Chapter Text
“The following contest is a tag team match scheduled for one fall. Introducing first, the team of Piper Niven and ChEeElSEeAa GrREeN,” Samantha said in that damning voice of hers. Her voice could make a deaf man blush. “And now, their opponents, representing The Judgment Day, they are the WWE women’s tag team champions, Stella Major and RHEAAAA RIPLLEYYYYYY.”
I noticed Samantha put some extra oomph into Rhea’s entrance, but I couldn’t blame her. Everyone backstage was aware of her schoolgirl crush on Rhea, and Rhea always used it to her advantage. If I were in Samantha’s position I’d do the same, because Rhea has me wrapped around her finger as well. Luckily for me, she’s completely oblivious to that fact considering I don’t necessarily hide it that well either, but the only people to dare call me out on it are Finn, Damian, and Dominik. I would say JD too, but I don’t listen to anything he says. Ever. They all know I’m not fond of having that Funko Pop in our precious faction but nevertheless, he’s here.
Stepping outside of the ring onto the apron, I let Rhea start the match against Piper. The unstoppable force versus the immovable object, one could say. They start with a simple hold but I can’t pay attention to anything besides the way Rhea’s ass sits in her new gear. She told me there would be a noticeable difference but damn. I try to refocus on the match in case she needs me to tag in, and in case any fans are recording my wandering eyes. After some double-teaming action on Piper, while Chelsea had the ref distracted, the match was over in no time thanks to Rhea giving Chelsea a nice Riptide for her troubles the second she tagged in. Jessika held our hands up in victory and we quickly made our way backstage, unable to stand the stench of this nasty Chicago crowd any longer.
“Oi. We kicked ass out there. I expected Chelsea to fight back but I’m glad she accepted her fate,” Rhea says as we pass through the curtain.
I sway to the side and knock her shoulder as I retort, “Yeah I’m kinda upset I didn’t get a chance to work on her but she knew not to bite off more than she could chew. Let’s hope our next victims give us a run for our money if they want these titles,” while patting the side plate on my women’s tag team championship.
She reaches over and caresses my side plate nearest her, and I feel a shiver down my spine. I guess my reaction was visible because she noticed and asked, “What’s got you so jumpy?”
Doing the best I could to save face, I just laughed and shrugged. “Somehow I felt the ice from your touch through the belt.” She just laughed and trotted along, thankfully not calling BS to my excuse. It’s hard being coworkers with someone you like, but it’s even harder to be tag team partners. We spend almost every waking second together, but I tend to cling to Dominik more because if I spend too much time with Rhea then I’ll definitely be found out. Knocking 3 times and making our way into The Judgment Day’s locker room, we found Damian with Finn’s head in his lap watching the television with whatever match after ours going. Looking up, I realize it’s Seth Rollins vs Chad Gable and they are putting on a show. Scanning the locker room, I notice that Dominik is passed out in his purple bean bag chair and JD is nowhere to be found. Letting out a small sigh of relief, I toss my belt onto the couch beside Damian and make my way into the showers.
After washing off the sweat and beer from tonight’s show, I rejoined my brethren and we finished watching Raw together. I tried to fight back the yawn trying to escape from my mouth because I always get picked on for being the lightweight in the group. Once they even made a point to ask Adam Pearce if we can always interrupt the opening of Raw and get on with our nights because “Baby has to be in bed by 9:30.” They weren’t wrong in the slightest but it was still embarrassing, I’m only 23 with the sleeping schedule of a 63-year-old. Even though Dominik was already asleep, he got a pass because he didn’t get much sleep in prison and he’s gotta recharge whenever he can. I knew that if I yawned too loud, Damian would try to take me back to the hotel because he’s very protective of my beauty sleep and I didn’t need him going all Papa Bear mode because I was really enjoying this match with Bianca and Bayley.
When Raw finally came to an end, JD rejoined us from his adventure of doing God knows what, probably tickling Pearce’s balls for more than one match a week on Main Event. I know I shouldn’t hate on my fellow Judgement Day mate but I don’t understand why we had to open our doors just because he and Finn are old pals. If you want to open up the door to another Irishman, why couldn’t it have been Sheamus?? I’d let that man give me 10 beats any day. But with JD… I don’t know. He’s always given me a weird vibe, like maybe we shouldn’t let him around our belongings when we leave the room and maybe he should stay away from our loved ones as well. He’s such a kiss ass to Finn and Damian can’t stand the walking bicycle seat either, but he’d do anything his boyfriend asked.
“Well well well.. where you been lad? Out bothering Cathy to finally let you take her on a date?” Finn’s voice turned Rhea and Damian’s attention to the door but Rhea didn’t give him more than a passing glance, being impartial on his place in our family because truthfully she didn’t care whether he lived or died.
“Out bothering Cathy to let her meh meh meh,” JD mocked Finn in a high-pitched tone. “No, I ain’t messing with Cathy, I know she’ll come around soon enough.” I roll my eyes at this but he doesn’t notice so he continues on, “I was just looking to see if anyone wanted to be Dom and I’s next prey. You know it’s been a while since I’ve had a match but hey I think my work on Main Event is paying off! Adam told me that we’d be going against the Creed Brothers next week.”
I refrain from laughing out loud because I don’t have the energy to hurt his feelings or to make Finn mad tonight. They’re not “impressed” with his work on Main Event, I think Adam is just tired of his bitching and he’s got the rest of us booked and busy so he’s throwing JD a bone. I know Dom Dom will carry the match anyway, he always does. Everyone else congratulates him on the opportunity but I stay quiet because if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all. Unfortunately, I do let out a yawn, partly from my exhaustion but mostly because I couldn’t give two shits about this “exciting news”. Damian’s ears perk up like a German Shepherd and he looks at me.
“Oye. Are you tired? You ready to go? Where’s your bag?”
I wipe my eyes to keep from rolling them at his- albeit very caring- series of questions. I really don’t need to be put to bed the second I’m tired like some kind of toddler but I guess that’s how everyone sees you when you’re the baby of the group. However… the quicker we’re at the hotel, the quicker me and Rhea will be in our room and far away from my second favorite Irish person in the room.
“Yeah, truth be told I’ve been ready to pass out since I got out of the shower but I tried to hang with the big boys tonight. I’m ready to get the hell outta here. Ugh, this arena is making me depressed.”
I stand up and walk towards Dom’s peaceful form and I jolt him out of his sleep with a few kicks to the bean bag.
“Hey, get up man we’re finna head out in a sec. JD’s got your bag so do you mind grabbing my jacket from the bathroom?”
He nods and heads into the bathroom as we finish gathering our belongings, and by the time he comes back, we’re ready to skedaddle. Walking out of the arena with Finn and Damian leading the way, Dom and I on their haunches ready to get back to our rooms and knockout, and Rhea and JD somewhere behind us, we try to go as quickly as possible to beat some of this after-show traffic. By the time we pile all our bags and whatnot into the trunk, Dom is already dead to the world with his legs sprawled in the backseat. Shaking my head, I lift them gingerly to scoot in beside him, knowing I didn’t trust myself to be close to Rhea since my embarrassing spasm earlier. Hopefully, when we get to the room there will be very little room for conversation.
“Hey, I’ve actually got plans to go to the bar with Liv tonight since she lost our bet last week so I’m probably just gonna take a quick shower and head straight out,” Rhea tells me when we step into our hotel room. Oh universe, you really do listen to my prayers! If I go to sleep before she gets out of the shower, I can sleep off this weird feeling before we talk again in the morning. I let her know that’s chill because I’m about to go to sleep anyway, and I finish setting my bags down before getting under the covers. I’m not asleep when she comes out of the shower but I try my best to appear that way while she finishes getting ready. Thirty minutes of throwing clothes on the floor and clattering makeup bottles later, she’s finally out the door and I can breathe.
I toss and turn for about fifteen minutes despite being so tired at the arena, and I’m not sure what to do. I don’t have any weed and I’m sure Riddle’s asleep already… I don’t have anyone to call up to hang out for a few hours and I’m definitely NOT gonna ask Rhea if I can meet her and Liv somewhere. I didn’t know what else to do, so I just walked over to my suitcase and whipped out my trusty Hitachi Magic Wand. I try not to think about Rhea in the process because I know it’ll only make me feel weirder in the morning, but I can’t help it. The way she smiles, the way she laughs. The way she looked in her gear today, the way she touched my belt. Everything she does makes me so hot all over and I can’t help it.
“Rhea… oh yes… oh my god Rhea please….” I moan while pleasuring myself. Clearly, I wasn’t trying as hard as I thought I was to think of anything else because soon the image of her fingers circling my clit made me see stars. I had it bad for her, and I didn’t know how much longer I could hide the truth from her and quite frankly myself. I didn’t want to admit I was this worked up over someone I should only consider a friend, a partner. There are so many other people on the roster who’s caught my eye and vice versa; I could be at a bar or in bed with Indi Hartwell right now for God’s sake, but she wasn’t the tall Australian babe that had my eye.
I knew that when I woke up I had to have an earnest conversation with Dom, being that he’s the only one who really understands the weight of the situation and we were practically Thing 1 and Thing 2 running around in cahoots all the time. That was until JD showed up and started tagging along like a homesick puppy. Watching my best friend run around with that absolute moron makes me irate but I know I’m irreplaceable so I let them have their little fun for now. After going to the bathroom and putting my little helper back in his designated spot, it’s finally lights out for me. I don’t even recall Rhea coming through the door, but I do recall waking up and seeing Liv in her bed.
Chapter 2
Summary:
After finding Liv in Rhea's bed after a night out, does Stella still have a chance at being with Rhea?
Notes:
hey girly pops! thank you to everyone who read my first chapter :3 we are in for the long haul but I promise to keep you fed with chapters for as long as you'll allow me
Chapter Text
As the sunlight tiptoes through our hotel windows, I wake up and roll over to see if Rhea made it back to the room last night. After staring at long blonde hair for a few seconds, trying to figure out if my eyes were deceiving me or if Rhea got a makeover during the night, I realized that Rhea actually brought Liv back to our room last night. As my heart raced and my mind went through a million different scenarios, I decided to not get worked up until I heard it from the horse’s mouth. My hand pats every square inch of my bed searching for my phone, and when I find it I shoot off a text to Dominik.
ME-
hey d. lmk if you wanna go to the gym w me because im fucking freaking out dude
A few minutes later my phone vibrated.
DOM DOM-
Yeah, for sure. Just let me shower right quick and I’ll meet you down there.
I tiptoe around our room to get ready for the gym, because in no way do I want to see Liv before Rhea. She shouldn’t even be here… I could’ve been naked under the sheets and she would’ve been in for a rude awakening. Not anything she hasn’t seen before, given we’ve been sharing locker rooms for 3 years now but still. As I close the door as quickly as humanly possible, I sprint to the elevators because I need to see Dom ASAP.
Dom noticed me walking in the lobby and called out my name.
“Yo, Artois! C'mon, let’s get it!” I shake my head at the stupid nickname, of course Dom loved my name Stella because he preferred to call me by the surname of the similar Pilsner only to get under my skin. I do a light jog to catch up to him and smack the back of his head like I do every time. He screams bloody murder and returns the favor like he does every time, our antics always leaving us with a headache but it would hurt more if our greetings stopped.
“So, what did you need to get away from in order to ask ME to work out,” Dom questioned. “You told me you didn’t wanna work out with me again because of last time when I farted in your face while you were benching.”
Oh wow, somehow I had forgotten about that. This is definitely the only exception because I still can’t believe he did that. I was so afraid of missing Payback from getting pink eye but thankfully I still kicked Raquel’s ass.
“First of all, go to hell. I forgot about that but you’re back on the no gym list. Second of all, guess who I saw seconds after opening my eyes this morning?”
I can tell he mentally reprimands himself for reminding me of the face fart, but then he replies, “Uhh considering you guys share a room every week, I’d have to say… Rhea?”
“Yeah, you’d think so. I turned around and saw ass-length blonde hair hanging over the bed. Like Rhea told me they were going out cuz of some bet, but she didn’t even send me a message saying she was bringing Liv back to the room? What the fuck, right?”
His eyebrows shot to his hairline when I said Liv’s name, but then he seemed to understand.
“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. Maybe Liv was too fucked up to remember her own room? Did you ask her about it?”
Of course, he’s gonna be the logical one and not jump to conclusions like I did.
“Uh… no. They were both knocked out and I tried to get outta there as fast as possible cuz I didn’t need to see Liv’s walk of shame.”
He snorted at that and continued to be my voice of reason.
“You know Rhea loves having fun and you’ve quite literally never told her about your feelings so you can’t blame her if she wants to have some fun. Yeah, she should have shot you a text but let’s be real… there’s been weirder things in your hotel room than a sleeping Liv Morgan. When you go back up just casually ask her about her night and see what really happened.”
He doesn’t look the part, but Dom is one of the smartest people I know. He’s so emotionally mature and he prefers reasoning over heartache and unnecessary grief. Considering I’ve never so much as even suggested going out with Rhea to her face, I did see his point. If Damian were here he would feed into my dramatics, but with Damian, anything I say goes anyway.
“You’re right. I don’t know why I’m so… like THAT when it comes to Rhea. We’ve been friends for so long and you know it’s my biggest fear to ruin our friendship over something stupid, especially something as stupid as a fucking crush on her. We’ve come too far and dominated the women’s division for far too long to end now. I’ll ask her about Liv but I don’t know if I can handle the answer.”
Dom throws his arm around my shoulder as we finally enter the gym, and I know I’m about to get the brotherly talk of a lifetime.
“Listen, man, you and Rhea have been inseparable since basically your first day here. If I’m being honest, you guys are basically a couple in everything but the title. I think Rhea flirts with you more than you realize, but not in the same way that she entertains Samantha, Liv, and even… Theory,” he shudders while saying the last part and I share the sentiment. Rhea’s fling with Austin kept us all awake at night, hell it still does at times in my dreams. It got to the point where Rhea would have to sleep on a different floor than us because he wouldn’t stop shouting “ALL DAY! ALL DAMN DAY!” like a fucking madman. I thought it would never end.
“Please god don’t make me think about ‘ALL DAY. ALLLLL DAYYYYY’ ever again. I do wonder what was going on in her life during that time to entertain THEORY of all people. I wish I knew what went wrong in her life to make that a good idea…”
His belly laughs at this earns us looks from across the gym, “Dude, you’re not safe either. Remember when you couldn’t join us at ringside for months because you were afraid of what you’d accidentally say to Michael Cole? I understand daddy issues but damn, not granddaddy issues.”
I reach out to slap him so fast but that man still has PTSD from the clink so he’s always been one step ahead of me. I’ll never apologize for thinking Michael Cole aged like fine wine, but I understand my taste isn’t for everybody. Moving over to the pull-up bar, I try to justify my actions.
“Look I’m not gonna sit here and explain for the umpteenth time why me and Cole are soulmates. He just…. gets it. In every sense of the word. I would still take him over A Town Down without a doubt. Come count me cuz you know I always lose track around 37.”
He skips over to the pull-up bar and sits down while I get ready, and I use this time away from his face to say what I’ve never said aloud to anyone.
“D, I’m scared. Like you have no idea how hard it is to pretend everything’s fine day in and day out, taking ass and kicking names with her. Every time we go back to our hotel room I just feel that we should be getting one bed, and I know it’d be a lot easier if we went home together on our days off, not on opposite sides of the country. Lately, I feel like I’m walking on eggshells around her and you know I hate lying to my family.”
I crack my neck and jump onto the bar, not looking back at Dom but I can feel his eyes watching my every movement. It takes a while before he responds, but before I can make sure he’s still there, he walks around the bar and looks at me with a certain sadness in his eyes that I hope to never see again.
“I’m sorry, I really am. I can’t imagine how you feel. I know Finn and Damian are having a great time being on the road together and spending every minute together, and I don’t travel with Cora but I love that my girl’s always here with me in some sort of way. But.. I’ve never had to go through being team and roommates with someone I’m in love with and can’t even tell them. I know you’ll be okay, at the very least she doesn’t return your affections but it’s not like she’d stop being friends with you for it. Just relax, let things happen naturally, and LOOSEN UP! You’ll never get her with that stick up your ass.”
I hop off of the bar and embrace Dom suddenly. Honestly, I have come out of this workout session with a clearer mind and a new sense of myself. Being awkward around Rhea will only make it harder to focus and keep everything the way it’s always been.
“Thank you, Dom. I know I banned you from being my gym buddy but I really needed this. If I go up there and find out that Liv only slept over because she was white girl wasted or because they were having fun during my slumber, either way, I will be totally normal about it. I’ll let my crush run its course and let the universe answer my prayers. If Theory can find happiness why can’t I?”
He squeezes me gently and says softly, “Always, you know I’m here for you. If it helps, I really am hoping she returns your affections. 2 out of 3 pairs in The Judgment Day would be something. It could be a perfect 3 out of 3 but I don’t care for JD that much. I only put up with him because of Finn.”
“OH MY GOD. RIGHT???? Dude, are you serious? I thought it was just me… well not to mention Damian… and Rhea too I guess… remind me why he’s here again?”
After finishing our workout and talking shit about JD for another 30 minutes, we decide to part ways and I make a mental note to revisit that harsh ban on Dom accompanying me to the gym. I head back up to Rhea and I’s room and brace myself for whatever I might see. I knock 3 times before entering, always using this common courtesy when entering a space with my TJD brethren ever since accidentally walking in on Damian giving Finn a handy. 3 knocks don’t do much, but it lets you get yourself together quicker than if the door just opened.
Walking into the threshold and looking around the room quickly, I see that Liv’s gone back to whoever it is she rooms with. Rhea’s on the edge of her bed tying her gym shoes and she doesn’t even look up before saying,
“You got an early start to your day, huh? I know I was out all night but you could’ve asked if I wanted to join.”
I felt kinda guilty at this, but at the same time uhh no I didn’t because I didn’t want to kick Liv out but I definitely didn’t want to join her, and I don’t think she’d be one of those fun people to interact with when they’re hungover. I had no problem calling Dominik up, especially because we had to talk about a sensitive subject, but I guess she wouldn’t know about that.
“Well good morning to you too,” I say playfully, “I didn't know how much you drank last night and I’d be damned if I woke you up after a night out again. I still feel the sting on my face from when you slapped me after the “Berlin Bender”. Plus I saw Liv and I decided to give y’all some privacy so she didn’t have to do a 20 ft walk of shame in front of me.”
Technically it’s not NOT the truth, but of course, I left out the part about needing some quality S+D time because of my overwhelming feelings for her. I throw my water bottle onto my bed and flop down onto hers, earning a slap to my thigh when I mess up her shoe-tying process.
“Lucky for you, last night was nothing like Berlin. We went to La Hacienda down the street and just shared some appetizers and a few drinks. I would’ve texted you when we got back, but you know she’s rooming with Raquel this month and it was a very awkward encounter to see Rocky and Theory pick up where he and I left off. I could’ve gone an entire lifetime without hearing “ALL DAMN DAY” again…”
I actually holler at this and end up in tears by the time I finally recover from such a vivid image. Rhea doesn’t find it as funny as I do.
“Are you done yet, or do you need me to step out?”
I quickly apologize so she can stop pouting before I continue. I had to find a way to ask about her and Liv without making it too obvious…
“Sorry, that was genuinely the funniest shit I’ve ever heard. It’s what you deserve for making us put up with him for so long. I just assumed you and Liv had some fun while I was dead to the world. I was gonna thank y’all for not being too loud.”
Rhea laughs at this and I raise my eyebrow in question. Was she laughing at my statement or the idea of her and Liv being together?
“Nah, mate. Liv and I are just friends… for now. I dunno, I’ve missed her and it’s been nice to reconnect ever since- well, you know what I did. I’m just having fun right now, you know?”
Not the answer I necessarily wanted, but it could’ve been way worse. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and considered her words carefully. It has been a while since they’ve been on speaking terms and I have been noticing how happy she’s been since they reunited a couple of months ago. Since technically she was still on the market, I’ll take Dom’s advice and just let it flow.
“Dude I’m so glad you and Liv are chill again. The sun shines brighter, the birds sing louder, everything is right in the world. If we didn’t currently hold the gold together I might be even jealous ....”
She snorts and shoves me to the side, “Hey now You know you’ll always be my #1 girl. Who else would I be kicking names and taking ass with? I couldn’t imagine spending this chapter of my life with anyone else.”
My heartbeat picks up at the thought of being Rhea’s #1… I’ve always been so worried about being too much or not enough, getting in my head for nothing. It’s been such a journey to be here with her and I felt the same, I honestly couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else. It almost makes me feel she could share the same feelings romantically like Dom said. I don’t even know how to respond; how could I express my gratitude for her and our friendship without sounding too sappy?
Before I can respond, she stands and jogs over to the bathroom, probably saving me from my imminent self-destruction. She grabs her hotel room key and water bottle, then walks to the door.
“I’m about to go get a quick workout in before we have to head to the airport. See you in a bit, lad.”
Chapter 3
Summary:
After leaving Raw in Chicago with a fresher perspective on her and Rhea's relationship, Stella goes back home and joins Rhea for an impromptu 24-hour trip.
Chapter Text
2 hours in the SUV, 5 hours on the plane, and 45 minutes on the train later, I finally touched down in my neighborhood and I had never been so excited to be in hot, stinky Orlando. I could’ve moved when I left the Performance Center but I would’ve rather deep-throated a cactus than pack up my entire life AGAIN, especially so soon. Getting called up a year after my debut was a blessing and a curse. It only got worse once my roommate moved back to L. A to restart her influencer career because she “had the face for skincare reviews”.
The rattle of my keys alerted the #1 girl in my life, my gorgeous gorgeous girl Neeko, a high-strung 2-year-old Pomeranian with a heart of gold.
“Neekoooo! Come here, my baby!”
The excited pitter-patter of her nails on the hardwood floor was always music to my ears. Throwing my bags in the general direction of the couch and kicking my suitcase to the side, I run to meet my darling baby girl halfway and she greets me with a plethora of kisses.
“Stel, that you? I just saw your text. Welcome home, baby,” came a voice from the laundry room. The person carrying the voice appeared in front of me.
“Hey, momma. Thank you for holding down the fort this week, I can’t believe Nora actually went to the wedding with that guy. If she ends up on an episode of Dateline I’m gonna be so fucking pissed.”
Nora, my next-door neighbor and dog sitter from Saturday through Tuesday, has been messaging this well-established improv actor from Bumble and he invited her to be his plus one at his cousin’s wedding, in buttfuck POCATELLO, IDAHO. Why the hell would a native Orlandoan want to go to Pocatello, Idaho for a wedding with a guy she barely knows… an improv actor of all people. How do you even become well-established at that?
“You know she always acts first and thinks later. If.. when she makes it back home, I know she’ll have plenty of stories to tell. You never know; this hotshot improv guy might be the one.”
We both burst out laughing at this, for more reasons than one. “Momma, you know there is no “one” for her. But you’re right, I hope she’s having a blast shucking corn and looking through the tumbleweed.”
