CHAPTER SEVEN

RILEY

She hadn't expected Marco. Riley was used to life shitting on her. Her mother had left her father when she was six and fled the country with her. They'd gone to Italy for three years. To this day, if Riley freaked out, she slipped into Italian. She spoke, read, and wrote Italian very well. Riley could easily speak English, but reading and writing it were tougher for her. When she was nine, her mother told her they had to leave. They ended up in Barcelona. Riley loved Barcelona because it was beautiful, but it was also the place where she realized her mother had kidnapped her.

Maria Graciella Viccina had told her her father didn't want her anymore. She claimed he had abandoned them, and that it was Riley's fault. Riley was too young to understand what her memories meant, but she knew her mother had been saving up to run for a long time. She hated her father for keeping his job and choosing wrestling over her. She wanted to punish him, so she left. This was also the only reason she took Riley with her.

After Italy, her mother kept a moving fund at all times so they could pick up and run whenever they needed to. They moved all over the world, never settling down long enough for Riley to make any real connections to people her own age. She guessed that was why she was so prone to sleeping around. She didn't know how to do relationships. She spoke a ton of languages at least somewhat fluently, but every time she learned a new one, they moved again.

At eighteen, Riley had had enough. She emptied her mother's moving fund and booked a flight to the United States. She got a lousy day job and lived in a shelter until she managed to teach herself the basics of wrestling. She found someone willing to train her in exchange for her answering phones and soliciting new customers. She started doing shows, and she met Kristy. It was thanks to that connection that she met Saraya, and ended up at NXT. After that, she'd faced her father who embraced her... at first.

She'd hoped for a perfect reunion, but it was just awkward. At this point, a few years later, it was still awkward. Riley knew her father loved her, but the two couldn't relate to each other. He expected her to be his baby girl, but too much had changed since she'd been gone, and Riley was all grown up.

So she went through the motions. The Usos didn't really talk to her much at all. Gabe, her cousin, only talked to her about work-related things. Randi was nice to her, but that kid loved everyone, so that hardly counted. She was close to Kristy and Molly, but now she'd fucked that up, too... She was alone, and she was miserable.

Then, Marco had come along. He didn't push her or talk down to her. He didn't expect her to be someone she wasn't. He genuinely seemed to enjoy being in her company... And she felt the same way.

"Riley?" He called, breaking through her thoughts. "What's wrong, Mia Bella?"

She looked at him. "Did you just speak to me in Italian?" She asked.

Marco shrugged. "It's your primary language, right? And I like Italian. It's a beautiful language."

"French is prettier."

"French lies. Everything is silent. It keeps secrets. It's not beautiful, it's an illusion. Trust me, I'm Canadian." He smirked at her. "Italian's better. It says what it means. If it's angry, it sounds angry. It's honest about the way it feels."

She smiled. "You're an odd one, Marco."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He pulled her toward him until she was pressed against him and kissed her hard. Riley forgot what she had been thinking about as she kissed him back.

GINNY

She hadn't meant for this to happen. Link was a great guy, but she wasn't entirely sure what had possessed her to invite him upstairs and into her bed. It wasn't like her. Even when she hooked up with guys, it was usually in their room, not hers. They were in California now. Maybe the heat had driven her crazy.

"You're really beautiful," Link told her. He kissed her and Ginny let him, not sure how far she wanted things to go.

"I had fun tonight," Ginny admitted.

"Me, too. We should do it again... If you want to."

She couldn't help but appreciate the way he asked instead of demanding it. Maybe she'd finally found a decent guy. She smiled at him. "I'd like that."

To her surprise, he didn't try to have sex with her. That might just be a first. They talked and watched TV for a while before he kissed her goodnight and left.

Gabe was coming down the hallway. He glared at Link. "You okay, Gin?" He asked.

"I'm fine, Gabe," Ginny said.

He studied her as if looking for proof that she was lying, but for once, she wasn't. "Who's that guy?"

"Not your concern."

"I don't recognize him."

Ginny knew Gabe was just trying to look out for her. She rolled her eyes and said, "His name is Link. He's Jericho's Young Boy."

"Link? Whst kind of stupid-ass name is Link? Where's Zelda?"

"If you're going to be a jerk, leave."

"Sorry... I don't like him, Ginny. I've seen him around. Something's off about him."

"He's a perfectly nice guy. You should be relieved. I'm fine, Gabe."

He nodded. "I'm glad he didn't hurt you... But I still don't like him."

"I know. Goodnight, Gabe." She smiled at him before closing the door. She decided not to read too much into Gabe's opinion. He hated everyone she dated. The truth was, Ginny cared about Gabe too much to date him. He was a loyal friend, but if they had a relationship and it went badly like they always did, she'd lose him. She hated the idea of that, so she refused to ever consider him a romantic option. With that being the case, her options seemed limited to assholes, but maybe Link had the potential to change that.

NICKY

The mood swing came on suddenly. That was never a good sign. He hadn't gone manic, not even close, so he hoped that meant this wasn't serious. One minute, Nicky was perfectly fine. The next, he felt severely depressed. There was no logical reason for this. Nothing had happened. That meant it was chemical.

"Nicky?" Lucas called when he returned to their hotel room.

Nicky was staring into space, but he forced himself to focus and say, "Hey, Lucas." He even sat up and managed a small smile.

"Are you okay, honey?" Lucas asked in a concerned tone Nicky knew too well.

"Yeah, I'm just exhausted," Nicky said quickly. "I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"My poor baby... Do you want to turn in early?"

"Sure."

