Guys! We're back! Some of you asked for a roundabout upload date and I promised July, so here I am delivering. If you're new here, you should really go read the first part of this. You'll be pretty confused if you don't.

This is a pretty long one to start us off but it's also mostly a fun one before the drama kicks in next chapter. I hope you guys are still with me and eager to continue along with these characters. Let's get to it.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Orlando, Florida

"So, what time's your flight?"

"What flight?"

"Your flight to Los Angeles."

Jet sighed loudly. "Dude, come on."

"What? We totally agreed you were coming out to see me."

"No, we didn't. You nagged about it and I told you I'd never get it cleared with the office. Speaking of, I really did only see you four days ago."

"So? You don't need to clear it with the office, just ask Hunter, he'll say yes. He's like your dad, right?"

"He is not my dad."

"He kinda is. He called you four times in Fort Lauderdale to see if you were on your way home yet."

"He does that purely because he wants me to get fit, not drunk."

"You weren't even drinking! Besides, you're fit already."

"He doesn't need to know that."

Adam's laughter on the other end of the line was incredibly loud in Jet's ear. "Are you seriously still pulling that with him? And he hasn't just dragged your ass back yet?"

"He trusts my word. Even when I'm lying through my teeth to him."

"I'll call him and tell him the truth if you don't agree to this."

"Do you even have his number?"

"…No. But I know plenty of people that do. Don't make me do this, Juliette."

"You're an ass."

"That is true. I'm also your friend who is asking you to come out here and have a good time. Wasn't that the point, huh? Grow as a person, rebuild bridges, salvage old friendships?"

"I've done that. I have cultivated many a friendship through Twitter."

"Seeing the guys in person is way better than Twitter. Julieeeeette."

He knew exactly the pleading tone that got to her. She could practically see him pouting and forcing his eyes desperately wide. "Ugh, fine. I will ask. There's no guarantee they'll say yes."

"Awesome! Call me when you know what time your flight lands, I'll come pick you up."

"I just said no guarantees!"

"Okay, great, see you Friday! Love ya!"

Jet sighed and shook her head as she hung up. Her friends were impossible.

Friday, December 11, 2015
Los Angeles, California

It ended up being incredibly easy to get Hunter to agree to her trip. She was still just being classed a Performance Center guest trainer – much to Hunter's continued frustration – and the vast majority of the roster had travelled overseas for the run of shows in the UK so she wasn't serving much purpose. Jet had begged out of that on the lie that she was worried such a long transatlantic flight would wreak havoc on her head. Hunter hadn't sounded very convinced but he relented and let her stay in Florida, just as he had when she'd insisted she couldn't go on the main roster's tour of Europe in November either. He was being remarkably patient for a man who had already been given the green light from the medical staff. Hunter's only condition where the trip to California was concerned was that she had to behave herself and she absolutely could not be seen on any PWG material. Jet agreed readily and immediately went about booking herself a flight to Los Angeles.

"Hey!"

Initially all Jet could see was an arm in the air waving at her through the crowd of people in LAX. Within a few moments, the horde of bodies moved enough to reveal the grinning face of Adam Cole.

Jet set her suitcase up beside her leg, smiling back at him. "Well, I'm here. You better show me a damn good weekend."

"That's a promise."

Adam leaned in but Jet quickly held up her hand. "You come at me with that damn tobacco mouth and you'll be in trouble."

He laughed, knowing how much his tobacco chewing habit annoyed her. He bypassed the cheek kiss he was going for, drawing her up in a tight enough hug to lift her from the floor instead. It was an overzealous greeting since they had only parted ways the week before. He had been in Florida for a ROH house show leading up to Final Battle, and had called Jet to let her know. Ever since she'd re-settled in the Sunshine State she had made much more of an effort to reconnect with the people she'd been closest to on the indies. Adam was one of the easiest, since they'd seen each other so recently in that bar in Reading. She figured she actually owed him a thank you; despite his douchey tactics and smug attitude, he had been the one to first force her to evaluate what was going on in her life. If not for him sticking his nose in, she could have still been mired in that mess. They talked over FaceTime pretty often after that initial conversation. She called after almost all of his shows, checking in to make sure he hadn't actually died, and he called whenever he didn't feel like he was actually dying. It was one of her favourite parts of not being on the road; she finally had enough time to catch up with people she'd missed.

When Adam let her know that he'd be in Fort Lauderdale, she immediately began the three-hour drive from Orlando. Adam was right though, Hunter really did check in more often than someone who didn't have a fatherly role in her life might. The whole night in Fort Lauderdale was spent catching up with some people she hadn't seen in years and loudly lamenting to a very amused Alex Shelley that she missed his peroxide fauxhawk. The Detroiter really thought she was drunk for a while until Adam insisted that she had been strictly abstaining from alcohol to aid her recovery from the skull fracture. Adam spent most of the evening trying to convince her to fly out for PWG's All Star Weekend and now that he'd succeeded, he was feeling pretty proud of himself.

"C'mon," he encouraged, nodding her toward the exit. "I'm parked in the pick-up zone, I don't wanna get a ticket."

Adam led her out to where he'd left the car, opening the door for her. "Wow, you're not usually this much of a gentleman."

"Well, I figure that if I don't treat you nice, you won't come out to see me again."

"You know I won't always have all this free time, right? I'm gonna have to go back to work at some point."

Adam chuckled, glancing over at her as he pulled out. "You're doing a pretty good job of avoiding it so far. Is Triple H buying that you're still hurt?"

