Holding On By A Thin Thread

-March 4, 2013; Chicago, Illinois-

Tessa was up at 5 the next morning, ready to go for a run around Chicago before she got on a plane to Detroit.

As she ran down the stairs and into the lobby she passed most of her co-workers who were heading out to the airport. As soon as she had returned to her room the night before she had changed her flight from 7 to midday. She didn't want to spend any more time around Colby than she had to for fear of her resolve crumbling.

Nikki called a goodbye to her friend as she jogged by and Tessa responded with a small wave.

She had no real path for her run; she would run where the city wanted her to. The weather was downright dreadful it was barely above 14 degrees outside and there was roughly 2 inches of snow covering the ground but Tessa wasn't bothered at all. She'd rugged up and was ready to get in her daily run regardless of temperature. She was used to it, growing up in Michigan.

"Looking good, sweetheart!"

"Why don't you take off that jacket and show us what you've got?"

Tessa, who never ran with music, groaned as two men began to follow her.

"You've got the nicest ass I've ever seen!"

She picked up her pace, hoping that she'd be able to outrun them.

"Don't play hard to get!"

Tessa gritted her teeth. She was unable to shake them despite running at nearly full pace. She made the abrupt decision to turn the corner but there was no way the men had not seen her.

A few yards in front of her, Tessa spotted the unmistakable Cubs' cap of the man who was perhaps her least favourite person. In that moment she had never been happier to see him.

"Punk!" She shouted as he started to walk in the opposite direction, coffee in hand. He turned around begrudgingly, thinking she was a fan. Behind her, the men had not relented. They were still following and calling out to her.

"What do you two assholes want?" Punk asked, stepping in front of Tessa as she ran towards him. He was shielding her and letting her catch her breath.

"To speak to hot piece of ass behind you."

"Don't ruin our fun, man," the other man said, trying to step around Punk. He stood his ground, stepping sideways and getting in the man's face.

"Does she look interested?" the tattooed man snarled. The two men shrugged. "Fuck off. Now."

With angry mumbles and wild insults, they turned around in a huff and left. Punk continued to eye them off until they were no longer in sight.

"Thank you. They weren't going to give up," Tessa said shifting awkwardly. "I suppose I'll see you around."

"You know as well as I do that that's unlikely," he said with a small chuckle.

"You're a real piece of work, you know," Tessa snapped at him. "The company isn't just about what you want. You stopped showing up and the writers had to come up with new material, new storylines." Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was glaring up at Punk, watching as his mouth twitched into a smirk. It only made her angrier.

"They've managed just fine," he retorted. "It has nothing to do with you, June."

"It does when AJ runs her mouth every week," Tessa explained to him haughtily.

Punk grunted, "She's reacting to what you say."

"I won't lie, there have been times when I've spoken first but most of the time it's her doing. She's arrogant and out of line. You were out line."

"I want a reaction from you," he told her, knowing that she was no longer just talking about his disappearance from the company. She had started to reference how he had treated her specifically. "I only ever wanted a reaction. Quiet, meek Tessa was a pushover. This is what I wanted."

"I am not a pushover."

"You're a pushover," he repeated firmly.

"You're an asshole," Tessa mumbled as she turned away from him, starting at a jog.

"Good to see you again, June," he called out to her as she disappeared.

Tessa picked up her pace, running away from Punk. She couldn't lie, she was beyond grateful that he had been able to send those men on their way. To her, Punk had always been adamant that he was the only one allowed to get under her skin.

-Detroit, Michigan-

Tessa walked into the arena, wheeling her suitcase behind her. As one of the last people to arrive, everything was almost set up and she had to manoeuvre past crates and around wires on her way to the Divas' locker room. She had a Main Event match teaming with The Funkadactyls against Foxsana and Tamina that she had to prepare for, so she hurried around the hustle and bustle.

"We were supposed to be here a half hour ago," AJ remarked as soon as Tessa pushed open the door. "That's really unprofessional of you."

Tessa shook her head, "I called ahead. I am nothing if not professional." That was maybe a stretch of the truth but Tessa was not afraid of a little white lie. No one need know that she was late because she did not want to see Colby before she absolutely had to.

AJ rolled her eyes and scowled at the Divas' Champion. The tensions between the two were at an all time high, AJ was still reeling that she had lost the title to a newcomer and Tessa was just trying to avoid the conflict. The last thing she needed was a fight between the two of them – it would only add to her stress.

