SAP Center
San Jose, California
20th May, 2020
It was fair to say that David Helms had been experiencing a deep sense of Deja Vu over the past few weeks. He was presently in the middle of a large rift with his now-former best friend, that had steadily been growing wider with each passing day, that had put not only his work life under stress and strain, but his home life too. If this was a work matter, it would have been far easier for the New Jerseyite to compartmentalise the whole ordeal, but because of how close Dave was with his former brother in arms, Tommy Valentine, the tendrils of their friendship spread far beyond the realms of Supreme Championship Wrestling, into their lives beyond the mat. They didn’t just ‘work’ together where SCW was concerned, they owned businesses together, they owned shared assets such as the company Learjet that transported them around the country, their lives were, simply put, connected in ways that many weren’t… so their argument and the heat that had built between them wasn’t just an issue that had to be addressed on Wednesday nights, but one which spilled over into an almost daily occurrence. And it could have all been so avoidable, as far as David was concerned, if only his now former friend wasn’t such a hot-headed asshole who simply refused to accept that anything but his own wims were catered for! But the worst part was that this was definitely not the first time David and Tommy had led this merry dance, having gone through similar situations in the past when Tommy had also acted out and refused to accept this his views and his views alone weren’t to be treated as gospel according to the lord and savior that was Thomas Valentine. His ego was running wild and it was forcing everyone to write cheques that while they could cash, were particularly costly. How much was the value of a decade-strong friendship, that was something that David wondered as he grudgingly packed his case to head home from Breakdown after yet another night where Thomas ‘yes I am an arrogant douche bag and I’m going to throw that in your face at every turn’ Valentine had proven his douchery knew no bounds when it came to defending his precious relationship with the overly-endowed plastic faced Princess Kandis that he was dating.
David was already beyond the point where his patience with Tommy was running thin, it had run thin weeks ago and wasn’t just out of stock but would no longer be on sale in the Helms store; in short, he was done. He was through tolerating, through hoping that Tommy would come to his senses sooner or later or that he would wake up one morning and realise just how much of a colossal douche nozzle he had become since Kandis because servicing his nozzle. Because that’s what all of this boiled down to; yet again, a woman was the cause of the heat between two ‘best friends’ that had been through wars together over the years, and once again it was Tommy’s attitude that was causing the problems!
The last time the pair had fallen out, Tommy had discovered that David was dating Zoe Sperling, and all hell had broken loose then too, simply because Thomas Valentine was incapable of having a civil discussion about anything and preferred to fly off the handle instead. Evidently he hadn’t prospered during debate class in highschool, because he was incapable of discourse, David was convinced of that fact by this point and to be honest, decided not to waste his breath after the first attempt this time around. And to be honest, that first attempt had been almost off the cuff anyway, because until Tommy confronted him and virtually demanded that he ‘get his woman’ on a leash, David had been attempted to stay out of the heat between Regan and Tommy and allow them to deal with their issues like the adults they were. Unfortunately, that was perhaps showing too much faith in Tommy, because he evidently wasn’t able to act his age and had instead chosen to act his shoe size and in the process had removed every single fuck from the field of them that David had to give moving forward. The field was barren now and Tommy wasn’t just raking over the earth with his actions each week, he was salting it in the process. Admittedly, David didn’t want to say that they would never fix the issues that had grown between them - previous experience told him that it was definitely possible at some point - but it wasn’t a question of if it would happen this time, but whether David wanted it to. For starters, he was convinced that, unlike in the past, he was the innocent party in the whole thing this time. And he sure as hell did not expect Regan to have to apologise for anything either, given the fact that she had said nothing that Kandis had not said about herself already, and something told him that an arrogant douche canoe as arrogant and canoe-shaped as Tommy wouldn’t dream of doing such a demeaning thing as admitting they were wrong, so maybe this was it for their friendship. Maybe the end of an era had actually arrived… and if that was the case then the least David could do was make damn sure that Tommy both knew it was entirely on him and remind his former best friend which of them was the better wrestler all along!
