Something to Believe In

CH 5: Trade Off

  "Punk," he says, inclining his head at me.

"Gallows." My voice is surprisingly even, all things considered. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking in with my fearless leader, of course," he says with a smirk.

"Well, that's..."

"So imagine my surprise," Gallows continues, as though I hadn't spoken, "when the door isn't answered by my scruffy savior, but instead by a woman wearing next to nothing who has obviously been drinking." He raises his eyebrows at me. "Maybe you aren't the man you claim to be."

"Or maybe," I say, my voice cold, "I'm helping a friend the only way I can."

"By what? Seducing her?"

"No, you idiot. By keeping her from getting herself raped last night."

Michelle looks stricken, but Gallows seems amused. "So then you brought her back here and..."

I stare at him. "I will say this once, and once only. We did not have sex. She threw up on me, Layla put her in one of my clean shirts, and she went out like a light. I slept over there, as you can clearly see, and she slept where she's sitting now."

"Fine," Gallows says, still smirking. "But how many people do you think are going to buy that story, Punk?"

"No one needs to 'buy' it because it's the truth." Michelle has tears in her eyes, and there's nothing I can do about it. If I go to her and say it's okay, then Luke has more ammo. So I ignore her tears, feeling like a heel. "Get out, Gallows."

"What, and leave you two lovebirds alone?"

I sigh and head for my bag. After a moment, I dig out a spare pair of sweats, which I toss to Michelle. "They're going to be too big, but they're better than nothing," I say. Then I look at Gallows. "We should talk about this later."

"Oh, have no fear of that," he says. "I'm sure we'll be having numerous discussions."

Michelle uses the distraction of our talk to slip into the sweats. When Gallows is finally finished making threats, he leaves. And that's when I look at her. She's dried off the tears, but she still looks miserable. "Sorry," she says.

"Sunshine," I sigh, settling on the bed beside her, "this has put me in a bad position, and I may need a favor from you. You're not going to like it..."

She meets my eyes. "Tell me what happened last night."

"I told you, nothing happened."

"And then you mentioned me nearly being raped." I'm quiet. "Come on, Punk," she says. "I need to know."

"You were in a bad spot," I mutter, "that's all."

"And what? You came and rescued me?"

"You're my friend, Michelle. What else can I do?"

She nods. "Fine. You saved me last night, and now you need something from me. Name it."

I can't stand the thought of asking, but I have to. I know she's going to be unhappy about it. "Join the straightedge society."

She surprises me by laughing. "That's the favor? You want me to do a storyline with you?"

"No," I say quietly. "It can't be just a storyline. If Gallows knows it's just a storyline, he can destroy my reputation. You have to actually do it." I finally meet her gaze, and she's staring at me. "Take the vow and let me shave your head on stage. The whole thing."

"Punk," she says softly, "that's a lot to ask."

"I know," I say. "But if you'll do it, then no one will question you and I being in here together. No one will think it's odd that we're riding in the same car. It's... It's my reputation that's getting damaged here. And as much as I hate to even bring it up..."

She sighs. "You went into a bar for me last night. Even knowing what it could do to your reputation. And you told Gallows off, even though it's my fault that he saw me here." Her eyes close. "Let me talk to Layla, because it's going to affect her, too. And there's still creative, needing to sign off on it."

"I know."

"It has to be this, doesn't it?" she asks.

"This would make things the easiest for me," I say.

"The things I do to keep your friendship, Cuddle Money," she says, with a small grin, "would make a lesser woman cry."

I chuckle. "Now you're using my own words against me, huh? You're going to fit right in, Michelle."

"Yeah." She shakes her head. "What the hell. It's not like alcohol is going to fill the void, right? Maybe I'll find something in all of this."

"I'm sorry about the thing with Hardy," I say, but she waves the words away.

"It wasn't meant to be, that's all. Ugh. We're going to have to talk to creative today, aren't we?"

"The sooner, the better," I say. "Because it'll probably take them a month or more to get everything worked out. Maybe you can waffle during that time."

"Yay! Waffles!" She grins. "I'm starting to feel less like something that was run over repeatedly. So... breakfast?"

"I need a shower, and so do you." She smirks at me. "You in your room, and me here," I clarify. "And it's late."

"Brunch, then," she says with a grin. "Meet you down in the lobby in twenty minutes. We can plot out how to kill Gallows in his sleep."

"Sounds like a plan to me, sunshine."