He was going to do it, Fergal Devitt was going to ask Dottie out. Even after her walking in on him drying off from the shower, it was because for whatever reason, it excited him. The excitement only lasted as long as it took Dottie to run into the door jam before she managed to slam the door closed in his face.
When his parents came in from Ireland on their International flight Fergal made sure that he brought Dottie with him. Getting Dottie into the airport had been a little bit of a stretch. As they were getting out, she jumped at the sound of a airplane taking off from the tarmac. Though she was cute when pressing an ear to his shoulder and covering the other with her hand.
People may have looked at her funny when she did this but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He was stared at everyday, while wearing less than the jeans, runners and tee shirt he was wearing then.
"Gate Four, Dottie." He pointed.
She nodded against him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It hadn't taken him long to realize that Dottie was fond of the number four, just another of her tics that she had that didn't really matter to him. Although seeing her catch a spider with a paper plate and a glass while he would have smashed the damned thing with a shoe showed she had a heart, even if it was for a spider.
Because of the fact that Fergal had been only given Brooklyn, New York appearances, he was able to have Dottie come with him. Sure she'd sit quietly while he did some of his interviews but she got to see the bulk of the city with him. He'd even squeezed in a trip to the Bronx Zoo with her after a photo shoot.
Now that his parents were getting there, he'd hoped they would accept Dottie. Cait and Colby would be coming in later that day from a house show prior to SummerSlam and they would all be over at Fergal's apartment.
"Dottie, you're shaking." He said as he rubbed her shoulder.
"They're not going to like me."
Nick somehow poisoned her mind that she was defenseless and needed all the care in the world. Defenseless no, if she could push the asshole off her when he'd tried to quote "Seduce" her in his hotel room.
"Yes, Lovely, they are. They are expecting to see you here with me."
His phone vibrated and he looked at it. It was a private message from Kevin Owens, one of his co-workers.
Check Out What Happens Next It read. There was a video in the text and Fergal muted his phone.
Cait, Dottie's sister, was yelling at Nick Nemeth at the house show. His back was to the wall, Triple H was standing in the background, others were there as well and some had phones out. The returned trio of the Shield stood almost like bodyguards behind Dottie while Drew was nowhere to be seen. Nick said something, what he said seemed to piss off Cait because she took one step forward and her hand went back. Before anyone could stop her, she open hand slapped him right across the face with so much force that Nick's head snapped to the side.
"What's that?" Dottie tried to look.
He pulled his phone back and then blackened the screen. "Nothing. Kevin sent me a funny video."
"Oh, okay."
His parents flight had been delayed by an hour, something about a mid ocean tropical storm that stopped flights from across the pond.
When his parents' flight was called as an arrival, the announcement was loud and Dottie's left arm wrapped itself around his waist, pressing one ear up to his shoulder. Fergal rubbed a hand over her head, kissing her hair and smelling his body wash on her. That was another thing, she often smelled like him. Using his shampoo, his soap and was often in a tee shirt of his, hell even his deodorant, she didn't like smelling feminine it seemed like. Just another reason to ask her out but he wanted to see how his folks would take to Dottie first.
It wouldn't matter if she got a long with them or not, he was going to ask her out.
People started coming through the terminal, Fergal stretched on his toes to look for his folks. Finally he saw his mother's hair, newly tossled and a little bit paler but still as short as ever.
"Fergal, my boy." Leonie Devitt cooed as she dropped her carry on at Fergal's feet and then wrapped him in a hug.
Fintan Devitt was second to greet Fergal, hugging him as well. Dottie watched the entire thing go on, probably assessing what was different between his parents and her mother.
"Oh aren't you a pretty thing. Come, give me a hug." His mother said when seeing Dottie.
Dottie, for the most part, allowed the strange woman to hug her, wrapping one arm around her while her left arm hung at her side. A traditional hug for someone like Dottie. At least she was willing to accept a hug from a total stranger.
"Leonie, let the girl go." Fintan said. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Fergal can't stop talking about ya." He held his hand out to Dottie.
Dottie took Fintan's hand in hers and shook it, her face having just about gone as red as her hair.
"Is that your real hair color?" Leonie asked. "It's so red and vibrant."
"I've never colored it, if that's what you mean." Dottie answered. "My sister Cait has the same hair but hers is shorter. She's younger by three years."
"Come on, we'll have enough time to talk when we're in the car. Let's get your luggage at the belt and leave." Fergal said as he took control knowing his mother was all about Dottie at the moment.