Kicking my shoes off by the laundry room and grabbing the bags I haphazardly threw, my mother and I retreated to my bedroom with Neeko mere centimeters behind our every step. I knew that I had to get her to help me empty my bags before she left because my energy levels were depleted.
Sometime after my mom left, my 27th Psych rerun marathon was interrupted by a series of vibrations from my phone.
RIPLEY 👹-
hey love
if you’re not busy on thursday night you should come w me to the beartooth concert. ik you don’t listen to them but it’d be funnn
unless you’re sick of me then trust me I get it
who am I kidding, you love me
After researching which one of her bands Beartooth was and where the concert would be, I decided that I could do with the quality time, especially after our conversation earlier.
ME-
hell yeah,, what time? and lmk what the dress code is and if only pasties are acceptable
RIPLEY 👹-
oh pls
wear whatever you feel is right, you could never look bad
oh and pasties are definitely encouraged. I’ll be in Orlando around 4:30 so we can get ready together 😈
ME-
sounds great omg I can’t wait, call me tmrw so i can plan our itinerary?
RIPLEY 👹-
you know it. I’ll let you get back to your psych marathon, I know that’s what you’re doing rn
Awww hell yeah, this is gonna be so much fun. I can’t remember the last show I went to that wasn’t work-related, and Rhea NEVER comes to Florida in her free time so this must be important to her. Given that the concert was Thursday night and we had to get back on the road on Friday night, we had 24 hours of fun together with no work, no responsibilities, and most importantly NO JD! I couldn’t get myself worked up about the details until tomorrow, so I just focused my energy on the antics of Shawn and Gus.
By the time Thursday rolls around, I am bouncing on my toes like the Energizer Bunny. I sat around like an NPC all day until it was time to get Rhea from the airport. Spotting her from across the terminal, I cross the distance between us with such speed you would’ve thought it’s been years since we’ve seen each other, not 2 and a half days.
“Bloody hell,” she screeched when I appeared a few feet away from her. I took the breath out of her lungs with the bear hug she received but she returned the favor with tenfold more strength, including lifting me off the floor a few inches given the height difference between us.
“Welcome back to your favorite state, doll. It’s time for the best 24-hour trip you’ve ever taken. First, we go home and get ready. Then, we pregame with the best alcohol my apartment has to offer and some DoorDash. It’s time to get freaky nastyyyy.”
After being put back onto the ground, I grab her suitcase and duffel bag and we make our way back to my car. On the drive back to my apartment we discussed tactics for our title match against the Kabuki Warriors at Night of Champions, having only 3 weeks to study their matches and mind games before the big day. Looking over at Rhea, admiring how she looked so peaceful waving her hand out the window. With the wind blowing her hair every which way and the sun bringing out her freckles, she’s never looked more beautiful.
“I’m so jealous of how good you can look after a 5-hour flight. If you want me to kill myself, just say so.”
She lets out an infectious chuckle and I don’t miss the slight pink tint across her face.
“Don’t start,” she rolls her eyes. “I am doing my best just to get by. If you want, I can show you my skincare routine tonight when we get ready.”
“Yes please do, and since this is my first emo concert in a while I need your help, I want you to do my makeup like how yours looked at Elimination Chamber.”
She lets out a squeal and claps her hands.
“No bloody way. You never let me do your makeup! Oh, I used to pray for times like this dude you won’t regret it. We’re gonna have a fucking blast. I’m gonna be legless by the time all this is over.”
Just then, Hearing Your Voice by Omar Apollo plays on the radio and all conversation ceases. This became our song when I first joined The Judgment Day because I was so anxious around them all the time and this was the only thing that calmed me down. Sometimes when I get stressed, Rhea sways me while singing a few verses and I always calm down. I hate that she has to see me like that sometimes, but she never fails to reassure me that she’ll always be there no matter what.
That’s one of the things that I’m afraid to lose if I get too involved. I don’t want to lose the one person who takes care of me when I can’t take care of myself. I don’t want this song to turn into memories of what could’ve been if I hadn’t been so stupid, so reckless. I know it’s not my fault that I yearn for more from her, but it’s all-around irresponsible. Above all else, she is my co-tag team champion and I have to do whatever it takes to keep my head in the game.
“Whatcha thinkin’ about over there, mate?”
I snap out of my thoughts and look over at her puzzled face. I realized my face had been scrunched up the entire time despite my favorite song filling the vehicle.
“I’ve been trying to figure out if I ever put Neeko’s diaper bag back in the closet after she spent the week with my mom,” I lie through my teeth.
“Oh my gosh, I miss that little rat so much. She’s the only reason I invited you to come with me but I couldn’t let you know that.”
Before I could even tell her about herself, she spotted a Publix out the window and shouted, “OI, PUBLIX. Oh hell, I hate to give Florida props, but I wish I had a Publix. Let’s go get some Pub subs before we go home.”
I couldn’t even think about the sandwiches right now. When Rhea referred to my apartment as “home”, it was all I could think about. I think about coming in from being on the road and finding her there, waiting for me in bed with Neeko curled up beside her. I think about us signing a mortgage together and picking out backsplashes. I would give anything for Rhea to call my apartment her home permanently.
“Damn… you really need that diaper bag, huh?” She jokes. “Do you want subs? We don’t have to but I’m starved.”
God, please let me get out of my thoughts soon so we can have a nice time tonight.
“My fault. I do need it because I’m pretty sure I left my good AirPods in there. It’s been a damn long time since we had Pub subs, let’s do it.”
I merge over to the left lane and turn into the plaza. Upon entering the almighty Publix, Rhea looked like a kid in the Lego store or something. While I couldn’t relate to the full extent of her excitement because I can experience Publix whenever I please, I completely understood her awe. I knew we would be in here for a while. She grabbed a buggy and started her way down the aisles.
“Hey babe, I don’t know if you know this but the Deli is over there… no need to go down the aisles.”
“Oh hush,” she scoffs. “You know I need to have the full experience. We have to walk down the aisles. We have to get the subs. We have to get some cake and we HAVE to get some of that sushi. Judge me all you want but this is my American dream.”
I shake my head at this. She acts as though she’s never been inside a grocery store. We aren’t even at Wawa or Buc-ee’s, where the magic actually happens. After stocking up on all the essentials of this trip, which includes subs, sushi, and an obscene amount of munchies, Rhea and I finish the journey to my place.
“I’ve been here for 5 seconds already, where is that little rat,” she asks after Neeko takes her sweet time to greet us at the door. Almost like activating a sleeper agent, Neeko appears from the hallway and runs to Rhea at full speed. “There’s mami’s girl!” Rhea scooped her up and ran into my bedroom; I knew the two of them would forget I existed for a few minutes while they made up for lost time so I watched the interaction in amusement. Neeko loved her almost as much as I did and vice versa. After rolling around on the bed wrestling (with Rhea losing terribly) for a good 10 minutes, I was finally acknowledged after I moved to put Rhea’s bags in the closet.
“You know you don’t have to do that, but I always appreciate it,” she says softly. I know acts of service are her love language and it makes me happy to make her happy. Taking her luggage at the airport, putting it away when we get to our rooms, and arranging our itineraries for every possible trip. I never think twice about it anymore, it just feels natural to show my appreciation in these small ways.
“Don’t mention it, you know I never mind. It’s just to thank you for all you’ve done.” I hum softly while rummaging through my closet for a towel and a washcloth for her. “Here, I know you probably feel like shit after the flight and I’m about to go look on TikTok for some pregame drinks we can make.”
She thanks me and makes her way into the bathroom, but not before giving Neeko a million kisses and promising a speedy return. I flop down onto the bed and begin scrolling through countless videos, saving any recipe I think will pique her interest. I’m startled out of my TikTok trance by a hard slap on my ass, Jesus Christ this woman was so silent for her larger frame.
“OW, YOU BITCH,” I exclaimed while rubbing my right cheek. That shit felt like a Gunther chop, I wish she knew her strength. Knowing her it was probably 99% intentional. I stand up and am greeted by the sight of a freshly showered Rhea in my favorite towel, my eyes following the beaded water as it rolls down her neck onto her chest like raindrops on a car window. I look back up at her and refrain from tagging her ass back, because I’ll get her later when she least expects it.
“You suck so bad. I’ve been in here minding my business trying to find ways for us to get fucked up.”
My pout does nothing to make her feel regretful. Instead, she just rolls her eyes and goes to the closet to get her underwear from her bag. I go to the kitchen and prepare our subs while she finishes getting semi-dressed. I can hear her begging Neeko to get off of her shirt so she can go and I giggle a bit.
After a few minutes of pleading and compromising with a 7-pound dog, she finally made her way to the kitchen. We sat down to eat our sandwiches while watching a few of Asuka and Kairi’s matches. We got distracted halfway through and decided to watch TikTok edits of ourselves instead, partly to cringe and partly to admire how sexy and dominant we are. Rhea’s alarm goes off to let us know it’s time to get ready. I squeeze her thigh as I stand up and I must be going crazy because I could’ve sworn I heard a hitch in her breath as I do. Filing that in the back of my mind for now, I make my way into the bathroom so I can take a quick shower.
“And after that, I just use this portable fan to dry my face and it also helps my skin absorb the product faster… I’m pretty sure,” Rhea explains as she finishes walking me through her rather thorough skincare routine.
It makes sense why she can look so good without trying, girly put more effort into her skin than I put into my entire appearance. I nod in acknowledgment and admiration. I repeat the last two steps she showed me and look up at her for approval. “Yep, just like that. If you buy this serum you HAVE to wash your hands before you use it or else it’ll leave the worst white cast ever.”
Then, she goes back into my bedroom and returns with her WWE travel makeup kit. She doesn’t let just any makeup on her face and despite WWE being a billion-dollar company, they were stingy with funds for the women’s makeup team.
“You better not get too crazy with this look. I know I want to be a part of your world but I still want to recognize myself by the time you’re done.”
She doesn’t even dignify my remark with a response, instead guiding me over to the toilet by pushing on my shoulders. I sit on the toilet and wait patiently while she sets out all the products, including my foundation and concealers since we are on opposite ends of the makeup line. Singing a song under her breath, she takes her time to make sure she’s gotten everything needed to turn me into a baby bat.
After triple-checking to make sure she was ready to get started, she made her way in front of me and I squirmed under her attention. I prime my face and then she starts on my base. I could tell her back was starting to hurt, given her 5’8 stature compared to my sitting form. Every few minutes she would stop to stretch and I offered to sit on the counter but she said she was fine. When it was time to start working on my eye makeup, she finally caved.
“Alright, I’ve gotta sit down. My back hurts so much, why can’t you be taller?? Do you mind if I get on your lap so I can focus on your eyes at a better angle?”
“Of course you can,” I answered almost too quickly, patting my thigh like Santa Claus. She slowly straddled me and when she finally sat down it was like all the problems in the universe faded away. It was only she and I at this moment, and I paid attention to every single move she made. She was so focused on her artwork that she didn’t hear Neeko enter the bathroom, and when she came to lick at Rhea’s feet, she jumped and almost fell off my lap. Instinctively, I reach out and grab her waist and she grabs my arms for dear life. Considering it would’ve been a 2-foot fall, we laugh at the unnecessary panic of the situation. She rebalances herself and in the process, she grinds on my lap a few extra times than I’d think necessary. My heartbeat picks up and I pray to God she can’t hear the thumping from behind my rib cage. My hands are still attached to her waist and I subconsciously move her a few more times. When I realize she’s practically dry-humping me, my hands fly to my sides and I laugh it off before it can become too awkward.
“Damn girl, you almost sent Rhea flying, huh?” Neeko barks proudly at her intrusion and then I look back at Rhea, who’s seldom beet-red, but right now she was sporting that color like a pro.
“She is such a cheeky little… Thank you for steadying me. And sorry for... making it a little difficult to rebalance,” she says sheepishly. Was she embarrassed because of the incident altogether or because she got too carried away? Either way, I knew I would think about this for quite a while.
“It’s not every day I get to save your life, you know. You can thank me with an Edible Arrangement.”
Not needing to make such an intense and awkward moment any more awkward, Rhea clears her throat and returns to the task at hand. After what felt like forever in toilet time, she stands up, bracing the wall because her legs fell asleep 20 minutes ago. Holding out her hand so I can have something to brace as well, we slowly make our way to the mirror. At first sight, I look like a fucking Rock God. She adorned my face with a black and purple stormy eyeshadow, lightning strikes across my face, and a black lip, paired with R+S on my right cheek and black specks scattered all over. I don’t think I’ve ever looked so badass, it was taking everything out of me to not make out with my reflection.
“You did amazing, mami. I look so badass and I can recognize myself! You checked all my boxes. You’re gonna have to protect me from the horndogs, though.”
She grabs my chin and tilts my head at different angles to get a better look at her work before saying, “Yeah… I might have done too well. I can’t let those sweaty freaks get too close to my girl.”
There she goes again. My girl. I can’t take all the blame for the way she makes me feel when she says things like that. You have no idea how much I want to be your girl, I thought. She helps me finish getting ready before going to change into her outfit while I scour my pantry for the plastic shot glasses and my shaker.
When she comes back, we try 4 different recipes I found including a pickle juice vodka and lemon shot. Not as bad as one might think if I had to be honest. The alarm to call our Uber came quicker than expected, but we were feeling pretty floaty and ready to have a good time. I’m thankful for Rhea using her WWE Superstar status to get these tickets because we got to skip the line and rock out right in front of the stage. After a long night of screaming, jumping, and dancing with Rhea, we decide to walk around the city in hopes of finding some late-night grub. What better place for us to stumble upon at 11 p.m. than Waffle House? After grubbing on the best sausage egg and cheese hashbrown bowls and chocolate chip waffles, Rhea decides she wants to walk back home because the breeze feels good and she doesn’t want to see anyone else for the rest of the night.
“That was so much fun, thank you for inviting me. It’s been so long since I’ve been to a concert and even though I didn’t care for Beartooth before, I understand the hype now. I needed this.”
We were walking down the street with interlocked arms, step in step and thankfully the alcohol had worn off or else I’m sure we’d both be on the concrete right now.
“Thank you for joining, love. When Chris told me I could bring an extra person my mind went straight to you. I asked as soon as I got off the phone with him. I know we see each other every week but I can never have too much R+S time, especially when you come with that little rat.”
I reach up and touch the R+S she drew on my cheek, which she notices. She reaches over and touches it too, admiring her work. I feel my skin warm under her touch and it takes everything out of me to not grab her wrist and just stay like this all night.
“I think we should make this a permanent addition to your look at work, suits you. I’ll let you give me an S+R on the opposite side and that way those blokes will know we aren’t fuckin around. We are the best thing to happen to that division since the Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection.”
“Would you actually want to do that? It’s about time I’ve been branded by someone in The Judgment Day but I always assumed it would be Damian adopting me. You and I might as well get matching tattoos at this point,” I joke.
Rhea stops dead in her tracks and I stumble backwards. Her expression is a mix of surprise, joy, and mischief. “Are you saying that you want to get a matching tattoo with me?”
I’ve always loved hearing her say tattoo with her thick accent, certain words rolling off her tongue in a way I couldn’t relate.
“I mean… why not? We do everything else together and I’m sure you’ve got a thousand ideas floatin’ around in that head of yours. Name a time and place and I’m there.” I immediately regret saying this, her eyes lighting up with an urgency I should’ve been prepared for. “NOT tonight. I shouldn’t have said that. How about we workshop some ideas in the future and find a nice time to go back to Rayven in Hartford?” That seems to be a good compromise because she starts walking again, her long legs making it impossible to keep up after the night we’ve had.
“Damn, girl can you slow down? You know your steps are 4x wider than mine,” I whine. She takes my hand and interlocks our fingers, dragging me along until we finally see the sign to my neighborhood. I let out a whine at how far we still had to go, but I powered on. Upon finally making it back home we realized there was a much more daunting task ahead of us… getting unready for the night. We made a plan to switch off from the shower to the sink and she offered to clean my makeup because “the artist deserves to erase the canvas.” Always one for the dramatics, but I was so grateful for the help, especially because I knew how tired she was.
The feeling of the ice-cold sheets after such a long and eventful night was better than any drug offered to me at the concert. Rhea slides in next to me and Neeko hops up in between us just like always. From the outside, we looked like the picture-perfect family in our current state.
“God, what a crazy ass night. I can’t wait for what’s in store for tomorrow. Goodnight, mami.”
“Goodnight, love,” she says with a stifled yawn.
Chapter 4
Summary:
The second day of Rhea's 24-hour trip. Join her and Stella as they hang out in the most homoerotic way I could've written
Notes:
if you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading <3 any and all criticisms are accepted, but remember that I'm just having some fun 😛
Chapter Text
My peaceful slumber came to an end at 6:30 when Neeko woke me up for her morning potty break. After walking her around the neighborhood and fixing her a bowl of kibble, I decided to make Rhea and me breakfast while she was still asleep. I searched high and low for my skillet because I wanted to pull out all the stops. We were gonna go out for brunch, but it’ll be cheaper and more relaxing to stay in. I grab my wireless speaker and set it up on the counter, softly blasting my playlist full of entrance music while I prepare for my The Bear audition.
Cleaning as I went, I made a beautiful cornucopia of food for the two of us, and Neeko if we don’t finish it all (we won’t… we never do). I removed two of my larger marbled forest green plates and set them on the counter before turning to the dishwasher and getting two glasses. Each plate contained: 2 strawberries cut into roses, 3 protein pancakes with a blueberry sauce, scrambled eggs with her favorite cheese, Monterey Jack, and 3 chicken sausage patties. I also cut up a bowl of assorted fruit for us to share and poured OJ into the Buc-ee’s glasses. As I arranged everything for us on the coffee table, I summoned Neeko and told her to bring Rhea to me. A few minutes later, I was pleasantly surprised to see Neeko trotting while Rhea came forward rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Rise and shine, mami. I know we were gonna go to Sunny Side Up for brunch but I had some energy to burn after taking Neeko out. Wanna go get freshened up right quick so we can chow down?”
It took her a few seconds to process the scene that lay before her, but once she did, she practically started salivating. She ran to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she got back, she greeted me properly.
“Good morning, love. Thank you for this feast, my stomach is touching my back. It feels like we didn’t even get food after the concert.”
To emphasize her point, her stomach let out the loudest growl I thought possible, resembling the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
“No literally, I know. I woke up and thought I was gonna collapse from how hungry I was. I knew I couldn’t wait until 11 to go eat. I probably would’ve died,” I replied while retrieving a forkful of eggs from my plate. I didn’t care for eggs, but I was gonna make her some anyway, so I may as well get some too.
“You always spoil me when I come here. These are the best pancakes I’ve had in ages, you have to send me the recipe. My protein pancakes never fail to taste like cardboard.”
I chuckle while taking another bite. “I gotta find the video for it later, it’s complicated as hell but as you can see it’s worth it.”
She picks up a strawberry and takes a closer look, then turns to me with an incredulous look. “You did not cut these into roses. These are fucking adorable, mate. I wish you would have woken me up so I could help with something , this is so neat.”
I shrug my shoulders as if to say it’s no big deal. I mean, it really isn’t. It’s just breakfast, a girl’s gotta eat, right? I probably did go a little overboard with the strawberries, but I’m a sucker for a nice presentation.
“After the night we had, I was not gonna make you do any work. You’re the guest and it’s the least I could do for everything else you’re doing for me. Like last night when you shielded me from that guy with the Mohawk…” I shudder at the memories rushing back; I can still smell the Cheetos on his breath.
She tensed up when I mentioned the encounter, which confused me because it was more of a funny memory than anything. I looked down and noticed her hand gripping the fork like it owed her money; it was the first time I’d ever felt bad for a utensil.
“I knew there would be lads trying their hand with you, but Jesus Christ I almost punched that cunt’s teeth in. Next time we go out like that, I’m gonna make sure they know not to approach,” she said through gritted teeth. Rhea had always been protective of the people trying to get with me when we go out because as WWE superstars we have to be careful of who we spend our free time with, or at least that’s why she says. I’ve seen her go home with some questionable fellas herself so I don’t know too much about the validity behind her statement.
“Rhea, it’s fine. I’m honestly just amused by the whole thing. I mean you can’t blame him, I looked the best I’ve ever looked and if I were him I would’ve been trying to secure all of this, too.”
She relaxes back on the couch and takes another bite of her sausage before making Neeko do a few tricks for the rest. I can’t finish the rest of the food, so I just set my plate on the table and let my meal digest. After giving my well-fed mutt her scraps, Rhea took both plates into the kitchen and washed them before coming back and sitting down beside me. I repositioned myself to where my feet were dangling off the arm of the sofa and my head was in her lap. I loved it when she tapped her fingers across the side of my face like a little piano. Just as I knew her love language was acts of service, she knew mine was physical touch.
I could’ve spent the rest of her 24-hour trip watching TV in Rhea’s lap, but I promised her a day of fun and we had already wasted 3 hours doing nothing. Willing myself to get up, I stand and let out an exaggerated stretch before going to my room. After realizing I didn’t plan on coming back, Rhea came to see what I was up to. I invited her to come sit on the bed and she whistled when she saw the reason for my absence.
“Jeez, are all these for us, or are you calling Riddle over?” She asked while I rolled the eighth joint to join its brothers on my ashtray. I knew we probably weren’t gonna smoke them all, but it’s better to have extra than run out and need to roll more later. The first thing we needed to do today was get high out of our minds and take a trip to the free petting zoo at this farm in Winter Park. It’s lowkey terrifying in a good way to be so close to all those animals while being baked.
“Ew, don’t even joke like that. I know we will finish these before it’s time to leave tonight, if not you then definitely me.”
She picks one up and inspects it, twirling it between her fingers. “These are cute, I love the cherry pattern.”
“They’re soooo coquette,” I retorted, which granted me an eye roll from Rhea. She’s not as chronically online as I am. After coaxing the j out of her hand, I scooped them all up, put them in the special lockbox for all my extracurricular accessories, and rolled off the side of the bed before standing up. Rhea held her hand out so I could help her get off the bed, so I obliged and led her back into the living room.
“You already know what to do,” I told her and without a second thought she was off to grab all the snacks we had bought at Publix. I set up the ashtray and lay the joints beside it, then dig through the couch cushions for a lighter or two. I go to the hall closet to get our blanket and when I get back she’s waiting for me to return with a heap of snacks in her arms. I sit on the couch with my legs extended along the back of the couch to the other arm and lay the blanket down over me, covering the couch. I hold the blanket open so she can get onto the couch and do the same as I did. She dropped the snacks onto the blanket and started up a Theo Von comedy special.
The next hour and a half are spent ripping through 3 of the joints, laughing to the point of tears, and slapping at each other’s legs. I can tell we will have a few new inside jokes because of this man. When it ends I notice her getting drowsy so I ask, “Do you wanna start up another one or do you wanna take a quick nap before we go to the zoo?”
