Title: All Rhodes Lead To…
Author: Emono
Rating: FRM
Fandom: Wrestling
Pairings: Ted DiBiase/Cody Rhodes (Codiasi)
Summary: It took one stupid party for them to admit their feelings. One stupid jock, an even stupider set of circumstances, and one fucked up driver.
Disclaimer: The WWE is not mine nor are any of it's child branches, it is the 96% property of the McMahon's and God bless the bastards that work for them. I respect the sexual preferences and identities of all the wrestlers on WWE roster, and who they share a bed with is really none of my business.
Warnings: Slash, H/C, a little angst, AU, no major character death

AN: Let me set this up for you. I just finished driving school, and this hit me on the last night. Drunk driving. So I've made Cody and Ted two teenagers (seventeen and eighteen, though they're three years apart in reality) who are seniors in high school, and they've just left a big party. Neither have had anything to drink. They grew up together, but they're not together (yet) Complete AU, where Ted and Cody are preppy rich boys, I guess.

Ted was driving them back to his house, his eyes on the road but his mind on what he had seen not an hour ago. Cody was sulking in the front seat beside him, long body folded up so his knees touched the dash board. He chomped away on an innocent chunk of bubblegum, punishing it with savage bites. His eyes were out the window, refusing to look at his best friend. Ted's knuckles tightened on the wheel, jaw clenching at his pent up rage.

"We gonna talk about this, Baby-boy?"

Cody popped his gum sharply, "About what?"

"About what happened back there at Cena's party" Ted cut back just as quickly "Cena was nice enough to go out and buy some real nice booze for once, and you decide to put on a show for all our friends."

Cody scowled, "John was too busy making out with that skank of his to care."

"Don't call Miz that."

"I can't believe you call him by that stupid nickname!" Cody shouted, losing his temper over something so minor "Are you fucking him too?"

"No, but it's none of your business who I fuck" Ted tried to cool his anger, soften his voice "What matters is what you were about to do to Dave back there."

Cody's face colored at this, and he slumped back in his seat, ashamed.

"You don't even know, Ted. You weren't there until-"

"Until you were on your knees ready to blow him for a crowd" the blonde snarled "You're seventeen, and this town's small. Do you know what people will be sayin' about you at school Monday mornin'? What were you thinkin', Baby-boy?"

"Don't call me that" Cody's voice cracked with emotion "Not when you're being like this."

Hurt tugged at Ted's heart strings, "Like…like what?"

"A jerk!" Cody spat "You dragged me out of there like a child, you didn't even listen to my side! You just assumed I was some cum guzzling-"

"Cody!"

"Well it's true!"

"No it isn't" Ted assured him, being careful on the next turn (he was angry, but he'd never put them in danger) "I freaked out a little, yeah. But you haven't had a drink all night and I couldn't believe what I was seeing without you being drugged."

Cody sniffed pathetically, "Well it was no reason for you to drag me to the car like a child throwing a tantrum."

"You were screaming."

"You weren't listening!"

Ted whipped around to give him a brief glare packed with heat, "And you really think screamin's gonna make me listen?"

Cody snapped his mouth shut, puppy eyes in full effect.

Ted sighed heavily, putting his eyes back on the road, "Oh, I give. Tell me what happened back there."

"Dave was seriously drunk, he cornered me" Cody's lower lip trembled, trying not to blubber like an idiot "He said he was gonna fuck me right there, and the football team was egging him on. You know how those voyeurs are. They were cheering, and he was pulling at my pants. I-I did the first thing I thought of, and I though it wouldn't be so horrible if I gave him my mouth."

"Damn, Codes" Ted breathed, horrified at this.

"I kept hoping you'd come and save me, but you didn't show up until it was almost too late."

Cody glanced over at the blonde, nose scrunched up cutely, "You didn't actually think I wanted to blow him, did you?"

"Well…no" Ted grumbled, shifting in his seat "But you're your own man, Codes. I can't tell you who to fuck, who to like."

Cody was still confused, "Then why were you so upset?"

"Leave it alone, Cody."

"No, tell me."

"It doesn't matter!" Ted replied heatedly, glaring at the younger man again "It's nothing, man. Just quit fuckin' buggin' me!"

Cody looked hurt, but the DiBiase was relentless.

"You're always so fuckin' childish, you're always lookin' for things that're right in front of you! I'm sick and tired of all of this frustration, like watchin' you get swarmed at school, or seeing you on your knees for some guy!"

Cody shook his head, trying to protest something he wasn't sure of, "Teddy, what are you talking about? I don't know…"

"No, you don't. And you never will" Ted kept his eyes on Cody, briefly forgetting his driving etiquette "It's best that way. 'Cause you'd get so sick if you knew I-"

Headlights flooded inside their car, both sets of eyes whipping back toward the road. A car came way too fast around the corner, swerving dangerously, pulling right out in front of them.

"Shit!" Ted tried to maneuver around it, their tires not getting enough friction against the smooth-worn road.

