Being a rockstar's stowaway ended up being the escape from the real world AJ Lee needed. For the past several weeks, she traveled with CM Punk and the Second City Saints during their east coast tour, into the south, and back around through the midwest. During that time, when she wasn't screaming her head off from the front row or selling merch during intermission, she was doing "AJ things" with her new flame.
For the moment, those "AJ things" involved waking up in the master bedroom of the Saints' tour bus. Her tangled charcoal hair bore the proof of the late, rowdy night she had in Davenport. Her ratty, sleeveless "SCS" t-shirt laid as twisted around her torso as her hair was around her head. She smacked her lips together, tasting diet Coke and pineapple, both happy remnants of her night out with the band.
Feeling the need for some water and a decent shower, AJ scuddled out of bed. Punk wasn't sleeping next to her, which was normal since he was an early riser. With her hands paving a way for her eyes to see past her tangled web of hair, AJ double-checked to make sure she had some kind of bottoms on and left the bedroom.
Between the "living room" of the bus and the bedroom was a hallway with built-in beds on either side. The Briscoes, Mark and Jay, snored loudly deep in their drunken slumber. Colt was sitting on one of the couches reading from his notebook of song ideas. Chris, the final member of the band, was stepping into the bus from outside.
Chris took one look at AJ and rolled his eyes. "AJ, don't take up all the hot water again, ok?"
AJ threw the keyboardist a middle finger. "Up yours, Hero!" She stepped into the small onboard bathroom and latched the door behind her. Punk had given AJ special permission to give Chris a hard time whenever he complained about anything. Considering she could hear him bitching to Colt about "bathroom schedules" she figured she was doing a pretty good job.
AJ studied herself in the bathroom mirror. She had dark circles under her eyes from a lack of sleep in recent weeks; She'd been up almost every night screaming for her beau or shelling people of their hard-earned cash in exchange for t-shirts. But she was proud of those body marks; Especially the finger welts on her ass that made her smile from ear to ear and giggle.
Showering in a tour bus wasn't anything like showering in a normal bathroom - it was a lot smaller and gave very little wiggle room. Just one normal-sized person would be lucky enough to fit in the tiny room in hopes of using any of its appliances, luckily AJ was "fun-sized" and moved around the area with little to no trouble.
The warm water on her tired body both relaxed AJ and woke her up at the same time. After her rinse, she wrapped herself in a band logo towel and stepped into the hallway again. Punk was back on the bus, but Chris was bitching again. AJ stayed in place for a minute to try and listen, but Punk caught her eye before she heard anything. He smiled at her, giving her a funny look, and nodded towards the back of the bus. AJ pretended to be upset with the request but headed for the bedroom without any argument.
AJ put together her simple but signature outfit of a band tee, jean shorts, and of course her lucky Chucks. Just as she tied the laces on her shoes, Punk stepped into the backroom and slid the door shut behind him.
"Where'd you go this morning?" AJ asked, smiling as the frontman of the band leaned over and kissed her forehead.
"Stepped out to get some essentials," Punk told, kicking his shoes off and falling into bed. "Chips, soda, Jay's microwave burritos, socks..."
"Condoms?" AJ asked with a giggle. Punk shot her a smirk before laying back and closing his eyes. AJ nudged him with her elbow. "We used the last two last night."
"I'm aware," Punk replied, keeping his eyes shut.
"So did you?" AJ asked again.
Punk shrugged. "They were all out. All we have is Ziploc baggies and candy bar wrappers."
AJ cocked her eyebrow, taking Punk seriously for a second, but she breathed a chuckle when he dug a pack of protection from his back pocket.
"Good," AJ put the condoms away in her travel bag. "Why was Chris bitching at you before? I didn't use all the hot water this time!"
Punk narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure, babe?"
"Yes!" AJ threw her arms in the air. "I do it once and suddenly I'm the worst person in the fucking world!"
"April... relax..." Normally AJ would be reaching for her knives if someone used her first name in any capacity, but the way it rolled off Punk's lips made AJ feel certain desires that didn't involve grievous bodily harm.
AJ crossed her legs and pulled her knees to her chest. "Dude, no fair..."
Punk chuckled. "Then don't pick fights with Chris. I said you can give him shit, just don't make him quit the band or anything."
