Breakdown 8-26-21 #1
July 24
Santa Barbara
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The morning after the party, when I woke up, Tommy still wasn't in bed with me. I had a headache from drinking but I'm one of those people who remember everything from being drunk. My first thought was... oh shit, did Tommy find Ashley in my studio? My second thought was, holy shit I need to pee. I got up, took care of that, then sat on the edge of the bed. I was afraid to leave the room. I didn't know where Tommy was, if anyone else was still here, anything. I realized that I couldn't hide forever and wouldn't get any answers just sitting there, so I made myself get up, wrap a robe around my PJ shorts and cami, and made my way downstairs. Halfway down I smelled coffee and realized why I'd woken up alone – Tommy was up. Maybe he did come to bed and I just slept through it. I walked past him and sat at the table. He was leaning against the counter waiting for the coffee to finish. I could smell something else, too.
“What, no good morning?”
“Nah, just morning. I've got a massive headache. Coffee is extra strength.”
“Were you that fucked up?”
Tommy just nodded. He opened the frigde and pulled out a pizza box, then slid half a pepperoni pizza onto a pan I hadn't noticed was on the counter. That's what the other smell was – the oven warning up. I snickered.
“Pizza and coffee for breakfast?”
“Best hangover cure there is.” Tommy smirked.
“I don't know... I used to swear by orange juice and pickles.”
Tommy made a face. “That sounds disgusting.”
I shrugged. “It worked. But I'm willing to try your way.”
Tommy put the pizza pan in the oven. The coffee was done so he poured us each a mug then sat at the table across from me. We both sipped, and despite it being the dead of summer, the hot drink went down well. Tommy looked at me over the rim of his mug, the strangest expression on his face.
“What?”
“I... just, I thought you had your hair different last night.”
“I did unbraid it to go to bed.”
“That must be it. I must have been more fucked up than I thought.”
“You were pretty out of it. It seemed like you were annoyed about something.”
A slight glare crossed his face, then he sighed. “Yeah. Yeah I was. I wasn't expecting Gable's guest to be who it was.”
“Harmony? She seemed cool.”
Tommy laughed, harshly. “Far from it.”
“Oh. It's like that?”
“Yeah. Not really a thing I want to get into, at least not while nursing a hangover.”
“I wasn't gonna press you.”
“Good.” Tommy smirked. “Cause I'd much rather talk about all the fun from last night instead.” The look on his face was the one he usually makes when talking about fucking me, but I'd clearly not fucked him last night, I was with Ashley! Who, by the way, I still hadn't seen. I had no idea if he was still here or not, and trying to look outside for his car was impossible from the kitchen.
“Oh yeah? Tell me about it.”
Tommy smirked again, like he thought I was joking. I wondered if he was still half-drunk.
“Well, it was hot, and wet... and did I mention hot?”
“I mean.... it's July and we were swimming.”
Tommy tilted his head, like that wasn't the response he was expecting. “Are you playing innocent on me now?”
“Come on, you know I am far from innocent.” Especially after last night... I sipped my coffee to keep myself from saying anything else.
“I certainly do.”
Tommy kept looking at me oddly, back and forth from blatant ogling – which I'm used to and love – and a sort of confused stare, like he was trying to remember something. Maybe he has no idea whatsoever what happened after a certain point and just assumes we went to bed together? Maybe I should play along. If he thinks I was with him, then he won't suspect anything about Ashley. I smirked back.
“I do my best to prove it repeatedly.”
That comment seemed to relax him. He got up to get more coffee, but grabbed my face and gave me a kiss first. It was all I could do to make myself seem into it, I couldn't stop thinking about what I'd done. This kind of shit is one of the many reasons why before Tommy, I never wanted to be in a legit relationship... I never trusted myself to stay faithful and the idea of knowing I did something the other person doesn't know about and would probably be pissed over, is a feeling I don't like.
Is this what guilt is? I hate it. It wasn't a thing I'd ever felt before, or even considered. Like over a year ago when I'd spent the night with Drake and didn't think it would matter.... I'd told Tommy where I was like it wasn't a big deal. Except it was. That was because Tommy hated Drake at the time. This time though, it's a person he's close to. Trained. Became friends with. Maybe Ashley was right and it wouldn't matter since Tommy had previously asked me to fuck him, for his own reasons. But that was different. I did this for me. Just like I did with Drake. And betrayal is usually worse when it involves someone close as compared to someone hated.
