Daniel hopped nervously from foot to foot backstage. His first televised match and all he could think about was the girl on her way up the ramp. Both her and AJ passed through the curtain at the same time, laughing.
"Wow, Adaen, they loved you," AJ said, looking up at her. Adaen smiled, she was so close and that smile was much more wonderful to see in person.
"They loved us, AJ. That was an amazing match, we make a great team," she replied. They both locked eyes on Daniel standing before them in the wings. AJ's eyes lit up.
"Hey, Daniel, good luck in your match tonight," AJ said, giving Daniel their patented high-five.
"Thanks, AJ. You were both great out there," he replied, trying so hard not to stare at Adaen he realized he was talking to a crate next to the two.
"Wow, I mean… that means a lot coming from you, Dragon; I've always been a huge fan of yours. Can't wait to see you wrestle," Adaen answered, her eyes absolutely sparkling at him. He wanted to lean against the wall to support himself, because she took his breath away. Did she just call herself a huge fan? Of Daniel's?
"Go out with me, tonight. After the show," Daniel didn't even know where that had come from, but he hoped it had sounded less stupid to her.
"Dolph Ziggler already asked her out," AJ said, frowning slightly. Adaen dropped her smile.
"And I'll tell you what I told him. Thank you for the offer, but I can't. I will tell you what I didn't tell him, though. I would've loved to if I could, Dragon. Good luck," she said, stealing herself away without another smile. He could hear Ziggler's theme music starting and watched Ziggler pass him by with a smug look on his face.
Daniel turned back to see where Adaen had gone, maybe he'd be able to get an explanation or some reason why. But when he caught her, she had her arms wrapped around the neck of Randy Orton, and he was kissing the top of her head. It was the only time he'd ever seen Randy smile, and it would be something he wouldn't be able to forget anytime soon.
He spit blood into the sink, took a handful of the running water and ladled it into his sore mouth. He'd lost, and to make matters worse he'd taken a cheap shot from Ziggler that had left him with a bruised face.
"What the hell was that hit about, D? Do I need to put my hash-tag heel in Ziggler's face?" Punk appeared in the mirror beside Daniel in the men's locker room. Daniel shook his head. He felt like an idiot; he knew all of Ziggler's weaknesses, and he just couldn't get it done.
"No, it's fine. I just lost focus. It's my fault. I shouldn't have… asked Adaen out. I should've known she was with someone like Randy. I was just being stupid,"
And it was true. He should've known better. She was too pretty, too talented; and had he seriously not read the signs? Her initials, AO? How they called her venomous? The way she posed was just like him! He was stupid not to have caught it all before.
"What do you mean 'with someone like Randy'? YOU ASKED HER OUT?!" the look on Punk's face was confusing. He seemed, horrified.
"What? What is it? She said no, so it's not like-"
"No, no, you've got it all wrong," Punk cut him off, leaning against the adjacent sink, "Adaen Orton isn't 'with Randy'. She's Randy's little sister. And that makes her even more off limits than you previously thought. I just watched Ziggler get his ass kicked for the very same reason, and now we-"
"You're a DEAD MAN, C-Show!"
Daniel spun around in time to catch a livid Randy Orton barreling towards them. Punk tried to get in-between them but Randy threw him aside like a ragdoll and went straight for Daniel.
"Randal Keith Orton!"
Randy froze, holding Daniel a foot off the ground by his shirt with Punk on his back in the midst of a sleeper hold. They all turned to the doorway, where a half-dressed Adaen stood.
"Let him go. Both of you," she added firmly, extending her stern gaze to Punk as well as her brother. Slowly the three of them un-tangled from each other and turned to face her. Her hair was wet and her make-up absent, she had a tank top on and a towel wrapped around her waist. She was still extremely beautiful, even looking as angry as she currently did.
"Did we or did we not get past this whole 'beat up guys who like my little sister' business back in high school?"
Randy stared her down.
"You're going to defend this loser," he replied through gritted teeth.
"There are two things wrong with that, Randal. One, you don't tell me what to do. And two, he is not a loser. Now please, get out of here before I have to call dad," she crossed her arms, keeping her eyes on Randy without a glint of reaction. He snarled like a defeated bull, turning his attention to Daniel.
"Don't let me catch you talking to my sister again, C-Show. She deserves better than some mid-carder indie vanilla tweener like you," Randy said, awaiting a reaction from Daniel. He didn't like being called vanilla, it was one of the worst insults a headliner could call an indie wrestler; it meant he was too scrawny and meek; it meant he wasn't good enough to be a real wrestler. Randy stalked off, pushing past Adaen on his way out. Daniel couldn't pretend it didn't bother him; he put a hand across the top of his head slowly. It was times like these that the seeds of doubt sown in him by family and friends all those years ago surfaced; when he wondered what the hell he was doing here and why. Punk's fist met the porcelain sink; the words struck him as well.
"I'm sorry about that," Adaen said quietly, breaking the silence.
"It's not your fault your brother's a complete tool," Punk replied, shaking feeling back into his hand. He was infuriated, and Daniel was just looking at the ground in silence.
"He's not… a tool," she said slowly, trying to meet Daniel's gaze to no avail, "He just doesn't want to see anything happen to me and he thinks that… listen, you don't care what I have to say and that's fine. I just wanted to accept my part in this and apologize. I'm sorry. I'll stop bothering you," she turned and left, Daniel looked up only to watch her go. That was definitely not how he'd wanted to meet this girl.