This is a new story! It's currently being posted on Wattpad, too, but it's new to this site! It's AU and it features multiple pairings. The first two chapters are introducing all the main characters, while the rest will be chapter focused on certain pairings. If that didn't make sense, you'll figure it out eventually. :P
Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I own absolutely no one in this story. I only own the town of Monroeville.
Rain drops slowly rolled down the car window. Kaitlyn had leaned her head against it, and was currently staring out the window.
Her dad sat in the driver's seat. The car was silent. They passed a sign that read "Monroeville 23." Only 23 more miles and Kaitlyn could get out of the damn car she had been in since 7 in the morning. It was currently 6 PM.
Kaitlyn wasn't upset; she was just tired. She had just graduated college in Minnesota and she was currently heading back to Texas to help her family run their hardware store. Since she had majored in Business, she was excited for the opportunity.
Finally, they reached their destination: Monroeville, Texas. It was located just outside of Houston and it was the town that Kaitlyn would be calling home.
They drove into a neighborhood, and after a few turns, her dad pulled into a driveway.
"Until you get back on your feet, you can stay with your mom and me," Her dad had told her, after she had decided to move back to Texas.
They get out of the car, and it is lightly raining. Her dad opens the trunk and they take her luggage out. They lug it inside.
Kaitlyn brings her things to her room. It was the guest room. When Kaitlyn started college and moved out, her parents moved from Houston to Monroeville, so she never actually had a room in this house.
She sets her suitcases down, deciding to unpack in the morning. She leaves her room and goes downstairs, into the kitchen, where her parents are talking. When her mom sees her, she smiles.
"Kaitlyn!" She pauses. "Your hair..."
During her junior year of college, Kaitlyn had added blonde to her brown hair. She loved how it turned out and was quite proud of it.
Kaitlyn shrugs and smiles. "I like it."
"Oh no, I like it, dear," Her mom says. "I was just surprised, that's all."
"Well," Her dad says, changing the subject. "Dinner's almost ready. Kaitlyn, why don't you set the table?"
"Okay," She says. Her mom points to the drawer with the silverware and she opens it.
Kaitlyn walks into the dining room, setting forks, knives, and plates on the table. When she finishes, her mom walks in and sets dinner on the table.
The Bonin family sits down and they begin eating.
The next morning, Kaitlyn woke up. There was a loud noise coming from outside. She quickly sat up, angry, ready to yell at someone. She walked over to her window and opened the curtains.
She stopped.
It was bright and sunny, a huge contrast from yesterday's rainy day.
Her room looked over the front yard. In her front yard, a man was mowing the lawn. She didn't know who he was. He had short black hair, but that was all she could tell from where she stood.
If someone was mowing the lawn, that meant she didn't have to do it, so she wasn't about to yell at the guy getting her out of doing yard work. She walked over to her suitcase, deciding to get the unpacking out of the way.
Once she was done and had an outfit laid out on her bed, she headed to the bathroom and took a shower.
When she was clean and dressed, Kaitlyn went downstairs, where her parents were in the living room, talking and laughing with someone. She took a detour into the kitchen, grabbing a granola bar and strawberry yogurt. She quickly ate it then walked into the living room.
Her parents were sitting on the couch, and a man was sitting in a chair across from them. He had short hair cut close to his head, so Kaitlyn couldn't tell what color it was. He was definitely older than her. He seemed nice, though.
Her mom noticed her first. "Good morning, dear!"
"Good morning, Mom," She says.
"Dustin, this is our daughter, Kaitlyn," Her dad says. "Kaitlyn, this is Dustin Rhodes. He and his brother work at Dusty's Antiques, which is across the street from the hardware store."
Kaitlyn looks at the man and smiles. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."
"So you're Kaitlyn," Dustin muses. Kaitlyn raises an eyebrow. He laughs. "Your parents talk about you all the time. It's nice to finally meet you."
She raises an eyebrow and looks at her parents. "Oh, really?"
"We're just proud of you, that's all," Her mom says.
The front door opens and closes, and the black-haired man walks into the living room. He was wearing a gray muscle tee and black basketball shorts. He was sweating, but he was smiling.
"I just finished the front yard," He says. "I was hoping I could get a drink and then I'd start on the back."
"Of course," Her mom says, standing up. They walk out of the room and into the kitchen.
"Um..." Kaitlyn says. "Who was that?"
"That was my brother, Cody," Dustin explains. "He normally mows your parents' lawn."
"Oh," Kaitlyn says.
