Author's Note: Another story told from the perspective of Alexa Bliss. I secretly enjoy writing Alexa a lot. Gives me a chance to write "mean" -ish.

(Set not long after "Need you Now")

Impressions of Me

When Becky and I had the bright idea that I should 'make friends,' I didn't realize that meant full time, around the clock commitment to meeting new people. Not new to Becky - no, these were her friends that she was trying to set me up with, as if I couldn't make friends of my own. Which I couldn't, but it wasn't my fault! The amount of suitable prospects was at an all time low, and I'm not sorry to say that my standards were pretty high. There was a lot to consider - accepting my relationship with Becky, and accepting Becky in general, was at the top of the list.

According to Becky, there were no three people better for the job than her own friends.

I was still a bit hesitant to agree. Didn't she say that one has an addiction to hugging? And I distinctly remember her saying something about one of them being a giant. Great, just what I needed - a sore neck from having to look up at the person I'm talking to. Despite the future soreness of my neck - it was an excuse to get Becky to give me an intimate massage, at least - I did agree to take a chance with her friends. They were already accepting of our relationship, but I wanted them to be accepting of me. It seemed like a no-brainer. Though, why I wasn't prepared for Becky to go so overboard with it, I couldn't say.

Day after day, for a good week, Becky was doing her best - making certain that everyone's schedules were clear - to set up these one-on-one meetings. The dawn of 'The S.S. Friend,' she called it. As she drove me to the restaurant where I was meeting the hugger for lunch, I had to ask why, an action I regret as soon as the explanation hit my ears.

"It's 'The S.S. Friend' because a good Friend ship always stays afloat. Come on, you've gotta admit that was pretty amazin'."

"It's amazing that we still have a relationship after that."

This response caused Becky to laugh, enjoying the internal pain that her puns could cause others. Once her laughing fit subsided, I took the opportunity to voice the lingering concerns I had about this whole thing.

"Why couldn't I have just met all of them together?"

"Because that's basically throwing you into the lion's den. Sasha and Charlotte can be vicious together. Best to soften them up solo - ease 'em in. Work that Alexa charm. Uh, not 'The' Alexa charm. Can't have any of them falling for you. You're mine."

"Well, if they all fall in love with me, that's just less work I have to do to. Thanks for the solid advice."

Becky made a gesture of mock offense, her eyes widening to ridiculous proportions, her hand placed squarely over her heart.

"Seriously though, you'll be fine, Lexi. You're starting off small here. Bayley loves everyone, and you've already met once."

"Yeah, like a year ago. It's not like I remember anything about her, other than her stupid, ugly headbands."

Becky sighed, running a hand through her fiery hair, before giving me a stern look. What'd I say?

"You might want to tone it down on the insults a bit there. Last I checked, calling someone 'stupid and ugly' is not exactly the best way to win their favor."

"I didn't call her stupid and ugly. I called her headbands stupid and ugly."

"Semantics, semantics."

"Fine, I'll… I'll hold it in. As best as I can."

My mumbled reply seemed to satisfy Becky, as she focused her attention back to the road. It wasn't long before we reached the intended meeting place - a small, family-owned restaurant - where we could already see the hugger sitting down. I mean 'Bayley.' Her face lit up immediately upon seeing Becky, practically skipping over to hug my girlfriend.

"Becky! You look great. I haven't seen you since that day you were telling us about how Alexa hogs your blankets."

I turned slowly to Becky, my eyebrows furrowed, watching her attempt to shush Bayley as best as she could. It was a little too late for that, if my scowl didn't give it away.

"I do not hog the blankets! And even if I did, which I certainly don't, you're not supposed to be sharing that stuff with your friends!"

"Let's just... forget about that, shall we?"

I wanted to give Becky a piece of my mind, but it felt like all of the air had left my lungs, my chest tight and heavy. I was face-to-face with the cause - Bayley was trying to crush my body with the world's most deadly hug. I tried to shimmy my way out of her grasp, but I had no such luck.

