Chapter 4: A Moment

It'd been a long week on the road, house shows and constant press events. Backstage was smaller now that they were split, and Becky was still figuring things out. Tuesday night, the last of the workweek, was turning out to be particularly stressful since SmackDown went live. There was more pressure on them to perform, everyone in Stamford was counting on those ratings.

She sat at catering finishing dinner a couple hours before show time, half listening to Alexa Bliss and Carmella chatter about the matches tonight. Becky was happy for them, having trained with both in NXT before she was called up last year, but it would take some time to really get close. Despite insisting she was fine on her own, she missed Sasha, the New Day, Corey Graves, and Finn. Definitely Finn. They were always running in and out of the apartment. Maybe one or two nights a week they got to go to a local bar or sit watching Documentaries on Netflix. It wasn't enough.

"What do you have tonight Becky?" Carmella snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Oh um. Backstage promo with Nattie, we've got to find a way to heat that up a bit…"

"Maybe," Alexa leaned forward with a devious look in her eye, "You could insult her cat."

"Or her husband?" Carmella sipped at her protein shake.

"Oh don't bring poor Tyson into this." Becky laughed. "But Cesaro did lock in a better sharpshooter than her the other night."

"That's good," Alexa laughed, "that's really good. Hey by the way, how's the new place?"

"Barley seen it," The other two nodded, they'd barely seen their homes too. "But it's quite nice and a lot bigger what I had in Orlando."

"Is it weird living with Finn?" Alexa asked, looking up from retweeting the hype around her match.

"Nah, we go way back. He's one o' my best friends so."

"Have you walked in on him naked?" Alexa's devious look was back, she was leaning forward on her elbows.

They all laughed, and Becky quickly responded "No, no I 'aven't"

"Why not?" Carmella raised her eyebrows and chuckled. Alexa burst out laughing, and Becky followed suit. All she could think about was how she was getting home to him tomorrow, clothed or otherwise.

When she finally dragged her suitcase into the apartment, she was achy from the long flight, a downside to living on the west coast.

"I'm home!" she shouted into the apartment but was met with silence. Dropping her bags down on the couch, she spotted a note on the kitchen table.

Bex,

At the gym. Hope you had a good flight. Leftover banana pancakes in the fridge.

-F

She sighed, he was down in the gym constantly with SummerSlam only a week and half away. It made it hard for their schedules to line up, and he was a lone wolf when it came to his workouts. But, she couldn't argue with banana pancakes.

She settled in with her pancakes on the couch, catching up on the shows she'd missed all week. Half an hour later, she heard Finn's key in the lock, and panicked. She hid her empty plate in the shelf of the side table and jumped back into her seat as he walked through the door.

"Hi…" he looked at her, suspicious.

"How's it goin'?" She smiled sweetly, but knew it was already over.

"Fine…" his eyes narrowed, he placed his gym bag down on the floor and slowly walked towards her. "What's wrong?"

"Nooothin'…Don't, oof." It was too late, he was standing over her, eyes scanning until he found the plate from where she'd attempted to conceal it.

He leaned down right on top of her, his face brushing against Becky's, to pick it up. "Were you eatin' on the sofa again? You know how I feel about crumbs." He sat down on the couch close to her, placing the plate on the coffee table and looking at her disapprovingly.

"I never agreed to that rule." She pushed in, staring him down.

He did the same until their noses just barely touched. Becky kept her gazed fixed but could feel the blood rushing up to her face. That heat was back, the tingling of her skin under his warm breath. This is what they did whenever they fought, stare downs were the way to solve all their problems. So she'd learned long ago to resist the urge to lean in and meet his lips. Somehow, after all that training, today she found her eyes being pulled down. Looking at his chapped lips, turned up ever so slightly on the corners, the voice saying it'd be so easy was stronger than ever.

"I win!" It was only a moment after she'd locked her gaze on his lips. Her eyes darted back up. "You aiight?" he asked more softly this time. He had seen it, that moment of weakness and temptation. Maybe he had felt it too, or maybe he just felt sorry for her.

"Oh, you know me, I hate to lose."

"Well loser cleans up," he handed the plate back to her. "That's a rule."

She sulked over to the kitchen, "you want somethin' to drink while I'm over here?"

"A water if ya don't mind."

"Water?!"

"Been on detox since Friday. Thanks," he said as she handed over a bottle from the fridge and sat down across the couch from him. "Biggest match of my life is in less than two weeks. I hav'ta be in the best shape of my life."

"Lame." She leaned back, curling her legs up to her body. "I'm proud of ya, you know that right?"

A big toothy smile broke out on his face, "I haven't done anythin' yet."

"That is completely untrue."

"I'll give you somethin' to be proud of," He leaned forward and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. When their eyes met, his were twinkling, "I promise."

Becky felt her breath leave her as his hand lingered on the side of her face for just a second. These little moments were becoming more and more frequent. In truth they had been all along, the chemistry between them was strong ever since the first time they met.

"Aiight, I need a shower." He said abruptly, grabbing his gym bag on his way out of the room.

In all the years she'd known him, she'd never been able to work out what was running through his brain. It felt like a massive discrepancy, he could look at her and just know any secret she'd try to hide. But him, he kept it all under lock and key. For years she was convinced he just felt like he was an older brother who had to protect her. It was clear that wasn't true when she'd gotten old and saw him looking at her every now and then. The more he'd instigate these little moments, the more she was sure there was something on the other side. What it was, she couldn't begin to understand.

She sighed and made her way back to her room, leaned against her pillows and pulled her book out of her tote bag. Crossing her legs she opened it, but then found herself looking up across the hall. The bathroom door was open just a crack, the light from inside spilling out. She could hear the water running and chuckled to herself over Alexa and Carmella's comments yesterday.

But then she placed the book down on her bed, and uncrossed her legs. Before she had thought the whole idea through, she was at the door of the bathroom. She knocked her knuckles on the door, moving it just the slightest bit more open.

"Hey Finn?"

"Yeah?" He shouted from inside

"I really wanna go to bed, can I brush my teeth real quick?"

"Uh…okay yeah"

She pushed the door open to the hot, tiny room. In the mirror she could make out his tan silhouette behind a pane of frosted glass. Brushing her teeth she locked her eyes on it, laughing a little to herself. This was the craziest idea she'd ever had. It wasn't exactly peeping, he was well covered, but her imagination could do the rest. She watched him reach his hands to his hair and tipping his head back. Her eyes traced the outline of his thighs, his torso, and his bum. Then the water stopped, and she froze.

"Bex can you hand me a towel?"

"Uh…Sure yeah," she pulled a crisp white towel from where Finn had neatly laid them out. He opened the shower door and stuck his hand out for it.

"Thanks," he emerged with it wrapped carefully around his waist, hitting just above his knees. His hair was sticking up in all sorts of directions. Her eyes were on the curves of his muscles, and the water that was dripping down them. There was no escaping it, he was onto her, and raised his eyebrows with a cool look across his face.

"That was fast," she said suspiciously.

"No idea what you're talkin' about," but he broke out into a dorky smile as he leaned over the sink and started to trim his beard. She ran her eyes over him once, his back was arched and it stuck out his butt, but then pulled them away. Wrapping her hair up in a topknot, she felt that smile return.

"Goodnight," she began to leave, and he laughed as he said goodnight. She knew when she'd been beat.