Dana's glowing silhouette in the hallway light brought a smile to Seth's face. She looked as beautiful as he remembered the last time they spoke. Of course, now that Seth had time to think for a second in spite of the awe that was Dana Brooke, the last time they saw each other before Dana left for Italy was when he tried hiding her from Zelina and then she stormed off angry.

Seth's bright beam dropped to a more subtle smirk. "You wanna get in the closet?" He asked, betting high on a humorous approach.

Dana smiled, shaking her head slightly. "Why? Is Zelina here?"

Seth took a step to the side to let Dana into the apartment. "No. To be honest, I have no idea where she even is. AJ was freaking out so I came over to check on her."

"That's… strangely sweet of you." Dana noted.

Seth re-locked the door. "Uh," he chuckled. "Shit. There's so much I wanna say and ask and do now that you're back. Fuck, when'd you fly in?"

Dana shrugged. "Just a bit ago. I stopped to get some lunch and then drove straight here. I was hoping to see AJ, but I think that's her snoring in the next room so I won't bother for now. But why are you here? Wouldn't Alexa or Dean come check on her way before you would?"

Seth chuckled dryly. "That would make too much sense. Dean texted me to come check on her… she was on the roof."

Dana's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

Seth frowned. "Her dad died this morning. Sometime during the night, I guess, but they didn't notice until he didn't show up to take his morning meds."

Dana covered her mouth with one hand. "Holy shit. That explains why she was calling and texting me all morning. I got an early flight out just so I could get here. She wasn't specific, but she was saying some crazy shit."

Seth nodded. "Yeah. You should've seen the fit she threw. But I managed to talk her down before she did anything insane."

Dana sat on the couch; Seth sat beside her. "But why you?" She asked, trying to piece the puzzle together in her head. "Why didn't Alexa come?"

Seth shook his head. "I don't know. It's been kinda… tense with Dean, AJ, and Alexa. I don't know what's really going on, but they don't act normal around each other. Dean asked me to come over and I did." It crossed his mind what he did to help sooth AJ's troubles, but Seth didn't even want to picture the outburst of emotion Dana might have if she knew AJ willingly slept with Seth again multiple times.

"You and AJ get along now?" Dana asked with a chuckle. "That seems really hard to believe."

"You're not the only one that thinks so," Seth stated. "It's been really fucking strange around here recently."

"I heard about the baby," Dana said in a more somber tone. "And… AJ's plot to try and get Alexa away from Dean."

Seth furrowed his brow. "She's doing what? I don't think that'll really work."

Dana shrugged. "I tried to tell her, but she's stubborn."

Seth nodded his agreement with a sigh. "Anyway, tell me about Italy."

As Dana went into detail about her semester in Italy, Seth listened with rapt attention and genuine interest. She talked about having to learn some of the language to get around the village. Dana told stories about school being different, but not to a grand margin. She briefly talked about Ben and their fling but assured Seth that nothing more than a "loose handy by the bay" happened between them. Seth laughed whenever Dana mentioned a funny happening or joked about her temporary roommate.

"But I think the food is the best part," Dana said with a soft smile. "Like, it's ridiculous. Everything is freshly made and locally grown. It's unbelievable."

"Better than grape juice and ramen?" Seth asked with a smirk.

Dana laughed. "Yes, no offense to you."

Seth nodded his head slowly. "Did you do a lot of thinking over there? About… ya know…"

Dana sighed. "Seth, please don't ruin this when I just got back. I really don't want to start trouble already."

Seth nodded. "You're right. Sorry. How about I take you out for a beer later? After you get settled and tell-"

"DANA!" A sudden ear-piercing scream came from the direction of AJ's bedroom.

Seth barely got off the couch in time to avoid the not-so-graceful stage dive from the tiny cheerleader on top of the busty blonde. AJ crushed her lips against Dana's, pinning her to the sofa with her knees wrapped around her torso.

"I fucking hate you for leaving me still," AJ kissed her ex several times over, loving that she was back in town despite their break-up. "I know we sorta broke up in Italy and we got A LOT to discuss, but I missed you so freaking much." AJ sat back and groped Dana's chest. "I missed you and these big juicy titties!"

Seeing two insanely attractive women make out in front of him, especially with the smallest of the two only in her underwear, made Seth all the more excited to see Dana again, both physically and emotionally.

Both girls looked at the awestruck boy. Seth switched his focus to each woman a few times, looking for either an invitation or a death threat.

"Uh…" AJ started, taking a surprisingly serious tone for once. "Thanks for helping me out about stuff. I think it's cool you aren't a complete fuckhead anymore."

Seth nodded. "Yeah, no problem. I'm glad to help you out, AJ. If you need anything…"

AJ slid her hands under Dana's shirt with a childish giggle. "I'm gonna 'hate fuck' the absolute daylights out of this poor soul, then I heard something about beer. What do you say, Dana? Hate sex and then beer with limp dick?"

Dana cocked an eyebrow. "You want to be seen in public with Seth? What the hell happened when I was away?"

AJ giggled, giving Seth a quick side glance. "Nothing. But if he's offering free beer, I must be retarded not to accept."

Dana nodded. "Fair enough."

AJ pointed at the door, looking at Seth. "Out. Now. And if I catch you listening at the door I'll fucking cut your cock off and hang it over my fireplace."

Seth looked around the room. "What firepl-"

"GET OUT!"

Seth chuckled and hurried for the door. AJ skipped behind him to lock up after he left.

Seth looked down at the tiny brunette as she grabbed for the handle. They made eye contact and, catching Seth off guard, AJ smirked and her face was soft, like she wasn't staring at her mortal enemy.

"You made me cum again," AJ spoke softly. "Thank you for putting up with me… faggot."

AJ slammed the door in Seth's face. Seth took a minute to process the heat in his chest and pants but kept to his promise of vacating the premises when he heard Dana yell in excitement, arousal and, knowing how crazy AJ could be, possible fear.

Dean and Alexa went on about the rest of the day like their trip to the hospital didn't happen. They quietly had a delicious lunch at Vega's, chatting about anything that wasn't about the horrible accident, then made their way home where Alexa did her best to apologize by stimulating Dean as far as possible with a striptease and then releasing his built-up tension with a mind-numbing blowjob.

