I'm so excited because we're finally approaching Mania! Thank you all for reading this story as well as Reclaim! It's been a blast writing them!
Carter felt her phone vibrating through the countertop she was sitting on and she glanced at it, furrowing her eyebrows at Seth's name on her screen. He didn't usually call her out of the blue.
She paused for a second before she slid her finger across the screen to answer the call.
"Hi you," she greeted him.
"Hey," he responded.
Carter's face formed into a frown. He didn't sound good.
There was a brief moment of silence that passed between them on the phone. She took a sip of her beer and shifted, crossing her legs. She was taking a few days from being off the road and spending some time with Renee in Vegas. Renee was currently showering and getting herself ready for their evening out so Carter was taking a moment to relax and pre-game; at least until the shower was unoccupied and the hot water had been restored. She was sitting on the counter top in Renee's kitchen, sipping a cold drink, and taking in the view through the large windows in the kitchen.
"What's up?" She asked.
"Nothing really, I just got done at the performance center. I was thinking you were at home in Tampa and I remembered a few rings in that you're in Sin City right now..."
"Yeah I'm here until Sunday."
"Did I interrupt your Renee time?"
"No, you didn't. She's in the shower and I'm sitting in the kitchen drinking a beer while I wait my turn."
"Big plans tonight?"
"We're going to dinner with her dad but I don't think we'll get into any trouble. Once you've been here a couple of time the awe of all of it kind of wears off. It's just another city where my best girl lives."
His response was a barely audible 'ah' which was mostly just an acknowledgement that she had spoken and he was aware that she had spoken. She took another sip of her beer, waiting to see if he would say anything else.
"I think we may take a crack at getting on the stripper pole, too. You know, when in Vegas..."
There was silence.
"Seth, are you okay?"
He was quiet for another moment and she heard him sigh loudly, "The doctor won't clear me to get back in the ring yet."
"Then you aren't ready to get back in the ring yet, pumpkin..."
"I am ready. I know I'm ready. I know my body better than anybody else and I know what I can do and what I can't do and I'm ready."
"Seth..."
"Seriously Carter, I need someone on my team right now. So please don't try and argue with me. I already had Cena give me a lecture."
She licked her lips and inhaled, taking a pause. "I'm always going to be on your team."
"But?"
"But if the doctor is telling you that your knee isn't ready for you to get back in the ring, he's telling you that for a reason. You know your body and you know wrestling but he knows knees." She heard him groan and she rolled her eyes. "Are you just frustrated or are you really sure that you're ready? Are you ready to jump off the top rope? Are you ready to suicide dive through the ropes or knee somebody? Are you ready to Pedigree someone?"
He was silent in response to her questions.
"I know it's frustrating, Seth."
"Do you? Do you know how frustrating it is? Do you know what it's like to go through an entire work out and feel perfectly fine and still get told that you aren't ready? Do you know how fucking irritating it is to sit back and be on the outside looking in at your whole world and not being able to be in it?"
"Yes I do, actually, and it took me a hell of a lot longer to get to that point than it has you. I get it."
"I know, I'm sorry," he replied sullenly.
"What did he tell you, exactly?"
"I don't have the strength or the stamina back yet, my balance isn't good enough, and until then I can't do anything functional. I can't step foot in a ring. I can't do anything but keep doing the same fucking things I've been doing for four months and I probably won't be able to for another month."
"A month isn't that long..." She tried to say sweetly, offering him some consolation.
"Carter, a month means I miss Mania."
Carter closed her eyes, wincing, realizing that WrestleMania was just around the corner and the news that he had been given that day shattered every goal he had set for himself.
"Seth, I'm sorry."
"That's been my only point of focus this whole time; every day. Every ounce of pain I've had to deal with, all of this bullshit, I just kept thinking- it's for Mania. You're gonna be there. You're gonna make a triumphant return. That's all that I thought about. And I didn't do it. I'm not going to be there. I walked out of there as the fucking champion last year and this year I'm just a cliff note. What…why did I put in all this work if it isn't going to amount to anything?"
She heard him take a deep breath, catching the crack in his voice as he had spoken and she could tell he was crying; probably out of raw emotion and out of anger. She couldn't invalidate anything he said. From the very start all he had talked about was WrestleMania. She couldn't even start to imagine what it felt like for him to know he was going to be sitting on the sidelines this year.
She wasn't going to say anything. She was just going to let him have his moment.
"Fuck this is bullshit," he finally muttered. "Fuck!"
Carter frowned, inhaling deeply and trying to rack her brain for something to say that might actually make him feel better. She knew him, though, and she doubted anything she said would really make him feel better.
"I'm not sure I can do it, Carter..." He said. She could hear him breathe in, trying to calm himself. "I don't know if I can be there."
"You have to be there," she replied softly.
"Do I? Do they really need me to be there?"
"They may not...but your fans will want to see you and all of us want to see you."
"That whole world has kept functioning without me."
"Don't...do that, don't be self deprecating, you're better than that. Yeah things have gone on functioning without you because they have to, it's a business, but that doesn't mean people haven't missed you. I would at least like to see you."
"So come up to Davenport."
"I have to work," she smiled, chuckling. "Nikki is going to be there and she's in a neck brace, she can't wrestle either, you two can commiserate together- and it's Brie's last match ever, and there's a women's triple threat and they're announcing a new title...you can't just not be there. You're still a part of everything and I guarantee you at some point that whole damn stadium is going to start a Rollins chant because everyone is excited about you coming back. Do you want to miss that? So you didn't make Mania- you'll make the next show...and it'll be fucking awesome."
