The Hardest Part Is Over With

-Monday Night Raw, May 19-

Tia returned to in-ring action tonight after a two week break. She was wrestling house shows during that time but she only appeared on television when accompanying Sami Zayn to the ring – which she also did tonight when Sami won the Intercontinental Championship. She's in much better shape than she was at Extreme Rules and appeared to be moving fluidly and without any pain. I commented a few weeks back that Tia struggled in tag team matches but she proved me wrong on Monday when she teamed with Layla against Summer Rae and Eva Marie. Layla got the pin – a home town victory – and the two celebrated in the ring by wrapping themselves in a huge Union Jack flag. Very patriotic.

-Friday Night Smackdown, May 23-

Tia was back in singles action tonight when she faced Eva Marie. Summer Rae was definitely reminded what Tia is capable of. It wasn't a long match but it was effective because Tia had Eva locked in the Cloverleaf and Eva tapped out in a matter of seconds. Hopefully this is a step back in the right direction for the Champ and it helps bring the IWC back to her corner.

I'm just waiting for her finishers to be given names. Anyone have any suggestions for the company? I think they're all a bit stuck. Might I suggest naming her Gory Bomb the 'Berzerker Drop'? ... I'm just being told that that's already being used by some guy named 'Jimmy Jacobs'. 'Age of the Fall' has a nice ring to it as well. ... Nope? Also something involving Jimmy Jacobs? I give up.

-May 24, 2014; Berlin, Germany-

"Stop staring at me."

"I wasn't," Tessa muttered sheepishly, a blush rising to her cheeks. "I was looking out the window."

"Uh-huh."

Tessa huffed, "I wasn't."

Rami's arm pushed behind her back, wrapped his hand loosely around her upper arm and pulled her into his side, kissing the top of her head. "Je t'aime, habibti."

"Moi aussi," she said quietly, smiling to herself as she let her eyes flutter shut. She shifted over in the coach's seat so that their hips were touching and she relaxed into Rami.

She almost felt as if she had travelled back in time and it was a feeling she had had every second for the past few days. Always touching, always smiling and always feeling wanted.

It was 2006; they were sitting in a small bus, leaving LAX, surrounded by their fellow wrestlers. Tessa was tucked tightly under Rami's arm, trying to avoid being hit by whatever was being thrown around – whether it was food, a dirty sock or an inflated condom.

But it wasn't. It was 2014; they were sitting on a large coach and leaving Berlin Tegel Airport. Tessa wasn't hiding from projectiles, she was hiding from the real world: the fear that as soon as they left Europe it would all be over. She needed to hold on while she could.

She tore her eyes away from the passing scenery when she felt a tap on her shoulder and looked into the aisle to see Nikki holding her phone out.

"Your Divas Day Off shoot was just released," she said with a sincere smile as she extended her phone to Tessa. "You look really fantastic. You," she pointed to Rami, "are going to wish they were never sent live."

Tessa took the phone and held it in front of her so that both of them could see the photos. The corners of her lips twitched upwards – Nikki was right, she did look good.

"Wow," Tessa breathed. "That's really me, huh?"

"Yep!" Nikki nodded enthusiastically. "Seriously, though, Rami, you'd better watch that someone doesn't steal her away."

Tessa's smile faltered. The sentiment was sweet; Nikki had only reiterated that the photos made her look great. It was the wording that had caused Tessa's breath to catch in her throat.

"Nah," Rami said with a light squeeze of Tessa's arm, "I'm not letting her go anywhere."

He took the phone from Tessa's hand and handed it back to Nikki who left almost immediately upon realising that Tessa's mood had shifted. It wasn't hard to miss: her smile had fallen, her eyes had dropped and clouded over and any attempts at keeping conversation had stopped.

It wasn't long before they reached the hotel and were all filed off of the bus. They were all told they had an hour to check in, eat and be back on the bus so they could all be taken to the arena for the show.

"Come on, Sour Puss," Nikki said when Tessa walked into the hotel lobby. "John's got media so I need a lunch date."

"I was just going to get something from the bakery next door," Tessa responded, stepping out of the way so that everybody else could get through. "I just want to relax for an hour."

