Just what exactly was one supposed to say to someone they hadn't spoken to in over half a decade? As Pac stared down at the message he'd received on Twitter, he felt himself almost overwhelmed with memories of the past.
From: @SamiZayn
Hey man, it's been a while, huh? I know you're not on here too much but I was wondering if you wanted to meet up and grab some coffee tomorrow morning? I'm gonna be in the city over from where you guys are running this week and I would love to see you!
I know it's EXTREMELY last minute and I understand if you've already got plans with your girlfriend or your friends. But hey, if you're free, hit me up!
How the hell did Pac respond to that? Or would he be better off just leaving Sami on read, as he had done so many times before?
The message had been the first Sami had sent Pac in quite a while. Scrolling upwards, Pac noticed that his last text from Sami had been during Pac's feud with Kenny and Orange Cassidy for the AEW World Title, where Sami had wished him luck and said some nice words about how he'd always been one of the best.
As he thought back to it, Pac remembered the way he had felt upon first seeing that message.
He'd been frustrated by Sami's continued efforts to once again step into his life. Pac hadn't been able to understand just why Sami was so goddamn persistent; couldn't Sami see that Pac didn't need his help or encouragement? That he was better than the words of someone so happy in the company that had made Pac's life a living hell?
Thinking back to it now, even Pac realized how selfish and unfair that way of thinking had been. Perhaps Elizabeth had been rubbing off on him, if only a bit.
Pac sighed and raised a hand to slick his hair back against his scalp, his eyes locked on his phone.
This was not what he had expected to deal with this morning.
"Everything okay, Pac?" Elizabeth's concern wasn't enough to tear Pac's gaze away from his screen.
"Yeah, yeah, it's all fine. Just..." Pac wasn't entirely sure what he should say. "Don't worry about it."
"You saying that only makes me worry that much more," If Pac had to guess, Elizabeth was frowning at him. "Please don't tell me someone died."
That was enough to get Pac to look at her. In fact, Pac whipped his head up so quickly that his neck ached in protest.
"Why the fuck is that your first assumption?!" Pac asked incredulously. "No, no one fuckin' died."
"What the hell am I supposed to think when I come in here and you're looking at your phone like that?!" Elizabeth's tone was defensive but the expression on her face was one of pure embarrassment.
"I..." Pac stared at his girlfriend for a long moment before shaking his head. "An old pal just messaged, that's all."
He wasn't entirely sure what had caused him to refer to Sami in such a way, though the words had slipped past his lips before Pac had been able to put much thought into them. Elizabeth had mentioned Sami to Pac on a few occasions in the past, but the conversation had never lingered on him for too long.
"Should I be worried about this old pal of yours the way you worry about Will?" Elizabeth was teasing him, unable to keep a playful smile off her face. Pac rolled his eyes but he had to admit that her making light of his dislike for Will was a welcome change from her getting mad at him over it.
"Unless you've been reading those stories Leva writes, ya don't have a reason to worry about him," While Pac knew that Leva created fanfiction stories about their co-workers, he had never read one of them for himself. He also had no interest in doing such a thing. "It's just..."
"Who was it?" Elizabeth asked curiously as she took a seat on the mattress beside him.
Pac wasn't sure about answering Elizabeth because he wasn't sure what he wanted to say to Sami, if he said anything at all. Pac knew how Elizabeth would respond upon hearing that Sami wanted to see him; she would encourage it and try to push Pac to reconnect with the man that he had considered to be his best friend for many, many years.
Would that really be such a bad thing, though? To, at the very least, have a coffee with Sami? If things went poorly, Pac could always fuck off and find a better way to spend his time before work.
"Sami Zayn," It was the first time that Pac had said the name of his old friend in several years. "He wants to see me tomorrow."
"Sami? Oh, fuck," Elizabeth's eyes widened a bit as she looked at Pac. "This is a big deal, love."
"I don't think so," Pac objected. "He's texted me many fuckin' times since we last saw each other."
