It's Saturday, Ricardo and Sofia are buzzing around the house, checking things off of a somewhat sizeable to-do list to prepare for Alberto's return after eleven days competing for AAA, ROH, Lucha Underground, and other indy events. Sofia takes care of inside of the house, of course, which leaves coordinating the yard staff and the mechanics to make sure that everything's fine there to Ricardo. He's just dismissed the gardener when his phone rings. He hums and tugs it out of his pocket, surprised to see it's his former employer's name flashing on his screen. "Hola, El Patron? Shouldn't you be at the airport by now?"
"Si, mi hermano. And I am, it's just..." He sounds tired, oddly strained. "I wanted to hear your voice first."
"What's wrong?" Ricardo can tell immediately that something's off. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, si, I just-"
"Alberto." He rarely uses the other man's first name, so used to referring to him as El Patron, but when he does, it definitely makes the Mexican aristocrat listen. "I've barely heard from you the last couple of days and I assumed it was because you were so busy, but if there's something wrong, I want... I need to know. Por favor..."
Ricardo's tense voice snaps something in Alberto because he finally explains in hesitant Spanish, not trusting his English to describe the events properly. How, during his Lucha Underground match against Texano, he'd felt a sharp pain. It had eased when the adrenaline was pumping, and he'd had so many responsibilities he'd tried to ignore the growing pain in his thigh... but by the time he'd arrived to Connecticut, his leg could barely carry his weight and he'd had no choice but to get checked out. The quad injury he's diagnosed with, although minor, is the last thing he needs right now, but he seems a little relieved after explaining it to Ricardo.
The ring announcer, however, is far from it. But he can't say or do anything as he hears Alberto's flight announced in the distance. "Alright, El Patron, it's ok. I'll see you soon, just... take care of yourself, and if you need anything, please ask the flight attendants, alright? Don't risk yourself further..." But he knows as soon as the words have left his mouth that there's no way, Alberto delayed getting checked out as long as possible... his pride would definitely keep him from asking for help. He grits his teeth, wishing he was traveling with Del Rio again right now, but... Aware that it's pointless to hope for such things, he quickly returns to the house and peeks into the kitchen. "Sofia," he says, motioning her to follow him.
She immediately drops everything, not liking the serious look on Ricardo's face. Trailing after him as he wanders from living room to bedroom and back, collecting his keys and wallet and whatever else he thinks he might need, she frowns. "What's wrong, Ricardo? Is it-"
He turns, facing her, and rests his hands on her shoulders. "Alberto was injured on Wednesday," he tells her quietly, hugging her as she gasps and presses her fingers to her lips in fear. "In his match against Texano. His quad... I'm not sure how bad it is, but he apparently can barely walk. I'm going to the airport to see what I can do for him. You stay here, call his doctor, see what we can on that front, si?" She nods, face still awash in horror, and he squeezes her for a moment longer before pulling away. "He'll be alright, Sofia. We'll get him through this, like we always do." He smiles at her and turns to leave, wondering what else could possibly go wrong this weekend. He'd already been dreading watching Total Divas the following night and now, this, learning that Alberto is hurt...
As soon as he parks at the airport, he hits the ground running... or well, walking as quickly as he dares in an airport. Approaches the information desk and waits for his turn to be paid attention to, watching the departures and arrivals list flashing on a screen not that far away, anxiously drumming his fingers against the side of the desk. Finally a woman looks over at him and he snaps to attention, walking closer to her. "How may I help you?"
He takes a breath. "Hello. I was wondering if you allow gate passes here?" She raises her eyebrows and nods, about to say something, when he releases a breath. "Great, fantastic. My friend was..." He falters, aware of how the general population responds to hearing someone's a professional wrestler, but plows on, unable to think of a good explanation without telling the truth. "...competing in a wrestling match and he injured his leg, he can barely walk. He's too prideful to ask for help, and I don't want him to injure himself any further, so I need to get as close as I can to help him..."
She purses her lips. "Our airport staff would be more than happy to help him with his luggage, and to get off of the plane..."
"I know," he tells her. "I'm not insulting your staff or the airline, I'm just afraid he won't ask for help, I was his associate for years and he pretty much only trusts me to help him with these things... So I need a gate pass if possible."
She stares at him for a moment. Finally she nods. "I need to see your ID, sir." The process actually goes pretty quickly, Ricardo signing what needs to be signed and listening to the woman's explanation of what he'll need to do on the way to the gate. Once done, she hands him the pass with a small smile. "I hope your friend will be alright."
