Okay, so this should be interesting. This is Ronnie's "hole in the head". You know, the phrase "I need another _ like I need a hole in the head"? Yeah, this is that for me. I couldn't help it, though. There is only one more chapter left of "True Love Waits", so I'll have more time because of that. This one is a co-write, though. So it won't be all on me. Also, I'm making it clear right now that this is not a typical romance story. Sure, there will be romance in it, but this is life we're talking about. It's part of the drama.

Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE or any of it's employees. If I did, I would be Vince McMahon. I do, however, own Alex (Billy Alexander), Marcus, and Mary Williams. My co-writer, shiki94, owns Alex Hardy. We share the plot.

"How did we get here?
Well I used to know you so well
How did we get here?
Well I think I know" – "Decode" by Paramore

The words coming out of Hayley Williams's mouth filled Mary's ears. The one thing that the first Twilight movie was good for was the soundtrack. Mary had always loved the song, but it never had any really meaning in her life before now. Tears ran down her face as she laid back against the pillows on the bed in her hotel room. She was happy to be on the road that night, not wanting to have to deal with anything at home. She replayed the events from the night over in her mind as a man that wasn't the love of her life walked out of the bathroom and over to the bed, sitting down next to her. He wasn't there for anything except comfort, but that still felt out of place for Mary. None of this felt right.

She didn't understand how things had gotten so far, or why everything had gotten so bad. It could have easily been stopped, but the board had decided to see where things went. Why? Simple: ratings. The popularity of the WWE had never been greater than what it had become in the past couple of months. So why would they stop what was going on? 3MB and The Shield were only precursors to what was happening now. A simple walk in the park. Now at least one of the company's top names was being sent to the hospital each week. Everything was finally going well for Maryanne Williams, but now she had to figure out what to tell her young son about the man he had recently began referring to as "daddy". Ted DiBiase was the last man that anyone would expect to turn on someone...

Two years earlier...

It all started at the taping of the wedding episode of NXT. That night was an interesting one to say the least. Mary's mentor, Goldust, who's real name was Dustin Runnels, was marrying his rookie, Aksana, because there was something wrong with her immigration papers. Lame storyline, but they went with it. Mary had suspected that something was up. She even voiced it to Dustin, who actually agreed. He asked her to come to the taping of that episode to strike fear in the young rookie. She agreed when he told her that his younger brother, Cody, would be there. Mary may have already been on the main roster, but she hadn't really gotten a chance to interact with her old friend. This was largely due in part to the fact that she had spent the better part of her first year in the company intentionally avoiding her high school sweetheart, Ted DiBiase Jr., who just happened to be Cody's best friend and tag team partner. Dustin had neglected to tell Mary that Ted and his father would be there that night as well. She had talked to Ted a bit that night and began texting with him after, slowly building a potentially renewed relationship. After Goldust filed for a divorce from Aksana, Mary stepped in to feud against her high school sweetheart and his current storyline girlfriend, Maryse. The first time they had a mixed tag match Mary stayed in the ring for a few moments after Maryse tagged Ted in. Mary smiled at him, tilting her head before punching him in the gut before turning and walking out, doing a little hair flip. The text she got from him later that night was hilarious. He had asked her if that was her way of asking him out. She simply responded with "maybe" and left it at that.

On a sunny afternoon in March, Mary drove up to Ted DiBiase Sr.'s spring home in West Palm Beach with her son with a smile on her face. She had promised to talk to him later after seeing him on NXT, but this was the first time she had gotten a chance to since that night. She sat in the backyard with her former boyfriend's father as two year-old Marcus played with his toys on the ground in front of her.

"He's a beautiful little boy, sweetheart," The Million Dollar Man smiled as he looked to the boy who could have easily been his grandson had life played out a little differently.

"Thank you, Mister DiBiase. He's starting to look like his father. Which is really hard on me," she sighed softly.

Ted Sr. frowned, tilting his head to take in the expression of the young girl in front of him. "If I may, what happened to his father?"

Mary took a deep breath, running her fingers through her brunette locks. "Drunk driver," she stated simply, biting her lip.

"I'm so sorry, hon. When did it happen?" he leaned over, taking her hand.

"Literally the day that I found out that I was pregnant," she sighed. "He was on his way home. I was going to tell him that night."

"Not to pry, but has there been anyone else since then?" there was a small smile on Ted Sr.'s face. He knew how in love she and his middle son had once been in, and part of him hoped that they would get together again someday.

She shrugged, shaking her head. "I didn't even really think of it again until a few months ago when we were all on NXT for that silly wedding."

