Punk walked into Ziggler's room, Ziggler looking up from where he was lying on the bed.
"Vickie said to stay in my room tonight but I had no idea that she managed to put you on the room service menu. I thought you were through with me?"
"Some things happened tonight that made me change my mind. You were right. John treated me horribly, but the sliver lining is now I can trade up for something that will be better for me than John ever was."
"I know that I'm someone better for you than John ever could be. I was starting to worry that you would never see it."
"I'm in your hotel room and not with someone else aren't I?."
Ziggler gave Punk a dazzling smile, getting off the bed and approaching Punk, stopping a few inches away but then he hesitated.
"I'm not going to say no or push you away. I want you to put your hands on me; I've wanted it for so long."
Ziggler closed the remaining distance, wrapping one arm around Punk's waist, sliding his hand under Punk's t-shirt and palming the warm bare skin of Punk's back. Ziggler cupped the back of Punk's head, tilting it up, their lips barely brushing. Ziggler breathed out a quiet sigh as the contact increased, pulling Punk closer until their bodies were pressing together. Punk skimmed his hands up Ziggler's back, sinking his fingers into Ziggler's hair and pulled back with all his strength.
"Ow, that fucking hurts!"
"I know it does and that's only the beginning, you're going to be so broken down by the end of the night you'll hardly be able to move," Punk whispered into Ziggler's ear.
"Uh, I think that's a little too rough for me."
"It's what you deserve don't you think?" Punk said with a shifty smile.
"I don't…I don't understand."
"Did you think I wouldn't find out about the scheme you and Ryder concocted? You have no idea how much I've suffered over the past few months, but you will…" and Punk viciously kneed Ziggler in his kidney, releasing Ziggler who was holding his side in pain. Punk delivered another knee, this time clipping Ziggler under his jaw and a line of blood started trickling out the corner of his mouth.
"Aww, did you bite down too hard? It doesn't really matter. The time for your sweet and seductive words is through," Punk kicked Ziggler in the stomach, Ziggler doubling over in pain. Punk delivered another kick to Ziggler's chest, sending him careening into the wall, knocking over the lamp on the bureau. Ziggler fell to the ground. Punk mounting Ziggler's chest, his weight pressing down on his diaphragm, Ziggler gasping for air.
"You destroyed my relationship with John. You ruined my life and now you get to pay," Punk yelled, banging Ziggler's head repeatedly against the wall.
"Help!"
"Oh keep screaming, that makes this all the more enjoyable. Even if anyone hears they won't care. That's how much everyone loathes you, but no one more than me."
Ziggler pushed Punk off of him and ran to the connecting door, banging on it furiously. Punk grabbed Ziggler's hair again, pulling out clumps and throwing him back to the floor. Punk mounted him again, wrapping his hands around Ziggler's throat. Punk faintly heard a banging on Ziggler's door but he was too incensed to even care.
"You destroyed everything, everything! You ruined my life and I lost the only thing that means anything to me! I'll never get it back and it's all your fault!"
The door to Ziggler's room flew open.
"Jesus Christ, he's trying to kill the guy, pull Punk off him!" Swagger shouted as Kofi ran forward and wrapped his hands around Punk, pinning his arms to his side and pulling him off Ziggler. Punk struggled against Kofi's grip and ran back to Ziggler, brutally kicking him in the side. Punk was pulled off Ziggler again, this time held back by Kofi, Show and Sheamus. They began to drag him out the door, Swagger and Vickie crouching down my Ziggler's side.
"What did you do to him!" Vickie shrieked.
"Exactly what he had coming to him. You think this is over Ziggler! It's not even close. During every match at every house show you are going to get more of the same. I'm going to enjoy the fuck out of choking you out day after day!"
Punk started struggling again and Show lifted him off his feet.
"Punk, calm down!"
"I will not calm down. Do you know what he did! He and Ryder fucked my entire life up and I'll never get back everything he's stolen from me!"
"Set him the fuck down," John shouted.
"We can't John, if you could see what he did to Ziggler. He practically tried to kill the guy."
"Good, it saves me the trouble of doing it myself. Let him go now!"
Punk's captors reluctantly released him, Punk's eyes darting around manically, wondering if he was fast enough to get past them.
"Phil, come to my room."
"Why, so you can introduce me to your new girlfriend?"
"That kiss with Eve? It was all fake; Eve said it was the best way to humiliate Zack. She said she told you."
"She didn't tell me anything."
"She said you were with her when you overheard Zack and Ziggler."
"I was. Why are you so willing to humiliate your best friend?"
