Post by Cass Baumer on May 24, 2017 2:22:19 GMT
DATE: 05/23/17
CAMERA: OFF
It was 3:25 AM. A chill touched the air as Rayven slept underneath a large window dressed in closed black blinds. Tossing and turning, she struggled to sleep while her boyfriend lied unconscious mere feet away from her.
Between Rayven and Xavier Laroux sat Cass Baumer in an uncomfortable chair with a small TV attached to a crane in front of her. At a low volume, she tried to immerse herself into the show while making sure Rayven was still able to keep sleeping but the more and more time she spent by her friend's side, the more she peered over the white bed railing and thought to herself aloud.
"Xavier? I know you probably can't hear me. That's okay."
She turned down the television with touch controls, setting the volume to zero so if even a piece of Xavier was still listening, he could hear what she had to say in the privacy of the hospital room in the middle of the night.
"Look... I just wanted to thank you. When you and Blair were getting married, I asked if I could wear a suit instead of a dress and you said yes without even asking questions. When I started to do the reports and started to get recognized as someone other than a no-name interviewer who couldn't cut it in wrestling the first time, you didn't try to stop me. You laughed and enjoyed the ride. You accepted me and everything I did without question, and maybe to other people... Maybe to other people, that's a small thing. Maybe it's stupid, but it means a whole lot to me."
She huffed, gripping the railing of the bed tightly as she spoke, looking directly at Xavier now.
"People like Melissa... They haven't done that. They're too busy lecturing me, telling me I'm going to end up alone because of what I do instead of supporting me like you have. Kenzi Gray doesn't like it either. My ex-boyfriend doesn't even know I still exist and Jay... I think he's constantly disappointed in me. I'm always afraid I'm going to fuck that up, but... We've been drinking buddies since day one. You've helped me more than you realize and you've always accepted me for who I am. We're like family. You're like my brother... I trust you. I do. It just sucks that Gabe doesn't feel the same way..."
She grits her teeth at the thought.
"I know what your brother is trying to do. Gabe... He's trying to help, I know. I have nothing wrong with him telling the truth and letting people know certain things because I know that the truth is important. Honesty is the best policy, and I would rather hear the ugly truth than a pretty little lie, but..."
She gulped, trying her best to find the words she wanted to say.
"Lennox... Gabe accepted everything she's said like it's gospel. He's starting to believe that what you need to do to stop Lennox from getting on your nerves is to give her what she wants and become your 'true' self. He's so convinced that that's what's going to solve things that he's gotten fuckin' nuts..."
Nervously chuckling to herself, she continued.
"This is the real world. You can file restraining orders for this kind of thing. You can beat Lennox senseless enough times where she can't possibly be stupid enough to ever mess with you or Gabriel or Rayven ever again, but he'd rather just give up just to appease one person? He'd rather decide your fate and ruin your happiness with Rayven just because one person is being a bitch right now and won't stop peppering you with tweets about it? Does that make any sense to you?"
Cass huffed, looking back at the silent television as flashes of images continued to light up her face. She continued to whisper, quietly explaining her feelings the best she could.
"No. You block her to kingdom come and ignore her games. You stop playing along, stop tweeting gifs back and forth like she's your best friend when she fuckin' kidnapped Rayven for an entire day! She doesn't deserve the respect. She doesn't deserve the common courtesy to even have a conversation with her."
"Dude. Face it. She wants a reaction. That's what I want when I cause trouble. And you know what you do? You keep giving it to her like a dumbass."
She smiled. She called him a dumbass affectionately.
"You'll be okay, X. You'll be fine. If Gabe wants to be a bitch and say you deserved to be in this car wreck, enough people will figure out that he's a piece of shit and he'll get the karma he deserves. Right now, I just wanted you to know that all this talk about the real you... It's pointless. I accept you just like you accept me and I think you owe it to yourself to stop humoring her. You deserve a happy personal life. You deserve to be happy with Rayven and you deserve to decide who you want to be. Don't let Lennox or Gabe or anyone else decide for you."
"Never change for other people. Never. Change for yourself but never change for anyone else. Got that, dude?"
She laughed softly again, trying to cheer herself up after the traumatic night.
"I'm sorry. This... This is serious. You were in a car wreck. You were driving drunk. I don't know if you were 'running from yourself' or whether Gabe just drove you to want to get out of the house, but... The doctors say you should make a full recovery. You should be fine. I just hope you recover enough to single-handedly become the FAW Tag Team Champion without him. I just can't wait to see the look on his face when he realizes that you left Dirty Deeds with both the championships around your shoulders after a car accident with Rayven on your arm and a smile on your face. I can't wait to see Lennox fade into the ether when she realizes she was dead wrong 'cause to be honest? That's all she deserves. She doesn't deserve to be proven right, and neither does Gabe. The only one who needs to decide what happens next is you, Xavier."
After looking back at Rayven sleeping on the lumpy mattress, she glanced towards Xavier again.
"I might be wrong. I don't know, but... Whatever happens, whatever you decide—"
"You know how you keep saying that you don't need anybody? You're right. You don't need anybody. You can do anything you want on your own, but you ever feel the need to let someone in? I've got your back. No matter what, that's a promise I'm keeping 'til I'm buried 6 feet deep."
"I'll be here until the doctors say you're healthy enough to check out, alright? People might think I'm a lousy friend sometimes but... I'm keeping my promise. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just left you here after everything that happened."
Cass smiled softly.
"Oh! That reminds me. If you don't wake up before breakfast, Rayven said I could eat your waffles."
For the next few hours, Cass talked to Xavier until she fell asleep in the uncomfortable chair beside his hospital bed.