"Anything in particular that sparked that thought?" he smirked, knowing that she would catch on right away.

She rolled her eyes, laughing softly. "I did see Cody for the first time in a while that night. Oh wait... he's like my bratty little brother, hmm..." she giggled, licking her lips.

"You still feel something for my son, don't you?" he smiled, looking up to see someone walking up behind Mary.

"You don't have to answer that, Maryanne," Ted walked up to them with a grin.

Mary spun around, "Teddy Bear?!" She jumped up, hugging him tightly. "I didn't know you were going to be here."

Ted chuckled, returning the hug. "I visit my parents often. You were the one who didn't tell me you were going to see my dad."

"Right, right," she giggled, swaying a bit in his arms.

"Mommy, why did you call him Teddy Bear? He doesn't look like the teddy bear in your bed," Marcus walked over to his mother.

Ted Sr. cleared his throat, "I'm going to see if your mother needs any help in the kitchen." He chuckled as he walked inside the house.

Mary blushed, licking her lips. "No, but he cuddles like one. Which I really miss." She glared at Ted, warning him to refrain from any comment he was about to make in front of her son as she picked the small boy up, balancing him on her hip. "This is mommy's friend Ted. Teddy Bear is my nickname for him."

"Oh, so you're Marcus," Ted grinned as he kept one arm around Mary's waist. "Your mommy has told me a lot about you."

Marcus pouted, putting his hands on his hips. "She did?"

Ted nodded with a chuckle, "all good things, I promise. She usually talks about how much she misses you all of the time."

"Do you work with my mommy?" the small boy rested his head on his mother's shoulder.

"I do. We travel all over together," Ted smiled, running his hand along the small of Mary's back.

"Do you wrestle with her?" Marcus looked at Ted with innocent eyes.

Mary's eyes widened as Ted let out a sharp breath. "Sometimes. Usually when one of our other friends is wrestling with us."

"Like when she's with Uncle Dustin? Mommy doesn't like wrestling girls, but she has to," Marcus frowned.

Ted nodded, "your mom works with Dustin a lot. They've known each other just about as long as she and I have known each other."

"How long have you known mommy, Ted?" Marcus yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"Ever since we were a little older than you. Our daddies were friends when we were kids," Ted smiled then looked up at Mary. "Looks like nap time."

Mary nodded, "do you think your parents have somewhere we can lay him down?"

"We can put him in my old room," Ted nodded, leading her inside. After laying Marcus down, Ted and Mary walked down to the living room, sitting down on the couch.

Mary looked over to him with a smirk, "you can say it now."

"You sleep with a teddy bear?" Ted grinned, bringing an arm around her shoulders.

She nodded with a blush, "and I call it Ted. I didn't even consciously realize the connection for months. I got it while I was pregnant."

"I guess that means that you miss sleeping with me," he leaned into her a bit, licking his lips.

"In both ways," she murmured as she turned to face him with a sigh. Before she could continue, their lips met. It was a short, yet passionate kiss. She wanted to let it go on longer than a brief moment, but fear stood in her way. "Ted..." she whispered, biting her lip.

He frowned, pulling away from her. "Sorry, I just thought..."

She brought a hand to his chest, pulling him close to her once again. "And we both felt it."

He wrapped his arms around her with a sigh, "talk to me, Mary. I've felt like I've been falling in love with you all over again these past few months."

She looked down for a moment, groaning silently in frustration. "It's already hard enough to force myself to care that your parents are just down the hall right now. I need you, Ted. I just don't know if I can."

He kissed her forehead with a frown. "Well, I'm not going anywhere. We don't have to jump into things. I know that you've been through a lot. We can continue being friends."

She took a deep breath, "hey Ted..."

He looked into her eyes, "yeah?"

"Can I have one more?" She smiled, leaning in a little.

He closed the gap between them, showing just how much he still cared about her in one kiss. Without noticing, she pressed into the kiss, running her tongue along his lips. Just as they started to make out, his father walked in, clearing his throat.

"I guess that I have my answer," Ted Sr. chuckled.

Ted and Mary slowly pulled away, Mary burying her face in Ted's shoulder. "It's complicated, Dad," Ted sighed.

"I know, but you'll be able to figure things out eventually," the older man nodded in understanding.