"Thank you," he tells her before turning to begin the process of making his way to Alberto's gate. He's sent through TSA lines, his pockets emptied and shoes ran through the scanner, the things from his pockets left in a plastic baggie. A cranky looking security guard then directs him to the gate that Alberto's plane will be landing at shortly. He watches for it and, only a few minutes after it's announced over the loudspeaker, Ricardo spots it. He holds his breath as it taxis to a stop, people slowly making their way into the airport shortly afterwards. He has to shake his head in fond exasperatoin when Alberto comes off of the plane a minute after everyone else, struggling with his carry on and, yep, limping noticeably. His head is bowed and he looks far from pleased, which really who is after a lengthy traveling day... especially while injured?
Ricardo grimaces and walks over to him, resting a hand on Alberto's back to steady him before reaching over to snag the bag handles and take it from him. Alberto gapes down at him, blinking in shock. "Mi hermano!" he exclaims, squeezing Ricardo's shoulder. "But- how?"
Ricardo grins and winks at him. "Well, I am your best friend, El Patron. I suppose I've learned some of your tricks. Come, now." Draping the bag over his shoulder, he helps Alberto the rest of the way and settles him into a seat to wait for the other piece of Alberto's luggage to appear on the carousel. "How bad is it?" he wonders, peeking over at Alberto as he instinctively reaches out for his leg at a spasm of pain.
"I can manage," he sighs. "I can't wait to be home though, mi hermanito."
"Si... I've told Sofia to call your doctor. He can examine you properly in the comfort of your own home."
Alberto reaches over and claps Ricardo on the shoulder once more before he spots his bag. "There, mi amigo."
Ricardo collects it quickly and goes back to help Alberto up, looping both bags against his free arm while wrapping the other around Alberto's midsection and helping him through the airport. "If you need to sit, you let me know," he tells him, sharply reminded of when his own ankle had been broken thanks to Swagger and Alberto's legs were constantly a target as well, the two of them struggling to help each other through that difficult time.
"Si," he murmurs, breathing heavily in Ricardo's ear with each sharp pain.
"Almost there," the younger man urges him, pushing the door to the parking lot open. Relieved that he had thought ahead to valet it, he hands over the ticket to the man who approaches them and settles Alberto down on a bench to wait, staring at him worriedly as he presses his hand against Alberto's and carefully loosens his tight grip on his thigh, using his other hand to lightly massage where he can feel the bandages used to wrap up his injury. "It's going to be ok, El Patron." Alberto stares at him, his eyes heavy with a dark emotion, but before he can vocalize anything, the car arrives so Ricardo helps him over to it, settling him in the passenger's seat when he refuses to stretch out in the back seat. After collecting the luggage and stuffing it in the trunk, he quickly runs over to the driver's seat and checks on Alberto before driving off for home.
The ride is quiet, Alberto struggling to stabilize his breathing, each bump and sudden stop making his leg throb harder, Ricardo's apologies doing little to distract him. "Damn drivers," he hisses, Ricardo making an agreeing noise. It's hard to tell which of them are more relieved when they arrive home, Alberto's doctor's car already parked by the house. As soon as Ricardo has him inside, the doctor takes over, quickly undoing his bandages and giving him a more comfortable wrap, examining the leg with deft fingers. Sofia stares anxiously at Ricardo as they stand in the doorway, waiting for a verdict, but the doctor confirms what Alberto had been told already and they all sigh.
Sofia sees the doctor out as Ricardo gets some fresh ice and, after wrapping it in a towel, rests it on Alberto's leg, kneeling down in front of him. "It's going to be ok, El Patron."
"No it won't!" he snaps at Ricardo, whose eyes widen in long forgotten fear, Alberto immediately sitting back against the couch and scrubbing his face with a shaking hand. "Lo siento, mi amigo. It's just... I have so much to make up for, and I can't do that if I'm injured!" Falling into angered Spanish mumblings, he slams a fist down against his thigh, gritting his teeth against the fresh pain.
Ricardo is frozen in shock, only moving in time to catch his hand before he can repeat the action, pressing his arm against his chest. "No, no! Stop!" he cries out, scrambling onto the couch and staring desperately at his best friend. "What could you possibly have to make up for? Hm?"
"Everything," Alberto hisses. "To the fans, for how I treated them after joining the WWE, when my ego and anger overwhelmed me... To my family, for shaming them... To my people, for not being a person they could look up to... To you," he adds after a second. "For how I treated you, no matter how loyal you were. My leg cannot be injured and keep me from my responsibilities. It can't!"
