Years in the Making

Chapter 8

Becky thought the public announcement of Seth's breakup would make everything ten times worse, but somehow it dispelled much of the tension between them. She still felt like a fool for kissing him, but at least now she didn't feel quite as guilty. She was even less awkward, at least according to Cesaro. Once he learned about the concert tickets Seth bought for her birthday, Cesaro orchestrated a series of outings designed to help Becky get used to hanging out with Seth again. At first they were large group events, like when Cesaro, Sheamus, Finn, Seth, Bayley, Sasha, and Becky would rent a gym for a morning and work out together. Then the groups gradually got smaller and smaller, the gatherings more personal, until it was just her and Cesaro and Seth at fancy cafes. "You know Joshy and Jen will be at the concert too, right?" Becky told Cesaro once when Seth had gone up to make his order. "Not that I need a babysitter or anything." The attraction was definitely still there, but Seth's rejection and the passage of time had helped soften it into something more wistful. Maybe we'll laugh about it in a year or so, Becky thought as she sipped at her coffee. 'Hey, Seth? Remember when I kissed you after I won the Rumble? Hilarious, huh?'

Cesaro had let the comment go unanswered and continued his efforts until there was only a week before the concert. Then Becky and Seth had gone for a quick coffee together and she felt like texting Cesaro a picture with a caption saying Contrary to the announce table cliche, we can co-exist! It was a quip steeped in a time-honoured phrase, but at the last minute, Becky stopped herself. She used humour as a defence mechanism far too often and she didn't want Cesaro calling her out on it now.

By the time the day before the concert rolled around, Becky almost felt back to normal—or at least whatever she had felt like before her sudden fascination with Seth exploded—so when her phone rang, she didn't even have a twinge of worry before picking it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Becks." It took her a moment to place the voice, but only because she was more accustomed to hearing Joshy's voice in person. "Don't suppose you'd know anyone who would want two concert tickets at the last minute?"

Becky ignored the question and went straight to the root. "Why? What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Jen had some family stuff come up," Joshy explained. "It'll probably end up being nothing, but we want to be there just in case, you know?"

"Of course. Give her my love, will you?" Becky felt her pulse start to quicken. Even though she was feeling more confident, part of that had come from the assurance that Joshy and Jen would be there and she wouldn't want to make herself look like a fool in front of them. Now she would be without a buffer. "Um... as for the tickets... I don't know. I don't think Cesaro listens to them, and he's in Florida anyway; he'd never get here in time."

"Don't worry about it. I'll call the venue and ask to leave them as a free upgrade for someone. Make someone's day, you know?" Then he perked up a bit. "Hope you and Seth enjoy the show, though."

"Thanks." They chatted a bit longer before ending the call, and something dawned on Becky just as she put down her phone: Seth was supposed to be staying with Joshy after the concert. She was sure Joshy wouldn't mind Seth staying at his place without him, but he and Jen were leaving right away, and had no time to drop the keys off for Seth. After waiting a few minutes in case Joshy was calling Seth about the change in plans, Becky reached for her phone again. Part of her almost hoped he wouldn't pick up, but of course he answerd before the second ring had even finished. "Hey," she began, wishing she had taken a deep breath first. "Have you heard from Joshy yet?"

"Yeah. Hope everything is okay with Jen's family." After a moment, Seth added, "So what do you want to do with the concert? I can try getting tickets for another city...."

There's your out! All she had to do was agree and then there would be no stress, no tension. It would suck to miss the concert, but there would be other opportunities. But then she thought of Cesaro. He had been such a good friend, giving her advice and coaxing her back to her confident self, arranging all those get-togethers—she wasn't quite confident enough to call them dates—to help her feel more comfortable being around Seth in social situations again. "I'd still like to go, if you're game. But I know that's a lot of travelling for you," she added quickly. And there's HIS out.

"Yeah, but our next leg is on the west coast anyway, so I don't mind." Then Seth paused, and she heard him take the deep breath she so desperately needed. "I'll have to find a hotel, but—"

"No." Becky even surprised herself with her quickness. "You can stay here. Really. It's okay. You can have my room and I can sleep on the couch." They had slept in the same bed before on the road without any trouble, but she didn't quite trust herself that much yet.

She heard the slight growl Seth made whenever he was conflicted. "We'll argue about places later," he said at last. "I need to finish packing. You're... you're sure you're still up for it?"

Sorry, Cesaro. Humour's the only weapon I've got left. The shield of her confidence was starting to crack, so Becky resorted to a quip. "I was promised a birthday concert," she reminded him, "and that's what I want."

Seth laughed, at least. "Fair enough. I'll get a rental at the airport and call you when I get in, okay?"

"Sounds good." Once the call ended, Becky sat staring at her phone for a while, unsure what to do. Call Cesaro and see if he was proud of her? That felt rather desperate; she was an adult who ought to be able to deal with her feelings without needing someone else's validation. Call Bayley and beg her to take Joshy and Jen's tickets? No, Bayley already had plans or else she would have been going anyway. Eventually Becky stood up and started taking the sheets off her bed. Her feelings were a mess, but that didn't mean her room had to be, no matter which one of them was sleeping there tomorrow night.