Thank you to my faithful reviewers Jojo Barrett and nic-002001! I appreciate your reviews so much! Hopefully this chapter is up to par.
Chapter 20: If it Makes You Happy
Her face was a mere inch from the mat below her, her arms were twisted behind her back as Beth Phoenix landed on top of her, lamely attempting to pin Riley in the center of the ring. Riley let out a growl, struggling against the much larger Diva, wanting nothing more than to kick her ass, win the number one contender's match she was currently participating in and go on to win the shiny butterfly belt.
"Come on Williams!" Heath Slater yelled from one corner of the ring. Wade and Justin were standing at two of the other corners.
The three men were too far outside the ring to help her out, too far to reach her and pull her away. The match had started off decently for Riley. She had knocked the Glamazon to the mat and pinned her for a two-count before Beth Phoenix turned the match right around, not letting up at all.
Riley felt the pain shooting up in her bicep as Beth Phoenix twisted her arm back further, Riley doing everything she possibly could to keep herself from screaming out in agony. She shut her eyes and willed the pain to subside, at least long enough for her to get her mind back into the match and off her sore arm.
She opened her eyes in time to spot the referee facing outside of the ring, pointing directly at Heath Slater before pointing to the ramp, sending him away. Before Riley had the chance to figure out what was going on, Beth Phoenix was ripped off of her. With her new found freedom, Riley peeked backwards and spotted Beth screaming at Wade, the referee oblivious to what had happened inside the ring.
Quickly making her way to her feet, Riley turned around and faced the Glamazon herself, readying her body for the next move. She took off running at Beth, dropping down and forcing her shoulder into the back of her legs, bringing the much larger Diva to her knees in the corner of the ring. Riley grabbed her arms and pulled them behind Beth, cutting off the ability to use her arms.
Riley forced her to her feet before running behind her, still with Beth's arms pinned behind her back, pushing her across the ring into the opposite turnbuckle. The Glamazon let out a low grunt as her body connected with the ring, Riley letting go of her arms, watching as Beth Phoenix crumpled to the ground.
"Pin her!" Justin Gabriel shouted, leaning his head under the bottom rope a mere five feet away from the two girls.
Wrapping her hands around her ankles, Riley dragged Beth's almost limp body to the middle of the ring and stood over her, her fingers wrapped tightly around her opponent's ankles. Beth let out a shriek as she threw her hands out in front of her, trying to grasp at anything, the mat, the ropes, whatever she could, unfortunately, there was nothing in Riley's way now.
Hoisting Beth Phoenix to her feet, Riley shimmied her way in front of her, standing with her back to Beth's front. She reached her arms back and wrapped them around the blonde's head, pushing her backwards a few feet, getting them both away from the turnbuckle.
Riley inhaled a deep breath and paused for just a second, not totally believing what she was about to do. She jumped up in the air, Beth's body shot out away from her and came down with a loud thunk as Riley performed a finishing maneuver she had never used before, a finisher somewhere between an RKO and a Stone Cold Stunner.
"One, two, three!"
Riley let go of the blonde's limp body and jumped to her feet. Her finisher was perfect, her three count was amazing but the fact that she had just become the number one contender for the Diva's champion was the icing on the cake. She raised her arms in triumph as the two remaining Corre members climbed into the ring, one on either side, grabbing both of her hands and holding them in the air.
Riley's eyes were glued on the crowd, basking in the cheers now. Just because the crowd wasn't really a big fan of the Corre, it didn't mean Riley lost her fans. They still liked her, they still cheered for her, maybe more so now that she was actually competing and winning big matches.
Justin dropped her hand and made his way out of the ring, Wade quickly following suit. They paused at the bottom of the ramp and watched as Riley continued to bask in the cheers.
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Randy let out a loud growl as Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel hoisted her arms in the air. He had wanted Riley to win, of course he did, but he wanted her to do it without the Corre interfering. Randy picked up his right wrestling boot and threw it as hard as he could at the wall across the room. The show was over, Randy had won his own match, without help from outside sources. The only reason he hadn't left the arena yet was because he wanted to catch Riley.
Randy dropped his anger and sauntered over to his discarded boot. He squatted down and picked it up, looking at it as he held it in his hands, still squatting. He wasn't happy with the way her career was going. He wasn't happy with the way her life was going. She didn't belong with Wade Barrett, not at all. In his mind, Riley belonged with Randy Orton.
"Hey Randy." She said quietly as she wandered up to him. He had been lifting weights for a good twenty minutes before she showed up, watching him from the door of the gym for a few minutes before actually saying anything.
He stopped lifting and set the weights on the floor, standing up, meeting her on his feet. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at him, mentally chanting 'Focus on Randy' in her head, not wanting to let her ADD complicate matters any more than they already had.
"Riley." He replied stiffly.
She had been out of the hospital for a good two months now and she had been working with John to get back into wrestling shape, wanting nothing more than to be back in the ring, back as part of the WWE.
"I think we need to talk." She stated, breaking her gaze away from him.
"About what?" He asked back, playing dumb.
Lately they had been bickering and arguing a lot more than normal, mostly about her injury and the true cause of it.
