Through the Good and the Bad (Redlyn AU)

Can I carry you?

Big Red's Pov:

It was Monday evening after a weekend full of shows and chaos. Luckily, the final two shows didn't consist of any last minute costume changes or wonderstudies. Ashlyn was feeling better and her fever went down after a good nights rest and time to sleep in on Saturday

I found myself in the local gym with Ricky, I needed to blow some steam off after quite a week of non-stop worrying, but I also had another ulterior motive as well

"Since when did you get so motivated to go to the gym"

Ricky teased while we were taking a much needed water break after a half an hour of bench presses and dead lifts

The answer was simple

"Ashlyn"

"Awe loverboy, trying to impress her?"

He swooned in a joking manor

"Please dude, do you really think Ashlyn would care how many abs I have or how big my biceps are? She's not into that, she just wants to be treated like a princess"

Ok maybe I was trying to impress her a little, but lets face it. I'm this scrawny little 5 foot 2/1/2 guy. I'm not sure if I can fully carry her completely on my own and she needs me to be able to do that now more than ever

"Well there's gotta be some big motivator because I've never seen you do that many deadlifts. I don't think I've seen you do a deadlift ever until today for that matter"

"Because I need to be strong enough to pick her up when I find her passed out on the bathroom floor or something"

Ricky's smile on his face faded as he realized I was not joking a single bit

"Oh, I'm sorry if I was being insensitive to her. I shoulda figured"

"Naw it's ok dude, but I'm serious. I don't know if I can lift her on my own"

"Practice on me!"

He suggested and now I could not tell for the life of me if he was being serious or not

"Oh hell no! No offense"

I replied chugging a half a liter of water

"Why? There's a technique to it, it's not just about muscle strength"

"I don't know dude, don't you think me attempting to pick you up bridal style in a public facility is a little weird"

"Dude, it'll be worse for you if you're trying to pick your passed out girlfriend up in a public setting and can't"

Yeah Ricky was right, that would not only be embarrassing but a disservice to Ashlyn. She deserves the best

"Ok, but only for Ashlyn"

I repeated

"You really love her"

He raved

"Obviously"

"Have you told her?"

"We tell each other at least once a day man"

"Just making sure you don't make the same mistakes I did"

"I know, Ricky you'll find your person"

"I guess. It's just still a little hard to picture that person not being Nini"

"It'll work out dude, some things happen for a reason"

"Thanks, anyways back to what we were doing"

He seemed to be straying away from the subject matter of his old relationships so I quickly dropped the subject and started attempting to lift him off the ground, but I wasn't successful. I figured I was flexing my torso too much at the waist