Chapter 16: Even

"I've got an appointment next Friday before I fly down to LA," he held a fork with his left hand, trying to cut through a dumpling on his plate.

"If it goes well, they should be able to give me wrist brace and start rehab."

"That's great."

Becky watched him, twirling her noodles with her chopsticks as he gave up and stabbed the dumpling in the middle, shoving it into his mouth whole. They made eye contact and she laughed.

"What?" he said with his mouth full.

"Did you…want help with that?"

He chewed for several moments, took a sip of his steaming tea, and then finally said,

"No, Bex, I really don't need you to cut my food for me, thanks."

"Aiight." She took a bite of her noodles.

"I'm not some helpless," he tried stabbing another dumpling, but it slid away from his fork, "incapable…ugh!" He tossed down the fork.

"Finn, calm down."

"I can handle myself. Wrist injury and all."

She shook her head, "I was just trying to help."

"I don't need it."

"Oy! I know you're frustrated but you don't have to take it out on me," she said briskly, getting up to clear her plate.

He followed her to the kitchen.

"I jus' want this damn thing to be over already. I'm tired of not bein' able to wrestle, to train properly, I'm tired of you actin' like I need to be taken care of."

"Well luckily you won't have to deal with that anymore, huh?" She grabbed a water from the fridge and tried to storm out, but he caught her arm, sighing.

"I'm not happy you're leavin' tomorrow, I don't want to see you go." He said it quietly, his demeanor changed.

"That's what it sounded like."

"No, that's not what I meant."

She yanked her arm free. "Then what did you mean?"

"I jus'… don't do well with this, bein' on the shelf. An' you walkin' around here cookin' my meals and sortin' my pills, it's kind of a constant reminder that I am."

"Well I hate to break it to you, but burnin' eggs and ignorin' your wrist doesn't make it go away. An' if you didn't want me around ya shoulda just said so."

"I do want you around."

"Jus' not when I'm doting on you? Not when I'm remindin' ya that you can't do somethin' for yourself? Bein' a reminder that for a few more weeks you are not Finn Balor, Universal Champion?"

That stung. She could see it in his eyes, he refused to meet her gaze. But the tears were welling up in her eyes too now, and she had already started.

"Is that it? Is that all me helpin' out around here is to you now? A reminder? Because honestly Finn, sometimes it feels like the only reason you wanted me here in the first place was to…to…" she caught herself in time, but he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"To what?"

"Nothin'," she shook her head, "never mind."

"Well in the interest of honesty Becky," his voice was hot and angry, "I don't really know why you decided to stick around in the first place."

"I told ya, someone had to take care of you."

"No, they really didn't, I can take care of myself. Was this really about me?" His eyes focused on her, squinting. "Or was this about you? You runnin' scared because Nia's had been knockin' you down for weeks when I got injured?"

It was her turn to feel that sting. No matter what they did, they were always evenly matched, even at knowing how to hurt each other.

"You think I'm scared of Nia?"

"Looks like it over here."

"Well then maybe your perspective's a little blurry, you don't know anythin' about what's goin' on with me if you think I'm scared of Nia."

"Yeah aiight, I'll agree with that part."

"Excuse me?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest, standing her ground.

"Jus' that you've been a little bit distant for a few months, no interest in talkin' about yourself. I can't get near your personal life with a ten-foot pole."

"I've been more worried about you, or did you not see the tape of that night?"

He shook his head, "it started before that. Since…well since I won the title."

"Oh don't go…"

" 'cause if you were upset or jealous you coulda just said so."

"I'm not jealous, Finn. An' obviously that's not really an issue anymore."

"Ha. Yeah. Obviously not."

He sat down at the kitchen table and buried his face in his hands.

"I'm not runnin' scared."

He lifted his head, "Well whatever it is, lemme know when you'd like to tell me what's goin' on with you. When you wanna quit hidin' whatever it is from me. You know, as your best friend and all."

"You're gonna play the best friend card now? After I stayed home for two weeks for you? Not for me. For you Finn."

"Yeah well I didn't ask ya to do that now did I?"

The tears were welling up behind her eyes again.

"Guess not." And with that she stormed off to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Becky collapsed on her bed and let the tears go. They'd known each other for so long, she knew exactly where to hit him to make it hurt, and he knew exactly where to hit her. You'd think after all this time they'd learn to stop it, but they fought so infrequently that it always came like a hurricane, wiping out everything by the time it was done. They'd be fine, they'd apologize tomorrow and…tomorrow. But she'd be on a plane to Colorado tomorrow, and back to real life. They'd still make up, but her little moments with The Demon would be relegated to two days a week, if he managed to push his way out. It was back to the way things were. Not that now was much more than what she had with him before, but at least there wasn't the constant reminder from all of their friends and co-workers.

A while later, a knock came at her door. He nudged it open and poked his head in, looking apologetic.

"Can I do anything for ya, love?"

She groaned, "you are not what I need right now."

"What, or who?"

"Will you jus' go? I can't with you right now."

"Jus' offering. G'night."

He closed the door and she wiped tears from her eyes, trying to figure out how she got into this situation in the first place.

xxxxxxxxx

It was still dark out when Becky finished gathering her bags and bundled up for the airport. Her car was on its way, and she rolled her stuff into the living room to wait. A note on the kitchen table caught her eye as she was about to leave.

Bex,

I'm so sorry.

-F

That made her smile, Finn always knew just what she needed, when she needed it. The Demon had come on to strong, trying to mend things physically with her before she had time to cool down. Maybe he was a part of Finn, but he didn't know her like Finn did. It wasn't truly him. Not in all his complexity, in all that made him wonderful. She took a pen from her bag and wrote bellow it,

Finn,

Me too.

-B

She sighed. They would be fine. They'd always be fine, that's what they were. But she felt a twinge of annoyance thinking about how she'd never have all of him.