"It's good to see you again, Alexa! I guess we didn't really know each other that much to begin with, but still."

"Ew. Ew. Ew."

I looked over to Becky for some help, my face full of disgust - who knew where her hands had been? I don't know this woman's showering history! Becky, in turn, gave me a wink and a gleeful thumbs up. Against my better judgement, I tentatively wrapped my arms around Bayley, taking extra precaution to touch as little of her person as possible.

"Hi. Bayley."

Becky walked over to us, hands clasped together like she was watching her daughter leave for prom.

"Aww, this almost brings a tear to my eye."

"You're. Not. Funny."

She snickered as she watched me struggle to get Bayley off, who finally released my back from her death grip. For someone who looked so innocent, she was pretty strong - she definitely rearranged my spinal column with that.

"Welp, looks like my work here is done. I'll be back to pick you up in an hour."

"What? You're leaving me here?"

"I can't stick around and tarnish the sanctity of a first friendship date. Behave yourself, Lexi."

As Becky made her way back to the car - Bayley waving a hearty goodbye all the while - I took a moment to contemplate. Sure, Bayley was a woman who seemed to have the composure and demeanor of a small child, but we could make this work. I had to try. It would make Becky happy, and even though she left me to get crushed by the apparent world's strongest woman, I wanted Becky to be happy more than anything. I let whatever residual anger I was storing make its way out of my body. The sarcasm, the insults, the scoffing - all in the back of my mind.

With that out of the way, I had a feeling that this would go smoothly.

"One hour. That's it. I left you for one hour. How can you destroy someone's spirit in one freakin' hour?"

"Hey, I didn't know that her headband would catch on fire!"

"You held it over a candle."

"Because I couldn't read the label! You picked the darkest restaurant of all time. What, they can't afford twenty-first century lighting in there?"

So, my little outing with Bayley didn't turn out as Becky and I would've hoped. And it definitely wasn't because of me - I blame the small print on the label. Nonetheless, it was not the start I was looking for. Bayley was supposed to be easy to win over. 'She loves everyone,' Becky had said. Huh, I guess that doesn't apply to people that burn her prized possessions.

It's not like she couldn't buy a new one.

Becky took her hands off the wheel and put one to her chin, probably wondering how to approach the next two outings I was going to have with her friends.

"Okay. Okay, it's fine. Yeah, it might take an expensive trip to the waterpark to get Bayley to stop sulking - no thanks to you."

"It wasn't my-!"

"But! There's still Sasha and Charlotte left. I had a feeling you might get along with them better anyway."

"I was getting along with Bayley just fine."

Becky rolled her eyes, not believing my words for a second.

"Yeah, I'm sure you were the best of pals before you turned her headband into an episode of 'Chicago Fire.'"

I crossed my arms, giving her aloud 'Hmph' to express my disdain. I definitely could've won Bayley over had the candle not gained a life of its own. Stupid paranormal candles.

"You've got two days to prepare for Sasha. Just don't light anything of hers on fire, eh?"

I made no promises.

Two days came and went, my meeting with Sasha arriving faster than I would've liked. I didn't know very much about her, aside from Becky insisting that we had some similarities. I hated being compared to anyone else - I'm obviously one of a kind, so if Sasha could politely stay off to the side, that'd be swell. It did pique my curiosity, if only a little. Sitting across from Sasha, it was easy to tell that she carried herself differently than Bayley. Whereas Bayley looked innocent and - ugh - 'adorable' in nature, Sasha looked confident and ready to tell someone off at a moment's notice.

"It's funny hearing Becky talk about you. It's like when a little girl gets her first crush. 'Oi, Alexa,' this and 'My little lass,' that. It's good to see that you're an actual person, and not someone she made up. Charlotte and I were getting worried."

As much as it pleased me to hear that Becky talked about me with her friends - I'd like to reiterate that I don't hog the blankets - it was a bit embarrassing. I didn't want her friends to have preconceived notions of me, for better or worse. It was up to me to make my own first impression one to remember in a positive light.

