chapter fifteen

September 27, 2012 (off camera)

The last time Kasey Summers had been faced with defending her Television Championship, she'd done it with no support. That situation was completely her fault, as she'd joined Club CK and then started making plans to move to Fort Lauderdale without talking to her boyfriend about it first. To make matters significantly worse, Christian Kincaid had taken it upon himself to notify Kyle of her plans to move, setting off a horrible chain of events that had ended in much public drama for the young couple.

Over the last month she'd been growing more and more withdrawn, even keeping off Twitter and throwing herself completely into her training. Finally after weeks of dancing around the issue, Kyle was finally coming over for them to spend a little time together before she had to travel to New York for her press obligations.

She was sitting on the couch attempting to watch The Devil's Rejects, but she kept pausing it every few seconds, glancing at the door. He was a little bit late. The minute hand on the clock on the wall didn't seem to be moving any faster, and about fifteen minutes past the time he was supposed to arrive, the key turned the lock on the door and inside he came. Dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a button down black shirt, Kyle closed the door behind him before walking towards the couch. He glanced to the screen to see what she was watching, and shook his head. "Rob Zombie? Isn't it all just F-bombs with a little gratuitous violence thrown in? And isn't his wife in all of his movies too?" He asked with an amused grin.

"I've seen it so many times I don't really notice," she replied with a smile, pretending to be casual even though she wanted to explode off the couch and tackle him on the floor. "Besides, his wife is super pretty." She got up slowly, tugging at the bottom of the plaid corset top she was wearing— the very same one she'd been wearing on their first official date. "Are you hungry? We could order a pizza or something if you want."

He shook his head at that. "Not really, I had a late lunch, still pretty stuffed at the moment." He replied before he plopped down on the recliner adjacent to the sofa and looked over to the screen again. Kyle had no particular love for anything Rob Zombie ever made or did, and as he listened to the actors, he couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. "Yeah, his wife is attractive, but...she's not a very good actress. But as long as he makes movies, at least she'll have a job, right?"

She giggled, looking from the screen to him. "The more awful the movie is, the more I like it. Sometimes they remind me of the people we work with, you know? All the flash and editing and all the set dressing, and they're still just... so awful." She wasn't sure if she should turn the movie off, or not, so instead she moved towards the kitchen. "I'm super thirsty. Did you want anything?"

"I'm good there too." He watched her as she got up to get herself something as he reached forward for the remote control, and turned off the movie. "This is too distracting; I just want to laugh at it." He dropped the remote back on the table, watching her come back into the room. "Yeah, there are a lot of fake people in the wrestling business. Luckily they don't all talk like his characters do. Like they all have Tourette's syndrome."

"Better that," she replied as she opened a can of Dr. Pepper, "than those people in Kevin Smith movies who all talk like they ate Thesauruses for breakfast." She returned to the couch, cocking her hip against the arm of it so that she was close to where he sat in the recliner. "So, are... things going okay in SVW now that you have that promotion?"

"I'd say so. I didn't dream that Nick would ever agree to the promotion when I came to him with it, but it's been...awesome! I should have asked sooner. It kinda sucks that they can override my matches like they have, but it's still a better job than just handling the website and tweeting." He touches his cheek for a moment. "Already took my first shot as a member of management actually."

She hadn't really been keeping up on the happenings in his career over the last month. Frowning, she took a small drink of her soda. "You did? Tell me about it... please?"

"Crystal Hate's sister, Rebecka, took a cheap shot on me, caught me with a shot to the jaw." It was obvious talking about that brought a bit of irritated expression to his face. "I told her she wins the match, and that...is the thanks I get."

"Oh," she bit her lip, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She'd watched the replay of that, but not because she was concerned about him. She'd watched how his client Samara had freaked out over the attack, actions that had led her to suspect there was something going on between them. Not that she blamed him for moving on with someone else. She'd done something incredibly stupid after all. "I remember hearing something about that. But you got your revenge on her... so it's all good." She grinned at him, trying to be more upbeat and positive. "Kyle, do you think maybe... you can come to New York with me?"

"I was already going to be in New York for Sin & Sacrifice, so that shouldn't be a problem at all. I like the War Games match, and I want to see one in person. Who knows, maybe we'll have one in SVW one day. I just have never seen one live, and that's something I want to do." He added, leaning back against the recliner and getting a bit more comfortable.

"Oh." She nodded, feeling stupid for even asking. "I guess I should've known you'd be..." she trailed off, taking another drink from the can. "Can we... uhm... talk about the stuff that happened? I kinda feel like we need to. I know we already did sorta with texts and stuff... but... I just..." she shook her head and stopped looking at him, opting instead to actually slide down the arm of the couch until she was sitting on the seat. She managed to do it without spilling a drop of the soda in her hand, either.

"I know that's what we agreed to meet here to do, and it's the same as I told you in the text messages, Kasey. I'm not angry anymore. I was, hearing that you were likely moving to Florida and no one had told me anything. Much less closer to a guy like Christian Kincaid, who I know you have always had a pretty heavy crush on, but...I'm over it. I'm not mad at you for it anymore. If you want to go to Florida, be my guest." He did seem to be telling the truth, there was no hint of anger in his voice as he spoke. "We all have that one celebrity crush, I guess you'd call it. And even if you have changed your mind and don't want to go now, that's fine too. I'm just saying that what's past is past, and I'm ready to put it there. In the past."