"Fine!" AJ said with a heavy, overdramatic sigh. "Where to next? I forgot where we were going after Oklahoma City."
Punk sat up. "Actually, I have something for you..." He picked up a paper bag from the floor and set it on the bed. He produced two subs from a local deli shop and a mini pumpkin pie and a takeout order of mashed potatoes with gravy. "It's Thanksgiving, and I wanted to officially welcome you into the band."
AJ wasn't sure which to react to first. The subs looked fucking amazing and the thought put into it was enough for AJ to consider dumping her birth control and tossing out the pack of condoms. A gesture this small, yet so thoughtful, hadn't really been given to her since she left for rehab.
"I'm part of the band?" AJ asked, taking a sub for herself.
Punk shook his head. "Not officially, no. But you're an honorary member."
"Like a groupie?" AJ questioned, narrowing her eyes.
"If you think I'm sharing you with Jay and Mark then you can walk your sexy ass back to Stamford," Punk snickered, biting into his sub.
AJ's stare softened. She was starting to wonder if she and Punk were going to make things "official" and call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, but at the same time, she wasn't sure if he even wanted that. They'd had plenty of sex, sure, but there was more to it than just physical contact with their respective body parts.
"Have you thought about that yet?" Punk asked with a mouthful of food. "What you're going to do about Stamford?"
As of today, AJ was still not enrolled with Stamford University. She tried like hell to be reinstated after she showed the admissions office her emails explaining her hiatus and reasons for missing meetings with student finance, but they weren't budging. AJ Lee wasn't an SU Titan anymore. The fact that she got to fly under Coach McCool's radar and cheer for a few games without being caught was a miracle, but AJ had no idea what was coming next.
"I don't know," AJ admitted truthfully. "I always promised my dad I would finish school no matter what. But I'm so fucking pissed at those assholes for telling me to hit the road that I'd rather burn it down than spend my painting money on their bullshit curriculum."
"Right, but you've got Alexa and ZBZ back there," Punk pointed out. "You can't really NOT go back, ya know?"
AJ shrugged her shoulders. "Not that people would notice or anything. I've only heard from Lexi a few times since I left."
Punk made a suggestion that almost made AJ choke on her sub. "Could just move in with me in Chicago and go to school there."
AJ coughed once, clearing her airway. She took a sip of diet cola and spoke. "What? Dude, we're not even dating. You want me to move in with you?"
"We're not?" Punk asked.
AJ blinked. "Are... are we?"
"What did you think I meant last night? During 'Second City Sister?' I said, 'this one goes out to my girl, AJ Lee. She's the inspiration for this song'."
AJ chewed her cheek, trying to hide her blush. "I understand the words 'ride me like Space Mountain' now..."
Punk chuckled. "Think about it, ok? You don't have to answer now but take some time. I know my dogs would love you and I have a membership at Max Moon's so I get new comics a few weeks early."
AJ's eyes widened. "There's a Max Moon's in Chicago?"
Punk nodded. "Yeah. Right next door to the sushi place. Remember? The ones with 'all you can eat' Tuesdays?"
Though the offer seemed sweeter than reality, AJ still felt herself hesitate to say yes. Sure, living with a rockstar, in Chicago, with all her favorite things in the world within walking distance, was a dream come true. But Lexi wasn't in Chicago. Neither was Dana, or cheering, or Nacho and Jeff, or her paintings, or Seth...
Seth... AJ hadn't thought of him in a long, LONG time. She vaguely recalled getting through a sloppy oral session with Punk by briefly remembering Cabo, but she didn't even think of anyone back home besides Lexi and Dana. It didn't matter though. He was still with Toni and that was still a pretty solid relationship. Toni still probably wanted to kill AJ too... maybe Chicago was a good idea after all.
"I'll think about it," AJ agreed with a smile, deciding to focus on her BOYFRIEND and the lovely meal he put together for the two of them.
There was one thing, or rather one person, in the entire world that could talk Charlotte Flair out of doing or saying something that would make people she cared about upset, and Charlotte wasn't happy about it.
In hindsight, she should've known that wearing a dress for Thanksgiving would come back to haunt her. Something about mild leg exposure made Charlotte seem a little more desirable to her girlfriend. Becky mentioned being a thighs and ass kind of girl, but so far had been on her best behavior since arriving at chateau Flair.
