"How's J doing?" AJ asks in their hotel room in Acapulco later that night.
Ravyn shrugs, "Better than expected. But I think she wants to get together tomorrow.. Go to the beach or something."
"Alone?" AJ asks cautiously.
"Probably..?" Ravyn assumes. "You know, girl time and all."
AJ frowns, "I'd really feel better if you two didn't go off in Mexico on your own. With that picture floating around... And you guys being celebrities... I think you should bring one of the guys along."
"You don't want to come?" She only half jokes.
"I'd love to," he smiles. "But I have media in the morning. Besides, do we want the paparazzi harassing us?"
"Some day we'll be able to go all over and it won't be a big deal," she pouts. "I'll see if Tyler is free..." She shoots off a text and tosses her phone to the side as she deposits herself on AJ's lap.
The next morning the girls meet up in the lobby of their hotel with Tyler. He walks the few blocks to the beach with them where they set up their spot for the day. Ravyn parks herself under a huge umbrella where she can hide her pale flesh from the unforgiving rays of sunlight. Tyler and JJ lay out on their towels drinking in the warm sunlight. Ravyn and Tyler joke about feeding the flames of their secret relationship until they notice JJ being unusually quiet.
"So.. You doing okay J?" Ravyn asks. "What with everything that happened yesterday."
JJ shrugs as she traces random shapes in the sand with her finger, avoiding eye contact with her friends, "Have to be don't I? Nothing I can do about it except wait for it to blow over."
Ravyn shoots Tyler a concerned glance, "I hate to be an asshole... But you're sure that wasn't you in the picture?"
JJ looks at her friend stone faced, "You know I love you, but I think I would remember if we were ever together in THAT way... It would have made things weird I think."
"Things weren't weird for me and Seth until a few weeks ago," Ravyn chuckles uncomfortably. "I don't think I've ever been drunker than that night. I have no idea who that girl even is."
"I'm surprised you remember anything from that era," Tyler quips as he looks at Ravyn over the top of his reflective sunglasses. "You guys partied... A lot."
"Well I'm 99.9% sure it's not me," JJ confirms as Ravyn slaps at Tyler. "You know how much I hated Corey, even back then. I always kept myself guarded around him just in case things ever got out of control while I was around.."
"I should have listened to you more back then. I'd probably be in a lot less trouble these days," Ravyn admits. "Hey speaking of Corey.. I forgot to tell you what he said last week."
JJ rolls her eyes, "Oh, I know what he said. He has said it to me on at least two occasions. I just never told you..."
"He has!?" Ravyn gasps. "Why wouldn't you tell me? Does Dolph know!?"
"It was all talk. He approached me once in catering and the other time I went to him in order to give him a piece of my mind," JJ rationalizes. "And hell no, Dolph doesn't know. He would lose it if he found out."
"I hope he's all talk," Ravyn worries. "You should think about telling him. Just so he keeps an eye out for him... I told AJ. It went better than expected.."
JJ shakes her head, "I just don't know if I can tell him now. Not with the Divas incident still so fresh."
"I think he would rather know. If something happened and he could have prevented it... Damnit that's not even a phrase I should have to be saying. I fucking hate Corey," Ravyn grits her teeth angrily.
"Sorry friend, but I'm going to learn from your mistakes and just stay far away from the scumbag," JJ says wisely.
"You always were the logical one," Ravyn laughs. "At least our feud starts next week."
The three of them chat about storylines and the rest of the short Mexico tour. And hour or so later Tyler and Ravyn get up, ready to prepare for that evenings show. JJ doesn't budge from the warm sand. Although her friends try to encourage her to join them she insists that they leave her behind. Needing some alone time. Reluctantly they walk up the beach towards the hotel without her.
"Should we really leave her here alone?" Tyler asks with concern.
Ravyn's hands are already on her phone, "I'm texting Dolph to come get her. She only thinks she wants to be alone. Getting stuck in your own head is the worst park of these leaks."
"She'll be okay," Tyler puts his arm around her shoulders as they cross the busy street in front of their hotel.
Tuesday's live TV comes faster than anyone expects. Once they're at the arena Ravyn leaves AJ to go to a meeting with Mark Carrano. She's surprised to see JJ already sitting at the big table in the conference room. Excited to see her best friend, but also nervous that they'd both been called into the office, she smiles hesitantly.
"Ladies," Carrano addresses them both. "Tonight is the big night. We're going to start your feud, with a women's tournament to decide a number one contender. JJ you'll be gunning for the title, while Ravyn you're going to avoid defending the championship whenever you can." The girls nod understanding the premis. "But first I'd like to show you guys these..." He hands each of the girls a brown paper wrapped box. "Go ahead and open them!"
The girls share an excited look and tear into the plain packaging. JJ is the first to lift out her prize. A black T-shirt with her name on the front in bright pink, teal and lime green.
"Oh my god, J!" Ravyn squeals. "That's so cute!"
JJ holds the shirt up and takes in the stylish design. The back bills her as "Everyone's Favorite Underdog!" The prospect of getting her own shirt feeding her excitement Ravyn shreds the remaining brown paper. A look of sheer joy lights up her face as she lifts the dark purple garment from the box. A black and grey tornado winds its way across the front of the shirt with her name as the horizon line being kicked up by the destructive force. She spins the shirt around to see the slogan "Destroying Everything You Love" on the back.
She laughs, "Really going for all my best qualities on this one, huh?"