"No, he knows. The doctors gave him the green light in terms of the fracture but I told him I'm still having those dizzy spells," Jet shrugged. "He probably knows I'm lying. I'll give him some better excuses eventually."

"You're allowed to quit."

"I don't want to quit," she replied quickly. Nothing was further from her mind. "I just don't want to head back yet. I love NXT. I love being in one place for longer than two days. I love having time to do stuff like this. I mean, realistically, how often will I actually be able to see you when I go back on the road?"

"I could come see you," Adam pointed out. "You can put me up in that big house of yours. While I'm honoured that you're pretending our hang outs factor into your career decisions, you can admit the truth."

Jet looked over at him, leaning against the door as her eyebrows rose. "And what truth is that?"

"That you're scared," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Pfft."

He grinned and shook his head. Without taking his eyes off the road, he reached over to grab her left hand and wave her now naked ring finger in her face. "Need I remind you that I'm always right?"

"You're an ass, you know that? You're so proud of being the catalyst in the dissolution of my marriage."

"Millions of women would be honoured to have me ruin their marriages."

Jet would have punched him in the shoulder if he wasn't driving. "Dude, come on."

"What, I'm not allowed to joke about it yet? You've been back in Florida three months already; that's nearly as long as your actual marriage."

That did earn him a punch. Adam laughed loudly, using his left hand to rub at the joint. "Jeez, lady, we could crash. You don't need to beat me up to deflect from your fear issues."

Jet groaned. Sure, she'd missed him but that didn't make it any less annoying when he got into the mood to insistently pester her. "Yeah, so what if I'm afraid? Everything's simpler and happier in Florida. Besides, maybe I just don't want to get back in the ring yet."

Adam scrunched his eyes and nose. "You seriously haven't had any practice matches yet?"

"Not really. I've been running the ropes for a while and helping the rookies but I haven't taken a bump in four months. I want to get back in the groove, I really do, but that old feeling of invincibility just isn't there anymore. I was always pretty lucky with injuries, y'know? Besides the broken arm Chuck gave me and a few muscle problems here and there, I've never really had anything big. Nothing that needed extended time off, anyway. One wrong knock and I could kill myself."

"But you won't. You're a great worker."

"I used to be. I'm rusty now, who the hell knows what I'm like?"

"You gotta get back on the saddle. I felt the same way after my surgery but, once I'd taken that first bump, everything was fine. You've just gotta get that first one out of the way."

Jet knew that. Of course she did. It was exactly the same thing she'd heard from Fergal, Sami, coach, Sara, AJ, everyone for weeks now. They'd all tried coaxing her into just taking a back bump, a simple move that would remind her that she was perfectly capable of working safely. She just couldn't get over that hurdle in her mind. She'd even tried talking herself into it. She'd given herself many a pep talk, reminding herself that the only reason she had gotten hurt in the first was because her mind wasn't focused. She was much clearer-headed now, nothing hanging over her.

Nothing but her fear of the ring, anyway.

"I'll get there. I'm just trying to live a peaceful life, leave me alone."

"Sorry, Gandhi."

"You think you're so damn funny, don't you?"

"Yup."

Saturday, December 12, 2015
PWG All Star Weekend 11 – Night Two
American Legion Post #308 – Reseda, California

"This place hasn't changed a damn bit."

A wave of nostalgia flooded over Jet as she stepped into the room that housed the ring. It was still early in the day, before any of the wrestlers would be setting out their merch, so it gave her time to reacquaint herself with the building. Things hadn't been so easy back when she was here regularly but she could never deny how much she missed some of her old haunts.

"So, you're darkening our doorstep again."

She glanced over her shoulder, smirking as Joey Ryan appeared through the curtain. "Uh, I seem to recall you being rather distraught when I left."

"I have no memory of that."

"Of course you don't." She reached out eagerly to hug him as he came closer. "It's great to see you again, Joey. It's been a while."

"Too long," he agreed. "How you doing? How's your skull?"

"You know me, far too hard-headed to do any long term damage," she grinned, knocking her knuckles against her forehead.

"There are twenty guys backstage who will be stoked to see you. Mainly because you're single now."

Jet laughed, shoving Joey in the shoulder. She didn't bother making the point that she was still a married woman; Joey was pay less than zero attention to it. "I'm gonna head back there soon. Just thought I'd come out for a second before the fans get here. Can't be seen and all that."

"You stay out here for as long as you like. Got a good couple of hours before the fans will be let in."

Jet nodded, smiling her thanks. Joey patted her on the arm, heading back through to the locker room. She moved to sit on the edge of the ring apron, staring around the room. It felt tiny now, after years of performing in front of tens of thousands, but it didn't feel any less welcoming. That was what she remembered most about PWG – the comradery. Even with years of experience under her belt from Europe, moving to the States had been a nerve-wracking experience. Some of the locker rooms she'd found her way to had been incredibly hierarchal, and she was way down at the bottom. PWG, though… PWG was a family from the first day. Maybe it was because of the founding fathers being wrestlers themselves, or it was just pure luck in terms of who had been around at the time.

She remembered, very distinctly, her first night in the building. It was in September of 2009 for PWG's Guerre Sans Frontières show. She was wrestling Candice for the first time of many, as a try-out of sorts. If it went well, there would be more bookings in the future. And, damn, did it go well. Jet didn't miss a PWG show from then until FCW came calling, even when it meant flying from a Ring of Honor show on Saturday in the Northeast to a PWG show on Sunday in SoCal.