That all changed when the fire nation attacked. And by fire nation, it meant it was Becky's uncanny way of defusing Charlotte's flaring temper in ways she only knew how. And by that, Charlotte knew that Becky was going to get her to stop ranting about murdering David and stuffing him in the turkey, whether she wanted to keep being angry or not.
Charlotte's fingertips clutched tightly at her pillow, keeping the noise erupting from her chest from waking up the great pharaohs in Egypt. She nearly suffocated herself multiple times, but that oddly added to the physical experience. Angry, sweaty, and choking... Charlotte was learning a lot about herself today
Becky exhaled sharply, her elbows almost buckling under her body weight. "Move t'e pillow..." she calmly instructed, trying to even out her breathing.
Charlotte pulled the pillow from her eyes but kept it over her mouth. She narrowed her emerald greens, half-seriously glaring at her redheaded lover.
"Are ya done bein' so mean?" Becky hissed.
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "This isn't fair..." she mumbled into the pillow.
Becky understood what Charlotte said. She sighed and nodded. "Aye. But we've dealt with worse, lass. Yer moron brother don't mean shite to us. You love me, and I love you. That's all t'at should matter."
Charlotte finally removed the pillow fully from her face. "No. I mean taking out Mr. Pokey when we're supposed to be arguing. That's bullshit and you know it."
Becky did have a way of dealing with Charlotte's fiery attitude. Usually, she would let the blonde vent and rant and threaten all kinds of crimes until she was hoarse with rage. But, many times throughout their relationship, Becky found out that Charlotte was eager to "fix things" even if it wasn't Becky she was mad at. After all the anger and frustration had been let out, all that was left was Charlotte's normal friendly and caring self.
"But yer calm now, eh?" Becky finally pushed off the bed, stretching her legs a little and trying to shake away a cramp. She unstrapped her beloved Mr. Pokey from around her waist and dropped it near her travel bag.
"Bex..." Charlotte sighed, sliding her panties back into their intended place. "I didn't drive all this way to be judged by people for who I'm dating. If I wanted that, I'd re-download Twitter and follow 'SUDykeFinder' again. This was supposed to be fucking problem-free and now all I want to do is bash David's stupid head in with a mallet and drown Nora in the gravy!"
Becky set her hands on her hips. She didn't have a sarcastic quip or a cheesy pun to use in this situation. Charlotte was right. Though Becky didn't show it as much as her girlfriend, she hated the fact that Nora and David were against them as a couple. David's colorful description of how she and his sister made love and Nora's flat-out hatred for them reminded her of some uncaring people back in Ohio. And though Becky had grown to ignore the hate for her sexuality, Charlotte was still new to the whole ordeal.
"You jus' have ta ignore them, lass," Becky said.
"How can I do that when they're my freaking family and we're about to go eat dinner?" Charlotte asked, throwing her hands in the air.
Becky sat on the edge of the bed closest to her girl. "How about we give it a chance? If t'ey make it a deal, we go. Ok?"
Charlotte sighed. "But that's so shitty to leave like that. It's overdramatic and I'm not causing a scene."
Becky tutted her tongue. "You? Overdramatic? No, never!"
Charlotte swatted the back of Becky's arm. "Babe! What happened to having my side?"
"I do have yer side," Becky assured. "I do. If you want to leave peacefully, I'll follow you. If you want to light t'e house on fire, I'll warm up t'e car. But I'm going to be with you no matter what you do. Even if you decide to stay until tomorrow."
Charlotte wanted to keep being upset, but Becky was helping her come around. It wasn't just their fun a moment ago either. Becky just radiated positive energy in a way that Charlotte really needed right now.
"Thanks, babe..." Charlotte reached up to Becky's tie and tightened it for her. "You look amazing, by the way."
Becky glanced at her white shirt and tie. "Meh. I do me best. You, my love, are stunnin'. I can't believe I can call you mine."
Charlotte tried to fight it but she beamed a toothy smile. "Ok, I'm starting to feel better. But one more stupid fucking word from Nora or David..."
Becky made finger guns to the side of her head and gimmicked blowing her brains out. Charlotte giggled, finding the joy in how silly Becky was that last bit of boost she needed to get out of bed.