Carrano just smirks, "It was between that and 'Catalyst of Chaos.' I'm sure that'll be on the next one though." He takes a moment to let the new shirts sink in before continuing. "Vince would really like it if you guys would wear these on TV tonight. They're printed, available in the arena and they'll go live on Dot Com after the show tonight."
The girls nod excitedly, eager to post pictures of the new shirts on their social media pages. Not wanting to keep them much longer Carrano lets them know that there are a bunch more items in the pipeline if the shirts do well. They thank him profusely as they walk back from the meeting to the locker room engrossed in their new merchandise. Ravyn leaves JJ at the door of the locker room when she sees AJ talking to Daniel Bryan. She sneaks up alongside him trying not to interrupt his conversation. AJ smiles when he sees her, motioning for her to join him. He wraps an arm around her shoulders pulling her close to his muscular chest. She blushes slightly as the Smackdown Live general manager looks at them with utter astonishment. The boys finish up their chat and Bryan walks away scratching his head. AJ smirks at his coworker's confusion.
"I think you enjoy making people uncomfortable," Ravyn laughs.
"I just like seeing their reactions," he confirms. "How was your meeting with Carrano?"
"Eh, it was okay," she says coyly. "He wants me to wear this tonight."
She hands AJ the balled up purple fabric with a sly grin. He shakes the fabric out and gets his first look at the garment. "Your first shirt," he beams. "I'm going to need one of these."
She backs him up against the cement wall boldly, lacing her fingers behind his neck. Her forwardness obviously turning him on, she kisses him softly. Their eyes meet hungrily and they make the silent decision to sneak off to his locker room. Luckily the halls are quiet and they manage to make it there mostly unseen. The moment the door clicks shut behind them Ravyn slams AJ up against the wall again. He chuckles, their lips crash together in a rough assault of kisses. Tongues dance with each other as AJ tears frantically at her clothes. Her fingers make quick work of his belt and his jeans fall to the floor at their feet. Her own clothing joins his seconds before he scoops her up and spins her around against the wall. Their eyes lock as their bodies grind together. Ragged breaths and pleasure filled moans, skin touching skin, her fingers knotted deeply in his dark hair. A throaty growl rumbles from deep inside AJ. She has to bite her lip to keep from screaming his name as they reach their climax together.
Panting and sweaty they take a quick shower to get cleaned up. Ravyn checks the time and leaves a light kiss on AJ's cheek as she heads off to hair and makeup to get ready for the show to begin. The Glam Squad gives her a dark smoky purple eye and a dark nude lip before curling the ends of her thick colorful hair. She steals a pair of scissors and starts snipping away at her new T-shirt. Holding it up to admire her handiwork she smiles with satisfaction. The woman doing her hair comments that she's impressed with the result.
With hair and makeup finished she changes into her new shirt, satisfied with the placement of the holes and ties. She pulls on a pair of black ripped up jeans and her black Dr. Marten boots. She can hear the show opening as she completes her outfit. Picking up the title belt on the way out of the women's locker room she makes her way to the backstage interview area for a pre-tape with Renee and JJ. The two best friends try their best not to squeal with excitement when they see each other in their new shirts for the first time. Renee just laughs at them geeking out. JJ and Renee take their places in front of the camera and the production crew counts them down.
Renee starts the segment by addressing the tournament for the women's number one contenders spot. She moves on quickly to Ravyn's comments from the week before, asking if they were aimed at JJ. She makes a point of referencing their friendship in the past. JJ takes Renee's questions to heart and begins answering the cute blonde. As she brings up the champion's statement from the week before Ravyn steps into the frame on the other side of Renee. She stares at her best friend, stopping her mid thought.
"You really think that you deserve a shot at my belt? You realize that it only took me a few short weeks to win this title, you've been here for months. What have you accomplished?" Ravyn smirks cockily. "Let's be honest here JJ. You never even have singles matches because you can't handle a one on one matchup. That's why you're always tagging with Dolph and Zack." JJ stammers to retort but Ravyn shushes her. "Maybe if you can win some singles matches and advance in this tournament then you'll deserve a title shot."
Ravyn turns on her heel after shooting the girls an arrogant glare. She steps off camera and let's JJ finish up with Renee. The crew seems satisfied with the taping and let's the girls leave to get ready to go live. A few minutes later they can hear the pre-tape airing in the arena. JJ makes her way into gorilla for the first match of the number one contenders tournament. JJ's music hits and the crowd cheers madly as she makes her way to the ring, Natalya already waiting there for her. The bell chimes and the girls lock up in the center of the ring. Just as JJ starts to get the advantage over Natalya a familiar sound pierces the arena.
{I'm becom- I'm becom- I'm becoming...
I'm becom- I'm becom- I'm becoming...}
The guitar slices through the arena leaving the crowd shocked. Ravyn steps from behind the curtain to a series of boos. JJ pauses in the ring, distracted by the arrival of her rival. Natalya takes the opportunity to attack JJ as Ravyn makes her way down the ramp to the commentary table. She grins like the Cheshire Cat at the camera as JJ gets throttled in the ring. Ravyn puts on a headset and joins the commentary team to call JJ's match, satisfied with the effectiveness of her mind games. The match turns around a few minutes later and JJ manages to pull off the victory over Natalya, advancing in the tournament. JJ climbs the ropes in the corner of the ring closest the commentary table staring Ravyn down as the show cuts to commercial.