"I appreciate the pep talk," he responded.
She sighed, picking up on the tone in his voice. She wasn't going to be able to get him out of this mood.
"Look, don't come if it's really that hard for you. I get it. If you want my friendly advice though, it's to come and be there and be in that moment, because I know you'll feel shitty but at least you'll be there and you won't have that to regret. You will regret it if you aren't there, Seth."
"I just don't know if I can do it, C."
"Don't come for the whole week, then; show up on Saturday, sign some autographs, watch the NXT show and watch Mania and then leave."
"Maybe."
A silence fell between them and she shook her head. She hurt for him.
"Maybe you should call Bryan..."
"What?"
"I know you have his number, you two were close."
"Yeah, I looked up to him a lot. I love that dude. But...why are you telling me to call him now? Out of the blue? I talked to him when he made his announcement."
"I know, I remember. I just...he's not doing really well. He and Brie aren't really talking about it but he's struggling a lot with not being able to wrestle anymore. He can't even travel, he can't even be at Mania to see Brie have her last match or experience everything."
"Don't try and guilt trip me, please? That's not fair."
"I'm not," she defended. "I'm not; I promise I'm not trying to do that. But I think that maybe talking to him might help you some and I don't know...maybe you'll help him out, too. And don't give me that exasperated, huffy, sigh, I'm serious."
He cleared his throat and she could hear a sniff, "you weren't supposed to hear my exasperated, huffy sigh."
"Well I did, and you called me, remember? So you're stuck with listening to what I say."
"I could just hang up on you."
"You won't, though." There was silence in response from him and Carter smiled slightly to herself. She could picture the slightly irritated but slightly amused look on his face. It was a look she had gotten from him a couple of time when she had seen him in Florida. She was fairly certain he was just trying not to give her the satisfaction of confirming she was right. "I just…I know what it was like for me and I can try and talk you down from your ledge from that point of view until I'm blue in the face but I've never been at Mania. I've never stood in that ring. I sure as hell haven't been a World Heavy Weight Champion. I don't completely know what it's like for you other than I know you're mad and frustrated and sad and that it really fucking sucks. And I love that you come to me to vent or for advice but I don't know that I'm going to be helpful in this situation- so that's my suggestion for you."
Renee came bounding into the room, "the shower is yours, madam! And it is my duty as your best friend to remind you to shave because you just might get lucky tonight because this is Vegas. And nobody likes a fur…."
Renee cut herself off and stopped in her tracks as she stepped onto the tile of the kitchen and realized that Carter was on the phone and also that Carter was shooting daggers at her.
Renee's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly as she tried not to laugh. "Oh my god! Fuck! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
Carter flipped her off and looked around for something to lob in her friend's direction as she listened to Seth laugh on the other end of the phone call.
Renee was stifling her laughter as she moved closer to Carter to find out who she was talking to.
"You can stop laughing any time now…" Carter dryly mumbled and swatted at Renee who was trying to pull the phone away from her ear to see the name on her screen.
"Oh fuck, I didn't expect to ever hear something like that. Is that something that girls really remind each other? Is that like a she-wolf pack thing?"
"No, Renee is just an inappropriate twat."
"Hey!" Renee exclaimed.
Carter could feel a blush starting to rise on her cheeks as she laughed at the offended look Renee was giving her. "You're so embarrassing," Carter mumbled at Renee, trying to keep it away from the receiver.
"Well hey, go get ready for your big night out even though you supposedly didn't have any big plans," Seth said, " I wouldn't want you to lose valuable prep time by talking to me since you just might get lucky tonight…"
She rolled her eyes and made a low, irritated noise.
"Now who's making the huffy, exasperated sighs?"
"Goodbye, Seth," she said sternly, cutting a look at Renee. Renee grinned back at her.
"Goodby; uh…thank you, for listening to me. I know you don't think you're any help but you are. I promise you that."
"Anytime."
"Ok, have fun, sunshine, be safe."
Carter dropped the phone from her ear as she heard the sounds from the call disconnecting. She glared at Renee and threw her hands in the air, "what the fuck, Nae?"
"I'm sorry I didn't know you were on the phone!" she responded, still laughing. "Was that like Rollins 'Seth'?"
"Yes, it was. He's having a bad night; he's going to miss Mania."
"Oh shit, that sucks. Damn…"
"Yeah he didn't sound good. He's on the 'I don't even want to come' path at the moment but I think he should at least be there. But what do I know?"
"You know enough that he trusts you to go to with that."
"He was in his car at the performance center, I'm pretty sure I was the first person he called. I feel bad for him; he's been killing himself trying to get back."
"He'll be alright, he's Seth. He probably just needs to sleep on the news and he'll be ready to set his next goal tomorrow. You know how he is. I do hate that for him, though. Fuck, Dean is going to hate it, too. Mania isn't going to be the same this year...for any of us..."
"Yeah, exactly, but thanks to you he got a good laugh at my expense, so well done."
"I am all about action, Carter, I make things happen. You are welcome."
Carter aggressively rolled her eyes as she slid off the counter. She grabbed her drink and turned a look on Renee, "I'm sorry I called you an inappropriate twat but…you kind of deserved it."
"I did," Renee laughed, "I'm sorry I kind of embarrassed you in front of him. You guys still just friends?"
"Yes."
"Well then you technically shouldn't have anything to be embarrassed by since you're just friendly…"
"Walking away now…"
"I bet he's getting laid!" Renee called as Carter disappeared further into the house.
"Inappropriate!" Carter yelled back.