"That may be true, but this is the first time you've ever mentioned it to me. I think... I think that says a lot about what your heart wants to do," Elizabeth gave him a gentle, encouraging smile.
As much as Pac didn't want to admit it, she had a point. The fact that he was even thinking about it this much meant that things weren't the same as they had been the last time that Pac had heard from Sami.
"You should go see him," Elizabeth said. "At least, I think you should, for what it's worth. I think it'd be good for you."
Pac grew silent as he contemplated his girlfriend's words. He stared down at the message Sami had most recently sent him, then he began scrolling back through older ones. As he looked at the dates on each one, a strange feeling ached in his chest while watching the messages become less frequent, though the enthusiasm remained the same.
"... Fuck," Pac muttered more to himself than Elizabeth as he tapped the reply box on his screen and brought up the keyboard. His fingers hovered over it for a moment, uncertain if he truly wanted to go through with it.
As impulsively as Pac had ever done anything, he went with the mindset of 'fuck it' and texted Sami, asking for a location and a time. Once the message had been sent, Pac locked his phone and sat it with the screen facing down on the bed.
"Well, no use sitting around anymore, huh?" Pac thumped the mattress with one hand as he rose to his feet. "You said Max wanted to meet around 11, right?"
Looking at Elizabeth as she nodded, Pac noticed the warm smile on her lips. She was proud of him, of the fact that he had actually managed to message Sami instead of ignoring him as Pac had done for years at this point.
"Yeah, just as soon as Page finishes whatever he's doing with The Bucks," Elizabeth said.
As the couple prepared for the day, Elizabeth did not question Pac about his conversation with Sami. She did not mention the meeting that the two were planning for the next morning. Pac appreciated that she gave him space until he was ready to talk about it.
Pac wasn't entirely sure if he had made the right decision, but if nothing else, he could just cancel at the last minute. A dick move, sure, but surely nothing worse than the way Pac had merely left Sami on read in the past.
One thing that Pac had to at least admit to himself, though, was that he had missed Sami tremendously.
~
Waiting alone in the small cafe for Pac's arrival was incredibly nerve-wracking for Sami. The warm smell of freshly ground coffee beans and pastries filled the air but it did little to alleviate the anxiety that stirred in the pit of Sami's stomach.
Sami checked the time on his phone. 7:26 AM. They had agreed to meet at 7:30, which gave Pac at least four minutes to arrive as scheduled. If he wasn't here by then, Sami could always wait another ten or fifteen, just in case Pac was running late or traffic had been horrible.
There were any number of reasons that someone could be late. Hell, it was entirely possible that Pac just had to cancel. He could be ill, something could have come up at work, or–
The dinging of the opening door caught Sami's attention and when he looked up, the man wondered if he could truly trust his own eyes.
In walked Pac, dressed in a pair of dark slacks and a short sleeve shirt. Pac had his hair pulled back and his glasses rested upon his naturally scowling face. He scanned the cafe for a moment before quickly landing his gaze on Sami.
Just as soon as his eyes locked with Pac's, Sami felt as if he'd seen a ghost. Memories of the last time that the two had seen one another in person rushed back to Sami and, for the first time, he wondered if he had possibly made a mistake.
~
The tension in the locker room was thick enough to cut with a knife, Sami noticed that immediately. A few of his peers were filing in and out, gathering their belongings and preparing to leave for the night.
In the back of the room, off by himself, sat the man that Sami had come to look for; slumped over with his elbows on his knees and his hair covering his face was Neville. Even as Sami approached him, his friend did not move.
"Hey, man," Sami greeted cautiously as he took a seat on the bench opposite of Neville. "You good?"
Neville was still dressed in his gear, sweat glistening off his muscles and dripping onto the polished floor beneath their feet – the same floor that he had been glaring down at until Sami had started talking.
"No, Sami, I am not good," Neville's voice was sharp and his tone condescending, as if Sami should have known better than to ask such a question. "I haven't been good for a long fucking time."