“I won't lie, mate, I could take a quick cat nap. I don’t feel like moving though. Let’s stay here.”
I nod and turn on another video for myself before setting an alarm for 1:30 so we can get up and ready for the zoo. I dozed off right behind her and 1:30 arrived before I knew it. I had to shake her leg a few times to get her to wake up; once I turned the alarm off we cleaned the mess we made before changing into our farm clothes.
“Do you think I should wear the pink one to match the little piggies? Or should I go with this one cuz it got the peacock’s attention last time?” I hold up two different options to my torso and she takes a minute to look them over before deciding on the pink one. I throw it on and put on my barely visible daisy dukes-the less fabric on my body, the better. I go to my closet and rummage around for the cowboy boots I bought as a gag for Dom’s birthday party after we saw pics of him as the cutest vaquero ever for Halloween ‘07.
“While you’re in there, can you find that one belt with the big buckle,” Rhea shouts from in front of the mirror.
“I think I gave it back to you that one time you were here, but I have some suspenders,” I shout back. I grab them from the top shelf and take them to her. She’s got some reasonably-lengthed pants on and a sheer white button-down shirt with the first few buttons undone. With matching boots, all she needed to complete her ensemble were the suspenders and some of her normal dark jewelry.
“We look like extras in Brokeback Mountain right now,” I say, cocking my cowboy hat to the side. If we were gonna do this, we were gonna do it right.
“Darn tootin’, partner,” Rhea says in the most convincing country accent her thick Australian one can produce, loosening the bolo tie around her neck.
Checking my phone, I let out a shocked chirp. “Jesus fuck it’s already 3, we gotta hurry up.” We finished getting ready and hit the road, smoking 2 more of the joints that I’d brought along for the ride.
I tapped into my inner Steve Irwin as we made our rounds through each section of the farm. Rhea flirted with the concession host to get us free hay and bird feed, but then she was too paranoid to feed the llamas because she could tell they were waiting to spit on her the second she got close. She kept on saying that if Americans had even half of the animals she did back home, these kinds of zoos wouldn’t even exist so I should stop laughing so hard. After walking around for 2 hours, we finally found the horse track and got to live out our Ennis and Jack fantasies. Not the gay sex, but the horseback riding while speaking in a funny manner.
“You remember the time we went to that zoo in Cincinnati and Priest kept getting targeted by the giraffe?”
I think back on that trip we took and double over with laughter. “I’d never heard him say “take it easy” so many times and every time he was brought closer and closer to tears.”
“Exactly. You should be glad I’m not like that. I’m not even scared of the stupid things, I just prefer not to be spat on. I do the spitting.”
I hope to find out more about that one day . I decided not to make the obvious comment on her choice of wording, instead taking the opportunity to complain about how despite my lack of clothes I was still sweating bullets. Since we’d already hung out with all the animals we wanted and Rhea wasn’t changing her mind about the llamas, we decided to go to our next stop on this excursion.
“You didn’t tell me we were going to the Motherland,” Rhea’s voice bled with exhaustion as she woke up from her car nap.
“I figured I’d bring you to my home away from home given your reaction to Publix yesterday. Please don’t stray too far, I’d hate to lose you in a gas station of all places.”
She gets out of the car and stretches, then bolts for the door. Can I even lock the door before she ignored my only request? I jog after her and find her staring in the middle of the store like Bruce Wayne in Lego Batman. I love that Rhea is so easy to please, only she could love going to a grocery store and a gas station more than any other part of the trip.
“Come on, these people are gonna think you’ve never left your house before.” I drag her to the slushy machines so I can make a double gulp cup. I tend to stay away from the blue raspberry flavor because, for a while, Rhea hated the sight of a blue tongue. Even though she and Liv were friends again, I realized blue raspberry wasn’t that good anyway. We searched through all the gummy candies before an unfamiliar voice screeched our names.
“RHEA RIPLEY AND STELLA MAJOR!!! Oh my god! Oh my god! MALLORY, GET OVER HERE. It’s fucking Rhea and Stella! Oh my gosh, we were just watching your match against Unholy Union on the way here. You’re such badasses!!”
Rhea and I look at each other and then back at the excited young girl. Her green eyes were filled to the brim with tears and I don’t think I have it in me to meet a young fan right now. I am so sweaty and I look like a slutty farm girl and Rhea is borderline unrecognizable in her getup; not that unrecognizable I suppose, considering our current situation. I’m just glad we weren’t swarmed last night when 95% of my tits were out and Rhea decided bottoms were optional.
“Hey there, what’s your name?” Rhea never minded the fans because they tended to prefer her over me. Not that I’m offended or surprised, I’m not too much of a people person anyway.
“I’m Sara,” the young girl choked out. I looked over and saw another girl her age trembling near the beverage coolers, Mallory I’m assuming. She looked so anxious, that I felt bad.
“Hi, are you Mallory?” I asked. She nodded eagerly and replied, “Yes!! Stella, I’m such a huge fan of yours, I have like all your merch and my dad is taking me to your meet-and-greet in Tampa!!”
I started cheesing at this, I’m very glad they’re nice at least.
“That’s so sweet, thank you so much for supporting me. I will remember you for the meet and greet and maybe even have a surprise waiting with Security…”
She runs over to Sara and they both start squealing at the idea. Rhea turns her attention back to Sara and asks, “Be honest, are we your favorite superstars?”
They both start talking over each other trying to prove which one is the bigger fan of us. After concluding that there are 2 of us and they can love us all the same, Mallory asked for a picture. I inwardly cringe at the fact Rhea and I are gonna be on someone’s Twitter account wearing such laughable clothes, but of course, we oblige. I also apologize for how reek we must smell right now.
“Thank you so much, we love you! Can’t wait to see you in Tampa!!” Mallory and Sara run off and leave Rhea and me to finish our Wawa sightseeing.
“I can’t believe you brought me out here and now I’m gonna be seen in this ridiculous cowboy outfit,” she complains while buckling her seatbelt. I start driving us back to my side of town, a good 45 minutes out.
“Bitch, please.” I reach down for my slushy and take a swig. “You know you wish you could wear your cowboy costumes every day. Maybe at our next Texas show, we can add some black to this garb.”
I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she took out her phone and jotted down the idea before setting it back on her lap. She fidgeted in her seat for a while before asking me if I still wanted to have matching R+S face tats on TV.
“Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?”
“I dunno, just making sure before I buy a new eyeliner. What about… what about the real tattoo?”
I can’t figure out why she’s asking me these questions or why there seems to be a slight hesitation in her voice, almost as if she’s afraid of me changing my mind.
“Dude, we’re gonna get inked. I promise. I wouldn’t consider getting a matching tat with anyone else. Like I said, we gotta find a time to book a session with Rayven. I don’t trust anyone else with a task of this magnitude.”
I look over at her and she’s nodding while looking out the window, eyebrows slightly furrowed. I can’t figure out exactly what the problem is so I let it go. Our music is interrupted by a FaceTime from Dom. I sigh, relieved that our brother can help reduce this slight tension between us. I reach over and accept the call from my phone that’s attached to a stand on the windshield.
“Hey, D, what’s good?”
He opens his mouth, then shuts it when he realizes Rhea’s in the car with me.
“What the hell? You’re already on the road? The flight isn’t even until midnight. Also Rhea I thought you were in New York, what happened? Nobody tells me shit.”
I had no idea that Dom didn’t know about her trip, assuming it wasn’t a secret or anything. It was last minute for me to tag along, sure. But I’ve seen her text him countless times since being here, so I thought it would’ve come up.
“I didn’t know I had to run all my actions through you, Dom Dom. Jealous that you weren’t invited? I flew in yesterday afternoon and we’ve been hanging about ever since.”
I saw a look on Dom’s face, one that only I could recognize. One that says “Shame shame, I know your name.” I see it all the time and I had to refocus on the road so we could make it safely to the house show and I could kill him. “Yeah, last night we went to the Beartooth concert and today I took her back to that farm with the petting zoo. We just left Wawa and met the cutest fans. One’s coming to my meet and greet in Tampa, isn’t that exciting?”
“That is exciting,” he mumbled while trying to finish his chicken tender. “You guys better not have too much fun, I need you well-rested to help me kick ass tomorrow night. I only called to see if you could bring those tights I left with the purple stringy things.”
I scoffed and merged into the exit lane. “I wish y’all would stop leaving your shit at my place. If I did a spring cleaning and donated all the clothes you dump at my house before getting back on the road, I’d have enough room for an entirely new wardrobe.” They both knew I didn’t mean it. Rhea, Dom, and I all shared clothes so whenever they decide to come over, I wash all of our clothes together. Garments get misplaced all the time, so whatever I find in my apartment or suitcase afterward I keep. They never mind, sometimes using it as an excuse to only pack a carry-on bag when they come over.
“Maybe that wouldn’t be a problem if you stopped robbing me blind whenever you do my laundry. That would get you killed in the clink, Artois.”
“We’ve been on the phone for not even five minutes and you’re already arguing about something.” Rhea hated being in spaces with me and Dom alone because she said she was too young to have bickering children in her custody. “Dom, I’ll find the bloody tights. You go back to your tenders and we’ll see you in the morning.” She hung up before either of us could interject and the music resumed. I continued driving and we finally made it back to my house around 7.
I ran to the bathroom so I could shower first, all the sweat and dirt and animal smells from today had to be washed off immediately. The lavender scent of my aromatherapy body wash calmed me from the excitement of today. When I emerge from the bathroom, I walk around the house searching for Rhea. I check the bedroom, kitchen, living room, everywhere. I went to get my phone from the bathroom to call her, but I saw she was a step ahead of me.
RIPLEY 👹-
went ahead and took the rat out for ya
pls relax
dinner is on me tonite
I smiled and threw my phone on the bed once I went back to my room, then started on the daunting task of finding those tights for Dom. The creak of the door followed by Neeko’s feet scampering down the hall gave away their return. She finds me in the closet just as I pull out the tights from my hamper. “Hey, my baby! Did Rhea take you to go potty? I bet you’re starving, aren’t you?” My guess was correct because she yelped and ran into the kitchen. Rhea held her hand out to help me off the floor and I took it.
“Thanks for taking her out, I needed to scrub all my creases and crevices like you wouldn’t believe. I feel bad for the animals that have to live like that 24/7.”
“Tell me about it.” She kicked her shoes off and walked out to the laundry room to find Neeko’s dinner table. I followed quickly behind with the laundry basket to go ahead and put on a load before I had to start packing my suitcase.
“If you want to wear that any time within the next week, go ahead and take it off so I can wash it. I can feed her while you shower and then we’ll figure out what’s for dinner.”
She nodded in thanks and went to the bathroom to take her clothes off and leave them outside the door. I set up Neeko at her dining table, put all of our clothes in the wash, and went ahead and packed my suitcase while I waited for Rhea to return. Before she did, the doorbell rang. I guess my mother was here to pick up Neeko since Nora wasn’t back yet.
I rushed to the door as quickly as I could while putting my suitcase up so my mom could get in before she accused me of being up to no good.
“Hey, momma. Thank you for coming out here, I would’ve dropped her off but you know how Rhea feels about being around too many different parts of Florida in a short amount of time.”
She slaps my behind as she makes her way into the foyer. “Oh, you hush. You know you love that girl. If she asked you to marry her right now, you’d say yes and maybe she’d even move to Florida for you.”
“Momma please… watch your volume,” I whisper at her frantically. I didn’t know if Rhea was still in the shower or not but my mother had the tendency to forget her inside voice in the car. She just shrugs, not finding the need to mince her words in her old age. She settles down on the couch and Neeko wastes no time in hopping up into her lap. I go to the laundry room to check on the washer and get Neeko’s diaper bag for the next week.
After switching the clothes over into the dryer and making sure my AirPods weren’t still in there, I went back to the living room and saw my mom and Rhea chatting up a storm. Who knows what these two are talking about, I thought. I went out to the car and put the bag in there while they caught up. My mother was always fond of Rhea; mostly because of her accent, but also because she could see how I was always my most comfortable around her. She said I usually put up a wall around people that only she could see, but when I’m with Rhea she doesn’t see it. I told her that she was drunk and that Rhea and I were just friends, but you know what they say. Mother knows best.
Skipping back into the apartment, I opened the door to see my mom embracing Rhea in a hug so warm and tender that I was almost not sure of who to be more jealous of. I have a million questions in my head, but I know that a hug so motherly contained secrets that only they would know. I just hoped that I was not a topic of conversation, because my mom tends to get carried away if I’m not around to stop her.
Standing around awkwardly at the door, I think Neeko could sense my unease because she broke up the moment with a long series of yaps, probably yelling at her grandma to get a move on. She was never sad when I left as long as she was going to grandma’s house. “Alright, alright. You’re impatient as all hell. Well, think about what I said. You have my number, don’t be afraid to use it, baby.”
Rhea gave her another hug and pat on the back, “of course. Thank you, Ms. Sherri. I won’t be coming back to Florida shortly, but I hope to see you soon.”
She disappears somewhere in the back while I say my goodbyes. “Don’t. I’m not even gonna ask because I know better. Thank you for taking Neeko, and for whatever that was. I’ll call you tomorrow after we get situated in the hotel so you can talk to your favorite man.” No matter how annoying he got, my mother never got tired of Dom. He was her unofficial son and even went so far as to ask Rey if Rey wanted to have another custody match for him. I said my goodbyes to my little baby and allowed them out the door, watching as they drove away.
I locked the door and went back to my room to figure out what Rhea was doing. She had retrieved my lockbox and set it up on the bed while watching Psych. “And you thought we weren’t gonna finish them all today,” I chuckle. She turns to view me in the doorway and pats the spot on the bed beside her, which I took no issue in laying down. I reach over and grab the lighter on my bedside table. “What’s for dinner? I don’t want to grab something on the way to the airport.”
She takes out her phone and searches through Uber Eats for a while before giving up with a huff. “No clue. I can’t think right now. Any ideas?”
I picked her phone up and searched through Uber Eats myself. “I’ve been craving Mexican food ever since Monday, what about El Granero? Their birria tacos are on another level.”
“Sure, can you add my chicken enchiladas and rice? My card’s already unlocked.” I put our order in and we spark up again while watching Shawn and Gus torment Lassiter and each other for the billionth time. When the doorbell rang, Rhea answered it and came back with our platters full of the most mouth-watering Mexican food $40 bucks could buy. We spent the rest of our “action-packed” trip smoking, eating, and lounging around until it was time to leave at 11.
“Are you sure you got everything? I already put your suitcase and duffel in the car and I have my bags here.. Neeko’s out, AirPods are in, Dom’s tights are with my gear, we should be good to go.” I pat my bra to make sure my ID is secure.
“Yeah, I’m all set. Let’s hit the road, Jack.” She walks out ahead of me so I can lock the door. I set my suitcase and backpack in the trunk along with Rhea’s and got in the back seat. The Uber smelled delicious, like this pumpkin cupcake candle I had once. After a ride that felt shorter because of my nap and a quick pass through TSA, we were chilling in our terminal. I was half asleep when Rhea leaned onto my shoulder.
“Thanks for hanging out with me for a few days. I had a lot of fun. Sorry that it wasn’t as action-packed as I promised.” I said in between a few yawns. She yawns too, “Who needs action? We experience action every week, day in and day out. I’m glad I could lounge around with you and the pup for a change. Thank you for not being sick of me yet.”
I look down at her, wishing she could see the expression on my face right now. “I could never get sick of you, mami. Never. Go ahead and try. I dare you.” Before I know it, it’s our turn boarding and I’m out like a light before the plane takes off.
Chapter 5
Summary:
More heart-to-heart conversations with Dom, more insight into the friendship of Stella and Rhea, and JD being an absolute dick because that's just who he is
Notes:
once again, thx to everyone tuning in. I'm trying to pump out chapters as fast as i'd want to read them, and i hope you enjoy <3
Chapter Text
“Here. Take your damn tights,” I threw the pair at Dominik when we rejoined in Finn and Damian’s room after settling into our own. Finn and Damian were lying on the bed, Dominik and I were on the sofa, JD sat in the cuck chair, and Rhea was on the floor in front of Dom and me. The TV was playing a rerun of My Wife and Kids, not that anyone was paying attention; it just served as background noise while we gave each other shit for absolutely nothing.
“So… a little birdy told me you and Rhea spent your days off together…” I look up at JD in the corner who’s decided to start with me for some odd reason. He has this weird Cheshire Cat-like grin on his already unpleasant face, and I can feel myself becoming easily annoyed.
“Yeah. She came to Orlando for a concert, and since she had an extra ticket, she invited me. We spent a few days chilling at my place.” I reach over Dom and grab the remote on the arm of the sofa, deciding to be the first one to pay attention to what’s on TV.
“Sure. Chilling,” he said under his breath.
“I’m sorry. Was there something else?” I did NOT want to go there today, especially not with him .
He just chuckled. “Well, you said that you and Rhea were “chilling”? I’m sure that’s all you two did.” Just then, Damian sat up from his position on the bed, wary of how quickly this game could become sour.
I bit my lip and chose my next words very carefully, not trying to appear hostile. “Let’s see, we went to a petting zoo, and Wawa. Oh, we also went to Publix and Waffle House. Is that better? Am I leaving anything out, Rhea?” She looks over her shoulder at me and shakes her head, “Nah. We were pretty tame.” She turns back around and starts picking at the lint on her leggings. I hoped the conversation would change, but of course, JD couldn’t let it go.
“Did you have a nice room, Rhea? I mean if it was a pre-planned trip, I’m assuming you probably would’ve already booked a hotel room.” I had absolutely no idea what he was trying to accuse her, accuse us of, but I was not gonna have it for much longer.
“Aye, what’s your damage, McDonagh? What does it matter if she got a room or not? I don’t see it coming out of your pocket.” I had honestly forgotten Finn was there until he spoke up. He shut up at this, always trying to do right by Finn. The glazing was crazy, but as long as it got him off of my dick, I was at ease.
It got weirdly silent after that, the tension so thick I would’ve needed a machete to slice my way out of the room. I looked over at Dominik and he just shrugged, then pulled out his phone. A second later my phone vibrates, so I look at it.
DOM DOM-
I don’t know what he’s trying to do but don’t even worry about it man. You don’t have to explain yourself to any of us.
I look over and shoot him a grateful smile. I put my phone back in my pocket before getting up and going to the bathroom. I physically could not sit in that energy anymore, so I decided to sit on the toilet scrolling my Twitter timeline for a while. My legs started getting tingly and I did not want to lose feeling so I stood up and returned to the room. I noticed Rhea had left in my absence, so I asked where she went.
“Dunno, well she got a text from Liv and said they were gonna go do something, but she didn’t say what.” I nodded and resumed my position next to Dom, trying to lay in his lap the way I do with Rhea but instead, I was shoved off.
“What the hell, man? It wouldn’t kill you to share your personal space with me.” I rubbed my shoulder because it hit the ground before the rest of me did. I stayed on the floor because it was less painful down here. He extended his body on the couch and tutted, “Say that last part again… my personal space. You might be able to do it with her, but not over here.”
Just then, my stomach rumbled and I sat up. “I don’t care about any of that right now, I’m fucking starving. Does anyone want to order food?”
JD perked up at this, “I could eat, for sure.” I crack my neck and ask again, “Like I asked, does anyone want to order food? Damian?”
He just chuckled and looked over at Finn, who replied, “I’m alright, get something without me.” Damian thought it over for a while and decided he wasn’t hungry either.
“So nobody wants food? Did you guys eat before we got here or what? Dominik, I know you’re hungry.” Completely ignoring JD and his half-assed attempt of getting his damn food. Dominik looked down at me with a smirk. “I heard JD say he was hungry, right?” We look over at JD and he nods, eyebrows knit together.
“Well, that’s good for him. I’m about to go get something, come with me. I’ll pay…” I knew that’s what he was waiting for- cheap son of a bitch rarely pays when he and I go out. He pretended to think it over for a few seconds before reluctantly getting up and scanning the room for his Nike slides. I hold my hand out for him to help me off the ground, considering he’s the reason I’m there, but he just slaps it and walks past me. I assist myself up and grab my wallet and key card off the table before following Dom out the door, leaving JD to sulk and starve by himself.
“Why are you such an ass all the time,” I say to Dom as we walk down the hallway. He rams me into the wall before running ahead so I can’t hit him. “It’s to keep the balance in the group. Everyone else loves you like you can do no wrong. I’m the only one who doesn’t give you a big head.” He presses the button for the elevator while I jog up to it.
“I don’t know what you mean. I’m treated the same as everyone else. Well, not the same as McDonagh.” The elevator doors open and we step inside. Dom presses the button to the lobby before saying, “Bullshit. You’re the star. In Damian’s eyes, you can do no wrong. In Finn’s eyes, you’re his badass protégé and he would do anything for you. And don’t even get me started on Rhea.” The doors open again and he allows me to step out first.
“No no, let’s get started on Rhea. What’s that supposed to mean?” I walk a few paces ahead of him and turn to make sure he’s following along. He huffs out a sigh like he doesn’t know where to begin. We walk in silence for a while and I start to think he’s forgotten all about my question, but I know better than to open my mouth again until he’s got it all sorted out. We walk down the street for a while and find this cute little diner. I hold the door open for him and we make our way to the counter. The waitress leads us to a booth in the back, a nice secluded area. She hands us our menus and disappears while we figure out what we want. I look mine over, Dom doesn’t even touch his.
“Are you sure you want to do this now?” I look up at him and see his fingers tapping on the table, something he only does when he’s nervous. Like he doesn’t know what’s gonna happen if he opens this can of worms. I take a deep breath and nod my head, though I’m less and less sure if I want to as the seconds pass. “I can handle whatever you’re about to say, D. You’re the only one capable of giving it to me straight.”
He folds his hands on the table and looks at me. “Look. When she and Liv broke up, it was a fucking mess. None of us grasped the gravity of the situation because she didn’t open up to anyone but you. She would mope around the locker room, skip out on training at the gym with us, hell she would not leave her house or hotel room for anything that wasn’t work-related. I remember before you joined, she would play with me like a puppet to make herself feel better, and I allowed her because it was the only way to make her happy. We’ve worked through our shit now, and I have Cora so there’s no hard feelings.”
He interjected that last part as my mouth opened to condemn her past actions. “But when you joined The Judgment Day, she went out of her way to ask you to train so she didn’t have to be alone. You were both going through a lot during that time, and you connected faster than any of us could’ve imagined. I’m technically not supposed to say this, but Finn and Damian had a running bet for how long it would take you to get together in the first year before they realized you were both utterly oblivious.”
The waitress came back and Dominik went quiet, not needing anyone to weigh in on our heart-to-heart. “Are you two ready to order, or would you need another minute?” She looked at me first.
“Hi, can I get the Philly Cheesesteak meal without mushrooms? For the drink…I’ll just have a water, thank you.”
She jots it down and turns to Dom. “And what can I get for you, hun?” He hadn’t made a single effort to look at the menu since sitting down. “I’ll take the chicken tender basket, please. To drink, I’ll also have a water. And do you guys have dipping cups of ranch?” She nods her head. “Can I get one of those then? Thank you.” We handed her the menus and she scurried to the back.