There are tears filling Alberto's eyes now, Ricardo swallowing heavily as he leans forward and snags Alberto's neck, drawing him in until they're staring in each other's eyes. "Listen to me, El Patron. You owe us all nothing, you've made your own path, this time is for you... for you to find the success you deserve. It has nothing to do with the fans or me, it's what you've worked so hard for. As for your responsibilities, we'll figure it out. As long as you won't run the risk of injuring yourself further, we will be going to Australia in a couple of weeks together... We'll just talk with your doctor, and see what he thinks, alright?" Alberto looks like he's about to argue but Ricardo won't allow him, squeezing his neck. "I know how proud you are of the work you've done so far, and determined to meet all of your scheduled dates, but El Patron, it's not worth your health. Por favor... don't push it and do anything to hurt yourself worse."
Alberto searches his face for a moment before nodding wearily, squeezing his gritty eyes shut. "Fine, fine. I won't, for you, Ricardo." His eyes are still wet, hands trembling a little, so he's relieved when Ricardo pulls him in for a hug so he can pretend that his tears aren't noticed in the protection of his best friend's warmth. "Gracias, mi hermanito," he murmurs against the black fabric of his sweatshirt.
Ricardo nods, rocking him back and forth slightly and running his fingers through Alberto's short hair. "Any time, El Patron," he whispers back, looking up to find Sofia watching them with a bittersweet look on her face. His own smile is a little strained and painful and he's somewhat relieved when she backs away and heads into the kitchen to give them some privacy. "Let's get you to bed, hm? You can rest, and maybe you'll feel a little better after a nap," he offers after a few minutes.
Alberto nods, quiet as Ricardo helps him stand up, guiding him to his bedroom. Once Alberto's comfortable in bed, Ricardo settles in next to him, wanting to make sure he's nearby if he should need anything, messing around on his cell phone. "Mi hermano..."
"Si?" Ricardo whispers, peering over at him. "Do you need something?"
He's drifting quickly, his dark eyes nearly closed, but he still finds the cohesiveness to murmur, "I want to watch Total Divas with you tomorrow night."
Ricardo gapes at him before murmuring, "Do you think it'll distract you from the physical pain you're already in?"
He's half kidding, but it's worth it when Alberto barks out a sharp laugh, rolling over and wrapping an arm around Ricardo. "No, I just don't want you to have to watch that alone..." He breathes heavily, very nearly asleep when he speaks again. "I'm so sorry about Paige."
Ricardo rests a hand on his arm and looks up at the ceiling, nodding blankly. "Me too," he mumbles, wondering if there's any chance that he and Paige will find a happy resolution to whatever this episode will reveal like Alex and Alicia did or if it will ruin everything...
-x
Sunday starts off slow and simple. Alberto insists on being moved back to the living room so Ricardo obliges him, making him comfortable on the couch, standing over him until he allows him to put his legs up on the cushions, placing comfortable pillows under his injured thigh and icepacks above it to lessen as much of the pain as possible. The medicine prescribed to him leaves him complacent and dozing most of the afternoon so Ricardo sits with him, reading or sketching. Sofia joins them a couple times, usually with lunch or supper, or more of Alberto's medicine, and they sit next to the couch, first working together to wake Alberto up and then to help him eat, due to how groggy he is. Which, Ricardo thinks, if he had to choose between a sleepy Alberto and an agonized Alberto, he'd gladly keep the sleepy Alberto.
Once supper is ate and Sofia has retreated back into the kitchen, Ricardo soothingly rubs circles in Alberto's arm. Absentmindedly checking the clock, he swallows hard when he realizes that Total Divas is inching distressingly closer. Resting Alberto's arm back against the couch, he's just stood up and turned towards the door leading into the hallway when Alberto's fingers wrap around his wrist and tugs him back with a surprising amount of strength considering he seemed fast asleep not that long ago. "Hey, hey, El Patron, it's ok," he says quietly, sitting back down and resting his hand on Alberto's. "I'm just going to go to my room to watch Total Divas so I don't disturb your rest."
"No," Alberto huffs, struggling to sit up. "I told you... mi hermanito... I wanted to watch that with you. You shouldn't be alone." His eyes are dark, blown with pain and the medicine he'd been given, but he continues fighting everything working against him remaining conscious. "I've seen the previews. Por favor, Ricardo, allow me to do this for you."
Giving in, the ring announcer nods. "Very well, El Patron, but you're going to keep resting, si?" He moves to sit on the couch and, gently grabbing Alberto's shoulder, lays him back down so he's sprawled out over Ricardo's legs, his head pillowed by the armrest. "This comfortable?" Ricardo's fingers stroke through Alberto's hair carefully as the older man nods.
"You're trying to make me fall back asleep," he mumbles, eyes already fluttering shut.
"It's already working," Ricardo admits, smiling fondly down at him.
