Disclaimer:

Nope, I don't own the WWE superstars, or diva's, or anyone else in the WWE. I only own my OC's and my ideas.

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By 7 am the next morning, Nicole was up and running, taking a shower, getting ready to tackle the rest of the day. She was up a little earlier than everyone else because she had to go find a herself a rental car in order to get to the next venue. Over the past two weeks since she started touring with Raw, she and Michelle rode together in the latter's rental. However, since Michelle was on Smackdown now, Nicole had to find her own way around. Originally, Mike had offered to drop her off at the venue on his way to Kansas City, but seeing as how he had to leave early, she was left alone, agaun.

Up until last night, Nicole hadn't been too concerned that Mike had to leave earlier than planned. She understood that things came up, and considering he was a new talent, she was sure they worked him a little more than they should. However, Maria's information last night was a little less sure about what was going on; she honestly didn't know what to think at the moment. Why would Mike lie to her about leaving? It confused Nicole, and in a way, it kind of hurt as well. She knew Mike never really admitted to them being close friends or anything, but right now, aside from Michelle and Phil, he was pretty much her only close friend. Sure, there were people in the Raw locker room that were nice and friendly, but there were others that were anything but. Plus, it was just hard to get comfortable in general; Nicole knew she would eventually get there, but for now, it was comforting to have a few friends she could trust. Only it seemed that she didn't.

Of course, there was an alternate explanation to everything, one that Nikki was much more inclined to believe. How was she to know that Maria was telling the truth? The redhead had a lot more reason to lie to Nicole than Mike did. Despite the little voice in her head telling her she was simply going with the easy way out, Nicole was a lot more comfortable with that explanation than with accepting that Mike did in fact lie to her.

By the time Nicole was fully dressed, she had come to the conclusion that yes, Maria did lie to her. For now, she wasn't going to confront the other girl. While she may want to, Nicole hated looking like an idiot. She wanted to be a 100% sure that Maria was lying before she did anything about it. So instead of being a rash idiot, when Maria was up later that morning, Nicole sent her a brief smile, "'Morning."

"Good morning," replied Maria. She frowned, "You're up awfully early."

"Yeah, I have to go find a rental," explained Nikki. "Don't check out unless I'm here, please."

Maria nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I'll leave my card on the bedside if you're not back by the time I'm gone."

Nikke shrugged, before stepping out and shutting the door behind her. As she walked down the hallway to the elevator, her cell phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her purse, smiling a little to see it was a text from Phil.

'Hey Blondie. Good Morning! Thought I'd make sure you're up. Don't wanna make the bosses mad, now, do you?'

Nicole was in the process of replying, when the elevator doors opened and she walked in, not looking to see if there was someone there. Which there was. Someone who probably didn't like her. I.e. Anyone on the Raw roster other than Edge. She quickly took a step back, apologizing, "Sorry, I was just texting." She waved her phone smiling briefly.

The brunette woman smiled back at her in amusement, "It's cool. It's Nikki, right? I'm Mickie James."

"Yeah, I know," replied Nikki without thinking, before she added, "Sorry, I mean . . . you know what I mean."

Mickie laughed, "Yes, I do. Where are you heading? Isn't it a little early?"

"Oh, I was just going to the rental facility; I need a ride," explained Nicole.

Mickie frowned briefly, before shrugging, "Well, I think I have room in my car. If you want, that is."

Nicole hesitated for a bit. While it was incredibly nice of Mickie to invite her along, Nikki wasn't sure taking the woman up on her offer was the wisest decision. After all, Mickie might just be trying to be polite. However, the prospect of not having to go find herself a car, and travelling all alone was a little too good to let slip by. Plus, if things turned out to be too awkward, Nikki would know better for the next time someone offered her a ride.

"That's really kind of you. I'd love to come," said Nicole, smiling at Mickie.

"Great! We can meet downstairs in the lobby at around 8:30?"

"Sounds perfect. I just have to go take care of a few things before then, but I'll be there," Nikki waved at the other woman goodbyem before leaving the elevator when the doors slid open.

About an hour later, Nicole was all packed, and heading downstairs to check out. Once that was done, she turned to search for Mickie, before her eyes finally fell on the brunette. She smiled, and made her way toward her, "Hey there. Ready?"

"Yup, just waiting for you. Let's get going!"

Nicole nodded in affirmation and followed Mickie out. The car wasn't parked too far away, and they reached it rather quickly. Even from a distance, Nikki could tell that there was third person there, apparantly. As they reached the car, she asked, "Who else is coming?"

