Stephanie was a little confused by Taryn's announcement but the surprise of her announcement outweighed more than her confusion. "You're pregnant?"
Taryn nodded her head slowly. "I...I just didn't know who to talk too and well...you and I have known each other since you pushed me as one of my mentors in NXT."
Stephanie smiled warmly at her and gave her a hug. "Well this is big news. Congratulations. How did Seth take the news?"
Taryn's face fell for a moment. "That's the thing. He doesn't know...not yet. It's very complicated."
"Mind enlightening me?" She asked.
Taryn took a deep breath, slowing it down for a moment as well as her nerves. "This...This won't leave the room will it?"
"Absolutely not. I won't even tell Hunter unless it's a critical emergency." Stephanie reassured her knowing that the look on Taryn's face was hesitant.
It was then that Taryn shared what her husband put her through as well as his cheating affair with her older sister Kristen, making her feel like her not getting pregnant was her fault. When in the end, it was really Stefan's fault. She didn't go into too much detail but she did admit that being with Seth, especially the past few days together, the so-called hatred for each other turned into something much more.
"I mean, I really thought that I couldn't get pregnant at all, Stephanie." Taryn explained, rubbing her palms together. "I want to tell him. He does have a right to know. But I'm just so afraid. I know he has a lot going on with his career and I don't want to stand in the way of that and be selfish."
"I know you don't and I understand. I know this is all overwhelming for you, but don't you think that its best to talk to Seth about this? Running away from the problem or trying to escape it won't make things any better." Stephanie tried to reason with her without the judgement. "And I don't think Seth would see you as a selfish person at all."
"I just need some time to figure things out. Besides, with how Seth is going right now and everything is looking up for him, I just don't want to stand in the way of his career." She tried to explain, but deep down, her biggest fear was that Seth wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore. He would assume that she trapped him into having a baby, which wasn't the case at all.
Stephanie wasn't really sure, since Taryn was the most popular WWE superstar in all sports entertainment and if she were to suddenly disappear, it would start to send a few red flags.
"I know this is truly asking for a lot and know that I respect you. I just really feel overwhelmed by all of this and I need that time to clear my mind, even if that means I kind of have to take a leave of absence." Taryn chewed on her bottom lip. "Please Stephanie..."
"Well, I'll tell you what we can do. I can talk with the creative team with Mark and maybe we can work something out with a new story-line. Just for a little while until you decide on what you would like to do next.
Taryn blew out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Stephanie. I really do appreciate this."
Stephanie smiled at her as she gave her another hug. "I know you really care about Seth...maybe much more than what you lead on..?"
Taryn chewed her bottom lip. "Yes...yes I do care about Seth a lot."
"Taryn, I normally don't dig into my coworkers lives, but.." Stephanie paused for a minute before she continued on carefully. "But I hope you know that I do care about you as well as Hunter. Not only that, we have noticed how Stefan treats you when he's around you..."
"I mean...it's not so bad.." She diverted her gaze away from Stephanie, knowing that she was lying.
"Does Seth make you happy.." She asked her.
Taryn thought about how much Seth has done for her lately, especially with getting rid of Alex Riley for her, practically putting himself in danger for her with no question or hesitation about it. Even though she was against him doing it, she was also grateful that he was willing to do it all for her. More than he could ever know.
It was more than just the intimacy. It was just how caring he was for her, how respectful he was to her. He's really earned her trust and wanted nothing more than to make her happy and to protect her no matter what.
He has really changed his ways back from when he was in high school.
"Honestly...he really does make me happy." She gave her a soft smile.
Stephanie could easily read Taryn and could tell that even in her blank expression, her eyes were telling a different story, as if she had a feeling there was much more going on than what she was telling about her husband.
"Well, trust me and believe me that if you need someone to talk too, woman to woman, because before I met Hunter, I use to be in your exact same shoes on being with someone who didn't respect me and treated me like dirt for much too long. You are a bright and wonderful person and you deserve to be happy. So just remember that I am here for you, always." She smiled.
