Three hours ago...
"How was I supposed to know that her ribs would crack?"
"That tends to happen when you slam a steel chair against them!"
"Guys, knock it off! I'm surprised Mandy's not stormed in here yet to try to stop this fight!"
"She's too busy hanging around that guy in NXT to think about us anymore! If we're not enough to hold her attention, that just proves how fickle she is!"
Those last words were like a knife through Amanda's heart… zipping up her Balor Club hoodie, the 25 year old pulled the hood of it over her head and trudged down the hallways of the arena.
She needed to find the one place she could clear her head without any distractions… and luckily for her, they had just set it up…
Present time…
Finn Balor had never been one to aimlessly wander around the arena before a show… but he was bored as the hours ticked by.
The setup for the arena was the same as always, Finn distracting himself by wandering towards the ring.
It was as he was about to climb into it that he noticed one of the parts of the ring apron… or more specifically, the left hand sticking out from it.
It was small, the nails on it painted in a brick red polish… but the dead giveaway was the edge of the hoodie as he got closer and pulled the apron up.
There was Amanda, eyes closed and her breathing a bit rough. Messy curls stuck out from the hoodie as her eyes cracked open.
"Napping on the job, lass?" Finn asks… before Amanda's eyes fully opened and he saw the redness in them.
"What… oh, fuck, what time is it?!" Amanda says, asking the last part as Finn helped her out from under the ring and helped her sit up.
"4:30, last I checked… and you weren't just sleeping, you were crying. Are they fighting again, Mandy?" Finn says, Amanda pulling her hood down and taking the ponytail holder out of her hair, her long curls falling past her shoulders.
"Yeah… it was a really bad one too." Amanda says, combing her hair back with her fingers before securing it with the red ponytail holder. "It wasn't just them fighting about the storyline feud… they've been doing that a lot lately but…"
Amanda took a deep breath and looked down… until Finn's hands lightly cupped her small face and she looked at him.
"About the friendship you and I struck up last year… that's what upset you, that they're dragging me into this." Finn says, Amanda's mouth quivering slightly as she nodded.
"It just… it hurt, what Seth said. I mean I love him to death, he's my Shield brother. And I want him to be happy in life, find someone to commit to… he and I have had bad luck with that." Amanda says.
"Except he's a serial cheater… I overheard Becca talking about him." Finn says, Amanda letting out a sound that was mixed of a laugh and strangled sob.
"In this business, it's not always easy making relationships work… we're on the road for the majority of the year, some friendships are stronger than romantic relationships and marriages. I've only been in two serious relationships in my life, Finn… well, they were serious on my end, one turned out to be abusive towards the end, the other fucked around behind my back." Amanda says.
"Hey, you're still really young… and beautiful. And funny, sweet… any guy would be a fool to screw up a relationship with you, Mandy." Finn says, helping Amanda up to her feet. "And like you, I've only been in love twice… one was a high school relationship that ended amicably, I'm still friends with her... the other was when I was starting out in this business. But when the distance got to be where she and I were more like strangers and she didn't want to try anymore… that was it and that was a few months ago when it ended." Finn says.
"The night you were drinking yourself senseless in the hotel bar?" Amanda asks.
"Never drink bourbon, scotch and beer… as Mr. Thorogood sings in his song." Finn says, Amanda letting out a slight chuckle… but as she tried to walk, she nearly slipped, Finn catching her.
Amanda let out a sound mixed of a yelp and squeal as Finn picked her up off the ground, his right arm around her back and his left under her knees as he took her to the back, Amanda leaning against him.
Tonight was not gonna be taken over by Seth's, Dean's and Roman's chaos… not if the Demon King and Demon Mistress had anything to say about it.