And with each show that passed, David grew more and more convinced that his former friend hadn’t just taken leave of his senses where this whole thing was concerned, but that he had become unhinged. He wasn’t just going overboard, he had dove from the ship and was swimming towards the circling sharks as in David’s view. Breakdown earlier in the night had added further fuel to that fire, with Tommy’s actions showing that he had lost the plot; he was making enemies faster than Donald Trump made controversial statements and given the gaffs that the Douchebag In Chief made on the regular, that was a hell of a feat in itself. Breakdown had been a fucking mess; Tommy had started fights with what felt like a dozen different people and the main event for the World Tag Team Championships had turned into a clusterfuck of undeniable proportions and David could only shake his head as he sat watching on the monitor in his locker room that he now now with only his wife, everyone else in their party having made their exit already but David and Regan refused to leave until the end of the show for obvious reasons. “Unbelievable,” Regan said, shaking her head as she stood up and switched the monitor off once the show went off the air. “Un-fucking-believable. So now what?” she asked, turning to look at Dave who continued to stare at the monitor despite it was no longer running. “Dave? Hello?!” Regan said, snapping her fingers to get his attention and he looked up at his wife. “I asked you what the fuck happens now? That match was pretty much key to everything we’ve been planning for weeks, making damn sure that Tommy and Kandis were the one’s who got their asses kicked by us… but those dumbasses just screwed everything up so what the fuck happens now?” she asked again for a third time. David was as living as she clearly was, that much went without saying, but he had spent up his anger that night already to the point that he was almost numb now, that he appeared as if he wasn’t even remotely concerned, which left Regan more than a little irritated with him, though that went unsaid.
“I guess we wait to see what the play is,” David told his wife, shrugging, as a frown formed across his face, his unemotional demeanor disappearing in a split second. Evidently he had untapped reserves of anger after all. “Sasha has a big call to make… and I guess whatever decision she does decide on will tell us all we need to know about how important we are.”
“She’s the daughter of Mr. D, that should say it all,” Regan told him, shaking her head. “But who knows… maybe she’ll shock me and do the right thing. Fatal Fortunes already fucking robbed us of what should have been ours and now Ames and Cain could have done it again.”
“Those two do what they’re told by King Fruitloop of the Fruity Pebbles kingdom, babe…” He countered, pointing at the monitor despite the fact it was switched off. “Nothing they do is done without Gio orchestrating it… and that what we just saw, that bullshit that just went down, it was a double fucking victory for him because not only has he found his next target by going after Owen, but he’s still fucking with our family in the process! It’s a buy one get one and he’s probably having a Jergens Jerk right now thinking about the chaos he’s created!”
Regan wrinkled her nose up. “Beautiful image, babe…” she scoffed before shaking her head, trying to get rid of the thought. “I’m just fucking frustrated Dave, I feel like I’m getting jerked around right now by all of this crap and it doesn’t get any clearer. If anything, it’s getting murkier with every week that passes because Tommy keeps kicking up the mood every time his size nine wades back in for another step!” she added in frustration, turning to walk away before rounding on Dave again. “I used to love that guy, but if this is how he’s always been I don’t know how the fuck you two stayed friends for as long as you did before this, I swear to god!”
Dave scoffed, but a mischievous grin passed across his face. “I honed my abilities for dealing with the dramatic since we started dating, babe…” he told his wife and expected to need to duck in case a shoe came flying at him, or some equally blunt object that was to hand, but Regan simply flipped him off, trying to disguise a smirk on her own face. “Okay, so I guess we’re regrouping again. Feels like we’ve done that a lot lately, with one thing or another… but Tommy and Kandis are going to get what’s coming to them, regardless of whether they’re the champs or not. And once we make them learn the magnitude of their fuck up, we go for whoever has those belts, be it Owen and Blake or anyone else… I told you babe, I’m making it my mission to ensure that you end up a Supreme Champion this year… even if it takes a contract to do it.”
