Becky stared at the picture on her phone. Her knees were up towards her chest, one arm wrapped around them as the other arm held her phone up. She still had her ring gear on, not feeling the energy to move and change into street clothes. The photo she was staring at seemed to stare back at her, as it was a selfie of her and Paige from just a couple nights ago. Becky was smiling bright and Paige was kissing her cheek. She remembered arguing with Paige about whether to put it on Twitter and they had a drinking contest to see who would win.
She felt a small, sad smile creep up on her face. They had both gotten so drunk they couldn't remember what the contest was for in the first place, and Charlotte had to escort them back to the hotel. Then the smile dropped as the weight of the night came crashing back down on her. Paige had turned her back on them tonight. All the years of friendship, dancing at Shimmer shows, and rooming together was just gone. She tried to swipe the picture away, not having the heart to delete it, just to see another of just the two of them. She sighed and let her forehead drop to her knees.
"Looking at those is only going to make you feel worse," said a deep, raspy voice from close by.
Becky's head snapped up and looked directly across from her in what she thought was an empty hallway. And empty, small hallway. Dean Ambrose was leaning on the wall across from her with his hands in his jean pockets. Becky was surprised. Charlotte and Ric had left way earlier and she figured she might be the only person left in the building. Not only that, but how had he snuck up on her in an empty hallway? He must have been a freaking ninja.
Dean smirked like he could guess her thoughts before sliding down to match her position on the floor. "It's not going to be any easier the next few weeks. It's gonna be worse, and looking at those are gonna make you more miserable."
Becky glared at him; she did not want to be interrupted in her time of mourning and self pity. "What the hell do you kno-" Dean just raised his eyebrows and that caused Becky to stop. Becky sighed, realizing that if anyone was an expert on this, it was Dean Ambrose.
"Yeah that's what I thought." Dean said leaning his head back against the wall.
Becky examines him, his hair falling in his eyes, his worn leather jacket and jeans. He was certainly a specimen, and any straight woman with eyes and a pulse would find him attractive, but right now Becky was too sad and too annoyed at his presence to really let those thoughts take over. "Did you have something to say? A little advice for poor Becky?" She said this mockingly she didn't need his sympathy.
Dean chuckled, "You ain't poor anything. And I would give advice, but I'm not really a stunning example of how to properly handle anything. Plus, what you are going through is way different than what I went through with Seth."
That caught Becky's attention. If he wasn't here to dole out advice from his experience than what was he here for? "How is it unlike what happened with the Shield?"
To Dean's credit he didn't wince at the name of his old stable, he let his head fall forward to meet her eyes. "Cause as much as Roman and Seth were my brothers, we didn't have a past that stretches as long as yours and Casper's does."
Becky had to fight off a wealth of emotions at that. Amusement at Dean's choice of nickname for Paige, sadness at the reminder of her betrayal, and surprise that Dean knew they had a past in the first place. She went with the last one. "You know about that?"
Dean winced like he had let something slip; his hand came up to awkwardly scratch the back of his head. "Yeah, I was a fan of yours. I knew about you and the Knights, and I used to stay up late in shitty motel rooms watching your matches against Daizee Haze." He chuckled, "Used to tell the female wrestlers in the companies I worked for to try to beat that. They never did, but they put on some good matches trying to."
Becky felt a steady blush creeping up on her cheeks from the outpouring of compliments. She ducked her head and mumbled a thank you. Her two out of three falls match with Haze was one of her proudest accomplishments. It felt good that someone here knew about it.
Dean gave her a dimpled smirk, "Yeah, don't go getting soft on me. You know your good, don't need me to tell you."
Becky did know she was good, hell she thought she was the best, but tonight she felt lower than she ever had before. Dean seemed to notice the shift in demeanor, because he sighed.
"Look, I wouldn't worry too much about this whole Paige thing." Becky looked at him and furrowed her brow. He shrugged, "Paige was raised in the business. People like that see some belt they want and they get blinders on their eyes and don't see anything else. Plus, her little pity party was aimed more at Charlotte than it was you. You gotta remember that this is the chick who went through her own mother to get a title." He dropped his head back, his eyes still peeking through his hair, "She is either gonna beat Baby Flair for the title and treat you as her next challenger, or she is gonna lose and apologize to you when her pride will allow it." He shrugged again, "Just look at her and AJ Lee, they loved and hated each other for a long time, and took each other to war. Now they are texting all the time and being gal pals or whatever.
Aside from the part of her that wanted to laugh at hearing Dean Ambrose say 'gal pals' she did feel marginally better. This business was about titles, and putting food on the table for yourself and your family. To do that you sometimes had to make spur of the moment decisions. Becky had done the same to put herself on the map in NXT when she turned on Bayley. She had apologized after the fact, but now that she thought about it, Paige could be going through the same type of thing she was.
She looked at Dean appraisingly, "For not wanting to give advice, you are doing a pretty good job of making me feel better."
He gives her a small smile before turning serious, "I'm about to make you feel worse again." She furrowed her brow, but nodded for him to go on. "She had a point about Baby Flair. She seems nice enough by herself, but championships change people, and not to mention her creepy dad's influence."
Becky sighs, "Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha, and I have all worked hard to get where we are and we may bicker and fight sometimes, but we will always be close." She had defended the other horsewomen and her relationships with them to everyone it seemed. "Everyone wants to start things between us so we turn catty like how women are supposed to wrestle, and not put on the barnburners that we usually do."
Dean held up his hands in surrender, "Whoa, social justice warrior. I was just stating my opinion. You guys are all legit, and I enjoy your matches a hell of a lot more than I enjoy the old women's matches. You guys are making the other girls step up and get on your level which makes everyone look better." Becky felt her heart thump with pride at having been a part of that. "But," her heart fell as he continued, "the Shield was doing the same thing. We had disagreements and fights, and people still consider us a package of three, much like they consider you horsewomen a package of four, but just because we are grouped together professionally, where one can't be mentioned without the other two, doesn't mean that I don't hate Seth with every fiber of my being." His eyes locked onto hers and she felt a shiver at the iciness of his gaze when he talked about his former stable mate. "I'm just saying to watch out for her. She has that Seth-like vibe to her."
Becky glared at him challengingly, "Well we won't have our fragile male egos to worry about."
She expected him to rise to her taunt, but he just chuckled. "Yeah, least you girls have that going for you. Can't tell you how much bullshit would be avoided if the men's division didn't have that going on."
Becky joined in on his laughter. A smile had now replaced her frown. She looked back down at her phone and the picture of her and Paige. And she still felt the sting from earlier, but it was duller now with the hope of reconciliation in the future. She looked back over to Dean but found him standing and already having taken a few steps off towards the end of the hallway.
She pushed herself off the floor and stood, "Ambrose," she called after him. He stopped and turned his head looking back at her from over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised. "Thanks."
He gave her another smirk before starting to walk again. He threw his hand up in a lazy wave. "See you around, Irish."
Becky tried to hate the nickname, but found herself smiling at it. She stared at his leather clad back, her mind racing. She didn't quite know what to make of Dean. But he would definitely see her around so she could figure it out.