Chapter Text
Jey hates airports.
His left leg bounces as he sits in the terminal waiting to board his flight. He was so paranoid about getting here late that he got here super early, and now he’s been sitting in this seat so long that his ass is going numb. Jey has gotten up to stretch and jog in place, but the muscles in his backside remain stubbornly dead.
People keep staring at him as he moves, which is another reason why Jey hates waiting in airports. Jey only likes crowds when they are in an arena full of people who want to watch him smack the hell out of people. He doesn’t like the tightly compact crowds with people pushing and shoving each other, spreading their germs and weird body odors.
It’s especially bad when Jey has to come to the airport alone. He’s gotten lucky lately; the last few times he went to the airport, he’d gone with Jimmy. And, the last couple of times before that, he was able to go with Rhea.
Everything is easier for Jey when he’s with Rhea, but he hasn’t been with Rhea in forever. Jey wishes he could’ve flown here with Rhea, but that would’ve defeated the purpose of a “surprise” visit.
She and Damian are going to be on Raw tonight, and when Jey talked to her about it yesterday, he had told her that he had to stay in Florida for “family stuff” so that she wouldn’t expect him to show up. He could tell that she was a little down about that but she didn’t complain. It made Jey even more excited to surprise her and lift her spirits.
Sitting in this airport alone and miserable has Jey reconsidering this whole plan. He just wants to Facetime Rhea and let her know that he’s coming so that he can see her smile.
This is no fun. This is the exact opposite of fun.
Jey huffs and sinks into his seat. If Roman were here right now, he would laugh at Jey and tell him to stop acting like a child. If Roman were here and this was about two years ago, he would snap at Jey and tell him to sit up straight and stop embarrassing the family. Jey would try to explain himself, but mean-as-hell Tribal Chief Roman wouldn’t allow him to. Either way, Roman would not approve of Jey’s slumping and pouting.
Well, Roman isn’t here, damn it, so Jey is going to pout as much as he wants. Hell, Roman would be pouting too if he hadn’t physically been with Cody in more than three weeks. Roman would be losing his damn mind right now. He’d been huffing, and puffing, and trying to blow everyone’s house down. Jey is still somewhat composed, so take that, Roman.
Jey blinks and frowns at himself. Why is he arguing with an imaginary Roman? Why is he thinking of Roman so much anyway? Did Jey forget his meds again? Oh, shit, he probably did.
Alright, stop it, Uce. Focus on Rhea, not all of the other thoughts tripping over themselves.
It’s not that Jey has been counting the days since he and Rhea have been in the same room at the same time. It’s just that it’s been literally 24 days, 13 hours, and 46 minutes since Jey and Rhea have been in the same room at the same time.
They can’t spend any damn time together because of these weekly shows, house shows, and fancy events the company has them working. All of the work stuff would probably not be so time-consuming if “work stuff” didn’t also mean “family drama.” Jey’s not just working shows. He’s also fighting his baby brother and cousins every five seconds.
Rhea doesn’t have it any better. She’s not just working shows. She’s also fighting her ex-boyfriend, ex-best friend, and her ex-best friend’s bodyguard all the time. Jey has been trying to just get into a car and drive to Fort Myers to pull up on her, but he hasn’t been able to get away from his family or WWE long enough to do it.
And that’s not okay! A man should be able to spend more time with the woman he’s dating, and a woman should be able to spend more time with the man she’s dating. And a man should be able to spend time with the man he’s dating, and a woman should be able to spend time with the woman she’s dating, and—
Damn it. Jey definitely forgot his meds. When was the last time he took them, actually? Oh God, was it before Cody’s match with Solo and the Rock? That was a week and a half ago. How the hell did he forget for this long?
A voice in the back of Jey’s mind tells him that Solo was often the one to remind Jey to take his meds.
Solo wouldn’t even be mean about it, either. Most of the time, he would just gently pat Jey’s arm or shoulder and ask, “Ritalin?” and Jey would remember that, oh right, it’s time to take his Ritalin. Then, he’d take his medicine, and the chemicals in his brain would do what they were supposed to do.
Jey’s been on his own for a while as far as remembering his medicine is concerned. He does just fine most of the time, but this is clearly not one of those times.
Jey’s face begins to burn as another thought creeps into his mind. He wonders if Rhea is going to get annoyed with him acting like this , his thoughts racing and his mouth moving a mile a minute. He hadn’t been so hyper and distracted around her because he’d been taking his fucking medicine.
Now, when he shows up in Milwaukee, she’s going to get the version of him that’s bouncing off the walls and talking about whatever pops up in his mind. What if she spends the night with this version of him and decides, “Nah, man, I hate this guy. This ain’t working,” and leaves right then and there?
Rhea wouldn’t be the first person to do it. Hell, Jimmy did it at one point, and he’s Jey’s twin brother! They were born together, mere minutes apart, but there was still a point in time when Jimmy decided that he couldn’t deal with Jey anymore. Granted, they came back together, but then they broke up again, and now they’re back together again , but still. It happened!
And, oh damn, what about Damian? What if Jey annoys Damian so badly that Damian tells Rhea to dump him and she does it because she’s known Damian longer, trusts him more, and doesn’t get half as annoyed by Damian? Damian is her Terror Twin, and Jey is just a guy who used to be an enemy and has been crushing on her for a long ass time.
Damian didn’t even like Jey all that much up until a few months ago. Before then, they were literally trying to beat the hell out of each other every chance they got. Damian would beat up on Jey so much that Jey wondered if Damian specifically penciled “Whoop Jey Uso’s ass” into his schedule.
(It was kinda fun if Jey’s being honest. Well, it was kinda fun until Jey couldn’t stand up without feeling another ache or pain. Then, he remembered that he hated Damian and Damian hated him.)
For all Jey knows, Rhea might not even like him like that. Maybe he’s just a rebound, someone to have some fun with while she gets over the asshole who broke her heart.
Jey shakes his head. No, that’s not true. Rhea likes him. She’s said it to him before, and he trusts her enough to believe her. Rhea is going to be happy to see him, and she’s not going to hate him just because his brain is a little more active than it normally is. And Damian is not going to tell her to kick Jey to the curb because he and Damian are friends.
Jey is good. It’s all good.
(It better be all good.)
The PA system announces that it’s time for passengers to board the flight to Milwaukee. Jey hops out of his seat, his ass still numb, and hurries to the gate. Some overly eager passenger steps on the back of Jey’s heel as they try to beat him into the gate. Jey grits his teeth and keeps moving.
He’s so damn ready to go. Airports suck.