(A/N: Hey! Sorry for such a long wait, the story just wasn't working for a while, but it came back! So here we are! Enjoy!)
Dolph groaned in pain as he landed wrong on the mat, eyes shutting in pain although he wasn't that badly hurt. He'd be fine if he was given a couple minutes. "Shit! Blondie, you okay?" Punk was quickly by his side, hovering worriedly over him. Dolph nodded at him, getting himself to his feet and moving his limbs to see if he actually was hurt, but he nodded again. "I'm fine, just fell a little awkwardly. She'll be right." And he was being honest, but Punk continued to hover and he inspected him, making sure for himself. Once he seemed satisfied he nodded, throwing him a small grin. "Again?" he asked, and Dolph nodded, running at the man and letting him reverse the attack and let himself end up back on the mat, staring up at the arena roof. Dolph nodded, "that was good." He huffed; grabbing Punk's outstretched hand to help himself up. Punk nodded at him, grinning. He bounced eagerly, wanting to train with the other man. He was a good wrestler after all. "Proper spar thing now?" he asked with a grin and Dolph nodded, giving him a small grin back. He was more than happy to go along with that. They wrestled each other for a while, and Dolph found himself tiring pretty quickly. Punk went for a pin, and Dolph reversed it, trying to catch the man unaware and then win, but the other man quickly did the same and Dolph was once again being pinned, but Dolph was having none of it and they rolled around on the mat for a while, trying to wear the other one down. It was certainly working. Punk finally pinned Dolph down, both men panting and sweaty, Punk held him down long enough for it to be a three count and then neither of them moved, trying to gain their breath back. Dolph stared up at Punk and he shifted slightly, suddenly feeling very trapped underneath the man, and soon he found Punks gaze had latched onto his, making him squirm again, half wanting to push the other man off and let himself have some breathing room, but then another part of him didn't know if that was what he wanted to do. Punk was just staring at him with an odd expression on his face; he seemed lost in thought about something. The air seemed to get tenser and Dolph squirmed again, pushing the other man lightly, starting to feel a small touch of panic start to settle in his chest. Punk still seemed distant and Dolph pushed a little harder starting to feel a little breathless. "Dude...get off me." He said lowly, his voice sounding all weird, even to him. That snapped Punk out of it and he got off, offering his hand to the other man and helping him up, his face still a little distant. "Sorry, Blondie, sorta...zoned out there or something." He gave him a sheepish grin but it seemed a little forced to him. Dolph hid his face and gave a little nod. "It's fine, it's fine." He was feeling better now, not feeling so pinned, literally and mentally too. A strange look passed Punk's face and he shuffled awkwardly on the mat. "I'm gonna go get ready for my match later on and stuff...I'll see you soonish, kay?" Dolph nodded then watched as the man wondered off backstage, leaving him to wonder what was up with him.
Soon he wondered backstage too, and knowing that Punk was getting ready and after that moment, whatever the fuck was up with Punk, he figured it was best to avoid the locker room for now. So he wondered the halls aimlessly, feeling awkward at being in workout clothes and not casual clothes, but he could deal. He avoided places he knew people would be, preferring to be left alone. He still didn't really know what the others thought of him anymore...and he wasn't so keen to find out. As he wondered his thoughts started to creep to places he would rather they wouldn't. The back of his mind also wondering if Punk thought any different of him now that he knew. He knew that Punk thought he couldn't remember the night before from being drunk, but he remembered, and he wasn't so sure he wanted Punk to know that. Then he'd probably bring stuff up, and it had been a mistake to say even the little that he already had. What if he started getting some ideas? What if he told other people? What if he found out? It had been stupid. He wondered when he would find him again...he had been a while but he had no doubt that he would. And if he found out he'd been talking...He tried to take a breath but it was too shallow and he couldn't breathe right. Suddenly he bumped into someone and he was sure that he'd finally be found and that he'd be dragged back into the world he clawed and fought to get out of and the panic that had started to settle in his chest exploded out and he couldn't breathe and he didn't know what to do, he just knew that he needed to get away from him and he could feel his feet desperately starting to run, but he could hear feet chasing after him. He knew he was faster though. He quickly went into a nearby room and hid himself away from sight, hoping that he hadn't seen where he'd went. He curled up into himself and tried to make himself looked smaller, trying to breathe properly, but it still wasn't working and he knew that he was going to be found. It was going to be bad. He scrambled to try and find a better place to hide, suddenly convinced that where he was wasn't good enough. He couldn't find anywhere else so he just held himself and tried to curl up, wanting to be invisible as he felt the tears of panic start. This wasn't good. This really wasn't good. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he struggled to get free of the grasp, fighting to get away. He couldn't get caught. "Hey! Calm down, Dolph!" he heard a familiar voice, but he still struggled. "Stop, calm down. Geez...uh come on...calm down." The voice semi pleaded with him and he managed to open his eyes, instantly recognising Jack, wondering why he was helping him, and why he was the one here. Why it was him and not him. Jack attempted to help him, but he wasn't doing so well. Then he heard another pair of footsteps and continued his struggling.