"Someone's deep in thought."

Jet smiled over at Adam as he took a seat beside her on the apron. "Yeah. Remembering how much I love this place. I kinda miss coming to a show and knowing most of the faces in the crowd."

"Don't miss the pay check though, huh?"

She shrugged with a smirk. "I can't say I'm willing to give up the financial security, no. I can even afford health insurance now," she teased.

"I'd hope so, it's the law now. Obama said so."

"And I'm following the law. I'm a fully-fledged adult."

"Sure."

"I totally am. I've been learning to cook and everything."

Adam's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? You've never been able to cook."

"Figured it was about time my twenty-six year old ass learned how to put something simple together. I'm not exactly Gordon Ramsay but I'm a hell of a lot better than I used to be."

"Well, check you out."

"Right? Baby Jules is growing up, finally."

Adam barked with laughter. "I haven't heard you call yourself that in years."

"Consider yourself lucky, you're probably the only person this side of the Atlantic who's heard me call myself that." Jet had never been a fan of the nickname she had suffered from her father, brothers, and boys on the estate she grew up on, so it was usually said with pure disdain. Now, though, it was suitable. She had been Jules when she was small. It was about time she grew enough to leave that god awful name behind.

"Come on," he encouraged, nudging her in the shoulder. "The guys in the back are waiting to see you."

Jet nodded, jumping down onto her feet to follow him behind the curtain.

Chuck Taylor found the love-in positively disgusting. Or, so he said.

Everyone was all over Jet as soon as she stepped into the PWG locker room. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she was met with several pairs of open arms as everyone wanted to pass her around for hugs. Candice was front of the line, despite having only seen her recently when she'd travelled down with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa on one of their NXT bookings and the two women had spent the day at Disney World. The Bucks were close behind, much more toned down than their in-ring personas. Jet spluttered when she got a face full of Matt's sideburns, batting her hands at him.

"Dude. Come on, I don't want your mutton chops in my mouth."

She was passed around, everyone saying kind words and squeezing her with hugs until she found herself pushed in Chuck's direction. He crossed his arms, looking firmly unimpressed.

"Yeah, yeah, you think you can just stroll back here and be the hottest thing in the building, right?"

Jet glanced around the locker room. "Well, I am the hottest thing here."

"Hey!" Plenty of them yelled out in protestation but Roderick Strong was certainly the loudest.

"Bite me, Roddy. I can't help if the truth hurts."

"Who even invited her here?" Roddy grumbled playfully.

"Not me," Chuck replied, still staring hard at her. "I haven't missed you at all."

"Same. I mean, I didn't even really like you that much in the first place."

"Yeah, I only tolerated you for everyone else's sake."

"Glad we got that cleared up. No need to pretend anymore."

Just when she was about to turn her back on him, Chuck smirked and grabbed her in a headlock. "At least you're a better actress these days."

"Chuck, get off! Come on man, get off! Dustin!"

He recoiled immediately, his face the picture of distaste. "Ugh, don't do that."

"You know that is your legal name, right?" Jet shot back, flattening her messed up hair.

"Doesn't mean you have to use it. You never call me Dustin."

"Well, if you wouldn't harass the poor girl…"

Jet turned over her shoulder, smiling at Marty Scurll. It had been a fair while since she'd seen him and, even then, it had mostly been in passing. "Hey man. Long time."

"Yeah," he nodded with a warm grin. He nodded to the young man beside him who was smiling eagerly. "I'm making introductions – Juliette, this is Will Ospreay."

Jet nodded, she knew him. Not in person, of course; she was already signed to FCW by the time Will was breaking into the business. She looked up at him, scrutinising him intensely. "Good God, you're an infant. When were you born?"

Will laughed. "'93."

"Jesus Christ. You're making me feel old as fuck," she sighed. He seemed barely older than her younger sister.

"Some of us are the wrong side of thirty over here!" Joey yelled.

"Yeah, yeah," Jet waved him off. "Hey, where's Zack? He's missing the England invasion."

"He couldn't make it, he had bookings in Germany."

"Sabre cut out on us but we're still here to fly the flag for the homeland," Marty chuckled.

"You should totally come out with me waving a giant Union Jack," Will insisted.

"Oh pal, I'd love to. Honestly, it would be a blast. Unfortunately, I would be on the receiving end of a pretty intense bollocking from Triple H. He warned me about being seen on anyone else's product."

"Ah, shame."

"But, hey, if we're ever in the same place again and I wouldn't be on the receiving end of Hunter's disappointed voice, I'll totally make it happen. I'm great at being an obnoxious cheerleader, ask Johnny."

"She's right," Johnny Gargano nodded somberly.

He had suffered from it for months. Since he'd started his dates with NXT, she had happily announced his arrival at the Performance Center with a loud, "Johnny Wrestling back in the house!" every single time. He really thought she'd tire of it eventually but she really took her job as personal cheerleader for the new team of Gargano and Ciampa seriously.

"He loves it, honestly," Jet insisted.

"He only tolerates you because he knows you've got Triple H's ear," Chuck insisted with a matter-of-fact nod.

"Oh, really? Adam, have you been telling everyone he's my dad?"

Adam held up his hands innocently. "I haven't said a word."

"He doesn't need to," Nick laughed. "It was enough to see the look on the guy's face when you fell off that ladder. We all thought he was gonna cry. It's cute. Should we start calling you Juliette Helmsley?"