Even as a villain on-screen, Stephanie has always treated everyone fairly and was an actual sweet person off the camera.
"Thank you Stephanie..that really means a lot." She smiled at Stephanie as they shared a hug.
"Remember, anything you need, you can always come to me; Woman to Woman. I am a McMahon after all." She added with a smirk as Taryn smiled.
"Of course." She got up, fixing her dress a bit. "I'll try to talk to Seth as well. It's not going to be easy. So just wish me luck."
"Absolutely."
As Taryn left her office, she saw a call from Seth, but she decided she would answer it later. She figured that with a little bit of time to herself, she would be able to gather up courage to tell Seth the truth, of the fact that she was carrying his child.
As Taryn was in the studio, she decided to do some vocal warm-ups. She went over to the piano, wanting to practice a few songs she had worked on. As her fingers were hitting the keys, she closed her eyes, letting the music take her away as she sung her song. It also helped with trying not to worry about her sister Ariel so much even though most of the time she couldn't help it.
At the same time though, Seth had went up to the studio, as he remembered that Taryn usually goes there on Fridays. After he did his radio interviews as well as doing his usual Cross Fit exercises, he wanted some peace of mind from the hectic day and Taryn was the only one who could put him in this peaceful state.
He admitted that she seemed kind of distant with him and somewhat secretive. He wondered if it had anything do with Stefan or she was still dealing with the past of all the trauma that she went through. She was still going to therapy but he knew with time and patience as well as being there for her, making sure she was safe and cared for.
He truly cared about Taryn and if he was honest with himself, he was really in love with Taryn. He just didn't want to scare her off after everything she had been through and didn't want to add to anymore of her problems. At the same time, he was struggling with his feelings for her. He knew he was going to have to talk to her eventually and that he couldn't prolong it any longer.
But for right now, he was hypnotized by her voice as she was practicing. She was wearing her brunette hair in low pigtails, wearing a Fashion Nova Little White Lies Red Top a snug pair of high rise white skinny jeans, and her black high top sneakers.
He couldn't help but to watch her as she was singing. She then sung a few verses, the way her voice sounded so soulful, like the angels had been surrounding her as she was singing, even though it was just practice.
She opened her eyes as she saw Seth standing by the doorway.
"She sings.." He smiled at her as she blushed.
"Hey there." She tried to hide her blush. "Didn't even hear you come in."
"I had called you earlier, but I'd figured you were busy. So I'd figure I'd drop by and I have something for you to eat as well." He held up a bag of food that was from the Cheesecake Factory as her smile got wider.
Not only that, she was having a craving for strawberry cheesecake anyway.
As soon as she was about to get up, Seth had stopped her. "No you go ahead and continue. I'll get your food for you."
"You know I'm only doing warm ups right?" She quirked a brow, idly playing with the keys.
"I love hearing your voice. It's the most beautiful thing in the world." His attention was on her.
Taryn smiled her red lips, deciding to play another song she had been working on as he watched her, listening to the way she was so focused into the melody.
After a moment, she joined Seth over at the table as he had a grilled chicken and avocado club sandwich, a Cobb salad, and lemonade; All just for her.
"You know you really didn't have to go through all this trouble." She had gotten some napkins and forks for both of them as they started eating.
"It's worth it for you." He kissed her lips once more as they continued their lunch date.
"How has your day been today?" He asked, wanting to make sure it was ok. "It's not like you to avoid me and you kinda have the past few days. I hope I haven't done anything wrong."
"What? No of course not. You did nothing wrong. Seth, you have been amazing to me." She assured him, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. At the same time, she had to be honest. She just didn't know where to start.
"I'm here for you, with whatever you want to talk about no matter if its good or bad." He took her hand as he rubbed her wrist with his thumb. " Whatever it is, we can deal with it together."
