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Watching Sami's matches was always a treat for Charlotte. While she cringed every time he took an especially dangerous maneuver, she never stopped cheering. Many people, her bumbling protege included, didn't believe that Sami Zayn had what it took to make it in the wrestling business, but Charlotte was able to look past his shortcomings and focus on all of the good things. Like how he always complimented her, how he always believed in her, or how he always kissed her goodbye whenever they went their separate ways.

Okay, so those weren't exactly wrestling-related, but Charlotte couldn't help keeping Sami's romantic habits close to her heart. It had been exactly two months since they got together, and Charlotte was never happier. It'd be no exaggeration to say that this was the best relationship she'd ever been in. Sami was always so sweet to her - always made her feel like the queen she always told everyone she was. It was such an indescribable feeling to be able to lower her guard for once. She didn't have to keep these walls up around him, because she knew that he loved her for her.

Though she used the term 'loved' loosely.

Charlotte sighed heavily, burying her face deep into her pillow as the one major negative of her relationship resurfaced. She loved Sami - he was perfect for her in every way - but she didn't understand why it was so hard for Sami to say that he loved her as well. It was one of those things where she wished Sami wasn't so nice and was just brutally honest with her. If he didn't love her yet, then that was fine.

But of course it wasn't fine, Charlotte told herself. Was there something missing in their relationship? She couldn't think of much - they were sharing a hotel room already, sharing a bed. He was the perfect gentleman, and she was, well, she was Charlotte Flair. It seemed like everything was going fine in their relationship. Then why did Sami have so much hesitation about this? She felt stupid for getting worked up over it, but this was something that had kept her up late at night. Like now, for instance, when she should be sleeping off a nasty cold, instead choosing to stay up and watch the closing minutes of Raw. Charlotte hated not being able to compete - not being there with her boyfriend, congratulating him for a job well done - but a last minute sickness was no joke, especially with something infectious.

Unable to sleep, the show having closed roughly fifteen minutes ago, Charlotte decided to give Sami a call. With any luck, he wasn't too tuckered out from his match.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Hello to you too, Mr. Zayn."

"Sorry. It's just that the last time I saw you, you were buried under a tower of tissues."

"It's a cold, not the Black Plague. I'll live."

Though Sami's worries were unnecessary, she still couldn't help but feel a burst of happiness inside. He had just wrestled a twenty minute match, yet all he did was worry about her. It was the silliest, most cliche, yet wonderful thing. The dummy.

"You catch the show? Not that I'm secretly hoping you saw me pin Kevin live on network television, which is broadcast to hundreds of thousands of people."

Even through a phone call, Charlotte could tell that Sami was wearing the biggest, most smug grin of his entire life.

"Actually, I was watching this documentary on kangaroos. Did you hear that they can't hop backwards?"

"You know, part of me is thinking that you're not joking."

"Sami, I watch everything that you do. I'm just glad I finally got to see you kick Owens' head off. Long overdo."

"It felt pretty damn good. The best thing about it is th-"

Sami was interrupted by a loud sneezing fit from Charlotte, who made a grab for the nearest tissue box. Having a cold was pure hell, her nose feeling encased in flames, eyes itchy beyond human comprehension. It wasn't until she got a quick 'Bless you' from Sami that she realized what she'd done.

"Ugh, I hate this."

"Yeah, you don't sound that great. You should rest up."

"I'm not going to sleep before I see you. It doesn't feel right sleeping without you here."

"Well, I can't really argue with that. It shouldn't take me long to get back - maybe ten minutes tops, assuming that we ever hang up so I can drive."

Charlotte laughed - or rather, belted out a short wheeze akin to that of a laugh - acknowledging Sami's point.

"Smartass. Drive safe. I love you."

"Oh. I-I love… Okay, bye."

Charlotte knew better than to still throw out 'I love you's,' but she had to try. Maybe one of these days, Sami would randomly reach an epiphany and repeat the words back to her. She doubted it, but it would certainly send her heart into orbit if it did. This was how it always happened, though. She would tell Sami that she loved him, and suddenly his tongue would somehow tie itself into seventeen knots as he struggled to say it back. She couldn't even count how many abrupt endings to phone calls they had. But what could she really do? Bringing it up had the potential of making their relationship - their amazing, storybook relationship - awkward, if not destroying it altogether. But she also didn't want to go on like this, wondering if something was on Sami's mind.

Thoughts of love consuming her once more, Charlotte figured that perhaps going to sleep an hour ago might not have been such a bad idea.

One week had passed, and Charlotte was physically feeling much better, her cold all but vanishing over the weekend. Emotionally, however, was a different story - she had no idea where her relationship with Sami was at. It was stuck in some gray, twilight area of 'in-between' that didn't sit right with her. She was scheduled to compete in an hour, and hoped that destroying some poor woman would at least distract her from her worries. For now, though, it was clear Charlotte needed advice of some kind. With Dana nowhere to be seen - she smirked at the thought of even approaching Dana with anything related to Sami - she went with the next best thing.

Standing next to her target, signature robe draped over her body, Charlotte waited for the other woman to address her. She could see the nervousness, the look of terror, in Bayley's eyes, her body language suggesting that she was, in fact, not comfortable with Charlotte being near her. After another minute, Bayley could no longer take the tension.

"Um, Charlotte?"

"Hm?"

"Did you need something?"

