I'm finally posting a new chapter! Thanks for sticking around if you have. :)

Shoutout to AnimeJunkieGrrl for reviewing the last chapter!

This chapter is named after the song Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko.

Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in this story. Everyone belongs to either the WWE or themselves.

TRIGGER WARNING:

There is a scene in this chapter that involves abuse, so please don't read this if that is triggering to you. I don't want anything happening to any of you, so please make sure you don't read this if you don't think you can. :)

"Hey, girls."

AJ and Layla turn around to look at their boss, Kofi Kingston. He was in the process of putting his jacket on.

"Hi, Kofi," AJ greeted, smiling. When she first started working there, she had called him "Mr. Kingston," but he didn't like it and insisted on being called Kofi. It still felt weird to her, but she was slowly getting used to it.

"I need to leave early tonight, so I need you two to close up shop," He explained. "Can you do that?"

"Yes, of course!" Layla responded.

"Great!" He said. "The keys are in the backroom, so you can just head back there when you're done."

They said their goodbyes, and Kofi left. Layla and AJ began cleaning up. The shop didn't close for another hour, but it was nighttime, and not many people stopped by when it was dark out.

The door opened, causing the bell on top to ring. Layla turned around.

The woman walking in had long blonde, curly hair. Her legs seemed to go on for days. She was wearing a t-shirt and athletic shorts. She looked frustrated and annoyed. AJ was in the back, so Layla walked to the counter.

"Welcome to Kofi's Coffee," Layla said, smiling. "What can I get you?"

"Can I just have a green tea, please?" The woman asked. Layla nodded and made the drink. When she brought it back for her, she was frowning. "What's wrong?"

"I left my wallet at the studio," She said. She groaned. "God, I'm so dumb. I'm sorry for wasting your time. I have no money, so – "

"It's on me," Layla interrupted. She smiled. "Take the tea. It's not that expensive anyway, so just let me pay for it."

"Are you sure?" The blonde asked.

"Positive."

She took the tea from Layla, and dug around in her pockets before pulling out a business card.

"Here," She said, handing it to Layla. "I'm a stylist, so come in some time and I'll give you a free haircut."

"Wow, thanks," Layla said, smiling. Her eyes scanned the card as the blonde walked out of the coffee shop.

Her name was Summer Rae. Her hair reminded Layla of summer, with its bright color and beauty. She was definitely taking her up on that offer.

Summer walked out of Kofi's Coffee, frowning. How did she manage to forget her wallet? She'd changed and grabbed her phone, but she couldn't remember to grab her wallet. It's a good thing she was walking and not driving, or else she'd have been pulled over.

Her phone started vibrating. She sighed and pulled it out of her pocket, and sure enough, it was Johnny calling for at least the fifth time. She rolled her eyes and answered it. She stopped walking and leaned on the nearby wall of the restaurant Johnny always took her to, Eat Your Hart Out.

"What?" Summer snapped.

"Summer Rae Moinet, you will not talk to me that way!" Johnny all but yelled at her.

"I've had enough of your shit, Johnny," She said.

"Excuse me?"

She began walking. "You treat me like crap and I'm fucking sick of it," Johnny hated it when she swore, so she had more where that came from. "I'm with you at least five hours a day, taking time out of my personal life, to cater to you and your fucking needs. I'm not the only dancer in this lame ass town, you know. You could find someone else to dance with every now and then. Maybe let me live my life the way I want."

"Summer – "

"No, I'm not through," She interrupted. "Have you seen the ugly ass - ?"

Her phone flew out of her hand as she was shoved into a wall. Johnny was standing in front of her, and he looked angry.

"You know I hate it when you swear, Summer," He said, his voice low and surprisingly calm.

"I…" She trailed off.

"You have one chance to apologize," He said. When she didn't say anything, he slapped her. "Looks like we have to do this the hard way."

"What are you - ?" Summer began, but quickly stopped when Johnny picked her up and put her over his shoulder. She screamed.

"Shut up!" He yelled. "You'll only make it worse."

"I'm so sorry, Johnny," She apologized, tears running down her face. "I didn't mean any of it, I promise."

He chuckled. "It's too late, Summer. You're always too late."

Johnny walked over to a car parked on the side of the road. Summer was sobbing as he placed her in the backseat. He walked over to the driver's side, got in, and started the car.

"I'm…so…sorry…" Summer said between sobs.

Johnny just shook his head and drove away.

AJ Lee walked back to the front of the store, a rag in her hand.

"I'm so tired," She said, walking to a table. She started cleaning it. When she didn't hear a snarky remark in return, she looked at Layla, who was standing at the counter staring at something in her hand. "Layla? What are you looking at?"

She looked up. "Oh, nothing."

AJ set down her cleaning supplies and walked over to Layla, who didn't even try to hide what appeared to be a business card. She took it from the Brit, her eyes scanning it.

"Summer Rae Moinet?" AJ read, looking up at Layla, who nodded. "Why do you have the business card of a hair stylist?"

"She came in when you were in the back," Layla explained. "She forgot her wallet, so I told her the drink was on me, and she gave me this in return."

AJ smirked. "Does Layla have the hots for Summer?"

Layla scrunched up her nose. "Of course not. I might have a crush on her, but definitely not the hots."

AJ just rolled her eyes and went back to her table, picking up the cleaning supplies.

It was Layla's day off, and she was now standing in front of Summertime Salon. She was debating whether or not to go in. It was just the night before that she'd met Summer, and she didn't know if it was too soon to take her up on her offer. Finally, she took a deep breath and opened the doors.