Cody yanked his legs off the dash board, bracing himself with his palms instead, "Teddy, move, they're-!"

A sickening lurch signaled the brakes had locked up.

It was all a blur after that, filled with violence and timed with their screams. Their car swerved out of the way of the drunk driver, brakes locked, tires sliding along the pavement with sickening speed. The tires caught something, a log on the side of the road, something, and the vehicle tilted.

An outside observer would have seen the Honda follow the laws of inertia, throwing it's mechanical body over the fallen tree in a roll. The hood barely touched the ground before it rolled again, wheels at an angle, not able to get enough grip to fight the speed and movement it had built up. Until, with a sickening crack, it settled on it's top. Upside down.

With the two young boys still inside, buckled to their fate.

xXxXxXx

"Wha…?" Ted cracked open his eyes, his vision fading from black to his surroundings slower than he'd like. His head felt ten times heavier than normal, his cheeks hot, and he had no idea why. Glazed blue eyes scanned what he was sure was his car, but not. Something was wrong….the angle of it…

Ted gasped as it all hit him.

He was upside down.

"Shit" he cursed, his arms immediately stretching out to brace his palms against the floor (ceiling, actually.) All the blood had raced to his head, he had no idea how long he'd been like this. He reached down (up), and fumbled for the buckle. He pressed it, but nothing happened. He scowled, wiggling it, trying to force it open. With one solid jerk, it gave way.

Ted grunted, released to smack against the ceiling. He fidgeted around, stretching his aching body out along the car's ceiling. Everything was dark, only one of the car's headlights had survived and was now lighting up a strip of land in front of him. Grass, leaves, a line of trees farther off. The windshield was cracked, splintered, shards gone.

What the fuck?

Something landed on his hand, something red. He stared down at the droplet for some time, another smaller one soon joining it. He followed the line of fall upwards…

"Oh God" Ted moaned, turning painfully on his side to try and look Cody over. The poor boy, there was a cut on his head that leaked crimson too steadily for the DiBiase's taste. He was hooked into the seat in the same painful way he himself had been, suspended in the seat with only the seatbelt holding him. Ted reached out his hand, pulling it back as his vision swam.

/Get it together, Cody needs you. Your boy needs you./

Ted sat up as much as he could in the cramped space, flexing his hand to get rid of the trembling before wrapping it around the icy silver buckle. He unclipped it, the belt falling loose from the younger man's body. Cody fell in a graceless heap, the thump solid and shaking the metal interior. He didn't move, didn't make a damn sound that any living person would make.

"Baby-boy?" Ted rasped, reaching out to cup the brunette's head. Tears formed in his eyes, obscuring the sight of the cut above the younger man's brow. His eyes were closed, still, and in the dimmed light Ted couldn't even tell if he was breathing.

"Cody, no" Ted sniffled loudly, scooting closer to his best friend "Please, no. W-We saw the movies in Driver's Ed together, remember? The…the driver's always the one who gets it. We said we wouldn't be them! We said we wouldn't go like that!"

Ted didn't know who he was screaming at, but he needed to calm down. There was no point getting hysterical, that wouldn't bring his friend back.

/He's not dead!/

"Come on, Cody, open your eyes. Your fuckin' pretty eyes…eyes no guy has the right to have" Ted smiled weakly, running his fingers through his boy's soft hair "I never told you how pretty you are, did I? Well I'm tellin' you know, Baby-boy, I'm tellin' you right now. You're so fuckin' pretty, and you make me want you so much."

Ted's heart broke at the final confession, trying desperately to coax some life from the other.

"That's why I freaked out tonight, that's why" Ted tried not to sob, but the tears came hot down his cheeks "Because I wanted it to be me. I didn't think you were a whore, I swear baby, but I was so fuckin' jealous. I thought you wanted him, and I hurt you."

Ted leaned in, trembling lips brushing against the younger man's forehead, "I love you, Cody. I love you so damn much and I was afraid. I should've-"

Ted pulled away, his heart nearly ripping itself out of his chest from the leap it did. He looked down into that sweet face, seeing a pair of the brightest blue eyes staring up at him adoringly.

"C-Cody?"

"Ouch" Cody tried to smile, lower lip trembling as he picked himself up on his elbows a little "I-I'm ok, Teddy. I cracked my head on the dashboard."

Ted gaped at him, tears still wet on his cheeks.

"Teddy?" Cody whispered "Aren't you going to say something?"

The blonde swallowed thickly, "Did…did you hear all that?"

Cody nodded, a blush staining his cheeks, "Did you mean it?"

There was no use denying it now, so Ted sucked it up and nodded.

Ted had imagined their first kiss a lot of different ways. Sometimes he imagined it as the cliché buss on the porch after a date, or stolen in a hurry as he snuck out of Cody's window after a late night tryst. He imagined it outside the school on a cool autumn day, or in the weight room with no one else around. In the car before they get out to make their way across the parking lot, or even after Cody wins the latest Zelda game (again.)