"Don't make me eat with Brie," Nikki said dramatically, knowing that her sister was within earshot. "Fine, but you owe me a conversation. Also lunch."

Tessa nodded and assured Nikki that both were definitely things she could do. Leaving Nikki to find Brie, Tessa then made her way towards the desk where Rami was checking into their room. Her hand immediately hooked onto his arm as she stood beside him and listened to what the receptionist was saying: generic hotel rules that she had heard many times before.

"You doing okay?"

"I was just going to get something from the bakery," she told him. "Did you want me to get you anything?"

Rami thanked the receptionist and they walked into the centre the lobby, he smiled. "I want a donut. A big, jelly filled donut."

Tessa's lips twitched upwards because of how excited he sounded. "Do you really want a donut?"

He nodded at her enthusiastically and leant forward to peck her lips. She smiled just a little bit bigger as she turned on her heel to exit the building.

When she made it back to the hotel room armed with Rami's donut and her own lunch, Rami was nowhere to be found. She placed his donut onto the table near the door and took a seat next to the small table near the window. On the table was Rami's laptop, open to the WWE website. More specifically, open to her photoshoot.

Forgetting entirely about her food, Tessa's cheeks began to redden. It wasn't just because she was realising that half the world had now seen her without any pants on but because Rami had been looking at them. He didn't need to go online to see her in just her underwear yet it made her giddy to know that he had.

Her own curiosity got the better of her and Tessa went through all photos that had been uploaded to the website. When she reached the last photo, Tessa buried her face into her hands and smiled into them. She closed the window without even thinking and froze when her face was staring back at her on the screen.

At first she thought that it was a webcam and she flinched but the picture on the screen didn't move. It dawned on her that she was definitely looking at herself, only some seven years younger and a lot more baby faced. Again unable to fend off her curiosity, Tessa hit the right arrow key and the photo changed to one of her and Rami backstage at PWG tapings before they had starting dating. From looking at the photo, anyone would have thought they were already together.

The room door opened and Tessa looked up at Rami with toothy smile, "Were you comparing photos of me?"

"Are you spying on me?" he asked back, smiling at her, as he walked further into the room. "I wasn't comparing, just reminiscing."

"I can't believe you still have all of those photos," Tessa said, her smile never fading. "Jimmy would probably give you his next three pay cheques for these. You can't give them to him," she said quickly, "Nobody needs to know that I went through my emo phase at 20."

Rami laughed and moved to stand behind her, hitting the arrow key and changing to the next photo. "That's okay, Jimmy's still going through his so nobody can judge you."

"Hey! I'd watch it if I were you," Tessa said in a warning tone, "I will disqualify you as soon as the bell rings!"

"What a travesty that would be!" Alicia exclaimed, dramatically holding her hand to her chest. "Golden girl Tia unjustly ending the match! The horror!" She moved her hand so that the back of her hand was resting against her forehead and she pretended to faint.

"Stop making fun of my perfectly acceptable, black and white, horizontally striped top!"

Alicia rolled her eyes, "Some people are so touchy."

"Yeah, okay, Riz," Tessa said, picking up her title, turning Alicia around and pushing her into the hallway.

It was pretty clear that the re-imagined referee's shirt didn't suit Tessa – the whole design of the top made her uncomfortable. It was even shorter than her usual ring gear, to start, leaving more than the usual inch of skin exposed. Instead of the usual cleavage window, she was offered no material over her chest which had her worried that she was going to suffer a wardrobe malfunction in the middle of the ring. The thing that annoyed her the most? The top was a halter neck. The style had never been her favourite and she knew for a fact that she would be playing with the strap until she was given something to distract her.

"Are you girls ready?" Dean Malenko asked as the five Divas made their way to Gorilla.

"Always!" Nikki proclaimed loudly, throwing her arm over Brie's shoulder. The others nodded while Tessa's hand reached up to rearrange her neck strap. Dean looked at her curiously but kept his mouth shut as The Usos walked back through the curtain, celebrating their victory over The Wyatt Family.

-Live in Berlin, Germany-

Tia's music was started and she retracted her hand before she pushed through to the stage and delivered her usual, jovial entrance. She was followed by Foxsana before The Bella Twins made their entrance to loud cheers from the Berlin crowd.

