Can't forget you [a Kyle O'Reilly story]

15 Failed you

Kyle POV

"I'm glad this worked out so well with shooting the promo tonight and we don't have a match scheduled. I'm so tired. I just want to go home and go to bed." I explained to the others as we headed to our shared locker room to get our bags.

"Still not sleeping any better?" asked Bobby who was walking beside me.

"No, not really," I sighed.

"Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you, buddy. Okay, not really. But you're not going anywhere for now." Adam replied with that fucking smug smirk of his.

"What the hell does that mean?" I wanted to know.

But he didn't answer me right away. Instead, he opened the door to the locker room and let us enter. The room was not empty, however, as might be expected. There was someone sitting on the sofa in the corner of the room.

At the sight of this person, my heart first stopped in shock and then leapt in joy. I was so shocked to see her that I froze. My eyes were fixed on her. Out of the corner of my eye, I just saw the boys take their bags and leave the room again.

"We'll leave you alone. Behave yourselves or else!" Adam said quickly before he was the last to leave and closed the door behind him.

"Y/N... what... what are you doing here?" I asked in shock. I realized too late how rude my astonishment made my voice sound. Y/N stood up from the sofa and nervously fiddled with her fingers.

"I... I, well... Adam asked me to come... But the look on your face tells me it wasn't a good idea. I should leave." she stammered, then turned and grabbed her bag and jacket.

I could not let that happen. Under no circumstances could I let her leave this room.

I quickly walked up to her, turned her around to face me, and then carefully took her face in my hands. I took a second to look into her beautiful eyes that now held so much sadness. Sadness for which I could blame no one but myself.

Then I gently pressed my lips to hers and heard how a soft sigh of relief escaped her. Carefully she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer to her. If that was even possible. Finally, I parted our lips and rested my forehead against hers. But I did not let go of her face. The fear that she would disappear again was too big.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N! I'm so sorry. I let you down. I failed you." I whispered against her lips.

"You didn't fail, Kyle. It was my fault." she whispered back. Her fingertips gently caressed the back of my neck.

"Yes, I did. And it's killing me. When you finally told me that the fans' behavior was making you uncomfortable, I should have paid more attention. It was hard for you to even tell me and I didn't do anything to protect you. I didn't prevent it," I explained to her in a raspy voice. The emotions threatened to overwhelm me. Tears were welling up in my eyes.

"You couldn't have known this was going to happen. And neither could I. I just wish you would have given me time.... I had no control over myself." Y/N said softly, bringing her hands to my cheeks. Her fingers gently stroked over the shadows under my eyes.

"I know. I'm a pathetic excuse for a man. A man who doesn't deserve you. A man who was too cowardly to talk to you and fight for you." I rasped.

"But you are still the man I love," she declared unexpectedly.

"You still love me?" I asked.

Y/N just nodded her head. The smile I had missed so much appeared on her face and not only in my dreams. This time she pressed her lips to mine. A little more urgent than before. With more desire.

I lifted her up by her thighs and sat us down on the sofa. Now she straddled my lap as we continued to kiss.

"Can you forgive me? Is there even the slightest chance that we can fix this?" I wanted to know after a few minutes.

"We have a lot to talk about, but I want to try. Well, if you're willing to do that, too," Y/N explained to me.

"You have no idea how happy that would make me. I have missed you so much. And you have no idea how much I love you. When I first saw you, my life changed permanently. There is no going back for me. My life makes no sense without you in it," I replied, stroking her back.

"Yeah, I know that feeling. Maybe... maybe we should talk about it somewhere else. You look so tired. And I'm tired, too. It's been a while since I've had a good night's sleep." she said then.

I could see how tired she was too. The shadows under her eyes were a good proof of that. And I noticed that she had obviously lost weight. Again, I had no one to blame but myself. It made me angry that I had allowed this to happen.

"Would you like to come to my place? I want to cook for you, then we can discuss everything in private. And to be perfectly honest, the dogs miss you like crazy too. They've been pretty grumpy lately," I said.

"I would love to. And you always knew they loved me more than you," Y/N joked, then laughed.

It was so good to hear her laugh. And I had to laugh, too. It helped to ease the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Well, let's go," I replied and helped her stand up. Arriving at the door, I pulled her tightly against me once more.

"I love you, Y/N. Thank you for not giving up on me!" I said and gave her one last long kiss before we went on our way.

Maybe the road led to a future together after all. A future that we both obviously thought we had lost.