Fights

His first fight was in the books, and he'd won after getting his ass pounded into hamburger by a girl. It had been surreal, but somehow exhilarating, nothing at all like that brief stint in wrestling. This reminded him of the way things should have been growing up, as if there should have been rewards every time he survived Clay's fists and drunken fury. The spoils, though? Getting to spend the weekend nursing his bruises, mostly naked in Taylor's bed? That was better than icing on a thousand cakes.


It had been January fourteenth for ten minutes and Alex Collins was more than just slightly buzzed. After six beers and a shot of whiskey, he was teetering more towards stinking drunk as he made his way down the street Taylor lived on, muttering to himself under his breath. After two days of bliss, today had turned into a level of bullshit he didn't even want to think about. He'd gone out to pick up some food and had watched her argue with her brother over that damned Twitter about him. The words she'd typed to him were still there when he closed his eyes, mocking him.

According to her, he was nothing more than the rebound guy. He knew what that meant: he was nothing more than a stopgap, the one she bounced off before moving on to something better. He'd let her in, closer than anyone had been in years and she'd dismissed it all with that one casual sentence. He hated himself for being so stupid, for believing that it meant more than his dick inside her. He wasn't thinking love, he wasn't thinking about anything with any sort of permanence because he never had. He just wanted to feel like a person, like an actual human being for a change and she'd reduced him to nothing more than a casual fuck in the blink of an eye. That hurt more than his bruised ribs or the cut above his eye.

This time when he made his way to the door, he already seemed dejected, and it wasn't just because of the drinking. He was already feeling emotionally crushed. Leaning against the house, he knocked on the door after running the back of his hand under his nose and wiping the wetness on the back of his pants.

It was a few moments, but Taylor answered the door, standing there in a fluffy robe. Biting on her lip, she averted her eyes as she glanced around and finally allowed him inside. Sighing softly, she murmured, sounding slightly annoyed, "come on in, then."

"Y'sure ya want that?" He hesitated on the threshold, shivering from the cold but stubborn enough that he was willing to stand out there if she didn't want him inside.

"Get in my house," she snapped, "for one, it's really cold out tonight and for two, I think we need to talk about what happened." She reached for him, wanting to bring him inside, and out of the cold.

He tensed slightly, pulling back before her fingers could touch him and then moved past her, being careful not to come too close. "Yeah, talk." He mumbled to himself, kicking off his worn Vans before the snow on them could melt all over his socks. Watching while she closed the door, he leaned back against the wall, sighing softly.

She turned back towards him, almost hiding in her robe before she moved towards the living room. "I just... want to tell you, that I do care about you. Very deeply." She said the words, stopping in the living room and turning back to face him.

Care? Deeply? Somehow he wasn't able to swallow those words. "Alright," he nodded, moving towards her, and then avoiding her again as he stepped into the living room, making a beeline for the first piece of furniture he saw. He sat down on the couch, letting his head hang as he sat there simply breathing in silence. There were a lot of things he wanted to say to her, but none of the words came out.

She watched him for a minute, then sighed and looked down as she sat in the chair off to the side of the couch and started to speak, though her voice was quiet and ashamed, "look, I can't tell you that this isn't a rebound, because... because I don't know." Her voice cracked, "I've been this person for so long t-that, I don't... I don't know if I can give you the answer you want." She closed her eyes as her head hung, "I care about you Alex, I know that, but I can't tell you right now if this will last, even though I want it to. I-I'm sorry."

"Don't gotta tell me," he said without lifting his head or looking at her. His shoulders slumped as he rested his elbows on his knees. "Y'don't owe me nothin'." One hand lifted to his face, and he scratched at his cold cheek. "I shoulda known better than t'expect somethin' outta meetin' in some fuckin' airport." He fell silent for a long span, chewing on his lip. "TK, I ain't the heart-ta-heart kinda guy. Don't like talkin'. I don't... I don't get off on all this emotional bullshit, alright?" He sounded almost defensive as he said the words.

She'd been around the guys for so long that she knew what he was doing and she called him on it. Her voice was wavering and tearful as she moved to the couch and spoke, "don't close up on me. P-please, Alex. Too many people have done that to me. Not you too..."

He looked over at her, and she was surprised to see that cold, hard look in his eyes that barely masked his hurt. "Not closin' nothin'. Just tryin' t'feel less like pukin' on your floor, s'all."

"You're lying," she challenged, "I have no sisters, I've been raised with all men, I know how to read them." She sighed, "Alex... I..." She stopped short, looking down, "I want to love you. I want this to be more than anything I've had, but I'm so afraid that it's going to end up like every other relationship I've been in. I'm scared..."

"Scared." He nodded, looking away from her again as he chewed on his lip, "y'think this is easy for me?"

"N-no," she sobbed, refusing to look at him as she sat there and cried.

"Don't..." the couch shifted under his weight as he turned towards her, reaching out and touching her shoulder. "Don't cry on account of me, alright? I ain't worth that."

She nodded, "y -yes you are..." She covered her face as she added, "I've only ever cried over two men before you. They were worth it, and so are you."

"Y'barely know me." He contradicted her in a low voice, moving closer to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, alright? I got all pissed off an' lost my head. I just… I get jealous, an' I can't be a normal thinkin' person when that happens."

She nodded as she leaned against him, "I told you the truth though, it may have hurt some, but it... it's better than lying to you isn't it?"

"S'pose so." He admitted in that low voice, "guess I'm just usedta bein' the one who gets looked down on. Last time I tried the relationship thing? It went sideways 'cause she thought I killed someone."

She furrowed her brows and watched him for a moment, processing the information, "I would never think that. I would never judge, I'm the last person who should be judging people about who they are. Look at how I've lived my life."

"Only person I ever killed was an accident, an' it happened a long time ago." He sighed softly, pausing only because he wasn't sure if it was her, or the booze that was prompting him to spill his guts. "There was a fire, an' her uncle died. She thought it was me. So did the cops for a while. It don't matter now, but they had me locked up for resistin' arrest. Tried t'leave Phoenix. Had to, on account of havin' ta wrestle."

She bit her lip, closing her eyes, and leaning against him wrapping her arms around him. Quiet, she just listened to the fish tank humming in the room before she spoke up again, "don't leave tonight..."

"Y'sure?" He closed his eyes, clinging to her in return.

She nodded, "I am. I don't care what my brother says, or what the other guys think." She looked up at him, tear marks still decorating her face, "I'm happy and I don't want you to go."

"...'kay." He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. She could taste the beer on his skin, but it didn't really matter.

She kissed him back, and quietly whispered, "can we go to bed?"

"Whatever you want, baby girl." He held her tight a moment longer and then released her so they could make their way to her bedroom. He was too deeply wrapped up in this thing to even think about saying no.