…

As the weeks went by Ted and Mary continued on as friends. Not much after their little make-out session she admitted that her hesitation was due to fear that Marcus could get attached to Ted and worried what could happen if things were to happen to not work out. This hurt Ted, but he understood. Eventually, they began sharing a hotel room and even sometimes a bed, just for night time cuddling purposes. Mary kept herself focused on her work, wanting to prove herself as a dominant wrestler as she approached her first shot at the Intercontinental Championship. It was just after WrestleMania, and fellow female Superstar, Alex Hardy had just lost the title to Wade Barrett. Mary knew that both she and Alex were both evenly matched with Wade, and decided to throw her name in the hat to compete for the title. She was just about to shoot a backstage segment, declaring her desire to take the title from Wade when Aksana approached her.

"You don't really think that you have what it takes to actually win a title from one of the men here?" the Lithuanian snarled at her nemesis.

"Actually, I know that I do, you slutty, gold digging bitch!" Mary shot back.

Just then, Kaitlyn and AJ were walking up, a worried look crossing both of their faces. "Oh no..." AJ whispered.

"Please," Aksana flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I think we both know why you really wrestle against the men. You couldn't get one of them in bed if you handcuffed them to the bedpost."

Mary rolled her eyes with a chuckle, "oh yes. That is why the father of my son just happens to be a wrestler. Try again, wannabe."

"You probably paid him," the dark haired Diva hissed with an evil glint in her eyes.

That's when Mary had enough. She lunged at Aksana, hitting her multiple times as they fell to the ground. AJ and Kaitlyn rushed over, trying to pull Mary off of the smaller woman, but the rage made her too strong for them. AJ ran off to find help as Kaitlyn continued to attempt to break things up.

AJ ran into Alex in the hallway, panting as she looked to her friend. "Need... help..."

Alex raised an eyebrow, "what's going on?"

AJ took a deep breath, "Mary and Aksana. They hate each other. It's a long, messed up story."

Alex nodded skeptically as AJ pulled her off in the direction where the other women were fighting. When Alex saw that not even Kaitlyn could pull them apart, her eyes widened in shock. "So this is the other girl in my league?" She smirked as AJ nodded and walked over to the brawl, pulling Mary away as Kaitlyn grabbed the other woman. "Get that bitch out of here," Alex barked at Kaitlyn. She smiled, letting Mary go as Kaitlyn walked Aksana to the medic room.

AJ sighed, hugging Mary. "It's okay, babe. She doesn't know, and even if she did, she wouldn't care."

Mary sighed, returning the hug. "I could have killed her."

AJ smirked as she pulled away, "then you'd never get to see your son again, Mare. We know that you don't want that."

"Fill a girl in?" Alex laughed nervously, waving at the other girls.

Mary nodded, giving Alex the cliff notes of her feud with Aksana and the story about Marcus. "Would you believe that I even have a kayfabe baby daddy?" she laughed as she finished her explanation.

Alex blinked, shaking her head. "That's messed up."

Mary nodded, "Stephanie said that she has plans for it in the future." She shrugged, "we'll see where it goes."

Ted and Cody, who had just been in a match, walked up to the three girls. Ted frowned, immediately noticing that Mary had just been in a fight. "What happened?"

Mary turned to her male best friends, sighing. "Aksana."

They both nodded as Ted walked over to her, hugging her tightly. "I have a feeling that is going to last as long as you're both here."

"Well, I don't plan on going anywhere for a long time," Mary sighed as she laid her head on Ted's shoulder. "You're all nice and sweaty," she giggled.

"You like it," he smirked, rubbing her back.

Cody rolled his eyes, "would you two just get back together already?"

"You remember how hard it was to get us together the first time? It took like two years," Mary giggled.

"But you also lived like five states away from each other and barely got a chance to hang out," Cody pointed out.

"It's more than that this time, Cody," Ted sighed as he slowly pulled away from the girl that he loved.

Mary bit her lip, running her fingers through her hair. "How about you two shower and I'll put myself back together, then we'll hang out until the end of the show?"

Cody motioned to the other girls with a playful grin, "will they be there?"

"Kaitlyn too, if you're a good boy," Mary giggled, poking her friend in the ribs. She sighed as they retreated to the locker rooms and changed into their street clothes to wear for the rest of the night. The girls, joined by Kaitlyn, found a room that was vacant and sat down and Mary turned to Alex. "Hi..." she giggled.

Alex smirked, "hello! So that was some fight."

Mary sighed, nodding. "I was literally about to go and make my official declaration of my intention to go after Wade."

"You trying to go after my title, girl?" Alex laughed.

"You know... we could probably get an awesome storyline out of this," Mary giggled. "Wanna have an on-screen rivalry?"

Alex thought for a moment before nodding, "I'm in. I have a feeling this can be a lot of fun."