Disclaimer: I only own Evie.
A/N: A big thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, I love you all! And an even bigger thank you to everyone for being patient for an update on this story. I think this is the longest I've gone without updating this particular story. Anyway, moving on, I've suddenly found new direction for this story and everything will finally be picking up! Excited? Good. Also, I'm thinking that Sorry will be updated soon too. Enough babbling, go and read. Enjoy & review!
Ted anxiously awaited for Evie's arrival. She had texted him earlier telling him to meet her at Starbucks. When he had read that message he had grown excited that she wanted to see him. He originally thought that she would be in Clinton for a day or two and then head on over to the next city. That all changed and now he could finally spring his plan into action.
"Hey, Teddy." Evie greeted, sitting across from him. "How's everything going?"
He watched as she pushed up her sunglasses so that they were resting atop her head. It was then that he noticed the glow on her face. She was absolutely radiating. For the first time in a while, her smile had started at her lips and reached to her eyes. A part of him felt bad, not because of what he was going to do, but because he wasn't the one who put her in that mood. In fact, as of late, he felt like she was repulsed by him.
"Everything's going good." He smiled, still jealous that John had put her in the mood that she was in. "I've been quite busy these last few weeks. Yourself?"
The way he spoke interested Evie. The way his voice emphasized on the word 'busy' made her wonder just what he was up to. For the last couple of weeks she had been avoiding him and she knew that she had missed out on a lot, as did he.
"Busy?" Her curiosity was getting the best of her.
Ted smirked at the way her eyes widened and how she was trying to fight a smirk. Same old, Evie, he thought. She was walking right into everything, making his plan all the more easier on him.
"Yes, busy." He replied, then took a sip of his coffee. "You see that day after you left me alone in my hotel room, I realized that I couldn't go on like this any longer. While, I'm still in love with you, I realize you are no longer in love with me. You've moved on with Cena and I've realized that I have to move on too."
Her heart was pounding like crazy and she was wondering why. Was it because he had mentioned that day in his hotel room? Or was it because he was talking about no longer loving her? She knew that she was thinking irrationally, but she was still wondering where he was going with this. Boy, if he was trying to confuse her, he was doing a wonderful job.
"Can we not bring up what almost happened in your hotel room that day?" She asked embarrassed. "I'm trying to forget it, I almost cheated on John that day."
He was screaming on the inside out of excitement. She was taking all of this as it came. With every word that she was saying, he knew that this plan was going to be executed perfectly. He made a mental note to thank Cody for giving him this idea.
"I'm not trying to bring up any painful memories." He quickly covered with. "I'm doing the exact opposite actually. I want to thank you, Evie. Had you not gone that day there was no telling what could have happened between us. When you first left, of course I was upset because I thought I had let you slip right through my fingers. But, then at a second thought, I realized that you were right; we are over. We needed to move on. I'm really glad that you walked out that day. Because you did, I found somebody else."
"You're thanking me?" Evie asked, pointing at herself stunned.
"Yes, Eves." He laughed. "I've finally opened my eyes and realized that I've got to move on. You see, this whole time I've stuck in the past. Then, finally, it's as if something snapped inside of me. I'm finally awake and ready to move on with my life. Because I was able to do that, I found somebody I really care about." He repeated, making sure that she got the point that there was someone else.
She was trying very hard to digest everything he was saying. He was thanking her and telling her that he had met someone. Deep down inside she knew that she should be happy for him, but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. No longer would he spend anymore time with her or when he did it would always be about his new girlfriend. She lowly sighed to herself and then remembered that she had John now and that Ted had every right to be happy.
"That's great." Evie forced a smile. "I'm very happy for you, Teddy!"
On the inside he was still screaming out of excitement. Not only was she believing all of this, but she was showing hints of jealousy. It amazed him how after so many years she hadn't changed. The fake smile and her mannerisms were a dead give away, but Ted ignored them, pretending to take her measured reaction as her true feelings.
"Thanks, Evie!" He said, smiling enthusiastically. "It means a lot to me that you are happy. Out of everybody I know, your opinion means the most to me."