Tia started the match with Brie and Alicia in the ring and was quick to follow the action as best as she could. Alicia was particularly vocal and willing to get into Tia's face when she tried to regain order in the match which had the guest referee frequently raising her hands and stepping away.

Throughout the match she tugged at the material around her neck wishing that it would stop digging into her skin and pushing her head forward. Every time she did it her attention was brought back to the match when one of the partners tried to get involved or because someone was demanding they watch what was going on in the ring.

When it happened, Tessa wasn't sure what to do. She felt relieved that the pressure was gone but it only took her a split second to realise that the pressure was gone because the strap was broken. She quickly grabbed at it and pulled it back over her neck, desperately trying to keep it on.

"Why aren't you watching me?!" Alicia demanded, pushing Tia's shoulders and pointing at Nikki who was laid out on the ground.

Tia was in mild shock and could feel the slackness of her top all over chest so she didn't have any response to Alicia's question, not that it mattered because she quickly covered her opponent. Tia dropped to the mat, still trying to maintain her modesty, and stopped the count at two when Nikki kicked out.

She heard the wolf whistles. She heard the cat calls. There was no missing the 'Take it Off!' chant the crowd had started. She nearly missed the end of the match – Nikki hitting the Nikki Rack Attack on Alicia – the chants were so loud and distracting. When she realised what was happening, she weakly fell to her knees and hit her hand against the mat three times and limply signalled for the bell.

Without raising the victors' arms or grabbing her title, Tessa hightailed backstage as fast as she could without causing her breasts to fall out of her poor excuse for a top.

-Backstage-

She bypassed Dean Malenko, still pulling on the strap as tightly as she could, and ran straight towards the Divas locker room. She vaguely heard him call after her, his voice quickly disappearing as she got further and further away.

The door slammed shut behind her and, without hesitation, Tessa let go of the strap and ripped the top over her head and tossed it at the wall, letting out a strangled cry as she did so. Not at all caring that she was half naked, Tessa sat down on a bench and let the 'Take it Off' chants run through her mind.

"I don't think anyone saw anything," Nikki stated when the door opened and the four Divas filed in.

"No, I don't think they did," Alicia agreed. "You caught it quick."

"It happens, Tessa," Brie said softly. "It's your first wardrobe malfunction and it wasn't on television. Really, you should be thankful."

Aksana nodded wholeheartedly, "I have had worse. There was nipple and there are gifs."

"I can't go back out there," she sighed, looking up at her friends. "They had chants. I really can't go back out there."

"You're going to go back out there and you're not going to care about what some stupid guys think about you," Nikki said. "They only want you to take it off because that's the most action they're going to get this year."

Despite her mood, Tessa smiled at Nikki's comment. She rose to her feet and found her bra, set on changing out of her ring gear and into her dress so that she could meet Rami and Sandow before their match.

Everything was fine until she pulled her dress over her head, getting it stuck in one of the pins in her hair. That was all it took for her to start crying in absolute frustration. Brie managed to free her from the mess though it was too late and Tessa dropped back down onto the bench and held her face in her hands.

"I have a leak," she sighed exasperatedly. "I have a leak that I can't turn off and I want it to stop."

"It's probably just your hormones," Brie suggested. "We all get this way."

Tessa's laugh was strangled but it was a laugh nonetheless and Brie wasted no time in making sure that her makeup wasn't ruined while Aksana tended to her hair. Tessa sat there dejectedly as they tried to work through her sighs and sobs, still dreading the idea of going back out in front of the crowd.

Aksana was kind enough to walk her back to Gorilla, offering words of encouragement as they went. When they were there, the blonde whispered in Tessa's ear that her breasts were great and anybody would be lucky to see them to which Tessa smiled appreciatively.

"Your reflexes are good," Dean told her as she approached, extending the Divas Championship to her. "You have nothing to worry about."

"What happened?" Rami asked, looking between the producer and his girlfriend. "Why are you worrying about anything?"

"The strap to my top broke," Tessa said quietly as she took her title. "Did you hear the chants? They were for me."

He pulled her into his arms, noticing that her bottom lip was quivering, and held her head to his chest. "Habibti, if Dean says you have nothing to worry about then nobody saw anything. The crowd is mainly men and men are perverts, T, they'll do anything to get a peak at something they can't have."