"...There is something I do want to ask you.." She confessed, taking a moment of pause before she continued. "It's about Alex.."
"Sure.." They looked to make sure the door was locked so no one would hear their conversation.
"Why did you decide to put your life in danger just to help me? What made you decide to go through with that? I'm just having a hard time figuring this out is all. Maybe you explained it to me the first time but I guess my head is thinking of so much that I can never seem to figure so much out."
Seth took a moment as he stopped eating, wanting to move a little closer to her, to which she didn't mind at all.
"If I have to be honest with you, Taryn.." His brown eyes staring at hers. "It was because I chose to do it. You didn't deserve that kind of pain, the heartache. I wanted to make things right."
"What do you mean?" The curiosity was in her voice.
Seth inhaled for a moment and then slowly exhaled, wanting to express how he truly felt about the situation. "Ever since you told me..about the situation. With what happened to you.."
"When I was raped years ago..yeah.." She stated, wanting to address the elephant in the room.
"It's Ok, we don't have to talk about this if you are not ready to.." He gently squeezed her hand.
"No, it's Ok. I know that I need too. And I trust you." She closed her eyes for a moment before she looked at him, trying her best to keep the tears inside. "Before I finally opened up about what happened to me years ago...to you...I was having trouble with myself."
She took a sip of her lemonade before she continued, as Seth paid attention to her.
"I had trouble with finding myself and what I mean by that is..ever since with what happened with my father and well..with Alex." She explained. "I have blamed myself for what happened. I felt ashamed, disgusted. I felt as though I was nothing more than damaged goods. Stefan had always told me that I was nothing more than some damaged nut-job who deserved to be behind bars. I tried to keep those thoughts out of my head...but the minute that each time we had sex, it always flashes back in my mind and I have to try to hard, to block out the rape. But Seth, it just felt like a damn vice that was gripping tighter and tighter around my heart, my mind and just what was left of me." Tears started filling her eyes.
"All this time, I had believed that the rape and what they had done to me was well deserved. It was truly hard to actually accept intimacy. The reason why I always felt uncomfortable when Stefan wanted to have sex with me. I guess a part of me was just so desperate to hold onto him so bad because I had loved him so much."
"Taryn, I never knew.." He spoke softly to her. He was really worried about her.
She shrugged slightly. "How could you have known? Naomi knows only part of the story but you know everything. I just felt like at the time, with everything that was sexual it just became too much for me. I would close my eyes when Stefan fucked me because I wanted it to be over. If I didn't do it, he would lock me in the..." She stopped herself, trembling as Seth gently touched her back.
"It's ok, sweetheart. You don't have to worry about the piece of shit. Not while I am around. I promise." He kissed her hand as the tears fell down her cheeks, quickly wiping them away.
"I know that when you and I started kissing, we were both drunk and all.." She sniffled, wiping her nose a bit as she grabbed some tissues. "But at the same time, it all became too much and that's part of the reason why I ran off. The worst part of it all is that even though you and I made love and I wanted it, I still see that image of me being pinned down and forced by that sick bastard of a father and Alex.." She covered her eyes as she couldn't stop the tears. "I just felt like it was all my fault. The voice in my head kept saying it was my fault, Seth. And I believed it all these years and I still do.."
Seth bent down to her as he cupped her face, wiping away her tears. He hated that she was in so much pain. His eyes were filled with tears, his heart breaking for her. "Listen to me; Don't you ever blame yourself for what happened, do you understand me?" He said with raw emotion. "Don't ever blame yourself like that ever again. You didn't do anything wrong. You were a victim. If you keep blaming yourself, you are letting them win. You can't let your father win. You can't let him have that power over you."
"So then why do I honestly hate myself? Why can't I ever look myself in the mirror and face myself? Because when I wake up in the morning Seth, I don't see Taryn; The WWE Superstar, singer, and loving sister, best friend, and wife. I just see myself as I have stated before; A troubled woman who is nothing more than just damaged goods."