What the fuck did I do?
I sighed. Tommy glanced at me, and saw my mug was empty. I guess he thought that's why I sighed, so he took it. I just knew that I would eventually crack and tell Tommy what happened. Just not know, when Ashley could potentially still be in the house. I watched as Tommy poured more coffee, making us both fresh cups. He handed me mine with a smile.
“Better?”
“Maybe I will be once this and some food is in me.”
“Pizza should be warmed soon enough.” He sat back down and slid me my mug. Instead of drinking his coffee though, he leaned his head into one hand, sort of rubbing at his temple.
“So... where did you go last night? Did someone need a ride home, or you passed out somewhere?”
Tommy snapped his head up at me, looking like he didn't comprehend what I'd said at all.
“What do you mean? After we-” The timer buzzer went off. Tommy jumped up and turned it off. He opened the oven and looked inside. “Pizza's ready.”
“Oh good. I could eat a roast the size of my ass.”
Tommy laughed as he took the pan out. He grabbed two plates and piled two slices on each one for us. He set the plates down then sat back down. “So, you asked about last night, did you mean after-”
“Heyyy... I thought I smelled pizza!”
Ashley's voice came from the stairs behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Tommy looked up and waved him over.
“Hey brosef, didn't know you were still here. Just pulled leftovers out of the oven. Help yourself. There's ridiculously strong coffee, too.”
“Thanks mate.” Ashley walked past me, in the clothes he had on when he arrived the day before. I was almost certain he gave me a wink, but maybe I was hungover, too. I watched as he grabbed a plate and a slice, then poured coffee. He sat at the table. Tommy looked like he gave up on whatever it was he was going to ask me. I no longer cared where he'd been last night, anyway. I decided to drop it. “Thanks for the breakfast, nothin' better'an sommat greasy after a heavy drinkin' night, amirite?”
“That must be why this works.”
“It's definitely hitting the spot right now.”
Both Tommy and Ashley gave me the same odd look. Me and my unintentional innuendo. I just smirked and kept chewing.
“Ah gotta say thanks too, Kandis, fer makin' sure Ah was alrite last night. Ah were in no shape t'drive home, so the guest room were appreciated.”
I gave him a slightly raised eyebrow. He shrugged. Tommy had to have noticed. “Uh, sure doll. Not a problem at all. If you'd run someone off the road, we'd be responsible.”
“Oh, is that all it were, then? Coverin' yer ass?” He smirked again.
“Well, I'd hate to see you splattered across the pavement.”
“Nice t'know ya care, love.” Ashley winked again and took another bite.
“Okay.... wait, what guest room?” Tommy was getting more and more confused as the morning went on and I couldn't figure out why.
“Er.... I guess it weren't really a guest room.”
“The couch in my studio. The other doors were closed and I didn't know if anyone else was sleeping it off so I just shoved him there.”
“Oh okay. Cause it couldn't have been the one next to ours...”
I could see Tommy still trying to work something out, but I had no idea what. And I wasn't about to ask, cause it could lead to more questions about the previous night and the less said about it, the better. Ashley looked back and forth between us, and stood up.
“Er, Ah think I've taken advantage of yer hospitality long enough. Ah should get me arse back to me place.”
“Alright, hey don't forget the FanFest shit later, I want you to help Olaf with security.”
“Sure thing. See ya then.”
Ashley set his pizza plate on the counter near the sink then walked himself out. I wondered if he'd remembered his bag, or if he'd left his swim trunks on the floor in my studio where I'd thrown them when... ugh. I had to stop thinking about last night.
As I drank the rest of my coffee, I felt Tommy just looking at me. I acted like I didn't notice, because I was starting to wonder if he somehow knew.
“Shit....”
I looked up, and in place of the confusion I'd seen on his face all morning, was the look of a ma who'd just realized something.
“What?”
“I... uh, just remembered about a phone call I need to make. Ante Up stuff. Excuse me.”
Tommy got up and ran upstairs.
Ante Up phone call, my ass. It was Rise to Greatness weekend and there was nothing going on at the academy, classes were suspended til Monday. What the hell was going on?