"Eve played me the recording."
"What recording?"
"She taped the conversation and played it for me, she said you knew."
"Well I didn't."
"This whole situation is just fucked to hell. Phil, please, just come to my room with me."
"Why? You want to hurt me even more than you already have?"
"Phil, please! I was naive and stupid and never thought Ryder could possibly do anything so horrible. I don't know how anyone could do something so horrible. You told me Ryder was up to something and I didn't believe you. You have no idea how sorry I am. You're not the only one whose life has been ripped to shreds. Phil, please, come with me."
Punk nodded slightly at John who took his hand and led him to his room. The door closed behind them and Punk collapsed to the floor, angry tears leaking out his eyes.
"There's nothing to say, we're broken beyond repair, there's nothing left to save."
"Don't say that, don't ever say that. We can fix this. The only thing that matters is that we're together."
"How can you even say that? How can I trust anything that you say? I told you so many times that Ryder was up to something and you just ignored me and threw me to the side. You treated me like you didn't care about my feelings at all. That's not how you treat someone you're supposedly in love with."
"There's no supposedly. I'm in love with you, I'll never stop, it won't ever be over, I can't let you go. Please just forgive me."
"I'm not sure I can do that."
"Please don't say that, please. Let's just get out of here, away from everyone and everything. We have 2 days before the Elimination Chamber media blitz. Come with me to Tampa."
"I don't think that's going to solve the problem, just make it worse. I won't be able to think about anything else but you and Ryder being there together."
"What are you talking about? Ryder has never gone with me to Tampa."
"But Eve said…"
"Eve says a lot doesn't she, and none of it true. It's a shame Ryder wasn't really after her because I think they would be great together, 2 deceitful bitches. Right now I don't want to even think about any of that. We'll worry about it when we come back from Tampa. I just want us to be alone. You're the only one I care about right now, please come to Tampa."
"I'll come but I can't promise anything."
"I know everything can't be fixed in 2 days but I just want to be with you, away from all this."
"Okay, come get me in the morning when you get everything settled."
"Won't you stay the night?"
"I don't think I'm ready for that just yet."
"I understand, however you want to handle this is fine with me."
"Kofi's probably going crazy right now; I'll see you in the morning."
John leaned in, sliding his hand behind Punk's neck; John hesitated, looking at Punk for his reaction. Punk nodded ever so slightly, their lips meeting with just the barest of pressure. Punk was relieved when John pulled back, obviously not wanting to push him farther than he wanted to go. John got to his feet and pulled Punk up with him. I'll see you in the morning."
Punk walked down the hall to his and Kofi's room. He stared at Ziggler's door but the homicidal behavior he had exhibited earlier in the night had dissipated while he was in John's room. Every time he and Ziggler found themselves in the ring together Punk would make him pay. He entered the room to find Kofi asleep. Punk didn't know how he felt about that. He needed to talk to someone, not exactly trusting his own actions at this point. He walked over to his bed and there was a note on the hotel stationary.
"Randy wants you to come to his room when you get back. He said he'll be awake all night and not to worry about the time. He's in room 2050."
Punk was wary about going to Randy's room. There was a chance that John might go to Randy too. He had been John's friend before a friendship had ever developed between them. Punk didn't think he could be around John any more tonight, afraid that he might just give in without thinking it through, but he decided to go to Randy's room anyway. He knocked lightly on his door, not wanting to wake anyone else who might want an explanation for his actions that night. Randy answered the door and moved aside to let him in.
"What are you doing up at this time of the night?"
"They made me go to the hospital to get checked out. It's definitely a concussion and I'm supposed to be woken up every two hours. I'm not exactly in the mood to be around anyone right now."
"Then why did you ask me to come over?"
"I figured you needed someone to talk to, just keep your voice down, my head is still killing me. Kofi told me what happened tonight. If you would have just told me that's what you wanted the key for I would have given it to you, more than willingly. Hell, I would have probably shaken off the trainers and come with you. It's a shame that I'm going to be out for a few weeks or I would have asked Long for a match with Ziggler. You're not the only one who wants him to suffer for what he did. I've been with you every step of the way through this all. You'll at least be happy to know that Ryder got his."
"What do you mean?"
"They brought Ryder into the trainer's room with me. Apparently Kane pushed him off the stage while he was in his wheelchair. They ended up taking Ryder off in an ambulance so I have no idea what happened beyond that but honestly I don't even really care, he got what he deserved and that's the only thing that really matters.
"Is that the only thing you wanted to tell me?"
"No. Kofi told me that you went with John to his room after everything happened."
