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Callie

Chapter 18

As much as Callie loved Melina, she had to wonder what her friend was thinking when she set her up with Justin Gabriel. Nothing against the guy, he was very polite and sweet and talented, but he was just not her type and she suspected she wasn't his either. Cal had had a sneaking suspicion for the past couple days that her friend would probably hook her up with one of Wade's Nexus buddies, but for some reason the last one she envisioned was Justin.

Justin and Wade had arrived not too long ago at Melina's hotel room to pick the two of them up and the car ride over to the venue for the Hall of Fame went by incredibly slow as she and Justin exchanged polite conversation.

Shortly after arriving and checking in, the foursome walked into the reception area where cocktails and hors d'oeurves were being served for the hour that led up to the actual ceremony. When Justin and Wade left Cal and Mel to go get them a drink, Callie immediately turned to her friend, sending her a small scowl. "We'll really hit it off, huh?" She questioned, using the wording her friend had assured her numerous times before.

Mel sent her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I really thought you would."

Cal let out a sigh, not wanting her friend to feel guilty. It was easy to think people would work together on paper. "It's okay, he's not a bad guy…just not amazing. You could have done a lot worse."

Her friend laughed. "I'll do better next time, I promise."

"Oh no, there will be no next time. No more blind dates." Mel tried to protest but Callie was having none of it. After the boys came back with their drinks, they went around the room mingling with fellow superstars and divas, as well as management and crew.

As Cal surveyed what other woman were wearing, she was glad she'd vetoed the super short red cocktail dress Mel had wanted her to buy. She'd instead gone a little classier, wearing a BCBG sleeveless white floor-length gown with a deep v-neck in both the front and the back with a subtle rose print detail and a white sash tied at the waist.

She'd had time to talk to many of her friends including Randy Orton and his wife, John Cena and his wife, many of the divas and Mike who was there with Maryse. She'd seen them around the arena a few times lately getting quite cozy and it never ceased to put a smile on her face. She couldn't help but feel a little responsible for helping the young superstar explore who else was out there and find love.

After the cocktail hour was over, everyone was ushered into the auditorium so the actual ceremony could commence and the crew that worked at the venue could transform the reception area from appetizers and cocktails to be better suited for the dinner service after the ceremony.

Everyone milled around looking for their assigned seats, which thanks to the notice management had asked everyone to submit (Melina submitting both hers and Justin's), guaranteed everyone be next to their date. Once Callie finally found the seats with her name and Justin's, she waved her date over to her. She looked at the occupied seat next to hers and her face fell.

"Hey Cal," John said with a smile. "You look very pretty." Oh God, you look pretty? He asked himself. More like she looks absolutely amazing.

"Uh, thanks," She said as she sat down. Dammit! She'd planned on avoiding him tonight! And damn him for looking so freaking gorgeous in that tux. She'd never been more excited to see Justin as she was when he found her and sat down on the other side of her.

"Hey John," Justin said with a grin as he looked around Cal to see the man. "How's it going?"

John smiled back, shaking the hand the man offered. "Going good, you?"

He shrugged. "Pretty hyped up to be here again," Like Callie, this was only his second Wrestlemania. "Where's your date?" He questioned John curiously.

John shrugged as he rubbed his palms on his pants. "Flying solo tonight," Cal couldn't help but feel a little relieved at that; seeing him was hard enough but to see him with some girl on his arm? That would just be absolute torture. "So, uh, I didn't realize that you two were…an item." It took all John had not to reach over and sock Justin in the face just for being Callie's date.

"Oh, we're not," Justin clarified.

"Mel and Barrett set us up," Cal said as she kept her face forward.

John nodded his head in understanding and turned his head, wondering where his friend Ron Killings, whose name was typed clearly on the seat next to his, was. He had been counting on his friend arriving soon so he didn't have to force conversation with Cal. He didn't see his friend anywhere so he turned back to face the pair next to him.

"Hey, I'll be right back, I'm going to use the bathroom before this starts." Justin said to Cal.

Callie's eyes widened. He couldn't just leave her with John! "I'll, uh, I'll come with you!" She blurted out.

Justin gave her an amused smile and a weird look as he shook his head before standing up. "Uh, thanks but I think I can handle it." Dammit! Callie thought to herself.

John watched her as she purposefully kept her head turned away from him, refusing to even glance his way. "So are you excited for tomorrow?"