"You don't have to worry there. I'm real - Becky can stay out of the psych ward. Although it's hard not to think she's crazy when she starts with those puns."

"Tell me about it, sister. Did she tell you the one about the homeless dog?"

"About how its life is 'ruff?'"

Sasha and I shared a laugh, a sense of comfort washing over me. For the first time since, well, meeting Becky, it was starting to feel like I was making a friend. As we continued to share stories and laugh about various topics, victory seemed like it was within my reach. I only needed to keep this going. It was basically a done deal.

"We all thought she was insane when she said she wanted to dye her hair orange, but it looks good on her. She pushed me to do mine too, and now Charlotte won't stop calling me 'Bubblegum.'"

"I can see that. Pink's a bit off."

Sasha's attitude seemed to take a huge shift, her eyes squinting in my direction like I had grown a second head. It was only then that I figured that maybe I had said something wrong.

"I-It's not 'bad' or anything! Pink's not the color I would've chosen, is all."

In the back of my mind, I could hear Becky shouting at me to 'shut my trap.' I chose to heed the words of the Becky in my head, but Sasha wasn't going to let that go.

"Excuse you? First of all, I didn't ask for you opinion, sweetheart. So before you go mouthing off about my hair, maybe you should learn a thing or two about when to keep your opinions to yourself!"

That was it, I told myself, not wasting the time to explain. The point of no return was here, and I was instantly deflated. How could one slip of the tongue cause a whole day to be completely ruined? I suppose I didn't have anyone to blame but myself on that front. It's not like I was trying to intetionally piss people off! My friendship experience was clearly lacking, not that I claimed to be an expert. Still, this was two of Becky's friends that had soured on me in under an hour.

There was still a chance for Charlotte to like me, right?

"I don't like you."

"Why the hell not?!"

Charlotte was definitely everything Becky said that she was - she seemed like she commanded attention everywhere she went, though I imagine half of that was because of her stature. Seriously, what was she, seven feet tall? It wasn't as bad as I pictured, at least - say goodbye to free neck rubs, Alexa - but the fact that we were sitting down made me feel a bit more comfortable.

Until she started speaking, at least.

"It's nothing personal, kid. It's just that Becky is like a sister to me, so that makes you public enemy number one until further notice."

She couldn't have been more than a couple of years older than me, yet there she was calling me a 'kid.' I assumed it was more to belittle me rather than having to do with my actual age.

"If Becky's like a sister to you, then why can't you, I don't know, try being happy that we're together?"

"Oh, I am happy - believe me. Becky's been talking about you ever since we met. It was only a matter of time before you got together, and naturally, she's been feeling great."

"I know. I live with her. In case you forgot."

"That being said, Alexa…"

She took the time to unwrap her sandwich before making another move to address me. I didn't bother to do the same - I wanted to stay on the girl's good side. I'd already bombed the last two attempts. If I failed now, it was back to having lunches with Summer and Lana. I wanted to vomit on the spot. Charlotte went on, having my full attention.

"Other than what Becky's told us, I don't know anything about you, and you haven't exactly made the best impression on Bayley and Sasha."

"You could try getting to know me for yourself before you decide I'm the Wicked Witch of the West. Isn't that why we're here in the first place?"

"I figured we could do something more productive."

"Like?"

I mentally braced myself as she leaned in closer to me from across the table. It's not like I was intimidated or anything - I hated being this close to anyone that wasn't Becky. Talk about an invasion of personal space. I guess it's better than a Bayley hug.

"Like come to an understanding. I've known Becky for a long time. She's important to me."

"I've known her way before you were even in the picture."

"Hush. I wasn't finished."

I let out a low growl - Charlotte was pushing it.

"You make Becky happy, but mark my words: if you ever do anything - and I mean anything - to hurt her in any way, I will hurt you much much worse. Clear?"

