A/N: Happy 2018, I'm back! I've actually been writing a bunch but not posting because I was finding posting/finishing projects to be more stressful than it was worth, but it's a new year and hey, might as well give y'all what I can. Fair warning, don't expect any sort of schedule and don't be surprised or too disappointed if something gets abandoned. I just don't have the reach for that right now. Maybe some of the others will get completed though, it's possible.
So, new Finn-fic, new ship. Started this one when the rumors of Cathy Kelley and Finn started circulating because they are pretty adorable. As always, this is a fic of their fictional characters, though Finn's real name is used as a plot point for later.
Enjoy :)
XXX
"What about Cathy?" the producer asked, perking Finn's ear up.
They'd be at this for hours in the dark room with a burning light shined on his face, he could feel the sweat on his dress shirt. He'd heard the rumors about deep dive interviews, they lasted forever trying to get exactly the right footage for every moment of the special. He had tried to get himself to be grateful he was even getting a WWE 24 about his return from injury, but around hour 3 he was fading. Clearly, the producer, Eric, wasn't going to let this slip away from him.
Finn smirked, "what about 'er?"
Eric shrugged, "the timing seems about right. Would you be with her if it wasn't for the injury?"
They were always trying to make injuries seem like blessings in disguise.
"Yeah," Finn looked off to the side, she was on lunch, quietly eating her salad in a fold-up chair. Cathy muffled a laugh, her dark eyes lighting up. "Ya could definitely say that."
"Wanna tell us about it?"
"Where do I start?"
"Maybe with the beginning."
"The beginnin' huh?"
XXX
Cathy Kelley's job mostly kept her at the WWE satellite office in Orlando, so it was a rare sight to see her around the performance center. Finn looked forward to those days, she always brightened it up with her earnest smile and sharp tongue. In the two years he had been in NXT, his friend pool had expanded drastically, then slowly trickled down. Becky and Sasha got called up in one swoop, Sami and Neville too. Kevin's run was quick, Tom moved out of Orlando when he started to travel, and now only Nia and Bayley remained. And Cathy.
She always remembered what Lego set he was working on or which comic book he was reading. Their friends muted them on the group chat when they got going on the latest Marvel movie, but they never spent time one-on-one. He could never figure out how to invite her without sounding like he was asking her out on a date.
The Sunday after Takeovers, the Performance Center threw Pay-Per-View watch parties in the upstairs longue. Technically, there was no alcohol allowed on premise, but Finn had talked Matt Bloom into it considering how hard they all worked. Money in the Bank, 2016, Finn stood in the kitchen sipping a beer as Bayley told him about her last visit to Seth Rollins' crossfit gym. He adored her, but he wasn't really paying attention. Cathy had just walked in, an emerald green romper hitting high on her thigh, surprisingly fancy for the occasion, and for the white keds it was paired with. She was alone.
"Cathy's here," Bayley commented, following his gaze.
"Uh, yeah, she's here. She normally brings the boyfriend to these things."
"The boyfriend's out."
"He's out?" Finn choked slightly on his beer, coughing and clearing his throat. Bayley grinned and rolled her eyes.
"He's been out. Over a month now."
"What happened?"
She shrugged, "she didn't say, just it wasn't quite working."
"Well," he cleared his throat again, "he was a jerk."
"He was a jerk?" Bayley laughed out loud.
"Yeah, he was."
"No, Finn, he wasn't. You were just jealous of him."
"I don't know what ya talking about."
"Right, well,"
"Shut up," he said under his breath as he saw Cathy make her way over to them.
Bayley raised her eyebrows and pressed the beer bottle to her lips.
"Hey gang," Cathy flashed that smile at the two of them, that smile that could convince anyone of anything. "What's there to drink?"
"Weak stuff," Finn answered as Bayley slinked off, leaving them alone.
"It'll do," Cathy retrieved one from the fridge, looking around for a bottle opener.
"Here," Finn took it from it from her and popped the lid with his keychain.
"Cheers," she grinned at him again and he clanked his half-empty bottle to hers. "Sorry about last night."
"Nah," Finn shook his head, trying to play it tough even though his body was killing him from the cage match with Samoa Joe from the night before. "Gotta move forward, righ'? Onto better tings."
She nodded, "It was a good match."
"Thank you." He let a comfortable silence fall over them for a moment, watching the kickoff match finish up on the big screen. Cathy was like that, so comfortable. But eventually, he couldn't ignore it, he had to ask. "So uh, how are you doing?"
Cathy sighed heavily, "you know, I am so tired of answering that question."
"Forget it."
"No, it's okay,"
"No, forget it, I jus' wanted to check in, y'know? Let ya know I…know I care."
A little smile broke out on her face, "thanks, Finn, that's really sweet."
XXX
"So we really just began as good friends," he told Eric, cringing slightly at how awkward he was in front of her for so long.
His eyes darted over to Cathy as she waved and slipped out of the door, she had a YouTube exclusive to film.
"Cathy's like that, y'know?" he continued, "she's always been such a good friend. She's still a great friend."
"But you guys started dating eventually."
"Well, yeah, I mean," Finn felt the heat rising in his cheeks. " I suppose ya could say we started kinda…casually."
"Casually?"
"Yeah, again, we were jus' such good friends that we jus' started hangin' out a bit and we jus' were havin' so much fun together…"
Dammit. She was gonna kill him.
"Y'know, I could do nothin' all day long with 'er and it'd be the best day of my life."
Yeah, nothing, curled up in her bed, naked.
Eric was onto him, but this was a family show. If they were on the Bachelor right now he'd get Finn to spill his guts about all the playing around that came along with those first months. They were both busy and so goal-oriented. She matched his drive. If anyone ever thought she was just a pretty face and a quirky sense of humor, they had never been in bed with her, and her laptop, at midnight, as she typed away. She wrote all her own scripts. All of them. She produced her own segments. She was a one-woman show. He spent three hours a day in the gym. It worked.
"But, yeah, casual was good for us, for a while there. It was…fun."
Aw jeez.
"More than anythin' we were jus' real good friends."
With benefits.
"We didn't need to be like datin' datin' at first. We were 'appy the way things were."
Or he thought he was happy, at the time. It's so easy to convince yourself that you're happy.