"No. Is that all I've come here for, to be picked on?"

"Of course. Nothing changes, even years later," Adam laughed.

It was true. She wasn't even the youngest of their gang really, she had a few months on Adam and Nick, but being the smallest and the girl and the foreigner just made her the easiest target for their teasing. It was never malicious or hurtful and she'd loved it at the time, no matter how much she griped about it to them after their ribbing. Still, she wouldn't ever admit it.

"You're all dickbags."

The show had gone off great. Jet regretted not being able to take a front row seat – or maybe not, considering how often people got hurt in the front row – and had to settle for watching her friends on the small screen in the back. Even when the show was over, after an incredible Guerrilla Warfare match, Jet had to stay stowed away in the back. The fans hung around for a long while to buy merch and converse with the wrestlers, so she couldn't be seen. Sami text her while she was waiting, letting her know that he'd just woken up in Blackpool. They FaceTimed for a little while – with Fergal popping up in the background of the hotel gym to grin and wave at her – but they were cut off by the PWG locker room door opening and a curly head poking in.

"Hey, Juliette, you can come out now, everyone's gone."

Sami gasped loudly on her phone screen. "Kenny Omega!"

Kenny narrowed his eyes and slipped so easily back years. "El Generico. Funny seeing you here, señor. You know to stay outta Reseda. This still ain't over."

"Hey, hey, no problemo, amigo," Sami insisted, adopting the old accent.

Jet had seen the routine a million times and shook her head with a fond eye roll. "You two are massive nerds."

"You got that right," Kenny smiled. "Hey man, it's good to see you," he said to Sami, stepping further into the room.

"You too, buddy. You take good care of my Juliette tonight, you hear me?"

"I think we're the ones who need protecting when she's around."

"I'm still in the room, you know."

Sami flashed her a bright smile on the screen. "You have fun tonight, love. Don't do anything dumb and keep those boys in line."

"Don't I always?" she smiled innocently. She heard Fergal's voice in the background, yelling to Sami that it was time for breakfast. "Go on, go get some food. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Your tomorrow or my tomorrow?"

"Uh, my tomorrow. Your tonight."

"Okay. Love you, Jetty-Jet."

"Love you, Sam-a-lam."

Once she'd hung up, Kenny took her out to where the room was devoid of anyone except the performers. The place was a pretty bad mess but it would be taken care of eventually, when everyone felt more able to actually move. It was odd to be the most rested and healed person in the room for once.

"How'd you like it?" Candice asked when Jet took a seat on the edge of the ring apron.

"It was great, just as awesome as I remember. How you feeling? That Warfare match looked rough."

"At least we didn't use the thumbtack shoe for a superkick this time," Matt grinned.

"Very true," Jet agreed, grimacing at the memory of watching that match. "I do not miss getting in the ring with you two assholes."

"No? That's a shame," Nick sighed dramatically, "considering we've got a ring right here and everything."

Candice latched onto the idea immediately, clapping her hands like a seal. "Oh my God, yes! Come on, let's go a little!"

"No, no, I shouldn't," Jet answered immediately, smiling nervously as she tried to wave them off. She glanced at Adam for help but he was silent.

"Oh, come on! For old time's sake!"

It tugged at her. She'd made some fantastic memories in this building but she couldn't shake her anxiety. She shook her head. "It's not a good idea, really. I'll be in mountains of trouble if the boss finds out I got into a PWG ring."

"How will anyone find out?" Matt countered. "The cameras are off, the fans are gone. Come on, Juliette."

"You guys have had tough matches tonight, you should rest," she tried diverting.

"Scared we'll show up wrestling's darling?" Kenny teased. "It's okay, we'll go easy on you."

She searched desperately for an excuse. She felt ridiculous, standing there in front of her friends while she acted like a complete baby over the issue, but there was just no way she was getting in that ring. Today was not the day she was going to overcome that anxiety hurdle.

"Guys, really, are we gonna sit around here watching Juliette do the same stuff she's been doing for years in the ring, or are we gonna actually go have fun?" Adam spoke up, finally boring of watching the debacle.

"Yeah," Jet agreed immediately. "Whaddaya say, tonight on me?"

None of them were going to turn down a free evening, immediately dropping the idea of an impromptu match in favour of heading straight for the door. Adam looped his arm around her neck, tugging her into a loose headlock as they held back from the others. She shoved him in the ribs.

"Hey now, come on, I came to your rescue eventually."

"Yeah, you just wanted to delight in my discomfort for a while first?"

"Can you blame a guy? You're cute when you're squirming."

"I hate you," she muttered halfheartedly, shoving him again until he released the hold completely, and began to follow the others out of the building.

"God, I feel gross," Jet groaned, lying her head on the slightly sticky table.

Drinking heavily for the first time in months really wasn't agreeing with her. She hadn't touched a drop since the injury, initially on the doctor's orders and then just because she was spending so much time with Sami. Spending all her time with a guy who didn't drink kept her from doing it too. She'd even managed to avoid it during her impromptu trip to Fort Lauderdale to see Adam – mostly because she still had to get back to Orlando – but with the whole PWG roster around her it was a lot harder to hold off the peer pressure.

"Pretty sure you didn't used to be a pathetic lightweight."

"Fuck you, Roddy."

"I'm spoken for, sweetheart, I'll have to pass."

"I hate you. You're still the absolute worst."

Kyle O'Reilly chuckled, "And you're still a grumpy drunk."

