"Pretty in Punk"
A Shannon/Ashley fanfic

Thanks to xtobelovedx, csimiamigirl73, xAttitudex, Inday, annskieesofresh, littleone999, awprncss4386 and Christal-R for reviewing last chapter, you all rock!!
Hope you like this one as well,
R&R and enjoy it :)


Chapter 9:
"Rooftops"

"Aw you won, you won!" Kelly happily exclaimed clapping her hands as soon as the punk princess reached the women's locker room again.

"Yeah!" Ashley giggled finding the dancer's enthusiasm contagious.

"And you and Shannon were so adorable together, I told you so!"

"Thanks Kelly." She couldn't help but smile along.

"So what now?"

"Uhm… taking a shower?" She asked matter-of-factly.

"Of course," she laughed "but I meant after that."

"Well I guess we're going to celebrate our win then." She said suddenly searching for something in her duffel bag to hide a blush.

"Aw awesome!" She giggled, "Oh and I think we're all going out after the show so maybe we'll meet… and you could keep an eye on me and Punk, right?" She grinned referring to their earlier conversation.

"Yeah, sure…"

"Great!" She happily commented "So I'll see you later since my promo is up next!" And in a few seconds the hyper diva surprised Ashley with a quick hug before rushing away.

"Wow." The punk princess playfully rolled her eyes at her friend's energy.

I know I want that girl so bad…

She grinned as Torrie's ring tone echoed in the empty locker room and immediately picked her cell phone up.

"Hey there!"

"Awww!" The other blonde squealed "You were amazing!"

"Thanks Tor," she giggled "so you enjoyed the match?"

"Of course I did! That chop thing was great!" She laughed "And I think your friend there wasn't that bad either."

"I'm sure he'll be very touched to hear so." She playfully rolled her eyes.

"Oh wait, Michelle wants to congratulate you too! I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah… actually I'm going out with Kelly and the others" she lied to avoid comments on Shannon and her "so I could be a little late."

"Okay no problem, have fun! Bye sweetie!"

"Byeee!"

"Hey dirty diva, how does it feel to be officially back in a match?" Michelle smiled.

"…Awesome!" She grinned.

"Ha I thought so! I can't wait to be in action with you… if your partner gives me the honor, of course." She joked.

"Well you can always tag in with Jimmy and we'll be in a double-tag match or something." She giggled.

"Sure," she laughed "I'll let you go now since Torrie is telling me you have to party… wait a minute…"

"Yes?" She said while she could hear Torrie's voice in the background.

"She said to try to hook up with Morrison, he looks sooo fine." Michelle quoted with a roll of her eyes.

"That's for the special permission then." She couldn't help but laugh.

"Have fun!" The all-American girl joined her.

"Thankies, bye Chelle!" And with an amused smile she hung up and marched to the shower.

-X-X-X-X-

"Someone's looking nice tonight," CM Punk allusively smiled when Shannon came out of the bathroom in a black short-sleeved shirt, a pair of faded blue jeans and his gelled dirty blonde hair taken back by a black bandana.

"You think so?" He chuckled.

"Yep."

"You're going out with us, man?" Kofi asked joining the conversation.

"Nope, actually I'm going to celebrate our win with Ashley." He announced with an embarrassed/satisfied smile.

"Lucky man." The ECW champion smirked patting his shoulder.

"I thought he was looking too fine for us." Kofi echoed with a grin.

"Yeah, make fun of me" the Reject playfully rolled his eyes "see ya guys."

"Bye!"

"Have fun!"

Shannon nervously smiled closing the door behind him and catching a deep breath.

C'mon Shan, you can do this. Just friends, no need to be nervous, right? –He thought while he walked towards the women's locker room. But as soon as he spotted her, any coherent thought disappeared.

She was just coming out of the locker room in a pair of low riders and a black one-sleeved tank top that had 'rock out' written across it in silver letters; her just cut blonde hair with pink streaks framed her face. As soon as she saw him walking towards her, a smile lighted up her face.

"Hey tag team partner!"

"Hey… you look… great." He nervously smiled.