"I screwed up big time," she said quietly, looking down at her blue-painted toenails. "I wasn't thinking about you and me when I was throwing around the idea of going to Florida. I was thinking... about wrestling and my career and this belt. I just want to be a good champion. I know you probably think it's silly but this means so much more to me than that stupid belt I won in that other junky place. The TV Title is important, Kyle... and so is being good at my job. I'm just really dumb sometimes."

"It's alright, I understand. You want to be the best Television Champion in FFW history, you have to do what you think is best to make that happen. Like I said, I'm alright with it. All this time away kinda gave me time to think about things, I don't tend do that very well when I'm angry. But then again, not many do." He gave a shrug at that. "Long story short, I forgive you if that's what you think you need. And if not, then at least we don't have this hanging over our heads forever. I don't like leaving things unresolved."

"I want to be awesome," she said in a small voice, "but I don't want that to come at the cost of losing the most important person in my life. I'm sorry, Kyle. I know you said you forgive me and you're not mad anymore but I still feel like I need to tell you..." she paused, taking another drink of her soda as her mouth had suddenly gone very, very dry.

"Go on, I'm listening." He said. He had a feeling he knew what was coming, something he had suspected at least. But he still wasn't sure. "What do you need to tell me?"

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm not like those other girls, you know? I don't just wanna get with everyone like Samara and Aly do. But..." she put the can between her legs and then buried her face in her hands to hide her cheeks that were burning with shame. "I did things with Christian. You can yell at me if you want to. That's okay."

Kyle shook his head. "I kinda suspected you were intimate with Christian, if you want the truth of the matter. He never told me that you were, but seems to be the nature of his relationships with women. And I figured if the opportunity presented itself, he wouldn't have to twist your arm." A little smile crossed his face. "So you slept with Christian. We weren't together that much, it's arguable that we were about as far apart physically and personally as we had ever been, so... It is what it is."

"Kyle," she sniffled, looking up at him with tears in her eyes, "I was stupid. I adore Christian... but it's not the same way I feel about you. I get flustered when he's around because I built him up so huge in my mind. But when you're here... there are a million butterflies in my stomach. I just... I just wanted you to know the truth so we don't have any secrets. We shouldn't have secrets when we're in love, right? That's how it's supposed to be."

"Don't be upset. You weren't the only one who had a few dates on the side. I can't rightly be upset with you when I can be accused of the same thing, now can I?" He asked, but not waiting for an answer. "I appreciate you telling me, and being straightforward with me. I always knew you would be." He added with a smile.

She nodded, feeling somewhat relieved that he was taking it all in stride. At the same time, she almost wondered why he was being so nice about it. "Of course I would be," she replied, sounding almost confused at the prospect of keeping that from him. "Does this mean we're okay? You said you did a lot of thinking when you stopped being angry... what were you thinking about?"

"About why I was angry to start with. I was being irrational to some degree, because you're the first actual legitimate girlfriend I've had in about four years. I tend to just bounce around. I'll be honest, I forgot what it meant to be a good boyfriend because..I'm not sure I even know today. I don't blame anyone for exploring their options when they are interested in me." He glanced down to his hands for a moment, looking back up with a half smile. "It's hard to change old habits, I guess."

"You're kinda... the first real one I've had. I mean... I was with Lex back when he was in EWC, but he was just kinda weird. And then there was Adam but he was kinda not really my type..." she shrugged, "you're a good boyfriend, Kyle." She pushed up from the couch, setting her drink on the coffee table before walking over to the recliner he sat in. "I never meant to hurt you or make you think I was looking for something better because it was never about us. I tried to tell you that." Reaching out, she touched his cheek, "I love you for you. I don't care if you're related to that slime ball or that you used to be a player. The important thing is that you're good to me." It was her turn for a little half-smile, "except when you're publicly dumping me on Twitter. Then you're kinda... crappy."

"Well if doing that brought us together closer, I'd be concerned." He grinned, looking up to her. "Alright, do you feel better now that we have gotten all of this out in the open? I've had about enough soul searching discussion as I can stand already." He quipped.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I feel better. Loads better..." she was still touching his cheek, and now she was gently stroking it. "I could show you how much better, if you want."

And that was the first time the crooked and wide smile that she had known so well came across his face as he looked up to her. "Well when you put it that way...."

She giggled and leaned in, almost straddling his lap as she cupped both cheeks and kissed him deeply. "I wanna show you how much I love you... how much I missed you," she whispered the words against his lips.

The smile stayed ever present on his face as he looked into her eyes. "In this case, I'd say... you got this."

"Awesomesauce," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck as she climbed into his lap. If she'd understood his comment right, it meant that things were starting to come back together in her world. If this was the beginning to the reconciliation of her relationship with Kyle, she knew that just like now... it was going to be a helluva ride.