"What? I've never been a grumpy drunk, I'm a lovely drunk," Jet shot back. She couldn't recall any of these guys seeing her become a bad-tempered drunk. That hadn't happened until much more recent times. Back in the day, booze used to make her a much happier person.

"You used to be a damn grumpy drunk all the time!" Roddy protested. "You wouldn't even make it out of the venue sometimes before it started!" he laughed.

Jet could see Candice and Adam sharing an uncomfortable glance out of the corner of her eye and she realised. "Oh. Yeah, I guess I was," she smiled. It was better to just go with it. There was no point in explaining now, no need. She wasn't hung up anymore, it didn't matter. "I'm sure you all deserved it whenever you were on the receiving end of my moods."

"Undoubtedly," Hero chuckled, throwing back his beer. "We were all assholes."

"That hasn't changed."

The drinks kept flowing from them on, most of them in Jet's direction. She had forgotten just how many of the old gang didn't drink. They were plenty happy to just stick to their sodas and watch while Jet and Candice engaged in a battle of who could handle the most alcohol in the shortest amount of time. Jet began to realise somewhere around the ninth drink that Roddy was right – she had become a lightweight. She could feel it everywhere, behind her eyes, in her legs, clouding her brain. Candice was just as far gone but evidently handling it better. Adam was leaning heavily on Jet's shoulder, propping himself up so he could continue to indulge. She could just vaguely see both the Bucks eyeing all three of them with wary eyes. They were used to playing sober babysitter but most nights ended when everyone realised how much money they were pissing down the drain. With Jet footing the bill, no one looked all that inclined to ease up.

"Where's my phone?" Jet gasped suddenly, her hands flittering around the table.

"In your purse," Hero replied, sipping the last of his Coke. "Same place it's been the last four times you've asked."

"I need to call Sami," she insisted suddenly.

"You spoke to him a few hours ago," Kenny reminded gently. "You said you'd call him tomorrow. He'll be busy right now."

Jet's face fell, making her look as though she was about to start crying. "Is he mad at me?"

"Of course not. He's just at work."

"I really think it's time she got home," Matt spoke up. "Matter of fact, they could both do with getting some sleep now," he added, looking between Jet and Candice.

Johnny was quick to agree that it was time he and his girlfriend got back to their room and it only took a little prompting for Adam to also consent to leaving the building. Jet was more of a struggle, especially when she didn't have a whole lot of control over her legs. She stumbled up, practically falling over the table in an attempt to hug Hero and Kyle. Chris steadied her before she faceplanted and eagerly handed her over to Matt.

"Get her back in one piece, yeah? None of us want the E on our asses for killing her."

Matt herded them all out of the bar, glancing over at his brother. "You take Candice and Johnny and I'll take these two?"

"Deal."

The trip back to the hotel wasn't so bad to start with. Matt managed to get Jet and Adam stashed in the backseat and belted in, and began the short drive. It wasn't until they were just a few minutes from their destination that the previously silent Jet spoke up loudly and in panic.

"No, wait, stop! Where's Candice? We lost Candice, we have to find her! Someone will hurt her."

"Candice is with Johnny and Nick," Matt assured her patiently. "She's fine."

"Are you sure?" she asked, unclasping her seatbelt and flinging herself forward to hang over the front seat. "Adam, is he right?"

"Uh, I think so," Adam nodded, his eyes narrowed while he thought intently about it.

"I promise you that Candice is perfectly safe."

"But what if she's not?" Jet gasped. "What if she dies? What if I killed Candice?"

"You didn't kill Candice."

"Oh God, I'm a murderer!" she wailed.

Matt sighed, pulling over to the kerb so he could grab his phone. Within five seconds he had Nick on the other end. "Dude, could you please put Candice on? Juliette is convinced we left her behind to be murdered."

"Uh, yeah, hold on. Candice, say hi to Juliette."

"Hi!" Candice's voice yelled. "Juliette, I love you!"

"I love you too! Are you alive?"

"Um, I think so."

"Good. Don't die, it'll make me feel really bad."

"I'll try not to. Johnny, don't let me die."

Johnny's voice was muffled and impossible to make out.

"Happy?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, thanks man," Matt replied. "Drunk chicks," he added with a roll of his eyes.

Jet was fairly sure that she now knew what being run over by a steamroller felt like.

"Sweet baby fucking Jesus," she groaned.

"Tsk, language," a voice beside her grumbled.

Jet rolled over onto her stomach, burying her face in the pillow to block out the offending light. She reached out her arm blindly, fumbling around until she felt a face and hair. "Adam?"

"Yeah. Stop poking me."

"Dude, please tell me at least one of us is wearing clothes."

"I can do you one better – both of us have clothes on. Well, underwear. That counts, right?"

Jet lifted her head, looking down at herself. She still had both her bra and panties on. Admittedly, the left bra strap had slid down her arm to give more of a view than she ever intended, but she was pretty much covered in all the important places. Adam was naked all bar his boxers but, like Jet, it covered everything important. She squeezed her eyes shut again, still trying to fend off her headache. Adam chuckled, throwing his arm over her bare stomach and leaning in to bury his face in her hair.

"The morning after sucks, right?"

"You better be talking about the booze and nothing else."

"I'm offended at how put off you are by the idea of having sex with me."

"Adam."