After the fun and quiet lunch, Dean and Alexa lounged on the couch with the free time they had before having to attend the women's basketball game to cheer on a few of their friends. Dean laid back, an ice pack covering the back of his head, with Alexa laying against his chest. They didn't talk or try to have any more fun. Being in each other's presence while watching a movie was good enough at this time. Dean's head hurt and he didn't think he could perform to the best of his abilities anyway, but Alexa wasn't pushing him to do it.

"Want another beer?" Alexa asked, resting her chin on Dean's sternum so she could look him in the eye.

Dean shook his head. "No, I'll be fine. I gotta drive and the good shit is still in my head."

Alexa pecked Dean's lips. "I love you so much, my love. You are my everything."

Dean grinned. "I love you too, baby doll. Thank you for giving me 'medicine' earlier."

"Good thing I kept that nurse's outfit, huh?" Alexa giggled with a wink. She quickly frowned and sighed. "I'm so fucking sorry."

Dean covered Alexa's mouth with his hand. "It was an accident. It's alright, babe."

Alexa licked Dean's hand until he let go. She held his wrist, then bobbed her head on his index finger to simulate a blowjob. She chuckled gleefully when Dean's eyes widened and he hugged her tighter against his chest.

"I love you," Dean stated again. "Don't blame yourself, ok? Let's be happy for the rest of the night and watch some basketball."

Alexa nodded. "I agree. I just feel like you'll blow up on me one day and break up with me because of what I did."

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm never doing that. Who else am I gonna fool into marrying me, having my kids, and blowing me on a near-daily basis?"

"Mandy?"

Dean scoffed. "You talk about her so much I feel like you want me to talk her into sleeping with us."

Alexa cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse you?"

Dean grinned. "I love you, babe… but I've seen how much you love eating pu-"

Alexa punched Dean in the shoulder, hard, making the young man yell out in pain and laugh.

"You're not funny," Alexa said. "I love you and only you. You're the only one I'm sleeping with from now on."

Dean kissed Alexa's forehead. "Good. How about we get ready and head out so we can cheer on the girls?"

Alexa nodded. "That's a good idea. Maybe call the others and see if they need a ride."

"Yeah, I can do that," Dean pulled out his phone. Alexa sat back and ran her hands over the front of his jeans. Dean stuck out his tongue, making Alexa giggle as she slid off his lap and left to change out of her sexy underwear.

Becky's Thursday was shaping up to be a little better than she thought. She went to lunch with Natalya and that went relatively well. They just got to know each other a little better so it wasn't so awkward the next time they decide to hook up. Becky liked Natalya, but she was a bit relieved she didn't have to date her. The blonde was nice, but Becky didn't want a girlfriend right away. The "date" ended with Natalya giving Becky a quick goodbye kiss when Becky dropped her off at her dorm.

Becky texted Dean and agreed to carpool with the others he gave a ride to. He asked about Sasha and Becky made up an excuse as to why she couldn't come. Becky didn't ask, but she could safely guess that Sasha wouldn't want to come anyway.

Becky stepped out of the shower with an excited pop to her step. Aside from spending time with people to help with her recent heartbreak, Becky got to see someone who was quickly becoming one of her favorite and most closest friends.

Charlotte was texting back and forth with Becky since Natalya was dropped off. Becky started things with simple good luck wishes for everyone on the team. Becky's soccer team didn't make it to the playoffs the previous fall, so she was hoping the women's basketball team would bring home a trophy.

Charlotte sent Becky a picture over Snapchat. The tall blonde was making a face into the camera with Bayley smiling gleefully over her shoulder and the rest of the team in the background going about their pre-game doings. Becky chuckled at the overall silliness of the picture, finding it adorable there was more depth to Charlotte than she originally thought.

But then Becky stared at the picture longer. Though Bayley was already in her jersey, Charlotte still wasn't wearing hers. Instead, the attractive young woman stood in an athletic bra. Given the size of Charlotte's chest, the bra's compression purpose did very little to hide the woman's breasts.

Becky tempted herself to take a screenshot of the photo and crop Bayley's goodfy smile out of it, but she decided not to.

"Take a screenshot," Becky said to herself with a laugh. "Then Charlotte would think you was checkin' 'er out… and you wasn't… You wasn't, Becky."

Becky readied her camera to take a picture to send back. Becky made a funny face as well, but then she stopped herself. She looked down at her "SU Titans" hoodie and pulled it off. Underneath, she was wearing a normal fitting black bra. Becky put on a Titans beanie and made a face. Thinking Charlotte would find it humorous, Becky held out her phone and sent the picture.

The bedroom door suddenly opened. "You left your- What the fuck are you doing?"

Becky jumped, her head almost hitting the ceiling, and dropped her phone. Sasha was standing in the doorway with Becky's phone charger, her eyes wide and her brow lifted.

"What do you want?" Becky snapped.

"Are actually sexting someone?" Sasha scoffed. "And you call me a whore because of what I do."

"Sasha, I never said th-"

"I don't want to hear it," Sasha tossed the charger onto Becky's bed. "Skank."

Becky rolled her eyes and sat on her bed, feeling physically drained by Sasha's pettiness. Her attitude did quickly re-elevate when she picked her phone back up and saw Charlotte's reply.

Cute bra ;) Go Titans!

Becky snickered under her breath and reminded her friend to look for her in the stands. Charlotte agreed and Becky redressed to meet Dean and Alexa downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Sasha asked Becky upon her entrance to the main room of their apartment.

Becky avoided making eye contact as she crossed the room. "Uh, women's basketball game. Charlotte and Bayley are playin'."

Sasha shook her head. "Didn't bother asking me if I wanted to come?"

"Nope," Becky said simply, leaving the dorm room without another word.

Sasha, scoffing to herself and shaking her head, angrily slapped the counter and went to her room.

Dean's prized '05 Toyota Highlander sat awaiting Becky's departure from Race dormitories with the late afternoon beginning its arrival. Dean, of course, sat in the driver's seat with his beloved fiance in the passenger side next to him. The back row consisted of the less than reluctant Roman Reigns tagging along since he didn't have anything better to do, and his date for the formal, Ronda Rousey.

Dean had taken note of Roman's hesitancy about going to the basketball game by the tone in his voice over the phone. As far as he knew, Roman and Charlotte were as close as any two people could be. Then again, Dean had been so focused on football, BPO, and Alexa that he could've missed something.