As soon as she was finished her cute little 'defensive big sister' spiel, I couldn't help but laugh, letting out an exaggerated "Puh-lease." She had to be joking if she thought she could push me around. It wasn't until I realized that her cold expression remained unchanged that I started to feel a bit uncomfortable - she was pretty huge. I think it was safe to say that now I was feeling a bit intimidated. I gulped, unable to look her in the eyes anymore, the pure intensity of her gaze causing me to fidget in my chair.

"I'll, uh, just… pick up the check."

With one last ditch effort to gain her favor, I paid for the both of our meals. She seemed pleased with this, and I would've been too, if I wasn't busy wondering where the 'sweet and fun' side of Charlotte was that Becky spoke so fondly of.

It really sucked being public enemy number one.

It was the day after my lunch with Charlotte, and it was hard not to feel a bit defeated. When Becky and I came home last night, I barely spoke a word to her - she understood, of course. Becky couldn't force them to like me, as much as we both desperately wanted them to. It stung a bit more than I thought it would, although, if I was being perfectly honest, I didn't think things would go that poorly.

It seemed silly at first - the idea of befriending Becky's friends almost seemed laughable. Yet, as the week went on, during all of the time between, I had these visions of us all being inseparable. Catching a movie with Bayley, sharing jokes with Sasha, going to Charlotte for advice. I loved Becky with all of my heart, but the idea of having more people for support sounded amazing, especially people that offered a way for my own connection with Becky to deepen. I didn't want to live in separate worlds outside of our apartment - I wanted our worlds to come together, and I couldn't do that with just any group of friends.

And I've always wanted a big family.

Watching TV on our couch - as per usual my usual Saturday morning ritual - I barely noticed Becky entering the room, smirking as she gave me a once over.

"Mornin'! So, I just got off the phone with Charlotte."

"Oh, joy! Did she tell you that she was planning on poisoning me in my sleep? Ooh ooh, or maybe she told you what a lost cause she thought I was. Tch, good luck with her."

I barely gave it any more thought, my attention back to the screen, mindlessly flipping through channels. Becky sat down next to me, snatching the remote from my hands.

"Listen! She called to let me know that she, Sasha, and Bayley all want to hang out with you again!"

I was speechless, my jaw agape as I listened to what Becky was saying.

"Uh, what? Did Charlotte already poison me? Am I already dead?"

"No, you big goof. They felt bad for not givin' you a fair shake. Charlotte said that maybe we could all hang out together - it'll give 'em a chance to know the Alexa that I know."

I breathed a big sigh of relief, the news making me happy in ways that I couldn't explain. There was still some hope after all - this was salvageable.

"Thank god. I gotta tell you Becky, one-on-one conversations with strangers are not my strong suit."

"Well, hopefully you won't be strangers for much longer."

Before I could wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, Becky took the opportunity to place her lips onto mine - delicately, but in that way that always sent electricity running through my veins. The gentle kisses, I found, were the ones that made me melt the most. Becky knew this, her lips carefully tracing mine - lips that were oh-so familiar with their shape and texture.

"W-What was that for? N-Not that I didn't enjoy it."

Becky smiled that perfect smile that I never grew tired of.

"It's my way of saying thank you. I know this was hectic, darlin' - heh, when are our lives not hectic, am I right? - but you still tried. For me. Granted, you did strike out all three times, but you stepped up to the plate, and that's a home run in my book - a grand slam. Er, I'm running outta baseball analogies here, so…"

Rather than continue her monologue on a sport that I knew nothing about, she buried her face in the crook of my neck, planting tender kisses across my skin.

"Lucky for you, Becks - I'm a much better kisser than I am a baseball player."

It felt wonderful to have a second chance with Becky's friends - which Charlotte would later tell me was due to convincing from Bayley. Needless to say, I was a bit more receptive of her hugs in the future. It was amazing to have a support system - and, of course, others to gossip about Becky-related things when said Irish girlfriend wasn't around. The most important part of it all though was that, after all this time, it felt like Becky and I had a big family to call our own.

I guess Becky was right - friendship always stays afloat. Well, all aboard the 'S.S. Friend.'

She can never know how fitting that pun really is.

End