"Do I have to go out there?" she whispered.

"You should come out and let them know that they can't have you. I have you."

"You're supposed to be the good guy."

"The good guy likes to protect his girlfriend."

-Live in Berlin, Germany-

Sami Zayn burst through the curtain with his usual vigour, dancing to his entrance music as the crowd clapped along. Tia walked out behind him and he attempted, as usual, to get her involved in his pre-match dance to no avail. They were walking down the ramp when the first wolf whistle was heard and Tia quickened her pace so that she was walking directly beside Sami.

He jumped into the ring and held open the ropes but she shook her head and opted to stay on the flow, knowing that if she got into the ring she ran the risk of the crowd getting a glimpse of her panties. He shrugged and leant through them, taking her face in his hands and kissing her deeply.

Tia tried to get into the match but when her usual attempt at starting an 'Olé!' chant turned into a Ryback style 'Show. Us. More!' chant she quickly gave up. More than once she seriously contemplated just walking out, another thought she had was to just pull her dress down and show everybody what they wanted to see – she opted for none of the above and stood still and silent at ringside until the match was over.

It was fifteen minutes of what she could only describe as torture.

After his victory, Sami was handed his title and briefly let his hand be raised by the referee. He didn't stay to celebrate, though, because when he looked down at Tia he knew that he had to get her away from the chants before she started to cry.

He took hold of her hand and squeezed it as comfortingly as he could, while still trying to maintain a smile, and guided her up the ramp and back behind the curtain.

-Backstage-

"Hey, hey," Rami said softly when they were backstage. "They don't know what they're saying. They're not important, habibti."

"I know," she said weakly. "I'm, um, going to go back to the locker room. I'll see you later."

She smiled at him meekly and pulled her hand out of his so that she could walk away. Her title felt heavy in her hands and as soon as she was inside the locker room she dropped it to the floor. The door clicked shut and Tessa looked up to see Nikki standing near the door.

"You're supposed to be happy," Nikki said quietly, just in case that someone was lurking outside the door.

"Because it's been such a joyous evening."

"This morning on the bus, it looked like someone had just run over your dog, Tessa," Nikki stated in a solemn voice. "God, Rami is all I've heard you talk about since I met you and he's finally yours again and you're still sad."

Tessa lifted one of her shoulders in a half shrug before she started to pack her gear back into her bag. Nikki sat down on the empty bench beside it and looked up at Tessa with a small sigh.

"Nik, I'm happy," Tessa stated as sincerely as she could. "I'm just tired and homesick. I miss Jimmy – I mean, I just started seeing him again and now I'm halfway across the world."

"Okay," Nikki nodded slowly, "so that's a start."

"A start to what?" Tessa's question came across as sceptical, part of her would always be a little worried about Nikki's plans.

"You telling me things. I'm not trying to pry; I just want to help you."

"I haven't spoken to my parents," Tessa said in a voice that was just above a whisper. She lowered her eyes at the look that crossed Nikki's face: something akin to pure horror.

"You haven't spoken to your parents? Tessa!"

"I left it too long," she said exasperatedly, looking at Nikki with another half shrug. "I should have done it right away but I didn't and now I've solidified my position as worst daughter in the world."

"No," Nikki screwed up her face and shook her head. "There are definitely worse daughters out there."

"I didn't know how to talk to them when I first touched down in Detroit," Tessa sighed, "and that was back in December. It's been six months since I got back and-"

"They are your parents," Nikki said slowly, cutting off Tessa before she was able to send herself into a tailspin. "They will be happy to hear from you whenever you get in touch with them. You understand me?"

Tessa nodded refocusing on packing her bags. She was very acutely aware that they were probably holding up the bus but she was beginning to feel the conversation with Nikki was cathartic. After a silent moment, Tessa audibly inhaled.

"I don't want to lose him," Tessa said in a small voice. "I can't do it again."

Nikki froze at the revelation and stared at Tessa, not with the former expression of horror, but with one of sadness and pity.

"You're not going to lose him," she replied softly. "It hasn't even been a week, how could you be worried about losing him?"