Dean scratched at the bandage on the back of his head. Alexa swatted his hand away to stop him from bothering the staples. They had a brief argument about who was going to drive and, with shocking results, Alexa gave in and let Dean have his way.

"What's up with you, Ro?" Dean asked, looking at his brother through the rear view mirror.

"What do you mean?" Roman asked, taking his focus off the blonde next to him to pay attention to Dean.

"I dunno. You seemed pretty pissed I asked you to go to the basketball game," Dean noticed Ronda's hand slightly graze the back of Roman's hand, but he continued on like he hadn't noticed. "Are you and Charlotte alright? I figured you'd at least go to support Bayley if you and 'tank tits' were fighting or some shit."

Roman shrugged. "Actually, Charlotte and I broke up."

"Really? Shit, dude, I'm sorry," Dean turned in his seat as well. "I had no idea. That sucks, man."

"It is what it is," Roman said, a saddened look crossing his face. "Didn't let it ruin my time in Cabo, that's for sure."

Dean chuckled. "No, you sure as fuck didn't. You went shot for shot with just about everyone every single night. Shit, I probably should've figured something was up when she wasn't making you stop after three beers."

Alexa scratched her fingernails on Roman's knee. "You'll be ok, Rome. There's plenty of fish out there."

Roman nodded. "That is very true, Lex. Thank you."

Finally, Becky emerged from her apartment complex and rounded the car to slip into the driver's side back seat next to Ronda.

"Thanks fer takin' me," Becky told Dean. "I coulda just borrowed Finn's car while he's with Liv."

Dean shook his head. "Nonsense, Beckerson. I have the biggest car out of all of us, Alexa hush, so that makes me the designated carpool person dude when we're all going to the same place. No little mama tonight?"

Becky pursed her lips and cocked her head. "No, actually… we've hit a rough patch a bit."

"What happened?" Alexa asked.

Becky shrugged. "Well, I'm sorta surprised you didn't know somethin' was up at t'e party; Nattie was ma date."

"Oh, shit," Dean commented. "Y'all are two for two for breakups this week. Roman just told us he split with Charlotte."

Becky nodded. "I was aware," she looked at Roman. "Charlotte told me but it wasn' ma business to bring it up to no one."

"I appreciate that, Becky," Roman replied, giving the Irishwoman a fist bump.

Dean took a deep breath. "Alexa and I are officially calling it quits too. She wants to transition into a man and- OW!"

Alexa, pinching Dean's arm, finally released her death grip and swatted him on the shoulder. "You're not getting rid of me that easy, Ambrose."

"Oh no, whatever will I do?" Dean complained sarcastically. "A hot little person wants to marry me and have my babies? Damn, this sucks."

The group shared a laugh with each other. Dean pulled off the curb with Alexa making extra sure he was being careful. Ronda scooted as close to Roman as she could without giving away anything to the other passengers, even managing to lean her body into Roman's as the vehicle made its first right turn, while Becky sighed heavily, both upset about Sasha but looking forward to seeing Charlotte again.

The Stamford Titans women's basketball team trailed close behind the NESC Maryland Grizzlies 56-55. The defense on both ends was borderline unstoppable throughout the entire contest. The offensive effort was on point like it had never been before, but with the chance at being conference champions and making the NCAA tournament brought out everyone's A-game.

Charlotte's index and middle finger on her left hand suffered a mild sprain during the first half of play. The problem was quickly resolved thanks to some athletic tape and the quick ability to ignore the pain in order to achieve victory. The minor setback didn't affect her gameplay at all; Charlotte was leading the team with twenty-one points scored alone with one steal happening in the early minutes of the first half.

Bayley was playing her heart out the entire time. She was still feeling a little ill, but she managed to keep her protein bars down for the time being. She scored eighteen points, half of them being from beyond the arc. Each time the ball made a crisp swish with the net, Bayley turned and blew a kiss to her adoring fiance in the fifth row of the stands.

With only a stomach-churning thirty-nine seconds left in the game, the home team's loyal fanbase refused to settle while their women flew up and down the court to try and take back the lead.

Charlotte took to the top of the key with her stance keeping her defender off the ball. A fast pass to Ember ended in a shot hitting the backboard. Luckily Nia was quick on her feet to get underneath the ball and swiftly roll it over the rim for a decent two points.

57-56, with Stamford in the lead with too much time for the Grizzlies to make a comeback. Coach Moore called for a full-court press. Bayley and Ember kept close to their assigned players. Tamina, Nia, and Charlotte stuck close but gave enough space in the chance they tried for a deep pass.

The Grizzlies power forward threw the ball deep into the court. Charlotte leaped into the air, sticking her injured hand out to tip the ball, and narrowly knocked it away just before the opposing side could receive said pass and possibly score.

The ball bounced back across the court. Bayley, racing her assigned player to the ball, scooped it up a split second before her opponent and threw a fadeaway jumper into the air from inside the arc. A soothing swish sounded throughout the arena and the smiley young woman breathed a sigh of relief.

59-56. A three-point shot from Maryland would tie the game and may send them into overtime. Both sides were exhausted from playing their hearts out. Tamina and Nia, both seniors at this point, had never made it past the conference championships. This was their last time to win and make it into the NCAA playoffs. Charlotte wouldn't feel so guilty about hurting herself and possibly injuring her hand if she didn't make the bold promise to both seniors that they were going to the NCAA finals if it killed them.

Maryland threw another deep pass. With seconds left, the center caught the ball and attempted to dribble past Nia. Nia held her ground and refused the other girl to drive past her. Bayley, thinking she had a shot at stealing the ball, left her assignment to double team the other team's center. Seeing this, the center passed the ball back to Bayley's assignment. Bayley's opponent threw up a three-pointer just as the clock hit ten seconds and made it in without any difficulty.

"Shit!" Bayley cursed out loud, jogging back into an offensive position.

"Shake it off, Bay," Charlotte passed Bayley the ball. "You got this, girl."

Bayley bolted across the court. She bounced passed to Nia, who chest passed to Tamina, who launched a quick lob to Ember, who jumped and released the ball for a layup just as the time expired. The ball bounced off the rim, hit the backboard, teetered on the edge just to add to the anxiety building up in the room, then rolled in to give the Titans the last-second victory.

