Antebellum

The tears hurt the most. Valley was used to seeing Ace upset, that happened sometimes. She'd had a lot to be upset about before, and Valley tried to be there for her, comfort her, shield her. But how was she supposed to do that when she was the source?

Her shoulders fell at the mention of her mother, probably because that was true. She did sound like her mother. She hated it, but she had a pair of working ears, so it wasn't like she could deny it. That was the funny thing - no matter how much she tried, sooner or later, she became her mother. It was why she became a wrestler despite trying to fight it through high school, and it was coming back to haunt her, anyway.

But that didn't make her wrong.

"Ace. Don't cry." She stepped forward with her arms out, trying to pull her in for a hug. They could make it work, they could get past things. They were a team. It was what they did.

Ace needed the hug, wanted the hug. The bridge between them was catching fire, and a hug could douse those flames, a sign that they could get past the issues they had brought up and continue to be together. Ace wanted that hug....but she couldn't do it. She had spent so long trying to find validation in her skills, trying to prove that she belonged in the wrestling business, and was more than just some rich kid who bought herself a career. Being with Valley, an experienced veteran, who claimed to see potential in Ace, was almost like a sign of that sought after validation, that Ace must have been more than she thought she was is somebody like Valley saw something in her. It had given her confidence in herself, something that had been lacking after her early AFW bouts.



Now though, it was gone. Finding out her biggest win had basically been a lie and that the woman she loved had only seen her as some fragile girl to be protected was too much. All the confidence she had built up through training, her big win...all of it, taken away just now by Valley, who wanted Ace to give her a hug, to just forget all of it and pretend nothing happened. She couldn't.

Saying nothing, Ace turned away from her gir...from Valley Doll, head hanging down.

Ace didn't say anything.

Valley was expecting her to yell at her, scream, slap her, do something, show something. She could process that, work with it. Anything would have been better than simple silence. She didn't know how to process it, what to say to it. It was just nothing. Pure nothing.

"Ace." She stepped forward and tried to put her hands on the young wrestlers shoulder. "Haley, just stop and think about it for a second. You know I don't mean to..."

She trailed off, rolling her shoulders as she tried to find just the right combination of words. They weren't coming.

Ace wanted say something. Do something. Hug Valley, apologize. She couldn't though. As much as Ace cared about Valley and wanted her by her side, she just couldn't do it, she couldn't stay with Valley knowing the woman didn't respect her, knowing she was thought of as nothing more than a weak child. It wasn't easy, feeling her arm on Ace's shoulder, trying to convince her to stop. She couldn't. She was too deep into her own feelings of worthlessness, too convinced that Valley thought so little of her. All she knew is that she couldn't stay, she was going to breakdown any minute, and didn't want to do that in front of Valley. Not this time. As much as she wanted Valley's arms around her, she couldn't be with somebody who didn't think anything of her.


She half turned towards Valley, mouth opening, looking like she was trying to say something..anything. Something that said it was temporary, or that she just needed time, something that said this wasn't goodbye, that they weren't over....just something.

After a few seconds, her mouth closed, and she turned from the blonde woman, and walked away, pausing for a second at the door before she left the dressing room.

The moment Ace left, Valley felt colder.

It was like she'd taken off a coat that she'd been wearing for so long that she'd almost forgotten what it was like to not have it on. It wasn't like they had never been apart, physically, since they started dating. They did their own thing quite a bit. But Valley could tell from Ace's body language - this wasn't just parting ways for a little while. Ace was walking out of her life.

Valley started to go after her, but stopped herself short. She had no idea what to say or what to do or how to approach this - not in a way that wouldn't make it monumentally worse. Maybe Ace just needed time? Yeah, she'd be back. She just needed to cool off a little. Right.

Somehow, as Valley plopped back in the chair and basked in the deafening silence, her fingers folded in front of her face, she didn't fee it was going to be that simple, though.