Let's all take this moment to rejoice the fact that I didn't take 3 months this time. Halle-freakin-lujah! Thank you to those who read, favorited, and alerted this story. And special shout outs to those who reviewed the last chapter: Cena's baby doll, awesomeone21, therealchamps, my time is now, and 1222mercedes1222. Now, let's get on with this chapter. Enjoy everyone!
"Alyssa."
The brim of her lashes were salting as she turned to see the dishevelment of Randy Orton.
"Alyssa," he said again. He mirrored her expression, physically amplified by the wrinkles on his shirt and the drying blood on his cheek. There was obvious caution in his steps when he walked towards her. "I'll talk to John. I'll let him know the whole truth and that I was only trying to get things straight with Candy."
Alyssa had her arms limply folded over her chest with her shoulders pressed against the wall. When she spoke, solemnity erupted from her voice. "You know Randy, I feel like this is more about him and me than it is of you and Candy."
Randy curled in his fingers. "Maybe, but he should know I have no association with that girl. I can't have John keep thinking I want you guys apart."
"I get that but at the same time, he's gonna have to understand that yes, there may be people out there with bad motives- people out there who don't want us together- but it shouldn't affect us; they're not in the relationship. I feel like he's letting others play such a big factor. Hell- I- I leaped whole heartedly into this. Can't he have the same faith in me?"
Randy felt himself shrinking. This wasn't the first time he'd seen defeat succumb her delicate features, and the only difference now was, he resisted all urges to hold her. His voice would have to be enough. "You guys will talk and work this out."
"But I don't even know if he wants to talk to me," Alyssa said. John had left her with ill-words which she easily translated into a threat. Before Randy takes everybody away from you. She didn't know what to make of it. And as the layers and layers of her feelings continued to strip her, she began to feel this itch of wanting to be in Randy's arms. It was the one place she'd found herself in numerous times before, in several different parts of her life. But she kept her distance and instead, moved away from the concrete behind her. A gush of air passed through her hair and seeped onto her neck, mingling with her sweat.
"John is crazy about you. He's not gonna let this get in the way of anything. I know this is all new to you, but it is for him, too. It'll work itself out, so don't stress yourself out."
Alyssa hugged herself and nodded in silence. There was something real sweet about Randy when he wanted to be. And that's exactly what she's known for most of her life, up until the last few months. Up until John.
"And I'll do my part to stay away. You two deserve a Randy-free vacation."
Alyssa's eyes gleamed at his humor. And at the truth. Her stare lingered, and she noticed the mark on his face. "You bled."
"I did?" Randy drew his hand up and felt the moist cut. "I did, huh. It's the least I deserve."
Not sure whether to agree or disagree, Alyssa instinctively moved closer to circle her arms around his muscled torso. She nursed her cheek with the fabric of his shirt, exhaling deeply behind her teeth. This caught him by surprise, and although she didn't see his reaction to prove that, she knew this was exactly what she needed to get through the rest of the day.
The harsh clang of barbells falling by John's feet wasn't enough to divert him from flashbacks of earlier. He was in a room full of equipment and free of people- a dream setting to a wrestler right before a show- but his mind drifted off to places far from exercise and working out. Instead, images of Alyssa's firm demeanor after she'd peeled him off Randy haunted him. The concern in her eyes was obvious, but it was for who John couldn't decide upon. Fact was, Alyssa had stood up for Randy yet again. It was Randy's side she took right away. It was Randy's ass she tried to save. It was Randy, Randy, Randy.
It's always been Randy.
With this thought, John allowed his knees to unbuckle beneath him. He slumped onto the ground letting gravity take reign. Somehow, even breathing became a difficult task. Whether it was anger or jealousy directing these actions, John knew it was doing great lengths to sustain him from productivity. His eyes had been glued to more ground than his feet had covered all day. He had severe withdrawals of Alyssa and her company and her kiss and her touch, but it was Randy she was thinking about. It was probably Randy she was with right now.