She nodded to avoid talking to him but truth was she was more than excited. She was over the moon with enthusiasm and anxiety at the fact that she was going to be winning the title from Melina at Wrestlemania, of all places.

He nodded back at her lack of response. "So how've you been?" She just shrugged. He reached a hand out and gently touched her elbow to which she yanked her arm away.

"Please don't touch me." God, just that one little touch from him had her practically begging for more.

"Well I guess that answers my question of if you are going to talk to me," John said as he leaned into her a little closer.

She turned to face him and scowled at him. "What do you want from me?" She whispered.

He shot her what he hoped was a comforting smile. "I was hoping we could, you know, talk for a while."

She let out a breath as she felt tears beginning to pool in her eyes. "No, I don't think we should."

John instantly felt bad when he saw her teary eyes. "Cal, come on, please?"

She blinked back the tears and bit her lip. "No, I'm sorry John but I just can't. I can't even look at you without remembering everything that has happened." She said in a fierce yet quiet tone so she didn't draw attention to them. "And if I talk to you, chances are I will break down crying and have to go fix the makeup I spent an hour doing. It hurts too damn bad to even be around you. So excuse me if I would rather not talk to you." She stood up and peeled off the piece of paper taped to her chair that said her name and switched it with Justin's. "Please don't try to be nice, just leave me alone." She said in an obviously upset tone before she moved herself a seat away.

John faced forward. Well that hadn't gone as planned.

Justin got back and looked at Cal in surprise. "Did you switch seats?"

Cal forced a smile. "We were sitting in each other's seats."

Justin nodded, accepting that answer, as he sat down between Cal and John. He turned and offered John a small smile, the older man smiling back though all he wanted to do was throw the Nexus member out of his chair so he could sit next to Cal.

Damn, it absolutely killed John to see her in this much pain, especially since he knew he was the reason she was feeling this way. If only he'd realized sooner how he felt, he could have prevented all this from happening.

Over the past couple of weeks, it had become increasingly obvious to him that Cal held a special place in his heart. But it hadn't been until he'd seen her walk into the reception area less than an hour before on the arm of Justin Gabriel that he actually understood just how deep his feelings were. He loved her. He was completely in love with Callie Grimm and he knew he had to do something about it soon before it was too late.

Callie was incredibly relieved when the ceremony was over. She couldn't even enjoy it as much as she wanted to because all she could think about was John. She walked into the reception area with her arm linked with Justin's and she considered herself lucky when she noticed that not only was John not at her table, but he was on the other side of the room.

She pulled Ted into a hug when she saw him standing next to her chair at the table. "You'll never guess who I was seated next to." She whispered into his ear. She pulled back and shot him a look and he instantly knew who she was talking about.

"You alright?" He asked, concerned.

She shrugged. "Let's just say I'm glad it's over." She grinned at Kristen when she saw her standing behind Ted. "Hey Kris, you look amazing," Her best friend's wife was dressed in a beautiful navy blue satin evening gown that showed off her killer figure.

"Aw thanks, you look absolutely gorgeous." She said back as the two embraced.

Everyone sat down, the table holding not only Cal, Justin, Ted and Kristen, but also Justin's fellow Nexus member, Heath Slater and all three members of the Hart Dynasty. "To another amazing Hall of Fame," Callie said raising her class in a toast and the entire table raised their glasses as well.

"It never ceases to bring tears to my eyes," Natalya commented and everyone nodded their heads in agreement. "So misses future title holder," Natalya joked to Callie. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

Cal grinned as she thought of her match tomorrow night. "I am so ready, but I know Mel's not going to just hand it over, she's going to make me work for it."

"As she should, and I can only hope that you make me work for it when I take it from you in the future," Natalya teased. Everyone laughed before launching into conversations about the matches they were excited about. Everyone was in consensus that Randy Orton's match versus CM Punk was going to steal the show; Heath was most excited to see the Undertaker take on John Cena; some of the other matches people discussed were The Miz versus Kofi Kingston and John Morrison versus Sheamus. At that last match mentioned, Cal visibly stiffened but relaxed a little when Ted wrapped his arm around the back of her chair, letting her know he was there for her.

After the dinner service was over, it was announced that the dance floor was open. The table slowly dispersed and Cal accepted Justin's request when he asked her to dance. "Thanks for coming with me tonight," Justin said once they were dancing.

She looked up at him in surprise. "You don't need to thank me,"

He smiled sheepishly. "I feel like I do. See there was a girl I wanted to be my date but when I finally got up the nerve to ask her, she already had a date. I mentioned it to Wade and he knew you didn't have a date so he kinda asked Melina to hook it up."

