Author's Note: Yeah, own nothing. Making no profit. Using kayfabe entirely. Hope you enjoy my odd taste in pairings. Reviews are always appreciated.

Young

Bouquet in her lap, Brie had to admit that Evan was good to his word. A dozen daisies banded together with a pink ribbon. Prior to being picked up, she'd wondered if maybe he'd step up his game and come with roses, but dusting her fingers over the flawless white petals gave Brie a newfound appreciation for the flowers. They weren't the most expensive, or even the prettiest, but there was something infinitely charming and genuine about them. They reminded her a little (very, very little, she assured herself) of Evan himself.

Caught in her reverie, she hadn't bothered to ask Evan exactly where they were going. Brie couldn't really come up with anything that might be a given when it came to the young man driving. Maybe he'd just take her to dinner and a movie. Standard. Safe. Boring. But as she thought that, she heard the calliope's whistling notes, before her eyes caught sight of the bright lights and spinning colors in the distance. He was taking her to a carnival.

Her mouth slipped open, venomous words forming in her mind, but failing to slip on her tongue, past her teeth.

Brie Bella, the former Divas Champion, and thorn in the side of many of her coworkers, scoffed at the idea. A carnival? Like they were children? The manchild next to her couldn't get any more immature, or clueless.

Brie Bella, the former high school soccer player, and girlier of the two twins, was practically bouncing in her seat. She hadn't been to a carnival in years. She needed rides, cotton candy, and games. In that order. STAT.

But no, she wasn't going to freak out over this, in any way. She was going to play this off indifferently. She was only doing this to humor Evan, she reminded herself. After all, she'd pretty much promised him a date, and she didn't really enjoy being called a liar. And Evan wasn't that bad to spend time with, she supposed, even if she thought he could be way too cheerful at times. So, she was going to go about this so-called date being politely apathetic, until the whole ridiculous night was over. There was no reason to do otherwise.

And she kept this line of thought going with military focus, up until Evan opened her door, helped her out and asked, "What do you want to do first?"

Coolly, Brie didn't bother to look at her companion, keeping her eyes ahead of her to maintain her aloof persona. This proved to be her downfall, as her vision spotted what lay twenty feet away from them. Her original flat reply of, "Whatever, " got erased, and immediately replaced with an almost gleeful, "Roller coaster!"

She took off without warning, and it was all Evan could do to catch up to her. He laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the right and away from her destination.

When she verbalized her unhappiness at this, his grin widened. "We need tickets, you know. The only one here who'd give you a free ride is me."

And the world around them just seemed to stop in one, horribly embarrassing moment.

"I mean," Evan stuttered, face an interesting shade of dark pink, "you know. A carnival ride. Like, on the roller coaster. You know. Like that one. That one over there." He stood there, pointing dumbly and looking miserable.

And Brie knew she could just bring it on home and make him want to set himself on fire through the power of pure humiliation. Really, Evan was such an easy target. He wasn't like any other man that was in the WWE; not like any man she'd ever met, period. He opened his mouth, and it was all sunshine and rainbows. He smiled, and it was like puppies and kittens. It was little wonder most of the Divas would fawn over such displays. But Brie was not like most Divas, and she thought such an innocent streak had to be an exaggeration, if not an outright lie. At least, she kept telling herself that, but the more she spent time with Evan the more she began to wonder if he may genuinely be that kind. It was a concept she couldn't quite wrap her brain around. Men were not kind. Men were never kind. Not to her.

Still, she decided to show mercy. It wouldn't help either of them to start a date with her tearing him down. With a smirk, she spun him around and gave him a light shove.

"Get the tickets, Bourne," she demanded.