“As you were saying,” I encouraged him. He continues with his point, “Yeah, as I was saying, we could see back then that you guys were great friends, but it always felt like there would be more. After waiting forever, we realized that may not be the case. You dated Isla for a while and she has her flings now and again. Sometimes it feels like you’re just so close… but then something happens that pulls you away again. It sucks watching you get in your head about her because I know that if either of you were braver, you’d already be together. I think… I think you’re both scared of losing each other if anything bad happens. Rhea’s already experienced that with Liv and I know she doesn’t want it to happen again. Sometimes we- you know, Finn, Damian, and I- talk about it and we think that since Liv and Rhea are becoming friends again, she will start lowering the walls that guard her heart from you.” He pauses to check something on his phone and I use this time to get out my thoughts at this moment in time.
“If I’m being honest with you, the reason why y’all have been waiting forever is because I didn’t even understand the full weight of my feelings until last year. It was after Royal Rumble when I fractured my ankle from my goofy ass elimination. I was in so much pain and I was so depressed about not being in action, and I was damn near going crazy from sitting at home. But she was there. She visited me every chance she got, and you KNOW how she hates Florida. I was so used to doing everything for her, that I didn’t realize she had been itching to return the favor. She stayed with me for 3 extra weeks after I was medically cleared to return, and it was probably the best 3 weeks of my life.” I turn when I feel the presence of our waitress coming back, so I quiet down.
“Here are your waters, love.” She sets them down gingerly. “Here is your cheesesteak, no mushrooms. I put a cup of ketchup on the side there for ya. And here are your tenders, they’re a little big so I gave you two cups of ranch. Are you all set?” I look at Dom and nod, thanking her as she retreats once more.
Deeming it safe to air out my dirty laundry, I speak again. “I know I might seem stupid for ‘not seeing what’s right in front of me’ as you and Damian have said in no uncertain terms. But I think you’re wrong… I’ve had my fair share of homoerotic friendships to know that’s just how things go. She cares about me, and I care about her. I didn’t mean to fall in love with her but I’m not gonna let it get in the way of us dominating the women’s division. I’ve been taking your advice. I didn’t have a stick up my ass the whole time she stayed with me and we had so much fun!”
I chose this moment to finally bite into probably the best cheesesteak I’ve ever had in my life. All of the flavors hit my tongue like an explosion, a beautiful symphony of spices and seasonings. I might’ve been a little too enthusiastic about the sandwich because Dom was getting antsy waiting for me to continue talking about the trip.
“Well? What did you do? I know you said you went to Publix and Wawa and whatever else but what did you really do?” I laugh at this, I don’t know why everyone thinks we have ulterior motives. Can’t two girls just sit around an apartment platonically without having their friends ask 21 questions?
“We literally didn’t do anything crazy. We went to the concert, but while we were getting ready I think she… kinda sorta dry humped me- ON ACCIDENT. Neeko scared her and it turned into this whole thing. I had a blast at the concert. There was this loser trying to get with me all night and Rhea wasn’t having it. When I brought it up the next morning she was fucking heated and she said she was gonna make sure they knew not to mess with me next time? Whatever that means. We went to the zoo and rode horses together. Well, technically one horse. We went around the track switching who would sit in the front and who would hold on for dear life. It was insane, but we did spend most of the trip smoking and lounging around.”
Dom was fucking his tenders up as I was giving him a rundown of our activities and I snorted at the ranch goatee he was starting to sport. I ate a majority of my fries while waiting for him to speak again, letting the waitress know we were alright when she came to check on us.
“Dude.. are you joking?” He looked at me with the most disappointed expression, one of confusion and flabbergast. “You can’t seriously tell me you said all of this aloud and still think you and Rhea are ‘just friends’. You’re just gonna speed past haring a horse with her and getting dry-humped?? Why the hell would you need to share a horse, I’m sure there were more than one, right?”
I look down at my tray and sigh. “I mean, yeah. There were like 4 other horses available but we thought it would be more fun that way. We were acting like
Jack and Ennis.” He raised his eyebrow. “From… Brokeback Mountain. I know it sounds bad when I say it like this, okay?! But I don’t know… it’s easy to highlight the good parts, but overall I don’t know, man. Think about it, we’ve been acting this way forever so how could I possibly read into it the same way you do?”
He leans back in his chair, arms crossed and brows furrowed. I think he understands where I’m coming from because it takes him a while to come up with a response. I start to play over my food because my appetite is slowly diminishing. “You’re right. I mean, we read into it the whole time and you didn’t feel the same way… but still. In my heart of hearts, I know there’s something there, and I don’t think either of you should let the possibility of us breaking up in any way form or fashion keep you from following your heart. This is just a job, I mean it's not like you can marry your championship.”
I threw one of my fries at him for the last part but he dodged it. “Shut up! Get serious… I get what you mean though. I mean, I had an amazing time with her these past few days and there were a few moments where I thought to myself because of what you said in the gym… and I admit that there might be something there. I’m just gonna do my best to focus on our match against the Kabuki Warriors and whatever happens in the meantime, just happens I guess. I’m not gonna fight my feelings anymore.”
Dom gives me a soft smile and reaches across the table and I put my hand in his. Considering he just yelled at me for invading his personal space earlier, I wasn’t gonna pass up the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “Mira.. sé que no es fácil. But nothing you’ve been through since coming to the WWE has been easy. I know whatever outcome of this situation will make you stronger in the long run. Now I don’t want to ruin a good moment, but I’m full. Please pay the bill so we can get out of here.”
I oblige his request and pay for our meal so we can go. When we got back to the hotel, I parted ways with him because I refused to see JD in Finn’s room again. Instead, I went back to my room and decided to read the book I brought along this week. Liv and Becky decided to start a book club in the women’s locker room and it’s honestly been a blast so far. I had my music blasting and I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before Rhea came back to the room. She got my attention by slapping my leg as she walked past my bed.
“Hey, lad. What book do they have you reading this week?” She asked, looking over her shoulder. I held up the cover so she could take a peek, IT ENDS WITH US
“I swear to God, if Bayley makes us read another Colleen Hoover book I’m gonna shoot myself in front of her. This is the third one we’ve read since Christmas and I’m actually losing brain cells. When I asked if we could read Normal People, nobody budged. Say Colleen Hoover and the whole world goes wild.”
She shook her head and grabbed her duffel beside the bed. “I wish you would stop threatening to lie yourself in front of other people. It’s unsettling and that’s probably the reason we don’t make many friends backstage as it is.”
“Excuse me,” I was sitting up fully facing her now. “Are you trying to say I don’t have friends? I’m pretty sure I’m friends with everyone here besides JD. Riddle, and Theory… I learned at lunch that I am a well-liked person.”
She stopped rummaging in her bag and looked me in my eyes, clearly wondering who told me I was well-liked. “Well-liked within The Judgment Day, of course. And I’m not saying they hate you, but let’s be real you barely hang out with anyone in the locker room. You go straight home on Tuesday and don’t talk to anyone until Saturday.”
I put the bookmark in my book, “Okay, so what do you suggest?? How am I supposed to make friends after work?” I hate to admit it, but she was right. My lack of work friends is one of the main reasons I joined the book club. The only people outside of TJD I hang out with are the backstage interviewers, like Jackie and Cathy, or my next tryst. I guess I didn’t realize because I am pretty cordial with everyone, so I get my fair share of invites to join in on the fun. Not that I ever take them up on it, though.
She found whatever she needed from her duffel and crossed the room in a few long strides. “Dude, you should come with us to Uncle Joe’s Underground next Saturday. It’s this club in New Orleans we go to every time we have a show in the area and it’s honestly bangin’.”
I check my phone to make sure I have nothing going on that Saturday, “you know what? I’m there. Everyone’s gonna see I don’t have to be all about business.”
Rhea laughs. “You’re coming to the club? Alright then, it’s a date. Can’t wait for everyone to see the Stella I know, the one I reunited with at Beartooth…” I threw my pillow at her but she ducked and threw it right back. I could do without the reminders of how I tried many times to get on stage so I could bust out my Megan knees. She held me back every time because I was sure to get fired if HHH saw me half-naked in front of all those people.
She walks out the door with a quick “I’ll be back” and I return to my book. I needed to get on the good side of Bayley and Becky because I admire them a lot, and if I have to read this stupid ass Colleen Hoover in order to make small talk with them, so be it. About 50 pages in I fell asleep, but my phone’s vibration brought me back.
INDI 👍-
Hey, Rhea said you’re coming to Uncle Joe’s?
Can’t wait
Maybe we can pick up where we left off last time ;)
Hm.. I like Indi, but I don’t think I could start up another fling with her right now, not with everything going on with Rhea.
ME-
damn
word travels quick
let’s cross that road when we get to it baby
INDI 👍-
You know where to find me babe
Speaking of, take it easy on me tonight, my head is pounding
ME-
i’ll do my best, hope you feel better
do you need anything?
INDI 👍-
I’m alright, thank you babe
Damn, Indi was the last person I expected to ask about me going to the club. I haven’t been ignoring her per se, but once I realized my feelings for Rhea I couldn’t be with another Australian that wasn’t her. We’re still friends but I know she wants something that I can’t give her.
I read my book for another hour or two before there was a knock at my door. Looking through the peephole, I sigh and open it. “What do you need, JD? It’s not time to go to the show yet.” I let him in and walked us deeper into the room. He takes a seat at the desk in the room and I stand in front of my bed because if I sit down this may take longer than I want it to.
“So, I don’t think we finished our conversation earlier. How was Rhea’s hotel room?” He asked with such an accusatory tone I had to refrain from punching him right there. I don’t like being accused of things I didn’t do by people I don’t want to be talking to at all.
“JD you have 5 seconds to make your point before I kick you out. Rhea didn’t get a hotel room, why the hell does that matter to you??” My fists were clenching and unclenching at my sides, I just needed a good reason to rock his shit.
He throws his hands up in defense, “Hey now, easy. I just think it’s funny that you two run around lying to everyone, including yourselves. How about you save us all the time and just fuck already so we can get on with our lives? The tension between you and Rhea is getting unbearable. You’re distracting us from being a dominant force in the WWE and if you don’t tell her about your feelings by Night of Champions, I will.”
Is he? No fucking way the last, most unimportant member of The Judgment Day is trying to threaten me. He doesn’t know shit about shit and I don’t even know what exposing my feelings would do in terms of helping us grow as a team. If anything, that could tear us apart.
“You’ve got some fucking nerve, JD. Coming into my room and threatening me? You know that the only person in TJD that actually likes your ass is Finn, and nobody would dare be afraid of you and your empty threats. Instead of being on my dick, someone who holds the gold in this company, how about you get some yourself? Come for me and my relationships again and I’ll end you, bitch. Get the hell outta here. I don’t wanna see you again until it’s time to leave.”
He stands up and looks me up and down, then chuckles as he walks away. I follow him to the door and push him out before slamming it and going into the bathroom. I already have so much on my plate, I’m trying to balance the most intense feelings I’ve had in a while, and training for one of the most important matches in our career. Now I’ve gotta think about JD telling Rhea about my feelings without having the proper chance to tell her myself.
I turn on the shower to the hottest temperature and go back into the room to get my phone and AirPods, preparing to have the worst shower ever. After making sure the temperature was scalding hot, I removed my clothes and gently stepped in. The water hurt so bad, and I knew I needed this to get my head back in the game. I turned my music to the max and started sobbing. Just because I put up a good fight doesn’t mean I’m not tired of fighting, when do I get to be happy and live my life without worrying about the opinions and feelings of everyone around me?
My skin was beginning to turn red as I tried to scrub away my dirt, my guilt, my shame, and my feelings for Rhea. I just kept washing away all my uncertainty and anything that would distract me from the big match. I felt so filthy because what if there was truth to what JD said? What if everyone was tired of me, tired of the “will they, won’t they” drama that’s apparently been happening for years; longer than I’d even known. I washed until I couldn’t stand the temperature anymore, turning the water off and jumping out of the shower. Wrapping my towel around my body, I open the bathroom door to find Rhea sitting on her bed, staring at the door as if she were waiting for me.
“Hey, lad… seems a bit hot in there. Are you okay? I didn’t hear any music playing.” She looked at me with the most worried eyes, and I knew I wasn’t gonna get out of this one. I had telltale signs of when I wasn’t okay, and one of the ways I… destress… is by taking showers that resemble the first layer of hell.
I tried to play it cool, but I was never good at hiding my feelings from her, so I burst into tears immediately. She rushes to me and I crumble in her arms, “hey, what’s wrong? I was only gone for a few hours, who made you cry that fast?”
I try to respond between hyperventilations, “It’s nothing. Well not nothing, but I can’t bother you with it,” I sniffle and she gently rubs my back as I try to regain my composure. “I’ve just been going through so much recently, and we have a huge match coming up and I can’t get my head in the game, and now JD is trying to act like he runs shit-“ I didn’t mean to let that last part out because I knew she would immediately go on the attack.
“JD? That piece of shit is behind this? Oh I’m gonna rip his bloody head off, is he still with Finn??” She lets go of me and starts walking toward the door, but I grab her arm and pull her back. “Rhea please, I can’t handle any more of this right now. I’m just so tired, and I don’t want you to talk to him because I’m almost certain that will make it worse. I’m gonna be okay, I promise.”
She shakes her head, “No, that’s bullshit. He’s already not welcome here and now he’s gonna make you cry? I don’t know what he did, but I will right his wrongs. And I don’t want you to put too much stress on the match against Kairi and Asuka. I adore being champions with you, but it’s just a title, love. I don’t want you to put too much pressure on keeping the title if it’s making you act like this. We will always be able to regain the gold, but I don’t want to lose you in any way, form, or fashion. If Damian were here right now, he’d tell you to take it easy. Since he’s not, I’ll be the one to say that no matter what, I love you and you are not in this alone.” She brings me in for another hug and I am so embarrassed at how quickly I lost it again.
I think the last time I’d cried this hard, was when I officially broke things up with Indi. It hurt for a different reason then, but the common denominator was Rhea Ripley. The one person I loved more than anything in the world had caused my biggest grief and it wasn’t even her fault. “I’m sorry you have to keep seeing me like this, Rhea. You know I try my best to keep it together on the road, wrestling should not be this difficult. I just want to whoop ass with my best friends and I feel like everything’s falling apart since JD came into the picture.”
She walks me over to the bed and we sit down, she looks at me and says, “You’re absolutely right. JD has done more harm for us than good, and we need to have a serious conversation soon about his status in the group. Honest to God I’d rather have R-Truth here than that bloke.” I laughed and she smiled at my amusement, happy to see anything but tears and pain on my face.
“Tonight after the show, we’re gonna have a meeting without JD as a real family, like the good ol’ days. Until then, I want you to wipe your tears, get dressed, and not think more about it, okay?” I nod my head and she smiles.
“Thank you, mami. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Can I have the room until it’s time to leave tonight?”
“No worries, love. I’ll text you later, okay?” She leaves without another word.
Chapter 6
Summary:
The gang gets together to discuss the aftermath of JD threatening Stella, hopefully it's TJD vs. JD and not Stella vs. the world...
Notes:
HAIIIIII sorry for not uploading, a real bitch been going thru it fr. I hope you enjoy this short chapter to let you guys know I'm still alive. I PROMISE it's about to pick up pace 😭❤️ as always tysm to those who read and enjoy, feel free to leave any comments. Also sorry for not leaving translations on the Spanish parts lol
Chapter Text
After my meltdown earlier, I knew I had to talk to Dom but I was afraid he’d take it even more personally than Rhea did. I had to wait until we got back to the hotel after tonight’s show, so until then I acted like nothing was wrong. “Artois, come here.” He beckoned me to the table he and Legado Del Fantasma were occupying.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” I loved mingling with Legado Del Fantasma; hanging out with Santos and company was a surefire way of having a great time. Santos pulls out the chair next to him and I accept the seat graciously.
“Dom tells us that you’re coming to the Underground with us next week. Everyone is glad to hear you’re leaving solitary for a change. We were starting to get the impression you didn’t like us, but hopefully, after Saturday you’ll reconsider,” Humberto says to me from across the table.
“Why is it such a big deal that I’m coming out next week? I do go out with you guys, I was literally just at that birthday bash Meta-Four hosted. That was around… 4 months ago. Maybe you have a point. But who is “everyone” that’s happy I’m going out?” I didn’t think I had secret admirers backstage, it’s not like they try to make themselves known.
“En Serio?? Stella, everyone . We want to invite you to more things, but you’re always shielded by Damian and Rhea… it’s kinda hard to tell if you enjoy our company or not,” Angel explains. I look at him and he shrugs like it’s common knowledge.
“Damn… I’m sorry guys I had no idea. I’ve been going through a lot recently so I have been isolating myself, but I need to have fun again. I’m young, I should be at the club. And I will be! Saturday’s gonna be so fun guys.” I look around the table and note the happy faces, if LDF is trying to get me out of my funk then it’s getting bad. I don’t plan on letting JD or anyone take control of my life or my fun. It’s time for the party girl Stella to come out of hibernation.
Santos claps a hand on my shoulder and says “The first round is on me to celebrate the return of a dear friend. Just because Judgment Day is your family doesn’t mean you can hide from the rest of us. Ahora ve a patear traseros ahí fuera.” I say my goodbyes and slap Dom on the head for good measure, then make my way to gorilla position and wait for the current match to be over. I can’t stop bouncing on my toes; I have so much energy to burn before the family meeting tonight because I’m afraid of accidentally lashing out at the wrong people because of JD’s misdoings.
The current match ended and I did a few stretches before my music hit, turning to wink at Indi as if to say “Don’t worry, I got you.” I decided not to have a valet tonight, much to the surprise of Rhea and Dom. I felt bad for not asking Rhea to come with me, especially because she wanted to do the matching tattoos tonight, but I just couldn’t be bothered after JD did what he did. I didn’t miss the way she bit her lip and looked at the ground when I told her no and it felt like a stab in my chest.
I couldn’t think about that now, I had to go prove to Indi and everyone else why I was one of the most dominant women in the WWE. I make my way to the ring solo and I look out into the crowd, so many people watching my every move. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the energy and attention of a wrestling crowd.
I finish my entrance and wait in the corner while Indi does hers, and when the bell rings I almost forget to hold back. I’m not one for pulling my punches but I’d be an asshole to make her feel even worse tonight. As much as I’d like to pretend she was JD and get my frustrations out that way, I’ll wait to get my hands on the real one.
Our match went by quicker than expected, but with Indi, it always felt like a breeze. Our in-ring chemistry couldn’t be denied; I guess it’s no surprise that we eventually got together. She’s been one of my favorite opponents since NXT. After pinning her for the 1, 2, 3, I helped her onto her feet and we made our way up the ramp together.
“Hey, sorry if I went too hard on you. I’ve had a long day and I had more on my mind than just the match.” I apologize honestly, always taking accountability for my in-ring mistakes.
“You were a star like always,” Indi winces, “Nothing that an ice pack and a nice bath can’t fix. I’m just glad I didn’t hurl all over you.”
I slid a few inches away from her and she laughed before clutching her stomach in pain. “Indi seriously, are you okay? I can get you some TheraFlu or something, you know I hate seeing you like this.” I slide back over and let her use me as a crutch so she doesn’t have to exert more energy than necessary.
“I’m fine, babe. Just help me to the locker room? Candice and Johnny will be my nurses until I get better.” I chuckle and help her to the locker room.
“Well… as always I appreciated beating your ass. Take care of yourself, okay? Candy, Johnny, I’ll see you around.” I leave her with her people and go back to my locker room for the evening. I’ve tried not to think about the whole JD situation but now it’s inevitable, I have to find a way to talk about what happened without going into too much detail.
Before I could even knock on the locker room door, the door swings open and JD jumps at the sight of my face, as if I’m not supposed to be here. “Move, I smell like death right now and the shower is calling my name.”
“Well hello to you, too. Saw your match, you were holding back on her. Like I said… your head’s just not in the game.” JD shakes his head in disappointment and my palms start forming small crescents from my fingernails, fists balled and ready to swing.
“Are you fucking joking me? Indi is halfway on her deathbed right now and she asked me to take it easy on her so she didn’t hurl on me in the middle of the ring. If you question my ability to go in the ring, you and I can take it out there right now and I’ll surely change your stance on the matter. If not, get the hell outta my way.”
I pushed him out of the way and finally made my way through the door, looking around to see everyone giving me a confused look at the altercation- everyone but Rhea, that is. She just looks at me with a sad smile and shakes her head.
“Hey Stel. You killed it out there, but please don’t come in here and kill us,” Finn held his hands up in surrender.
“Don’t worry, I feel great. It’s not like you guys are accusing me of going soft in the ring,” I shot a dark look over at JD McDouchebag before continuing, “We need to have a family meeting once I get out of the shower. By the time I come out I hope you are long gone, JD.”
He scoffs, “What? This is a Judgment Day matter, so I should stay.”
“Uhh no… I said family meeting. You may be in The Judgment Day, but you are NOT family. If anyone disagrees with me, please let me know and I’ll issue JD the apology he deserves.” I look at everyone and they seem to be enticed by everything around them. Rhea’s playing with her shoestring, Dominik’s picking at the seam of his bean bag, Finn and Damian looking at each other but nobody says a word. “Right… that’s what I thought. You’ve got 20 minutes to be good and gone.”
“Nobody? Finn, seriously??” JD is grasping at straws and with not even Finn backing him up, he leaves with a curse and Dom cringes at the sound of the door slamming.
I take my time in the shower trying to plan out exactly what to say. How do I explain that he’s trying to blackmail me over my crush on Rhea without letting him win in the process? I scrub and I scrub, humming a tune and when I realize I can’t procrastinate any longer, I get out and dress before returning to the group.
“Well, I don’t know where to start other than the fact that I don’t know how much longer I can work with JD without actually murdering him,” I say calmly as I flop on the couch beside Rhea.
Dominik chuckles before asking, “Oh brother, what did he do this time? I honestly thought you were gonna give him a DDT right there in the doorway earlier.”
“Y’all know I’ve never fucked with that goofy blockhead, but I’ve tried to tolerate him for the sake of the group, for you,” I motion to Finn, “but recently he’s been getting entirely too comfortable trying to talk to me about my personal life and relationships, and he’s taken it entirely too far. Earlier today he showed up at our hotel room and literally threatened to blackmail me because he says my head isn’t in the game???”
There was a lot of confusion at the last part so I explained further, “he said that I’ve been messing up everyone’s performance and that none of us can get our head in the game, which is why he accused me of taking it easy on Indi tonight when I had every right to. I’m not going to get into exactly what he said because it concerns nobody but he and I, but I’m also not gonna sit here and let this nobody try to scare me in my faction.”
There was silence for a moment, but then Damian spoke up. “Why didn’t you come to me? You know I would’ve handled it immediately. It was bad enough that he was bombarding you with questions in our room, but for him to blackmail you? I’m gonna go kill him.”