She smiled back. So that's why things were so awkward between them; neither of them were interested in each other. "I'm happy to be your date and I'm sure if this girl knew you were going to ask her, she would have turned the other guy down." His eyes looked behind her and she turned to see what he was looking at. "Kelly?" She asked when she saw that was who his eyes had sought out.

His cheeks turned a little red and he flashed that knee-weakening smile of his. "Yeah,"

Even though she wasn't friends with Kelly, she knew the woman wasn't a bad person and she would probably really hit it off with Justin. "Well as far as I know she doesn't have a boyfriend and she's standing over there by herself…why don't you go talk to her?" She suggested.

He looked at her surprised. "You don't mind?"

She chuckled. "Justin, you're a great guy but I think we both know that this is pretty much a one-time deal between the two of us." His amicable smile confirmed what she just said. "I won't be offended if you ditch me."

He nodded and dropped his hands from around her waist. "Thanks," He said before turning and walking toward Kelly. She watched as Kelly's eyes lit up when she saw Justin walking her way.

"Well that was very nice of you," She heard a voice say right behind her. She turned around and when she saw it was John she let out a sigh. "We need to talk,"

She shook her head. "No John, we really can't."

He looked down at the floor and ran a hand over his face. A second later his hands were holding her head and he had brought her lips to his. He felt her pull away but he wouldn't let her; he just held on firmly and deepened the kiss. Once he finally felt her give into the kiss he pulled away slowly. "Can we talk now?" He whispered, eyes opening and his lips only inches from hers.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she gulped as she saw the look in his eyes. Her eyes darted around and she saw they weren't the only ones not dancing; everyone was staring and the music was turned way down to where it was barely even background music. "John…everyone is staring."

But it didn't faze him; he kept his eyes locked firmly on hers. "I don't care." Her eyes widened in surprise. Wasn't that the whole reason they'd ended things? Because he didn't want people to know about them? "You might not want to talk but you're going to listen and I don't care who else hears." She blinked in awe. "I…love…you," He said slowly so she got each word. Oh she heard alright though she couldn't quite believe her ears. "I am in love with you and I have been probably since that first night we got together but I've been too blinded by others to see it." Her eyes were wide as she waited for him to continue. He reached out and grabbed her hands, holding them securely in his. "This whole thing between you and me, it caught me by surprise. When I first saw you, I thought you were gorgeous as hell, but Mike thought the same thing and he was the first one to say something about you so I just let it go." He could feel her hands shaking in his as he continued his story. "Even though we had the same friends, you and I had never really talked or gotten to know each other and though I've always had this attraction toward you I never really saw you as anything more than a friend of a friend. Then that one night when we slept together…it pretty much changed everything. I realized that that attraction I had was more than I thought it had been." He paused again and squeezed her hands. "Anyways, I pushed my feelings for you to the side because I was worried about how Mike would react or how Melina would react…and it wasn't until you laid it all out for me and left that I actually became aware of just what I was sacrificing to please my friends. You're the love of my life and I don't want to throw that all away because I'm scared of how people will react. These past few weeks have been hell without you and I don't want to have another week like them." He took a second to study her face, from her quivering lips and her watery eyes that were producing the tears that were running down her face. "That day you left me, you were wrong about something. You said that to me you'll always be the girl I had fun with but is easily replaceable." He shook his head. "Well that's just not true. Sure I had fun with you but you are not easily replaceable and I don't want to even think of replacing you. Even though I know I might have blown it once, I want you to give me another chance. Callie Grimm I am in love with you and I don't care who knows it."

Callie was in shock. She couldn't believe he was doing this. Not only was he really pouring his heart out to her but he was doing it in front of everyone; their friends and coworkers, the crew and their bosses. She was more than a little overwhelmed with all this. She gulped as she felt her tears fall a little harder. She took a step away from his hopeful smile and looked around. Everyone was watching and the music was off completely; you could probably literally hear a pin drop. She wanted to find Mike and Mel with her eyes but she just couldn't, she had no idea how they would react and she wasn't ready to face that. Her eyes found Ted's instead. She saw the warning look he was throwing her and it was obvious to her that he knew what she was thinking of doing and he was shaking his head at her, telling her not to. But she had to. This was just too much. She cast one more look at John, who also seemed to sense that things weren't going too well, before she ran. She ran as fast as her legs would take her while wearing four inch heels. She ran outside, immediately booking it to one of the many taxi's that were waiting outside. She looked out the back window when the car drove away and saw Ted rushing outside, seeming to try to stop her but he was too late.