Regan’s eyes widened in shock at first, but they quickly narrowed as she glared at her husband. “You even attempt to use your Trio’s contract on me and I’m divorcing you!” she told him, with such enthusiasm and sincerity that David was worried she was actually serious. And as he saw the look in her eyes, he realised she actually was. “I’m not joking babe, you do that and I will walk… we’ve made enough sacrifices for one another to last a lifetime, I’m not watching you use something you bust ass to earn on my dreams.”
“Our dreams,” David corrected her, nodding his head.
“No!” Regan refused, shaking hers. “I’m not playing around Dave--”
“And neither am I,” he cut over her, standing up to walk towards her. “We’re married, babe. What you want is what I want, and you’ve been telling people for months that this is the year you make the list. That’s your dream, so it’s mine too…”
Regan shook her head before kissing her husband. “Doesn’t mean you sacrifice your own to make mine happen though,” she told him as their lips parted and she wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands went to her waist instinctively. “So no Trio’s contract… and definitely not while Owen is champion, I guess...” she added, which left David confused, and he leant back to get a better look at Regan, who seemed shifty all of a sudden. She had clearly said something she hadn’t meant to, at least not out loud, and David didn’t like the sound of it.
“What’s Owen being champ got to do with it?” He asked, scanning his wife’s face, looking for any tells or signs that she was covering up. She knew he’d see right through them now if she did too, and with a sigh, she seemed to deflate on the spot.
“Me and Jenni had an argument about it,” Regan admitted, letting go of Dave and turning her back on him. “She doesn’t want me to face Owen and possibly take the title from him to become Supreme Champion if he’s still holding the titles when we finally get our shot…”
“She asked you what?!” David yelled, far louder than he had intended to and because they were the only people in the room, his voice carried much louder than it would have an hour earlier. Regan actually jumped a little at the sudden outburst and she turned to stare at him, her eyes wide. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that to be so loud, but… are you fucking shitting me?!” he asked and Regan nodded.
“She doesn’t want me to even face Owen,” Regan admitted, folding her arms around herself. “She got angry that I’m putting my dreams above my respect for their relationship more or less, that I’d want to fight her boyfriend if he was holding the last belt I need was out of line and we got into a fight about it before I walked out.”
David stood there staring at his wife, unable to believe that their daughter could take such a stance. Their daughter. Had she really learned nothing from them about the business? “I don’t know if I’m more annoyed or disappointed right now,” He said, shaking his head. “Does she realise how it sounds, to ask you to throw your career under the bus for the sake of a relationship that’s been going on for all of two minutes?!” he asked, throwing an arm up in frustration before he turned away. He actually thought about reaching for his phone and calling Jenni there and then, but he resisted that urge at least. He didn’t want her to have the opportunity to avoid the conversation when he brought it up and that would be all too easy to do from the other end of a phone. But he was definitely bring this up with her because he was legitimately ashamed of their daughter at that moment in time. “I’ll talk to her,” He said calmly, which belied the annoyance he actually felt at the situation as he turned back around to look at Regan. “I thought Jenni had learned better than that, but evidently I didn’t do a good enough job trying to teach her the difference between proper competition and taking things personally…”
“Dave, no,” Regan tried to dissuade him, wishing she hadn’t said anything now. She hadn’t meant to say it in the first place, as she wasn’t planning on telling David about the conversation and now she may have opened up a whole can of worms that should have remained shut tight. “She’s got enough going on right now without you giving her a hard time for speaking her mind…”
“I’m sorry Regan, but she should know better than that,” David told his wife without hesitation. She should know better in his opinion; Regan may have helped instill a wild streak in Jenni during her training that was coming through more and more as of late, but David had thought that he had also helped instill some of his own values in her too, that the sanctity of competition was something to value in the business. “Would Jenni have passed up on the EMERGE title under similar circumstances? If one of her friends was dating the champ and asked her to sacrifice her shot at the title so they could keep it, would she have done it or would she have pointed out exactly what I plan to point out when I say that this is what we’re paid to do and if Owen fights well enough, he’ll keep it?! Sorry Regan, but I’m so fucking disappointed in her right now and I won’t let it go unchallenged…”
“Then let me speak to her?” Regan asked, a hint of pleading in her voice. “I shouldn’t have walked out on her when we got into it in the first place, I’m sure I’d have got her to see some sense if I’d not lost my cool,” she told her husband but as David went to answer, the sound of a buzzer started to blare from his pocket.
