It was a few minutes past 8am, and Sasha stepped out of the elevator to the hotel lobby wearing a simple green dress that flowed just below her knees. Her hair was down as usual, and she wore sunglasses to cover her eyes. Pulling her suitcase behind her and adjusting the strap of her backpack on her other arm, she made her way towards Seth Rollins who couldn't wipe the smug look off his face. He wore casual shorts, a shirt of some indie rock band he loved listening to, and had a cap on backwards.
"Morning, Banks," he greeted, helping her with her suitcase. "Want to grab breakfast first before we hit the road?"
"Yes. Please," she half-demanded, removing her sunglasses and slipping them on her head. "Breakfasts are sacred, and should never be skipped."
He chuckled lightly. "Alright, come on."
Taking advantage of the breakfast buffet as usual, Seth and Sasha helped themselves to loads of waffles, fruits, fluffy eggs, and fresh juices. When they sat on a table, they were joined by Roman Reigns. "Hey, guys," he put his own plate down. "Mind if I join you?"
"Hey, Ro!" Sasha greeted. "Not at all," she cleared her cellphone and wallet to make room. "Great match the other night against Rusev," she commented. "You guys sell the big dog thing really well."
"Thanks," he started picking on his food. "You guys leaving for LA this morning?"
"Yup," Seth replied. "We're catching a flight after breakfast, then maybe have time to visit that huge CrossFit center downtown," he grinned.
"Seriously, he got you to do that?" Roman teased, raising an eyebrow at Sasha.
She scoffed and pouted. "I lost to him at Mortal Combat—I'm required to be his CrossFit buddy for the rest of the year."
Roman threw his head back and laughed. "Cesaro must be so relieved!"
"Oh, whatever," she waved it off. "I'll live."
"Sasha, hey," Bayley lightly jogged towards them, looking a little worried. "I thought you guys left already?"
"We would've, but Banks here refused to skip breakfast so," Seth shrugged, sipping a bit of his coffee.
"Yeah, listen," Bayley took a seat beside Roman. "Sami and Kevin just left, and they said there were a few paparazzi waiting right outside the hotel for you."
Sasha coughed a little and pursed her lips. "Well," she shrugged. "They'll be on to me for a while."
"Jesus," Roman started, shaking his head.
Seth sighed, glancing at Sasha who seemed to have lost her appetite. "Alright, here's the plan," Seth started. "I'll get the car, load our stuff, drive by the side of the hotel, and meet you there."
"How can I meet you there without getting recognized? My hair doesn't exactly scream low key."
Seth took the sunglasses from her head and placed them over her eyes again, then got his cap and placed it over Sasha's head. "Got a hoodie to cover up the rest of your face?"
"I do," Roman unzipped the jacket he was wearing—it was an old merch of Shield's. He passed it on to Sasha, and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Here, dude," Bayley removed an extra ponytail from her wrist and handed it. "Make sure none of the strands are seen."
Sasha looked at them all gratefully; her lips quivering. She really wouldn't trade anything for her WWE family. When the going got tough, they all had each other's backs.
"We'll let Seth go on first," Bayley started. "Then you'll follow okay? Seth, just make sure they don't follow you."
"I got it covered."
Tying her hair in a high ponytail and hiding as much as she could using Seth's cap, Sasha then adjusted the hood of Roman's jacket to make sure everything that needed to be covered was covered. The jacket definitely ate her up, almost covering the entirety of her dress. With a sigh, she looked up at them. "Do I still look like me?"
"You look like a kid," Seth laughed a bit, trying to ease the tension. "I didn't realize until now how tiny you really are, Banks."
"Shut up," she glared at him from under her disguise. "That's because I'm wearing Roman's jacket."
She was a little nervous. Normally, they all dealt with the paparazzi quite well. It was part of what they signed up for. Hell, Seth was hounded for weeks right after his scandal blew up, and the things they wrote about him were brutal. The difference however, Seth thought to himself, was that he was really the one to blame back then while Sasha didn't deserve any of this.
Feeling protective once again, he placed an arm around her shoulders. "Come on. Let's get this over and done with."
Roman, Bayley and Sasha watched from inside as Seth made his way over to the valet to retrieve the car he rented that week. Waiting on the hotel's driveway, the car finally arrived just as someone from TMZ approached him. "Hey! Seth Rollins! Got a minute to spare for TMZ?"
Seth rolled his eyes. "What? Here to ask me again if I named my dog after Kevin Owens?"
"Actually, we wanted to confirm the rumors about Sasha Banks?"
"I got nothing for you, man."