Fergal took Dottie's hand and escorted his parents over to the luggage belt. There, they got their things and then they left the airport. Just as they did an airplane took off somewhere and Dottie covered her ears with her hands.
"Oh Dear, I hate those things, too." Leonie said as she rubbed Dottie's back.
Dottie's face grew a nice shade of pink, not that Fergal was complaining. When they got to the car, Fergal had every intention of opening the door for Dottie, only Fintan beat him to it. He was loading up the car with his parents' luggage when he spotted his Dad open the front passenger door for her.
"Thank you, Mr. Devitt." Dottie said.
"Fintan will do, Lovely."
"That's Fergal's nickname for me." She scrunched her face up when she said that, her eyes squinting slightly.
"And I call all the women in my family that, even Fergal's sister Anne Marie. Fergy's grandparents, my parents started the trend."
"Oh." Dottie said with her held slightly tilted to the side.
Fergal laughed a little.
Like much of the rest of New York, there was a traffic jam all over the place. Dottie, though, was transfixed on the tall buildings around them.
"The first time we actually got here, it was in the middle of the night and we drove through Time Square. Remember that, Lovely?"
"Uh huh. It was like a Christmas tree or something. And there were still a lot of people out for being midnight. Is that the reason New York is the City that Never Sleeps?" She looked over at him.
"Wouldn't doubt it."
"Has my son treated you nicely?" His mom asked.
"He didn't tell me that he was dating someone, I got mad at him but we're working on it. I said some really bad things because...I'm not sure what normal is."
"Everything is not normal, that is what I'm trying to teach her." Fergal said.
"Animals are normal. They have their set of internal codes to live by and most of the time you can predict what they are going to do, but humans have a language that supersedes all rationality." She laid her head on the window. "Animals hurt others because they are either afraid, trying to protect themselves or think that something is food. Humans hurt others because it makes them feel joy."
The car got eerily quiet. A quick glance at his parents and he saw the worry etched on his mother's face. Fintan made eye contact.
"Did something happened to you that made you think this way?" Leonie asked.
"A guy name Nick, he liked or likes my sister and the concept of flirting is unknown to me. But she didn't like him, so he would make fun of me. And then he touched me wrong and I got scared. Fergal was on the fourth floor in room 440."
"Oh Dear," his mom said. "Tell you what, when we get back to Fergal's place, you can help me start dinner."
"My sister Cait and my friend Colby are going to be here later." Dottie turned to look at her.
"Oh we know that, Dear. We've got a big family so I know what it is like to fix meals for a lot of people."
They were able to make back it to Brooklyn in time. With Cait and Colby driving in, Fergal didn't have to go out and meet them at the hotel. Him and his Dad took care of the luggage while his mom diverted Dottie into the kitchen.
He came back with his Dad to see Leonie prepping for Spaghetti.
"I cut the vegetables like this." She said as she held the knife over some vegetables.
Dottie was quiet but she stared. She watched his mother cut up onions but as he did when he was younger. Watching his Mom cook had been something him and all of his siblings did, helping in the kitchen was just something the Devitt family did.
"I think your Ma got her well taken care of." His Dad said. "Got a beer in the fridge?"
"I…" Fergal sighed. "I haven't drank since getting back with Dottie. I've been worried to."
Fintan motioned for Fergal to go into the front room with him. When they got there, Fintan turned to Fergal.
"You stopped doing a lot of things because of her I take it?"
"Dad."
"Now listen, from what I have seen that girl in there is one of the sweetest things there is, highly respectful and sweet. But you cannot stop doing the things that make you happy, son."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you take care of you. Yes, care and love her," the word love was thrown in there without a second thought. "But you have to take care of yourself. You mustn't fret over everything with her."
"Yes, I care. I care a lot about Dottie."
"Do you hang out with your friends, the ones before she showed up? Have you hung out with any of those in the Bullet Club, when you get to see them? You haven't corrected anyone calling her your girlfriend, either."
He hadn't realized any of that stuff. He realized he gave up a lot, done a lot, just for Dottie. While yes he was still in his preferred career as a professional wrestler, and he was enjoying his time in the company for the most part, Dottie became his focus. He broke up with his last girlfriend because she tried to get Cait fired.
"You have to live for yourself, not just for her." Fintan said. "I am not putting her down, son. She seems capable of understanding that you need your own time to yourself."
He'd taken her to all of his interviews, some photo shoots and she hardly ever left his side. Why? Because he wanted to make sure she was okay.