Annoyed, he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his phone to silence the alarm that was howling from it. “We need to get going,” he said, slipping the phone back into his pocket again once it was silenced. “We can pick this up later though, because I’m not letting it drop babe, you know that, right?”
And Regan probably did. She knew how stubborn her husband could be when he had something that was aggravating him, and her only hope was that she could persuade him to let her deal with it herself. In truth, it was her issue with Jenni anyway, it was her that Jenni had made the request of and she thought it was only right that she dealt with it… but once David had the bit between his teeth he was hard to convince to do otherwise and she knew it would be an uphill struggle. Instead of fighting it there and then, she chose to temporarily let it go as David grabbed their bags and they made to leave the room. They were the last to arrive at the gate when they got to the terminal of San Jose International that was predominantly used for private travel, and Lucas, Delilah, Mikaela and Jordan had already boarded the plane when David and Regan checked their baggage and walked across the tarmac to the Next Level Learjet that waited for them. As they boarded, Regan took her usual seat across from the one where David normally sat, and David had a quick word with the pilot before joining his wife. The joys of private air travel meant they were off the ground in no time at all, and as soon as the seatbelt light went out, Lucas grabbed the airphone from the panel next to his seat and dialled the number to call Trinity. Mikaela and Delilah were busy talking about something that Dave had no interest in learn, if the animated conversation was anything to go by, but as he went to pick up the conversation with Regan again, he found her sleeping across from him… of feigning sleep probably, because he had been wide awake as Regan slept plenty of times over the years and she definitely didn’t sleep quite so soundly as she appeared to be in that moment. David could take a hint though and he even managed a slight chuckle as he pulled out his phone and started to check through his emails while connected to the jet’s WiFi. The third email down caught his attention straight away. It was from Dean Black, informing him of a booking change for the following week; he thought he had another week without being booked, but plans had been changed and what made it awkward was that the person he was facing was currently sat along towards the rear of the fuselage. Jordan Majors.
David looked over his shoulder, down the aisle of the plane, to where Jordan sat with her shoes off and her legs curled up beneath her in her seat, phone glued firmly in her hand as she tapped away on the keyboard talking to someone. He turned back around and typed out a quick email to Black, noting that he acknowledged the change and then locked the screen of his phone before tossing it down on the console next to his seat. He couldn’t help but think that this may be an awkward one given the newfound friendship that was building between his ex-wife Kathryn and the blonde that currently sat at the back of the plane, which he was pretty curious about if he was honest and had already made a mental note to talk to Kath about when the chance presented itself… but given how annoyed his was at Jenni for asking Regan to choose loyalty and relationships over the basic premise of the business they worked in, he wasn’t going to even consider trying to get out of the match, regardless of whether things were as innocent as he was led to believe they were. And if he was honest, as much as he respected Jordan for her recent decisions and her desire to stand on her own two feet in the business, he didn’t really know her all that well and he didn’t really owe her anything either… maybe that would change if the friendship between Jordan and Kathryn actually strengthened beyond David’s assumption that it was Kath’s penchant for helping ‘broken’ people, but for now she was a colleague and someone that had hopped a ride on the jet a few times and if he was already annoyed that Jenni would ask Regan not to face the kid she loved, then he sure as hell wasn’t going to avoid facing someone because he admired her career choices and she happened to be staying in the house where his ex-wife lived and his son spent half of the week when he was on the road. He thought about ‘waking’ Regan from her ‘deep sleep’ to tell her about the change in booking, but he wasn’t sure she’d ‘wake up’ if he tried anyway, so he made a different choice. Standing up, he made his way down the aisle to the final row of seats where Jordan looked up only when his shadow was cast over her phone.
