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Bad Blood - October 5th, 2024 - Atlanta, Georgia
“Get out!”
Jey froze right outside the door of Rhea’s hotel room. He had his fist raised, ready to knock when he heard her yell out. He saw it all go down. He couldn’t leave the stadium to go check on her before. He was obligated to stay and watch all of Bad Blood. In all honesty, he wished he left. Seeing Roman like that… and then Jimmy coming back…. It was just a reminder of what he lost.
But that wasn’t important. At least, not right now. He needed to check on Rhea.
The door swung open and Jey stared at Damian. It was obvious the older man was pissed. Jey could see the fumes coming from Damian’s ears.
“You talk to her. Maybe she’ll listen to you,” Damian muttered before walking away. He was muttering things in Spanish, but Jey was sure it was better he didn’t understand Spanish.
He walked into the hotel room and dropped the food he brought for Rhea on the table. He walked further in and saw Rhea leaning against the window and staring out into Atlanta. He smiled softly as he made his way over.
“Hey, boo,” Jey greeted as he made his way over.
Rhea didn’t look at him right away, but when she did, he saw how red her eyes were. She had been crying. Instantly, his smile was gone. Instinctively, he reached out to touch her cheek, “Talk to me, Rhea.”
She pulled away from his touch and turned her eyes to the city again, “So you can lecture me too? Priest already did. I fucked up.”
Jey tilted his head, curiously, “How exactly?”
Rhea released an aggravated scoff, “Because i became too focused on Dom! I gave up my chance at the title over a fucking guy? Christ, I thought Liv was pathetic, but it’s me! I’m pathetic!”
She was breathing hard, her eyes wide as she glared at Jey. Her fists were tight in fists, the knuckles turning white. He just looked at her, his expression not changing. He just watched her.
“I didn’t see Raquel coming. I never thought she would do that. Now all three people I cared for have turned on me and I’m just having to fight and fight and I’m so fucking sick of it. I’m sick of Liv. I’m sick of Dom. I’m sick of all of this!” She continued, her anger causing frustrated tears to form in her eyes. She was working herself up and Jey was just watching.
His silence seemed to make her even more angry, “Oh, so silence, huh? Not going to share some wise words? Tell me I’m not a fuck up? That I don’t sabotage myself? That I don’t deserve the championship? That all I do is push people away? Go on, Jey. Say it.”
He raised a brow at the younger female in front of him. She stared back at him, almost as if daring him to pick a fight with her. He didn’t want a fight, but she did.
“I brought you food.”
Her expression went blank. Jey offered a smile before turning to head to the table he left the food. He focused on undoing the tied handles and pulling the food out, “Waffle House is better fresh. It’s the atmosphere. I think it adds flavor.”
He moved to the small kitchenette, grabbing plates and utensils. He sat them down and turned to Rhea. She was still standing by the window, but her eyes were focused on him. He motioned to the seat, “It’ll get cold.”
“What are you doing?”
Jey raised a brow at Rhea again, “I’m offering you food, uce.”
Rhea frowned, “Why aren’t you calling me out? Why are you pretending like I didn’t fuck up?”
“I’m not pretending. It’s just not what I want to talk about,” Jey offered, his tone calm and curious, “I’d rather talk about how good you looked in your outfit and how badass you were.”
“But I didn’t win. I got dist-“
“Rhea.”
She closed her mouth. She watched him as he made his way over to her. His hands were on her cheeks and they were gentle as they held her face. He was smiling at her. It was a soft and sweet smile. The one he gave when he thought she couldn’t see him.
“You technically did win. It was a DQ for Liv due to Raquel. You can ask Adam for a rematch. You’re owed that and Liv didn’t win,” Jey said.
“But I-“
He squeezed her cheeks, forcing her lips to pucker like a fish. She was glaring at him now, but he chuckled, “So you beat up Dom like a piñata. Maybe not your best moment, but the guy deserved it. Should you have just taken the chance to pin Liv? Yeah. She was out cold. You could have done a lot of things differently. I question every move I make. Fourteen years of wins and loses, Rhea. But you know what I do?”
She was quiet for a moment, “What?”
“I go to sleep and wake up to a new day,” he grinned, releasing her cheeks, “And I eat Waffle House. Sometimes not in that order.”
Rhea laughed, shaking her head. A shaky sigh left her as she sniffled, “How can you make me laugh when I feel so terrible?”
“It’s a gift,” Jey shrugged. He moved a hand back to her cheek and wiped the tears away. She leaned into his hand, taking in his warmth and comfort.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you…,” she said shyly after a moment.
Jey shrugged, “It’s all good, Rhea. I don’t blame you for getting in your feelings. You’re human.”
He held his arms open to her and within moments, she was in his arms. Her arms wrapped around him and his arms were around her. They held each other for several long moments before Jey pulled back slightly to kiss her forehead.
“You do need to apologize to Priest.”
Rhea groaned and buried her face in his chest, “He was so pissed at me.”
“Well, you did yell at him,” Jey pointed out, glancing down at Rhea, “He cares. Don’t shut us out, alright? We just want to help you. In whatever way you want us to. If you wanna talk about it or hit Dom like he’s a piñata, we’ll make it work.”
Rhea smirked a little, “You gotta admit. It was funny.”
Jey nodded, “But your fight is with Liv. Not Dom.”
She was quiet for a long moment. She rested her cheek against Jey’s chest, “I know. I think I got it out of my system. The toilet paper helps.”
Jey laughed, “I can’t believe that they did that. I actually feel bad for the guy.”
Rhea giggled lightly, “Even I felt sorry for him for that, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity.”
Jey and Rhea were quiet after that. They just held onto each other and enjoyed the feeling of each other. Rhea didn’t want to let him go. She missed the comfort. She enjoyed being comforted by Jey.
“I’m here for you, Rhea. Damian is too. We’re in your corner,” Jey spoke softly against her hair.
She smiled, “Thank you… for not giving up on me.”
“I never will, uce.”