He laughed again, squeezing her hip playfully. "Just the hangover, I swear. As far as I can remember last night, Matt just left us both in my room because you were being very uncooperative, we got undressed and both crashed within a couple of minutes. Unless you woke up and decided to ravish me in the middle of the night – which is totally illegal and immoral, Juliette – then I assure you that I have been nowhere near any of that," he promised, waving his hand around her midsection. "Roddy totally felt up your boobs last night, though."

"Roddy's gonna get his ass beat," Jet replied, although her focus was on never moving again rather than giving Roderick Strong his comeuppance for groping her. "Last thing I remember is him being a dick and Candice shoving a mountain of drinks on me. I wasn't seen on anything that'll make the PWG DVD, right?"

"Absolutely not. I mean, you totally made Twitter and Instagram but that doesn't count."

"Good, I get to keep my job."

"The job you're refusing to go back to?" Adam teased.

"Yeah, that one."

He chuckled, snuggling closer into her. "We don't have to move yet, right?"

"Nope. Not even a little bit."

It was at least another hour before either of them even considered movement. Adam wasn't quite as bad off but he understood her suffering. Unfortunately, he also knew that the sooner they started dealing with the after-effects of the booze, the sooner they'd start feeling better. When he couldn't ignore the sun streaming through the window any longer, he finally sat up. The groan that accompanied the activity was enough to have Jet covering her ears and glaring at him.

"There should be some aspirin in my bag," Adam told her. "Take some of those while I get us some coffee."

"You're a Godsend, Cole."

He grumbled something back at her as he pulled on clothes and shoes to leave the room. The water bottle from the day before that she used to swallow the pills was warm and made her gag. She eagerly grabbed out at the coffee Adam returned with, the disposable cup emblazoned with the hotel's logo. She chugged a third of it down in one, grimacing at the heat and the taste.

"This is bad coffee."

"It's coffee, it'll do."

She wouldn't argue that; any coffee was better than no coffee. She caught her shirt when Adam threw it to her, tugging it over her chest before she leaned back against the headboard. He sat beside her, still sipping away.

"I feel awful."

"Me too," Adam chuckled.

"Weren't you the one who used to stop me doing stupid shit like last night?" Jet grumbled.

"I was. You're a big girl now, you can make your own decisions. Besides, this is nowhere near the peak of stupid shit you've done."

She grimaced. Obviously what Roddy and Kyle had said the night before remained in his mind. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't still in hers too, despite her fuzzy memories. "I know. You've dealt with a lot from me. Don't think I ever thanked you for that."

She hadn't, but Adam didn't mind. Despite the three month age superiority that she loved to remind him of, he had always felt like the older of the two. He hadn't minded taking that role with her, keeping an eye on her, dragging her out of trouble whether she liked it or not. Most often, she didn't like it. She made some poor decisions back then. He understood now why she had made them but it hadn't made them any easier to stomach at the time.

It hadn't been easy to stomach when she got signed and immediately stopped returning his calls, either. He understood that now, too. She'd never done anything out of spite, it just wasn't in her, but it had hurt. He spent a few years wondering what he'd done, or whether she'd just gotten too big for the rest of them. When he'd found out the truth, and when their friendship had reignited as if no time had passed at all, things had changed. She didn't feel like the kid any more. She was a grown woman now who was finally getting herself together. She owned a house, had been married, had set herself up financially for many years to come, and had a career that would see her through into a comfortable retirement. He didn't feel such a need to look after her anymore.

"You don't have to thank me."

"Yes, I do. Friend or not, no one should have to put up with that much fuckery."

Adam looped his arm around the back of her neck, tugging her in for a hug. "Shut up, I did it because I love you."

Jet shoved him away, pressing her head to her pounding head. "Jesus, be gentle." She set her coffee on the bedside table and lay all the way back, staring up at the ceiling. "I love you too. I've probably said it a million times over the last couple of months but I'm really glad to have you back."

He flopped down beside her, nodding his head. "Me too." He paused for a moment, wondering whether or not to bring up what he wanted to say. He decided to go for it. After all, she really was a grown ass woman now. She could deal with the conversation. "You know that night in the bar, in Reading? Moxley told me he takes better care of you than I ever did. Not gonna lie, I was a little offended."

"Did he say that?" She only sounded vaguely interested. They hadn't talked a whole lot about Jon.

"Well, not in as many words. He implied it."

"Well, he wouldn't know, would he?"

"You never told him?"

"I never told anyone, you and Candice are the only ones who know. I nearly did, once. Back when we first started our thing. Figured he'd understand."

"He would."

"You're not usually on his side."

"I'm not on his side, I'm on your side. I'm just saying, of all the things in the world, he'd understand that." Adam paused. "Where are you guys at with each other?"

"Nowhere, really," Jet shrugged, turning on her side to face him. "He texts every now and then, just casual friendly conversation. I spoke to him on his birthday. Neither of us bring up the serious stuff. I guess we'll have to talk properly when I head back out on the road."

"Is that why you don't want to go?"

"No," she answered, completely honestly. "I'm not worried about seeing him again. Jon's easy that way, everything just kind of falls into place."

"You gonna try something out with him?"

"I don't know."

"I know you; the what-if would kill you if you didn't."

"And you'd approve?"

Adam chuckled. "Who gives a shit if I approve? This is your life, Juliette. If you want to date the guy, you go right ahead. I'll be there to pick up the pieces if you need me to."

Jet smiled, snuggling closer to him. "Who needs a date when you've got Adam Cole, huh? I lucked out."

"Hell yeah you did. I'm a handsome son of a bitch."