"I never saw you that way. Never have, never will." Seth gently touched her cheek. "I never meant to make you feel as though I was pressuring you or making you feel as though I'm forcing you do something that you didn't want to do. The last thing I want you to feel is though I'm taking advantage of you for my own personal gain when it's not true."
Taryn nodded. "I know you didn't pressure me. I was in denial for so long and trying so freaking hard to make myself believe that I hated you, but it was much easier said than done."
"I just hate myself that I couldn't protect you. I was a real fucking asshole and an arrogant jerk to you. I know I can be a dick sometimes but I wish I could take this pain away from you. I never wanted you to go through this, especially not alone."
"In a way..I wasn't." She wiped her eyes as more tears fell. "But I understand what you are saying. But Seth.." She took his hand, looking up at him. "I don't want you to blame yourself either. No one knew what I was going through as I was just trying to prove to myself that I was strong. That I was tough. That I wasn't so fragile-minded."
"But you are strong. I see it in you. You've always been strong and even with what happened to you.." Seth couldn't help but stare into her eyes. He could honestly stare at her beautiful hazel color all day. "You are not damaged to me. I care about you a lot, Taryn. Much more than sex."
Taryn wiped her eyes, her heart was beating and she felt overwhelmed by Seth being sweet and gentle. A part of her had felt like as she was still dealing with her past, that she wasn't truly ready to be intimate, and she didn't feel desirable within her self and her poor self esteem.
"I care about you too..." She held his hand, their eye connection never breaking. "You didn't pressure me or force me into anything. I wanted you to make love to me that night. And it was all because you earned my trust."
Seth couldn't help but smile at her, as he knew that even though it was going to be a work in progress to overcome her past, he was not going to leave her and he was damn sure not going to betray her.
"But I'm ok and honestly..I'm glad I have you in my corner." She confessed. "You just make me feel so protected and always know how I'm feeling and what I want."
"Well speaking of what you want.." He got up as he went into the bag of food and pulled out Strawberry Cheesecake, her favorite dessert. Taryn smiled some more.
"You just seem to have me speechless each time don't you?" She smirked.
"Maybe." He winked as he bent down to give her a kiss.
Taryn then decided right then and there, that she had to tell Seth the truth about the baby and the time to do it was right now.
"Hey Seth." She set her food down. "There is something I need to talk to you about. Why I've really been distant as of lately for the past few weeks as well as today, included."
"What's up?" He sat with her, his arm around her.
"So, you know how I was with Ariel to help set up for her upcoming wedding and all.." She started off as Seth nodded slowly. "Well, I got sick. I kept throwing up. The reason why is because-"
Suddenly Seth's phone started going off and she knew it had something to do with the WWE Events. Since Seth Rollins would be cashing in his contract very soon as planned, he was more busier on the road and he was one of the top WWE Superstars.
"Shit." Seth huffed, annoyed, knowing who it was.
"Do you want to take it.." She asked but Seth shook his head.
"No, you said you needed to talk to me-"
"It's ok, I promise we have all the time. Go ahead and take the call.."
He got up as he went outside for a moment to answer it. Taryn dug into her bag for a moment as she pulled out the ultrasound picture of her unborn baby.
"I need to stop being such a fucking coward. So why am I scared shitless to tell him.." She rolled her eyes, annoyed with herself. She gently touched her stomach which started to feel hard. Her life was such a fucking mess right now and she had to get it together as well as herself or things would go downhill.
"You know...you are going to need me again one day.." She heard a voice say as she looked around. But no one was in the room with her.
She stood up. "Whose here?"
She turned to see another woman in the room. She had light gray and black curly hair, dark purple eye-shadow, and a White collar with Embroidery Gothic dress with fishnet stockings and black boots.
The crazy part of it, is that this woman looked exactly like Taryn!
"Wait..what is this...am I asleep right now?" She rubbed her eyes.