“Damian please, I love you but I don’t need you to fight all my battles. Truth be told I was gonna take it to the grave and handle it myself but Rhea caught me in a… precarious situation after it happened.” I inwardly cringe at the interaction between her and I, stupid fucking rat JD making me look weak for no reason.
Damian sighs and rubs a hand over his face, and Finn looks at him, then me, with sadness and guilt. “Look guys,” he starts, “I know you all could live a little happier without JD, but I didn’t know it was gonna get this bad. I feel sorry for the lad because he’s not made many allies since joining the main roster. Now I see why.”
I snort at that, but I don’t say anything else so he keeps on, “Stella, I’m sorry for the trouble he’s been causing. You know I’d do anything for you and that includes kicking JD to the curb and making him figure this shit out for himself.” I perk up at this, unsure of exactly what he’s saying.
“Does that mean… he’s out? Like out out? For good?” I ask him with puppy dog eyes to add pressure to the question.
He sighs, looks at each of us, then nods. “Yeah. He’s out. I love him like a little brother but that doesn’t mean he can disrespect the rest of my family. He’s outta here.”
I feel all the tension in my body slowly evaporate, the weight lifted off my shoulders with Finn’s final words, and I turn to Rhea and hug her tightly. She has no idea what was just avoided, and hopefully, she never will.
“Thank you guys for taking me seriously, but I still want to kick his head off his shoulders,” I say in all honesty.
Dominik laughs, “Hey I got 50 bucks on you, Artois. Can’t believe the little shit thought he could come for you and get away with it. Let’s tag his ass tomorrow after our match against Brutus and Julius.” I’ve always loved the way his thought process.
“We can all take turns with him tomorrow, but for now I’m way past my bedtime and it’s taking everything out of me to not fall asleep on this awful couch.” I look at all the faces in the room to see if they’re also getting tired, and to my surprise the first one to agree was Finn.
“Aye, I am slumped. Not to mention the day you’ve had, let’s go ahead and pack up guys.” We grab our bags and make our way to the parking lot, Dom and I running to the car so we can be the first ones to fall asleep on the ride back. Damian and Rhea loaded all the bags in the trunk while Finn got the GPS loaded. Dom was out before I was and I couldn’t help but snicker at the fact JD had no idea we were going back to the hotel. Nobody thought to rally him after my confession earlier.
Only after we made it to the hotel and got into the elevator did Finn receive a text from JD asking where everyone was. Dominik and I busted out laughing at Finn’s red face, he honestly forgot to tell JD we were leaving, or to at least find another ride home. He made up some lie that Damian had gotten queasy so we needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
“We’ll see you lads in the morning, yeah? Don’t be too hard on JD tonight, Dom Dom. It’ll ruin the surprise for tomorrow,” Rhea says as we walk towards our rooms. We disappear behind our door and I toss my bag down on my head. Before I can even thank her for encouraging me to have a family meeting, she pulls me into a deep embrace.
“I know. You don’t have to say anything, it’s the least I could do. I wish I could’ve given him a drop kick to the throat right there in the locker room, but I practiced restraint,” she sighs into my hair as she sways me back and forth. I let myself melt into her touch because I am just so tired and nothing feels better than being alone with Rhea.
“Still… thank you. I don’t know how tomorrow is going to go, but I know that I have you by my side. I just need a long sleep right now, if I think about him anymore tonight I’m gonna have a brain aneurysm.”
After a few more seconds wrapped in her toned arms, I reluctantly stepped back and moved to the bathroom so I could do my nightly routine. When I returned from the bathroom, Rhea was already dead to the world in her bed, her phone playing some video quietly beside her head.
I follow suit and lay down, letting her phone replace my white noise machine. I giggle as I recognize Shawn Spencer’s infamous “Come on, son” and I smile knowing she fell asleep watching my favorite show.
When I woke up, I instinctively rolled over to look at Rhea’s bed and noticed she wasn’t there. I sat up to see if the bathroom light was on, but it wasn’t. She must’ve gotten a head start to her day. I grab my phone off the nightstand and shoot her a text.
ME-
rise and grind mami
you better not be at the gym without me.
lmk if you wanna get something to eat w me whenever you get back
I get up and start getting ready for my day, receiving a text from her halfway through brushing my teeth.
RIPLEY 👹-
lol. i went to get my headphones from the car, calm your tits
we can get brekky after training
I finished getting ready and when I came out of the bathroom Rhea was sitting on her bed fully dressed waiting for me. She had her gym bag beside her and her water bottle in her hand, tossing it in the air every so often. Without needing to say a single word, I grabbed my bag and water bottle, and she was not even a foot behind me when I opened the door.
Our sparring session was nothing short of brutal, but much needed. We beat each other into former shells of ourselves, only because we are free from kicking ass on Raw tonight. Well, free from kicking everyone but JD’s ass.
“That was fucking good, I don’t know how you’re still standing,” I say while wiping the sweat off of my head and neck. I sit on the bench in the women’s locker room because my legs are nearly detached from my body.
“Standing? Mate, I don’t know how I’m still alive. You and I could put on 5-star matches if we were opponents, but I pray every night that I don’t get on your bad side.” Rhea was absolutely gassed right now, and I was glad that I was always a worthy opponent for her. Despite my size, I can put on a clinic.
“I need to shower but I honestly don’t think I can get up right now, I’m afraid that with every step I get one step closer to being legless and not in the good way,” I whine while rubbing my calf. I hold my hand out and Rhea gently helps me to my feet, wincing at my screech of soreness and sorrow.
“You think today was hard, imagine how it’s gonna be at Night of Champions… I know for certain Kairi is gonna make sure to give you a beat down, but not as long as I can help it. Remember, we’re not just fighting Asuka and Kairi, we’re fighting Iyo and Dakota because you know they’re gonna interfere.”
I know she’s right but I really can’t think about Iyo or Dakota right now; I’ve barely been able to focus on our actual opponents because of everything going on recently, but regardless I’m gonna give it my all the second the bell rings. I nod my head and rumble through my gym bag so I can take a quick shower before breakfast.
“You’re right. I feel awful, my mind’s been everywhere BUT our match… I know you said the titles don’t matter, but I don’t want to lose you- them. I don’t want to lose these beautiful belts to those freaks,” I mentally berate myself at the Freudian slip but I don’t think she noticed.
“Hey, we’re gonna be fine. If you give them half of what you just gave me, we’ll hold these belts longer than Hogan.” I giggle at this and lightly touch a bruise starting to form on her bicep, her arm tense beneath my touch.
“This is gonna look crazy in a few days, sorry mami,” I apologize sheepishly.
She shrugs it off with a simple, “don’t be sorry for being the best, I know I don’t. What you should apologize for is prolonging our meal, I could eat a koala.” I roll my eyes and carefully make my way to the showers after grabbing my stuff, taking almost twice as long with how achy my joints are right now.
We showered and got dressed for the day before leaving in search of breakfast. After about 20 minutes of aimless driving, she suggested that we should just get some Panera Bread and I don’t disagree. She and I devoured our meals before heading back to the hotel, and for a second I almost forgot about JD until he was the first person we saw upon returning to the hotel lobby.
“Good morning, Rhea. What were you up to this morning,” JD asks, completely ignoring me. Not that I mind at all, though. He could keep ignoring me for the rest of his life and I wouldn’t shed a tear or toss and turn in my bed at night.
Rhea just sighs and says, “JD. WE were just sparring and went to breakfast. We’ll see you later when it’s time to go.” Without another word she grabbed my hand and walked off towards the elevator, leaving a very dumbfounded JD in our dust. I hate to admit it but there’s nothing sexier than Rhea protecting me when we’re out together.
I pushed the button to the elevator and we rode the entire way up in silence. I knew she was trying not to get worked up over JD but she was doing a poor job. “That fucking loser,” she spits out venomously the second the doors open. “How dare he pretend you’re not even there? I tried my hardest to ignore him but I’ll be damned if he tries to ignore you as if you’re the problem.”
I rubbed my thumb over her hand that I was still holding, “I love that you care, and I appreciate your concerns, but I am fine. After our conversation last night it was nice to find out my hatred for JD wasn’t all in my head, you know? I’d honestly prefer if he ignored me instead of whatever the fuck he’s been doing recently.”
She sighed and looked over at me, “I see your point. Please just say the word and I’ll Riptide that motherfucker so fast he won’t even know I’ve done it until he’s laying on the trainer’s table being examined for a concussion.” I give her a gracious smile and she returns it.
Instead of going to our room, we walk further down the hall to bother Finn and Damian, knocking on their door to the tune of Damian’s theme. It took a while before someone came to let us in and I felt bad for interrupting whatever they had going on.
“Of course, it’s you two. Where’s your other terror twin?” Finn narrowed his eyes on me and I shrugged, “No clue. Haven’t talked to him yet so I begged Rhea to create chaos with me instead.”
He stepped back to let us both in, giving us both hugs but mine felt extra tight today. I run and jump onto the bed with Damian and he shouts at the intrusion, but he allows me to snuggle up beside him anyway.
“Guys, if I’m being real I don’t know about tonight… what if us giving JD his rightful punishment only worsens my fate,” I ask nervously.
Damian looks at me, then Rhea, then Finn. Finn shrugs his shoulders and Damian turns back to me. “Escúchame. Él no puede arruinar lo que ustedes tienen... Solo sé fiel a tu corazón, creo que ella sentirá lo mismo que tú,” he explained to me in a gentle voice.
He looked over at Rhea and upon viewing the confused expression on her face, he continued. “Sé que tienes miedo de que ella te rechace, pero el vínculo que has creado es más que él.” I take in his words and deep down I know he’s right.
“Gracias por sus palabras, mano. You know I get all crazy about it but recently I’ve been coming to my senses,” I tell him honestly. He nods his head and embraces me tighter, trusting that I will handle this to the best of my abilities.
Finn knew enough Spanish to understand Damo was calming my worries about Rhea, but Rhea couldn’t be more oblivious. Thank God. Rhea wasn’t the person to get mad or uncomfortable when someone spoke a different language in front of her, so she just watched from the chair on the other side of the room.
“I don’t know what’s going on over there, but I for one cannot wait to whoop his candy ass,” she said in her best Rock impression. We all laughed at her but I couldn’t resist sitting up and throwing my pillow in her direction; I missed her terribly.
“Take it easy!” Damian flinched as the pillow knocked into the lamp beside her instead. I just shrugged and settled back into my spot beside him. Finn hopped on the bed beside me and we lay together for quite some time until there was a triple thump on the door.
Praying it was Dominik on the other side, I released my hold on Damian so he could go check. “Oh, hey man…. Yeah uhh I feel better, thanks. Must’ve been something I ate… No, I don’t know where Rhea and Stella are, last I heard they were training but I’m sure they’ve finished since then…” I hear him explaining to JDick who’s mumbling on the other side of the door, so I don’t make a single noise.
The room’s gotten quiet so we can hear some bits and pieces of what he’s saying but not that well, so I use context clues from Damian’s responses. “I’ll let them know you were looking for them… Yeah, sure. See you when it’s time to leave, McDonagh.” He shuts the door without another word and Rhea and I both exhale breaths at his absence.
“What the hell did he want,” Finn asks before either of us can. Damian shrugs. “Didn’t say. He didn’t ask why he was trying to find you guys, but I don’t think it was for anything important. He also looked at me like he knew I was lying about getting sick last night but I don’t give a damn.”
I rolled my eyes, unable to even form a response for this today. I just wait for Damian to get back on the bed so we can resume our huddled position. Without meaning to, we all fall asleep to pass the hours until we have to get to the arena.
Chapter 7
Summary:
Monday Night Raw after the FAMILY decides to kick JD's sorry ass to the curb. Also the chapter right before they get to the clubbbb
Notes:
HEY GIRLY POPS!!! i just wanna say how grateful I am to the ppl who come back every chapter, you mean so much to me and i wish i could give you the entire story right this second but patience is a virtue 😭❤️ (i know yall are patient but my brain is a lot faster than my fingers and i NEED to get these ideas out). ALSO I'm feeling much better and this is a short chapter as a treat for your kindness <3
- the next chapter is gonna have S M U T yall better lock in
Chapter Text
My stomach had never been so close to my ass before, but here I sat feeling anxious and close to a panic attack thinking about all the outcomes from jumping JD tonight. On one hand, he could tell Rhea the second after it happens and it’ll all be for nothing. On the other hand, he could lose his memory from the Riptide he is bound to receive and he’ll forget about the proposition altogether.
Wishful thinking, I guess only time will tell. As I sit in the chair getting my makeup done for tonight’s show, my head runs a million miles per hour and I don’t even hear Dom walk up behind me. He places a hand on my shoulder and I nearly jump out of the chair.
“Jesus Christ, you’re quiet as a mouse,” I say once my heart rate returns to normal. My makeup artist, Valeria, giggled to herself and moved over to help Maxxine while Dom and I chatted for a second.
“Am I quiet or are you just deaf? I called your name like 2 minutes ago. I just wanna make sure you’re alright for tonight, and that you remember the plan,” he explains to me.
Of course, I remembered the plan, it’s all I’ve been able to think about since we got here. “Hell yeah, I’m counting down the nanoseconds until I get my hands on that motherfucker.”
“Good, I hope this will send him the message that nobody can mess with family, no matter how much they try to be a part of it,” he claps me on the back. “See you in a few, also Rhea said that when you’re done over here you gotta go get your tattoo, whatever that means.”
My tattoo? Oh. She still wants to match even though I turned her down yesterday… After Dom left and Valeria finished her magic on my face, I went back to our locker room to find Rhea.
“Nice to see you got my message,” she says as I make my way over to the couch.
“Indeed I did,” I sat beside her. She grabs her eyeliner pen from behind her and contemplates something for a moment. Just when I go to ask what the problem is, she speaks first.
“Should I… well, last time your makeup came out so well when I was on your lap so I thought… maybe I should do it again?” She sounded a little hesitant to ask, if I didn’t know any better I’d say she was… shy?
“Yeah… yeah that makes sense I mean it’s only right,” I struggle to reply, “Would hate for it to look bad on tv, right?” She nods and straddles me again like she did last week, and my hands return to her waist. Luckily Neeko wasn’t here to distract her this time.
The feeling of her weight in my lap sends a warmth through my heart and stomach, and I can’t do anything but stare into her eyes as she concentrates on the scale. After drawing a few different doodles on my face, she grabbed her phone so I could take a look at the finished product.
“Oh my god dude, I look so much better. This was the missing piece all these years. Is it my turn to do yours? I can’t draw the scale or the chains but I can write ‘S+R’ like nobody’s business.”
She chuckles, “I’m glad you like it. Now ink me up, lad.” We switch positions and the second Rhea’s hands land on my waist I jerk forward, her fingers resembling tiny lightning bolts. “That tickles,” I lie before she can ask me what’s wrong. She just smirks and tightens her grip. I carefully drew the S+R on her left cheek and on the other side, I drew the only thing I knew how, a rose.
“All done! Wow, I actually didn’t fuck your face up the way I thought I would,” I say as I hand her the phone. She takes a long look and nods in approval, smiling up at me. “You did so good, love. Raw needs to hurry up and start so they can check out our new artwork!”
“What time is it,” I ask. “Uhhh 7:50, still got 10 minutes to kill… what to do, what to do,” she responds.
I can think of a few things, I thought. “Let’s just enjoy it. Who knows what kind of hell is gonna break loose out there…” I move to get off of her lap but her grip doesn’t loosen.
“Where are you going?” She looked at me with confusion, like I was supposed to stay there even after finishing her doodles. “I just thought… nowhere,” my heartbeat picked up as she settled back into the couch, and I leaned forward and laid on her with my face buried in the crook of her neck. She just hummed a tune as we enjoyed each other's company until there were 3 knocks on the door and I leaped to my feet like a cat who was just scared with a cucumber.
“Hey, there you guys are. We’re about to go ahead and get into gorilla position in case you want to join us.” Finn poked his head in and took note of our new ink, “Oh, matching on TV now, are we? Looks good, keep it coming.” He closed the door with nothing more than a wink and I looked at Rhea. She was sporting the same color on her face that she did when Neeko startled her, and I thanked god for the melanin covering the warmth in my cheeks with brown instead of red.
“We should go join them, right?” I cleared my throat and asked with a silent prayer that she would object. “Oh… yeah, sure.” She and I walk down the hallway in silence, and I mentally berate myself for suggesting we join them. Realistically, we could’ve had 10 more minutes of bliss, but I was so startled by Finn that I had no clue what else to do.
We met up with everyone near the curtains, including JD. They all complimented our new look and Dom gave me his signature look; considering he knows how my makeup was applied last time, I’m sure he will make some sly remarks once we’re away from listening ears.
After a few minutes of pumping up Dom… and him for their match, I hear the Raw theme starting along with Samantha’s booming voice, “Ladies and Gentlemannnn, it is now time for the start of MONDAY NIGHTTTT RAAAWWWW!!!” I slap Dominik on both shoulders to hype him up.
After the Creed Brothers do their entrance, our theme plays and we get into position. JD and Dominik are front and center, Finn and Damian flank them on the left, and Rhea and I flank them on the right. Feeling confident with our matching titles and tats, we walk down the ramp with our arms interlocked and heads held high.
Rhea and I sat at commentary with Michael and Pat, but I opted out of joining them in case they wanted me to say something nice about JD- I couldn’t lie to the WWE Universe. Finn and Dame circled the ring like bloodthirsty sharks, only they weren’t interested in Julius or Brutus. Dom made it perfectly clear he didn’t want any interference during this match, not until he was ready to end this once and for all.
JD kept asking Finn to grab a steel chair but he wouldn’t budge, the last denial of his request leaving JD confused and vulnerable enough for Julius to roll him up, barely kicking out at 2.9999. Dame snickered at the reaction from JD afterward, flailing his arms out and nearly throwing a temper tantrum. He tagged in Dom and like usual, he did all the heavy lifting. He removed Brutus from the equation by drop-kicking him off of the apron, and clotheslined Julius once, twice for good measure. After performing the 3 amigos and a frog splash, he pinned Julius for the 3 count and shortly afterward The Judgment Day theme rang out to the sold-out crowd.
JD held his hand up with the ref but Dom hung back, signaling to Dame that he wanted a chair. Damian walked over to me and I gave him mine, then he folded it and slid it in the ring to Dominik. JD, oblivious as ever, was too busy celebrating a win he didn’t contribute to that he didn’t even hear the gasps from the audience or notice Dom wasn’t cheering alongside him. Before I could even go up the steel steps, Dom smashed that chair to JD’s back 2014 Seth Rollins style. Julius and Brutus looked on from outside of the ring in utter shock but used this as their ticket to escape the madness, heading up the ramp while we got to work.
The gasps and screams from the audience were music to my ears, and I couldn’t wait to orchestrate the next symphony. Rhea and I join Dom in the ring and while JD is lying out in pain and betrayal, I lift him, set him up in the corner, and deliver a Helluva kick… and another… and one more; I had to apologize to Sami later for stealing his move.
After I knocked JD on his ass for the 3rd time, Finn made his way to the top rope and delivered one of the most satisfying Coup De Graces I’ve ever seen. Not only because it went to JD, but because Finn valued my feelings over someone he’s known for a lot longer than he’s known me. I’ve always known Finn loved me, but I was afraid that if push came to shove I would be the one receiving the Coup De Grace.
JD lay there helpless, rolling around clutching his stomach in pain. When he finally made it back to his feet, Dame had his fun by delivering a few solid body shots and the nastiest South of Heaven I’d ever seen. Finn, Dom, and I jumped him for a while but Rhea couldn’t wait any longer, hoisting him up and finally sending that stupid fucking Funko Pop into dreamland, her riptide sealing his fate. He was dead to every single one of us.
While he was laying there knocked out cold, Finn motioned for someone to bring him a microphone. “Let this be a message to every last one of ya in the locker room. You come for one of us, you come for ALL of us. Doesn’t matter who you are. Family stands by family and those who dare mess with my family will suffer the same punishment that this traitor did.” He tossed the microphone at JD’s head and we exited the ring, leaving the crowd in a state of shock and disbelief for the rest of the night.
“Fuckin hell, mate!” Rhea had begun pacing the locker room the second we made it back. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that. I didn’t even think I could make it until tonight.”
“Who are you telling, I thought I was gonna put him in a guillotine all night, I had to go to the gym just to burn enough energy to sleep without giving in to the urges,” Dominik retorts.
“I love you guys. Like, I really love you guys. I was so terrified of having to face this situation alone, I thought that because of your history with JD, I would be the one getting kicked to the curb…” I admitted. “I hate to admit it but he really got into my head, and now I realize it was just my own insecurities. Seeing each one of you beat his goofy ass finally made me realize just how much you care.”
I started sniffling at finally getting that off my chest, and Damian rushed to comfort me. “Hey, you have been with us for how long now? There’s nothing that we wouldn’t do for you because we know you’d do the same for us. We are our best version with you, because of you. Never question the love and respect that we have for you, okay?” I nod and bury my face in his chest to hide my tears but I know he can feel his shirt dampening.
“You know where I stand, you and I could never be apart. I love you, we love you. If there’s a universe out there where I choose that walking bicycle seat over you, hit me over the head with a shovel.” I genuinely laugh at this and remove myself from Damian’s shirt to walk over to Rhea.
I wrap my arms around her and she mimics the action, holding me flush against her with the love and warmth I always experience while being embraced by her. She sways me back and forth for a while, a comfortable silence has fallen over the room because at this moment she can feel all the words I want to say with this hug.
Forgetting there were 3 pairs of eyes on us, we get caught up in the moment until Dom clears his throat, “hate to break up this moment, but we should probably get back to the hotel so I can dump all of his stuff outside the room door before he gets there. Guys, come with me to find Pearce.” He trots to the door and waits for Finn and Damian to follow behind him. They leave in search of our GM and I try my best to play it cool with the alone time Rhea and I were granted. There was no reason for all of them to find Pearce, so I appreciated Dom for the gesture.
“So… who could’ve seen that coming after your trip to visit me? I almost don’t want to go home, nothing I do in Florida will top these last few days we’ve had.” I sit on the couch and pat the cushion beside me for her to join.
“Then don’t.” Her response was vague enough to where I could ask what she meant without getting my hopes up.
“What do you mean, ‘then don’t’?” She looks at me with a big smile and I can tell we may be on the page.
“I mean, don’t. Don’t go to Florida. Since I came to visit you for a few days, you have to stay with me for the rest of the week to balance it out. 1 day in Florida is like 7 dog years… and to apologize for making me go down there, you can make it up by staying with me.”
Though I couldn’t see my face, I imagined my expression resembled the first child to visit Wonka’s Chocolate Factory- nothing but pure giddy.
“Hell yeah I’ll come with you, it’s been so long since I got in that sweet claw tub. But, I didn’t even make you come to Florida! You were already gonna be there for Beartooth, remember?” I refused to be blamed for any actions relating to Rhea and Florida, that was a feud to stay far far away from.
