Road to Ruin [AEW Oneshots]

practical and convenient

"Mum? You've not left yet, have you?" Ah. So she was calling Amelia. "Oh, thank fuck. Shit, I– Sorry, sorry. Can I ask a huge favor before you leave?"

The call didn't last long but once Elizabeth gave a relieved sigh, Pac knew that the crisis had been averted. Once she had finished talking to her mother, she returned Pac's phone to him and he placed it on the counter next to his cup.

"And your parents won't be here until seven?" Elizabeth asked, staring at him as if it was the most important question in the world.

"They're nothing if not punctual."

"I just mean, they're not going to show up earlier?"

"If they do, what of it?" Pac gave an indifferent shrug. "You forgot shit. We all fuckin' do it. Besides, Oscar and Amelia will be bringing everything you forgot with them, so it's fine, isn't it?"

"It is, it's just..." When she sighed and took a moment to gather her words, Pac could see the stress threatening to overtake Elizabeth. "Fuck. I don't know. It's just... I feel like I don't know what the fuck I'm doing anymore. If I'm here or there or wherever."

To some degree, Pac understood how she felt. To be a professional wrestler was to travel the world, of course, but this entire year had more or less consisted of Elizabeth traveling all over the place. 2023 had been the best year of Elizabeth's career, from her heel turn in January to winning the AEW Women's Championship at All In. The same sort of success could not be said for Pac, who had wrestled a total of six matches since the beginning of the year.

Since Pac and Elizabeth had begun dating in the summer of 2021, they had spent most of their time together on the road. Of course, there had been occasions when they had been apart during that time, but 2023 had been quite the test for them and their relationship.

They had been together as much as they possibly could but there had been times when they'd gone weeks at a time without seeing one another. For as much as the introverted Pac enjoyed having time to himself, he couldn't deny how much he had missed having Elizabeth by his side. She always had a way of making things better, even when he was so incredibly fed up with the world (and the injuries that had kept him on the sidelines).

It had been hard on Elizabeth too, he knew that. While she had plenty of friends who she could travel with and enjoy the company of, Elizabeth loved Pac and had missed him just as much as he had missed her. Actually it was possible that she missed him even more than that, based on the way she always hugged him so tightly whenever they first saw one another again and the messages that she often sent while he was asleep.

"You're here, Elizabeth, and everything's fine, alright?" Pac said as he stepped closer to her, his voice stern but low. "You've not got to worry yourself about anything. Relax."

Elizabeth took a deep breath and held it for a long moment, her eyes locking with Pac's even as she exhaled slowly. Pac raised both of his hands up to her face, resting one on each cheek as his thumbs gently skimmed her soft skin.

"I guess I just feel like I never have time to gather my thoughts anymore, you know? Like I'm always in some big hurry to get from point a to point b. If I hadn't been rushing myself so damn much yesterday then I wouldn't have forgotten my bag, but if I hadn't rushed myself, I wouldn't have been able to spend as much time with you and that's more important to me than anything, but..."

The pout that came to her lips might've been cute, had it not been so goddamn heartbreaking. No matter how hard she always tried to hide her worries and fears from Pac, they almost always ended up in a situation such as this, where she simply couldn't take it any longer.