“Oh, um… hi?” she said, lowering her hand that held her phone as she sat up a little straighter in her seat and put her feet down on the floor. “Sorry, force of habit, guess you don’t want my feet all over the upholstery, right?” she asked, grinning sheepishly as she slid her feet back into her sliders and coughed nervously. “So… hell of a show tonight, huh? Talking about that main event. Total shitshow,” she remarked, clearly vamping to fill the silence… which David was tempted to let continue, because he found it funny that she still wasn’t sure how to act around him, so was just saying whatever she could to fill the void… but he decided to put her out of her misery and pointed to the empty seat beside her.
“You mind?” he asked and she quickly nodded, shifting position in her seat to lean the other say so that there was more room.
“It’s your plane, you can sit wherever you like,” Jordan told him, rolling her eyes and groaning at her own comment as Dave went to sit down, not seeing her reaction. “Everything okay? If it’s a problem that I’m hopping a ride with you guys I can figure something else out after today, it’s not a problem?” the blonde said as David took his seat and sat back.
He looked over at her, puzzled. “Why the hell would you jump to that conclusion, doll?” he asked and Jordan shrugged her shoulders.
“When you become somewhere between a plaything and a mild inconvenience for your ‘friends’, you kind of learn to do that I guess?” she explained before sighing. “And I’ve no idea why I just said that out loud… I’ll shut up. You talk. What’s up?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, shaking his head a little; much as he had just been thinking that he didn’t owe this girl anything, he could see why Kath enjoyed her company at least. And could also see why Bree had managed to wrap her around her finger for a while too, if he was honest with himself, but he didn’t like to concentrate on the negatives. Jordan had made a huge statement at Cold Blooded, planting Sienna on her face after the match with Jake and he had to admit that while the kid was kind of naive still, he could see a difference. “Well, you’re not a mild inconvenience here, alright?” he reassured her, smiling. “We have the room and you’re Kath’s friend, so there’s a spot whenever you need it. I actually came back here to see how you were feeling the match next week…”
Jordan looked at him in confusion, wondering what he meant. “You mean Gigi?” she asked, as realisation dawned on David; she hadn’t seen the email, had she? He’d seen her on her phone and assumed. But evidently it was true what they said about assumptions. “I mean, fine I guess? I try not to overthink any match, but I’m sure it’ll be great…”
“You, uh… may want to check your emails, doll…” David told her, bringing his hand up to rub at the back of his neck as her brow knotted and she looked confused for a moment before picking up her phone again.
In his head he started counting down from ten… her eyes widened as he hit three. “Oh shit…” she gasped before her head darted over to look at Dave, and she bit her lower lip for a moment before she grinned nervously. “So that’s a thing, huh?”
“Yep,” David said, laughing. “And now you know why I came back here to talk to you… not that I’d be ignoring you otherwise doll, but as soon as I saw the email I figured I’d better check in. Though now I’m wishing I’d left it until you’d had a chance to find out without me sitting here watching the reaction… that was unfair on you, I’m sorry.” He legitimately felt bad for no doubt making Jordan feel like she was put under the microscope. Had he known… but what was done was done, there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. That was over the minute he didn’t get back up and tell her to check in her own time. Jordan actually seemed more touched than annoyed though, which caught him off guard. “Is, uh… is everything alright?” he asked, puzzled by the look she was giving him.
“Yeah, sorry, just… not used to hearing people actually apologise to me with sincerity that’s all,” she told him, looking sheepish again. “Kath told me you were a good guy, I guess she wasn’t far off the mark…”
“I have my moments,” David said, grinning again. “But Kath knows that I can be a bastard too. We all do things we regret… I’m just glad that those bridges were mended. But whatever, not the point… you’ve clearly been around some shitty people if the sound of an apology surprises you. Given that my brother is currently dating one of those people, I should probably keep my mouth shut, but I legitimately am sorry if that’s really how bad you were made to feel around them.”
“It wasn’t all bad,” Jordan said defensively, making herself smaller as she pulled her legs back up onto the seat to hug at her knees. “There was some fun involved, and I was happy for a while… but it just turns out that happiness can only cover for so much, i guess? And evidently I wasn’t enough to… aaaaanyway, so this match next week!” she finished, cutting herself off to change the subject in the process. Sharing was caring as the saying goes, but oversharing is a thing and Jordan barely knew David, so she didn’t want to go there. It was enough that she had been unburdening herself on his ex-wife, she didn’t need to drop everything on David too.