That was one way of phrasing it. Sami had noticed that much, though he suspected that saying such a thing to Neville wouldn't help his case any.
Neville hadn't been okay for quite a while now, just as he had said. Ever since Neville had been called up to the WWE main roster, there had been a slow change taking place in Sami's once cheerful and awkward friend.
Through a string of personal and professional frustrations, Neville had become cold and angry. There had always been a bit of stubbornness and sass in Neville, but those were two traits that seemed to have grown tremendously as well.
When Neville had won the Cruiserweight Championship earlier in the year, Sami had noticed that Neville had become a bit more pleasant once again. However, once the booking decision had been made for Neville to lose the title to Enzo Amore, that had seemingly been it for Neville. The point of no return.
It had been two days since the match that had seen Neville lose the Cruiserweight Championship he had busted his ass for. Neville had fought against the decision until the bitter end.
"I'm not gonna keep fucking doing this," Neville released a sound that was somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. "Fuck this place. Fuck this fucking company. Fuck that fucking joke of a man who took my title, and especially fuck the man who made that decision!"
One thing that Neville had previously made sure Sami understood was that he wasn't upset about losing the Cruiserweight Championship; it was who he had dropped it to that was the issue. Enzo, as a character, truly was the joke that Neville had referred to him as, just someone that made the boss laugh. His material was lame and that was due in large part to Vince's sense of humor.
"Come on, don't be yelling that," Sami tried to cool the situation. He knew all too well how easy it was to get in trouble backstage for saying something you shouldn't and the last thing he wanted was for Neville to wind up in an even bigger shitstorm than he was already in. "Why don't you just go ahead and get changed and we can talk about it back at the hotel?"
The noise that came from Neville's throat next was definitely a scoff. "Do ya really think I give a shit if anyone hears me, Sami?!" To accentuate his point, Neville straighted his posture, turned towards the door and loudly proclaimed, "This whole fucking company is just a sick, twisted joke!"
Several of their peers turned to look towards them, their expressions varying from confusion to annoyance, and Sami knew that he had to try harder to get the situation under control. If he didn't, Neville was going to say something he couldn't take back.
"Neville, let's just–"
"Do not fucking call me that name," He hissed as he turned back around to face Sami. "I was never Neville or Adrian Neville or The fucking Man That Gravity Forgot. And I sure as fuck wasn't ever The King of the Cruiserweights! You know my goddamn name, Sami, so fucking use it!"
Sami paused. The look on his old friend's face had turned him into someone he didn't quite recognize. So much anger and hostility, directed at Sami for lack of another outlet.
"... Pac, then," Sami said, exasperated. "Pac, let's just leave, man."
If nothing else, Pac seemed to at least appreciate the change of name. Overall, though, it did little to quell the fire in his gaze.
"That's the thing!" Pac smacked his knees and rose to his feet. "That's the bloody thing. I am leaving. I'm leaving this god-forsaken company!"
"What're you talking about?" Sami felt as though his heart had dropped to the pit of his stomach. "You're leaving?"
Sami had seen it coming, deep down, but he had hoped that the feeling in his gut was wrong. That Pac wasn't going to quit, no matter how frustrated he was. That somehow, someway Pac would be able to work things out with Vince.
"Of fuckin' course I am," There wasn't a hint of doubt in Pac's voice. "And I recommend that you get the fuck out, too, if ya know what's good for ya."
"What about your contract?" Sami asked. He knew that there was no use in arguing with Pac about it. "You've still got a while left on it, don't you?"
"Fuck that contract and its 'no compete' bullshit!" Pac spat. "I've already figured it all out. When I can finally do what I want to fucking do with my fuckin' career, I'm going home."
Home. Sami assumed that Pac was referring to Dragon Gate, the promotion that he had always enjoyed working for the most. Pac had mentioned several times over the years, even when he was happiest in NXT, that he would love to return to Dragon Gate one day.