"Sneaky," he slurs with no heat behind his words.
He's asleep when the episode begins, which means he misses the entire opening scene with Rosa, Alicia and Paige... which, Ricardo muses, mortified, is a very good thing, but he wakes up within the first fifteen minutes, staring up warningly at Ricardo before turning his attention to the show. It's been slow so far- Paige, Alicia and Rosa going to Florida Keys, a trip Ricardo remembers hearing about vaguely... with a couple of Paige's "friends", an uncomfortable amount of attention being put on this guy named Brandon. They watch on quietly, Alberto peeking over at Ricardo when the group go onto a cruise ship and Brandon sings a song for Paige, the diva responding by kissing him for so long that Alberto thinks the screen has frozen on his TV.
Ricardo's clearly far from pleased but he doesn't say anything, a gleam in his eyes that Alberto thinks spells trouble for Paige the next time he sees her, understandably enough. Things go from bad to worse when Paige, after insisting that Brandon is nothing but friend's with benefits and that she doesn't want anything serious, confesses that she's only acting like this because of a prior relationship that had left her acting like a person she didn't want to be, that she's scared to open herself up to another relationship for this reason.
But as bad as the first hour is for Ricardo, nothing can compare to hour two. The first words out of Paige's mouth here is that she and Brandon are officially a thing and have been for a month, and Ricardo grits his teeth, his eyes boring a hole through the TV as the episode progresses and she invites Brandon to move in with her despite claiming a few minutes ago that she had wanted to move slowly. Brandon hesitates, then suggests she meet his mother first. Things fall apart between Brandon and Paige quickly, due to his refusal to tell his mother about moving in with Paige, which leads to a conversation during which Brandon's mom lets it slip that he was married prior. A fact Paige had been unaware of and only incites the diva's rage further when he refuses to talk any further about it. By the end of the episode, she packs her things and leaves in a huff after breaking up with Brandon. The relationship lasting barely two episodes does very little to comfort Ricardo.
He gently pushes Alberto up, squirming out from under him and laying him back down before walking over to the patio door to look out into the darkness. It had only been a month ago when Alex had stormed out of these very doors after watching Alicia show a side of herself to the world that none of them had known before, the two of them returning a little over an hour later, engaged and stronger together as a couple due to it. He doubts that that will come close to happening here... Turning back to Alberto, he stares helplessly at him and shakes his head, tears filling his eyes. "Why did she do all of that, El Patron? I wasn't enough for her? She couldn't even warn me ahead of time, just... said that it looked worse than it was?" His shoulders start to shake. "She lied, she lied to me. It looked worse because it was!"
He's breathing hard, close to hyperventilating, when Alberto manages to free himself from the couch cushions and get to his feet, limping over to his best friend, his pain and grogginess all but forgotten in the face of Ricardo's heartbreak. Wrapping his arms around him, he pulls him in for a hug and murmurs against his temple. "Breathe, Ricardo. In time with me, that's right." He makes soothing noises and continues to breathe deeply until Ricardo matches him, tears soaking through his shirt to his shoulder. "If I've noticed anything, it's that Paige isn't good with her emotions," he whispers to Ricardo. "And she's young and impulsive. It's no excuse but let's wait and see... we both know these reality shows can skew things to fit their own agenda. Talk to her first before you decide on what to do." He pulls back and cups Ricardo's face, shaking his head slowly as he examines his redrimmed eyes. "Look what happened when Alex did..."
Ricardo sniffs and nods, wiping at his eyes before realization crosses his face and he grips Alberto's sleeve. "You shouldn't be up! El Patron, are you trying to injure yourself worse?" Leading him back, Ricardo grimaces and readjusts the pillows and ice packs around Alberto before dropping down onto his knees on the floor next to the couch. He leans over and buries his face in his hands, trying to control his emotions, when Alberto begins to massage his neck.
"You're going to be ok, mi hermanito," he whispers. "No matter what comes of this."
Ricardo wants to believe him so badly, but he can't find the energy to believe in much of anything right now.
-x
Ricardo is going to Europe, and then Australia, the following couple of weeks, so he spends Monday training. He doesn't even check Raw results online, relieved to have something other than what he'd seen the night before to focus on. He controls himself through the practice matches, careful not to hurt any of his opponents, but afterwards, he takes to working over a punching bag- mostly because it's present, and partially because Alberto swears by boxing as a stress reliever. And although he does fall into a steady rhythm of punches and kicks against the red leather, it's not the bag he's seeing, but Brandon's dopey face. Tiring quickly of this, he peels the gloves off of his wrists and releases a breath, nodding at the gym owner as he passes him by, relieved to shower quickly, change into street clothes, and leave.