Her eyebrows knit with confusion for a second before she gasped, “Beartooth! Right, the concert. Well, whatever the reason, it was a cruel and unusual punishment.”
I chuckle, “Yeah yeah, we know. You’re gonna be so sick of me by the time Saturday rolls around, you won’t even want me to come to Uncle Joe’s anymore.”
She shakes her head, “Nuh-uh. You already agreed to go so there’s no way either of us is backing out now. It’s been so long since you’ve come out, it’ll be a night to remember for sure.” I lay across her lap and she began tapping her fingers across my skull the way she knows I love. If I were a cat, I would’ve been purring for days.
The guys came back about 30 minutes later with the news that Pearce relieved us of our duties, so we got our shit and got the hell out, and Dom made good on his promise of leaving all of JD’s belongings outside their room. The next day we left pretty early to the airport and after the most uncomfortable flight ever, Rhea and I were finally on the way to her house.
“You know I could’ve driven, right? I drive every time we’re together, what’s changed?” I look at her from the passenger seat.
Her eyes are glued to the road, “I can’t play chauffeur for once? You always take care of me when I visit, I want to return the favor. You’ve been through so much this week, I want you to just relax for a change.”
I smile and hum in agreement, just enjoying the scenery around me. I always loved coming to Rhea’s house because the ride to her place was so calm and beautiful. Once we make it to her house I go inside and make a beeline for the deep tub she had, not bothering to help her with the bags after she told me no in the car.
After a long soak, I resurfaced in the living room and we lounged around watching bad horror movies and smoking weed. True to her word, Rhea took care of me that week. She did all the driving, cooking, and chores, and we even went on a shopping spree for new club outfits. I wouldn’t let her see what I picked out, but I knew it would blow her mind. Honestly, the brain fog from smoking every day was starting to whoop my ass because before I knew it, Friday was here and it was time to get back on the road.
We landed in New Orleans for the next shows and the group morale was at an all-time high since JD was out of the picture. Not only was he actually on medical leave for a concussion and a cracked rib (manifesting works), but apparently Finn went to see him when they left to find Pearce on Monday. He told me that he made sure JD wouldn’t try to get revenge any time soon, but I didn’t ask for the details because I knew whatever Finn said wasn’t a threat, but a spoiler.
Saturday’s show was very uneventful, but the beating Rhea and I put on the team of Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky was worth it. Just a small taste of what they’ll get in two weeks if they try to interfere in our match with TKW.
“Pleaseeee tell me you’re actually coming out tonight,” Jakara pleaded. I still had no idea how everyone and their momma knew I was going to the Underground, but I assured her I would be there.
After the show ended, we all rushed back to our rooms to get ready for the night, Rhea and I being the first ones to haul ass from the SUV. She helped me with my makeup again the only way we knew how, and then it was time to get dressed. I disappeared into the bathroom and 15 minutes later I came out in the sexiest outfit I could find.
I found the most beautiful, skimpiest sheer black dress that barely covered my ass cheeks. There was a diamond cutout that put my cleavage on perfect display, with slits on each side near the bottom. The lacy garters that connected to my panties were the perfect addition, and I knew the club patrons would eat up the heels I bought with the straps that seemed to go on for days. I added some gold accessories and a small heart clutch as the cherry on top. I looked damn good, and I knew this would be a perfect way to let everyone know Party Girl Stella was back.
I gave myself a final look over in the mirror before returning to Rhea, and the second her eyes landed on me I knew I made the right choice.
“You… oh wow. You look fucking amazing. You’re not making this easy for me, Stella.” Rhea looked me over not once, but twice and I couldn’t stop the smile beginning to form at her expression. She looked at me with such admiration, that I felt like a star.
“Thank you, mami, but what am I not making easy for you?” I hope to god she doesn’t plan on cockblocking tonight. It’s been so long since I’ve had someone in my bed or been in someone else’s, and I did NOT need her to be in overprotective mode at the club. I mean, there would be mainly our coworkers so she didn’t have to worry about me going home with some sketchy guy.
“Well, it’s not easy to keep the losers away from you when you look this amazing. I told you last time I would have to try harder to keep them away and I meant it,” she explained while making eye contact with the diamond slit in my dress.
“Rhea please, have a little faith in me. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten some, and we’re gonna be surrounded by mostly our coworkers. Don’t you think you can loosen the leash for one night?” I gave her my best puppy dog eyes and she stared straight through them with her icy blue ones. After a staring contest that seemed to go on forever, she was the first to cave.
“Fine, but you know I will be there in two seconds at the first sign of trouble no matter where I am.” I nod and we shake hands in a truce for the next 5 hours. After meeting up with the guys, who were all dressed in their finest club attire as well, we hit the road.
Chapter 8
Summary:
Stella has been through so much lately, a trip to the club with all her favorite coworkers is just what she needs. Will she finally gain the courage to tell Rhea how she feels, or will she go home with someone else to satisfy her needs?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Once we arrived at Uncle Joe’s Underground, I could understand why they spoke so highly of this place. There were so many pretty lights and the music was booming, even before we stepped foot inside. The second I walked through the door it was like a switch flipped in my head. I said my goodbyes to the guys and dragged Rhea to the bar.
“Well well well.. it must be my lucky day, heh,” the bartender - Eugene said as Rhea and I approached him. “Two beautiful women like you strolling into my club, you would’ve thought the Miss Universe pageant was in town.” He was slurring his words, clearly drunk on his own supply. I just give him a polite chuckle but Rhea isn’t as amused.
“Yeah, that’s definitely not why we’re here. Can we just get one vodka Red Bull with lime and a Cape Codder with pineapple, please?” He made quick work to fulfill her request and sat the glasses down in front of us. I thanked him and picked up mine, the pineapple and cranberry working overtime to mask the taste of the vodka… It’s been a while since my last Cape Codder and I forgot how easy it was to get fucked up with these things.
“I’m just letting you know this now, if my dress comes off before I make it back to the hotel I will not be surprised, and neither should you.” At least I gave her a warning this time, but in my defense, I still don’t know what happened to my bikini top at the Meta-Four birthday bash. She just shakes her head, scanning the room while sipping on her drink.
“Lookin' for anyone in particular,” I ask after a few minutes when I notice her eyes kept darting over to a specific section.
“Yeah, Liv said she would be here soon and I was trying to see if she made it yet.” I try not to let my emotions show on my face, but I was kinda bummed that she wanted to hang with Liv. Tonight would be a perfect night for them to hook up and it would be nobody’s fault but mine for not making a move when I could. These baby steps are starting to feel like millimeters, and I know I have to stop being a little bitch and do something .
“Do you wanna go do some laps? I have to go find Indi so she knows I wasn’t lying about coming out tonight.” She agrees and we part ways for now, she goes up to the group of Sonya, Raquel, and Bianca while I try to find my other favorite Aussie.
“Hey, uce! I thought I was seein' a ghost! People been talkin' all week but I ain’t believe ‘em,” I stop in my tracks at the sound of Jey’s voice and turn around slowly. Jey and I had become pretty decent friends ever since he ditched his asshole brothers and cousin. I greet him with a huge smile and close the distance between us for a hug. When I pulled back, he gave me a look similar to the one I saw from Rhea earlier. “Damn, girl. You pulled out all the stops tonight, huh? How many dudes try to get yo number yet?”
I start giggling like a schoolgirl. Partly because I’m starting to feel my cocktail making its way through my bloodstream, but in reality I’d always been giggly around Jey. He’s so handsome and has such a charismatic energy, how could I not?
“Oh lord, not you too. I wish y’all would stop spreading the narrative that I’m a recluse. And thank you, I tried my best. You like?” I do a little twirl for him and I don’t miss the way he licked his lips and how his eyes seemed glued to my garters.
“Yeah… yeah I like. Who you dressin' up for tonight?” My main mission of the night worked because now Jey was also having a staring contest with my cleavage. Just to tease him, I guided his eyes back up to look into mine, “Myself. And whoever else wants to admire a bad bitch like me. So far I’ve caught the attention of that weird bald bartender and you.”
He quickly averted his gaze to the floor and I couldn’t help but laugh at his sudden embarrassment. “Well, can you blame me? You look beautiful. I ain’t makin’ no drinks but I can buy you one.”
I was flattered at his offer but I knew that if I had another drink right now I would abandon the task of finding Indi and jump his bones instead. “I’ll take a raincheck on that for now, but thank you for the offer. I have to go find Indi so she knows I’m alive and not a liar about coming out. I’ll find you later?” He agrees and I continue on my way, looking high and low for her. Once I finally spotted Dexter and Candice in a corner away from the main floor, I ran over to them as fast as I could in these shoes.
“Candyyyy, Dexxxx, long time no see guys,” I greet them excitedly. Dexter stared in silence like he usually does, but Candice squealed. “Omg Stella! I’m so glad you’re here girl. Dex aren’t you happy to see her?” He looked at her then me, and gave us a thumbs up, the highest praise I could receive from this psycho.
“I’m glad to be here too, I was hoping there would be another person in this huddle… where is she?” I looked at Dexter and he just stared back, not a single word to be said from this guy; few people understood but I loved that about him. “She was here not too long ago, I think she said she was going to the bathroom,” Candice informs me. We talk for a while about life, work, how Johnny and the baby are doing, and everything in between. Indi returns from the bathroom sometime later, and she lets out a whistle at my attire for the evening.
“Babe, you’re looking stunner. Who let you out of the hotel with this on?” She praised me and I returned the sentiment, she looked fucking amazing tonight.
“Says you. That dress is coming home with me,” I gush. She smirks and retorts, “I know a way you can get it off of me.” I choke on my saliva at her boldness, especially in front of Candice and Dexter. Candy just sips on her cocktail but I notice the slight tint to Dexter’s cheeks even under the colorful lights.
“You’re insane, do you wanna do some shots with me?” I deflect from her statement because I couldn’t lead her on, even for just a one-night stand. I didn’t mind entertaining Jey because I knew there would be no feelings involved but with Indi it’s different.
She says yes so I steal her from her friends for a moment and we go to claim the seats that Rhea and I had abandoned. “Hey, excuse me. Can we get 4 shots, 2 of your best tequila and 2 shots of… you know what? Just surprise us.”
Eugene looks at me with a weird smile and acknowledges Indi’s presence with a simple, “This job is the gift that keeps on giving. You ladies can have whatever you want as long as you stay over here by good ol’ Gene.” God this guy is so fucking weird, I am not trying to spend my night getting hit on by a bald bartender with 3 missing teeth and arm hair that’s surely a health code violation.
I look at Indi and narrow my eyes so she knows to no-sell his goofy ass. We wait patiently for our shots and I catch sight of Rhea over by the DJ booth with Liv and Damian. Nice to know we both found our targets, though I feared hers was for a different reason than mine.
“Here you go, beautiful girls… I made them with love,” Eugene was pulling out all the stops but I wish he was trying his hand with someone else.
“Cheers, mate!” Indi threw her first shot back with little to no effort and I mimicked her to the best of my ability, but this mystery shot was something serious.
“Jesus fuck, how did you do that? I think my throat is shriveling up,” I managed to rasp out. She just waved me off and downed her tequila like it was water. I felt so much better after the shots and I was ready to get turnt.
I grabbed her hand and led her to the main dance floor where most of our coworkers and a few locals were mingling. The DJ put on Bottoms Up by Trey Songz and Nicki Minaj and I got into the zone, one of my favorite club songs of all time. I felt like the star of the show, dancing with anyone who gave me the time of day. Somehow I danced my way right into Rhea’s arms and when I glanced over at Liv she didn’t seem happy. I couldn’t worry about her with the alcohol in my system and Rhea in my grasp, though.
Rhea and I swayed with the music for a while, and I shouted in her ear that I would return after requesting a few songs. By the time I got back the first song started and once her ears recognized the beginning of Gasolina, her grin spread ear to ear and she immediately started whining to the beat. I follow her lead, my arms above my head as I roll my hips seductively, feeling so sexy and relaxed now.
She moved closer to me and carefully placed her hands on my waist, checking to see if I would object. Of course I didn’t, using my liquid courage as an opportunity to let my arms rest on her shoulders as we continued to dance to one of the best club songs ever released. I could feel multiple sets of eyes on us, so I needed to put on a show. Once No Hands by Waka Flocka came on I knew exactly what I had to do.
“Do you mind if I dance for you,” I purred in her ear. The way her eyes widened as she eagerly nodded her head got a nice snort out of me, and I figured now was the best time to put Party Girl Stella on full display. I wasted no time grinding on her, and I knew the poor girl had no idea what to do with all this. Her grip on my waist faltered, but when I looked back I saw how much my dance was being appreciated.
“Bloody hell, if you keep this up I’m gonna have to throw some cash,” she warned me, but this only encouraged me to keep going. I dropped it like it was hot and came back up slowly, making sure to bend over as far as I could so she could get a nice look. I threw that ass back like there was no tomorrow, knowing that this was my one chance to get rowdy with Rhea without being too much in my head. I don’t know what Eugene gave us for that mystery shot but I silently thanked him for it while I pulled out all the stops.
“Fuck, you’re so good at this, love. Everyone’s looking at us… I hope they’re enjoying the show as much as I am.”
After giving Rhea what I assumed was the best dance of her life, I told her that I would be back in a few. I took the long route to the bathroom- forgetting where it was and in too much of a hurry to ask for directions- and the door opened just as I brought my hand to it. Standing in front of me was Liv and she didn’t look too happy.
“Hey Stella, cute performance out there. You really got into it, huh? I wish I could make her look at me like that.”
Because she was standing in the middle of the doorway, I couldn’t move past her. “Thanks, Liv… if you want some twerk lessons just let me know.”
“No need, I know what to do. See ya back out there!”
That was so weird, but what was even weirder was the fact I still hadn’t peed yet. Deciding to focus on that instead, I did my business and got out. Completely forgetting how I found my way to the bathroom in the first place, I took the long..er way back and by the time I got to Rhea on the dance floor, she was dancing with Liv. Watching Liv try to grind and shake her ass on Rhea the same way I did made me sick, but what was even worse is the fact Rhea looked to be genuinely enjoying herself.
Without another thought, I bothered my good friend Gene for another mystery shot, or two, and sat at the bar for a while trying not to get too into my head. I decided to dance with other people for a while, even starting a breakdancing competition with Kofi and Xavier. Once I found Santos and company it was a wrap, though. They made all of us- me, Damian, Finn, even Dom- take like 3 or 4 shots each and at this point of the night I wasn’t worried about anything else but finding someone to settle the heat in the pit of my stomach.
Jey left before I could even get my free drink, so he was out of the question. No. You can NOT go back with Indi, dumbass , I mentally scolded myself. Truth be told, there was nobody I wanted to be with at this moment. I couldn’t stop thinking about Rhea, more specifically Rhea and Liv. I braced myself for whatever I was bound to see when I rejoined them, but to my surprise, she was just white girl dancing with Maxxine and Chelsea.
“Missed me,” I approached her from behind and she turned around at lightning speed. “Always, love.” I noticed her new sidekick was missing from the equation so I asked, “Where did Liv go?”
She looked around and shrugged, “not sure. Didn’t even realize she wasn’t here.” She continued dancing with the girlies and I decided this was a good chance to do some charity work. Chels and Maxxine were so grateful that I taught them how to add a little rhythm to their move set, but my feet were on the verge of falling off.
“Hey, my feet are killing me. I need to go sit down,” I shouted to Rhea. She nodded and followed me over to a booth in the corner away from everyone. Despite having a lot of fun I was also starting to get overstimulated and hot as hell from all the dancing.
“Rheaaaa,” I whined. “My feet hurt so bad. I’m sweating like nobody’s business. I’m hungry,” I rambled off all my problems and she said what I was struggling to.
“Do you want to get out of here? I’m sure the boys can ride with Santos back to the hotel. We can stop for burgers on the way back,” she offered.
I grin and nod, letting her slide out of the booth and take her hand when she offers. We find the boys and let them know we’re outta here, Dom winking at me as if I wasn’t on the verge of passing out from all of my senses on overload. We stopped for Wendy’s on the way back, the only place that offered 3am sandwiches on this street.
“Tonight was fuckin killer, mate,” she commented once we got back to the room. I had to agree, having a blast mingling with all of my coworkers who I honestly thought wouldn’t care if I just ditched on them tonight. After seeing all the happy faces and experiencing one of the best nights I’ve had in recent months I knew I couldn’t keep hiding away from them.
“It’ll be even better once I get my ass in the shower. No, but seriously, thanks for forcing me out of this room. I had a blast.” I grab my towel and scurry off into the bathroom before she tries to suggest the next time we go out, one step at a time. I return from the bathroom and lie down face-first on the bed. I groan in annoyance and after doing so for about 3 minutes straight, she finally comes over to my bed and sits beside me.
“What’s all the groaning and moaning for, love?” I removed my face from the comforter and looked up at her, but we weren’t making eye contact. I could tell she was looking at my ass that had to be on display because of this goofy ass hotel towel.
“I looked so good tonight. I looked like a fucking star and somehow I still didn’t go home with anyone,” I resume my groaning. “All I wanted was to have a nice one-night stand, is that too much to ask?”
When her eyes finally met mine, I saw nothing but lust behind them. Was this… was this finally my chance? She responded with no hesitation, and I assumed her drinks were in charge of her mouth once she replied,
“Technically, you did go home with someone… me. If you want, I could help.”
My brain short-circuited. I didn’t know what she was saying, but I knew what I wanted to hear. I sat up on the bed and turned towards her, “What.. what do you mean by that?”
“If nobody else wants to appreciate how good you look tonight, I have no problem being the one to step up,” she replied in a voice that had only gotten sexier with the alcohol in my system and the look in her eyes. Memories of seeing her with Liv throughout the night kept flashing through my head, and I knew it was now or never. I had to let her know how I felt before it was too late.
Before I could let myself overthink our current predicament too much, I slowly moved in and pressed my lips against hers. Am I KISSING Rhea right now??? My body thrummed in excitement as she kissed me back, her soft hands now resting on either side of my face. I could taste the strawberry lemonade from her meal and I hated to admit it but it only egged me on more.
I took the lead and laid her down on the bed, kissing her in what could only be described as a frenzy. I can’t believe after all this time I finally got my hands, my lips, on her. I can’t believe my dumb ass almost went home with Jey instead… no offense uce, but this was 10x better. I kissed all over her neck, her chest, anywhere I could reach at the moment. I spent extra time working on her neck, her soft whimpers were music to my ears.
Tentatively, I let my hand trail slowly down her body towards her skirt and pause at the waistband, gazing into her eyes with a silent plea for permission. “Please,” she whispered and I happily obliged. I slid it down along with her silky black thong, Rhea lifting her hips to help me in the process. She went ahead and took her shirt off before laying back down, throwing it across the room, impatient as ever.
I take my time caressing her tits, stomach, and thighs, sucking and licking everywhere but the place I was itching to be. When I finally made contact with her core, she was so wet. I carefully rubbed circles on her clit using her moans and whimpers to guide my movements. I inserted one, then two fingers and carefully fucked her with my hand. The friction of her clit on my palm only heightened her pleasure, which she was very vocal about. When she came, she bit my neck to silence her moans and I was hesitant to let go, still rubbing her through her orgasm so she could bite down even harder once she became overstimulated. When I tasted her on my fingers I knew I would be hooked for life, and I shared the essence in a deep kiss, hopefully one that she could feel I was pouring out my entire heart to her.
“What do you need from me, mami?” Her eyes were closed now and her breathing was erratic.
“This should be about you. I need to taste you, baby. I don’t know how much longer I can wait.” She switched our positions and the sight of Rhea bloody Ripley looking down at me like she just wanted to devour me was burned into my memory forever. She took her time kissing and sucking on my neck, leaving a hickey that I would surely have to cover before Monday night. I don’t mind though, just another way Rhea’s staked her claim on me for showtime.
“You’re so gorgeous under me like this, I could keep you here forever,” she nipped at my earlobe after whispering such praises in my ear and it was driving me crazy. I tried to keep my moans down but she didn’t let me, “nuh-uh… don’t hold back. Tell me how much you want me.”
“Please mami, I need you so bad.” She just chuckled and continued her ministrations down my neck, stopping at my chest to slowly undo my towel with her teeth. She took her time sucking and caressing my tits, slightly pinching whichever nipple wasn’t being massaged by her tongue at the moment. Despite her desperation to taste me, she took her time covering every inch of my body before she reached her destination.
When she finally laid between my legs, she was silent for a little too long and I started getting nervous. I looked down and saw her in what could only be described as a trance, honestly.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous, Stella. Look at how wet you are for mami and I’ve barely touched you.” I throw my arm over my face in embarrassment and she provides that devilish chuckle again. If only she knew the half of it.
She laid butterfly kisses all over my inner thighs and not only did it tickle but it heightened my pleasure immensely, the care and dedication she was showing me in such a dire situation was turning me on tenfold.
“Mami please, I thought you couldn’t wait. What happened to that,” I whined. She stopped placing kisses on my thighs and looked up with the most innocent expression, “Oh. Did I say I wanted to taste you? I meant tease you. Sorry, love,” she continued with her actions and I was about to go crazy.
She moved upwards to my aching core and I thought I was finally being rewarded for my patience when she said, “Oh baby, I’m gonna need you to be a little louder. Beg for mami. I know you can do it.” And beg for mami I will.
“I need you so bad mami, please touch me. Haven’t I been patient?” I look down at her with puppy dog eyes and she caves in no time. “You know I can’t say no to you, baby.”
She finally, finally makes contact with my pussy, kissing my lips before diving in between. With the first long stripe up my center, I floated up to heaven. My back arched so high off the bed that I felt like the McDonald’s sign. The cool metal ball of her piercing was something I’d never experienced before but I prayed to God above that I would again. Her muscular arm fell over my stomach to keep me in place and without hesitation she got to work.
Every swipe of her tongue, every movement of her fingers had my eyes rolling back. She kept up a relentless pace and I felt my orgasm quickly approaching but I had to savor this moment. “Slow down baby, I’m not in a hurry.” She paused for a second to fully look up at me, and the sight of her lips and chin glistening from my arousal was almost too much to bear.
“What can I say? Mami likes to go fast,” she dove down to return to the task at hand, this time carefully sucking and fucking me with allll the right flicks of her tongue and fingers. I held out for as long as I could but the knot in my stomach was unbelievably tight, ready to explode any second now.
“I can tell you’re close, I can feel you clenching around my fingers, love. Are you gonna cum for mami?”
“Y-yesss… just like that, mami. I love you so much… Oh yes… fuck I’m so close. Right there… YES MAMI,” I babbled, coming harder than I ever had before, my heart pounding and lungs completely depleted of oxygen. After helping me ride out my orgasm, she gently pulled her fingers out of me and brought them up to my lips. I eagerly accepted the reward for her hard work, moaning at the taste of myself.