"Fine, if you're going to be so nosy about it - I do need you for something. Smile, you're helping out your champion."

Bayley was clearly not happy having the older woman beside her. The two were old friends, but Charlotte was anything but friendly towards her since she arrived on Raw. She was half-expecting Dana to appear out of thin air and club her in the back with a forearm. She wanted Charlotte out of her hair.

"So, what is it?"

"This is going to be the only time I ask you for anything of the sort, but I need your… advice."

That grabbed Bayley's attention, her head tilting to the side in confusion. She didn't really think that the older woman was the type to even ask for advice, but Charlotte was determined to do anything to figure out what was going on in Sami's head.

"Advice? For what?"

"Bayley, I swear I'm going to hurt you if you don't stop asking questions."

"O-Okay. What do y- I mean, I can give you advice!"

"Good. You've been in relationships, am I right?"

Bayley nodded in affirmation. Charlotte already knew this beforehand and, as Bayley was one of the only people that'd still speak to her around here, felt that she'd be able to offer some inkling of help in this situation. Then again, it was Bayley, so who knew where her mind even was at half of the time.

"What do you do if, hypothetically speaking, your boyfriend isn't capable of saying that he loves you, even though you've been able to say it to him for weeks?"

"Wow, you have a boyfriend?!"

"That's a question."

"R-Right, sorry! Uh, well, you have to just let him come around. You can't rush these things."

Charlotte groaned. If she played the slow game with this, she'd be waiting for another year.

"Yeah, that's not an option. What else you got?"

"That's it, really."

"So, your advice is to do nothing."

"It's not 'nothing,' Charlotte. It's waiting."

Immediately, Charlotte's hand moved up to the bridge of her nose, pinching it gently, but in obvious irritation. Maybe Bayley wasn't the right choice for this after all, the childlike woman probably knowing as much about relationships as Charlotte knew about losing - little to nothing.

"Hey, you two ladies talking about me?"

The sound of Sami's voice from behind her person brought Charlotte back to reality. He nonchalantly threw an arm around her shoulders, grinning widely at his own joke. Bayley jumped in surprise, Sami's spontaneous entrance clearly startling her. With a meek 'hi,' the headband-wearing woman scurried off, leaving Charlotte alone with Sami backstage. Great, she thought, now she was forced to deal with this right here. Thanks a lot, Bayley.

"Okay. I'm going to take that as a 'yes.'"

"It was nothing bad."

"The way you said that kinda makes me think that it wasn't exactly good either."

Sami was right, but did he have to be so good at reading her? She wiggled out of Sami's grasp, turning to face him. He looked a bit worried, but that wasn't going to deter Charlotte from speaking her mind. It's not like she had a choice now, Bayley having run off like a scared kitten. Aside from that, it was also getting tiring pretending that everything was perfect, when the one imperfection was constantly making its presence felt. No, this was the time to act.

"Do you love me?"

The reaction from Sami was instant, his face whiter than a sheet, his jaw practically smashing against the ground it was so agape. He looked like he was at a loss for words, but did his best to speak nonetheless.

"Is there a specific reason why you're asking me that?"

"Oh god, you're stalling. It's true."

"What's true? I was just asking. You're freaking me out here."

"You never say that you love me, no matter how many times I say it to you. If you don't, then I get it. I won't be happy about it, but these things 'take time' and whatever other stupid thing Bayley said."

Sami put his hands up in defense, trying to find the best way to approach the topic. Charlotte said that she was fine, but he could tell that her voice was cracking - this was definitely a blow to her self-esteem.

"Whoa, slow down for a second. I think you're misunderstanding me."

"Then make me understand."

"Alright. I was never going to tell you this, but I think it's pretty relevant now. This is the first relationship I've been in since high school, if you can believe it."

Sami winced, as if merely saying that aloud was causing him physical distress. Charlotte, on the other hand, stared at him wide-eyed.

"You're kidding."

"Sadly I'm really not. It's hard to maintain a relationship when I'm working two part time jobs, while also wrecking my body for a living. It's not like I'm any less busy now, but I get to see you all the time. It's different, it's amazing. I guess the problem is that I've never been sure of how to say it. I thought maybe I should perform a grandiose gesture, like skywriting, but every idea I had seemed so…"

"Horribly cheesy?"

"Well, I was going to say 'expensive,' but yeah, that too I suppose. What I'm trying to say is that even though I've been unsure of how to go about saying it, I've always felt it. I-I do."

"You do? So you can't say that you love me, but you'll marry me just like that?"

She couldn't help but poke fun at Sami, the latter growing more and more panicked.

"You're killing me here."

"Relax. I get what you mean, and it makes me so ridiculously happy. In fact."

Charlotte wrapped a hand around his neck, drawing him closer, drawing him into a loving kiss. Sami wasted no time grabbing her gently by waist, the space between them virtually nonexistent as their lips danced the dance they knew all too well. The movements were almost choreographed - they knew the other's pair of lips so well, so intimately. She felt silly thinking that Sami might not share these feelings. Everything that Charlotte needed to know about his love was spoken through his actions, his kindness. If any doubt was left in her mind, it was washed away with the sensation of Sami's lips pressed against hers. This, Charlotte knew, was love in its purest form.

"I… love you, Charlotte."

"I love you too. See, that wasn't so hard."

"Actually, it feels like I'm going to throw up. Does that get better?"

"You'll get used to it."

End