"She needs to be independant, too, Ferg. She needs to learn to be this normal thing she wants to be."
He knew his father was right about all of that. Fergal hadn't thought about anything other than making sure that Dottie was safe and secure.
"Fergal, there isn't enough spaghetti sauce." His mother walked into the room. Dottie stood at the door twiddling her fingers. "Could you go and pick some up?"
"Sure. There's a market half a block from here. I'll just walk there." He said as he went to get his keys.
He knew leaving Dottie with his parents would be good. She didn't say anything, she didn't ask to go with him. She watched him leave.
Cait and Colby were in the living room with Fintan and Fergal. Fergal looked in the kitchen for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Dottie and his mom had been having some sort of conversation while the food was cooking. He was relieved the his mom and Dottie were getting along even if it was just for food prep.
As Fintan and Colby laughed about something, Dottie came out of the kitchen with his mother in tow. Dottie had a piece of paper in her hands, she looked at Leonie as she talked.
"This is what the cake needs. I cannot believe that Fergal didn't at least get some eggs. Now you choose what you think would be best, here is the money. If you could pick up some cream that would be absolutely wonderful." Leonie said.
Dottie nodded. "Eggs, cream, milk, um…" she looked at the list in her hands. "I don't drink alcohol."
"Well at least you're sensible. But Fintan loves to have a good whiskey, this brand right here." She pointed to something on the piece of paper.
Dottie took a deep breath. "Okay."
Leonie handed a few bills to her. "Make sure you have identification. They like to card people if they look too young for such things."
"What's going on?" Cait asked.
"I'm sending Dottie to that market. I realized that there are no eggs, creme or milk in this place. Really, Fergal, you should at least stock up every once in a while."
"Ma…" Fergal stood up.
"I have my phone if I'm having a problems, Ms. Leonie. Here's my ID. I'll get these things like you need." Dottie turned and headed for the door.
Fintan grabbed Fergal's arm. "Let her try."
Colby had a hand on Cait's arm as well. "Yeah, Babe. She has to try sometime on her own."
"I'll be back in a little bit." Dottie said as she opened the door and then closed it behind her.
He was up on the sixth floor of an apartment building. Did she know where the market was? And if she got in trouble.
"Why did you ask her to get whiskey?" Fergal asked his mother.
"She heard you and your father talking. She apparently agreed with him. So I just sent her on a little shopping trip because she wanted to."
"She wanted to?" Cait asked.
"Yes. She did. She triple checked to see if she had everything, but she did manage to leave without fretting."
"Wow." Cait mumbled.
"Then that's a good thing, if she's willing to do that." Colby said as he put his hand on Cait's knee. "She's trying to be independant. That's what we all want, right?"
"Yeah, I do." Fergal sat back in his seat but his knee kept jumping.
Every five minutes Fergal would look at his phone. By twenty minutes he started to pace. The second pass in front of the kitchen his mother threw a hand towel at his face.
"Fergal Devitt, you better stop doing that." She said with her hands on her hips. "When are you going to ask the thing out. She has it in her mind that you only like her as a friend."
"I'm trying to do it in a way that won't scare her, Ma." He ruffled his hair.
"Wait, you're going to ask Dottie out? To what? Another dinner?"
"I want her to be my girlfriend." Fergal took a deep breath and then looked at Cait. "I care about her, a lot, Cait. She's done so much better lately and I see her, I've seen her in a different light. Yes, we have problems but I…"
"Break her heart again, I will break you." Cait finished for him. "Dottie is like the only family I have."
"I know." Fergal rubbed the back of his head. "I should have come to you first."
"You're in the clear, but don't rush anything with her. Maybe tonight, after dinner when…"
The front door opened up. Dottie walked in with a plastic bag in one hand and she closed the door behind her. She was humming something under her breath as Fergal approached her.
"How did it go?" He asked holding his hand out.
"Are you asking for the bag?" She held fast to it.
"Yes, Lovely."
"No, you can't look in it." She skirted him and headed for the kitchen. "It's a surprise for later."
Colby started snickering. Cait was even all smiled as Dottie rushed into the kitchen with Leonie in tow.
"What was that about?" Fergal asked.
"Don't know. Women can be finicky when they have something on their mind." Fintan said.
After a nice spaghetti dinner, with garlic bread and a cake made by his mother, Fergal was resting in the front room. Cait insisted on helping Fintan clean up, Colby just sort of followed her lead. His mother took a call from his brother Brian all the way back in Bray, Ireland.