She crawled back up the bed and lay beside me, finally drifting off to sleep after such an eventful night. I wasn’t too far behind her, thanking the Universe for finally giving me what I’d been too scared to ask for all this time. My eyes flutter shut and I inch closer to Dreamland, but before I can reach the entrance, my eyes fly open. Did I just tell Rhea I loved her IN THE MIDDLE OF SEX LIKE A FUCKING IDIOT????
Notes:
usually i do chapter notes at the beginning but if you made it this far, i just wanna say sorry if the smut is bad/ this chapter isn't what you were hoping for. i kinda got impatient waiting for feedback from my friend so I'll accept whatever criticisms are necessary 😭😭😭 i promise ill go into more details in the later chapters,, also i wanna give a special shoutout to dc3 and the anonymous guest who leave their thoughts on every chapter i write, your support means the world to me and I'm so grateful you guys are tuning in. i was so scared uploading my first fic but now i know it was all worth it <3
Chapter 9
Summary:
the morning after Stella and Rhea's rendevous after the club. everything's fine, totally fine. Right?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
RHEA’S POV
The second I opened my eyes, I knew something was off. My head was pounding, my body was aching and sweaty, and my throat was dry as all hell. I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom as gingerly as possible. I brushed my teeth and rinsed my face with cold water to get my mind right. I opened the door and noticed Stella was already out of the room, but something wasn’t right… It took a few seconds before I realized that my bed was still made from yesterday morning and Stella’s was the one I just left.
All at once, the memories of last night replayed in my mind. I remembered getting ready with Stella and going to the club with the guys, losing everyone for a while to hang with Liv, and getting hit on by some weird prick who swore he could beat me at arm wrestling. My cheeks started to heat up when I thought about the dance Stella put on for me. Then, Liv’s later on in the night. It felt like something was missing, though.
I paced the room for a while trying to figure out what happened and why I couldn’t think straight, but I guess I did go a little overboard with those drinks from Sonya. My mind flashes back to the end of the night when Stella told me she was overstimulated, and when I finally realized what it was that I was leaving out, I groaned in frustration.
We had sex last night. How could I forget that?? Stella and I had hooked up after the club. I had no intention of being so suggestive, but I was so grateful that I acted on my urges before I could overthink it. I sat on the edge of my untouched bed as I thought over the best part of my evening. Her mouth on mine…my mouth on her.. my heart beating out of my chest when she made me cum. Then I remembered something else that happened,
“-just like that, mami. I love you so much…” Oh shit, did she mean to say that or was she just in the moment?? I’ve never accidentally said “I love you” during sex, but we were also pretty fucked up last night. I was so caught up in eating her out that I didn’t say it back, even if it wasn’t intentional on her part. If that was the only chance for me to confess my feelings for her, God kill me now.
I’ve been trying for months to tell her how I feel but it never feels like the right time… especially not with our big match coming up. With the whole JD situation, it made me think, what could she have done to piss him off that bad? I know she said something about him getting in the way of her relationships so I tried to make a move before she got with someone else… but what if that just made it worse? I don’t know how long I sat on my bed coming up with unwanted scenarios before I heard the door open. I saw Stella standing in the doorway looking like a deer caught in headlights; surely she didn’t expect me to be awake this early.
“Hey… good morning,” she said as she closed the door and slowly approached. She sat on her bed the furthest away from me and I could tell that last night had been on her mind, too. I noticed her wringing her hands, a telltale sign that she was in her head and uncomfortable about something.
“Good morning, love,” I greeted her back and the way she flinched at my age-old pet name for her made my heart drop. Trying my best to ignore it, I continued, “Last night was… surely something.” I cringe at my choice of words but I have no idea how to approach the situation.
She lets out a huff and nods, “You could say that. Honestly, I don’t remember much of it. The bartender gave Indi and me some mystery shots and everything after that was a wrap honestly.”
I remember seeing her and Indi by the bar but was it before or after she and I took over the dance floor? “Yeah, I had my fair share of drinks too. Took me a while before I could piece together everything that happened. I hope you remember…” I trailed off, unsure of exactly what to mention- the fact that we had sex or the fact that she said I love you.
Her head shot up from looking at the ground and our eyes finally met again, “Of course! Of course, I remember… I had a lot of fun last night. Thank you for being there in my time of need,” she chuckled and I couldn’t tell if she was joking or if I really was just the means to an end.
“I’m glad I could help you, doll. I enjoyed myself too, better than if either of us went home with some sleaze.” She laughed and nodded.
“Honestly. Also,” she paused for a moment then looked toward the door. “Sorry if it got a little weird toward the end… I don’t know why I said that. I’ve never said that during sex before and I hope I didn’t make you feel weird. It was just a hookup, right?”
The second she said that all the air left my lungs. For a second there I believed I actually stood a chance… but of course, it was just a hookup. I should’ve never been so bold. Now I’ve potentially ruined our friendship and her relationship with… wait. Who even is it? Is it Indi? Are Stella and Indi slowly getting back together? How could I be so stupid??? Seeing her in that dress last night made me lose all sense of reasoning and I had to do something about it, but now I’m starting to feel as if that was the wrong choice.
“Right??” She reiterated when I hadn’t spoken up for a while; she finally looked back at me and I could sense something in her eyes but I wasn’t sure what.
“R-right,” I cleared my throat, “Yeah. Just a hookup. Doesn’t have to mean anything. We can just pretend like it didn’t happen.” What in the bloody hell am I saying??? Of course I didn’t want to forget it or for it to just be a hookup. My head is still swimming from last night and my mouth is moving faster than my brain.
I wish I dared to speak up and tell her that she’s been driving me crazy for years now. She’s the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thought on my mind before I go to sleep. I thought I was doing a good job throwing hints at her, but I guess after all this time she doesn’t feel the same way. I knew that if I stayed here any longer I would either cry or say something I might regret.
“Well. That’s that then. I’m gonna go to the gym for a bit. Don’t wait up,” I snatched my clothes out of my suitcase as fast as I could and nearly sprinted to the bathroom just so I didn’t have to face her anymore. I hate that she has the power to make me vulnerable in a way that none of my other lovers could.
I spent more time in the shower than I needed to, secretly hoping that she would be gone again by the time I got out. As I got ready my phone vibrated with a notification from Liv.
L4B🖤-
hey babe are u up yet
last night was a lot of fun. shame u left before the after party ;(
I chuckled, but then I remembered the after-party that Stella and I hosted for ourselves and immediately felt guilty.
ME-
hey
honestly idk how i’m still alive
and yeah, sorry for leaving early. Stella wasn’t feeling well
Technically that wasn’t a lie, but I guess there was no reason to tell her the whole story. I sat my phone down for a while to finish getting ready and when I slowly opened the bathroom door I noticed Stella was gone like I’d hoped. I sat on my bed to tie my runners and my phone buzzed with another series of messages from Liv.
L4B🖤-
she seemed more than fine the last time i saw her. lol
especially with that dance. she sure can move
enough about her. wyd today? i wanna see u before I leave
I sighed. I didn’t want to do anything but go to the airport and be in the comfort of my own bed. I’d even take an Uber if it meant I could get away from everything as fast as possible.
ME-
nothing besides going to the gym. i don’t feel that well either
i need to be home ASAP
if you want, you can join me. i’m leaving rn
Without waiting for a response, I grabbed my bag and headed out. She did eventually join me during the last 40 minutes of my session, spending most of the time talking about the club, and for some reason, Stella’s activities in the club. I zoned out after she mentioned the lap dance for the 4th time, chiming in with “Yeah, right?” and “Oh wow” whenever I saw fit. I didn’t know what her problem with Stella was all of a sudden but I also didn’t care enough to be in the middle of it.
She finished her set on the lat machine and I followed her out of the gym, feeling infinitely worse because I forgot to put something on my stomach to keep the hangover at bay.
“I think I’m about to order something to eat before we go. Do you want anything?” I asked her when I heard her stomach growling, clearly sharing the same problem as me.
“I’m alright, thanks. Raquel and I are probably just gonna grab something at the airport. I’ll text you?” I nod my head and we head our separate ways, I go to the elevator and she goes to her room down the hall.
Instead of going straight to my room, I made a pit stop at Dom’s. Knowing he’d be alone without JD in the picture for quite some time.
“Yo, what up Rhea,” he greeted me as I walked into his room. I looked around and noticed he was nowhere near ready to leave.
“Oi, this room is a mess. Why aren’t you packed yet?” I lay on his bed while he picked up some of the clutter. My eyes drifted shut as I tried to ignore the insistent headache banging against my skull.
“Don’t worry about me, alright? I’ll be ready. Surprised you’re even up this early.” I internally roll my eyes and sit up against the headboard.
“You aren’t the only one,” I responded absentmindedly, “I figured the earlier I woke up, the quicker I could go home.”
He stopped searching the floor and looked up at me, “Why are you so eager to go home? You never mind being on the road now that Stella’s around. Is something wrong?” I knew that I could confide in Dom, but what was there to even say? That I acted on my feelings for my best friend and now I know that she just sees me as a one-time thing, maybe even a mistake. It wasn’t worth confronting my fears right now. I couldn’t think straight without food in my stomach.
“No, I'm fine. I’ve just got a killer headache and I’m kinda over this whole week. Speaking of headaches, I gotta eat like ASAP. You hungry?” I pull out my phone and open the UberEats app and Dom joins me on the bed.
“I could eat. Is there a Dairy Queen around here,” he asks while looking over at my screen. I searched it up and there was. I go ahead and add his chicken strip basket with ranch and a Coke Zero, then I add my meal. We wait for our food in comfortable silence until he asks, “So, did you have fun last night? It’s been a while since Stella came out with us. I’m sure you two made memories.”
I recounted the most exciting parts of the night, choosing to leave out the part after we got back to the hotel for obvious reasons. I told him about the multiple dances I received, the shot contest with Sonya, and many other tales from the night.
“Yeah, you had fun for sure. I saw you and Stella in the middle of the dance floor, thought y’all were gonna start fucking then and there,” he snorted. My cheeks instantly heated up as my mind replayed the sound of her moaning my name.
“Stella and I? Having sex? You wish. It was fun, though. I was two seconds away from throwing some dollars at her,” I halfway joked. Maybe I was over-compensating for the fact that I was lying to two of my closest friends.
He laughed, “Don’t act like you haven’t thought about it. She’s your dream girl, if I’m being honest.” I couldn’t bother to deny that, so instead I changed the subject.
“What about your dream girl, aye? I haven’t seen Cora in ages. Is her leg feeling any better?” It’s been about two months since Cora tore her ACL and it sucks not having her around as often.
He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed, “She’s been better. It’s killing her that she can’t be in action right now. She’s afraid the NXT crowd will forget her but I keep telling her that’s impossible.”
I know it must be hard on both of them for her to be injured. Hell, it was hard on me when Stella was injured. I hated that I couldn’t be by her side every second. I wouldn’t let the WWE Universe forget about her, either.
“Yeah man, that honestly blows. But I think y’all are doing your best trying to manage and adjust. It felt like hell trying to take care of Stella last year,” I tell him. Not only because my favorite girl was hurt, but I had to spend all my time in Florida.
He snorted and looked over, “Well… technically you didn’t have to take care of Stella. Cora and I are in a relationship, hell we live together. Stella told us that she didn’t want the pity cuz her mom was right around the corner.”
“True, but there was no pity from me. I did it because I wanted to. It… just felt right,” I said honestly. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I knew I wasn’t doing everything I could to help her. Dom shook his head, probably seeing right through me. It was always harder to lie to Dominik than it was to the others.
There was a knock on the door and I hopped up a little too fast to get our food. I thanked the driver and carried our food over to the table before locking the door. Dom made his way to the table and happily accepted his tendies. We ate in silence for a while before someone else knocked on the door.
He went to open it, “Hey, Artois. Come on in. I heard you had a pretty crazy night last night.” I looked over and she paused when she saw me, just like she did earlier. I cleared my throat and went back to my sandwich- no need to make this more awkward than it already was.
“Crazy night? You should’ve seen me. I was fuckin it up, it’s a shame I haven’t been more social lately.” She goes to the bathroom and I use this opportunity to tell Dom I’m heading back to finish packing. I take the rest of my food and head back to my room while he and Stella have their recount of the night.
After about 2 hours of lounging around trying to pass the time, I got a text from Dom saying it was time to head out. Since I already put my bags in the car I just grabbed my phone and did a quick look around to make sure we didn’t forget anything. The ride to the airport was awkward and I think the boys could tell there was some unspoken tension between Stella and I. The second we arrived at the airport, I grabbed my bags and hauled ass. I couldn’t wait for Stella to grab them and follow me around. I made my way through TSA as fast as I could and patiently waited to have some time away from it all.
I impatiently waited for my flight to arrive, passing time by looking at Instagram Reels. During one of them, a notification was displayed at the top of my screen.
MY MOSHER-
no need to run from me
have a safe flight.
I sighed. How did it get to this? I opted not to respond, knowing there was nothing I could say right now to reverse everything that’s happened in the last 12 hours. I’ll worry more once I get home. For now, a 6-hour flight back to where I belong- my bed.
Notes:
heyyy... guess who's back from the dead... I've been sitting on this chapter for months and I had no idea what to do with it. I was so frustrated, but i recently received a comment that made me wanna pick it up again. i haven't been watching much WWE now that mami is injured, but my love for the sport thrives with indie wrestling so it feels good to be back 🤗
Chapter 10
Summary:
awkward fallout from Stella and Rhea's rendezvous after the club...
Notes:
GUESS WHO'S BACKKKKKKK 😈😈😈 i promise i haven't abandoned this fic i'm just a busy gal. I've got another chapter ready to post in like a day or two, don't worry 🙏 thank you to everyone who waits patiently for my next update x
Chapter Text
ME-
no need to run from me
have a safe flight.
I turned my phone off after sending the messages before I could think too much about it. Obviously, Rhea didn’t need me to come to her gate with her every time, but it felt like a stab in the chest that she’d go alone after the last few days we’d experienced together.
My mind replayed the series of events from this train wreck of a day, starting with the embarrassing fact I told her I love you… in the middle of having sex ??? Surely I could’ve played it off better, I don’t know why I said it was just a hookup. That’s the exact opposite of what I wanted! Rhea didn’t make it any better though. Was it really that bad she needed to pretend it never happened?
I should have never gone out. This wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t listen to Dom and act on my feelings, now everything has gone to shit. I wish I could rewind time 24 hours and redo all of this. How do we ignore the massive fucking elephant in the room? Better yet- how am I supposed to act like everything’s fine around Finn, Damian, and Dom??
I had the entire plane ride to think about what would happen next thanks to my anxiety making me unable to sleep. I thought about all the ways I could tell Rhea that I didn’t want it to be just a one-night stand, that I actually do love her, and that I have for a while now. I also thought about how this falls into her situation with Liv... if I only complicated their inevitable tryst or sped up the process.
Before I went home, I decided to make a quick run to Publix to pick up some Häagen Dazs and Ruffles for the most delicious bed-rotting session of all time. I was in no mood to do anything except sulk and try to distract my mind by watching Netflix until it was time to leave again. I mindlessly looked through all the ice cream flavors for about 5 minutes before I was snapped out of my trance by a fan who recognized me.
“Excuse me, aren’t you Stella? Stella Major?” I look at him and nod, extending my hand out to shake his. “I’m a huge fan, you are so badass! I told my wife that if I ever met you, I’d call her. Would you mind?”
Truthfully I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, but if I can’t be happy the least I can do is help this guy and his wife. “Sure, I’d love to say hey to her. I appreciate the support, it’s people like you that remind me of why I do this.” He holds the phone up and I step into the frame and we wait for her to answer. She picks up after a while and the second her eyes focus on what’s happening in front of her, she drops her phone and shrieks.
“NO WAY,” she squeals, “NO FUCKING WAY. DALE YOU’VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME.” I cough as I try to hide my laughter and he turns red. “Like I said… we’re big fans,” he reasons.
She picks the phone up and the smile on her face is priceless, “Oh my god. I’m so sorry, I just can’t believe you’re there! We are such huge fans, Stella, we’ve been following you since you wrestled in that warehouse over in Broward! You’ve come so far since then, you must be so proud.”
I couldn’t believe I met someone who knew me back when I was wrestling in knee-high Converse and a halter top.
“You are so sweet, thank you! I can’t believe you guys have been following me since way back when! I am so incredibly proud of how far I’ve come since then, especially being with The Judgment Day. You guys haven’t seen anything yet.” We exchanged a few more words before Dale’s wife yelled at him for taking so long with her sandwich. I bought my snacks and headed home, the only thing missing from the picture was my little rat.
The speed at which I ran through the front door and put my ice cream away before bolting for the sofa, you would’ve thought someone was chasing me. It felt like an eternity away from home and I was so glad to be in a familiar place once again. I checked my phone to see who’s been messaging me since the airport.
FINNJAMIN-
Oi, what’s going on? It looked like you and Rhea went in opposite directions for the first time in a year.
I looked and sighed. With no energy to come up with a lie right now, I cleared the notification.
DIRTY D🃏-
You left your makeup pouch in the SUV so I’ll hold onto it for you.
Is there something wrong with Rhea?
All these messages I’m reading about Rhea yet she’s the only person who hasn’t texted me herself. Hysterical. I look at a few more texts before clearing the notifications tab and checking Instagram. I see that she’s posted on her story but didn’t text me back, which is fine. Totally fine. Like I don’t need her to check in every second of the day, but that’s kinda fucked up. Right? She said that we were fine so why is she giving me this kind of treatment?
I turned the TV on and allowed myself to be lulled into the sleep I longed for. When I finally woke up around 2 am, I showered and finally greeted my bed with the attention it deserved. I checked my phone and the first notification I looked at made me raise my eyebrow.
(something.major01) yaonlylivvonce started following you.
That’s strange. I could’ve sworn Liv already followed me, but oh well. Before I could even click on the notification to investigate more, I conked right back out.
I woke up at 7 am to my neighbor banging on my door saying she lost her house key somewhere in Pocatello. Though I only planned to let her into her house and go back to sleep, she dragged me to her couch to recount all her… vivid tales from Idaho. I learned that her date had 7 brothers and not a single woman in the family other than his mother. She spent almost a month out there and they had broken up by day 5.
“Why the hell did you stay in Idaho for so long if you weren’t even with him anymore?” I asked.
“I felt bad for his mom. There was no way I was gonna leave that girl by herself, those men are actual animals,” she explained like it made more sense than it did.
We sat there for about 2 hours or so gabbing about all that went down in Idaho, which was surprisingly a lot. I let her unpack her bags as I got my day started.
Opting not to respond to any of the messages I received as if I were Rhea’s receptionist, I opted to put on some workout garb and hit my gym. I posted a selfie on my story to show I was alive, and got to work training with Eduardo, my hometown coach who’s been training me forever it seems like.
“Well well, look what the tide brought in,” Eduardo bellowed from the other side of the gym. Standing at 6’8, 375 Lb, he had a bit of strength in his voice. He paused his conversation with the guy in front of him and made his way towards me. I dropped my bag at my feet and ran into his arms, always reveling in the way he swung me around in the air.
“I know, I know. Don’t kill me. I’ve had a long month okay,” I justified my absence. “If you miss me, all you gotta do is say the words.” I teased.
He rolled his eyes, “Yeah right. I can never pry you away from your new family,” always finding the opportunity to make fun of The Judgment Day, or “Temu Addams Family” he called us one night. I never understood why Eduardo despised them, but I made sure to keep them far far apart.
“Cálmate. I’m here now, aren’t I? We’ve been super busy preparing for Night of Champions. That’s why I’m here, I need to loosen up my hips and add some of my old moves back into my inventory.” He finally puts me down and I grab my bag before setting up in the back corner. We spent a few minutes stretching before getting into the ring, and he took me through some rigorous drills before we finally started watching my old tapes to figure out which moves I wanted to add. I knew that at Night of Champions, I had to go big or go home.
Two and a half hours after I arrived, I found myself nearly crawling towards my car with how badly my legs hurt. Every workout with Eduardo feels like training to defend my country and that’s what I love about him. I checked my phone to see what was going on. Of course, my messages were flooded by people I was avoiding.
(something.major01) archerofinfamy replied to your story: Thank God you’re alive 🙄 Ever heard of checking your messages??
dominik_35 replied to your story: bro is not getting a workout in 😭🙏
finnbalor replied to your story: Call me when you get a chance, will ya?
Instinctively I went to check my story views to see if Rhea had seen it yet, but no luck. However, I did notice a red heart from uceyjucey before exiting the app. Nice to know he was still interested in some way. I had to get my mind off of her but she consumes my every waking thought. I tried to watch TV, go for a walk, bake some brownies, eventually, I just had to take a nap to pass the time. I still had 2 more days to myself before getting back to the awkwardness that is now the Judgment Day.
I thought about all the people I could call, maybe hang out with some of my NXT pals. I shot out a text to Jakara, Roxanne, Stacks, and Duke to see if anyone had anything going on in the next few days. I decided to go back to sleep until someone hit me up so I could shut my mind off for a bit.
Chapter 11
Summary:
Stella spends the day getting her mind off of Rhea while lots of tension lingers in the air...
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
When I woke up I made sure to text the guys back so they didn’t think I was angry at them.
ME-
hey damo, sorry I’m not ignoring you I’m just tired
taking a few days to myself yk. also if you want to know about Rhea, ask her yourself. i’m not a receptionist
Now for some Finn damage control. I hope he’s not mad, there’s nothing worse than Finn being upset.
ME-
hey finneas, sorry i was gonna call you after the gym but i fell asleep after my shower
call me when you get up x
I was going to reply to Dom but I knew that bitch didn’t care what I was up to right now. We’d FaceTime eventually before getting back on the road. I went to Instagram and saw that Rhea finally responded to me.
rhearipley_wwe replied to your story: tell eduardo hi for me 👋🏼
Are you actually joking… that’s it?? After two days of practically no contact, that’s all she has to offer me. Okay, man. I just gave it a thumbs-up and threw my phone onto the beanbag in the corner of my room. I can’t keep doing this to myself. It’s over, it was nice and it happened but it’s over, time to move on. I took a shower and did my morning routine before Finn called me around 9:30.
“Oi, what the hell is going on with you today? You and Rhea are both allergic to answering messages and calls yet you can both post on your story,” Finn started rambling before I could even say good morning.
“Well hello to you, too. I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m fine. I haven’t been on my phone because I’ve been busy preparing for NOC. What is it that you’re doing besides bothering me and asking inane questions?? If you want to know about Rhea, ask her yourself. I’m my own person. If she has a problem then that’s on her.” I snapped at him a little harder than I should have, but I was just so flustered. Rhea this, Rhea that, UGH. Any other time I would’ve had no problem being the sidekick but every time I hear her name it feels like a stab in my eardrum and heart.
