A new girl in town

Chapter 8

Kane/J.J./Sammy/Taker

After the tombstone Kane covered Hawk for the pin. The ref was down in a second but he saw Animal entering the ring. Just then he saw a blur and realized it was Taker delivering a deadly clothesline to Animal.

Guess I don't have to worry about it. Kane thought as the ref counted two and then three.

Getting up the ref raised both his and Taker's hand high. Taker looked over at him and gave him a slight smile. But it was quickly gone.

I've never seen him smile in the ring before. Kane thought. The ref released their hands and they turned to the audience and each raised both arms to a loud boisterous crowd.

Taker left the ring via the stairs but Kane flipped over the top rope to join him.

Together they walked up the ramp.

Once back behind the curtain.

"I didn't know you could tombstone." Taker said.

Kane laughed. "I did it to you that first night at badd blood." Kane said.

"Yeah that night is kinda hazy." Taker said.

Kane just laughed again.

When they reached the locker room each of them showered and waited for the show to be over.

A little after it ended J.J. was back. She showered and they left. Taker looked longingly at his bike but realized it wasn't a good idea since they had to get to the venue early so the trucks would be leaving tonight.

With a soft sigh he continued on to the back parking lot where their SUVs were parked.

Kane and J.J. went up and were almost immediately in bed and asleep.

Taker stayed up a bit with Sammy but then they too went to bed.

Kayla/Cena

Jon caught up to Kayla in the parking lot. She was sitting on a motorcycle painted in black and gold and seemed more than ready to leave.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," Jon said as he came up behind her.

Kayla turned around on the seat and shrugged.

"You found me," she deadpanned.

"How are you feeling?" Jon asked with concern.

"Sore as fuck but I'll live," Kayla replied.

"Do you want a ride? I don't know if you should be driving that with your back - "

"I'll be fine, mom," Kayla said cutting across Jon's worry.

When he didn't look convinced, Kayla rolled her eyes.

"It's a 15 minute drive at most," she said.

"I promise I won't die."

Jon sighed but gave up the argument. Taking out his phone, he pointed it at her.

"Number, please?" he asked.

Great, now I'll never get rid of him. Kayla thought. But I guess I could have picked worse company.

She gave him the number and he added it to his contacts. He paused on the last name field and looked at her.

"What is your last name anyway?" he asked.

"Jacobs," Kayla said.

"Kayla Jacobs," Jon said. "It has a nice ring."

Kayla shrugged. "It's just my name. I didn't pick it," she said.

No, Tye did. She thought. so I'm not really lying there, just not telling him everything.

Jon smiled and put his phone away.

"I'll text you later," he said, patting her on the shoulder.

Then he waved and walked to his car.

Kayla turned around and started the bike. The engine had barely turned over before she was moving.

Kayla/Cena

"Hey there," Jon grinned when the call had connected.

"What up," Kayla replied.

They passed the next little while talking about that night's show. Cena wanted to know if she'd seen his match. She said he'd been good but that she'd been bored overall.

Then she noticed what he was listening to.

"Dude, is that the new Kendric Lemar album?" she asked excitedly.

"Untitled? Yeah, I heard that Lebron- "

"Asked for new music so he released it! I know!" Kayla finished grinning.

"LBJ: officially lord of the universe, am I right?" Cena quipped. They both cracked up.

Their conversation about music went on forever. Cena's knowledge of hip hop was extensive and Kayla was impressed.

"Have you heard any of Allesia Cara's stuff?" Kayla asked.

"Yeah, that Here song was big on the radio," Cena replied.

"Oh dude, you've got so much to learn," Kayla sighed. Then she started sending him YouTube videos.

Things degenerated from there. It started with re-watching all of the iTunes news videos even though they were old, moved on to blooper videos for shows they both liked, and finished with a video Cass had sent her featuring a cop's 911 call because he'd had pot brownies with his wife and was convinced they were both dying.

Cena laughed so hard at that one that he couldn't look at Kayla for at least 10 minutes afterward without losing it.

"God, this is great," Kayla said without thinking.

Cena smiled.

"Yeah. Gimme a sec; gonna take a Benadryl," he said.

As he did that, Kayla popped a Vicodin.

And shit just got bizarre from there.

There was a rap battle but both of them couldn't remember words or focus. Then Kayla got Taylor Swift's Bad Blood stuck in her head and had to sing it but forgot what she was doing 30 seconds in.

They finally looked at the time at 6 AM.

"Holy fuck," Kayla muttered.

Cena laughed.

"I'm gonna hit the gym," he said.

"Don't die," Kayla said and they hung up.

Kayla/Kane

Kayla groaned as she collapsed in to a chair. The restaurant was empty but that wasn't surprising; no one else was likely to be up at 630 in the morning.

As she waited for someone to take her order, she went back to last night's match with Taker and Kane.

That damn announcer needs his jaw broken again. She thought.

"Cofffee, "Coffee and make it strong. Bring the whole pot," she told the waitress.

"Sure thing hun," the waitress replied perkily.

Ug, not this early. That shouldn't be allowed. Kayla thought.

Then she went back to her homicidal thoughts.

I need to remember not to use 'retarded' or any variations thereof around Kane. She decided.

I shouldn't be using that word anyway because it's oppressive language, but I do it anyway. She thought.

Guess I did learn something from that mandatory disabilities seminar after all. She thought in surprise.

She was just about to add cream and sugar to her cup when she saw Kane arrive. She still felt incredibly awkward about their conversation from yesterday but was relieved to notice that no one else was with him, especially his brother.

She raised a heavy arm and waved at him lazily.