It didn't take long to change into her ring gear and she was on her way, championship in hand, towards hair and makeup before AJ could say anything more. She was stopped in her path when The Shield walked out of their locker room. Neither Jon nor Joe saw her, but Colby looked over his shoulder, probably sensing that he was being watched. Tessa dropped her head immediately and became very interested in the butterfly across her belt.

Jon was impossible to miss – tall, intimidating and absolutely nonsensical in every which way. Tessa knew that The Shield was finished for the evening and she had a few things she wanted to talk about with their lunatic fringe.

"You have a couple of minutes?"

"For Black Widow? Always," he smiled at her, standing up and offering her his seat. She rolled her eyes at the reference to the latest photo Jimmy had put onto his twitter page; Halloween 2007. "This about Bloomington?"

"Maybe? I don't know... I just- I'm not a bad person. I just make really terrible decisions sometimes."

"Yeah, you do," Jon agreed without hesitation. He looked down at her, his head cocked to the side. "For such a sweet girl you make some really fucking bad decisions."

"Do you reckon we would have slept together?" she asked him, taking no time to think.

"Huh?" He furrowed his brow.

"You said that you slept with your friends' sisters," Tessa told him, and he nodded slowly. "Would that have included me?"

"That depends. Are you single when I'm doing the thing with Jimmy?"

"Probably. I still screwed up phenomenally; I suppose the only difference would have been that I stayed in the States and somehow managed to get work."

"They got over it pretty quickly, from what I know anyway," Jon said, tapping his foot lightly. "I suppose I only spoke to Jimmy and then Colby when we got to FCW, but Jimmy wasn't holding any grudges, you know? He kinda just wished that you'd been there to amp up the IPW angle." Tessa tilted her head to stare at Jon, watching him carefully. "It would have been cool, I think. Especially if you were Little Miss Perfect. Use that against him and his perfect family."

"I probably would have cleaned up June Jacobs but you would have been the one to take her back to that place of darkness," Tessa suggested with a light laugh.

"Would have been fun. To answer your question, yes we probably would have fucked at least once." Noticing the grimace that went across Tessa's face again, Jon changed his wording, "We would have slept together at least once. You work with wrestlers; the swearing sort of comes with the territory."

"I know," she shrugged and picked at a loose piece of string. "I know I shouldn't tell people what to say... I just... Swearing makes me uncomfortable. Um, Gabe – you know him, right? – he liked to swear a lot and..."

"Okay," Jon cut her off. Evidently Colby had repeated what Tessa told him. "I get it. I'll tone it down."

"Colby got over it pretty quickly?" Tessa asked, her head hanging low and her voice only slightly above a whisper.

"When he got to FCW he was with Leighla and I got word that he had a thing with Dawn-"

"Dawn?" Tessa's head shot up to look at Jon, disbelief written across her soft features. "The little Japanese ring rat?"

"You know her, then?"

"The three of them – Dawn, Emily and the one who hung around Jimmy a lot; I can never remember her name-"

"Cara."

"Cara, right." Tessa took a deep breath. "Dawn of all people."

Jon grunted, "She sinks her teeth and claws in. Doesn't let you go."

"You two, huh?" Tessa asked with a light laugh, watching as Jon pulled a displeased face.

"Everyone at one point or another. She was the-"

"Girlfriend-able one? Yeah, I heard it all. She was young and everyone thought they could get the rat out of her," Tessa explained, though Jon probably already knew. "I guess Colby was no different."

"He didn't talk about you much but if you were brought up in conversation he never said anything bad about you. Always good things. Look, I'm not here to judge anyone for what they've done. I just wanna make sure that my friends are happy and getting caught with you isn't going to make Colby happy."

"I know," Tessa conceded, reaching into her phone to check the time. She laughed under her breath. "I can't believe I answered my phone last night. I never answer to random numbers. We're in Michigan right now... I really should not have answered my phone."

"Call it fate, Jacobs. Call it fate."

a/n: Thanks to Imagineer1392, deanambooty, UntilNeverDawns, CarolReigns, nmoxracha, MJ, naive melody, ajroleplays and Straight Edge Queen who are all super lovely for taking the time to review! It doesn't take that long, guys!

I uploaded the first chapter of Darcy's sequel, In The Thick Of It, so, if you haven't already, go check it out!