Tracey grabbed my arm as soon as we got backstage. "Holy shit Tor!" she said hugging me tight. "You're like the female Ambrose! Are you sure you've never watched wrestling?" "I taught her well" Dean said smirking. "Sure did" I said smiling back at him. "I watched a bit on YouTube when I got home this morning" I admitted. "You're a freaking machine babe." Dean grinned. "I aim to please" he said pulling me away from Tracey and wrapping his arms around me. "I know" I whispered in his ear. He chuckled and kissed my head. "That was great guys" a voice I didn't know said walking up to us. Dean froze.
"Hunter" he said warily. "Didn't know you were here tonight." "I wasn't to going to be" Hunter said as I turned around. "I flew in for the Raw taping tomorrow, and my plane was early, so I figured I may as well come see what all the twitter hype is about." I looked down. "I'm Paul" he said, holding his hand out to me. I shook it as I looked at Tracey. "Torrie" I said as Tracey mouthed "Triple fucking H" at me. "He's basically my boss" Dean explained. "Oh right" I said blushing. "Wait a minute" Paul said looking between us. "Are you telling me you didn't know who I am?" I nodded, looking sheepish. "She's never really watched wrestling until this morning" Dean said smirking. Paul looked at me. "And you became a heel just like that out there?" he said rubbing his chin. "Pretty cool huh?" Dean said. Paul nodded. "This just got interesting" he said walking off. "Come find me in an hour Torrie, I may have an offer for you." "She'll be there" Dean called after him.
"Triple fucking H!" Tracey yelled walking over to me. "What?" I asked, really confused. Dean laughed and kissed my head. "Lots to learn doll face" he said smiling. "All the years I've been coming to shows and I've never met him" Tracey grumbled at Phil, who was warming up for his match. "Torrie comes along, and HE knows who she is!" We all laughed at her whining. "That's what happens when you're with the best star on the roster" Dean laughed. Phil flipped him the bird and smiled at me. "Coming to watch my match Torrie?" he asked pointedly looking at Dean. "No she fucking is not" he growled. I looked at Dean in shock. He looked at me and at least had the good grace to look ashamed. "Sorry babe" he said putting his arms around me. "It's just I've had hardly any time with you since you got here, and we need to talk before you go and meet with Hunter." I nodded. "Sorry Phil" I said walking over and kissing his cheek. "Next time ok? Good luck." "Luck is for losers" he said smiling. He looked at Dean. "Nothing to do with me fighting Orton tonight then is it Ambrose?" He asked grinning. Dean grabbed me and pulled me off to the locker room.
"Was Phil right then?" I asked as soon as we got in the room. "Is this because he's fighting Randy?" Dean looked at the floor. "For fuck sake Dean!" I yelled. "It was a bloody game! Alright, I didn't plan how it ended up, but I sure as hell didn't start the kiss! I already knew then that I wanted you, I wouldn't have come after you otherwise!" I suddenly focused on the rest of the room, not just Dean. Seth and Roman waved at me shyly. "Not saying a word" Seth said getting up off the sofa and grabbing Roman. "Catering Ro, now." Roman shrugged and followed Seth out the door.
Dean smiled. "Way to clear a room doll face" he said pulling me into his arms. "Jeez Tor, what are you doing to me? I can't think straight when I'm around you, and I'm not myself when you're not here." "Sounds like a recipe for disaster" I said pulling away from him. He looked hurt. "Sorry Dean" I said sitting on the sofa. "But a hug isn't going to fix this. I'm not even sure it's worth fixing." He looked at me in shock. "What?" he spluttered. I took a deep breath and looked at him. "Just gonna state the obvious here ok?" I said. He nodded. "I'm welsh, you're American" I said. "I live in wales, you live in America. WWE comes to wales twice a year, once for Raw and once for Smackdown..." "I know where you're going with this" he butted in. "And I don't fucking care! So what if we're only in wales twice a year? We're not in wales now and you're here. I don't work 365 days a year you know, and you get vacation time from work!" "What exactly are you getting at Dean?" I asked. "This isn't over" he said pointing at me and then him. "Not by a long shot." I took a deep breath. "It is Dean" I said kissing him on the head. "It has to be. I'm sorry." I left him on the sofa and walked of the room before the tears came.
i found Tracey easily. She was stood watching Phils match through the curtain. "Bet it's much better watching from the ring" she grumbled, linking her arm through mine. I just nodded, not trusting myself to speak. "Hey!" she said, finally looking at me. "What's wrong?" "I need to go" I said wiping my eyes. "Thanks for introducing me to your friends, and to wrestling, but I really need to leave now." "You can't just leave" she said looking at her watch. "You have to go and meet with Paul don't you?" I groaned. "I forgot about that" I admitted. "I'll go, but only because it's rude not to, but then I'm gonna head home ok?" She nodded. "As long as you're sure that's what you want?" she said softly. "No" I admitted. "But it's whats for the best." She gave me a hug and told me where Paul's office was. "And make sure you text me when you're finished with him" she said smiling. I nodded and walked off in the general direction of the office.