He seemed to see it out of the corner of his eye because he paused on the way to the counter and hesitantly raised a hand in acknowledgement. Kayla smiled at him tiredly and added cream and sugar to her coffee. Then she drank it down in one and poured another cup. She was just about to add cream and sugar to it when Kane walked over.

"Morning," Kayla said as he stood beside her.

Kane nodded at her and watched as she began dumping spoons of sugar in to her cup.

"You're not really going to drink that," he said when she'd added a 6th spoon.

As she added cream, she shrugged.

"Damn right I am," she said, picking up the cup and drinking it in one again.

Kane just stared at her in disbelief.

"What?" she asked, putting the cup down and picking up the pot.

"You're going to end up with diabetes," he chided.

"Eh, everyone dies," she said nonchalantly as she poured.

Then she noticed that he was still standing.

"Have a seat," she said, gesturing at the empty chairs.

Kane hesitated and she rolled her eyes.

"Or not, whatever," she said. She tried to hide that she cared, but Kane heard it anyway.

She really wants to hang out with me? After all that happened last night. She doesn't think I'm stupid. Kane thought with surprise.

What would we even talk about? He wondered.

Kayla shrugged and drank more coffee. Kane hesitantly took the seat across from her.

"You're up early," Kayla said as she sat back.

"Couldn't sleep," Kane replied.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Kayla said. This was followed by a jaw popping yawn.

"I haven't slept yet," she said with a laugh.

Kane shook his head.

"You're going to be exhausted by tonight," He said.

Kayla shrugged. "My back was killing me all fuckin' night," she said.

"So I spent all night on Skype with Jon, totally stoned off my ass on Vicodin. It was great."

"Jon? Skype?" Kane asked.

"Cena. Skype's a video chatting thing," Kayla replied.

Since when is she friends with that idiot? Kane wondered but he didn't say anything.

"He's pretty okay," Kayla admitted.

"He thinks he's my shadow and acts like my puppy but we actually have a lot in common," Kayla said.

"That surprises me," Kane said after a moment.

Kayla shrugged.

"Hey, do you want a coffee or something?" she asked, noticing that he wasn't drinking anything. She moved to stand up but Kane shook his head.

"I'll get it," he said getting to his feet.

He was back a short while later. Kayla had emptied the pot in his absence.

"God, today is going to be fucking retarded," she muttered.

Then she looked stricken and groaned.

"Fuck me, I'm not allowed to say that anymore," she said, avoiding Kane's gaze.

"Why aren't you allowed to say it anymore?" he asked in confusion. He'd heard the word used so many times, mostly in conversation about him, that he'd grown used to it.

"Because it's highly oppressive language that's offensive to people with mental challenges," Kayla replied.

"What?" Kane asked, even more confused.

She talked about the seminar on disabilities.

They actually have to teach people what not to say. That's nuts it should be obvious not that it

stops most people from using those words especially when it comes to me. He thought ruefully.

"Have you studied this?" Kane asked.

Kayla shook her head. "My wife Cassie has. She's really passionate about that stuff," Kayla said without thinking.

Kane stared at her blinking for a second.

Kayla blushed and looked down at the table. She hadn't felt ashamed of her sexuality since coming out but she felt his judgement sting her and wished she could take the words back.

"You're married," Kane finally said.

"To. . . a woman?" he asked. He looked completely shock.

Oh god fuck me, don't tell me he doesn't know about LGBT stuff. She thought hysterically. If he doesn't know about that, there's no way he knows about polyamory or being transgendered. She thought wildly.

"Yeah, I am," she confirmed.

She could practically see the wheels in Kane's brain turning and cringed at the thought of what he might ask her next. But he didn't seem at all sure of what to say, so they sat in silence.

"Does that make you uncomfortable?" Kayla finally asked him in a small voice.

Kane looked at her and shook his head.

"No," he said.

"I just didn't know that women. . .could get married to each other." He added. He seemed embarrassed at his ignorance so Kayla rushed to reassure him.

"It's okay," she began.

"It's probably not something you've seen much of. " She said.

Kane nodded.

"If you have questions, I'm more than willing to answer them," she said with a smile.

"I'm a pretty open book. I've been out for a long time; I've even done a couple of school talks about being queer. Believe me, those kids ask some crazy shit," She added with a laugh.

Out? Queer? Kane thought. I have no idea what any of that means. I think she needs to explain.

The next hour passed with Kane hesitantly asking questions and Kayla doing her best to answer them.

Their conversation had paused momentarily when J.J. arrived.

"What have we said about leaving notes?" she asked, smacking Kane on the shoulder.

"Sorry," Kane replied, smiling sheepishly.

"It's my fault," Kayla said immediately.

"We got to talking and I kind of took up his time."

"That's okay," J.J. said as she took a seat beside Kane.

"I'm glad that he's hanging with someone besides us," she added as she looked at Kane fondly.

Deciding that she'd taken up enough of Kane's time, Kayla got to her feet.

"I'll leave you guys to it," she said.

"See you later. . . and thanks," Kane replied.

"Any time," Kayla said smiling at him.

"Later, J.J."

Then she turned and walked out of the restaurant.

"So what did you two talk about?" J.J. asked curious at why he said thank you.

"Being Queer." Kane said proud of his new knowledge.

"Queer is not the best word to use." J.J. said. "Some people might be offended."

"She uses it." Kane asked.

"Yeah but she can she's gay." J.J. replied.

"I don't think I understand." Kane said.

"Well there are some words that can be said by some people but they're offensive if said by others. Queer is one of those words." J.J. said.

"Ok." Kane said trying to remember that so he wouldn't offend anyone.

"Could you answer something for me J.J.?" kane asked.

"Anything hun." J.J. replied

"What does a bug have to do with a joint? I know it's not dangerous cause taker said it's only dangerous to a cake." Kane asked.