1/22/16, NXT Taping scheduled to air 2/24/16, ten minutes earlier…

Alex continued on with his part of the show, eyes locked on the camera as he was stating what he felt was wrong with NXT… Amanda hadn't intended to eavesdrop but the second she heard Alex mention her and Finn, her ears perked up, she closed her caramel colored lipstick and she leaned against the wall, the lace sleeves of her black cold shoulder dress nearly hanging off her tiny frame.

Alex walked away afterwards and the cameraman walked over to Amanda, camera still rolling.

"Mandy, anything to say?"

"Not now." Amanda said before leaving, obviously feeling like she had the rug pulled out from under her…

Present time…

"Was there something I did to piss you off?"

Alex turned around from his duffel bag to see Amanda, her arms crossed and leaned against the door… and then he realised that Amanda overheard him, Alex walking to the brunette who had been his friend for nearly 8 years and resting his hands on her arms… it was scripted what he said but Alex could see that Amanda was genuinely hurt by it.

"In terms of our scripted lives, yeah… but the scripts aren't controlled by us at all." Alex answered.

"You could've warned me beforehand… you used to do that, Alex." Amanda said, unfolding her arms as Alex held her hands in his… and her yanking them away. "You've been in my life since I was a teenager… hell, the storyline feud with you and Mike never affected us and him. But since you've been on commentary, it's like you've grown some sort of resentment towards us who still get in that ring! It is not fair to blindside us on camera, a little heads up would've been the professional thing to do!" She said, turning to leave but Alex gripped her right wrist roughly and forced her to look back at him.

"The professional thing to do would have been to not stick your nose into it in the first place!" Alex responded in a growl.

"Well excuse the hell outta me for trying to figure out why you've been distant to me since NXT TakeOver Brooklyn!" Amanda replied angrily, trying to pull her wrist out of his hand but Alex gripped onto her tighter. "You're gonna pull my arm out of its socket if you don't let go!" She yelled, Alex clamping his right hand to her mouth and observing how she was dressed, the makeup she wore on her face and the noticeable scent of her Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds perfume… and backing away a few steps.

"Balor's won your unscripted heart too, ain't he?! There's my fucking problem!" Alex shouted after a few seconds.

"We were planning on heading out somewhere nice." Amanda responded before both saw Finn, who immediately put Amanda behind him… he was also dressed nicely, Giorgio Armani cologne as a finishing touch.

"Leave her the hell alone, she just wanted to know why you said what you said!" Finn said, his right hand gripping Amanda's left one.

Alex left and Finn turned to Amanda, examining her wrist… to his surprise, it wasn't bruised but it was clear she was shaken and he pulled her into his arms.

"I'd like to send him into the warpath of Brock Lesnar, that would set him straight." Amanda said quietly as they looked at each other.

"Probably… if they only had Scared Straight for adults, hey?" Finn replied, his hand lightly brushing over her cheek.

"Yeah…" Amanda said before they let go and headed out to the restaurant.

At Ocean Prime, the two were enjoying their dinner and a few glasses of Disaronno when John and Nikki walked into the restaurant and saw them.

"I thought they normally headed out somewhere low key after the shows…" Nikki said curiously, John narrowing his eyes as he saw Finn's right arm wrap around Amanda's back. "John, you alright?" She responded, John looking at her.

"Yeah, just… wasn't expecting to see this…" John answered, his eyes flicking between them and where their arms were.

"You're not gonna crash their night out, are-" Nikki started to say, John heading to the table and sitting down.

"Uh… hi, John…" Amanda said nervously as Nikki reached them and sat down next to John. "Hey, Nikki…" She replied as John noticed that Finn was starting to move his hand off of Amanda's shoulder.

"Hey, you keep your hand there pal, don't let me intimidate ya… I just thought that since we've ended up in the same place, we may as well all eat together, if that's alright." John responded.

"Yeah, it's okay." Finn and Amanda said simultaneously.

When the four were eating, John noticed that Amanda was on her third glass of Disaronno and saw a hint of glassiness in her hazel eyes.

"Hey, you alright there? Don't you drink too much now, lil' sis." John said, after nudging her leg with his foot below the table.

"Yeah… just had three back to back tapings tonight, they got a bit hectic… Alex and I got into a little fight." Amanda responded, John resting his hand on the back of her head and lightly rubbing it. "I don't think he likes me anymore…" She said quietly, John setting his hand down as Finn rubbed Amanda's back and Nikki reached over and lightly rubbed Amanda's forearm.

"People just change over time… and some people adapt, some people don't. Sometimes it's inevitable, sometimes by choice… but we're always the same person, deep inside." John replied.

And without realising it first, while he'd been saying that about Alex towards Amanda, he'd actually also been convincing himself of the same thing about Amanda and Finn, who he was starting to realise had a relationship brewing... and it wasn't far from hitting sunrise.

John just hoped that this time around that love would work out for Amanda.