The crowd erupted. Charlotte, Bayley, and Ember all fell to their knees in disbelief and exhaustion. Nia and Tamina, eyes full of tears, embraced each other as the SU Women's Basketball fan base stormed the court.

Before any of their other friends had a chance to give a celebratory hug, Zack scooped his fiance up in his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Holy shit, babe!" Zack yelled over the crowd. "You guys did it! I'm so freaking proud of you!"

Bayley planted her lips on Zack's. "Swear!" She giggled before throwing her arms around his neck to return the embrace.

Roman gave congratulatory hugs to the girls he knew. Charlotte broke away from Bayley and Zack just as Roman found her through the crowd. Charlotte saw the woman who accompanied her ex to the game and turned away from them. Roman glanced at Ronda, who was staring worryingly back at him.

Becky barely had time to break away from Bayley's vice grip before she was brought into another bone-crushing embrace. Charlotte cheered with glee and hugged Becky tightly. Becky, having just had a face full of Charlotte's sweaty chest, was disoriented for a moment until the tall blonde released her.

"I'm so happy you decided to come!" Charlotte yelled over the cheering crowd around them.

Becky smiled. "Anything to see you kick some arse, Char. You did amazing today. How's yer hand?"

Charlotte cradled her bandaged fingers in her non-injured hand. "Fine. Lucky for you I'm right-handed."

Becky could feel her face turning red at that comment. Charlotte was being awfully flirty as of late, or maybe that was just Becky overthinking things again. She also just won a major basketball game, so maybe it was her adrenaline speaking for her.

Becky smirked. "I don't put out unless there's pizza and beer, lass."

Charlotte laughed, a bright and cheery smile spreading across her lips that made Becky's stomach tie in a knot. "I'm glad you're my friend, Bex. I'll see you at Roadie's later, right?"

Becky nodded. "Course. And I'll see you, right?"

Charlotte hugged Becky one more time. "Of course. See you soon!"

Charlotte broke the hug. Becky stood still for a moment, letting the feeling linger for a minute before she regained her senses and shared high five with a few strangers.

"Friend," Becky told herself, nodding her head like her mind wasn't taking off in a million directions.

Dean and Alexa each shared hugs and said congratulations to Charlotte and Bayley. Bayley nearly had a fit when she noticed Dean's sutures on the back of his head, but Dean was quick to calm her down when he explained it was a simple bathroom accident. Charlotte saw Alexa's eyes drop to her shoes while Dean was talking, but she decided to let it slide for now.

"Roadie's?" Bayley asked, bouncing in place with her arms wrapped around Zack's shoulders.

"Oh, god, yeah," Dean chuckled. "We're fuckin' celebrating until they throw our asses out. We can take the party to BPO if you guys want?"

"Why would we do it at BPO instead of ZBZ?" Charlotte asked. "It's Women's, not the boy's."

Dean raised his hands. "I was just saying. No need to argue. Let's run a multi-million dollar tab that we'll have to take mortgages out to pay off."

"Yay!" Bayley squealed, kissing Zack on the cheek and dragging him into the crowd.

Charlotte looked across the court. Roman was talking with a few of the backup players. Dean followed her line of sight to his brother.

"I heard the news," Dean said, making eye contact with Roman's ex. "I'm sorry shit didn't work out."

Charlotte nodded. "Me too. But it was for the best, I think."

"You know what helps a broken heart? Beer and tits. Well, dick in your case. Unless…"

Charlotte extended her non-injured middle finger, making Dean cackle. "Not in your wildest fucking dreams, Ambrose."

"Worth a shot," Dean congratulated Charlotte again and escorted his tiny fiance off the court and back to the exit.

Charlotte, Bayley, and the rest of their teammates posed with the conference championship trophy for a picture. Then the team headed for the locker rooms where they would shower and change and ultimately end up at Roadie's for more celebrating.

Seth, Dana, and AJ: that was a trio of people that anyone who knew their shared history would be surprised to see acting civil with each other in a corner booth towards the back of Roadie's. Or as civil as AJ could possibly be while passive-aggressively talking about feeling abandoned by Dana while at the same time trying to fondle her chest in front of Seth.

Rollins kept his promise of buying the first few rounds by ordering several pitchers of beer and, after AJ's begging and threats of bodily harm, even bought a pizza and jalapeno poppers.

Dana, who was sat in the middle between AJ and Seth, looked back and forth between her two former lovers. Seth and AJ were quiet, silently enjoying their food and beer. The thing that caught Dana's eye was the subtle eye contact the other two would make every now and again. To add more mystery to the fray, it wasn't the hardened hatred she remembered AJ had for the boy that once broke her heart.

Dana cleared her throat. "Thanks again for taking us out, Seth."

"Yeah, fucker!" AJ grunted through a mouthful of deep-fried peppers and cheese.

Seth smirked. "It's my pleasure. I'm glad to see you home again, Dana… and I'm happy AJ isn't trying to skin me alive again."

Dana laughed at that comment. AJ, washing down her food with a long sip of beer, winked over her glass at the boy seated across from her. Seth's eyebrows briefly lifted in surprise, then settled back to their normal position when AJ leaned her head against Dana's shoulder.

"So what else have I missed since I left?" Dana asked, looking between the girl on her arm and the boy seated alone. "Seth, are you still with Zelina?"

Seth breathed a nervous chuckle. AJ's foot was sliding up the inside of his left leg. The tiny girl had an eyebrow cocked, knowing exactly what she was doing to the young man.

"Actually, I invited her here tonight," Seth stated.

"What?" AJ and Dana said at the exact same time. AJ's foot pulled away from Seth as she sat up.

Seth nodded his head. "I don't want to cause any trouble. But I still want to be friends with you guys. And I want to start off things right with officially introducing her to you two. You've all technically met, but that was before things got serious with us."

Dana opened her mouth to speak, but AJ suddenly cut in. "Handjobs from a Mexican barbie under the bleachers during fourth period isn't serious, Seth!" Her words were covered in fire and venom. AJ hadn't even really realized she had said anything until she noticed Dana and Seth both staring at her.

"Are you ok, AJ?" Dana asked.

AJ finished her glass of beer, poured herself another, then polished that off in quick fashion. "I gotta piss," the petite woman stood up from the booth. "Order me more motz sticks, lady-boy."