"I agreed to go to Tampa with him for a few days. The longer I'm away from John the less I think that it's a good idea. He wants everything to go back to the way they were, but I'm not sure I can do that."
"I can't give you any advice on how to forgive someone who did what John did to you, but I've been where John is many times. I've done so many stupid things that Samantha had to forgive me for. Honestly, I don't know if I would have been so kind had the shoe been on the other foot. I don't think I would be capable of that considering my nature, but the question is are you?"
"Right now I really don't know. I guess I'll know before we leave Tampa. I know I won't be able to just pick things up from where we left off but maybe I'll know if I'm even capable of forgiving him."
"I think that's the most John can ask of you right now."
"Do you want to sleep? I'll wake you up in 2 hours if you want."
"I'm too pissed to sleep. I'm not going to be able to compete in the Elimination Chamber. It was going to be the closest I had gotten to the title in a long time."
"The Elimination Chamber… that's like one of the last things on my mind right now. I've got to get myself together if I don't want to lose my title. I'm worried that when I get in the Chamber I'll care more about demolishing Ziggler than I will be about retaining the Championship. I almost hope I'll be one of the first entrants in the Chamber and Ziggler be the other. I could get him out of the way before anyone else gets the chance to enter."
"I think that's probably the first time any Chamber participant has actually wanted to come in first."
"That's just proof that I'm not exactly in my right mind right now."
"Why don't you go back to your room and try to get some sleep."
"There's no way in hell I'll be able to sleep."
"If things are meant to work themselves out they will, if not, there's nothing that you can do to change that."
"Thanks for letting me vent. I know that's not something you're usually up for."
"Well, we're friends aren't we?"
"Are we really?"
"Against all odds, we are."
"Goodnight Randy."
Punk returned to his and Kofi's room. He took off his clothes and lay down in bed. He spent the night staring at the wall.
February 18, 2012
"Punk, are you awake?"
"Yeah," and Punk rolled over to look at Kofi.
"Did you sleep at all last night?"
"Not a wink."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but what happened after you went to John's room last night?"
"We talked. He wants me to come with him to Tampa for a few days."
"Are you going?"
"I said yes last night but now I'm not so sure."
"You should go."
"Is that your shining optimism at work here?"
"No, it's me telling you the hard truth. If you don't go you'll regret it, probably for the rest of your life.
"I know you're right, it just doesn't feel that way right now. I better get up and get dressed. I have no idea when John is coming to get me to head to the airport."
Punk pulled some clothes out and went to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. When he came out John was sitting on his unmade made facing Kofi. It was obvious he had interrupted the conversation they had been having.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah, just let me round up my stuff." Punk retrieved all his things and packed them away. "Okay, I'm ready."
John grabbed his suitcase and they took the elevator down and got a cab to the airport, never speaking a word to each other. They went through security and were soon boarding the plane. The silence was getting to be very uncomfortable and Punk had to say something.
"What were you and Kofi talking about when I came out of the bathroom?"
"Kofi was threatening me about what would happen if I screwed up even more. That's some friend you have there."
"Kofi's great. He's not as spineless as everyone thinks he is."
"Yeah, I think I got that message loud and clear when he threatened to castrate me."
Punk just laughed quietly and leaned his head against the window. He fell asleep almost instantaneously.
Punk felt John shaking him awake as he felt the plane hit the runway. Punk was no longer leaning against the side of the plane but his head was pillowed on John's shoulder. The arm rest was not digging into his side so John must have put it up at some point during the flight. It seemed even in sleep he gravitated towards John. They finally made it to John's house. John took both their suitcases in hand as they entered the house. John walked to the staircase and hesitated.
"Where do you want to sleep?"
"The guest room would probably be best."
John nodded his head and walked up the stairs. Punk could tell that John was disappointed with his answer but Punk knew he wasn't ready to just fall back into bed with John no matter how much he wanted it. They grabbed a late lunch and then returned to John's house and watched movies. There was at least of foot of space between them but as time passed the space became smaller and smaller. Punk couldn't be sure if it was him, John, or both of them moving closer to each other without them ever noticing. Eventually the last of the space was gone; their bodies flush against each other. He heard John yawn loudly.
"I think I need a nap, I didn't sleep very well last night."
"I'll wake you up when it's time for dinner."
"Alright," and John lifted up Punk's arm, wrapping it around his shoulders and resting his head on Punk's chest. Punk stiffened up initially but then relaxed. It all felt so natural, to be with John like this. Punk kept watching the same movie again and again because he didn't want to disturb John to change the discs. Punk awoke John after a few hours when it was time for dinner. John was awake but made no move away from the position he had fallen asleep in.