Once Becky and Charlotte were decently dressed again, they traveled back downstairs. Ric was still asleep in his chair, but David was nowhere to be seen. In fact, neither was Lilly or Conrad. Megan was the only one within eyeshot, sitting at the dining room table with her head resting in one hand.
"Where is everyone?" Charlotte asked, followed close behind by Becky.
Megan sat up. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "David freaked out. Told Nora and dad that he didn't want to spend Thanksgiving with a couple of d... uh, lesbians. So he made Conrad take him and Lilly to the hotel. Conrad's picking up more wine and stuffing mix. I need a drink."
"I second that," Charlotte added with a dry chuckle.
"Aye," Becky simply put.
All three girls transitioned into the kitchen. Nora wasn't there, thank God, but the wine was sitting in a tub of ice on the counter. Megan poured herself and her sister a glass, then fixed Becky a whiskey on the rocks.
Megan took a long sip, then sighed as she settled. "I hate David. Like, actually hate him."
Charlotte shook her head. "He doesn't need to be ok with me and Becky. He just doesn't need to be a dick about it either."
"I think you guys are wonderful together," Megan mentioned with a soft smile. "Really, Becky, I've never seen my little Charlie smile so much! You guys seem like you're really happy together."
Becky showed a small grin, but her heart was melting on the inside. Charlotte slid her hand over hers, lightly gripping her fingers.
"She definitely makes me happier than a majority of the boys I've been with," Charlotte chuckled.
Megan sipped more wine. "How did this start? I love a good love story."
Charlotte laughed at the thought as she sipped from her glass. Maybe it was a good idea to leave out the months of kissing and inching towards third base that ultimately culminated in Becky dating another girl out of spite just to end up cheating on said girl with Charlotte while she was also cheating on Becky, then becoming friends with Sonya's mistress. Not to mention what happened at Zack and Bayley's wedding and the night of the Greek Formal.
"She helped me through my breakup with Roman," Charlotte chose to start the story at where she thought she first started seeing Becky as someone who could possibly one day be more than a friend. "We hung out a lot, and it just sorta happened. I was kinda scared about it at first but I came around."
"Finally," Becky added, baiting laughter from the Flair daughters.
"So who asked who out?" Megan asked.
"I asked her," Charlotte said, recalling the conversation they had at the Poconos after a night together. "Lake Wallenpaupack. Our friend Zack's family rented a cabin out there for midterms. It's really beautiful right at the end of Summer."
Megan nodded. "I've always wanted to go, but work's been crazy, and Conrad's company just hit a good stride. We hardly have time for each other anymore."
At that moment, both Becky and Charlotte noticed Megan wasn't wearing a ring on her left hand. They exchanged a look when the older Flair turned to get more wine, but they didn't say anything out loud.
"But the food is almost ready and I am starving!" Megan chirped in a cheery tone. "Hopefully Conrad is back before it gets cold because I am NOT waiting for him to come back."
Megan headed back into the living room. Becky stood to leave but got turned around by Charlotte's hand on her shoulder. Before she could respond, Charlotte stepped into her and kissed her quickly, but firmly on the lips.
"When I get you a ring, never take it off, ok?" Charlotte whispered, thumbing some wine from Becky's bottom lip.
Becky inhaled so quickly she nearly choked on her tongue. "When you what?" she sputtered as her cheeks turned red.
Charlotte fluttered one eye shut. "You heard me, Bex."
Becky, at a loss for words for the best of reasons, silently followed her girlfriend into the living room.
The Ryder Thanksgiving celebration commenced with the gathering of several close friends in the home of the campus' power couple. Dishes were exchanged, snacks were happily eaten while dinner cooked, jokes and stories were told and the overall festive atmosphere was the break from reality each of the young adults needed.
Bayley took up her hostess duties like a fish to water. She greeted each of her guests with a spine-altering hug and thanks for showing up. She chatted excitedly about her baby bump and offered wine or any other beverage from the vast selection in her fridge. She pushed snack trays and appetizers in front of people, insisting they needed to eat everything so she didn't have four hundred pounds of leftovers for the next six months.
Alexa and Nikki showed up shortly after noon. As promised, Bliss brought along a side dish and Nikki brought a box of snickerdoodle. Nikki, as expected, stuck close to her ZBZ president's side but made an effort to make conversation with everyone.