Seth watched his Spring Break lover walk away, leaving an obvious trail of fury in her wake. He felt bad that things couldn't go his way when it came to AJ, but he was trying to turn his life around when it came to the women in his life.

"It's nice that you two are back together," Seth stated, actually meaning it.

Dana shook her head. "We're not. AJ just wanted to have sex one more time."

"Oh…" Was all Seth could think of saying. He quickly tried to think of a more humorous approach to break the tension. "No drunken threesome then?"

Dana cracked the slightest of grins. "No thank you. Besides, AJ mentioned she already had one."

"Really? With who?"

"She refuses to tell me."

Seth shook his head slowly, his mind starting to picture AJ with another woman and a guy. Of course, the man in that scenario was none other than Seth himself.

"Are you going to get in trouble for bailing early?" Seth asked.

Dana shook her head. "No, I just have to make the credits up before next Spring. Shouldn't be too hard. It'll probably be tutoring or housing an exchange student or something like that."

The silence befell the two former lovers again. Seth anxiously tried to think of more to say to keep Dana from growing bored of him and refusing any communication with him moving forward. Dana, for her part, just stared ahead blankly, wondering what the deal was between AJ and Seth.

Seth sighed and moved closer to Dana. "Look, about before you left-"

"Seth, I know," Dana cut in. "Things didn't exactly end well, but it's ok. I've done a lot of thinking and I just think a relationship isn't what I need right now. It's nothing against you or AJ, but I think school should be my main concern."

Seth nodded. "Which is perfectly ok. Really. I'm not going to ask for you back or anything crazy like that. I think we both understand that you and I weren't meant to be."

"The cheating, the fighting, the arguing," Dana trailed off and shrugged. "But I don't want you to think I only remember the bad things. You were good to me too. I just know that we couldn't be together. If you can't be faithful to someone, then you clearly shouldn't be together."

"I agree," Seth said. "But…"

"Zelina?" Dana pointed out.

Seth blinked. "I like her a lot. I mean, she's amazing and worships the ground I walk on."

"So then why do you cheat on her?"

"I only slept with you-"

"AJ mentioned she had a few hookups in Cabo," Dana interrupted. "And knowing how she can be, it was either you or Dean. She isn't the kind of person to throw herself at anyone who buys her a drink. It's always someone she has a connection with. So it was you or Dean and I know Dean would never do that to Alexa."

Seth paused for a moment, maybe too long in hindsight. "I only saw her a few times in Cabo. I don't know who she was with."

Dana shook her head. "Fine."

"I'm sorry, ok? I'm trying to make things better for everyone. I know I'm not a good fucking person, but at least I'm trying. And I'm probably only saying this because I've been drinking, but why can't I change?"

Dana laid a gentle hand on Seth's shoulder. "You can. I believe you can. Everyone can find the strength to change."

From the entrance to the bar, Zelina Vega skipped in with the joy of seeing her boyfriend growing in her heart. She spotted him almost instantly. Her grin faded when she noticed his ex sitting awfully close to him. Then, making her audibly gasp and her heart hit the floor, Seth leaned in close to the blonde woman and kissed her so forcefully that Zelina nearly threw up on the spot.

Another short girl, who was just barely taller than Zelina, skipped up to her and gave her a once over.

"There's only room for one impossibly cute little person in this bar," the alarmingly hostile girl said. "And her name is AJ. BE GONE!"

Zelina flinched and hurried from the bar. AJ's confrontational behavior was the least of her worries, but Seth kissing his ex in front of God and everybody tore her heart in half.

Dana shoved Seth away. Seth cursed himself under his breath and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," Seth stated.

Dana shook her head. "You need fucking help, Seth. I'm not going to be your fall back girl every time your dick gets hard."

Before Seth could formulate a response, AJ suddenly crawled over his lap into Dana's. AJ purposefully laid a hand over his crotch as she crawled, then kicked him in the chest before she sat up.

"Why couldn't you go the other way?" Seth half yelled at the small woman.

"Where the fuck is my food?" AJ yelled back.

The front entrance suddenly burst open with the Women's basketball team filing in. Leading the pack was Charlotte, with the other members of their group, not counting Sasha, following close behind them with a small army of rambunctious fans.

Seth slid out of the booth. "I'll get your food."

AJ flipped Seth off. "About time you do something useful."

Seth wanted to reply sarcastically with something that happened in Cabo, but he refrained from doing so in front of Dana and headed for the bar.

As a wise man once said: "Shots, shots, shots, shots, everybody!" That is exactly what the celebrating SU student body was doing to spread their joy for their women's basketball team winning the conference championship.

Charlotte received word shortly after leaving the arena that she was named MVP for the championship game. During her post-game interview, the youngest Flair praised her team's hard work throughout the season and gave a little extra rub to up-and-comers Ember and Bayley, while stating she'll miss playing without Tamina and Nia next season.

Her recent scandal wasn't mentioned and Charlotte was thankful that was the case. She told Bayley and the others over and over again that she wasn't going to get "Cabo levels of drunk" ever again. True to her word, Charlotte kept a steady pace with only a beer or two… until Bayley started passing out shots.

Becky had only seen Charlotte at this level of intoxication during Spring Break in Mexico: high pitched cheering, beet red cheeks, giggling and being friendly with everyone within arms reach, and overall just acting like she wasn't supposed to be the prim and proper rich girl a lot of people thought she was.

Charlotte unwrapped her arm from Dean's shoulders after their drunken duet of "Sweet Caroline" was wrapped up. The surrounding student body applauded their work and Charlotte gave Dean a quick yet appropriate kiss on the cheek.

From a perfect vantage point at the bar, Becky watched her blonde friend dance and sway to the classic song while drunkenly using her beer bottle as a makeshift microphone. To say the Irishwoman wasn't enjoying the view would be an ugly lie. Becky loved watching Charlotte move without a care in the world. Whether she was going to admit that or not was still up for debate.

Charlotte, finishing her umpteenth bottle of light domestic, stumbled back to the bar and requested more ice-cold beverages.

"'Avin' fun, Char?" Becky asked over the music, silently laughing to herself every time Charlotte almost fell over onto the floor.

Charlotte threw her hands in the air. "I'm perfect!" She screamed, before giggling uncontrollably and leaning on the finished wood before her for balance. "What about you? Did you see me out there today? I scored so-so many times for you!"

