A/N: Rachel also appears in Out In The Cold but as a supernatural being.
8/22/15, 30 minutes earlier...
"Oh, damn…" Amanda muttered after she and Finn had gotten ready to head to the Barclays Center for NXT: TakeOver: Brooklyn, Amanda readjusting her Balor Club racerback tank top.
"What is it, lass?" Finn asked, Amanda pointing out several photographers waiting outside Juliana's Pizzeria, Amanda and Finn deciding to eat dinner there since they already ate breakfast and lunch at the hotel. "Ah… media hounds. Damn vultures." He said.
Both valued their privacy and didn't want anyone speculating about them, it was driving them crazy… but they knew that the paparazzi out front weren't the only ones and Finn's rental car, a 2016 Nissan Altima was right in the parking lot.
Finn lightly wrapped his right arm around Amanda's shoulders and the two walked outside as the cameras started going off and the questions were being asked because as luck would have it, a TMZ cameraman were there too as Finn tried to shield Amanda from the flashing lights.
She had been dealing with a migraine since yesterday that had weakened but not gone away completely… and Finn was worried.
"Mr. Balor, Miss Cena, what exactly is going on between you two?" The cameraman asked, Finn and Amanda getting in the car and driving off… but then Finn saw that the paparazzi had started following them on motorbikes.
"They don't give up. How did they even find us anyway?" Amanda responded as Finn sped up and she let out a startled scream.
"Hang on tight, love." Finn says, cutting in front of an Escalade… which provoked Colin 'Big Cass' Cassady as he was driving it.
"Watch the fucking road, Balor!" Colin yelled.
But neither Finn or Amanda were paying attention to Colin now.
Losing the paparazzi took a while but they managed to… and were taking deep breaths to soothe their racing hearts.
"Did I at any point since this madness started say to lead them on a high speed chase?!" Both heard after a while, seeing William Regal before they got out. "You two could've gotten yourselves and others killed!"
"Sorry, Mr. Regal." Both said simultaneously.
"As long as no one got hurt, I'm accepting your apology. Enzo called, him and his friend wondering what the chaos was about." William responded before leaving.
This had started since a photo of Finn and Amanda after The Beast In The East after party had surfaced… and it showed no signs of slowing down.
It had started up again earlier when a photo of both leaving a doctor's office a few days ago had surfaced… but again, no one else knew the truth…
Present time…
"It's getting crazier on the message boards, isn't it?" Finn asked after seeing Amanda with her laptop in her lap.
"You wouldn't believe half these damn comments to the latest rumors." Amanda responded, turning the MacBook Pro to Finn and him seeing them, "I bet that's not even his kid she's having, the cheating slut!" and "If anything, I bet it's Rollins's spawn or Orton's." being a few examples. "Even if we told them the truth, I doubt they'd believe it." She said, closing out the message boards.
She had been cleared off the anticonvulsants and wanted to share that… but the photo of them leaving the doctor's office surfaced and now Amanda felt like the speculation ruined it.
Amanda powered down the laptop and closed it, setting it aside as Finn rested his hands on her shoulders and started to massage them.
"They're a younger generation of fans, have much more access to technology and media outlets… they'll calm down at some point." Finn responded.
"When I was their age, Facebook, TMZ and MySpace were just the start of things then." Amanda replied, grimacing slightly as Finn put a little more pressure into his right hand to get a knot out of her right shoulder. "These younger fans, it's just madness." She said, leaning against Finn after his arms wrapped around her and both unaware of the young angel nearby.
Ariel sometimes watched them… and looked closer as Amanda's eyes widened when Finn whispered something to her.
"You think it would work? No one's done a storyline similar to that since 2004." Amanda responded.
"I think it might… we paint one here with tiny white angel wings on her back and the other with darker wings on his back. Sort of our way of "confirming" things." Finn replied, his right hand resting on both sides of Amanda's stomach for a few seconds.
"You already ran this by Hunter, didn't you?" Amanda asked.
"Back on Wednesday, yes. He thinks it'll work but we've gotta be careful about it." Finn answered, Amanda taking a few seconds and nodding.
"Let's do it." Amanda said, Finn kissing her on her forehead before they stood up.
Once Amanda was dressed in her white and black ring outfit, she stood still as the paint was being applied to her. On her back were the usual wings… on the front were the paintings of the twins as how they were drawn on the paper in the nearby sketchbook.
"Not telling the guys beforehand will set them off, Mandy…" Rachel said as she finished the paint.
"I know but some storylines need to be kept secret before the cameras start, Rache." Amanda responded quietly.
She normally didn't mind risk taking storylines… but she was feeling an entirely different set of nerves this time around.