Asuka and Shinsuke showed up soon after, bearing gifts of sweet alcohol and cranberry sauce that the excited woman mislabled as "turkey."
Though Roman and Sasha drove together, they entered the home a few minutes apart. Sasha didn't think anything of it and was sure it wasn't a big deal if they came together, but Roman mentioned that some of the people at dinner might've seen them leave Roadies together and would assume some things. So Sasha, bringing with her a store-bought cheesecake, knocked first and Roman came a few minutes later with his own pumpkin pie.
The boys, including Toni, watched football in the living room. Alexa and Bayley were in the kitchen preparing the final touches on dinner. Sarah, Sasha, Asuka, and Nikki were playing Uno in the dining room, chatting with each other and occasionally tuning into the game whenever the group in the living room yelled or cheered at the TV.
At the moment, Sasha took a minute to herself in the bathroom. After finishing up, she washed her hands and took a moment to straighten her hair or move anything that was out of place. She purposefully dressed up for herself, but admittedly hoped it made a certain Samonan's head turn in her direction. When Roman came to Race Hall to pick her up, he was practically picking his chin off the sidewalk. Roman looked sharp as hell too, wearing a black button-down with black dress pants and his long hair tied back into a bun.
Sasha chuckled to herself, giving her outfit a once-over. The dress wasn't brand new, but she rarely wore the navy gown. It matched her hair and teased a little cleavage, but it was classy enough for dinner with friends. Still, it seemed to be doing the trick of keeping Roman's interest. Especially since she caught him checking her out every time she got up to get another drink or more snacks.
Sasha stepped out of the bathroom. The narrow hallway the lead to the kitchen grew dark. She quickly realized that the light from the next room was blocked out by the boy she'd spent the night and morning with. Roman offered a quickly apology and a smile, stepping out of the way to let Sasha pass.
"You know you literally block out the sun when you're around?" Sasha joked, teasing Roman for his massive size.
Roman smirked. "The only glow I see here is you."
Sasha's mouth fell open, pleasantly taken off-guard by Roman's quick comeback. She closed her lips and breathed a chuckle. "Yeah, well... thank you. I worked hard to look good for you."
"Dude, Asuka is yelling at Shin because he keeps looking at you," Roman mentioned.
Sasha rolled her eyes. "Oh great. Now I have to fend off crazy Asuka. Hope she doesn't kick me in the face if I ask Shinsuke to pass the green beans."
"I might kick him in the face if he asks you," Roman quipped with a wink. "You do look amazing today. I don't know if telling you that a million times on the way here was enough."
Sasha rolled her eyes and threw up a half-serious middle finger. Roman snickered and ducked into the bathroom.
The Chicago Bears won their game against the Detroit Lions. Aside from maybe the city of Chicago itself, Seth Rollins was being a little overly obnoxious about his favorite team winning. Everyone knew it was just friendly banter and dismissed his behavior with a quick joke or a light insult.
But not Zack. Zack was deep into his drinking, nearing beer number twelve and feeling a buzz drown his brain. Every time he heard Rollins' obscene cackle or saw him whisper something to Toni, Zack wanted to either throw hands or kick the annoying douche out of his house or maybe even both. But he refrained, instead downing multiple beers in a single sitting to help deal with it.
Luckily Zack was a fun drunk. To his friends, he was the same person he normally was cracking jokes and talking about the upcoming game on Saturday. What nobody noticed was his digs at Seth weren't as lighthearted as they normally were but since it was delivered in his signature laid back Long Island cadence, no one thought Zack was strongly considering throwing Seth through the living room window.
The game cut to commercial. Roman returned from the bathroom as others got up to fetch more beer or see what their significant others were doing.
"What's the score?" Roman asked as he sat back down with a freshly cracked silver bullet.
"Cowboys are up," Zack said. He caught Seth leaning in for a kiss with Toni, which prompted his stomach to twist. Zack got to his feet. "I'm getting a beer quick."
Ryder switched rooms, greeting his friends as he passed by. With all the good things surrounding the one constant pain in his ass, maybe today didn't have to be a miserable nothing spent glaring at a guy who may or may have not made a move on his wife on their wedding day. The bitterness hung thick, but a thought popped into Zack's mind the moment he rounded the corner and caught his wife singing to herself as she rubbed her tummy.