Once she arrived at the hotel, she immediately went to the front desk and requested a room change, and purposefully used a false name just in case John or someone tried to seek her out. After receiving her new room assignment and moving all her luggage in there, she sent a quick text to Ted, letting him know where she was so he wouldn't worry, but she gave him strict instructions not to bother her.

John blinked in shock as he watched the woman he loved run out on him after he'd poured his heart out. His stomach clenched violently and his heart tightened considerably. He'd never put his heart out on the line like that and it hurt that she hadn't said anything before running away. He looked around at all the people staring at him as if he was some circus freak. He put his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room, toward the parking lot where he'd left his rental car.

After speeding back to the hotel, he walked up to the front desk, demanding to know what room Callie was in. The lady seemed to be a little frightened by his post-heartbreak anger and easily recited the room number. Once he reached the desired floor and found the room, he banged on the door. When there was no answer, he yelled out. "Callie, I know you're in there! Open up, we need to talk!" Still nothing. He stood there for a few minutes, just staring at the door, willing it to open. He felt his emotions boiling over and he turned to leave, heading in the direction of his room, before his tears spilled over.

"Dammit! I can't believe she did that," Ted said to Kristen as they walked into the hotel an hour later.

"Ted, calm down," His wife said as she put a calming hand on his forearm. "It was probably a little overwhelming hearing all that with everyone watching,"

He shook his head. "She still shouldn't have run away! The guy told her everything about how he felt and she just left!" When the elevator reached their floor, Kristen stepped out onto the floor but Ted stayed in the elevator.

She looked at her husband with a warning look. "Ted,"

"I'll be back in a few minutes; there's someone I need to see," He explained.

"Ted," She said again. "She doesn't want you or need you scolding her right now,"

"Tough shit," He said simply before pressing the button to close the elevator doors. "Don't wait up," He said before the doors closed fully. Once the elevator stopped on the floor Callie had moved to, he stalked off in search of her room. When he found it he rapped angrily on the door. "Callie, open this damn door right now!" He demanded.

It took longer than he thought necessary but eventually she opened the door still dressed in her evening gown though her makeup was all over her face and her hair a mess. "I told you not to come here."

He just walked right past her into the room. "What was that back there?"

She felt another wave of tears coming and she pressed her lips together to try to hold it back. "It's…just a lot to take in."

He nodded. "Yeah, it is, but that doesn't mean you had to run away." She didn't respond. "So what are your feelings on all this?"

"I mean…it's exciting to know how he feels." She admitted as she sat down on the foot of her bed. "But it's also scary. What if he changes his mind? I mean I can't go through all this again," She said as he looked up at him sadly.

Damn her. He wanted to be the tough, take no-nonsense older brother but seeing her with dried tears on her face and more forming in her eyes, he broke down to a softy. "Aw Cal," He said as he sat next to her, pulling her close to his body. He felt her body shake as she buried her face into his chest. "I think it's pretty safe to say he's not going to change his mind. Wasn't the whole reason you ended things because he didn't want people to know about you two?" She nodded against his body. "Well, don't you think it's pretty impressive that he said all that in front of not only your friends, but the entire company?" She sobbed into his chest, knowing he was right. "Do you still love him?" She instantly nodded and pulled her head up to look at him. "Well then what the hell are you running from?"

She gulped and allowed her friend to wipe the tears from her face. "I should go see him," She said, making a move to stand up.

He shook his head, pulling her back down. "No, what you need to do is get out of this pretty dress before you ruin it, wash that face and get some sleep. You can talk to him tomorrow." He told her. "And let's not forget you have a career-changing match tomorrow. You need to get some rest and mentally prepare yourself. You're wrestling on the grandest stage of them all baby, you need to be on your A game."

Her shoulders relaxed as she nodded. Sleep actually sounded really good; she could talk to John tomorrow. "I knew you were my best friend for a reason."

He smiled back at her. "What are brother's for?" He questioned before standing up. "Well, I got a wife to get back to. You clean up and get some sleep."

She let out a sigh and nodded. "Will do,"

A/N: Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm sad to say there are only two chapters left. Considering my past few stories have been really long, I just wanted a short one this time. Hope everyone has enjoyed it!