"No. But no one else can see me except you." She stared at Taryn with concern, a small smile forming on her black lips.
"Who are you and why are you here?" She asked the woman, even though she was pretty sure this was all in her head.
"It's been quite some time since we've been around each other, but my name is Willow." She spoke calmly but there was no evil or hate in her voice. "Just know that you created me in your mind when you were younger. I am only here to protect you Taryn. Just like before. Only I can't reveal much to you."
"Ok, now I really don't understand." She was trying not to freak out but it was easy to say, hard to do.
"I am only here to protect you from many things and just know that soon..I'll be back to help you. To shield you from those who will hurt you. Just like we did that night and around that one..umm never-mind."
"Who would want to continue to hurt me?" She asked well, herself.
It was then that Seth came back and she never saw that woman again. Seth could see that Taryn was visibly freaked out.
"What happened? Are you alright?" He went over to her as she hugged him.
"Yeah..Yeah I'm fine." She nodded.
"Other than the fact that I am seeing ghosts who look like me..or are they really ghosts?"
"I'm sorry but I have to go. Mark wants to see me, knowing its about more Events I'm going to have to work as well as a main event for the live events" He was annoyed with the time being away from her but that was the WWE after all. It was the grind of it all. "But we can talk more tonight, I promise. I um..actually have something to talk to you about as well."
"Of course. I'll be fine honey." She kissed him as he smiled, kissing her right back as he encouraged her to enjoy the rest of the food.
Soon as he left though, she promised herself she would tell Seth the truth tonight. That is if her mind could even stay within the sanity level.
"Maybe I haven't had enough sleep." She thought to herself.
As she went into her purse to go find her prenatal vitamins, she was disturbed by something she saw.
It was Alex's watch, with dried blood on it.
"Wh-Why do I have this in my purse.." She was visibly scared and shook.
What the hell happened those few weeks? Where had Taryn's mind gone as of lately?
She finished sucking off her boy toy as he spurted the last of his cum inside her mouth. She always knew how to get her way and this idiot was more than willing to help with plotting if it meant getting some good head from a WWE Diva who would give him the time of day, even if she was really only using him for her personal and vindictive reasons. Zahra smiled as she got up, licking her lips as one of the script writers for the WWE.
"So..you know what to do right?" She purred, kissing his cheek as he nodded.
"Yep. I'll make sure each of them are switched."
"That's a good pet." She grinned as she kissed him once more before she idly left her office.
She got a text from Dolph Ziggler, who was also going to make sure he would make sure that Seth would suffer as well, just a little payback as he did break her heart. Taryn of course would be too easy to destroy thanks to Stefan.
While also making Seth take the fall for her destruction that was soon to come next Monday Night Raw.
It was then that she got a call from Liv Morgan.
"What's up?" She asked, already having to make sure she wasn't caught leaving the office.
"Look, I know you want revenge..but what you are doing to Taryn, especially with this secret; Isn't that taking that a bit too far?" She asked, concerned.
Zahra rolled her eyes. "That bitch deserves it and then some and I guarantee she will never be the same again. You watch."
Zahra left on her way, hell bent on revenge as she smiled evilly.
A/N: So for some that may be a bit confused as to what took place between Taryn and Seth, I had them talk about the rape for a few reasons. Now even though Taryn and Seth know they deeply care for one another as well and it was also Taryn's choice, she is still dealing with the past and rape is not an easy thing to overcome, especially for anyone whose been through that. I had to write this scene so we could dig a little further into her feelings about it as well as her self esteem and the emotion behind it all. She's not over her rape because she slept with Seth but they have trust between each other and have formed a deep bond with one another that's what's important.
To those out there who have suffered from Rape, Abuse, Molestation and/or Domestic Violence, know that you are loved and that you are not damaged. You can slowly build yourself back up and just continue to love yourself. Know that you have NOTHING to be ashamed about. You are strong. You are a conqueror!