Once again, Sami wasn't sure what to say. Looking at Pac now only made Sami's heart ache for his friend.
How had things come to this point?
"If that's what you want, man, go for it. If you're not happy, then you need to leave," At the end of the day, Sami just wanted the best for Pac. One thing that was blatantly obvious was that WWE was not that.
"I'm so grateful I have your permission," Pac's reply was blunt and uncaring. Sami watched as Pac grabbed a pair of shorts and a shirt from his gimmick bag, slipping the clothing on over top of his sweaty ring gear.
"Pac..." Sami wasn't sure what to say. Was there anything that could make the situation better? "Good luck, man."
"I don't need your luck," Pac slung his bag over his shoulder. When he looked at Sami once again, his eyes were cold. "Now fuck off."
Pac began to walk away, but before he reached the door, Sami called out to him once again.
"What?" Pac's voice was calm but dark as he continued facing forward.
Sami did not speak again. Pac scoffed when he didn't receive a reply and then stormed out of the room.
A moment later, Sami picked his own bag up out of the floor and hoisted it up. With a heavy sigh and a heavy heart, he decided it was time to call it a night.
~
Looking at Pac now, he seemed more like the man that Sami had known before that night. There was still a coldness in his gaze and demeanor but there weren't any traces of anger or frustration on his face.
When Pac stopped in front of the table that Sami sat at, Sami rose to his feet. There were many things that Sami wanted to say, many ways that he could greet his old friend after all these years, but the words that left Sami's mouth came out before his brain could stop them.
"You actually showed up. You actually fucking did it."
Pac released a rush of air that sounded almost like a chuckle. "As much as I want to laugh at ya for doubting me, I can't say I blame ya. I wasn't sure I'd come here, either."
Sami smiled. Everything about the way Pac carried himself now, from the way that he walked to the tone of his voice was different from the last time they had seen one another. He wasn't quite like the Pac that Sami had traveled the world with before they signed with WWE, but he wasn't the same man who had walked out of that company, either.
"You're even early!" Sami gently teased. "Look at you!"
"Have ya ever known me to be late?" Pac's expression did not change but Sami didn't feel Pac was mocking him. "I've always been incredibly punctual."
"For the most part, I'd say you're right. But I can think of a few times that you were not," Sami couldn't keep the grin off his face, no matter how hard he tried.
"Yeah, yeah, because you've never been late a day in your life, have ya?" Pac scoffed.
"Nope. Not once," Sami shook his head. "Not one single time."
"I believe ya–"
"Of course you do!" Sami interrupted cheerfully.
"–As much as I believe my girlfriend's not gonna take the fuckin' aux cord whenever we get in the damn car," Pac finished.
That was the point that Sami lost it. The worries and fears that he'd felt about meeting with Pac faded away with the laugh that erupted from Sami's chest.
Unable to stop himself, Sami wrapped his arms around Pac and pulled him in for a hug. Sami hadn't expected any response from Pac so he was surprised when he felt Pac shift and remove his hands from his pockets, allowing Pac to return the embrace.
"I've missed you, man," Sami said, his voice far more vulnerable than he had expected.
It was true, though. Sami had missed Pac.
He missed seeing Pac several times a week and traveling with him. He missed the conversations that they would have when it was late at night and they were so tired that they should have been asleep, but they were having too much fun to consider doing such a thing. He missed the conversations after their matches, where they discussed what they had done well and what they could have done better.
Most of all, Sami missed the Pac who had been his best friend for well over a decade.
"I know," Pac's reply was simple but his tone was apologetic. "I know ya did, Sami."
Pac wasn't fully apologizing. He wasn't telling Sami that he was sorry for the way he had treated him, from the way that he had exploded on him the last time they saw each other to the way he had ignored him for years.
However, Pac was talking to him now and he sounded regretful.
And that was as good of a place as any to start.
"Let's get us some coffee, huh? I hear they've got a house brew here that is killer," Sami patted Pac's shoulder as they broke apart. "My treat."