"That you are. You didn't used to be; I remember when we met and you just had that stupid patch of hair on your chin and those neon green trunks."

"Excuse you, I've always been cute. It's a real curse sometimes."

"I'm sure. I mean, I've really noticed all the rabid girls throwing themselves at you this weekend," she teased with a smirk.

"You've been scaring them off. You're intimidating."

"Oh, sure, blame me."

"It is your fault! What are girls supposed to think when I've got a gorgeous blonde on my arm, huh?" Adam grinned, poking her in the ribs.

"You know you're definitely gonna be my boyfriend according to the internet, right?"

"There are worse people I could be not-dating."

She smiled fondly. "Ditto."

They finished their coffees mostly in silence, savouring the peace. A text from Candice informed Jet that they were expected in the hotel restaurant for lunch in an hour whether they wanted to or not. For the time being they were content to relax and fight off the more bothersome aspects of their hangovers. Finally, when Candice sent a caps locked message saying they had ten minutes, they began to move. Adam went into the bathroom to change, calling out to Jet through the door.

"Hey, are you going home for Christmas?"

"Nope. My gift to my parents is their first ever vacation that's just the two of them. So, they're gonna be in the Bahamas, Olivia and Teddy are staying with Nana, and the rest of us are doing our own thing."

"You're gonna be alone? Come to my mom's again, she'll love to have you."

Before Phil, Jet had spent her Thanksgivings with Corey. The two of them were certainly on much better footing these days – they spoke on the phone at least every couple of weeks – but there was still a tension that had never existed between them before. Jet supposed it was because she refused to apologise for everything. She had unreservedly offered the most heartfelt sorry for she'd said regarding his concussions since there had been absolutely no excuse for that. She wouldn't, on the other hand, take the full blame for their relationship being strained before that incident. Sure, she hadn't been great about checking in with him but neither had he. Jet didn't like being on less than fantastic terms with him, not after all they'd been through together, so she was hoping things would repair organically. As it stood, she hadn't felt right imposing on him over Thanksgiving. When Adam heard about it, he immediately offered her a spot at the table with his family.

"Thanks for the offer but I won't be alone. Brock invited me to stay with him."

"You're spending Christmas with Brock Lesnar?" Adam asked, poking his head around the bathroom door.

"Yup. I haven't seen him since Brooklyn."

"I don't imagine Brock Lesnar doing Christmas."

Jet laughed, shaking her head at him. "He does normal people things, y'know. Mostly."

"Sure. Well, if those plans fall through, you're always welcome with me and mom."

She pulled her shoes on, breezing past the bathroom toward the room door. She kissed his cheek as she went, smiling happily. "You're the best."

Lunch was a relatively sedate affair, especially compared to the night before. A lot of the PWG group had already left to head home, leaving just Adam, Jet, Candice, Johnny, Tommaso, Hero, Chuck and Will to work their way slowly through a meal together. Candice immediately began organising another Disney World excursion for the next time she'd be in Orlando while Chuck shot various insults at them for fun.

Jet's phone rang loudly in the middle of their conversation. She was going to ignore it until she saw Hunter's name appear on the screen. She lifted it to her ear and quickly muttered to everyone else around the table, "Guys, shhh. It's Hunter."

The table hushed for a moment while Jet answered the call.

"Hey, Boss Man."

As soon as she'd spoken, they all erupted. There were ridiculous yells coming from everyone, some of them vulgar and some just stupid. She should have known they'd do it; they were all overgrown children who would delight in embarrassing her. She glared at them while hearing Hunter chuckle in her ear.

"Your friends are very loud."

"My friends are idiots," she countered. "Sorry. What's up?"

"Well, you remember when you asked about going out to California and I said sure, on the basis that you behaved yourself?"

"Yep."

"Multiple videos on Instagram and Twitter of you absolutely hammered doesn't count as behaving yourself."

"Ah, c'mon, it's not my fault what ends up on the internet! I wasn't even that drunk!"

"She's lying, Triple H!" Chuck yelled. "She is a heinous liar!"

"Who the hell is that?"

"Chuck Taylor," Jet answered, kicking him under the table. "Ignore him."

"Please, for the love of all that is holy, just keep a low profile, will you? If it gets back to HQ that I'm letting you hang around PWG shows while you're supposed to be healing, we'll both be in for it."

"Sure, you got it. Low profile, that's my middle name."

"Her middle name is Alexandra! I told you, she's a filthy liar!" Chuck yelled.

He received a harder kick to the shin, finally silencing him after a pained gasp. "Sorry, boss. I promise, nothing else on social media."

"Good. I'll be in Orlando on Wednesday, we'll talk about your return then."

"Uh, sure," she agreed reluctantly. "I'll see you Wednesday." She hung up with the grimace still on her face, turning to face the others. "What the hell is online that got Hunter's panties in a bunch?"

Will chuckled. "Oh, you're really great when you're drunk. Nick had a field day."

Sure enough, as soon as Jet opened up Nick Jackson's Twitter page, she was overwhelmed with the number of pictures and videos he'd posted. It was all centred on her, undoubtedly the Bucks' idea of ribbing her. It didn't start off so bad, just short clips of her chatting with the guys happily and then progressing onto her awkward but still not mortifying renditions of various 80s hits. Her cover of Take On Me was certainly something, though she would prefer it hadn't been uploaded to Twitter for the rest of the world to see.

From there, it only got worse.