"So, how do you think the night has gone?" He leaned forward to grab his glass of whiskey.
Dottie stared at his hand, then the glass and then shrugged. "Your mom showed me your baby pictures and then some pictures of where you come from. I didn't know Bray was so pretty."
"We lived in a coastal town south of Dublin. There were a lot of forests and lakes that we would spend summer holidays, all of us. Camper Parks were a staple in that part of the country."
"Did you always like Legos?"
"Yes." He took a drink off his glass. "You know about my Gaelic football history."
"How is Gaelic Football different from regular English Football?"
"A little bit more like American football, a lot of contact between the players." He tried to explain it the best that he could but Dottie just looked at him as she sat with her feet planted on the floor.
Without asking, after putting his drink on the coffee table, Fergal reached down and grabbed Dottie's feet, bringing them up so that her legs were across his lap. Dottie watched him, her brows knitted together and a strange almost pout on her mouth. Even confused, she was adorable. Green eyes, forest green in this low light. Her hair out of it's usual ponytail. She didn't object to the touch.
They stayed that way, he wanted her to think about his actions. He needed her to think about the way his hand rubbed the back of her knee, how his arms rested over her shoulders while he had her lean her head on his shoulder. The others in the house didn't matter, he was just content to hold his Lovely.
"That was an awesome dinner, Mrs. Devitt." Cait said some time later.
"It's Leonie, and thank you. Your sister is quite the cook in the kitchen once she gets used to it." His mother responded as she looked over at them.
"That cake was heavenly." Colby said. "I won't tell my mom yours is better than hers."
"If it is like mine, it's made with love as the main ingredient."
Dottie's even breathing caught Fergal's attention. She was sleeping on his shoulder.
"Dottie, wake up." He pushed her hair from her face.
"Hmm?" She lifted her head up.
"It's getting late." He said. "Time for sleep."
She sighed. She pulled away from him and started for the guest bedroom. Her change was so abrupt that Fergal followed behind her.
She stood in the middle of the room looking around. Her hands were shaking, thumping at her hip.
"Dottie?"
"Where's my stuff so I can get ready to go?" She asked, not looking at him.
"Where are you going?"
"You said that we would have to go to a hotel when your parents got here. So I'm just going to get my stuff and wait for Cait."
"You're not going to a hotel."
"But…" she finally looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"You're staying with me." He took her hands. "There are things we're going to talk about tonight, in my bed."
She pulled her hands away. "No."
"Ay eee," he slapped the top of his head. "No, not that. I like holding you at night. I just haven't done it since you've been staying here. Now that my parents are taking the guest bedroom I would like to share my bed with you."
"Just hold me?" She asked, the shaking in her hands was still there but not as evident. "We're just friends. That, what you said right there constitutes as a relationship."
"Yes, it does. But there is more to a relationship than just having sex." He took her hands again. "But we'll talk about that later. Let's see your sister and Colby off. Yeah?"
"Okay." She looked at their hands.
"Dottie." He took her chin in thumb and forefinger.
He leaned down and pressed the barest of kisses he'd ever given a woman. The moment his lips touched hers she jerked back.
"Come on." He rubbed her cheek. "Let's go see your sister and Colby off."
When they got back to the front room everyone was gathered. Fintan hugged Cait, and Colby stood sentry at the front door.
"We'll meet up tomorrow some time. You and me deserve a day to ourselves, Sisser." Cait said as she walked up to Dottie.
"Okay. I want a hug before you both go." She opened her arms for Cait.
Colby was happy to lay a kiss to the top of Dottie's head when she hugged him. Finally the two of them left for the night and Dottie stood rubbing her right arm.
"Today has been a long day." Fintan said.
"You flew for most of it." Dottie said. "You must be tired."
"Yeah, my arms are sore."
"I don't get it. You haven't used your arms that much." She looked at Fergal.
"It's a joke, Lovely. It comes from I just flew in and my arms are tired. Flew like a bird."
"Albatross birds don't necessarily fly, they glide on the jet streams to get where they are going. And peregrine falcons have been…"
Fergal reached down and kissed her quiet. He even nipped her bottom lip for good measure. He heard his mother sigh and a laugh from his father.
"It's a figure of speech, Dottie." He murmured against her lips.
She pulled back from him. "I can get some but not all figures of speech." Her hands rubbed her reddened cheeks.
"Goodnight, Dear." Leonie said.