"Okay. I'm going to take a shower and change, and then I'll join you." Lucas kissed him quickly before heading toward the bathroom.

Nicky curled up in a ball under his blanket and prayed he could shake off this depression. He didn't want to worry Lucas, and it might just be a minor episode. He could be fine. The meds kept him pretty balanced, but sometimes he still had minor recurrences of the depression. It was a bigger issue if the mania hit. A major manic episode automatically meant he had to adjust his medication again, and until it worked, he was not an easy guy to live with.

You'll be fine, he told himself. There's no need to worry Lucas. He knew it was risky not to tell Lucas he was depressed, but it wasn't like he was suicidal again. This wasn't that serious, and Lucas had enough on his plate.

If it gets worse, I'll tell him, he promised himself.

As Lucas returned, Nicky put on a brave face and wrapped his arms around him. They fell asleep in each other's arms and Nicky tried to ignore how bad he still felt as he drifted off.

TOBY

He was in love. The more time he spent with Kristy, the more he was certain of it, but he couldn't tell her. Until her stalker was caught, it seemed cruel to dangle his feelings in front of her. Right now, Kristy needed a friend, not a boyfriend. He could be that for her. He needed to be that for her.

"Stop licking my face," Kristy protested with a laugh. She was talking to Ronda the kitten, not Toby.

"Ronda loves you," Toby observed.

"I love her, too, but her tongue tickles!" She scooped the kitten up in her arms and kissed the top of her tiny head.

As he watched her, Toby hoped his feelings weren't too plain on his face. Kristy was amazing. She was beautiful and didn't seem to know it, and her laugh was musical. Her smile was infectious, and she was brilliant. She also liked cats. That was a big bonus.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Ronda squeaked out a "mew" and stood at attention nervously. Kristy whispered to her soothingly as Toby unlocked the door.

"Kristy, it's getting very late," Hank said gently. "You should return to your own room."

"Guys, I'm an adult, and it's perfectly safe here," Kristy protested.

Garth rolled his eyes. "You don't make this easy. Boss Man wants you on a curfew," he said. "They want you in your room unless you're working so you're not out in the open late at night."

"Shane's being ridiculous," Kristy insisted. "There hasn't been another incident since we hit Florida, or here. I'm sure I'm safe."

"It's better safe than sorry, Kristy," Hank said patiently. "Your safety is our priority."

She sighed. "I hate this."

"I know, sweetheart, but everything will be fine. I'm sure this will all be over soon."

Ronda snuggled against Kristy. "I don't want to leave her," she said sadly.

"You could stay for the night," Toby said. "I mean, to play with Ronda. I can crash on the couch."

"I'm not kicking you out of your bed."

"It keeps you inside and safe all night."

"Whatever. Works for me," Garth said. Hank didn't look convinced, but he let the matter drop. They closed the door and returned outside.

"Thanks, Toby," Kristy said. "It gets lonely being locked up in my room. I feel like a grounded, angsty teenager, and trust me, my teen angst wasn't pretty."

"Was anyone's?"

"I was fifteen in college. Trust me, that adds to the angst. It was pretty out of control." She smiled at him sadly.

"Do you need to talk?" He asked.

"Need to? Not really. But you sort of have this way of making me want to talk about things... Promise not to freak out, okay?" She paused, then rolled up her sleeves. She removed several bracelets. She always wore them, except in the ring, but she wore wrist guards then. Now, Toby took in what he saw on her exposed flesh.

Dozens of faded white lines covered her wrists. She was trembling as Toby traced one with his index finger. "God, Kristy," he whispered. "I had no idea."

"I used to do it pretty much every day," she admitted.

"I'm so sorry you hurt that badly."

"Almost no one knows. My mom knows. She put me in therapy. My dad knows because I've had a couple of relapses since we met where I slipped up. Molly and Riley know, too, so I'm sure Dean knows... Maybe Joe. But that's it, so please don't tell anyone."

"I'd never betray your trust, M'Lady," he said seriously.

"Thank you... Anyway, being stuck in my room and isolated sets me off sometimes. I haven't hurt myself, but the urges have hit a couple of times."

"Oh, Kristy... Please call me next time. I'll drop everything and come running."

"You're sweet." She seemed to realize her scars were still exposed and quickly began covering them back up.

Toby stopped her. She watched in confusion an he raised her wrist to his lips and kissed it. Gently, he released it. "You're still beautiful, Kris," he told her.

Kristy blushed hard as she went back to putting her bracelets back on, slower this time. Somehow, Kristy showing him her most vulnerable pieces only made him love her more.

MOLLY

She was just taking a walk. Keith and Nicky were with James so they could go over plans for James taking over leadership of the Anti-Legacies. Molly decided to take advantage of the time alone.

She was five or so blocks away from the hotel when she felt eyes on her. She spun around, but no one was there. Then, she heard a woman say, "You got him fired!"

Molly followed the voice and saw a young woman wearing a "YES! Movement" t-shirt. She mentally braced herself for whatever rant this woman was about to hurl at her.

"You joined the Creative team, and all of a sudden, he's just gone?" The woman continued.

"Brandon was on a per-appearance deal. You can see him on the indies when he goes back. Indy wrestling is awesome, seriously," Molly said carefully. She knew the rules for dealing with angry fans.

"You got him fired," the woman said again.

"Okay, we're done here." Molly started to turn to walk away, but as she was turning, she felt a sharp pain in the side of her stomach. She wasn't sure what had happened at first, but then she realized there was someone else there, someone who had snuck up behind her while the woman kept her distracted. She also registered an incredibly loud sound... One she knew all too well.

Molly had just been shot.