Becky nodded. "I did see you. You were great out there."

Charlotte giggled, biting her tongue to keep her voice down. The blonde's face suddenly lit up like she'd all of a sudden realized a great truth. "Wait, how did it go with Nattie? Did you get in those maple leaf undies like I knew you would?"

Becky thought back on her rather tame encounter with Natalya earlier in the day. After their shower together, not a lot happened in the department Charlotte was speaking of. There was a goodbye kiss but nothing else to really brag about.

Becky shrugged. "Nothin' to write home about."

"Bullshit!" Charlotte called out. "You totally fucked her all night long! I want to know the details! Like, her tits are huge! What's it like?"

Becky shook her head. "Get me a little drunker and I'll show you meself."

Charlotte cackled wildly. "Oh fuck, I think I love you, Bex. You're the coolest friend I've ever had."

"Great," Becky sighed into her bottle.

Charlotte signaled to the bartender. "Come on. You're doing a shot off of me."

Becky cocked an eyebrow. "I'm doin' what?"

"A body shot," Charlotte ordered two shots of tequila, two lime wedges, and some salt from the barkeep. "It'll be fun, Bex. We'll both do one."

Becky looked at the separate ingredients laid out on the bar. "Ok, what do we do?"

Charlotte snickered. "Ok, don't freak out, ok? Ok. First, you take the shot of tequila. Then you have to lick the salt off of me, then you suck the lime out of my mouth."

"I'm sorry?" Becky asked.

"It'll be in my teeth, Bex, don't worry. I'll do mine first," Charlotte leaned into Becky and licked the nape of her neck. While Becky was trying to process that, Charlotte sprinkled some salt over the spot her tongue touched. "Here," the blonde handed Becky a lime. "Hold this in your teeth."

Becky did as she was told, setting the lime wedge between her teeth. Charlotte took her shot of booze, licked the salt from Becky's neck, then very carefully placed her hands on the sides of Becky's face and plucked the lime from her mouth with the tip of her teeth. Charlotte proceeded to squeeze the lime juice into her mouth, not noticing the awestruck look on Becky's face.

Charlotte exclaimed out loud with a chuckle. "I love it. You wanna try?"

Becky nodded without saying anything. Mimicking what Charlotte did to her before, Becky leaned forward. Charlotte's sweet aroma overtook Becky's senses and sent a warning sign to her brain. Becky mentally told herself over and over not to get carried away while doing something so simple and possibly scare Charlotte off. It wasn't every day that an attractive woman like Charlotte willingly let Becky come into her personal space like this, but Becky wasn't going to let an opportunity like this go to waste.

Becky dragged her tongue over the sun-kissed skin of her friend. Charlotte giggled at the sensation and Becky, for a moment, felt like pressing her luck and trying for a kiss but she restrained herself and sat back.

Becky added salt to Charlotte's neck. Charlotte took her own wedge of lime and put it in her teeth. With her stomach set ablaze from the overwhelming amount of thoughts and hormones telling her to push her luck, Becky took the sip of tequila, then licked the salt from Charlotte's neck, then leaned in to retrieve the slice of sour fruit.

At the very last moment, Charlotte dropped the lime from her lips and pecked Becky directly on the mouth. The intoxicated blonde held Becky close with a firm hand on the back of her head and slid her tongue between the redhead's teeth. The aforementioned redhead, frozen in place with her jaw slacked, made eye contact with the blonde siren and her devilish smirk as she released her grip and returned to her seat.

"Don't wait so long to give me a victory kiss next time, Bex," Charlotte said with a small giggle.

Becky, still jaw-dropped like she'd been KO'ed by Tyson, watched the girl of her desires reach for her beer and get up from her seat. Flair turned back to press her index finger to her lips before disappearing into the sea of college students.

Becky swallowed hard and chuckled dryly to herself.

"Anot'er," Becky asked the bartender, needing something to re-lubricate her throat after the other woman literally took her breath away.

The party raged on well into Friday morning. Once 'Last Call' had been rung from one end of the massive bar to the other, the sixty or so students who wished to keep reveling in the sweet victory of the Lady Titans all traversed to the spacious confines of the still empty Zeta Beta Zeta house. Among those making the pilgrimage across town were Dean, Alexa, Bayley, Zack, Roman, and Ronda Rousey. Dean normally hated springing for the Lyft XL option, but the sheer number of passengers he was responsible for left him no other choice.

Arriving at the cavernous abode, Dean smiled to himself as he watched Bayley stagger from their ride into the front doorway of the house. Normally, as far as he understood, Zack and Bayley didn't get drunk at the same time. Tonight, however, it seemed that every law of space and time were being suspended in favor of having the best soiree possible.

"What the fuck is happening right now?" Roman asked the intoxicated Ambrose as they sauntered slowly toward the ZBZ house.

"Dude, I lost track several hours ago. This is like the Labor Day party, only I've already fucked the girl I stole beer from like a thousand times. You," he continued, gently grabbing Roman by the shirt, "fucked the nameless girl at least a hundred times before you told her to PISS OFF-" Dean yelled these words for emphasis, thinking it made him sound more intense in his impaired state, "-and Seth has fucked like, seventeen percent of the girls here."

Roman chuckled. "It's been a weird fucking year, man. And the shit aint even over."

"No it is not," Dean replied, as he watched his shapely fiancee saunter up the stairs in front of them, giving her backside a playful smack as she squealed in delight.

The two adopted brothers staggered into the great room of the ZBZ house. Alex Riley had already set up, apparently. Someone had given him the head's up, and now the music was blaring just as loud as it had been at Roaddogg's Good Time Emporium some hours earlier.