"I won..." Zack told himself, a grin stretching across his face. The sight of his wife comforting their children, even though they weren't present in the world just yet, made him re-think the negative aura he'd been projecting for the better part of a month. Sure, Seth may have kissed his girl, but who really won out in the end? The douchebag with a blonde streak in his hair or the married douchebag with spiked hair and two kids on the way?
Bayley felt a presence behind her, then a hand on her ass. She half gasped, but settled with a giggle when she realized who it was as his arms snacked around her torso and cradled her belly in his hands.
"Hello, stranger," she giggled, holding her hands over Zack's. "You're still not allowed in here while I'm cooking. Kisses aren't being accepted as bribes at this time."
Zack pecked a light pattern over his wife's neck and cheek. Bayley sighed contently, feeling her gut swarm with butterflies. Something about the little things like cheek kisses and hugs made Bayley fall in love with Zack all over again practically every time they made eye contact.
"How's the game going?" Bayley asked, turning around to face her beloved. "Please tell me the Cowboys are getting their butts kicked. I want something to brag about to Raquel when ZBZ has its next meeting."
Zack chuckled dryly. "Well..."
"Dang it!" Bayley huffed, but she shrugged and kissed her hubby on the lips. "Oh well. How are you doing? You're getting enough to eat and drink?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing," Zack tossed his empty beer can into the recycling. He fetched a bottle of water and a fresh beer, then jokingly started to hand the cold can to his wife before she chuckled and he switched beverages. "How are the babies?"
"Kicking like freaking crazy!" Bayley rubbed her tummy, the tiny movements of her children making her almost tear up. "I think they can smell the turkey. Can babies smell inside the womb? Do they even know what turkey is yet?"
"No, but I'm sure they can hear their mama singing to them," Zack started to grin when Bayley bit her tongue as her cheeks tinted pink.
Bayley suddenly lit up like she realized she forgot something. "Oh! Before I forget again, what did you need to ask me before? I know you said we'll talk about it after dinner but it's been driving me insane!"
Zack cracked open his beer and took a swig. It definitely still bothered him that Seth kissed his wife, but it wasn't the molten hot rage he was feeling a few weeks prior. He almost tried to convince himself that he didn't need the context to move on, but he figured it probably would help him move on faster if he at least knew Seth's intentions.
"The video Tessa sent out," Zack spoke, keeping his gaze trained on his wife. In his years studying to be a lawyer, he knew to watch for any signs of lying in a person's face. Bayley was always honest with him, unless it had to do with her bashfulness when approaching sex, so it wasn't completely necessary but he still watched her closely. "After the Ruby part, you were talking to Alexa... and you mentioned you kissed Seth."
Bayley's entire face turned a deep maroon. "Th-that wasn't how it sounded. Zack, I promise it was a quick thing and-and I kissed him. He came to see me right before the ceremony and told me how happy he was for us and I just thought it wouldn't really matter since I was marrying you. It was really fast. Like kissing mi abuela. I-I..."
Zack closed the small gap between himself and his wife. He peered at her through a grin, confusing his wife even more about how he felt about the situation.
"Tu abuela, huh?" He repeated with a snicker. "So if he was better than me..."
Bayley quickly realized Zack wasn't at all upset. Her heart returned to her chest and she rolled her eyes. "If that's possible. Eres la amante perfecta, mi querida (You are the perfect lover, my dear.)"
"Y tu," Zack pecked his wife on the lips. "Thank you for telling me the truth. I don't want you to think you ever have to lie to me, ok?"
"I never thought it was a big deal," Bayley admitted with a shrug. "He was my roomie and I understand it seems fishy because I kinda had a thing for him last year, but that was before this tall, hunky cross-country runner decided to take me to play skeeball and flip my entire universe upside down."
"Whatever happened to him?" Zack quipped.
"He showed me what I was missing and put two babies in me," Bayley told with a giggle, watching with glee as Zack's own bashfulness showed through his reddenning cheeks. "Married me, moved in with me. Now he rubs my feet and I rub his thingy."
"Jesus, Bay," Zack chuckled, taking a step back to keep himself from getting anymore worked up.
Bayley giggled. "You're easy to turn on when you've been drinking. But don't get too drunk, mister, because you're carving the turkey and saying grace. We don't need our first Thanksgiving ruined because Mr. PBR decide to make a visit."