She wasn't going to say it out loud, especially not in front of his brother, and definitely not in front of her dad, but Cody was definitely attractive.
Dustin and her dad begin talking again, so Kaitlyn says, "I'm going to go explore the town."
She grabs her things from upstairs and walks outside.
Seth Rollins unlocked the door to his tattoo parlor and walked in. He flipped the sign from "Closed" to "Open" and began turning on the lights.
He walks to the back room to put his things down. He hears the front door open and assumes it's Phil Brooks, one of the tattoo artists. He walks out of the room, but it wasn't Phil.
It was his best friend Roman Reigns.
Seth raises an eyebrow. "Do you need something, Roman?"
Roman shrugs and smirks. "What? I can't just visit my friend?"
"I just opened up shop," Seth points out. "Are you stalking me? 'Cause that's creepy, man."
Roman rolls his eyes. "No, I'm not stalking you. Geez, Seth, why do you always think I'm stalking you?"
Seth shrugs. "Sorry. It's just an instinct." Roman gives him a weird look. "What do you want?"
"Parkway Drive and a bunch of those other screamo bands you listen to are going to be at Barrett's next week," Roman explains. "And being the great friend I am, I got you a ticket."
"You want another tattoo, don't you?"
"Okay, that might be part of the reason, too," Roman admits.
"Well, I can't turn down Parkway Drive and 'those other screamo bands,' so yeah, I'll give you another tattoo," Seth says.
"Awesome!" Roman exclaims. "Can I come in on Sunday? I'm off that day and I don't have to worry about taking JoJo to school."
"Yeah, Sunday works for me," Seth says.
"Great, I'll see you then," Roman says. "I have to go. See you later, Seth."
As Roman walks out the door, Phil walks in. He looks at Seth, smirking.
"Did he bribe you again?" He asks.
"Maybe..."
Phil chuckles. "Hey, whatever, man. Just don't blame me when you go bankrupt."
"Shut it, Brooks."
The front door of Kofi's Coffee opened, and a woman with blonde and brown hair walked in. She looked around and smiled.
The girl behind the counter, a young brown-haired girl, watched her with wide eyes. The one who walked in didn't seen to notice, her eyes scanning the menu for something to drink instead.
"Kaitlyn...?"
Kaitlyn looked away from the menu and looked at the barista, confused. Her eyes widened.
"AJ?" Kaitlyn asks, incredulously. The girl nods. "Oh my gosh, it's been so long!"
"I know!" AJ says, smiling. "What have you been doing? What are you doing back here?"
"I got my Bachelor's degree in Business, and I came back here to help my parents with their hardware store," Kaitlyn explains. "What about you?"
"Well..." AJ says, thinking. "When I graduated high school, I got the hell outta Houston and moved here."
A woman walked toward AJ from the kitchen. She had tan skin and brown hair.
"Hey, AJ, who is this?" She asks. She had a British accent and seemed interested in the new girl.
"This is Kaitlyn," AJ explains. "We were best friends back in high school. Kaitlyn, this is Layla. She works here."
"Nice to meet you," Kaitlyn says, smiling.
Layla tilts her head thoughtfully, observing Kaitlyn. "Yeah. Nice to meet you, too."
She winks at Kaitlyn before walking back into the kitchen. Kaitlyn looks at AJ, confused. She giggles.
"Don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?"
AJ nods. "Yeah. So... Would you like to order something?"
Kaitlyn orders a coffee, so AJ goes to the back and starts making it. The door opens and Kaitlyn turns around.
A guy walked in and looked unhappy. His bleach blond hair was pulled back. He was wearing a pink shirt and black blazer. He had a phone to his ear and was talking loudly. Kaitlyn tried tuning him out.
A few minutes later, AJ came out, smiling and holding a cup of coffee. As Kaitlyn pulls out some money, AJ notices the man who came in and frowns.
"What's wrong?" Kaitlyn asks, frowning. She hands AJ the money.
"Oh...uh, nothing," She replies, putting the money in the cash register. She tries smiling. "I hope I'll see you around, Kaitlyn!"
"Yeah, me too," Kaitlyn says. "We definitely need to hang out."
"Are you two almost done?" The man asks, irritation clear in his voice. "Or did you forget that you have other customers?"
AJ was about to point out that he was the only other customer, but Kaitlyn cuts her off, saying, "Oh, sorry. I'll see you later, AJ."
Before AJ can protest, her friend walks past the man and leaves. The man smirks and walks up to the counter.
"So your name is AJ?" He asks.