"Ah, don't even fuckin' start that shit with me," Pac waved him off as they began walking towards the counter. As Sami moved his hand to grab his wallet, Pac was already reaching into his own back pocket. "The least I can do is buy ya a fuckin' cup."
"Stubborn as ever, I see," Sami shook his head playfully. "Some things never change."
"Shut up," Pac rolled his eyes and that only made Sami laugh even more.
Yeah, Sami thought to himself, this wouldn't be too bad after all.
When the two had received their drinks, they made their way back to their table and got situated. After taking the first sip of his steaming coffee, Sami had admit that the house brew was fucking amazing.
It wasn't any surprise that Pac wasn't one to initiate conversations. That was yet another thing that had certainly remained the same over the years. Even thinking back to their first meeting (something that felt like a lifetime ago at this stage in their lives), Pac had been socially awkward.
Not that Sami really had much room to talk. Whereas Pac struggled to be comfortable with anyone, Sami was more often than not too comfortable with people.
"So tell me, how're things going for you in AEW? You like it there?" Sami asked.
"It's one of the best companies in the world, and definitely the best in the fuckin' states," Pac had to, naturally, take a dig at WWE. Sami wasn't surprised, nor did he blame him. "I can't say much bad about the boss. He works with my schedule and lets me just fuck off whenever I need to. He lets us all work for other promotions, too, if we get the hair up our asses to take other bookings. Within reason."
Listening to Pac talk about AEW was surprising, in a way. Sami had known that Pac obviously enjoyed working for the company but to hear him speak so highly of it was unexpected. The way that Tony Khan's AEW operated was certainly different from Vince McMahon's WWE, but Sami believed that both companies had their strengths and weaknesses.
"Yeah, yeah," Sami replied enthusiastically. "Like how you guys have that great deal with New Japan! You had that Forbidden Door show, and some of their guys worked your weekly shows, right? I bet it's cool, getting to work with people outside your company."
Pac's right eye twitched only once as his expression turned to one of annoyance.
"New Japan itself is fine, and I don't talk to enough of the guys to have much of an opinion on them personally. But one thing I can promise ya just as much as I can promise I'm breathing is that Will Ospreay is a fucking twat."
Sami hadn't expected such an abrupt change to Pac's demeanor and he definitely hadn't expected him to start shit-talking a man who was widely considered to be one of the best in the world.
"Ospreay?" Sami repeated. He found himself almost laughing at the way Pac nodded, so stiff and stoic. "What the hell did he do?"
"He thinks he's the fucking shit just because he and Elizabeth knew each other growing up," Pac sounded as if he couldn't be any less interested in Will. "And because she's far too nice to tell him where to shove it."
Ah. Sami understood now. Pac was jealous.
"I was going to ask you about Elizabeth, actually!" It was better to try and change the subject to one that was more pleasant and enjoyable for Pac. "When Fergal first showed me a pic of you two together, I thought it was just some edit that a fan made."
The frustration that had crossed Pac's face when discussing Will faded when the topic shifted to Elizabeth. Pac shifted in his seat, rolled his shoulders back, and asked with a hint of amusement, "Which one did he show ya?"
"Oh, it was one of the two of you at a football game!" Sami could visualize the image in his mind; Pac had one hand on Elizabeth's shoulder and she had both arms wrapped around his torso. Elizabeth wore the sort of smile that was most often on her face and Pac's usual scowl was just a bit less venomous.
"The Newcastle game," Pac recalled. Sami watched as a small smile crept onto the other man's face. "That was one of the first things we did together, after we started dating. She's not a football gal, but she went because I wanted to."
A genuine grin came to Sami's lips as he listened to Pac speak. For as cold as Pac had become over the years, there was a warmth in his eyes that Sami was happy to see.