Zack pecked his wife on the forehead. "I'll keep it light. Promise. Love you, babe." As he turned to leave the kitchen, Seth walked in with Toni flanking him.
"What's up, bro?" Seth cackled.
Though the laugh made his skin crawl, Zack brought Seth in for a hug. Seth didn't return the embrace for a moment, taken off-guard by the gesture, but he eventually patted Zack on the back. Toni looked at Bayley for an explanation, but she just shrugged and shook her head.
Zack broke the hug. "Just so you know, we're good. Legit. But if I find out you kissed my wife again I might have to kill you."
Seth's face lost all color. "Whoa, man that was a one time thing-"
"I know," Zack extended his fist towards his teammate. "Bay told me everything. It's all good. Just don't do it again."
Seth bumped fists. "Of course not. That's your girl. Keep your hands off mine too, right?"
"I already won, bro," Zack chuckled, handing both of his teammates fresh beers. He gave his wife a wink and left the room.
Seth, looking at the beer in his hand, realized he already had the thing he came into the kitchen for. He reached for some stuffing, but a stern "NO!" and a spatula swipe from the pregnant chef made him cackle and retreat with his girlfriend back into the living room.
With the festivities going on inside the Ryder household, Alexa Bliss was sitting alone on the back porch. Cooking dinner with Bayley was fun but things took a bad turn for Alexa's mental health when Bayley started talking about her due date. Alexa slid a casserole into the oven, then excused herself to get some air.
The crisp Autumn chill helped settle Alexa's rapidly beating heart. She sighed, breathing in several takes of oxygen. Her racing mind continuously begged her to call her ex just to see what he was up to. Her thumb fiddled with the ring on her left hand.
"Don't call him," Alexa told herself, looking at her recent texts with AJ. "You'll just regret it. You don't need him to function normally."
Truthfully, Alexa missed her ex. She missed going out, missed being shown off, missed being treasured. She also missed her baby. Thinking about Dean made her remember the life they almost brought into the world, and that all made her worst mindset come to light.
Alexa's phone buzzed. The newest text from AJ was a selfie of herself standing in front of the Saints' tour bus. Alexa chuckled at the goofy look on her best friend's face, then shot her a quick text telling her how jealous she was that she got to travel with the band.
"I need more wine," Alexa thought to herself. She took a big sip from her glass, which helped for a moment but it was only temporary. She needed Dean, or maybe needed to call Dr. Maddox and request two sessions a week instead of two. Or maybe more wine was the best option.
Alexa scrolled through her "my eyes only" section of Snapchat. AJ brought up a good point a few days prior, wondering if Alexa just needed to get laid and didn't actually miss Dean. Alexa laughed off the comment then, but seeing the old pictures and videos her ex made reminded her it had been a while since she had any kind of sexual contact with another person.
Then again maybe it was just taking some more time to heal than she thought it would. Dean was her support system through the terrible things in life, and that was now gone. She had Nikki and ZBZ, but that just didn't feel like enough to make it through another semester. Her friends all rallied behind her and offered their support whenever she was feeling down, but it only helped for a little while.
It was plain and simple: Alexa missed Dean and she would give anything to have him fly back to Stamford, even if it was for one night.
Alexa tapped a video on her private gallery. Dean's sudden loud groan made Alexa's heart skip a beat and frantically turn the volume down. She checked to see if the coast was clear, then started the video over.
It was a short clip filmed sometime over the Summer in Tampa. Dean and Alexa spent the day on a beach with Roman, Seth, and Ruby. At some point during sunset, they snuck off under a pier and Dean, being the cunning cult of persuasion he was, convinced Alexa to relieve a "painful swelling" in his trunks with her mouth, which would be the origin story of this video.
The video abruptly ended just as Dean made a face into the camera like he was in discomfort. He wasn't, obviously, but the playful sight still made current-day Alexa giggle. She scrolled again, wondering if there were any less risque photos or videos. She stopped on one of her laying in bed, staring right into the camera.
Alexa hit play and raised the volume a little.
"How are you doing this morning, Mrs. Ambrose?" Dean asked behind the camera, filming Alexa as she stretched her arms and blew him a kiss.
"I'm feeling great, Mr. Ambrose," Alexa cooed with a grin.
"Yeah? Why's that?"
