A/N: Chapter 11, here we go... thank you for the continued support as always :)
She'd almost had her defeated. Almost.
Summer had jumped the gun and went for her finisher only to be caught off guard with a damn Bella Buster. Just like that Brie had gone and won their Main Event bout. Dragging herself up to a sitting position in the middle of the ring and seeing the twins celebrating was not a pleasant sight and nor is it one she'll be forgetting in a hurry. So much for getting revenge for Paige - for herself even, after their cowardly attack last week.
She makes her way out of there at a slow pace, wanting a moment for herself before delving back into the reality of the backstage atmosphere. No doubt somebody as petty as Cameron will be on hand to point a finger in her face and laugh, or worse still she'll get a pitying look from Natalya and a 'better luck next time' comment, knowing fully well that it won't be likely.
The one person she doesn't expect to see waiting for her is Dean Ambrose. She isn't sure if he's waiting for her or not actually because he looks to be just mulling around, stretching out his body and pacing around despite not having a match that evening, but she knows he'll have something to say to her anyway.
Summer walks up to him, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at what she thinks is coming. How long will they be able to stand one another before nasty remarks are tossed back and forth? She's never met somebody so… frustrating… and so unlike herself.
The Lunatic Fringe superstar takes a little while to notice her, but just as Summer is starting to feel stupid for just waiting there, he catches her gaze and the embarrassing moment is made almost bearable.
"Summer, what can I do for you?"
"What can…" She echoes but manages to stop herself from repeating his opening line. Instead she shakes her head. "I assumed you were here to make some comment or whatever about my loss out there just now."
He stops pacing now and eyes her with a slight look of confusion. "Because?"
"Because when have you ever not had something to say to me?" She fills him in on the answer, leaning her weight on one foot and placing a hand on her hip.
But Dean seems to be intent on playing the fool and only responds through a half-hearted shrug, his eyes scanning over her features, which seem to be twisting back into an annoyed state again. She's tired, pissed because she's lost her match against the less-bitchier but equally annoying Bella twin, and just wants to get out of there.
Finally, she says, "So, you don't want to talk? Okay. I'll see you around, I guess."
"One bit of advice," says Dean just as she's about to leave, and doesn't bother to wait for a reply before he adds, "When I go out there my mind isn't focused on winning or losing, it's just about how much destruction I can do. I've got a match against Axel on Smackdown and I'm gonna go out there and unleash hell to get my point across to BNB."
Glancing elsewhere, somehow unnerved by the unfamiliar-sounding sincerity she can hear in his tone, Summer has to comment, "I'm not getting any advice from this... "
"So here it is. The more you don't care - or act like you don't care - the more you get to your opponent. Brie saw a woman out there who was so determined to prove herself that it just gave her more ammunition to take you down. Nikki laughed in your face. Go out there next time, look 'em straight in the eyes and show 'em a side of you they've never seen before."
Even after he finishes speaking, she's left stuck for what to say, realising that this is the second time in a matter of weeks he's left her speechless. This is a side to Dean Ambrose she's never seen before - never knew he had - so words aren't coming naturally to her right now. When Dolph appears up ahead, she's grateful for the distraction.
"I better go," she says, watching as he angles his head to see just who she's ogling so intently.
He turns back to her. "Yeah."
Summer starts walking off but it feels wrong to just leave without saying something else, especially when it's on the tip of her tongue. "… Thanks for the advice," she speaks softly, not bothering to face him again, "I'll think about it."
She imagines the look on his face to be smug and conceited so she feels better about walking away now and towards Dolph. If she was to turn around, however, she would have seen his true expression: a warm smile and a warmer look in his eyes.
There's a bounce in Paige's step when she appears in front of the WWE universe and tells Renee in a backstage interview that while yes she was embarrassed on Raw thanks to the likes of Brie and Nikki, and while yes she doesn't conform to normal Diva standards, come Fastlane Nikki is going to be the one who's embarrassed when she takes the title from her.
This new turn of mood is appreciated by the Smackdown crowd who cheer her on as she skips her way down to the ring to face one of the women who put her in that awful position on Monday night, Alicia Fox. She wonders if she's happy because Dean got a win over Curtis despite a setback with BNB proclaiming he wouldn't be giving him a shot for the title, or if it's because Roman relieved his stress with a big spear to Miz in their match… or perhaps for both occasions along with the fact she herself has a chance for redemption. Either way, Foxy's getting hurt tonight.
She's aware that while the twins aren't out at ringside they will still be watching the show - just from backstage - so she makes sure to be extra aggressive with each move she delivers to Alicia to get the message across. Her opponent is pretty decent with the blows but the British Diva has the last laugh… the PTO connects and it gives her great pleasure to feel Alicia tap, tap, tap out to her finisher.
The smile still hasn't left her face by the time she makes it back through the curtains. The first person she bumps into is Natalya, although their hug is cut short when Tyson calls her over and the Canadian is forced to apologise and leave her alone again. Paige doesn't particularly mind - albeit having certain thoughts about her friend's husband - and it turns out to work in her favour when she spots Seth with his security not too far away.
The victorious Diva is deliberately slow as she walks past him mid-conversation with Mercury and Noble, a hint of a smirk on her face as she does so. Seth gets the message and she hears him excuse himself; his footsteps finally follow hers and she leads him to a quieter place in the arena. This is fast becoming a habit of theirs.