And that thought drove John absolutely crazy. He just wanted it to go away. His emotions had never been so controlling; he felt like a slave. Every passing minute left him in shambles from the last, working relentlessly to further infuse confusion and frustration. He wanted to be Alyssa, but Randy was making it irreconcilably difficult. And worse part was, she wasn't making it any easier.
Huffing, John stood up to lift the fallen weights for a standing barbell curl. He did so again and again and again, easily catching a natural rhythm. The mirror in front of him proved useless, his vision was far too blurred by his uncanny desire of falling into oblivion, to notice the way his biceps constricted with each move.
Why were Randy and Alyssa so unbreakable? She stuck up for him over and over, despite everything he's done, with seemingly no regard for anybody else. Was this how it's going to be with Alyssa?
Unable to even begin to explore the answer, John forced himself into contemplating which heavier load of weights to take on. Robotic tendencies, like the Prototype he once claimed to be, was the only way he'd get through the rest of the day.
A simmering field of disappointment shot through Alyssa when she checked her phone for the umpteen time. This blow was just as hard to endure as the first, the fifth, and the last, because the result was all the same: there was still no text back from John. It'd been hours since she left him a message asking him to see her. After sitting alone hopelessly backstage, she was beginning to think it'd be better if she went elsewhere. At least she wouldn't be tortured with every little sound hoping it was John. She wouldn't be whipping her head side to side like a loose door in a hurricane. This was torture. All she wanted was a chance to see him, a chance to be together, a chance to make it right. She didn't intend for John to feel second to Randy, it was simply her guilt that pushed her to his defense. And to have the two men, the two people she's only ever cared about, in a physical brawl was just something she could not take. It horrified her to imagine what damage could've been done to either of them. She pulled back John hoping to deflect the affliction but the look on his face when he saw her- now ingrained to memory- looked just as devastating. And his words that followed further confirmed that with John, there could be no Randy.
How did things get this way? How did it turn into having one or the other? Why did it have to be a choice?
Alyssa had been good at keeping her distance from Randy. For the first time in years, she'd ventured off in this new phase of life without her best friend- without Randy. Albeit the fact that it was going well, she refused to believe that she was doing it for anybody but herself. If she was going to cut Randy out of her life, it would have to be for her and her only.
John, she hoped, would understand that. She also hoped that he knew there was no choice to be made and that there was no competition. After all, the heart couldn't choose who it was it fell for. But somehow, John was still not talking to her.
Taking her chin from the palm of her left hand, she straightened out her wrist and stood up. Enough was enough. She could wait for his text without being in his proximity. At this point, it wouldn't have made a difference. It was obvious John wanted space, and she was done denying that.
She snatched her purse and slung the thin leather strap around one shoulder. Her steps grew steadfast as her journey out of the arena continued. It was like her body was finally beginning to reject this place and by the time the outside air whipped her face, utter relief engulfed her frame. She could breathe. She fished her purse for her keys and as the jingling metals surfaced her fingers, somebody came up beside her.
"Alyssa."
Her fingers loosened their grip. She snapped her head to the side and opened her mouth only to close them in a firm line.
"You and John obviously have communication problems."
"You know Stacy, I don't know what's keeping you around, as if you have some relevance in our lives, but if I were you, I'd get one of my own."
"News flash, this is my life. John and I-"
"John and you had something, yes. And quite frankly, that's none of my business. But that's all over now. It's in the past, Stacy. You should leave it there."
"Oh?" Stacy furrowed her eyebrows and pretended to look hurt. A smirk tugged at the ends of her lips. "Well, since we're giving each other advice now, I should probably tell you that next time you get in bed with Cena, wrap your legs around his neck with no pants and no underwear on. He really likes that."
Alyssa's hand twitched as the other woman sauntered off into the distance. She sure looked pleased with herself and Alyssa wanted nothing more than to slap it right out of her face.