"Thanks," she giggled "you're not bad yourself, I love the shirt."

"Good to know." He beamed "And I guess that's yours, right?" He said handing his bandana back to her.

"Absolutely." She smiled stretching her arm out so he could tie it around her writs. "Back where it belongs."

"Yep." He gladly agreed. "So, you're ready to go?"

"Yeah… well actually there's a little problem…"

"What's up?" He asked trying to sound casual while hoping that she wouldn't dump him just then.

"Well… how do you feel about celebrating our win by observing CM Punk's behavior towards Kelly?"

"…not particularly enthralled?" He said with a confused look.

"That's what I thought," she lightly giggled "so we should avoid any place around here… do you think that's a problem?"

"…nah, I think I know the perfect place actually. You still like pizza?" He grinned.

"Of course I do!" She exclaimed.

"Awesome." He chuckled "Shall we?"

"Yes Mr. Moore." She giggled.

"Oh and btw… this time I drive." He pointed out.

"Yep yep," she playfully rolled her eyes "we made a deal last time after all."

"Great!" He beamed.

-X-X-X-X-

"Can I know where we're going now?" She asked amused as they drove into the night after stopping at a nearby fast food to take two pizzas and two beers.

"Nope, you'll see." He grinned.

"C'mooon!" She insisted holding the two hot card boxes on her knees.

"Nope."

"Pleaseee!" She pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"You'll find out in a bit and… I need to focus on the road, sorry." He sheepishly smiled looking at her for just a second.

"Yeah, cause you know you can't resist this face." She muttered in protest making him laugh.

10 minutes later.

"…okay, this is getting weirder by the minute." She pointed out as they parked just outside the hotel room they were both staying at.

"Having a deja vù?" He joked.

"Shannon Brian Moore." She stated trying to smack his arm without letting the pizzas go.

"What?" He innocently smiled.

"You'd better not be trying to take me in your hotel room." She suspiciously raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry," he chuckled "trust me."

"Fine." She playfully rolled her eyes.

"And besides," he laughed as they entered the elevator "there's Greg in my room, not exactly my idea of fun."

"Tell me about it, the guy hates me." She rolled her eyes.

"How do you know?" He asked surprised. "No sorry, I mean, I'm sure he doesn't-"

"It's okay," she lightly giggled "he's like that since I refused to kiss him once."

"What?" He exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yep," she laughed as he almost dropped the paper bag with the drinks in "it was at one of Matt's Christmas parties, he was pretty wasted and tried to hit on me. And apparently he never forgave me for refusing him even though I was a little drunk myself."

"Oh my." Shannon couldn't help but laugh along "I can't believe it!"

"I guess he never revealed it to anyone."

"Great reason to blackmail him." He grinned making her laugh. At this point they had reached the last floor and walked out of the elevator. She curiously followed him as he marched towards a little door behind a corner and after struggling a few seconds to open it, went ahead. "Here we are." He announced with a smile looking at her expression as she realized where they were.

"…but we're on the hotel's rooftops!" She exclaimed.

Indeed it was so, but it was more like an added 'party room' actually. And in fact it was decorated with a white gazebo, small tables surrounded by chairs and candles all around it.

"Do you like it?" He hopefully asked proceeding to lit up a few candles on one side.

"If I like it? I love it!" She sincerely smiled looking around "And I don't think I want to know how you knew about it." She added with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh it's safe to tell," he chuckled "I found it this morning by accident… they were organizing a party for tomorrow or something. Why, what did you expect?"

"Well" she lightly blushed "something like you brought here all your tag team partners…"

"Nope," he chuckled "actually I never thought of coming here with Jimmy to celebrate a win."

"Definitely good to hear." She giggled taking a cushion from one of the chairs and sitting on the pavement.

"How I opened the door on the other hand…" He trailed off with a smirk.

"Yes?"

"Well that's something I won't share."

"C'mon!" She protested.

"I can only tell you that it involves Jeff and I being kids." He grinned.

"Okay," she innocently shrugged "I can always ask him then."