There was a beat of silence before he sighed and finally spoke up, “Listen. I don’t know if you’re PMSing or what but you need to lose the attitude towards me lass, you’re both acting strange ever since the club and I wanted to make sure nothing happened. You go back to preparing for Night of Champions. I’ll see you on Saturday.” He hung up before I could even apologize for my tone, and now there were two aches in my chest.
I went to my messages to see if anyone wanted to hang out today, and luckily Stacks and the Family didn’t have any issues adding me to their family dinner night. I had until 6 o’clock to find an outfit appropriate for my favorite mafia and the recipe for my Nonno’s special sauce. Being half-Italian has its perks when it comes to asking for favors from D’Angelo sometimes. While I cleaned my apartment today, I decided it couldn’t hurt to call Dom Dom, the only person who wasn’t utterly pissed off with me- mostly because he had no clue what the hell was going on.
He didn’t seem to care about what was going on between me and Rhea because he was always in the middle of it anyway, it was nice that Finn and Damian were taking notice- his words, not mine. Instead, we talked about how Cora was doing and I even got to see her for a few minutes before Roxy took her to physical therapy. He showed me the car he’s been working on, which looks almost identical to Eddie Guerrero’s green low rider.
“We gotta use this to pull up to NOC man, imagine the pop if we came out to this. We could even put a little bit of his theme in ours, like a special remix. Would it be ready by then,” I asked with a sparkle in my eye.
He thought it over for a second, then nodded his head. “Yeah. Honestly, the only thing I gotta add now are a few decals on the hood but I’m going to get it wrapped next Wednesday when we get back from Kansas City. I’ll talk to Triple H and Adam Pearce and see what we can do.” I squealed so loud it broke the sound barrier for a second. Growing up I was always such a huge fan of Eddie and his various low riders, the heat we would get for “disrespecting his legacy” would be amazing. I can almost feel it now.
An hour or two pass with me and Dom discussing many things that don’t matter, such as who in the locker room is probably the worst in bed and what parties we’ll throw on the Road to Wrestlemania. He leaves when Cora comes back from therapy which leaves me with 4 hours to pass before dinner with the family.
I decided to go grocery shopping for the stuff I needed to make my sauce, also decided to make homemade garlic bread for Rizzo. After strolling around Publix for an hour, I returned home and got started on everything I needed to make. First, I washed all the tomatoes and peppers and set them aside while I pulled out all the pots and pans. I started boiling water for the tomatoes and set the peppers up to char a little in the pan before tossing them into the blender. I added a few cloves of garlic and a diced onion, searching my pantry for the proper herbs to make this burst with flavor.
The tomatoes received X-shaped slits in them before taking a dip in the boiling water, pulling them out, and sitting them to rest in an ice bath after. Peeling the skin off, I threw them into the blender and let the air fill with the high-pitched whirring of the machine. There was something so therapeutic about cooking, that I could never resist making a homemade meal for my friends to show my love and appreciation.
After everything was thoroughly blended, I poured it into a smaller pot to simmer while I started working on my sausage. I loved adding andouille sausage to my sauces, though Nonno would probably have a heart attack knowing I was using something other than his shop’s handmade Italian sausage. I sliced the meat and added it to the same pan I used to char the peppers, hoping some of that leftover heat would carry over.
Once it was done, I put it in the simmering sauce and admired my work. I took a boomerang of the sauce and put it on Instagram with the caption “Viva la Famiglia ❤️🤌 @stackswwe @adrianarizzo_wwe @tonydangelo_wwe @lucacrusifinowwe ”, thinking nothing of it. It’s been so long since I’ve kicked back with them, I hoped they were as excited as I am. I went to roll up before picking out the outfit of the night, unsure of where to even start with the heap of clothes in my closet.
After picking out an outfit similar to one I’d seen Rizzo wear once, I went to make the garlic bread paste and put the baguette in the oven while I took a quick shower. No need to get super dolled up considering we were just having dinner at Tony’s house. Still, I packed all the food on the counter and went to put on a pinch of blush and a little eyeliner. I walked out of the door with two pans full of goodies and headed down to the apartment building many NXT stars reside in.
I called Stacks so he could help me carry the trays upstairs, immediately being greeted by Luca. “Ayyy look at what the cat dragged in! I can’t believe my eyes... Bentornato! It’s been a long time comin’.” He steps aside so I can enter the threshold of Tony D’s apartment, and I bring the pan of sauce over to the kitchen island. I hear Adriana yell from one of the back rooms, “What’s all the commotion out there?” Only to answer her own question when she stepped out into the hallway.
I scurried down the hallway to meet my favorite brunette bombshell of NXT, hugging her for a minute with the tunes of Andrea Bocelli playing in the background. The guys were still in the kitchen preparing dinner so we had a lot of time to catch up and watch the show that is Luca and Stacks fighting over who’s gonna tweak the bolognese.
“I saw your story, I can’t wait to get a taste of that sauce. What kinda meat did you use?” She asked me, waiting to see if I’d say the right answer that only she knew.
“Andouille. Duh, it’s like you don’t even know me,” I replied incredulously. Her face relaxed into a soft smile, and I couldn’t help but giggle under my breath. It’s been a while since we’ve all been together but nothing’s changed. After about twenty minutes of lounging on the couch, I decided to go set the table for dinner. I always loved having dinner parties at Tony’s place because his dining set was impeccable.
I laid out a porcelain plate at each of the wine-red placemats, along with a wine glass and gold cutlery on a folded black napkin. Real gold. I’ve looked up this particular flatware set, and it goes for a whopping 15 THOUSAND dollars. I don’t know where he got the money to afford this but one thing about me, I know not to ask too many questions. I lit the candlesticks at either end of the table and stood back to admire my work.
I took a picture of the setup and posted it on Instagram with the song “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin. I knew someone at the table would get mad at such a cliche before the night was over, I was banking on it. Before I knew it, we were all sitting around the table passing bowls and trays around to fill our plates to our heart’s content.
“So,” I looked up at the voice cutting through the moving melodies of Sinatra, “I saw the beating yous gave JD. I always knew it was coming, but not like that. We might need you to give Rizzo here a few lessons so she can finally put an end to Roxanne,” Tony chides.
She rolled her eyes, “Give me a break, D! I’m tryin’ here. I don’t see you with the Heritage Cup, yet I don’t say anything about that.” The look on his face was priceless. Luca was turning red with how badly he was trying to contain his laughter.
“How about I come down to NXT and help both of yous put a beating on someone? They don’t need me for Raw this week, I could just stay here until next Friday,” I suggested.
They thought it over for a minute, then sent out a text to HBK to see if I could be added to the schedule. I called HHH and let him know that I would be staying here for the week, to which he agreed with no problem.
I was out until midnight stuffing my face with the best pastas and meats known to mankind, getting way too wine-drunk with Adriana before Luca had to drive me home. The last thing I remembered before closing my eyes for good was Venmoing him for the Uber back home.
Notes:
sorry for making this more difficult than it has to be, but happy ever after ain't coming this easily. they're both so difficult and bad at communicating for whatttt
Chapter 12
Summary:
stella decides to put her skills to use down at NXT and some people are not having that... what does rhea think about all this?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
I woke up on my couch with a splitting headache and a dire need for water. I stumbled my way to the fridge with only half a working eye and got a Vita Coco, chugging it like there was no tomorrow. After disposing of the crushed carton, I made a pit stop to grab my phone before heading to the bathroom to do my business. I checked my Instagram feed, going through DMs to see who mentioned me or replied to my stories.
As I suspected, Tony was NOT happy with my Instagram story to ‘That’s Amore’. He made a point of reposting it with his avatar throwing up; always one for the dramatics. I scrolled a bit more to see Jey send a reply of his own.
uceyjucey replied to your story: Aye, next time you in ATL you should let me whip up sum for you 👀💙
I chuckled to myself, knowing damn well Jey didn’t eat anything but Waffle House and if he was getting a home-cooked meal it was from Jimmy, not his own creation. Still, it couldn’t hurt to play along.
name the time and place and I’m there. what’s a 6 hr drive for some good eats🤷🏾♀️
I scrolled through more messages before seeing Damien’s response to my special sauce. My eyes almost rolled out of my head when I read it.
archerofinfamy replied to your story: Oh, you’re a part of The Family now 🤔 that’s why you’ve been acting funny
He wouldn't have thought twice if I had posted this any other time. Now, he wants to be funny since he senses something off with Rhea and me. Well… I like being funny, too. We can even get hilarious.
yup. signed the papers this morning. don’t wait up for me at the airport tmrw either
Now we wait…
In the meantime, I got off the toilet and went ahead and got in the shower so I could have a fresh and clean day. There was nothing I needed to do in particular, so I decided to go visit my mom. She’s had my rat for like two weeks now, and I miss them both terribly. I dressed and headed out to the countryside, which is what I deemed her neighborhood because it feels like each house’s acre has its own land.
We hung out for a while, talking about everything under the sun, which deacons in her church are less than holy, the new vacuum she’s been wanting to try, and how it felt for me to beat JD’s ass finally. One of the things I loved most about my mom was how she never minded sanctioned violence. Becoming a wrestler is probably one of the best things that happened to her. Somehow the conversation drifted to Rhea, and I tried to keep my poker face, but she made it so damn hard.
Instead of getting into all the nonsense since Saturday, I told her that we’ve been too busy preparing for the pay-per-view, and I haven’t even really thought about her that much. Quickly I changed the subject to everyone I’ve been hanging out with recently instead, my mom was always a fan of D’Angelo and even more of a fan of Crusifino. She claims he looks like my grandpa when he was younger but I couldn’t see it.
A lot of my afternoon was spent on her couch, but when I finally left the countryside, I decided to take Neeko to the park. I’ve been away from my baby for so long, and I had to show her how much I miss her. I made a pit stop at the house first, getting her favorite toys and a few snacks for the both of us. I also grabbed a blanket and some shades; and then we headed out. The Florida sun was blazing, but so was I. I sat on the bench with my joint in one hand and a tennis ball in the other, throwing the ball far enough for her to get it but not too far with her tiny legs.
After a few hours, we decided to head back home, both of us boiling under the Florida sun. I showered the second I got home, changing into shorts and a tank top. Deciding to order takeout for dinner, I rolled up another blunt and smoked while waiting for my grub. Two episodes into Arrested Development, and there were a series of knocks on my door. I shot up from the couch, but Neeko beat me to it as if the delivery was for her.
“Girl, get back,” I shooed her off with my foot as I pulled the door open. I thanked the delivery girl for the bag and wasted no time tearing that bad boy open. In front of me was a feast—two grilled chicken breasts, steamed broccoli, rice pilaf, and a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
I didn’t even know where to begin, mouth drooling over the containers. I loaded my plate with some of everything and headed to the couch to resume my Arrested Development binge. Neeko hopped up on the sofa beside me and pawed at my knee until I gave her a piece of the chicken, then retreated back into the bedroom with no actual interest in me. Dinner came and went, and before I knew it, I was snuggled up in bed with my favorite girl. I read her a few chapters of the latest book Bayley had us reading in the book club, and then we called it a night.
I was startled out of my dreams at 9 a.m. by an incoming call from Rhea. I was hesitant to answer at first, considering I’ve barely heard from her these last couple of days, but I went ahead and pressed accept.
“Good morning. What can I help you with,” I cringed at how formal that sounded. Way to be normal , I thought to myself. It took her a few seconds to answer, but I didn’t miss the huff of breath when she finally replied.
“Good morning, Stella,” she replied curtly. “I have been informed that you are not joining us for Monday Night Raw this week. What gives?”
“Yeah, well, I’ve had a lot of time to myself these last few days. I went to a dinner with The Family, and we decided it would be beneficial to have me teach Rizzo how to put an end to Roxanne Perez once and for all. Considering you guys don’t need me this week anyway, I figured it wouldn’t matter.”
I honestly didn’t see the problem, considering this was basically a filler week for us until next week, where we have the final meeting before Night of Champions. She scoffed, “don’t need you? We always need you. Just because we don’t have a match this week doesn’t mean you can run off and do side quests, especially not for the likes of Tony D and his rats.”
“Well, it sure doesn’t feel that way,” I snapped. “Considering all that’s transpired over the last few days, I didn’t think you’d care what I did as long as it was far away. You’ve been acting so weird ever since…” I trailed off. No need to spell it out, she knew. There was a moment where neither of us knew what to say or how to follow up a statement that revealed the 2-ton elephant staring me dead in the face.
“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied sharply. “I’m not acting weird at all. If anything, I’d say it’s you fighting your inner demons over there. Hanging with the Family won’t distract you from… this.”
And what was this exactly?? My mind had a million different thoughts, from “ Since when is it illegal to hang out with other friends??” to “ Why can’t I distract myself when YOU are the one who said to forget this ever even happened?”
“ Look, Rhea. I genuinely don’t know what you want from me. You told me to forget this happened, so I’ve been doing that. I won’t let my match with Perez distract me from our match with Asuka and Kairi. I’m too far in the zone for that shit.”
She paused for a second, then took a deep sigh and replied with not a suggestion but a demand. “If that’s the case, then show me. I’ll watch what you teach Adriana and see the beating you give Roxy. Give me a second to book my flight.”
I scoffed, looked at the phone, then scoffed again. I don’t need her here with me? I can go down to NXT by myself. There’s no reason for Rhea to torture herself with a trip to Orlando just to keep an eye on where I put my attention. In the time that I spent having a mental battle with myself and all the events that I’ve gone through recently, she had already booked a ticket.
“There. I’ll be at the airport by 7:45 p.m. since there’s no reason for only one of the tag team champions to be at Raw. All or nothing, am I right, princess?”
I couldn’t ignore how my face heated up and how my body tingled at the pet name. But it was so unfair. Just because I said it was only a hookup didn’t mean she could pretend everything could return to the way it was before. How am I supposed to ignore the way I yearn for her when I’ve already gotten a taste of how perfect we could be together?
“Yeah, whatever. If you say so, I guess I’ll be seeing you at 7:45, until then I’m taking my ass back to bed,” I ended the call before she could get another syllable out.
I flopped back down on my bed and let out a screech that definitely startled my poor pooch. I was so frustrated but couldn’t focus too hard on this because I meant what I said. I wasn’t gonna let anything shift my focus from Night of Champions. After waking up on my own terms at 1:30, I hit the dispensary and picked up some more gummies and prerolls. I’m gonna try to make the next few days as smooth as possible, so having a little… or a lot of weed on hand wouldn’t hurt anyone.
I hit the grocery store to get some of her favorite chocolate and sparkling water because even though things are weird right now, I’m not a monster. I had a few hours to spare before I left for the airport, so I decided to tidy up the house while listening to my favorite podcast. Listening to Frankie and Joe argue about absolutely nothing are some of my top-tier moments when I’m alone. Before I knew it, the clock read 7:27, so I headed to the airport. Thankfully, it wasn’t that far from me, so I knew she wouldn’t bitch about me being late.
I followed the slow-paced traffic into the pickup lanes this time instead of parking and going inside to help her. If she could get her bags after Raw, she could get her bags now. Instead, I waited outside while blasting my music until she figured it out.
RIPLEY 👹-
???
are u joking me???
fine. i guess i’ll just find you in the sea of motors
I read the thread of messages and chuckled to myself as I watched her exit the airport and start searching high and low through the steady flow of vehicles. After about 3 minutes of no luck, I felt bad for her. I rolled down my window and yelled out for her, making a note not to get out of the car and help put her luggage in the trunk.
After fumbling with her carry-on for a few moments, she returned to the passenger side and got in. There was a long, awkward silence between the two of us for a while. The first real time we’ve been alone since the incident, if you don’t include her running out of the room after I intruded on her and Dom’s early afternoon tendies. I wanted to open my mouth, to say anything, but no words felt good enough.
“So is this how it’s going to be now? No more personal valet to help with my bags?” Her tone made it sound like a joke, but I didn’t find much humor in it.
“You proved you were more than capable of finding your own way through the airport without my assistance last time, remember? Just giving you more room to showcase your independence.” I signaled to exit the freeway, merging into the traffic while quickly glancing over at her.
Her arms were crossed over her chest, not making my resolve any stronger with how her cleavage was displayed in the low-cut V-neck crop top she decided to wear for her flight. I could see her shaking her head out of my peripheral, but I kept my mouth shut.
“Is this how it’s gonna be from now on? Seriously? It’s bad enough I have to be in Florida, but if this is how the mood of the house is gonna be for the next few days, then-“
“Then what?? What are you going to do? YOU made the decision to come to Orlando. YOU decided that you needed to watch my every move. I didn’t want you here.” I didn’t even understand the words coming out of my mouth, but they were too fast to stop. Never in my life had I told Rhea that I didn’t want her somewhere, and her sharp intake of breath after I finished my sentence stopped my train of thought completely.
The energy in the car was the worst it’s ever been between us, and at the moment, it was completely my fault. How did everything blow up so fast? I obviously wanted her here with me, but not with the way things have been going lately. The rest of the car ride was filled with gut-wrenching silence and the sounds of the city around us, and when we finally got to my place, I caved and helped Rhea with her bags. I slapped her hand away as she reached for the trunk and gave her my key so she could open the door and be with her favorite furry freak.
I got all her stuff on one trip, and by the time I came in, Neeko and Rhea were already rolling around on the living room rug. I kicked the door shut with my foot and stationed her shit in the corner of the room.
“Did you want to shower first, or can I hop in?” Her attention never left Neeko asked, but I told her to go ahead. I started a little supper, nothing too heavy because I was already a bit tired. By the time I finished adding the green onion to the fried rice, Rhea came out of my bedroom with a burgundy sports bra and the shortest volleyball shorts I’d ever seen in real life. I went ahead and washed up while Neeko kept her company.
When I returned from the shower, I noticed all the lights were off. Rhea had lit about a dozen small candles everywhere and had one of my favorite movies queued up on the TV. I saw two plates full of food on the coffee table, along with a glass of wine for each of us.
“I’m sorry I’ve been acting like an ass, princess. It’s not your fault; I don’t mean to take it out on you. I just want us to have a nice meal together. Can we try to end the day on a good note?” She had the most adorable puppy eyes looking at me, and I couldn’t be upset when she went through all this effort to correct the vibe. I gave her a small smile and mosied over to the couch, taking the glass in hand as she pressed play on the video. We spent the first 30 minutes eating on opposite sides of the sofa, then somewhere along the way I switched positions and ended up with my head in her lap as she massaged my skull.
“Honestly, the couch isn’t hittin’ today. My body hurts. Let’s just finish the movie in the room,” I suggested. I looked up into her narrowed eyes, but she agreed and carried me off to my room in bridal style. She laid me down and followed suit as I took no time pulling the movie up on the bedroom TV. She lay on the bed, and I snuggled my head into her chest, one leg propped against hers. I couldn’t focus on the movie or any words coming out of the actors’ mouths as she gently massaged my side, hand running up and down my arm so softly.
She caught me snoring softly and gently shook me awake, “you’re not falling asleep on me, are you?”
“No, no, I’m up. This just feels so good I can’t help it,” I mumbled drowsily. The sleepiness and the gentle touch of her against me were sending a mixture of feelings throughout me, one of the main ones being horniness. Subconsciously, I started grinding against her leg, my left one getting even more entangled in hers. Her hand started traveling further and further down my back, sometimes subtly skimming over my ass before making its way back up to my shoulder. After ten minutes of this cat-and-mouse game, I tried to control my erratic breathing, still grinding against her like a bear on a tree post.
Despite trying to fight it herself, she gave in and grabbed a handful of my ass, giving it a hard smack. I yelped and buried my face into her skin as she rubbed it to make it feel better. My hand was traveling miles over the valley of her stomach, trying to gain control of myself while gripping every inch of her I could reach at the moment because I was afraid this was just a sleep-deprived delusion.
“You’re awake now, aren’t you, love?” She cackled menacingly, rubbing circles over my shoulder, back, and cheeks. I whimpered as I sped up my movements, desperately chasing something, anything. Now, instead of being buried into her side, I had somehow rolled on top of her with neither of us paying attention to the movie at this point.
My face was still buried into her neck, breathing in the holy scent that was just her . So sweet, so beautiful, and so soft. Our legs were now slotted in between one another, and I continued my steady pace of seeking friction on her thigh. Her hands had found themselves on my hips, guiding my every move. Feeling bold and a bit tipsy from two glasses of wine, I started kissing a trail down her neck, leaving small bites along the way. I nibbled on her collarbone while I let her moans guide the licks and suckles I placed upon her.
One of her hands lost its grip on my hip, so I grabbed it and interlocked it with mine above her head, a small gesture to show that I’m capable of taking control, too. “What are we doing? What do you need from me, mami? Use your words,” I whispered into her ear. I was waiting for her command, willing to let her absolutely wreck me without thinking twice.
She looked at me for what felt like an eternity. The pierce of her icy blue stare was indescribable… I always lost track of time in those eyes. “I don’t know… I don’t care. I just want you on me,” she struggled to respond as I continued to suck on her neck, discovering a sensitive spot I yearned to find again. I kissed the bruised area softly as I finally attempted to do what I’ve wanted since she got in my car today. My lips and hers connected like two puzzle pieces from the same box that accidentally got separated at the toy company; it felt so right when we got together. I didn’t understand how long I lasted without having her.
Our tongues danced and moved as one unit until we had to come up for air, and during the break, I went ahead and slid her bra over her head, admiring her beautiful perky tits, the shiny silver bars on her nipples greeting me like an old friend. I wasted no time in taking one of her tits in my mouth, sucking and caressing the surface I could reach with my tongue. I switched sides, never neglecting the other as I massaged it and rolled her nipple between my fingers. After all the madness over the last few days, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to hear the heavenly orchestra that is Rhea’s moans, so I made a note to file every whimper and groan in my mental catalog.
I continued my ministrations down her torso, leaving soft kisses on every square inch of her beautifully inked body. I traced some of the tattoos with the tip of my finger and giggled at how she squirmed from the tingly sensations. “ Tsk tsk tsk, mami, don’t tell me you’re ticklish…” I continued my air-light strokes until she slapped my hand away, giggling up a storm. Instead of teasing her more for it, I decided to sit on that info because I knew it would be useful ammo sooner or later.
I had almost, almost began taking her shorts off with my teeth when there was a knock on my door, about 3 or 4 raps. I stopped for a second but chose to ignore it because there was no reason for me to be pulled out of such an important scenario, especially not this late at night. I continued to nibble at the fabric while slowly wiggling it downward when there it was again, only a lot louder and more insistent this time. I looked up at Rhea and took in the glossy look in her eyes and slightly disheveled appearance and groaned. I had to make this disappear before they interrupted us even further into our rendezvous.
“Give me two seconds. I’ll be right back.”
Notes:
HAIIII i swear im not dead omg 😭😭😭 enjoy this nice tease to make up for my absence, i hope the treat at the end was worth it ;) for Christmas i may just gift you all more than 1 chapter a decade
---
ngl literally been living my best life. idk if any of yall are fans of indie wrestling but PLS support your local indie promotions bro they've given me the best 2024 ever 🤗❤️ lowkey hard to write stories when you're the main character
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