"How about Chinese? We can have it delivered."
"That works for me."
They were seated at the bar in John's kitchen eating at the island. Punk eyes kept wandering to John's backyard where John's pool was located. Just seeing it brought up all sorts of memories of the time they had spent in it. Punk finally turned his attention back to John who was staring at him intently. Punk knew that the memories running through his mind was running through John's too. As the night wore on their conversation became less and less stilted. When they finally decided to go to bed, Punk followed John up the staircase to the bedrooms. John stopped at the top of the stairs and Punk could see him looking down the hallway where the guest room Punk had elected to stay in was located. Punk felt just as torn about the situation as John but stepped around him and headed to his room.
"Goodnight John, I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight Phil."
Punk could hear the longing in John's voice but he entered his room and closed the door behind him. He got ready for bed and slid under the covers. He couldn't seem to get to sleep, the wrongness of sleeping down the hall in what they once considered their house was palpable. Maybe an hour had passed when he heard his bedroom door open. Punk looked over his shoulder to see John standing in the doorway in his boxers. Punk didn't say a word, just lifting up the covers was permission enough for John to crawl into bed with him because he had been awake thinking of doing the same thing that John had done. Even though they were sharing the bed there was no part of their bodies touching, both of them lying on their back and staring at the ceiling. This was just stupid. Punk turned on his side, pulling John's arm around him, John rolling over to his side so they were lying spooned together. John let out a sigh and tightened his arm around Punk. They were both fast asleep in minutes.
February 19, 2012
Punk awoke to the feeling of John's breath tickling the back of his neck. Unlike the last time they had shared a bed, John had not rolled over in the night. If it was even possible they were even closer than they had been when they fell asleep, with John's leg tangled up with his. Punk could feel the heat of John's body pressed against his back. It felt too good to move. Punk stayed like that for a while and he could feel John start to awaken behind him. Punk lay completely still. He felt John start to lay gentle kisses on the back of his neck.
"God, Phil, I love you. If I can't have this for the rest of my life I don't know what I'm going to do."
Punk continued to lie still as John slid out of bed. Punk could hear John go down the stairs. Something had stirred in Punk's heart when John said those words but Punk hadn't turned around and returned those words. He wasn't sure he was ready for that yet. Punk let that thought torture him for a while until he finally forced himself out of bed to join John downstairs. John looked up as he entered the kitchen.
"We slept through breakfast. Do you want to go for a run, we can grab lunch after."
"Sure, just let me go change," and Punk walked back upstairs. He could tell John wanted to talk about last night but hadn't and neither did Punk.
They took John's car to a nearby park and started running. Talking was unnecessary as the kept pace with each other through the winding paths. It was still warm in Florida, even in February. The run was relaxing Punk to a point he had not felt since coming to Tampa. They were running in silence but just the feeling of being together doing something as mundane as running was enough. The natural endorphins from his run carried over to lunch where the conversation between him and John flowed freely, bearing a striking resemblance to the ease they felt with each other before everything went to hell. They finally returned to John's house.
"I definitely need a shower," John said, making his way to the staircase.
"You do that," and Punk turned and took off at a run, flying through the kitchen, throwing open the door to the backyard and jumping fully clothed into the pool. When Punk resurfaced John was standing by the side of the pool, smiling broadly.
"Are you crazy?"
"That's what they say."
John started laughing. Punk jumped up, grabbing John behind the knees and pulling him into the water with him.
"Okay, I should have seen that coming a mile away."
"Obviously, who do you think you're dealing with here," Punk said, returning John's smile. They began horsing around, splashing and trying to dunk each other. Punk came up from being submerged by John. John wrapped his arm around Punk's neck and drew Punk closer, engaging him in a wet kiss. Punk didn't pull away and became an active participant in the kiss. John finally pulled away, a wide dimpled smile on his face.
"Had enough?" Punk asked as he made his way to the steps to exit the pool.
"Not nearly," and John pulled Punk back into the water and into his arms, kissing him enthusiastically. Neither man pushed for more beyond the kiss.
As the day wore on it was starting to get chilly and they eventually returned inside. That night when they went to upstairs to go to sleep Punk followed John into his bedroom without comment, sleeping wrapped around each other as they always had before.
Punk awoke the next morning to the sound of the shower running. Punk couldn't help himself. He pulled open drawer on the bedside table that had been designated as his. His comics and other possessions where as he had left them, the same with the drawers in the dresser. Punk had been fooling himself. He would forgive John anything.