Categories > TV > WWE > The Taste of Ink
Prompt: Breathe
Pairing: Shelbin (Chris Sabin/Alex Shelley)
Author: tjsparkles
“Chris,” Alex spoke, as his hand reached out to his best friend and tag team partner, his fingers curling around Chris’ wrist as he stepped forward a bit. “What’s going on with you, man?” Before Chris could speak, Alex held up his free hand.
“And don’t tell me that it’s nothing, either. This is the third time this week I’ve seen you come out of your room, looking all pissed off.” His grip tightened, but he made sure to keep from hurting his friend. “You wanna talk to me about it?”
Though Chris appreciated Alex’s concern, his feelings were something that he hadn’t even come to grips with yet, let alone wanted to talk to Alex about. Even if he had wanted to, Chris had absolutely no idea how to voice them, and while he regretted having blown his friend off for the past three nights, there was a reason for it. He just didn’t want to talk about it at the moment.
“No.” His blue eyes dropped down to Alex’s fingers, before looking back up into the brown orbs of the aforementioned male. “Look, Alex, I’m fine, all right? Just let it go.”
Alex knew that the statement was a lie, but he also knew Chris well enough to know that when he was ready to talk, he would. Chris was the complete opposite of him: quiet and guarded, while Alex was brash, loud, and blunt. If he had a problem, he preferred to tackle it head on, consequences be damned. Chris was a bit more cautious, which probably was the better, more effective approach in the end, and Alex respected it, but it just wasn’t him.
As he stood in the hallway just outside of Chris’ room, which was exactly four rooms down from his, Alex couldn’t help but feel like there was some form of tension between them. Maybe he was overreacting, and maybe his spidey senses were off, but Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that Chris’ change in demeanor had something to do with him. He couldn’t imagine why, but the feeling was nagging him. Chris was stonewalling him, though, so that left Alex pretty much helpless.
“If you say so,” he answered, with a heavy sigh, as he ran a hand through his dark brown faux-hawk. “Listen, man, I’m gonna go out, maybe head to the Ale House…do you wanna come with?”
Though the idea of getting drunk sounded appealing, Chris knew that it wouldn’t solve his problems—in fact, it would only make them worse, as he tended to over think things when he was drunk—so he declined, hoping that he didn’t sound like a tool when he did so.
“Thanks, but no thanks, ‘Lex. I’m just gonna stay here.” He stared down at his hands. Chris was sure that Alex was going to get the impression that he was ignoring him, if he hadn’t gotten it already. And that wasn’t the case—it was quite the opposite, in fact—but he wasn’t going to bother clarifying and explaining that it wasn’t. Maybe it would be better if Alex did think that Chris was ignoring him. At least then, their friendship would remain intact, even if Alex did stay angry at him for a while. It was a lot better than Chris admitting the alternative, which was that he thought he had feelings for his best friend. No, scratch that—he knew he did. He didn’t know exactly what these feelings were, or what the magnitude of them was, but Chris knew that when he looked at Alex, his breath hitched in his throat. Having any amount of contact with him was worse, because when that happened, Chris felt as though his heart would pound out of his chest.
He just didn’t know what these feelings meant, and while he and Alex had a pact to always tell each other everything, this was an exception. A very big exception.
And Chris just could not bring himself to tell his best friend that he couldn’t be around him not because of something he had done, but because Chris didn’t even have enough self-control or willpower to keep their friendship the same as it always had been. The truth was that Chris didn’t know if he could be around Alex until he came to terms with his feelings, which made him feel like a coward, but at the same time, Chris knew that Alex would eventually begin to catch on, and he did not want that to happen.
“Then I guess I’ll see you later, yeah?” Alex tried to remain nonchalant, but disappointment, and a twinge of hurt, which probably wouldn’t have been noticed by anyone besides Chris, was evident in his voice. Chris managed to nod and grunt out a reply, and then Alex was gone, leaving Chris to lean back against the door of his room, his eyes closing as he inwardly cursed himself for taking the easy way out, once again.