The rapid dwindling of her sobriety was documented over several videos and pictures, including a short ten second clip of Matt asking her a long winded question only to receive a blank stare and garbled words, another clip of her exuberant dancing with Candice and Hero, and culminating in the pièce de résistance – a photo of Adam smushing her cheeks together until her entire face was squished and planting a kiss right on her lips, both of them hardly looking conscious.

"Well, definitely my boyfriend," Jet remarked, showing Adam the photo.

"Huh, how 'bout that?" He clearly didn't remember it any better than she did. "What can I say? I'm an affectionate drunk."

"What have I told you about kissing me with your tobacco mouth?"

"Whoops? Don't pretend you've never indulged in the occasional cigarette."

She couldn't really argue that. When Adam grinned smugly at winning the point, Jet rolled her eyes at him and turned her attention back to her phone to send Nick a strongly worded tweet, demanding he take down the videos and photos in question. He sent her back the winky emoji and nothing else. Clearly the articles of evidence would live on.

She left her phone on the table, returning back to the conversations that Hunter had interrupted. She fully intended to enjoy her last few hours with her friends before they all went their separate ways, until the damned thing was ringing again. The vibration made it slide across the table surface.

"Jeez, is that dad calling again?" Hero teased. "Have you ever reminded Hunter that you're a big girl now?"

Jet glanced down at the caller ID. It wasn't Hunter. "I'm gonna take this over there," she stated, pointing toward a quiet area of the lobby. Adam nodded, turning back to talk to Johnny as she walked away.

"Hello."

"Miss Madden, this is Richard Kulerski calling."

"Hi, Mister Kulerski, what can I do for you?"

"I thought you'd like to be informed that Mister Brooks is still refusing to take my calls, or make plans for filing a response once he'd been served."

Jet sighed. She hadn't expected anything different. "Okay, so what can we do?"

"Well, nothing. If Mister Brooks refuses to play ball, you have a two-year waiting period."

"Yes, I know," she replied snappily. "This is ridiculous, isn't there something you can do?"

"There aren't any loopholes here, Miss Madden. Either your husband agrees or you must wait out the two years. Might I suggest you trying speaking to him? Perhaps he just needs a dose of reality."

"You have no idea how stubborn that man is." She shook her head, knowing she was talking to a brick wall. The guy could only do what the law allowed. "Okay, thanks. I'll let you know if I make any headway." She hung up after very hurried goodbyes, wanting to be done with him.

When she sat back down at the table, Adam turned to her and noted her tense frown immediately. "Who was that?"

Jet glanced at him and lowered her voice. "My divorce lawyer."

He leaned in, his eyes wide. "Your what lawyer? When were you gonna tell me that?"

"I was hoping it would be when everything was done. Not many people know at the moment, just Sami and April." She began to explain, keeping her voice hushed so the others wouldn't hear. "I told Phil a few weeks ago that I plan to file. He told, pretty damn categorically, that I could have fun doing that because there's no way in hell he's gonna sign. I'm not even being unreasonable about anything. I don't want anything from him. He can keep both houses, anything that wasn't mine before we got married, even the dogs."

"Are you still visiting the dogs?" That part Adam did know about.

Jet nodded. She'd been going out as often as she could manage and she loved those trips. No matter what else was going on her dogs didn't deserve to suffer.

"Maybe you need to stop doing that. At least, for now. You going out there probably makes him think that eventually you'll back down and go home."

"That's not good for either of us."

"I know that and you know that, but I don't think he does. I guess it's understandable, you're his wife and he loves you, but it's about damn time he thinks about what you want."

"I want this all to be over. We were great for each other for a while but there's no way it works with me on the road. Our time apart was always one of our biggest problems and he can't stand the company. How am I supposed to be married to a man who can't stomach my job?"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," Adam assured her. "I'm with you. You guys might have worked in some alternate reality, but in this one it's just too difficult. I know you love him but you're making the right decision for yourself."

"He clearly doesn't think so," she sighed. "I've text and called, he just won't listen."

"He's a stubborn guy. You two have that in common."

"For once I'm trying to make a mature decision and he won't let me."

"What's the deal right now? He can't just refuse indefinitely, right?"

"No. If he would agree then this could all be done at the end of January. If he won't, I have to wait two years."

"Do you want me to go out there?" Adam offered. "Seriously, if he needs roughing up a little bit, I'll do it."

"I could rough him up myself if I really wanted to. I just think it was bad timing, you know? He hurt his shoulder a few months back and he was in a pretty bad place already with… everything else. Without being able to train, he just wallowed in his bad mood. Me telling him that he's gonna get served with a divorce petition soon just as he was getting back in his groove probably wasn't the best idea."

"You're gonna have to go talk to him in person. You know you are."

Jet rubbed her eyes, wishing she'd saved all this talking for when she wasn't painfully hungover. She knew he was right, that was her only option. She didn't want to hear it though.

"What the hell are you two whispering about?" Candice asked loudly.

Jet forced up a smile, turning her attention back to the rest of the table. Most of them were looking at her thanks to Candice's volume, waiting on an answer. "Uh, nothing. Figuring out what we can do before my flight leaves tomorrow."

She saw a few completely unconvinced faces but none of them pulled her up on it. They all returned to their food and chats, no one but Adam knowing that her incredible weekend had just been dampened.

There it is. Like I said, mostly a fun chapter but with some things to set up for future events. I hope you guys enjoyed this (and please let me know if you prefer much shorter chapters).

Follows/favourites/reviews are always very much loved and appreciated!