Dean had yet to be let down by Trish Stratus. As he led what remained of his friend group into the after-party, he marvelled at what seemed to be the blonde Canadian's perpetual sense of preparation. She'd only had an hour's notice that the festivities were moving to her newly acquired sorority house, and yet the room looked as though she'd been planning it for weeks. There were giant galvanized metal troughs overflowing with ice and bottled beer, and a ZBZ sister stood behind each of them, ready to graciously serve their guests. The station Dean made his way toward was manned by Layla El, who'd opened a half dozen beers for him without so much as a single inquiry as to where all the alcohol was going. By the time Dean returned to his semi-circle of compatriots, handing longneck bottles to everyone, not a single one of them had completely maintained their composure. Alexa and Ronda were talking quietly, making each other's acquaintance and exchanging the normal pleasantries two sorority initiates would while trying to maintain decorum. Zack Ryder was desperately trying to keep Baron Corbin from urinating in a giant potted plant in a corner of the packed room. Bayley, who'd been drinking heavily since arriving at Roadie's, was by far the worse for wear of any of the weary pack of friends. She'd thrown back another double shot of whatever brown liquor Tamina had handed her upon her arrival, followed it with a can of beer she'd produced from the giant pocket across the front of her hoodie, and was now apparently singing an improv'd song to her giant Samoan guardian, who she currently had wrapped up in her arms around his waist. The melody, which had taken Dean a moment to place, was the main theme from the classic movie Star Wars.

"Ro-Man, he's a Samo-" Bayley paused as she realized the word she'd meant to sing didn't rhyme with the previous line. Roman and Zack suppressed laughs as they observed. Bayley continued her slurred recitation. "He's a Samo-man," she giggled as she crooned. "Like Jason Mamo-Man-"

This time everyone laughed as Bayley continued on.

"He's Aquamaaaaaaaan…"

Ronda exchanged a curious glance with Dean.

"Is she always like this?" Ronda asked, her brow raised in mild concern.

"No," Dean muttered in return, before taking another pull off his beer, before silencing himself as Bayley continued singing.

"Ro-Man… He's like my Bro-Man." She looked around, trying to suppress her own giggle. "Stronger than Strow-Man… Friend 'til the eeeeeeend…"

Everyone in the small circle cracked up. Even Ronda, who'd thus far just managed to snicker and roll her eyes at Bayley's outward display, finally let go with a huge laugh.

Bayley squeezed the giant Samoan even tighter as she found Ronda's gaze. "Roman's walking me down the aisle," the Latina blurted, any inhibition now totally gone.

"What?" Ronda called back.

"At my Disney wedding," Bayley spat back, having almost completely lost control of her speech faculties. "I don't have a dad, so Roman's gonna walk me down the aisle when I marry Zack." Bayley stared at Ronda, contemplating some unspoken train of thought, before spouting again what was on the top of her mind. "Hey, Maybe you'll be there too!" The raven-haired chicana lowered her voice, in an over-exaggerated fashion. "Charlotte is my best friend, but you seem really sweet. If Roman's gonna bring a date, I hope it's you!"

Ronda's infectious grin grew to a new record radius. "I think I'd like that, Bayley. It's at Disney World?"

Bayley grinned and nodded as she started swaying back and forth, forcing Roman to also rock from side to side.

"Yup!" Bayley returned gleefully. "Zack's dad is super rich and paid for everything. We're having chicken nuggets and an open bar and-"

Her chatter was interrupted by a comparatively sober Zack Ryder. "Bay, what are you doing?"

Bayley giggled as she finished her can of beer. "Just singing to my best buddy Roman," she lilted gently. Roman smirked, though he clearly loved Bayley deeply as a friend, and would happily put up with her nonsense.

Zack chuckled uneasily. "I think it's time we get home. I'll call us a Lyft, because I am way too drunk to drive."

Bayley finally released Roman from her embrace, then threw her arms around her fiance, kissing him several times before the broad-shouldered runner could object.

"I love you, Zackary. Can we do it in the shower when we get back to your room?"

All parties surrounding the couple tried hard to extinguish a laugh. Zack's own countenance turned beet red, desperately fighting against the blushing he knew was coming.

"Let's just get home, okay Bayley? We'll talk about it when we get there." With that, Ryder began thumbing at his phone screen urgently, while pulling his beloved by the hand. As she staggered away, Bayley kept talking loudly, even shouting over her shoulder as she got further away.

"Bye guys! It was really nice meeting you, Ronda! Text me and we can go dress shopping like you said!"

Finally, the engaged pair disappeared from eyesight. Ronda turned back toward Alexa, who'd been leaning into Dean, just enjoying her beer and being close to her man.

"Yeah. Like she said, when she wasn't rambling incoherently, we should go dress shopping next week. I have zero idea what to wear to something like this."

Alexa nodded thoughtfully. "Here's my dim… dilemma," she began, carefully choosing her words in her intoxicated state. "Charlotte is one of my best friends. We're all in a sorority together now. I don't want to upset her by dress shopping with you for the formal she was gonna go to with Roman. I don't think it'll be a problem. I'll take her to lunch and a mani-pedi or something," Alexa continued. "That's it," she resolved, more to reassure herself than anything else. "I'll spend some time with her, too. That way she can't get pissed."

Ronda threw her hands up slightly. "I don't want to cause drama with your friends."

Alexa scoffed, smile bright on her face. "It's a little late for that."

Ronda giggled, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Alexa left Dean's side and strode the step and a half to Ronda, taking one of her hands. "It's okay," Alexa continued. She noticed in her peripherals that Dean and Roman had begun an almost imperceptibly quiet conversation. "If you think you might be with Roman for any real period of time, it's important that you and I get along. Dean and Roman are brothers, and I imagine I'll always spend a lot of time with whoever Roman is seeing. You seem very sweet, and I've enjoyed getting to know you."

Ronda smiled as Alexa released her hand. "Thank you, Lexi. I'm actually super excited about doing the sorority stuff with you and Bayley and everyone else I've met. I will text you tomorrow night and we can make plans for Sunday afternoon, maybe? I know Roman said you guys usually go to church Sunday morning?"

Alexa nodded her head. "We try. It's been tough lately with our schedule, and I feel extra dirty walking into church with some of the things that happened over Spring Break, but that's probably a sign I should be in church, right?"

Ronda shrugged. "I guess. I used to go back home, but I haven't been since I got out here. I could go with you guys." She gave another inquisitive look. "It might be fun, right?"

Alexa threw her arms around Ronda's neck in a friendly embrace. "Everything with us is fun." She pulled the taller girl down into an aggressive embrace. Noticing that Dean and Roman were awkwardly waiting for the two ZBZ's to finish their conversation, Alexa let go of Roman's apparent new love interest and joined her fiance.