"No way!" He protested sitting down next to her.

"We'll see." She giggled "Shall we eat now?"

"Hell yeah, I'm starving!" He exclaimed.

She giggled opening her beer, "To our first win then."

"The first of many." He corrected her with a smile, "Cheers!"

-X-X-X-X-

"Michelle, that's your phone!" Torrie called the all-American girl while she was on her bed, flipping through the pages of a fashion magazine.

"Thanks!" The blonde said rushing out of the bathroom, "Hello?"

"Hey Michelle, it's Kelly."

"Oh, hi Kelly," she replied a little surprised to hear the dancer's voice at that hour.

"Hope I'm not disturbing you but Ash left a top in the locker room… and I can't reach her phone to tell her I got it. Do you have Shannon's number by any chance?"

"No I'm sorry, I don't…" She said obviously doing 2+2 "but I'll tell her later, 'k?"

"Awesome! Bye bye then!"

"What did Kelly want?" Torrie asked with curiosity.

"Oh nothing important, just tell Ash that she left a top in the locker room."

"But isn't Ashley with her?" The Boise native asked with a puzzled look, lifting her gaze from the magazine.

"Yeah… but she was in the bathroom and you know Kelly, she wanted to make sure she didn't forget it." She promptly lied, knowing Torrie's opinion of Shannon.

"Okay," she just shrugged focusing again on the article she was reading as the all-American girl smiled at herself, thinking where Ashley and Shannon could be enjoying their evening.

Little she knew that, at that very moment, they were just two floors upon her.

-X-X-X-X-

"Okay, I'm full." The dirty diva gave up with a satisfied sigh putting down her last slice of pizza.

"It was good, wasn't it?" Shannon commented with a chuckle.

"Totally." She echoed with a laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just… who would have thought that we were going to end up eating pizza sitting on the rooftops?" She smiled amused.

"Right." He smiled along as she rested her head on both her hands on the parapet and looked down.

"I like it here," she continued "I mean it all feels so little, you just see little points of light. Makes you feel like nothing else matters from here, don't cha think?"

"Yeah, that's exactly like that." He agreed "It would be nice if one could forget everything else so easily." And I would do it with you. He added just in his thoughts while she turned her face at him and smiled again.

"Well I'm glad we're here together cause I wouldn't enjoy this with someone other than you."

He was both touched and surprised by her words that just smiled for a few moments, confused on what to say back. "The same goes for you… I mean, c'mon, pizza and beer on the rooftops is hardcore, not everyone could handle it." He grinned.

"Of course!" She laughed "Just us."

"Yep, just us. And all dressed up nicely too."

"…and now you're going to think I'm crazy, but I just need to do this." She giggled before standing up and screaming: standing on the rooftops everybody scream your heart out!

He couldn't help but laugh as she sang out the famous Lostprophets song and then sat down again with her back against the parapet. "You wanted to do this as soon as we arrived, didn't ya?"

"Yes." She admitted with an amused smile "I'm obsessed with the song."

"Let's do it then." He said with a grin.

"Shannon!" She exclaimed throwing a napkin at him.

"I didn't mean that," he sheepishly smiled "I meant let's scream your heart out then."

"Oh" she giggled "well let me think of something first."

"Okay." He smiled nervously rubbing his knee, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You haven't checked your cell phone all night long…"

"That doesn't sound like a question." She smiled.

"Yeah, let me get to the point," he nervously chuckled "don't you care if someone's searching for you?"

"I'm not that popular, you know?" She giggled "Michelle and the girls can wait, you haven't checked yours either."

"Yeah… but what if, you know…"

"What?"

"…if your boyfriend, I mean, is he okay with us hanging out?"

She was definitely taken aback by the question and looked surprised. "Shan, what boyfriend?"

"Yours. I mean… Paul. Weren't you together?" He asked confused.

She bitterly smiled at the memory and lowered her gaze. "Yeah, we were. But we broke up."

Now it was his turn to look surprised and by her tone he was sure this meant that he broke up with her. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't… I mean-"

"It's okay," she quickly said before he freaked out "don't worry."