A bell above it rang. There was a girl at the front behind a desk, probably the receptionist. She was African-American and had red hair. She was smiling and talking to someone on the other side of the salon. Layla's eyes instantly found Summer, but besides her, there were three other women. One had even redder hair than the receptionist, while the other two looked alike. They must be twins, Layla thought. They did look different in some ways, but they mostly looked alike.

The receptionist looked at Layla and grinned. "Hi! Welcome to Summertime Salon! Do you have an appointment?"

Summer looked up and smiled. "It's okay, Alicia. I invited her here. I can squeeze her in. Come on back here."

Layla walked back to where Summer was. She had a spinning seat in front of her, so she sat down. One of the twins had someone in her chair, but the other two ladies were just standing and talking.

Summer started doing something with Layla's hair. "So, I never caught your name last night."

"Layla," She said. "And you're Summer, right?"

"Yeah," She replied. "I own this place. It's a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun, you know? I love working with these girls." She motioned toward the other stylists.

"Oh, yeah, it seems like fun," Layla agreed.

Summer found she loved hearing Layla talk. It was most definitely her accent, and she was going to have to come up with ways to keep her talking.

"So, what do you want to do with your hair?" Summer asked.

"Just a trim will be fine," Layla responded.

"All right." Summer smiled.

While Summer worked on her hair, Layla watched her from the mirror. Her blue eyes sparkled as she put Layla's hair up. Anyone could tell that Summer really loved what she was doing. Layla could only see her upper body in the mirror – the bottom half was blocked by her chair – but she knew she had an amazing body. She had watched it walk away last night after she ordered her coffee.

Summer's face was in deep thought, but Layla noticed something. She had tried to cover it up with makeup, but she could still faintly see it.

"Are you okay?" Layla asked.

Summer raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

Layla hadn't meant to say anything, but she accidentally blurted it out. Right now, surrounded by the other stylists and customers, was not the time to talk about this.

"Oh, um, nothing," Layla said, resisting the urge to shake her head.

A little while later, Summer said, "You're done!"

Layla looked in the mirror. While her hair wasn't significantly shorter, it was still noticeable. It looked good on her.

"It's great!" Layla exclaimed. "Thank you so much."

"Hey, Alicia!" The redhead at the front desk looked up from the computer. "This one's on me, so don't worry about payment, okay?"

"You got it," Alicia said, smiling, before looking back at the computer.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" Layla asked Summer.

"Well, I have to work, but after that I'm free," She replied.

"We close at eight, so could you stop by some time before that?" Layla asked. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Summer nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Thanks for the haircut, by the way," Layla said, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

The next day, AJ had the day off, so Layla was working with their other co-worker, Rosa Mendes. Unlike AJ, Rosa didn't talk much, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable or anything, so it was okay with Layla.

Ten minutes before they would be closing the shop, the door opened and Summer Rae walked in. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. She smiled at Layla, but when she saw Rosa, her smile grew even bigger.

"Rosa?" She asked. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Just part-time," Rosa said, shrugging.

"How do you two know each other?" Layla asked, looking between the two.

"We go to the same dance studio," Summer said, her eyes returning to Layla.

"You dance?"

"Oh, yeah," Summer said. "I do competitions and stuff with my partner, but it's not a big deal. He's the talented one."

"Oh, please," Rosa said. "You are so much more talented than him!"

"All right, girls," Kofi said, walking behind them. "It's time to close."

"I'll close up," Layla offered. "I need to talk to my friend. We can stay in here, and I'll just lock up when I leave."

Kofi agreed, giving her the keys. He and Rosa left, so Layla led Summer to table and they sat down.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Summer asked.

"I don't want to beat around the bush, so I'm just going to come out and say it," Layla said. "What happened to your eye?"

Summer frowned. "W-What do you mean?"

"You have a black eye, Summer," She said. "You tried covering it up, but I can tell it's there. Trust me, I know a black eye when I see one."

Summer looked down, avoiding Layla's gaze. "Well, I, uh – "

"Don't lie to me, Summer."

"He did it, okay?"

"Who?"

"My dance partner, and, well, my boyfriend," She said, sighing.

"Summer – "

"I know you want me to break up with him, but I can't," She said. "He needs me."

"He needs you?" Layla asked.

"To be honest, I'm a better dancer than he is," Summer admitted. "But you can't tell him. He's a professional dancer; it's how he gets paid. I just dance because he's my boyfriend and he needs a partner. But without me, he would lose. Everyone would realize that he can barely dance."

"Summer, please break up with him," Layla said. "It's for your own good."

"Why am I even telling you this?" Summer asked. "I barely even know you. Why do you care?"

"I know what you're going through," Layla said.

"No, you don't!"

"My ex-girlfriend was abusive," Layla admitted. "She's the reason I moved to America. We got into fights all the time, and they always ended up with me lying on the ground, bleeding. We'd both cry and she'd apologize, saying she'd never do it again, but she did. She did it again and again. One of my co-workers noticed I had a black eye – even though I was wearing makeup, like you – and he told me to break up with her. So…I did. I broke up with her, packed my bags, and now I'm in Texas."

"I'm sorry…"

"No, it's okay," Layla said, shaking her head. "I learned from the experience. I know what I'm worth. And I know what you're worth. You're worth so much more than this shitty guy you call a boyfriend. Please break up with him. Not for me, but for you. You deserve to be happy, Summer."

Summer was holding back tears, but she managed not to cry. "Okay…"

"Promise me."

"I promise. I'll break up with Johnny. I promise."