Pairing: Shelbin (Chris Sabin/Alex Shelley)
Author: tjsparkles
“Chris,” Alex spoke, as his hand reached out to his best friend and tag team partner, his fingers curling around Chris’ wrist as he stepped forward a bit. “What’s going on with you, man?” Before Chris could speak, Alex held up his free hand.
“And don’t tell me that it’s nothing, either. This is the third time this week I’ve seen you come out of your room, looking all pissed off.” His grip tightened, but he made sure to keep from hurting his friend. “You wanna talk to me about it?”
Though Chris appreciated Alex’s concern, his feelings were something that he hadn’t even come to grips with yet, let alone wanted to talk to Alex about. Even if he had wanted to, Chris had absolutely no idea how to voice them, and while he regretted having blown his friend off for the past three nights, there was a reason for it. He just didn’t want to talk about it at the moment.
“No.” His blue eyes dropped down to Alex’s fingers, before looking back up into the brown orbs of the aforementioned male. “Look, Alex, I’m fine, all right? Just let it go.”
Alex knew that the statement was a lie, but he also knew Chris well enough to know that when he was ready to talk, he would. Chris was the complete opposite of him: quiet and guarded, while Alex was brash, loud, and blunt. If he had a problem, he preferred to tackle it head on, consequences be damned. Chris was a bit more cautious, which probably was the better, more effective approach in the end, and Alex respected it, but it just wasn’t him.
As he stood in the hallway just outside of Chris’ room, which was exactly four rooms down from his, Alex couldn’t help but feel like there was some form of tension between them. Maybe he was overreacting, and maybe his spidey senses were off, but Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that Chris’ change in demeanor had something to do with him. He couldn’t imagine why, but the feeling was nagging him. Chris was stonewalling him, though, so that left Alex pretty much helpless.
“If you say so,” he answered, with a heavy sigh, as he ran a hand through his dark brown faux-hawk. “Listen, man, I’m gonna go out, maybe head to the Ale House…do you wanna come with?”
Though the idea of getting drunk sounded appealing, Chris knew that it wouldn’t solve his problems—in fact, it would only make them worse, as he tended to over think things when he was drunk—so he declined, hoping that he didn’t sound like a tool when he did so.
“Thanks, but no thanks, ‘Lex. I’m just gonna stay here.” He stared down at his hands. Chris was sure that Alex was going to get the impression that he was ignoring him, if he hadn’t gotten it already. And that wasn’t the case—it was quite the opposite, in fact—but he wasn’t going to bother clarifying and explaining that it wasn’t. Maybe it would be better if Alex did think that Chris was ignoring him. At least then, their friendship would remain intact, even if Alex did stay angry at him for a while. It was a lot better than Chris admitting the alternative, which was that he thought he had feelings for his best friend. No, scratch that—he knew he did. He didn’t know exactly what these feelings were, or what the magnitude of them was, but Chris knew that when he looked at Alex, his breath hitched in his throat. Having any amount of contact with him was worse, because when that happened, Chris felt as though his heart would pound out of his chest.
He just didn’t know what these feelings meant, and while he and Alex had a pact to always tell each other everything, this was an exception. A very big exception.
And Chris just could not bring himself to tell his best friend that he couldn’t be around him not because of something he had done, but because Chris didn’t even have enough self-control or willpower to keep their friendship the same as it always had been. The truth was that Chris didn’t know if he could be around Alex until he came to terms with his feelings, which made him feel like a coward, but at the same time, Chris knew that Alex would eventually begin to catch on, and he did not want that to happen.
“Then I guess I’ll see you later, yeah?” Alex tried to remain nonchalant, but disappointment, and a twinge of hurt, which probably wouldn’t have been noticed by anyone besides Chris, was evident in his voice. Chris managed to nod and grunt out a reply, and then Alex was gone, leaving Chris to lean back against the door of his room, his eyes closing as he inwardly cursed himself for taking the easy way out, once again.
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