"I didn't know," he apologetically said "and I didn't mean to intrude."

"Shan, you're a friend" she lightly smiled "you're not intruding. And you couldn't know cause it happened before you got drafted to Smackdown and, trust me, besides Michelle and Torrie no one knows the details."

"Why? What happened?" He asked genuinely interested. "If you want to tell me, of course…"

"Let's say he didn't like my choice to leave for Survivor." She started to explain, "of course we had talked of the possibility before and we agreed it wouldn't change anything between us… but then when I got back he had moved onto someone new."

"What?!" He couldn't help but exclaim.

"Yeah, and when I questioned him you know what he said?" He gestured for her to go on and so she did. "That I was the one who had turned her back on our relationship."

"Unbelievable. I'm sorry, Ash."

"Don't be," she lightly smiled "I'm just glad he's on Raw now. Apparently it wasn't meant to be… like every story I had, of course." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." He weakly sighed.

"You still single too, Shan?" She asked suddenly lifting up her eyes again and meeting his gaze.

"Yeah, you know, it hasn't been easy after my divorce."

"Yep… we're a pretty messed up tag team."

"You can totally say that." He lightly smiled.

"You know what I hate the most? What comes after a break up. I mean how you dream with someone and believe he's the one and how you make plans for your future together… and then in a second it all disappears."

"Yeah, that's what kills me." He promptly agreed "And how it's hard to get back in the game again."

"It's not that easy to date again after a delusion."

"Yeah and to get used to someone else's habits and all just when you were starting to be your real self…"

"Yep, that sucks."

"It's not easy at all… I wish it could be."

"Like eating pizza on the rooftops?" She smiled.

"Yep, just like that." He chuckled.

"I think I know what to scream now." She giggled.

"Help yourself." He smiled gesturing for her to go on.

She stood up and took a deep breath before shouting: "Love sucks!"

"…but we don't!" He promptly followed her.

"Alright." She laughed "Now it feels better, doesn't it?"

"Yep." He agreed with a chuckle as she offered her hand for a high-five. "Hey, but you're freezing!"

"Nah, it's okay."

"Here." He said offering her his jeans jacket.

"There's no-"

"C'mooon!" He insisted.

"Thanks." She giggled putting it on as he smiled at her.

-X-X-X-X-

Half an hour later the two punks were in front of the door of Ashley's room.

"What a punk gentleman," she giggled "walking me to the door."

"Of course." He grinned.

"I've had fun tonight." She smiled.

"Me too." He smiled back "And we rocked in the ring!"

"Of course we did!"

"So… good night then."

"Yep." She said giving him a kiss on the cheek "Night."

And with that he smiled and turned back to the elevator to reach his floor.

"Shannon?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you!" She said throwing his jacked back at him.

"Anytime punkie." He chuckled.

-X-X-X-X-

Ashley entered the room filled with darkness and tried to not make a noise to wake her friends up as she reached her bed.

But apparently someone wasn't deeply sleeping. "Ash, it's you?" Torrie groggily asked.

"Yep, sorry… did I wake you up?"

"No," she groaned turning in her bed "it was some idiot who was screaming from one of the upstairs rooms I guess… unbelievable."

The self proclaimed dirty diva couldn't help but burst out with giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. "Good night Torrie."

"…if they let me sleep!" The Boise native protested while Ashley smiled at herself.

-X-X-X-X-

Shannon silently closed the door behind him and carefully walked towards his bed, as Gregory's snores echoed in the room. He tossed the jeans jacket on the sheets and sat down to remove his shoes… when he noticed that something had slipped out of the pocket.

He switched on the small lamp on his nightstand and found that it was a folded napkin.

So he unfolded it glancing for a moment over his friend's bed, to be sure that he was still sleeping, before proceeding to read it.

"I'm sure one of these days you'll find someone with whom everything will be easy… just like pizza and beer on the rooftops. Cause you deserve it.
xoxo Ashley"

And with a smile on his face the prince of punk secured the small piece of paper in his jeans pocket. Maybe he had already found her