But he didn't imagine this at all.

Laying on the ceiling of his smashed up car, Cody's head bleeding, tears on his face, glass all around them. But the softness, the pure care in it, was the same as he'd imagined it to be. Cody's lips were perfect, melding into his own, and his hand cradled the back of his head so they wouldn't smash into each other. They broke apart, a little shocked they had done it, but Ted surprised them both by leaning in for more.

After a minute or two, they pulled away with matching smiles.

"I've wanted to do that forever" Cody confessed lowly.

"Me too."

"You were jealous?" Cody inquired, lifting his hand to brush his fingers through to the tear tracks still staining his friend's face "I never took you for the jealous type."

"I couldn't stand the thought of you giving yourself to that asshole" Ted took the hand, blanketing it and giving it a kiss. Cody stole those plush lips for his own again, knowing that there was no way he would ever go a day in his life without getting the purest taste of his lifelong best friend.

"Let's get out of here" Ted turned around, eyeing the crushed door "I bet I can kick it out, the hinges are broke."

Cody still had a bit of adrenaline, he could make it out without too much trouble, "Hurry, Teddy."

Ted nodded, scooting around until his head was nearly resting against the brunette's shoulder.

"Duck" he hissed, pulling back his booted heels.

Cody gave a little gasp, covering his face as his friend struck the door's window. More glass flew out toward them, clattering all over the covered ceiling (floor.) Ted grabbed the stupid Falco jacket from the backseat, laying it along the glass encrusted window frame. It was kind of crushed, but they could squeeze.

"Go" Ted rolled out of the way, waving the other forward. Cody nodded, crawling on his elbow and ducking under the steering wheel. It was a tight fit all around, but he managed to wiggle his lithe body through the opening and roll out onto the grass.

As Ted squeezed his bigger frame through the window, Cody's body was starting to freak out. He laid out on the slick grass, belly to the ground, wheezing suddenly. His ribs were on fire, and his skin was breaking out in goosebumps. His breath stuttered, crystallizing in the air before him.

"Shit, man" Ted sat on the grass, wincing as his temple throbbed "My car! God-damn!"

"T-Teddy?"

The soft whimper caught his attention, he whipped around to find his boy laying in the grass. Shuddering, quaking. Ted crawled across wet leaves and twigs, getting to the brunette's side quickly.

"Baby?" Ted whispered, laying a hand on his back.

"I think I hurt my stomach" Cody shifted up onto his hands and knees slowly "My neck, too."

"Here, sit up, careful now" Ted slowly sat him up, letting him lean into his side "Let me see?"

Cody nodded. Ted slowly lifted the boy's tight shirt, giving a low hiss at the dark red blotch that was stretched right across his upper ribs.

"Don't move too much, I think you broke a rib" Ted lowered the cloth, being careful. He pulled him closer, sharing his warmth. He pulled down the collar a bit, cursing as he saw the darkening bruise across his collarbone as well.

"Fuckin' seatbelt" Ted scowled, fishing his cellphone out of his jacket "I'm gonna call my dad."

"W-Why?" Cody sighed gratefully as the coat was draped around his shoulders, his arms slipping inside slowly. He burrowed himself into Ted's side, getting an arm around his back in comfort.

"I'm not callin' the police, not with the bastards in our town" Ted dialed the number, messing up twice with the way his vision was blurring up from the sting of leftover tears and the knock he'd taken in the car "Daddy will take us to the hospital, they'll check us over discreetly."

"Must be nice to have money" Cody teased, getting a kiss in his hair.

While Ted listened to the dull ring in his ear, Cody's eyes trailed off toward the trees nearby. Something was out of place, and he didn't realize exactly what it was until he saw the bright red against the muted gold of the autumn trees.

"Damn, I'll try him on his cell" Ted hung up, looking back at the screen again "I swear, he must out doin' somethin' for some reason or another."

"Ted?""Yeah, baby?" Ted lifted his head, seeing what his boy was seeing and dropping his jaw.

The large red jeep that had sped at them, the one he could only remember in a blur, was now wrapped around a large oak tree. It was almost unrecognizable, a big chunk of metal painted crimson. That wasn't the only crimson. There had been four passengers from what he could tell, he could just see the arm of the driver sticking out the window. There was a body half out of what was left of the windshield, not moving and covered in blood.

Two broken bodies lay in the grass, tossed right out of the vehicle.

Bloody, twisted.

"Don't look, Codes" Ted rasped, fisting his hand in brunette hair as the boy buried his face in his shoulder "Don't look at it."

But they were both thinking the same thing.

That could've been us.

"I-I love you, Teddy" Cody's voice was muffled, but he was clearly shaken.

"I love you too" Ted was so happy to finally admit it, but it was bittersweet "I didn't want to tell you this way."

But this was what had happened, and they couldn't change it.

They had each other, they were safe, and that was all that mattered.

Ted was actually convicted of drunk driving *laughs hysterically* completely forgot about that before I wrote this.

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