He seemed grateful that she wasn't going to press the issue, and wordlessly made his way over to the ticket booth. Brie watched him go, her eyes settling on his backside against her will. She scolded herself for a moment, then decided that there was no shame in it. She wasn't admiring Evan, so much as his body. And she had to admit, he had a nice ass. When he returned to hand her a ticket, his face was still flush and he was finding it difficult to make eye contact. She reluctantly found it endearing. Wordless, she bumped her shoulder against his as she passed him, heading toward the roller coaster. He followed quickly after.

While she wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even Nikki, Brie felt a trill of excitement she hadn't in a long time as she and Evan were strapped into their seat in the old coaster. It was juvenile and silly, and she would never usually let anyone see her in such a state -twittering her fingers anxiously along the safety bar, biting her bottom lip and yet still smiling- but she figured with Evan it was okay. She tried to reason that she knew Evan wouldn't tell because he was trying to impress her. Brie did her best to ignore the thought in her head that, really, Evan wouldn't tell because Evan didn't care if she wasn't composed all the time.

She also hoped Evan wouldn't tell anyone just how she screamed the entire ride. Or how she then practically pulled him off it so they could rush over to the swing ride next. It took little convincing on Evan's part to then get Brie on the pirate ship, where they placed a bet to see who would grab onto the safety handles first. Much to Brie's chagrin, she lost. She punished Evan laughing at her by dragging him over to the carousel. She scoffed at him bemoaning that every single wooden horse was adorned with flowers or ribbons. Her smirk faded when he took her hand, and tugged himself and her onto an ornate bench.

The seat's glossy paint gave it no traction, and Brie found herself sliding right up against Evan. If he had a problem with this, or even noticed it, he was good enough to not say anything, allowing Brie to quietly put a little bit of space between them. She regretted it slightly right after. It was cool for a summer evening, and Evan was like a human furnace. A human furnace that happened to smell really nice.

A few rides and a trip to the cotton candy vendor later, and Brie was eyeing the various game booths. They were always fun, but nine times out of ten just weren't worth the money. Brie felt they were all rigged, or very much close to it. She'd initially been eager to give them ago, but now that the evening was winding down, she wasn't quite sure she was willing to blow money on something that she knew she couldn't win at.

Evan seemed in a much more positive mood. He pointed to a booth, "I can do this."

Brie couldn't help but roll her eyes when she looked. The ping pong ball booth. "No one can do that."

The ping pong ball booth was a game that, as far as Brie was concerned, was rigged without actually being rigged. Shallow cups spinning slowly in water, with the object to get a ping pong ball to rest in one. Of course, since ping pong balls bounced high with barely a flick, it was nigh impossible to ever win at such a booth. Only a gullible fool would think they could.

Brie found herself unsurprised that Evan was among them.

"Don't waste your money," she muttered.

"I'm not wasting it," he assured her, handing a five dollar bill to the vendor. "I told you, I can do this one."

She didn't really believe him, and she sighed her disapproval. That didn't seem to deter Evan much, as he picked up one of the five ping pong balls he was given. He watched the cups spinning for a few moments, before letting it go. Brie watched it bounce predictably off a couple cups, before splashing into the water. She hoped her frown would resonate with Evan, but he paid it no mind. If anything, he found her cynicism amusing, a smile on his face as he picked up his next ball. This time, he held it at a different angle, and lobbed it with a light spin. To Brie's surprise, the initial ricochet when it hit the first cup was much softer, and the ping pong ball landed neatly into the second one it fell to. And stayed.

The carnie looked impressed. Brie was impressed. Evan just pointed to a large stuffed bear and said, "That'll do."

As they walked away, prize in her hands, Brie couldn't help but ask, "How did you do that?"

Evan grinned. "We had carnivals every year where I grew up. Doesn't take much to learn the tricks to win at those."

The ride back to the hotel was spent mostly with them talking about other carnivals they'd been to before, small adventures they had during the summer times of their youths. Moments with long forgotten friends, and some they still had in their lives. Glimpses of memories that they hadn't shared in a long while.