She rolls her eyes. "Do you want something to drink or not, Dolph?"
"Aren't you supposed to treat your customers nicely?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Not if it's you," She says. "Now do you want something or not?"
"Ooh, you're mean today," He says. "But I'll have a green tea..." AJ raises an eyebrow. "It's not for me! Anyway, and I'll have a French vanilla iced coffee."
"Got it."
AJ tells him the price and goes in the back to make the drinks. While she's back there, Dolph's phone rings. He answers it.
"Hello?"
"Dolph, where the hell are you?" It was Renee Young, his co-worker and the other reporter for the local news station.
"I made a coffee run," He says.
"Dolph, we start filming in twenty minutes!" Renee exclaims.
"Renee, just relax," He says. "I'll be there on time, don't worry."
AJ comes out with the drinks then, so Dolph hangs up before Renee can keep complaining.
Dolph pays for the drinks and leaves. Layla comes from the back to stand next to AJ.
"So...?" She asks, smirking.
"What?" AJ asks, confused.
"You know! Have you and him...?" She raises her eyebrows.
AJ's eyes widen. "No! Oh my God, no! Layla, what the hell?!"
Layla just shrugs. "Can't blame a girl for asking."
She returns to the back, while AJ rolls her eyes.
"Okay class," Bayley Martinez says, smiling at her restless class. "Remember that tomorrow is show and tell. Make sure you bring something to show the class! Now, everyone clean up!"
The kids got up and put away their things. The final bell was going to ring in a few minutes, so they got their backpacks. Finally, the bell rings. The bus riders went down the hall with another teacher, while the car riders stayed with Bayley.
"Come on, kids," She says, leading them out of the classroom and to the front of the school.
Slowly, the number of students decreased. Just when Bayley was going to lead the few children left inside, a black SUV pulled up.
"It's my daddy!" A young girl - JoJo - exclaims.
She runs to the car, her teacher following close behind. She opens the back door for JoJo, who gets into the car.
Bayley looked at the girl's father. He had long black hair, tanned skin, and quite a few tattoos.
"Well, tomorrow is show and tell," Bayley explains nervously. "JoJo needs to bring something."
"I'll make sure she brings something," He responds, smiling. "Are you excited, JoJo?"
"Yeah!" She answers.
Bayley chuckles. "Well, I'll let you two go. Have a good day, Mr. Reigns."
"Bye Ms. Martinez!" JoJo says, grinning.
Bayley lingers for a few seconds, silently watching the man, but she quickly shuts the door and goes back to stand with the other students. Michelle McCool, a fourth grade math teacher, stood with her own students, smirking.
Soon, the students have left and only the teachers remain. Bayley went to go inside, but Michelle stopped her.
"Oh, hey, Michelle," She says, offering the older woman a smile.
"Hey," Michelle says. "Can we talk?"
"Yeah, sure." Bayley nods. "What's up?"
"So who were you talking to?" Michelle asks, smirking.
Bayley frowns. "What are you talking about?"
"When you brought that little girl to her car, you stayed there longer than normal," The blonde woman explains. "So...?"
Bayley shakes her head and blushes. "It's nothing."
"It doesn't seem like nothing," Michelle says.
"Well..." The younger woman bites her bottom lip. "Maybe the guy was kind of attractive..."
"Do you know if he's coming to parent-teacher conferences?" Michelle asks. "I'd like to see him myself."
Bayley's eyes widen. "Oh, I completely forgot about those. I'll have to send a letter home to the kids. I'll see you later, Michelle."
As Bayley walks inside, Michelle calls after her, "We're not done talking about this!"
Renee Young paced back and forth, her growing frustration clear on her face. Her co-anchor, Dolph Ziggler, had suddenly left twenty minutes ago, and the show was set to start in just five minutes. She was growing impatient and angry.
The door opened and closed, and the bleach blonde man walked in, carrying two cups. He walks right up to Renee, handing her one.
"Where the hell have you been?" She asks.
Dolph looks at her. "I got drinks."
"I didn't ask for coffee - "
"Actually, it's tea."
"And we're about to go on air!" Renee finishes. "What were you thinking?!"
"Dolph, Renee, we're on in one minute," A cameraman says.
Renee shoots Dolph one last glare before walking to the desk and sitting down. Dolph follows close behind, taking a seat next to her and setting his coffee down.
"We're on in three, two, one..."
"Hello and welcome to KURZ Channel 4 news. I'm Renee Young."
"And I'm Dolph Ziggler. Today, a convenience store in Houston..."