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it's been a couple weeks of a constant state of being on edge. he knows he has people to help him, but in all honesty he knows he shouldn't rely on others too much. he can fend for himself.
well, sort of. it doesn't really help when you've already been in a daze all day and suddenly you're getting bombarded with punches, and thrown into doors, and soaked in rain, and covered in blood…
okay yeah, he should've expected this.
cody stumbles into the locker room out of his bus, holding a towel to his busted open head, taking sharp breaths and collapsing down onto one of the benches. he knows seth probably got his ass handed to him as well, so he probably went home to get some much needed rest and figured cody would be fine. so, he expected to just be alone considering it's a couple hours after everything shuts down for the night, since, yknow, after everything he fell asleep in his bus.
but before he could get back up to go wash his face off, the door to the locker room opens. when he walks in he immediately pauses and lightly jogs over to cody, kneeling down on one knee in front of him. “shit man I've been looking for you everywhere.”
“jey.. you're still here?” cody looks up, wincing slightly at the pounding headache he now realized he had.
jey tsks. “yeah I'm still here man, I wasnt just gonna leave you alone. what the hell happened?”
cody moves the towel from off his head and laughs lightly as he sees jey visably wince. “rock happened.”
the other curses under his breath. “I should've known after that stupid whispering in the ring earlier in the night, I just figured he was saying some bullshit.” jey sighs, running a hand through his hair and starting to pace the locker room. “I should've known… damn man.”
the blonde stands up and stops jey in his tracks. “relax, Its all good. I was trying to help you and I got caught, plain and simple. I'll get him back.”
jey shakes his arms out a bit. “you're right, all good. thanks for that, by the way.”
“anytime. I told you, I got you.” cody smiles, patting jey on the chest lightly.
the dark haired of the two nods. “you are soaked, dude. and still caked in blood. how are you not light headed?”
cody shrugs. “I am a little. it's not really bothering me much, if I'm fully honest.”
“you're a freak, man.” jey snickers. “do you got another shirt you can wear? and you got first aid?”
“no, and yes, just might be difficult to get it all on there and I was just gonna go see if there was any merch in the lost and found bins or something.” he hobles his way over to the sinks.
jey follows him, leaning against the wall by the bathroom stalls. “I can help you out, and if you don't find anything I got extra clothes.”
cody nods. “thanks.” he grabs the first aid kit from out of his gym bag, grabbing rubbing alcohol, wipes, headache medicine, you name it. he needed to get this taken care of before he has to do matches again. he may be okay with bleeding, (maybe even like it a little) but he doesn't like being seen as weak or letting other people win. especially not people like rock.
jey watched attentively as cody started using water to get what blood he could off his face, maybe staring a little too long, but trust him, he was just making sure cody was okay and that he didn't need to help or anything. no other reason.
after washing off what he could, cody turned to jey and hesitantly asked him for help. “could you do the disinfecting part for me? I'm afraid its gonna get on my hands that also have cuts and I'm a little dizzy and don't want to get it in my eye or something.”
jey pulls himself out of his trance and walks over to cody. “could ya sit on the counter?”
cody hops up onto the counter next to the sink, snickering a little, knowing jey is slightly shorter than him and that's why he asked him to sit down.
jey grabs a cotton pad and dabs it with some of the rubbing alcohol, stepping in between the others legs and tilting his chin down to allow him to get better access to the gash on his forehead. it was pretty deep, he couldn't even begin to imagine what all rock did to cause this for him. he gently presses it to the blondes forehead and apologizes under his breath when he hears him wince. he keeps going until he covers the whole area, turning codys head to the side to make sure he wasn't missing any areas.
cody can't help but stare as jey is helping him out, even though the rubbing alcohol stung, something else was flooding his mind. jey was in between his legs, moving his head with his hand, placing tender touches on his forehead and caring for him like a sick puppy.
truth be told, cody never really looked at jey any other way than as a very good friend that he would stick up for when need be. they started getting to know each other even better the last year or so, and he wouldn't ever lie and say he doesn't think jey is attractive. because, he does. he always has, truthfully. it's so hard to get time between just the two of them lately with everything going on, but cody cherishes the time they do get, and he hopes jey does too.
okay, maybe cody was a little more infatuated with jey than he thought he was, now that he thinks about it. the subconscious hand holds when helping him out for a little too long, the constant hugs and shoulder taps, the urge to touch the small of the others back whenever they are near eachother.. not to mention how much fun he always has watching jey do his matches and get his moments.
cody snaps out of his thoughts, realizing jey was still in the same spot he was when he started thinking. he would've assumed he would move by now, but instead jey was still standing there, looking up at him. “is there something on my face?”
jey coughs, stepping away. “nah. no. you're good I think I got all of it.” he clears his throat, throwing the cotton pads away.
the blonde smiles lightly. “thanks. could you come back over here for a second?”
curiously and hesitantly, jey steps back over to the same position he was in before.
cody grabs one of jeys hands and places it on the right side of his face, right on his jaw. “do you feel a bump there? I think I hit my chin pretty hard on the concrete.”
the longer haired of the two feels his face get warmer, and he clears his throat to try and compose himself. “uh, yeah it's a bit swollen. some ice'll fix it.”
“I figured. thanks.” he flashes a warm smile again.
jey doesn't move his hand.
cody blinks a few times. “you good?”
“yeah. yeah I'm good. you uh… you had a little spot of dirt on your cheek.” he wipes his thumb over codys cheek, then steps back, turning to face away from cody and covering his mouth with his left hand. “I'll uh. go get you a shirt.” jey then quickly walks out of the locker room.
cody touches the side of his face, lingering there for a second.
there wasn't any dirt on his face… they fought on concrete.
he hops off the counter and takes a moment to compose himself, stepping back into the main area of the locker room to get the rest of his things together as he waits for jey to get back.
not to long passes and jey saunters back in, empty handed. “I couldn't find anything’ but I've got this.” he digs through his bag and tosses a hoodie over to cody.
cody throws it on, noticing it's tight and a little short on him. jey did like to wear form fitting clothes. “thank you.” he slings his bag over his shoulder, walking over to jey to give him a handshake. “I appreciate all your help.”
jey pulls the handshake into a hug. “you don't gotta thank me. it's the least I can do.”
the blonde smiles brightly. “you goin’ to get some practice in tommrow?”
“yknow it.”
“wanna practice together? I could use some help getting back into the swing of dealing with your cousin.” he taps jey lightly on the chest.
he snickers, tapping cody back on the chest. “I gotchu.”
the both of them know they could've left an hour ago, but the both of them also know they enjoy this time together, so they don't really care.
jey goes to leave and cody stops him in his tracks, grabbing his hand and turning him around. he doesn't think, not even for a second, before pulling jey into another hug and giving him a quick peck on the cheek, quickly pulling away and rushing out before jey could even get a word in.
the dark haired rubs his cheek, face flushed, grabbing his bag and yelling out the door as he watches cody walk away. “see you tommrow!”
and cody turns around, a smile on his face, some blood still staining his perfectly blonde hair, a playful thumbs up before quickly rushing out the door and to his car.
god, jey is screwed.