She was screaming on the inside. How could this have happened? When did it all happen? She couldn't believe that any of this was going on. It was almost like she walked into some strange dream. Subconsciously, she pinched her arm to wake up, but when she felt the tiny sting, she knew she was awake and that everything was very much real.
"Tell me about her." Evie asked interested. While, part of her wanted to fake her interest, she couldn't help but be interested. Everything did seem a little rushed, she thought. But, it seemed that he was being sincere. "Who is she?"
Now he was thrown off by her reaction. First, she had been quite jealous and annoyed. Now, she was actually showing interest in everything. When he had played out this whole scenario in his head on the way over to Starbucks, he didn't expect her to be interested.
"You have enough time to learn about her." He waved off the subject, placing his elbows on the table. "What have you been up to lately? I feel like I haven't talked to you in a while."
"I'm sorry about that." She genuinely apologized. "Ever since I've come back from my injury leave I've been busy. As you know I've been training even harder and working with you on that storyline. Now, add to that all the extra appearances Vince has been sending me to."
"Don't be sorry." He replied, knowing that she was being honest for the most part. "With our profession you never have the time to breathe."
"I know what you mean." She laughed lightly. "I was so busy, John and I almost cancelled seeing his parents a few weeks back. Not to mention, we barely stayed at my parents house."
Ted felt his eyes grow darker at the mention of them meeting each other's parents. They had only been together for a few months, they shouldn't have been so serious yet. He almost felt like they were rushing things.
"I take it everything went fine."
"For the most part." Evie admitted, looking away from her former lover.
He didn't miss the way she looked away from him. Either his family didn't like her or her family didn't like him. He slowly felt the light of happiness returning to his eyes. Fighting the smirk that was trying to make itself visible on his lips, he rested his hand on hers.
"Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine." She lightly smiled, returning her gaze to his. "His family loved me and I couldn't help falling in love with them. His brothers are some of the most charming entertaining guys I've ever met. His parents are just the sweetest. They accepted me almost as fast as I accepted them."
His excitement was slowly dying yet again.
"Then, what's the problem?"
"My family. Well, actually, just my dad." She sighed. "My mother absolutely loved John, my father not so much."
"Why?"
"He doesn't like John or what he does for a living." Evie said, feeling herself fall into a depressing mood. "Actually, a lot came out that night. My dad admitted that he didn't like me wrestling and only lied to people when he said he was proud of me so they wouldn't know his true feelings."
Ted frowned, not expecting that. He had always known that Mr. James was an uptight guy. He was always running off to work and picking verbal arguments with Mrs. James. Everyone in the neighborhood had always wondered why she had put up with so much crap from him, but no one ever got the answer. Evie, her brother, and sister never said anything. It didn't help matters that Evie's parents also pretended that everything was fine.
"I'm sorry about that." Ted was genuine this time. "Don't let your father get you down. Just keeping doing what you love. You're good at what you do and that'll make him even madder. Despite that, all that matters is that you're happy with your decisions."
"I am." Evie smiled at him, truly touched by his words. "We left my parents shortly after that. I was quiet all the way back to Tampa. When we got back to John's house, he went through great lengths to trying to get me to be happy again. As you can see, it worked."
"That's great." He said, plastering a fake smile to his face.
Smiling, Evie took her sunglasses off the top of her head and set them on the table. Without thinking, she ran her left hand through her hair and then placed the sunglasses back where they were before.
The entire time she was doing this, Ted's blue eyes were glued to her left hand. He had finally noticed the huge glittering diamond that graced her left ring finger.
"What's that on your hand?"
Crap, she thought. When he had told her about his new girlfriend, she had decided not to tell him about her engagement. She was going to hold off on it for a few more days and then tell him. Taking a deep breath, she looked him directly in the eyes.
"This is what I wanted to talk to you about today." She finally said, her eyes not leaving his.
His heart started pounding. Was that ring what he thought it was? When he saw her lips parting to finish speaking, he thought he was going to have a heart attack and drop dead on the spot.
"Ted, John and I are engaged."
Fuck, Ted cursed to himself. Now, this he definitely wasn't expecting. So much for walking right into the plan, he thought. Smiling he looked over at his ex-girlfriend and knew then and there that he really had to speed things up.
A/N: I'm on a roll today. New story and an update. WOO! What did you think? Review.