Paul was waiting outside when I got there. "Wasn't sure you'd find me" he said showing me into the room and pulling out a chair. I smiled. "I had a bit of help" I admitted. He smiled. "Ambrose?" he asked. I shook my head and tried not to let the tears build up at the mention of his name. He didn't notice, busy shuffling papers on his desk. "So I've been in touch with my wife, who's been monitoring the whole situation on twitter" he said looking at me. "I'm not gonna lie to you Torrie, there's a whole lotta hype about you and Ambrose. There's also a lot of pictures of you accompanying the Shield to the ring tonight. Now obviously we can't screen what people put on twitter, so there's no easy way to play around this. But we think we've got a solution. For the Raw and Smackdown tapings tomorrow and Tuesday we'd like you to be the Shields valet. It's going to include a promo too. Can you do that?" I shook my head and stood up. "I don't think so" I said. "I was actually heading home straight after this meeting." "2 nights" he said. "That's all I'm asking. The chemistry between you and Ambrose is phenomenal. It's an obvious crowd pleaser. We were working an angle to split the Shield, but with Roman leaving. But now, with this angle, it gives us more leverage for the split but with Dean leaving. 2 nights would work, if you have to leave then, that's fine, we can work it in and split them sooner instead of dragging it out. Hotels and transport are all included in this deal. Please?" I sighed. "I don't have any clothes or anything" I said. "And my car is here." "Drive it to the hotel now and garage it" he said opening a drawer. He slid a credit card over to me. "Get what you need and charge it to the company. You're doing us a favour, it's the least we can do." "On one condition" I said looking at him. "Name it." he said smiling. "I get a separate room from Dean" I said. "And he doesn't know about this until he absolutely needs to." "I'll make sure of it" he said standing up and walking round the desk to me. "Dean still has a few segments for tonight, if you leave now you'll get to the hotel way before us. I'll phone ahead and sort your room, and I'll get a script for tomorrow delivered to your room later tonight." I nodded. "Ok" I said. He held out his hand and I shook it. "Before I forget" he said grabbing his phone. "Can I get your number, in case anything changes?" I nodded and put my number in his phone. He smiled and opened the door. "Take care Torrie" he said. I thanked him and walked away.
Just when I thought I'd got to the exit without bumping into anyone, Roman and Seth walked around the corner. I looked at them and froze. "Baby girl" Roman said pulling me in for a hug. "Hoping to sneak away without seeing anyone were you?" Seth asked rubbing my arm. "Something like that" I admitted pulling away from Roman. "You're going the totally wrong way for that" Seth said holding my hand and pulling me back in the direction I'd just come from. I pulled back, not wanting to go that way in case Dean was there. "Relax baby girl" Roman said holding my other hand and pulling me along with Seth. "We're saving you. Dean's out there, kicking trash cans and cussing like a sailor. You need to go the other way." I breathed a sigh of relief and let them lead me to the other exit.
"Take care Torrie" Seth said hugging me. "Yeah" Roman said hugging me from behind. "Be warned, we're both following you on twitter now!" I laughed. "No escaping the hounds of justice is there?" I said. "In the words of Ambrose, nope" Seth said. I laughed. "When do you guys get your scripts for the tapings?" I asked quickly. "About an hour before the show" Seth said, looking at me confused. "Why?" "Just being nosey" I said smiling at him. "Wanna know what's gonna happen before it airs." Roman smiled and kissed my head. "We're gonna miss you baby girl" he said looking into my eyes. I smiled, whispered bye, and left them at the door. "Some of us are gonna miss her more than others" Seth said nudging Roman as Dean came around the corner.
"What?" Dean yelled at them. "Cool it Ambrose" Seth warned waiting for him to catch up to them. They were nearly back at their locker room when they bumped into Tracey and Phil. He was just showered after his win over Randy, and they were hugging in the corridor. "Time and place" Dean said barging Phil. "Like you wouldn't be doing this right now" Phil said glaring at him. "If Torrie hadn't left you." Tracey grabbed his arm and dragged him away quickly before Dean let the words register. Seth and Roman grabbed Dean and dragged him into their locker room.