"That did not just fucking happen." Alyssa's eyes followed the perpetrator, failing to dull the palpitations. She wanted to hit the girl and forget about her all at the same time. It was ridiculous. "I don't need this right now. I don't fucking need this."
Alyssa hastily grabbed her keys and clicked open her car door. If one thing was for sure, she needed to get the hell out of there.
11:00 in big red letters was the last thing Alyssa remembered seeing before drifting off into involuntary sleep. A rustle erupted from behind her, shortly after a door swung open, waking her instantly. Being a light-sleeper was a blessing and curse at the same time, but now that it was John she was seeing, it proved to be nothing but a gift. She rubbed her freshly parted eyelids and sat up. The sweat she'd accumulated during sleep was sticking to her back, making her silk shirt feel like second skin. She watched closely as John dumped his duffle bag on the floor before heading straight to the bathroom. He didn't once take a glance her way. Sighing, she eyed the clock and read 2:00. Raw had been over for hours; she wondered where he'd been this whole time.
After a few minutes, John retreated back into view but still said no word to her.
"Is this my punishment for having Randy in my life?"
John gritted his teeth and knelt beside his duffle bag. As he rummaged through it, he said, "I'm just trying to accept where your priorities are."
"My priorities? John, I'm with you. I'm your girlfriend. That's where my priorities are."
For the first time in several hours, John looked at her. "Oh yeah? That's not how it looked earlier."
"I've kept some healthy distance from Randy, but I just couldn't watch you guys fight-"
"And you're the first to jump in to defend him." John straightened out his legs and reached his peak height. The look on his face was unreadable even though his tone was laced with anger.
"I was just tryna let you know he had nothing to do with what Stacy has done. I wasn't trying to cover up for him. I just wanted you to get things straight."
Exhaustion had been tugging on his muscles all day and this was still no break. "You know Alyssa, we don't have any problems without him."
She curled her fingers possessively over the white duvet. "But you make him a problem when he doesn't have to be."
"I make him a problem?" John pointed at himself, raising both eyebrows. "Hell, he was the reason you and I were apart for three weeks. Three fucking weeks! I respect the fact that you wanted to forget what happened to you, but don't undermine the fact that I pushed aside my pain for you. It hurt like hell to know that you couldn't even tell me the truth, Alyssa. And that you let it keep us apart. You let me keep thinking you and Randy were actually sleeping together. But you know, I've been trying damn hard to forget all of it- just to be with you."
The starchy pause thickened the airways in Alyssa's throat, and she immediately feared what he was about to say next.
"But I feel like there's so many things in the way."
"Nothing is in the way, John. This is who I am, and I can't change any of it. You don't think I would've changed things if I knew it'd hurt you? Randy- Randy's all I've ever known- all I've ever had. Yeah, he's over-possessive and attached, but I guess I've been of him, too. I grew up with his presence- from childhood, to teenagehood, to adulthood- he was always there. I've grown scared to loose that. Overtime, we learned to stand by each other no matter what, because we've didn't wanna end up alone."
"But you have me."
"I know I do, but does that mean I have to lose him, too? I see how toxic he is to our relationship, which is why I've taken the steps to cut him off. But John, I wanna do it because I said so. Not because you said so. I don't wanna resent you later. I don't want us telling each other how to live our lives. This is me, and I know it's not easy being with me."
"No, it hasn't been easy."
"I've never been in a real relationship, and you knew that going into this."
John dropped his head, his guards instantly dissipating as he did. He moved towards the bed, and joined his girlfriend, sitting directly in front of her. "I did know that. And I got caught up on being scared that Randy could just take you away from me."
"I'm here, John." She reached for his hands and squeezed his fingers. "You have me in a way no one's ever had me. No one can take that away even if I wanted them to. So please, can we just focus on us? We've had our minds floating above other people ever since we started this, we need some Al and John time."
John's lips perched up in relief for the first time all day. He didn't say another word but instead used one of his big hands to cradle Alyssa's cheek right before giving her a kiss.