“Yeah,” He said, choosing to drop the subject as she clearly wanted to do. “So now you do know what the fuck I’m talking about, doll… I wanted to check that this wasn’t going to cause any issues. I know you are Kath are growing closer right now,” he said, completely ignoring the slightly flustered expression that flashed across Jordan’s face at the mention of that out of courtesy to her, “which is great because Kath is a fantastic person and it sounds like you’ve had some shitty friends over the last few months, so I’m glad that the two of you have become friends,” he added to let her off the hook, but he couldn’t help thinking ‘hmm’ to himself as he did so. “For what it’s worth… despite the fact that we’re going to be opponents, I want you to know that I’ve got your back if anything happens out there. I’ve had my fair share of douchebags pissed off with me, whether it’s for things I’ve said or done. Hell, I’m dealing with similar at the moment, thanks to ‘friends’ turning out to be dickbags… if Sienna, Chris or Bree try anything, I’ll do what I can to stop them…”
Jordan blinked a few times, caught off guard by the direction their conversation had taken before pulling herself together. “Sorry, yeah… thanks. Really, I do appreciate that. This is just… well, it’s kind of awkward, huh? Here I am, hitching a ride back to LA with you so I can go back to your ex-wife's house and next week, we have to try and kick each other’s ass… yet you just offered to watch my back if needed, which doesn’t exactly scream opponents, does it?”
David shot her a grin. “Not every match has to be fuelled by anger or point scoring,” he told her, speaking from a little over two decades of experience that were already in the rearview for him. “I don’t know your history so can’t really comment Jordan… evidently I need to do my research before I get around to that promo. But I do know you’re a hell of a lot younger than I am, so I guess I’ve been through a few more wars than you. Some matches have to be about anger, which I assume you and Sienna will be when that one happens, Chris or Bree even. But occasionally you get a draw that just lets you remember why you got in the business in the first place.”
“For the hot girls?” Jordan asked, playing it off completely deadpan before smirking. David had to admit she had him for a moment. “Sorry… couldn’t resist.”
“You had me at first doll,” David conceded, chuckling.
“Well, that’s my first little victory over you then I guess,” Jordan told him, smiling innocently. “Hopefully I get a slightly bigger one next week when we actually fight instead of sitting in a private jet over California, talking like we’re not gonna be throwing down in a week’s time…”
David nodded his head. “I’ll let you have that one without fighting it,” David told her, smirking. “Next week, I may have to put up more of a fight though, if it’s alright with you?”
“Nah, sorry boo, I may have to insist you don’t,” Jordan joked, grinning. “I mean, if I have a choice, I’m going to take an easy win over a hard fought one, any day… maybe…” she went on, her grin turning into a laugh. “Well, we don’t exactly have a choice about facing one another, but for what it’s worth, I’m kind of looking forward to it. I don’t want to sound like I’m blowing smoke up your ass or being nice because I’m talking to your face, but I have so much respect for everything you’ve done in your career… so it’s an honor and I hope we can make it a great fight.”
David nodded his head and gave the blonde another smile; unlike some in the business, he didn’t shy away from the fact that he wasn’t exactly on the younger end of the scale where the roster was concerned, but it was still nice to hear someone tell him it was an honor to fight him. “And I appreciate that Jordan,” he told her sincerely. “With everything that’s been going on lately, it’s nice to hear someone be positive about me, I’ll be honest… though i guess you get that, huh?”
“Something like that,” she nodded, smirking.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page anyway,” David told her, placing his hands on the armrests of his chair ready to push himself up. “I’ll leave you to go back to whatever you were doing before I interrupted.”
“Oh, I was texting Kath to let her know we were flying in tonight, but I actually think I told her that already, so…” Jordan told him, shrugging. David nodded and said nothing more about that, stepping past Jordan and back into the aisle. “One question though?” the blonde asked as she shifted in her seat again so that she was facing him once more.