"I met her a couple of times when she flew over to visit the Performance Center and she was always so nice to everyone. We didn't ever talk too much, but more than anything, I remembered her for two things: how kind she was and how eager she was to improve," Sami said honestly. "I never would've expected the two of you would end up together! Just looking at you both, you're very..."
Sami trailed off, unsure of how to politely say that the couple appeared to be opposites of one another.
"Different?" Pac finished the thought for him. "I'm sure a lot of people think that, or they say that she is too good for me. And to be completely honest with ya, Sami, they'd be right in saying so. I know she is. I realize it every fuckin' day when I look over and see her in the bed beside me. Elizabeth is a fuckin' blessing to this world and I'm lucky to have her in my life."
This was not the same man that had (rightfully) stormed out of WWE several years ago. The Pac that was sitting across the table from Sami now was similar, yes, but he had grown considerably as a person.
Pac paused for a moment and Sami remained quiet to allow him to put his thoughts into words.
"Life's not always so fuckin' bad when she's there, ya know? I'm not..." Pac inhaled a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then slowly exhaled it. "I don't quite know why she looked at this bastard and said I was the one for her, but she did. She's fucking amazing."
Although he didn't explicitly say such a thing, Sami could tell that Pac truly did love Elizabeth.
"I'm glad that the two of you have each other," Sami told him sincerely. "You really care about her, don't you, man?"
Pac nodded, his expression serious. "I do."
The more the two talked, the more Sami realized just how different Pac was now. He was still a snarky, stubborn asshole, but once again, his attitude was less upsetting and more endearing. When Sami talked, Pac listened. He would banter and tease and overall just be the friend that Sami had missed so fucking terribly.
Even when talking about Elizabeth's best friends and some of the wacky situations they drug him into, Pac wasn't bitter.
"... And then by the time we fuckin' get to the damn thing, Elizabeth is busy running karaoke with Alex. Max is with Jolene and they're both fuckin' wasted."
Pac had been telling Sami about one particular night after Dynamite, where he had ended up having to help Hangman find the pizza party that Tony had thrown for the talent. It was funny for Sami to imagine Pac and Hangman wandering around the various floors of a hotel, lost and bickering, as they searched for their girlfriends.
"So what did you do?" Sami prodded. "Were you able to sneak out, once Hangman and Max were back together? Or did you go see Liz?"
"Oh, one thing I've learned the hard way is that escape is not so easy whenever Max and her pony lay their eyes on ya. They take issue whenever I try to just fuck off," Pac's scoff just brought an even wider smile to Sami's face. "Before I can even think of slipping away, I've got Max's hand on one shoulder and Page's on the other. Jolene's trying to pour me a drink, but she can't stop fuckin' laughing long enough to do it."
Sami laughed. "What'd you think about that, then?"
"It was awful," Pac replied immediately, his tone and expression completely deadpan. "I hated it."
Despite that, Sami found that hard to believe. From the ways that Pac had talked about Maxine and Hangman, Sami was sure that Pac liked them both more than he was willing to admit.
Even if the two were far more extroverted than Pac himself was.
When his cell phone buzzed on the table and the screen lit up, Sami looked at it out of habit. More so than the text he'd received from his good friend Kevin Owens, what attracted Sami's attention most was the time.
"Oh, shit," Sami muttered, turning away from his phone to look back at Pac. "I didn't realize how long we've been here. I didn't mean to keep you here all morning. I'm sure you've got a lot that you've got to do today. Show days are always so busy and I'm sure I've caused you to get behind."
With a brow raised, Pac fished his own phone out of his pocket to check the time. Afterwards, Pac returned the phone to where he'd got it from and shrugged.
"I'm not worried about it," His tone reflected that statement. "Though I should leave now. Got some things I need to discuss with the boys."
Sami nodded even though his heart had begun to ache. While he knew that Pac needed to leave, that he needed to go work on whatever it was with his boys (Penta, Rey, and Alex, he assumed), Sami didn't want their reunion to end.
He feared that once he and Pac parted ways, that was it for them. That after today, they would go years without contact once again.