He arrives at home and, after checking on a fast asleep Alberto, collapses into bed face down, exhausted physically and emotionally to the point that he's asleep as soon as he hits the mattress. It doesn't last as long as he'd like, however, when he wakes up with the awareness that someone's in the room with him. He doesn't roll over, simply listening as Paige pads over to the bed and settles in under the sheets, curling close to him. They have a lot to talk about, he knows, but he just can't move to face her right now. It doesn't matter anyway because she falls asleep within minutes, her breaths soft and warm against his arm.
He must fall asleep again at some point because the next thing he sees is sun shining down onto his bed, Paige looking up at him with an almost scared look in her dark eyes. "Hello, love."
"Hola." They stare at each other for a long moment and he sighs. "Why didn't you tell me what was going on?"
She sits up and turns to face him, sitting cross legged on the edge of the bed. "I know I told you last week that I wasn't sure what footage was going to be used. It's true. But I had a feeling that this would make it on there because I orchestrated it."
He stares at her, confused. "What?"
"You have to realize, Ricardo... my big contribution to this season of Total Divas was I was a prankster and I wanted to get a tattoo despite it maybe costing me my job. Big bloody deal, right? They've kicked divas off for less, and I wanted this experiment to continue being a success... Even Alicia had had more drama to bring to the table than I did, with Wade. She and I made a pact when we signed on that we wouldn't mention you and Alex and I really wasn't going to bring you into things especially when you were still trying to get everything figured out after leaving WWE."
"Fine," he sighs. "I can understand that... but Brandon?"
"A friend of mine, as it was stated in the show. He was the only one I really felt comfortable with, so I went to him and suggested we act like we're interested in each other and take it from there so I had something interesting for the season finale. It worked because they let us have a sizeable amount of time on the season finale. I wanted to tell you but I couldn't figure out how to explain it without knowing what they were going to actually air."
He nods, running circles into the blanket with his fingers. "That kiss definitely seemed friendly," he can't help but say, looking everywhere but at her.
She leans forward and rests her hand on his. "I'm so sorry, Ricardo. I know I should've told you. I didn't want us to become like Alicia and Alex, and now we're worse, and understandably so. I know it's probably too little, too late, but I promise to never do this to you again. If something's going to happen in Total Divas, I'll definitely let you know."
He stares at her. "Alright. At least there's a few months without Total Divas to cause problems in relationships, huh?" His chuckle is weak, clearly fake, but when he slips his hand out of hers, she allows it, understanding that he just needs time more than anything else right now. "I need to check on Alberto."
"Alright," she murmurs as he leaves. Once he's gone, she ducks her head and breathes. "Hang in there, Paige. It'll be ok."
But it isn't, not right away. They watch NXT quietly, Alex wrestling CJ Parker and winning for the first time in what feels like forever. Ricardo tenses when Kevin Owens promises to end his career. "Damn," he sighs, not liking the sounds of that at all. By what he had seen, if anyone could accomplish it, it'd be Owens. He hopes that Alex will be able to overcome.
Paige has to fly out to Smackdown the next day and she cups Ricardo's face, kissing him slowly. "I know things are tense between us, and I'm going to give you space so you can enjoy Europe and Australia... I hope that things will feel a little better for you when you come home. I love you."
He hears her out, his forehead resting against hers. "I love you too," he murmurs.
Alberto's leg is still tender and weak, so Ricardo refuses to allow him to go to the airport when he flies out for Europe that Friday. "I'll be waiting for you at the Australian airport, El Patron. Take care of yourself until then... Sofia will surely make sure of it."
He smirks at him and Alberto rolls his eyes, hugging him back. "Si, mi hermano. You have a great time as well. And," he adds, cupping Ricardo's face before he can stand up straight. "Try not to let what Paige did dictate your time over there. Enjoy yourself, explore and take it all of the sights. I'll catch up with you in about a week.
He nods. "Gracias, El Patron, I will." Collecting his bag, he heads for the door. Turning to Sofia, he smiles at her and hugs her.
"I promise, I will make sure he does what the doctor advises," Sofia tells him softly.
"I know you will. And take care of yourself, Sofia," Ricardo reminds her with a smile. "I'll take lots of pictures of Europe and Australia for you."
"Gracias, I look forward to seeing them," she says, leaning up on her tiptoes and kissing him on the forehead. "See you soon."
"See you," he agrees with a soft smile. Once he's outside, he releases a breath and stares up at the windows through his windshield. Certain he can see his family watching him from the side window, he waves there before pulling away and driving towards the street. On his way finally to the cities he'd missed exploring properly while working for WWE.