"Alright, but have you chosen who your new best friend is? Are you Team Sasha or Team Bayley?"
Staying in character as a lousy way to throw him off, Seth looked at the guy and smirked. "Look, we both know what happened the last time I had friends by my side, okay? It wasn't exactly the happiest ending," he finished off with a signature smug look.
The guy left as soon as Seth entered the car. Making sure he wasn't followed, he drove around the hotel and parked along the side, then took out his phone to call Sasha. "Coast is clear," he said, while looking around.
"Okay," Sasha exhaled deeply, looking at Roman and Bayley. "Thanks again, guys," she hugged them both. "I'll return your jacket in LA, Roman."
"Don't worry about it," he smiled. "Go," he told her. "We'll watch from here."
Stepping out of the hotel, Sasha casually walked to where Seth was waiting a few meters away. A group of paparazzi was at the opposite side, too busy talking to take a good look at her. She hurried her pace a bit. Just a few more feet, she told herself, glancing behind just to make sure she wasn't being followed.
She caught one of them staring hard, his eyes squinting to see if she was someone they knew. She was, after all, dressed a bit skeptically. Turning around again, she made the last few steps to Seth's car, opening the door and sliding in fast.
"Oh my goooood," she exclaimed, suddenly laughing. "That was a thrill!"
Seth cackled and sped off, watching as Sasha removed his cap, Bayley's ponytail, and Roman's jacket. He looked at the time. "We're running a little late. But if we make the 10:30am flight, we've got time after lunch to hit the center."
"Ughhh," Sasha groaned. "Can't we just stay in and grab beer and pizza or something? I honestly don't want to be out in LA right now. That place is infested with guys like them," she gestured back at the hotel. "And I'm really in no mood to deal with it. Not yet at least."
She was being bratty, but Seth couldn't blame her. "Alright, fine," he gave up. "What do you want to do then, huh?"
"Curl up in bed, watch a good movie, and cry myself to sleep."
…
The flight to LA felt surprisingly quick—thankfully they didn't run into any more trouble. Seth wasn't sure how he'd be able to handle the situation this time, now that Sasha was more agit. It didn't help that they were seen travelling together, too. Maybe he should have thought about this arrangement a little harder.
When they got to the hotel, they each checked into separate rooms. Sasha gave Seth a small smile before heading up to hers, slowly dragging her suitcase along.
She took a quick shower, pulled over a pair of comfy shorts and a beat up Eddie Guerrero shirt from almost a decade ago, and made herself comfortable in bed. She dreaded being alone at times like these—her mind just wandered off until she would get lost in all of these depressing thoughts, usually about how and why things went wrong. It hurt too much to think about. Just as tears threatened to spill from her eyes, someone knocked on the door.
She opened it to find Seth with a large box of pizza and a pack of beer. "So I wasn't going to let you cry yourself to sleep," he entered the room and placed both the pizza and beer on the table. "We can just sit around here, watch whatever movie you feel like watching, and then I'll wait until you fall asleep—but you're not crying, got that?"
Sasha's eyes beamed and she fought the urge to cry again, wrapping her arms around Seth and giving him a tight hug. "Thanks, Seth," was all she said.
Seth wasn't sure what to do at first, but he wrapped his arms around her eventually and breathed in her scent. "Come on," he led her to the small table. "Let's eat."
After finishing the entire box and each drinking a couple of beers, they found themselves curled up on the king-sized bed, an arm's length away from each other.
Seth had begun opening up about his previous relationships—the engagement that broke off because of his infidelity, and how for a while he tried to make it work with the woman he cheated with.
"Do you regret it?" Sasha asked softly, watching as his expressive eyes still bore the pain of what he had done.
"Every damn day," he said. "There are a lot of things in my life that I would have done differently—that included."
They were silent for a while, until Seth spoke up again. "Why'd you get married so young?"
"I was 22, and was working all my life. I dropped out of school, so things were a little different for me compared to most kids. We met when I was 19, and I was working odd jobs here and there while training. We were in love and happy—so we got married," she shrugged. "Back then, I thought that was enough."
She traced invisible lines on the white bed sheets as she continued, "There were never any signs, you know? I just received a call from him three months ago saying he couldn't do it anymore," she sighed. "And then I found out he was sleeping around with another woman back home."
"Do you know her?"
"No," Sasha shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. I just want to get past this and focus on all the good stuff that's been happening."
Seth smiled, and stuck his hand out. She smiled back and took it, as they fell into a comfortable silence until Sasha fell asleep.
...
Hooray! I am suuuuper enjoying writing this fic. Let me know if you guys are, too! Reviews are highly appreciated!
