“I’m soooooo glad you’re back!” Paul London crooned, holding his friend tightly.
Brian Kendrick winced. The hug was very welcome, but it was getting a bit hard to breath. “Paul,” he gasped, pushing away from the other man. He mirrored Paul’s bright smile, thrilled that his friend was so happy to see him.
“I really missed you.” Paul’s grin turned a bit shy. He cleared his throat, glancing up at Brian through his long dark lashes. “I was so happy when I heard you’d re-signed! And I was wondering if you – well, if you, uh, met anybody while you were wrestling the indies. Anybody special. Because we used to, you know, talk about all our crushes, and stuff.”
Brian grinned. He thought Paul was at his cutest when he was shy. Before he had quit WWE, he and Paul had been more than best friends. There had been a bit of scintillatingly romantic experimenting between them – a romantic dinner, a night of making out on the coach, a few times when hands had brushed against sensitive regions. They had been just about to step in the “relationship” door when Brian had turned in his resignation.
“Nah, nobody special,” Brian replied, meeting Paul’s hopeful eyes. “I had lot of stuff to deal with, I wasn’t too into guys.”
“Oh. Well, that’s understandable.” Paul looked a bit nervous. He paused for a moment, bit his lip, then reached out to take Brian’s hand. “Well, um, since you’re not seeing anyone, I was hoping, maybe, we could pick up where we left off?” Paul gazed up at Brian hopefully, a sweet smile curving his mouth.
Brian smiled back. He squeezed Paul’s hand, about to reply back that he’s like nothing better, when he caught sight of a large figure moving down the hall towards him. His face fell into a stony frown, his eyes narrowing a bit as the hulk of a man stopped next to them.
“Hey, Brian.” Dave Batista stood awkwardly before the two cruiserweights, his body tense with nerves. “I just wanted to welcome you back.”
“I bet you did,” Brian muttered, his posture hostile. Paul looked between the two men, confusion overtaking his features. Brian glanced at Paul, forcibly relaxing his posture a bit.
“Can we, uh, talk for a moment?” Batista asked, glancing at Paul. “Alone?”
“Well, I’m pretty busy here, but I guess I can give you a minute,” Brian replied curtly, gesturing to the locker room door just down the hall. He turned to Paul, giving him a big smile. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said softly, letting go of Paul’s hand and following Batista into the room.
The second the door was closed, Brian’s face turned venomous. “You put one god damn hand on me, and I swear I’ll scream so loud every fan out in that arena will hear me!” he hissed.
Batista sighed, looking ashamed. “I won’t touch you Brian, I swear,” he said quietly. “I just – I wanted to talk to you, about what happened before you left.”
“Oh, that?” Brian’s eyes were like fire. “What, do you want a reenactment so you can relive your moment of glory? Let’s see if I can remember my lines…oh yeah, here they are.” Brian’s voice was half whimper half growl as he whispered, “No, Dave, don’t! Get off me! Let me go! Please let me go! Please, don’t! No! No!”
Batista closed his eyes, his face full of shame. “God Brian, I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
“Well, that sure makes it better,” Brian spat. “There’s nothing like ‘sorry’ to make you feel better after being gang raped by four men!”
“Brian, I, I didn’t know what Hunter had planned when I brought you back to that hotel room, I swear. And I’m so ashamed of what we did, Brian. Hunter had so much power over me back then – he told me to do it, and,” Batista swallowed, his voice shaky, “and I did it. It’s no excuse, and I wish to god I’d never been part of it. I know you love this business, and what we did made you quit. I’m so glad you’re back, because it’s your dream, and you deserve to make it.” He met Brian’s eyes, his own full of tears. “It’s been almost two years, and I’m a different person now, Brian. I know you probably don’t believe that, but I’ve really changed.”
Brian was silent for a moment, still glaring hostilely at the big man. “So,” he said after a moment, “you’re gonna point the finger at Hunter? He’s the brain, and you’re just the dumb muscle?”
Batista lowered his head, staring down at the ground. “I was,” he whispered. “I was Hunter’s doll in Evolution, but that’s over now. I’ve been given a second chance, and this time, I’m my own man.”
“Really.” Brian crossed his arms over his chest, still glaring. “I suppose that second chance would be Eddie.”
A small smile crossed Batista’s face. “Yeah,” he whispered softly. “My fellow rehabbing angel.”
Brian stared coldly at the giant before him, his voice like a razor. “You know, Dave, I’ve dealt with the rape. It’s the not the kind of thing you ever forget, but life moves on, and mine has. I’ve heard there’s a great balm for old wounds, though. It’s called ‘revenge’.”
Batista looked up, a bit of fear in his face. “Brian, I - ”
“Tell me, Dave,” Brian interrupted, “Does Eddie know?”
Batista swallowed. “No,” he whispered.
“Really!” Brian gave a mirthless laugh. “Well, maybe it’s about time he did.” He turned to leave, but Batista called out after him.
“Please don’t tell him! Please, Brian, he’s my life!” the big man pleaded.
Brian turned back, fixing Batista with a cold glare. “Then doesn’t he deserve to know the real you?” he growled.
Batista shook his head vehemently. “That’s not me anymore! I fucked up Brian, I fucked up so bad! But please, don’t take Eddie away from me. He’s my savior. I really do mean it when I say I’m sorry. I’ve never regretted anything more than what we did to you. I wanna help you, Brian. I wanna make it up to you, at least in some small part.”
“You wanna help me? Then stay the fuck away from me.” Brian set his hand on the doorknob, still glaring at the big man. “And stay the fuck away from Paul, while you’re at it! I do believe that people can change, Dave, but I don’t know if I can believe you. You held me down while you, Randy, Hunter, and Flair raped me – and you really expect me to believe that you’ve turned into a decent human being?” He shook his head, continuing, “I don’t know, Dave. But my eyes are always open; I’ll see what I hear backstage. If it seems that you really have changed, well, maybe I’ll think about not telling Eddie. We’ll see.” With that, he turned and left the room.
Paul was waiting down the hall, right where they had parted. The cute young brunette hurried up to Brian, curiosity and concern written in his eyes. “What was that about?” he questioned.
“Nothing.” Brian smiled at Paul, taking the young man’s hand in his again. “Forget about it. I think we were in the middle of something?” he raised his eyebrows, chuckling as Paul returned his smile.
“Yeah. I was just hoping we could pick up where we left off,” Paul replied, squeezing Brian’s hand happily.
“Sounds like an awesome place to start.” Brian raised a hand, tracing his fingers lightly over Paul’s cheek. “I really missed you too,” he whispered, leaning in to capture Paul’s lips in a gentle kiss. They shared a sweet kiss for a moment, then Brian pulled Paul into a hug, this one brief and gentle.
They exchanged smiles as they drew apart, and Brian took Paul’s
hand, leading him off down the hall. “Come on,” Brian commented to his
new partner, “I wanna go say hello to a certain Latino title contender.”