"Oh! I completely forgot you're new here. Maria and I ride together pretty often . . . . do you guys know each other?" Mickie threw the question out casually, and Nicole was sure that the girl was not really aware of anything between her and Maria. Fate, or whoever it was up there; Nikki was never quite sure, was very aware and it liked to put the two of them together frequently, it seems.

"Wait . . . what? Why didn't you tell me you're inviting someone?" asked Maria, with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

Mickie shrugged, "I didn't think it was that big of a deal." Her eyes went from Maria to Nicole, "I'm guessing you do know each other. I'm sorry?"

"No, it's fine."

Mickie laughed, as her two other companions said the exact same thing in an astoundingly similar fashion. She could tell this was going to be such a fun ride.

They spent the first hour or so on their way to Wichita in relative peace. But of course, to spend the entire ride in peace was asking too much. As they passed a McDonald's, Mickie turned around to glance at Nikki, who was sitting in the back, and asked, "Hey, how come you weren't out at that club last night? I think literally everyone was there."

"Oh, yeah, I heard. I was sort of out on a date," replied Nicole.

"Oh, well, yeah, I'd miss clubbing for that. How did it go?"

"Pretty good. It was sort of cut short, but I was really tired anyway, so it wasn't a big deal."

"Aah, well, I wish you would have come after; it was kind of fun. One of your friends was there, actually. I think his name is Mike?" said Mickie.

Nicole really was not liking where this day -and this conversation- were heading. She had to remind herself that it wasn't Mickie's fault, before she spoke, "So I guess he really was there. Cool."

It was anything other than cool. Nicole was incredibly confused, and at this point, she was also starting to get a little annoyed. Why in the world would Mike not just tell her he was staying? Why would he lie instead? She highly doubted, now, that this was a scheme by Maria. Nope. Mickie didn't seem like the kind to lie to someone she just met, or whatever. At least Nicole sincerely hoped she wasn't. Which meant that Mike was the one who lied.

Her train of thoughts was abruptly stopped when Maria's voice reached Nicole's ears, "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Nicole wasn't exactly paying attention, so she asked, "What?"

"You guess it's true. What, did you have any doubts before?" Maria's tone obviously implied that she was not happy about this.

"I just thought you might have seen someone who simply looked like Mike. People make mistakes," explained Nicole simply. She was lying, but in this situation, for the sake of the poor woman driving, she believed the lie was better than telling the truth. Mickie didn't need to be exposed to their oh-so-lovely relationship.

Maria let out a humourless laugh, "Please, Nicole. There's no need to pretend, alright? I know you, you know me. You thought I was lying."

Mickie sent both of them a look, as her lips parted as though to say something. She obviously changed her mind, as she went back to focusing on the road, silent. Nicole, on the other hand, was staring at the back of Maria's head hard. She really didn't want this to turn into one of their usual conversations a.k.a arguments. She could tell, kind of, that Maria didn't either. After all, the redhead had spent most of the ride so far being rather polite. Nicole's little slip-up about Mike must have really insulted her; she felt slightly guilty, but mostly she was just confused right now. About Mike, about Maria, and quite a number of other things.

"Maybe I did. I have good reason, don't I?" Nicole wanted to take back the words as soon as they left her mouth, but it was obviously too late.

"Unbelievable! You do realise that you owe me for your little fantasy relationship, right?" Maria said. Despite her words, Nicole got the feeling that she was more angry about Nicole in general, rather than her's and Phil's relationship.

"What's going on between Phil and I has nothing to do with you."

"Whoa, whoa . . . wait. You're dating Punk?" interjected Mickie.

Maria and Nicole were silent for a few minutes, before the former answered, "Yep. They've been going out for about two months now, right? I mean, that was when we broke up."

"Wrong. Less than a month, actually," retorted Nicole, folding her arms over her chest, and looking out the window. "Mickie, can you turn on the radio, please?"

Mickie seemed to have something to say, but once again, she opted for staying silent, as she nodded and did as Nikki requested. Maria rolled her eyes, resting her head back, and closing her eyes, as if trying to block out everyone. As a matter of fact, Nicole thought this was a rather smart thing to do at the moment.

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A/N:

So, you guys are like, the best. Just thought I should mention that, especially after the reviews from my announcement last week!

Special thanks to the following peeps: StephNexus, MishaMuse, Loganthesexybeast, Fionnabhair, and Nicola.

Also, Nicola, you asked a question a while back, and I forgot to answer it! Ch.34 (and 35) are set around late September/early October of 2006.

Just Tonight is set in 2010/2011.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think/what you want to see :)

xoxo, Lillian