"Leave him alone you dick!" he heard someone snap angrily, moving to get between himself and Jack. His body easily recognised Punk and he quickly was clutching at him, seeking the comfort he usually gave. He felt safe arms go around him and he found his breath again, although it was still rugged, it was better than it had been and he felt safe and secure like this. With Punk. The other man was still glaring angrily at Jack, probably thinking he'd done something. Dolph shivered slightly, the room was actually rather cold, and he felt something warm being draped over him, he huddled closer into Punk and tried to calm himself. Punk stared at Jack suspiciously, wondering why he'd given up his jacket for a man he apparently hated. Jack stared at Punk, bristling slightly. "He was freaking out, I'm not just gonna walk away and let him...do whatever the fuck this is on his own. He was my best friend..." he trailed off. Punk glared at him still though, not convinced. "It was probably you that caused it! Stay the fuck away from him!" Jack took a step closer to Punk, looking a bit angry, a bit too tense. Dolph clutched Punk tighter, eyes closing and trying to calm himself down a bit more. "Look, I accidentally bumped into him and he just flipped out and ran away and hid. I didn't do anything! Not on purpose!" Jack was near shouting now, and Dolph whimpered slightly, looking up at the tattooed man. "He didn't do anything…just startled me." He said very softly, instantly making Punk relax a little. Jack nodded, glaring at Punk. "See! I told you!" he snorted, shaking his head, eyes flicking to Dolph for a second before flicking away again. Dolph was pretty sure he was being delusion at the fact that Jack looked a little worried. He clutched tighter to Punk, hiding his face once more. Punk managed to stand up, bring Dolph with him, who was reluctant to pull away at all.
Maneuvering their way to Punk's locker room, Punk sat Dolph down on a bench, rubbing his back softly. "Is he alright?" Jack's voice surprised him, not sure why he'd followed them in. Punk cast an almost sharp glance over to him. "I don't fucking know, alright? Why the fuck do you care?" Punk's voice was incredibly harsh, to Dolph it was pretty clear it was mainly because he was concerned and worried, his hostility towards Jack was only a small part of it, but Jack didn't know Punk was well as Dolph did. And Dolph knew Jack well enough to know that he would be offended. But Jack didn't say anything, just continued to linger, not wanting to start anything for once. Punk was about to say more before a member of the screw burst in, announcing that Punk was needed. Sighing Punk cast a glance at Jack. "If you fucking do anything while I'm gone…you will fucking die." And with that he was gone, disappearing to go fight his match, leaving Dolph alone with Jack.
Awkward silence lingered between them. Dolph could almost see the awkward flowing off the other man who clearly didn't know what to say to him, or what to do. Dolph, who was still struggling to calm himself down, get those thoughts back in check was more than delighted to have silence. After a few more linger moments with the only sound being his shaky breathing, Dolph's eyes flicked up to the other man then skittered away again. "So…you and Punk, huh?" Jack's voice inquired, forcing Dolph to look at him reluctantly. "What about me and Punk?" he shot back, caging in and not letting any emotion show, honestly not knowing what he was talking about. "You two are together. The way he was acting pretty much confirms it. You two travelling together, hanging out constantly, the way he's so fucking protective and the way you cling to him. The guys have been talking you know. Everyone knows it." Dolph had frozen. Together? People thought that they were together? He shook his head frantically. "No! No we aren't! We're just friends. Nothing else. Everyone thinks wrong." He blurted, desperate for him to hear the truth. Because he was not dating Punk, he was not dating a man, he didn't want to and he never wanted to. Never again. He wasn't getting trapped again. Jack snorted. "If you say so, Dolph." Dolph frowned at him, feeling his hands shaking again. "It's the truth! We aren't!" he borderline yelled at him, fear causing him to act out a little. Jack just nodded, letting it drop again and the silence once more filtered in. This time it was uncomfortable, Dolph struggling to keep himself calm, not to flip out again. He just couldn't grasp the concept that people thought he and Punk were together. They weren't. They weren't going to be. He didn't want to be…Did Punk want to be? Dolph worried his lip and tried to stop himself hyperventilating again. Was that why he was always so nice? Why he was so caring? Pretended to be? Because he wanted into his pants? He knew it! He fucking knew it from the beginning! He shouldn't have let himself get fooled. He was so right to have put up his walls. It was a good thing he hadn't let them down any further than he had. Holy shit he'd told Punk about him. God now that he knew he'd know that Dolph was a whore and that'd he'd just take it, let him hurt him. That had been a mistake, such a huge mistake.
He must have been obsessing for longer than he thought because when he risked a glance up again Punk was there, Jack talking to him worriedly, saying he didn't know what happened, they'd just been talking and Dolph started to freak out again. God all the times he'd freaked out and Punk had held him…just waiting for the right time to fuck him. To hurt him. "Dolph, what's wrong? What's going on?" Punk's voice finally reached his ears and he shook his head, standing up and backing away from him. "You…you want to be with me don't you?" he said accusingly, but also quietly. Punk shook his head. "Dolph…sit down, calm down, alright?" Punk replied back while Jack just watched on confused. Shaking his head frantically again and backing up a few more steps he swallowed. "You want me don't you?" he asked louder now. Punk looked at him shocked, not knowing how to respond, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to freak him out. The silence he got from his question just confirmed it, and he felt his heart start to pound harder in his chest, betrayal stinging him. "You want to fuck me, don't you?! You've wanted to all along! You want to fuck me! You want me! Jesus Christ…so stupid…" he trailed off, backing away as Punk tried to approach him. "Don't! ...Don't come near me!" he was yelling at the top of his lungs. "I trusted you! I fucking trusted you! All along…all along this was all you wanted! And I trusted you! How fucking stupid. Never should trust anyone. You wanted to hurt me all along…I knew it. I FUCKING KNEW IT!" His voice cracked and he could feel warm angry tears starting to worm their way out of his eyes, feeling like acid, burning him. Burning him for being so fucking dumb. Punk reached out to him, to comfort him, try to feed his lies into him again. But he knew now. He fucking knew. He jerked away from him, staring up at the man with wide eyes filled with broken trust. "I trusted you…" he trailed off, whispering again and running off before Punk could say another word, pushing past Jack and bolting through the hallways, out of the arena and into the street. Not caring where his feet were taking him he just ran. After all…running away was what he did best.