He walked her to the door of the room she and Nikki were sharing, and Brie, flowers and bear in hand, waited to see just how Evan would try to finesse himself a kiss. All her first dates did eventually, and she found it a little annoying. She wasn't such a prude that she disapproved of kissing on the first date; what she didn't like was that every man always acted as if they deserved one. Like she should be grateful they took time out of their busy schedules to take her on a date, and she better repay them for it.

Evan titled his head down, and she held her breath for the inevitable. Instead, he took hold of her free hand, and held it to his lips. Brushing a breaze-like kiss across her knuckles, he wished her a good night with a small smile, and left her to herself.

Brie stood there, confused. She'd never had a man do that before, and didn't quite know what to make of it. At least until a small, budding feeling of warmth spread its way from her chest outward, and a tingle of a grin graced her face.

Oh, she wondered. Was that how it felt to be treated like a lady?

Choice

A week later, Evan and Kofi Kingston had claimed gold together as the new Tag Team Champions. And Brie, along with the rest of the locker room, had thought Evan was going to celebrate with Kofi and the rest at the local bar. Instead, Evan had kept his previous engagement with Brie, promising he'd go out with the others on Tuesday. When Brie had asked him why he had done that, Evan seemed surprised.

"Why would I break my promise with you?" he'd asked back.

And it was as simple to him as that. And throughout the date (which consisted of a museum Brie had heard about, and all but begged Evan to come with her to), he seemed perfectly content to not talk at all about his win. No bragging or boasting. Evan looked pleased just listening to Brie ramble on about brush strokes or carving techniques. Things that clearly were going over his head, but since they interested her, he did his best to pay attention.

Halfway through one of the art exhibits, she mentioned, "You look a little lost."

"Oh, it's not a little," he admitted. "I'm totally lost."

Brie huffed, and turned to him. "You don't want to be here, do you?"

"Of course, I do," he shook his head.

"Really?" she scoffed. "You want to be stuck in the middle of a museum with a bunch of paintings and sculptures you don't get, instead of partying with your buddies at a bar?"

"Yup," he nodded.

She raised a manicured brow. "Why?"

"Because you're here."

And again, simple as that.

So, he stayed, and let Brie continue to point out certain pieces, and talk in length about their history that he would most likely forget before the night was over. Through it all, he nodded and hmm'd at all the right moments, and even made sure to lean in with interest when Brie was talking with added enthusiasm over a certain painting. With any other man, Brie would've found his behavior somewhat patronizing. But with Evan, she knew that he really was doing his best to involve himself.

At the end of the night, he'd brought her to her door, and like he had on their first date, placed a simple kiss on the back of her hand. She could've let him go like that, and he would've been perfectly content, she knew. Brie however, didn't think she'd be quite that okay. It felt more like instinct than thought process, as Brie took hold of his shirt, pulling him toward her. It probably was, she decided as her lips pressed against his. Because really, she had told herself a long time ago that guys like Evan were trouble. They were either liars hiding behind a facade, or naive idiots waiting to be taken advantage of. Either way, not the type of man she should be interested in. Certainly not the type of man that she would ever run her fingers through his hair, her other hand gripping his shoulder as he returned her kiss with more passion than she expected. Evan was not the type of man that would ever elicit a moan from her, as his arms pressed her to him. And he definitely wasn't the type to ever make her feel like her legs momentarily ceased to exist, as he held her up purely on his own strength, his mouth and tongue practically making her dizzy.

And yet she realized, as she finally pulled away for air, he was exactly that type of man.

If anyone seemed more surprised at that fact, it was Evan himself. "Why?" he asked, the question slipping past his reddened lips before he could stop it.

She blinked a few times, then shrugged. "Because you won the Tag Team titles tonight," she answered. "I thought you deserved a reward."

He frowned. "Oh," he said, looking disappointed, a little upset.

"And also," she added, pink tainting her cheeks, "I may have wanted to." With a quick movement, she brushed her lips against his again. "A lot."

And really, it was as simple as that.