"Yes, goodnight. Don't screw this up, Fergy." Fintan patted Fergal's shoulder before he and Leonie went down the hall to the second room.
"Tired, Lovely?" Fergal asked.
"I don't know. I feel tense. Tight like a spring."
"Yeah, we'll go settle down for bed." He guided her to his room.
Fergal had a master bath in his master bedroom. There was a second bathroom with just a shower stall but his had a large tub in it. He sent Dottie into the bathroom to do her nightly routine while he got himself ready for bed.
Just as he got down to his briefs, Dottie came out with an armful of clothes and another pair of his clothes on. She always dressed for comfort rather than to impress. That was something he could understand especially after what happened between her and Nick.
She looked at his bed, with the black bedspread and pillows. He hadn't shared his bed in a while, and as he prepped to lay down by pulling back the covers Fergal looked over at Dottie.
"What did you get from the market earlier?" He asked after remembering her evasiveness about him grabbing the grocery bag from her.
"Oh, they had some," she stopped. "Let me go get it. I had to hide it from you so that you wouldn't find it." She left.
No more than two minutes later she came back in the room and had her hands behind her back. But her eyes danced over to what he call the Lego station. He had a kit already partially build but he didn't have the time to put any together.
"You weren't putting together the kit like you wanted. But there was this at the market and Ms. Leonie said I should do something nice for you once in a while." She walked up to him.
It was a Lego kit, of the Avengers airplane. It wasn't big, it wasn't intricate like the pirate ship he was working on. It was small, and personal. It was from Dottie.
Dropping the Lego bag down on his nightstand Fergal stood up, place his hands on either side of Dottie's face and brought her in for a kiss. This time she didn't pull away, she didn't get scared. Though for obvious reason she wasn't doing much of anything as he pulled her close.
"Thank you," he mumbled against her lips while his forehead was pressed into hers. "Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for being nice. Thank you for, for being so Lovely."
"Is this how people ask to date someone?" She asked, he felt her hands on his hips.
"No, but it's a unique way of doing things, right?" He asked.
"Do you really want me to be your, um, girlfriend?"
"I would love to date you."
"But there is a difference." Her fingers flexed into his hips, possibly feeling at the elastic of the briefs. He should have just worn something a little less form fitting to make her feel comfortable.
"There's a difference between being a boyfriend and girlfriend, and dating someone?" Fergal asked.
"I think so."
"What are the differences."
"To date is to imply that we go out and do things together. But that doesn't require a romantic emotion. To be a boyfriend and a girlfriend, we have to romantically be involved…"
"You are over analyzing something that isn't there, Dottie. To me, they mean the same thing. I have intense feelings for you and I want to take you out and do fun things together."
"You're not just saying that, though, that you have feelings for me. The last time I thought you did but then you didn't."
"I think it is my need to help you, Dottie. To be that someone you can turn to. To be someone you can rely on. My ex didn't have to worry about the things you did. But then again she didn't try to negotiate a truce. She over looked my likes, my dislikes. But you try to accept them. I accept you, Dottie, no matter how tough things can get."
She didn't respond.
"I want to hold your hand all the time. You don't look at your phone, you don't stop a conversation to respond to something with social media. You pay attention to me, you pay attention to the things we do. You remember a lot of stuff that I can't. You may think you will never be normal but I'm not, either. So we can be not normal together in a not normal relationship. A relationship where I hold you at night, where you tell me what's wrong."
She sniffed a little, the gleam in her eyes were from the tears threatening to fall.
"Dottie, will you be my girlfriend?" He asked in the simplest terms he should have asked in the first place.
"Yes, okay." She blinked.
He sat down on the bed and pulled her over to him. Hooking her leg over his hips, Fergal laid back and felt the weight of Dottie on top of him.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Trying something new with you. Nothing is wrong is there?" He asked as he put a hand on her hip.
She made a humming sound and rested her head on his chest. She shifted a little but climbed off him. She pushed back the covers and slid into them, the she rested her head on his pillow.
"I like you holding me." She said, her big green eyes looking at him. "But laying down. That is too new."
"Okay, we'll work on it." Reaching over, Fergal clicked off the light and then slipped into bed with her. "Come here, Lovely."
Having Dottie in his arms, knowing that she cared about him just as much as he did her, he was able to sleep knowing he'd finally gotten the right girl this time.
Hope you enjoyed this one. I think I can squeeze a couple out more of the saga out, but I'm getting burnt out on writing at the moment. So I'll see you in the next update.