Even after the exuberance fully on display the evening before, the ladies of Zeta Beta Zeta seemed to be borderline effervescent as they gathered in the great room of their massive new home. This afternoon was to be their first official meeting as a recognized sorority. Trish Stratus, her excitement just barely contained, was busy making copies of written agendas and outlines of what being a ZBZ would entail. Other young women bustled about the old Victorian home, performing their assigned tasks with gusto. Even Alexa, who'd been up much too late the night before, had a certain presence about her as she waited for Trish to officially call the proceedings to order.

She finally did, right around an hour after most of the girls had shown up to perform their tasks. Glancing around the "chapter room," Stratus cleared her throat and asked for everyone's attention.

"Ladies, since I believe we have a quorum, it's time to call the FIRST official meeting of the SU Chapter of the Zeta Beta Zeta's to order."

A small ripple of excited noise spanned the room. Bayley, still tired from the Championship game the night before, furrowed her brow in thought. "What's a quorum?" She whispered to Alexa.

"It's the minimum number of members of an organization required to make a meeting official," Alexa returned matter-of-factly. Upon seeing the shocked look on her friend's face, Alexa giggled and shrugged. "I saw that word in the membership stuff Trish let me see last week and looked it up."

Bayley nodded. The pair returned their attention to Trish, who was in the middle of her introductory speech.

"...first up, we need to have nominations for temporary officers. President, Vice President, Secretary Treasurer. Because of our accelerated timetable, I made Beth our Panhellenic representative. I hope that's okay with everyone."

Another laugh echoed off the walls. Stratus continued. "So, who wants to make a nomination?"

Asuka raised her hand sheepishly. "Asuka nominate Bayley for Secretary-Treasurer."

The latina's eyes grew super-wide with shock. Trish raised her eyebrows. "Bayley?"

The girl in question shook her head, unable to think of a reason why she should decline the nomination. "Okay. What does that entail?"

Trish nodded. "Mostly taking attendance at meetings and making sure our accounting is up to date. Making sure everyone's paid dues, made their meal plan payment, things like that."

Kaitlyn raised her hand. "If we paid dues for DXA for this semester, are we going to have to pay again for ZBZ?"

Trish grinned. "I actually have news about that. Nationals has approved the use of funds from the discretionary account to cover everyone's dues through the spring and summer. Our chapter rep at Nationals wants us to get off to a strong start, and we need you all excited going into our first rush next fall. But enough about that for now," Trish redirected, waving a hand dismissively. "We need an interim President. Any volunteers?"

Nia Jax looked around, checking to see if there were any other raised hans, before speaking up. "Fuck it, I'll do it. It's only about six weeks, right?"

There was another scattered laugh. Trish shrugged and nodded. "Sure. That'll work great. At this point we just need you to lead us through Greek Week, Formal, and elections for next year."

"I can do that," Nia countered resolutely. "TA'ing is winding down, other than finals. I'll need that week, but I can lead us with all that other stuff."

Trish grinned brightly at her friend. "Outstanding. And For Vice President?" As she said this, she lowered her gaze to Alexa, as though she were expecting the tiny blonde to volunteer. Before the situation got too awkward, however, Kaitlyn rose from her seat a second time.

"I ran for DXA Vice President before I left. I would've won, too, but the Bellas took everyone out for drinks every night the week before the election. I'll fill in here, and also go ahead and put my name in for the election at the end of the year."

Trish nodded, and seemed satisfied with that answer, but Alexa felt Trish's annoyance linger for the rest of the meeting.

"That raps up Interim Officers for now. We'll have another meeting next week, to lock in our travel plans to Formal, and to make sure everyone understands what philanthropy and dues are going to look like moving forward. Any questions?" Trish forcefully closed the giant notebook splayed out in front of her, not particularly caring if anyone had a question or not. "Okay. Meeting adjourned."

As the young women rose from their chairs, Trish called out the name of her protege. Not loudly enough to embarrass Alexa, but firmly enough to know that Trish needed her right then.

"Hey," Alexa began cautiously. Her mentor inhaled deeply, as though she were trying to compose herself, and then gave her friend a friendly but purposed smile.

"Alexa, I was really hoping you'd volunteer to be one of our officers, for this year and next year."

Alexa figured this would happen. And she'd considered it carefully, for the eight minutes between when that conversation began and ended during the Chapter meeting.

"Trish, I just can't. Not right now. I'm up to my neck in schoolwork, I'm starting to finally get to plan my wedding, I'm student teaching next year, I'm gonna be Cheer Captain…." Alexa considered mentioning her personal issues at that moment, but thought better of it. Now simply wasn't the time to fill Trish in on the situation with her battle against one particular narcotic.

"I get it," Trish returned, placing a sympathetic hand on Alexa's shoulder. "I know you've been through a lot and I don't want you to get overloaded again." She began soothingly rubbing her hand on Alexa's upper arm. Alexa leaned into the gesture, grateful that her friend was being understanding. "Would you be willing to help out with some things next year? If it wasn't just your responsibility?"

Alexa's small smile turned to a bright grin. "Absolutely. I will be on committees and plan parties and whatever else you need. I just can't handle tons of solo responsibility."

Trish considered this for a moment. "Would you be on our Recruiting committee? I've already talked to Alicia and Sarah about heading that up, but I would love for you to have a hand in it too. It'd wow all these impressionable incoming Freshman girls to have the three of you handing out gift baskets in the dorms wearing your cheerleading outfits and ZBZ pins!"

Alexa snickered, clearly amused at how excited Trish was getting about the prospect of her new sorority gaining ground on the one she'd left. "Is that how it's done?"

Trish giggled. "Just the very start. Then there's 'prefs,' then rush visits, then bid night, and then pledging."

Alexa raised her brow in sudden surprise. "That seems like a lot."

"It is, but recruiting is the lifeblood of a successful Greek organization. It's a lot like a sports team… only the ideal prospects probably have some different physical attributes."

Both girls chuckled at that notion. Trish collected herself, then resumed. "Since Sarah was a pledge with DXA just a few months ago, she'll have a good idea of how all that works. If you can just help her plan the events and maybe split the job of 'pledge educator' with her? Or you could do it together?"

Alexa gave a friendly nod. "I can do that."

Trish smiled. "That is my favorite expression in the entire English language. Now, to get us started…"

The breathtaking Canadian walked Alexa into the dining room, where refreshments were being served, as she continued filling her protege in on what the rest of the spring and summer would entail for her and the other young women bravely embarking on this new endeavor.