, not after my sudden realization.
"Thank you for the offer," she whispered before reaching up and placing a kiss dangerously close to my lips. "But I got myself into this mess; I can get myself out of it." she said softly, the kiss had dazed me, allowing her to slip out of my grip.
"Wait!" I cried, stumbling forward and grabbing her wrist. "You can't just expect me to leave you to deal with this alone, not now." I said and she frowned.
"What do you mean, not now?" she asked and I sighed, running a hand through my hair.
"I um," I looked down the corridor in an attempt to think of a good way to tell her, the empty corridor was of no help. "You..." I let out a sigh, why was this miles harder than when I asked out Becky?
"Spit it out Ryder." she said and I sent her a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, I just, I can't concentrate with you looking at me like that." I said, knowing it was an extremely cringy thing to say but I didn't really care. Izzy frowned, confused for a second before she bit her lip and her cheeks were tainted with pink.
"What are you trying to say?" she asked and I smiled.
"You already know."
"I wanna hear you say it."
"I like you, a lot." I admitted with a small grin. "So let me help you?" I asked and she sighed.
"I don't, I don't know." she said and I frowned. "I did something stupid back when I was in OVW, and I don't want to lose you or anyone else." she said, with tears brimming in her eyes and I let go of her wrist and brushed the back of my hand against her cheek.
"You won't lose us, especially me." I said softly and she looked up at me with hope in her eyes. "It's better for you to tell us than for us to find out another way." I said with a small shrug and she nodded.
"Thank you." she whispered, pulling me into a hug and I nodded, kissing the top of her head. That wasn't exactly the way I'd wanted tonight to go, but it was a start.