“Shoot,” David told her, leaning on the seat behind him as he waited for her to ask whatever was on her mind.
“If I win next week…” she started, shooting him a wicked grin. “Am I still gonna be able to catch the flight home, or do I need to book a seat on commercial?”
David raised an eyebrow before a laugh crept out and he shook his head while chuckling to himself. “Just worry about the match Majors, and we’ll deal with the travel plans later,” he instructed in good humor. “But I don’t plan on losing… I’ll never hear the end of it from Jake if I let you beat me, will I?” he asked, giving her a wink before turning and walking back up the plane before she had a chance to respond. He thought he heard her mumble something as he walked off but he didn’t catch it as he went back to his seat. He did see Regan looking at him through one half open eye though, which he rolled his eyes at before dropping back down into his seat to look at her. “I saw that you know,” he told his wife, smirking to himself.
“Dunno what you’re talking about,” Regan said, her eyes still closed as she continued to feign sleep, despite the clear evidence that she definitely wasn’t sleeping. Not that he needed confirmation of that fact because he knew she was faking it from the minute he realised her eyes were closed, but now he had confirmation.
“Alright, no more talking about this Jenni stuff tonight, you happy?” he asked his wife and she grinned to herself before opening her eyes and sitting up. “But for the record, it was obvious you were faking all along… you snore way louder when you’re actually asleep…” he told Regan and her mouth fell open at him before she pouted.
“Fuck you Helms, I do not snore!” she said before laughing and David returned the laugh with gusto, that was how hilarious he found the statement. “So what were you talking to Jordan about?” she asked and David filled her in about the change to the next week’s card and that he felt he should talk to her about it if this was going to become more of a regular occurance, with Jordan travelling with them to shows should she continue to be friends with Kath and end up staying in the LA area. In truth, he’d decided to talk to her, at least in part, because of the parallels he drew with the Jenni situation; if Kath asked him to duck a fight with Jordan because they were friends, he would have flat out refused, regardless of the magnitude of the situation. For the most part - present situation with Tommy notwithstanding - David was able to differentiate between personal and professional and planned to tell Jennifer that it was time she learned to do that too… but there was also a voice at the back of his head that wondered just how much he could test that theory. He had a trio’s contract, a chance for any match he wished… would he be able to cash that in to face, say, Bree Lancaster for the world title, knowing that it was his brother's girlfriend? Or would he be able to cash in on the Adrenaline title, a belt he adored above nearly all others, knowing that it was one of his own former students - Peyton - who currently held it? He’d like to think that the answer to both was yes, but that didn’t stop him having at least a few doubts in the quiet calm of his own mind. Maybe he needed to re-evaluate his approach with Jenni before he actually spoke with her… which he did plan on doing as soon as he could… but maybe it needed a slightly different approach. Those thoughts were still in the back of his mind as they landed at LAX not long later, though he tried not to dwell on them as everyone parted for their respective rides, David driving him, Regan and Delilah back home as Jordan made her way back to Kath’s and Lucas went back to Trinity. It had been a strange and somewhat frustrating day, and he was glad his working week was over for the most part, even if Regan would be driving to Inglewood the following day for the next house show. The beauty was at least she could sleep in their bed for the rest of the week. Other than Breakdown, the rest of the shows that week were within driving distance of their home in the hills. So at least the rest of the week would be more bearable having his wife around with him. Maybe that would be a nice way of ensuring he didn’t do anything stupid in relation to Jennifer or Tommy. He didn’t have to be as bad as his former friend and fly off the handle without thinking everything through, after all… and he had to admit that Jennifer deserved the right to make her argument before he shot it down. Who knows, maybe he’d understand if he wasn’t hearing it after the fact. What a strange day it had been. And as a wrestler… he had no doubt that it would probably be the same all over again tomorrow too. But he could at least go to bed knowing that for a few hours at least, all be it dead to the world in his and Regan’s bed… he could just ignore everything. And in that moment, that was enough for him.