"I know that it's dumb – I really do – I just can't stop thinking that he's going to realise he made a mistake by trying us again."

"There's nothing to realise," Nikki said, reaching forward to hold Tessa's hand on top of her bag. "Stop it. You deserve to be happy. It has literally been years. He's forgiven you. You're being mopey for no reason at all."

Tessa pushed back her shoulders and shook out her head. "How are things with you and John?"

"We're great," Nikki said with a small roll of her eyes. "I love him, he loves me. He loves me enough to have our entire relationship exaggerated on a reality television show. I know that we aren't breaking up and I know that because I'm not actively trying to ruin my own life."

"That's rude."

"But true," Nikki argued back quickly. "If it ends after the tour – which it won't – then you can slap me or something. Until then you have to let yourself be happy."

-May 25, 2014; Berlin, Germany-

The generic ringtone drew Tessa's attention away from the television and she leaned across the bed to pick up Rami's phone. PAC was displayed across the screen and she swiped her finger to answer it.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, falling backwards so that she was looking up at the ceiling. "How's my favourite Brit?"

"You're answerin' his phone now?" Adrian Neville asked. "It's been what? Five days? And you're answerin' his phone? Unbelievable."

"Yeah," Tessa huffed at the joke. "What do you want? You're no longer my favourite Brit, by the way."

"I called Generico so I wanted to talk to him. If that's okay with you, of course," Adrian said, unable to prevent himself from laughing.

"He's in the shower," Tessa revealed, "but I will get him to call you back."

"Thank you, love. I'll talk to you next time I see you, okay?"

"I have something really big to tell you!" Tessa said, sitting upright she was so excited. "I'm not supposed to tell you but I will when I see you!"

"Now I have to talk to you," Adrian groaned. "Fine."

"I love you, too!" Tessa shouted quickly as he ended the call and turning her attention back to the television.

When Rami emerged from the bathroom, she was starting to pack her suitcase for the flight home and relayed the message that 'PAC' had called. Rami nodded. A thought popped into her head and she contemplated whether or not she should bring it up the entire time that he was on the phone. When he hung up, she couldn't help herself.

"I tried to call you," Tessa stated as she delicately folded one of her shirts. "The year after I left. It was your birthday and it, um, didn't feel right not to."

"You did?" He asked, stopping halfway through putting on his sock. "I don't remember any Japanese numbers – I don't remember a lot but I'm sure that'd stick."

"A girl answered," Tessa said, trying not to sigh.

"A girl?" His foot fell back to the floor as his head cocked slightly to the side, trying to work out who she could possibly be referring to.

Tessa nodded and stated, very matter-of-factly, "She was very nice."

"You're sure it was the right number?"

"Yeah, because 'El Generico' was in the shower," Tessa answered, keeping control of her voice no matter how hard it was. "I panicked – I can't even believe I actually got that far – told her not to worry about it and I hung up."

Rami nodded slowly, his eyes squinting a little, "Okay. I wish I had answered."

Tessa nodded quickly yet tightly, not knowing how to respond. She continued packing her suitcase as Rami sat on the dining chair and looked at her.

"I regret not going after you."

Her eyes fell shut.

"I regret not calling you."

She bit into her lip.

"I regret letting you go."

"Don't," Tessa sighed weakly. "Please don't regret anything. I didn't expect you to call me or come see me. I don't know what I expected to get when I called you because I didn't expect you to not move on."

"I know. I tried to," he admitted. "Look how good that worked out. I'm still in love with you and I will tell you every day until you realise that I don't care about what happened anymore."

a/n And I got there! You should all thank AeonBlue because without her help you would have been waiting a lot longer!

Thank yous go out to the two guests, DanniChappell, AeonBlue, starsxhearts23, xoxoShon12, Imagineer1392, Star-Moonlight1, Straight Edge Queen, CarolReigns, alibob687, Loasaur, Kdaniels280, UntilNeverDawns and ajroleplays (welcome back!) for stopping by! My memory says that this is the most reviews I've ever gotten on a single chapter, so :D

Have any suggestions for what I can name Tessa's finishing moves? I have an idea for something in the future (she's getting a sequel, btw, because we have about 6 chapters left in this part of her life) but I'd love to hear all your suggestions!