"But Sami," Pac spoke as he rose to his feet. "It's been nice. I'm... I'm sorry that it took us so fuckin' long to get to this point."
Once again, Sami's heart ached, though this time it wasn't out of sadness or fear. He was happy because of Pac's response.
"I'm just glad to have you back, man," Sami stood as well and walked over to where Pac was. Without hesitating, Sami enveloped Pac into another warm hug.
"I fucked up," Pac said as his arms wrapped around Sami. "And I'm sure I'll fuck up again. But... It's not going to be like last time."
Those were words that Sami had always hoped for but they were also ones that he never thought he would hear. Even when Pac had agreed to meet with him, Sami had wondered if he would ever get an apology for the way that things had played out that night.
It wasn't a perfect apology, nor was it one that particularly covered the extent of the pain that Pac had caused Sami. But dammit, it was a start.
"Thank you, Pac," Sami sounded as though the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders. To some degree, he felt that it had been. "I appreciate that, man."
When their arms dropped down to their sides, Pac nodded towards Sami's phone on the table.
"Grab it," Pac instructed vaguely.
"What?" Sami asked as he picked up the device. "What for?"
"We need a picture, don't we?" Pac stated as if it was obvious. "Come on. Let's take one."
Unable to stop himself, Sami laughed while pulling up the camera. When he had switched to the front camera, the two men shuffled closer together so that they could take a proper selfie.
What surprised Sami most of all was the fact that, in the image, they were both smiling. It reminded him of the many pictures the two of them had taken over the years. Even if Pac's was fainter than Sami's, more of a small upward tug of his lips than anything, it was still something.
"Send that to Elizabeth, when ya get the chance," Pac said after they had both taken a moment to look at it. "She'll enjoy it."
"Yeah, of course! I'll do that ASAP," And Sami would.
Pac took another long look at Sami and Sami felt as though he was looking through him. "I'll see ya another time, alright? Take care of yourself."
"You too, okay? Be safe and go kick some ass tonight," Sami replied with a grin. "No one does it like you do, Pac."
The compliment caused Pac to chuckle quietly. Before turning to leave, Pac told him, "Remember all that good shit I told ya about AEW the next time your contract is up. There's always a spot waiting for ya on our roster."
"A match against The Bastard would be one hell of a way to end my career!" Sami laughed as well as Pac began to walk away.
"Oh yeah?" Pac glanced at him over his shoulder with an amused smirk. "Just don't expect me to put ya over."
"I wouldn't expect anything else!"
When Pac was fully out of sight, Sami switched over to his Twitter and pulled up Elizabeth's profile. After clicking the button to send her a direct message, Sami attached the selfie that he and Pac took as well as a message.
I don't know if you had any hand in convincing him to meet me today, but he insisted that I send you this picture. He said that you'd like it.
And I know we've not ever talked a lot, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you've done for Pac. He loves you and it seems like you're so good for him. I hope one day we can all meet up and do something together.
I'd ask you to take care of him, but you're already doing a damn good job at that. Again, I thank you.
Within ten minutes, Sami had received a reply from Elizabeth.
You're thanking me when I should be thanking YOU, Sami! It looks like the two of you had a great time and that makes me so, so happy.
I don't know what happened with you guys, but I do know that Pac cares about you a lot. I think that it would be wonderful if we were able to meet up sometime, whenever our schedules allow it. I think he would like that a lot, too.
Sami smiled as he read the message.
While doubts had initially crept into Sami's mind the moment he had first seen Pac that morning, as Sami progressed through his day, he couldn't deny how happy the reunion with his old friend had made him. Though many years had passed from their last meeting, Sami felt as though they had slipped back into their old dynamic rather easily.
Even if they weren't able to see one another often, the mere fact that Pac was willing to talk to him again was something that Sami would consider a win. Rebuilding their friendship wasn't something that would happen overnight, but they had at least begun to lay the groundwork, and that was good enough for Sami.