"I didn't jump Randy." She said, rather calmly considering she was furious with him not believing her.
"Sure Riley." He nodded, crossing his own arms over his chest now.
"Oh my god Randy, I didn't jump! Why don't you believe me?"
"Why don't you just admit you jumped?"
"Um because I didn't jump. Why don't you just admit that you're an ass?" Riley shot back, clearly aggravated at his accusation.
"Because I'm not."
"My point exactly. When you admit you're an ass, I'll admit I jumped but I don't see that happening any time soon."
"Well that's not going to happen."
"What-the-fuck-ever Randy. Maybe we shouldn't be together anymore."
"Fine!"
"You're an ass Randy." She retorted with a roll of her eyes.
Randy watched with a smug smirk as Riley turned on her heels and marched herself out of the gym. Little did he know that he would never get that Riley back.
Randy hoisted his bag up onto his shoulder and pulled his locker room door shut as he wandered out into the hall. He was hoping that he had doddled long enough for him to be able to catch Riley on her way out. His feet made tiny thuds with each step as he wandered through the vacant hallway towards the parking lot. He turned the corner and spotted the girl on his mind.
Randy hesitated for a few seconds, keeping quiet as he watched Riley trailing behind her Corre comrades. He continued to watch as Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel picked up the pace, walking in front of Riley yet Wade slowed down and fell in stride next to her, nudging her hand with his. Riley grabbed it and laced her fingers with his as the two walked side by side behind Justin and Heath. Randy's stomach dropped as he watched Wade lean down and place a sweet, gentle kiss on Riley's lips, the girl smiling back in response.
"Riley!" Randy yelled, not wanting to watch another second of their mushy gushy romance.
Her face went from smiling to angry almost instantly. Ever since she had found out that Randy had tackled Wade into the wall, she did not want to talk to him. She felt Wade tense at his voice, Wade's grip on her hand tightening ever so slightly.
"Randy I don't want to talk to you." Riley fired back, leaning closer to Wade, Heath and Justin had stopped walking and stepped back, standing next to Wade, waiting for his command.
"Oh come on!" Randy whined, walking towards them, closing the gap between him and Riley.
"Randy I'm warning you." Riley threatened, pulling away from Wade and moving to stand in front of them all, closer to Randy.
"Riley I just want to talk."
"About what?" Riley yelled back, placing her hands on her hips.
She didn't want to fight with Randy anymore, that was the big reason they had originally broken up. When they had stopped talking, Riley was upset, as anyone would be but she was a lot more relaxed. Fighting with Randy could be intense and exhausting and Riley didn't have the attention span to deal with it. When they had eventually put their differences aside, Riley hadn't really spoken to him about them fighting. She pushed everything that had happened into the back of her mind.
"You. Come on Riley. Why are you with him?" Randy asked, motioning at Wade with his head.
"I don't see how that's your concern." She argued, trying to remain calm.
"Look at what he's doing to you!" Randy yelled, letting out a huff of frustration.
"Oh my god! And what is he doing to me?" Riley asked back.
"I don't know but whatever it is, you're not the same Riley."
Wade let out a sigh as he stepped up beside her, setting his hand on her shoulder. She glanced back at him and gave him a sad smile. Ignoring Randy, Riley started to walk forward, heading down the hall, brushing past Randy as she did so. Wade followed her, Heath and Justin hanging back for a second before jogging to catch up. They didn't want to be left vulnerable to the Viper's attack.
"Hey Riley!" Randy called out as she continued to walk away from him, her back facing him.
"Fuck off Orton!" She called right back, not even taking two seconds to turn around.
Randy just stared at her in disbelief. He had already threatened Wade Barrett, he tried to confront Riley and yet she was still with him, happy as a clam. Randy let out a growl of defeat and clenched his fists, mentally preparing himself for war.
It was unexpected, Riley's body flying across the hall colliding with the wall. Her bad shoulder slammed against the concrete block wall, a sharp pain shooting up her arm. She winced in pain as she slowly fell to the floor, her bum meeting the tiles as she turned her head back to the action.
Wade was on his hands and knees, Justin and Heath were standing between him and Randy Orton, the Viper standing poised and ready to attack again. He had jumped at the group, shoving Riley to the side as he tackled Wade to the ground. The two smaller Corre members struggled but managed to get Randy away from Wade long enough to form a barrier between them.
Riley let out a yelp as she made her way to her feet. Clutching her shoulder, she slowly made her way back to the middle of the hallway, setting her hand on Randy's forearm, breaking him from his Viper mindset.
"Please Randy, he makes me happy." She whispered, moving her thumb in tiny circles on his arm.
Without another word exchanged between them, Randy pulled his arm away from her and proceeded to walk away from them. Riley didn't bother to watch him as she moved towards Wade, dropping to her knees beside him as he turned over and sat on the cool tile floor.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
"I'm getting bloody tired of him." Wade replied, reaching his arm out and setting it around her waist.
"At least we can agree on that." She smiled.
Slowly and surely, the two of them made it to their feet, with quite a bit of help from Justin and Heath. The four Corre members made their way out of the arena, no one daring to speak another word.
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