"You look pretty happy with yourself." He comments as he leans against a nearby stack of crates, arms folded across his chest. "Is that because you just beat the hell out of Alicia?"
"Yep, and it was the best feeling. Imagine how good it'll feel when I do it to Nikki and win back the title at the same time. By the way," she adds, "I'm going to be watching your match. It's up next right? You and J&J security against Daniel?"
"Yeah but I've got a few minutes before I need to be out there."
"I'll make sure we make the most of our time together then."
If Seth isn't mistaken there's something more to the smile she's giving him and this time he's sure he isn't just seeing what he wants to see and making up what isn't there.
For knowing what her intentions were the moment she got him alone, Paige still seems to hesitate in her actions as the silence grows after her flirtatious comment. Their eyes still locked on one another, she steps closer and presses her hands lightly against his chest, reaching up to him for a moment she never would have dreamed of happening.
Something happens when they kiss. It's signified in the way her hands scrunch up against his shirt and tug at the material and in the way his relaxed stance against the crates breaks… Seth reacting long after his lips do, unfolding his arms finally and wrapping them around her waist, pulling her closer… just a little too late because that's when she pulls away.
A little out of breath, Paige smirks up at him. "Good luck."
Seth is left to his own devices as she slips out of his reach and brushes past him, but he isn't quite sure what his next step is anyway, only that he has a match up next that he really has to be in the right headspace for. But how can he be when that's just happened? When Mercury and Noble finally find him, he clears his throat and puts himself into fight-mode, but she's in the back of his head as a thought to be dwelled on as soon as he can afford to focus on her.
Good luck… all I said was good luck. As Paige heads back into the women's locker room, nodding in greeting to Naomi and Rosa, her mind is still stuck on her moment with Seth a couple of minutes ago - and with good reason.
The moment the kiss had been initiated she felt herself connecting with a weird, unfamiliar feeling, only vaguely stirred in the time they used to spend together a few years back. Never one to believe in fate or meant-to-be situations, she can at least admit to the lip lock feeling… maybe not right… but an inevitability, and not just because it was a part of her plan all along.
Butterflies attack her stomach at the thought of doing that a little more in the future and she quickly wills them away, telling herself to busy her mind with any other activity. Finally she gets involved with some locker room gossip, already planning out her text to Summer to tell her what's happened, but Seth never quite leaves her mind.
She suspects he might not for the rest of the night.
All in all, a successful night for Seth Rollins, but the smile on his face isn't down to getting the better of Daniel Bryan tonight—and that moment had been pleasing, of course—but instead due to what had occurred between himself and Paige before the match.
He lets himself into his hotel room, sets his stuff down and perches on his bed besides his belongings. His gaze is glued to his briefcase but his mind is elsewhere, which he gives away when he rubs at his lips, his skin almost tingling from where her kiss had been just a matter of hours ago.
His smile grows and in the elated moment he admits the one thing he's always known but has never been ready to say. I love her. He thinks. But somehow it isn't enough to just have it run through his thoughts. "I love her," he repeats out loud, then stands to pace, the revelation causing a rush of adrenaline to burst through him.
He loved her when she locked him into an armbar hold in a friendly warm-up session and pressed herself up against his back, whispering into his ear, teasing him to just try and get out of it… which of course he did by tossing her over his shoulder and onto the mat where he was to be greeted with a grin and a dirty laugh that he's never quite forgotten the sound of.
He loved her when they came out of the cinema one weekend with opposing views on the comedy they'd just seen: Paige claiming it was hilarious, Seth stating that he wanted the last two hours of his life back. Their little play-pretend spat had ended up with him slinging her over his shoulder and announcing to bemused passersby that it was a suitable punishment for finding a movie with Vince Vaughn in it funny.
He loved her when he won the NXT Championship in his match against Jinder Mahal and she was there waiting for him backstage when he returned - just like he knew she would be - to roll her eyes and ask if he thought this made him a big-shot now, before grabbing him and pulling him in for their tightest hug to date, almost choking him in the process. The ice cream they grabbed after his victory was still on him; Paige was adamant that a champion's salary could afford her her favourite mint chocolate chip treat.
These memories and so many more seem to come rushing back at once. He lays back on his bed, finally calm and wondering whether all of those moments were just leading to now - their first kiss. Boy, it was a good one, too.
His good mood is sullied only by the thought of what Hunter and Stephanie would say if they were to find out about their relationship. It's no secret that the boss' daughter is no fan of the Diva who dares to stand up to her—plus the champion, Nikki—and not to mention it would come out of nowhere if he just announced it… that's if he were to, because who said they were making anything official just yet?
But that's where it's leading, he can feel it, and even better he can imagine walking out to the ring with her by his side to support him in his matches until the big one where he wins the WWE championship. He's always felt they fitted together nicely. When she eventually wins back the title from Nikki - perhaps at Fastlane - they could have a chance to rule together.
The image is hard to conjure up but not impossible and Seth likes what he sees once he does. By now he realises he's pushing hard for something more when they've only just had their first kiss but this has been a long time coming - at least on his part - so it only feels natural for it to progress quickly too.
One thing's for sure: he'll be on top of the world for a good few days to come. Bring on Raw, bring on whomever he faces next, as well as the threat that is Daniel Bryan or any of the three losers reinstated back onto the roster. He can manage anything now.
He has Paige.