July 25
Los Angeles
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The Rise to Greatness theme song was playing as Tommy and I walked through the curtain, carrying our Tag Team Championships. We outsmarted and outlasted those three teams and did exactly what we said were gonna do... walked out with the gold. We got past gorilla and crew moved out of our way as we walked by. A few feet down the hallway, we stopped... Drake was waiting for us.
“Well done.” He stuck his hand out to Tommy, and Tommy shook it. I was still getting used to the idea of them getting along.
“Thanks man, those crazy fucks didn't make it easy.”
“They never do.” Drake turned to me and stepped up, as if to hug me, but stopped himself. He looked at Tommy while gesturing to me. “May I?”
“You know what, I don't give a fuck. Knock yourself out.”
Whoa. Drake grinned, then gave me a big hug, nearly lifting me off my feet, then a friendly and congratulatory kiss on the cheek. I couldn't see Tommy's face in reaction to that but there was no yelling so that was a plus. “You were spectacular.”
“Thanks. But Tommy got the win for us, I wasn't even in the ring.”
“Hey, you and your powers of distraction played a huge role in this, don't sell yourself short babe.” Tommy slid his arm around my waist.
“Yeah, I did fuck with Bison and his bitch pretty good, huh? She is too easy to rile up.”
“The two of you have a great partnership, there is no one better to represent those championships.”
“Been saying that for a long time. It feels good to finally have the belts to back it up.” Tommy held me against him a little tighter.
“I know you must be eager to get to your own celebrations but I must ask you to postpone that for just a little while. Minerva's match with Cannon is up next and... we may be needed. Will you stay close?”
“Really? I didn't realize that match was right after ours.”
“Neither did she and I, until just before your match began. She sends her congratulations.”
“We'll thank her after the show. And of course we'll stick around. I'll run the belts to our locker room and meet you both back here.”
I handed Tommy my belt, and he walked off quickly. I turned back to Drake.
“What makes you think we'll be needed?”
“Knight is in attendance.”
“You think he'll get involved?”
“He has done already, I would be more surprised if he didn't tonight.”
“Good point.”
“With Tommy away for the moment, I must ask you... are you still having misgivings about this? The Jackals?”
I sighed. It was just the last Breakdown where I asked Drake a ton of questions about Minerva and what they did to Sienna Swann and really things that weren't my business. If they wanted to keep their secrets, that was fine. I'd recently learned that sometimes keeping secrets is the best option.
“No. Not after we talked. I'm all in. We both are.”
“Alright. I wanted to be sure, before the time comes if we are needed out there.”
“I get it. But don't worry, okay? We are the Jackals.”
Drake grinned. “Indeed we are.”
Just then, Tommy came back. “We're what?”
“All in this together.”
“Right. All in.”
We heard the video package end, and Chris Cannon's music starting.
“We should take our positions. I have our masks waiting.”
“I love those things. So badass.”
Tommy and I followed Drake to the area not far from gorilla he'd chosen.
Our work for the night wasn't done yet.
* * * * *
After Minerva beat Chris Cannon, we'd stayed to watch the main event, just to see which cunt would be “representing” SCW as World Champion. The same cunt, as it turned out. After the whole show itself was over, Tommy and I were back home. It wasn't a short drive but worth it to be so close to home that we could drive back. And once we got in, nothing else that happened all night mattered, except the fact we had the Tag Championships again, and we had put off our celebration for long enough. As soon as we walked in the door, we threw our bags in the general direction of the living room and ran upstairs. Once in our bedroom, we stripped, hands all over each other, as we made our way to the large walk in shower in the bathroom. Water on, the room steamy, almost as damp as between my legs. I had my back to the wall, Tommy was holding one of my legs up around his waist as we were joined at the mouth. I could feel him so close to entering, and I wiggled my hips hoping he'd get the hint. Instead though, he broke the kiss and looked down at me in a strange way.
“What's wrong?”
“What?” He shook his head a bit. “Nothing... I just wanted to look you in the eyes as I... did... this.” And just then he shoved himself inside me. Whatever it was I saw on his face for a second didn't concern me any more. It could wait til morning, all I wanted to do for the rest of the night was celebrate. Have sex, make love, fuck... whatever you want to call it, I wanted – needed – to do it. In celebration, out of desire... and in hopes of pushing thoughts of the night of the pool party out of my head.
We're champions again, for fuck's sake. Can't afford any distractions.