"Fuck sake Ambrose!" Seth yelled looking around the room. "What the fuck did you do?" "She left me Seth" Dean said, sliding down the wall and curling into a ball. "She fucking left me." Roman looked at Seth and they started piecing the room back together. There was a knock at the door. Seth looked at Dean but he didn't move. "Who is it?" Roman yelled. "Tracey" she said. "Bus is here, leaving in 10." "Cheers" Seth yelled back. "See you on there." "No problem" she said walking away. Dean stood up and grabbed his bag, cramming his ring gear in there. He put his hoodie on, zipped it right up, grabbed his iPod and left the room. Seth and Roman grabbed their bags and followed him out to the bus. He was sat in his usual seat at the back, music blaring through his headphones, looking out the window. Seth nudged Roman and gestured towards Dean. Roman saw the hip flask in Deans hand, and knew they were in for a long night.
I parked my car and walked into the hotel. "WWE" the girl at reception asked. I nodded and gave my name. She gave me my key, directions to my room, and told me my things were in my room. I looked at her confused, and she handed me a card. "Your clothes for the tapings" I read. "Got your sizes from Tracey. Pulled some strings and there's a clothes store opening for you to shop for normal clothes at 11pm. Paul." I smiled. "Your car will be here at 10.45" the girl said. "It will take you to the store, and bring you back." I nodded and walked to the lifts.
When I got in my room I dropped my bag in shock. My clothes for the takings were basically the clothes the boys wore. Boots, tight shirt, and tight black trousers. I smiled when I saw I had black gloves like Seth. Then reality hit. "What the fuck am I doing?" I said and slumped on the bed. I grabbed my phone and checked the time. My car would be here in 2 minutes. I grabbed the credit card, room key and phone and left the room to go and meet it.
"She hasn't text me yet" Tracey complained to Phil. He smiled. "She's probably driving babe" he said kissing her head. "Give her time. This is all different for her. We're used to it so it's easy for us." "It's not just her I'm worried about" she said, nodding towards Dean. "It's him too. I've always avoided the Shield because I thought they were trouble. Thanks to Torrie I know they're good guys, but how can I speak to them now knowing it's because of my friend Dean is messed up?" "Dean has always been messed up" Phil said smiling. " I mean, have you seen some his matches on YouTube? Seriously fucked up. But I know what you mean. You mustn't blame yourself though, it's not your fault things got too heated too fast with them." "I know" she said cuddling into him. She looked out of the window as they pulled in to the hotel car park and froze. "What?" Phil asked, and then looked out of the window. "Isn't that..." "Torries car" Tracey finished for him. Randy had seen it too. Tracey quickly signalled for him to be quiet and he nodded, looking at Dean, and knowing he had been drinking already.
The car pulled out of the car park just as the stars bus pulled in. I slumped down in my seat until we'd passed it then sat up again. The store wasn't far away. My phone beeped signalling a text. "Go wild with it" I read. "Shoes, clothes, bags, whatever you need. Paul" "You asked for it" I text back. I was just about to put the phone away when it beeped again. "Where the hell are you?" Ah. Tracey. I ignored it and put it in my pocket. That text could wait.
i was literally in the store for 15 minutes. I grabbed pyjamas, jeans, underwear, tops, and some new boots. I quickly paid using the card and ran back to the car. I sat in the back and checked out twitter. I groaned when I saw some of the pics the fans had put on there of me and Dean at ringside. One had caught him as he winked at me, with me smiling at him. I saved it and put my phone away. The car pulled up at the service entrance to the hotel. I smiled at Paul's attempt to keep me away from Dean. I thanked the driver and got in the lift to my room.
"But I need a drink!" Dean yelled as Seth bundled him in to the lift. "We've got the drink in the room" Roman said helping Seth. Dean shrugged and let himself be led into the lift. "You know" Seth said to Dean. "Drink isn't going to make her come back." "I know" Dean said slumping against the wall. "But it makes me feel better. I miss her already." The lift arrived on their floor and they helped Dean into their room. This was the third time they'd been called down to the bar to rescue him. As they closed the door, the lift next to the one they'd just got out of stopped on their floor. I got out and went to my room, wrestling with my bags. Just as I opened my door, the door next door opened and I heard Dean yelling. "I want a beer, not tequila!" I quickly ran into my room and slammed the door.