Alexa winked into the camera. "I had a good night's sleep. My future hubby took me out for dinner, then broke the boxspring with my ass."
Dean laughed. "Yeah, that'll happen to the best of us. You look beautiful by the way. You're literally glowing, baby. Like a funsize version of Wonder Woman."
Alexa moved the blankets to the side. Standing fully nude for the camera, she placed her hands on her hips and posed like a superhero. "Mighty Midget to the rescue!"
Dean cackled loudly and the video suddenly cut off.
"Dorks," Alexa whispered to herself, thumbing a tear from her eye. It was moments like that she missed the most about her relationship with Dean. The constant silliness like they were two life-long best friends screwing around for the sake of making each other laugh was the perfect indicator that they were meant to be together. Alexa sighed. "But then he went and put his dick in another fucking girl..."
"Hey," Alexa looked up to watch Sasha step out onto the back porch. "Everything ok? Bayley said you came out here like an hour ago. i need to borrow your phone charger."
Alexa nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... stuff."
Sasha closed the door to the house and took a seat next to her friend. "Anything you want to talk about? You look pretty upset."
"it's nothing," Alexa insisted with a shrug.
Sasha shrugged. "ZBZ's aren't supposed to lie to each other."
Alexa chuckled once, making Sasha giggle. "Don't use my own bullshit against me, Sasha."
"Oh so it is all bullshit?" Sasha baited with another light giggle.
Alexa took a breath. "No, it's not. ZBZ is forever. But... it's dumb stuff. I shouldn't be bothered about it anymore."
"Dean?" Sasha asked.
Even the mention of his name made Alexa shiver, longing for his presence again like he was gone forever. "Yeah. No one's really heard from him since he was suspended. Roman told me that Sika said that Dean's ok and has been busy working at one of the gas stations the family owns, so I guess he's ok."
"Have you called him yet?" Sasha asked.
Alexa shook her head. "No. AJ keeps talking me out of it."
"Good. Because you shouldn't," Sasha thought maybe she pushed a little too hard, but Alexa's soft stare told her that she got her attention. "As someone who's been cheated on AND gone back to that person, it's not the same. You're always going to think about what happened and it'll never get resolved. It'll just keep getting worse and worse until you hate each other. Becky and I are cool now, but it took forever until I could stand to be in the same room as her."
Alexa nodded, knowing Sasha was making a good point. "So what do you think I should do?"
Sasha chuckled. "Get some. Move on from it."
Alexa rolled her eyes. "God, you sound like AJ."
"I'm serious," Sasha pointed at Alexa's phone. "Download Tinder right now and swipe on a few guys. You'll feel better. I'm not saying you have to get over Dean right away with the first guy you hook up with, but it'll help."
"I'll probably just end up comparing every guy to Dean anyway," Alexa commented.
"Well..." Sasha trailed off.
Alexa raised her brow. "What?"
"Well, I mean, I heard some things about you and AJ in Cabo..." Sasha offered a shrug when Alexa rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, maybe you find a girl too."
Alexa didn't like hookups. There was the one guy after Adam, but that was to get some confidence back in herself after all of that fell apart. Dean was originally supposed to be a one-night thing but he had to go and woo her the same week. Other than that, she wasn't the type of girl to look for meaningless sex with a stranger.
"Maybe..." Alexa muttered.
"Or you find a local surfer in Hawaii and let him hit it," Sasha felt a little relief when Alexa threw her head back and laughed. "I'm just throwing out suggestions. Tinder or locals. It's up to you."
Alexa opened the app store on her phone. "I haven't used Tinder in almost two years."
"I used it once over the Summer," Sasha recalled. "Met a decent guy, but he wasn't the 'keeping around' type."
Alexa logged into her old account. She had a few matches from several months ago, all using the same lame pickup lines telling her how beautiful she was or how she was "way too hot to be on Tinder" even though she hadn't used it in literal years.
"Ugh, I already hate this," Alexa thought out loud, swiping left and right through some of the guys. "I know half of these guys. Adam Cole, you are NOT six-two!"
Sasha chuckled. "That's the beauty of Tinder; You can reject the lame ones without hurting anyone's feelings."
Alexa tilted her head at her phone. "I just matched with Kyle O'Reily..."
"I think he's a Freshman," Sasha said.
Alexa nodded. "I know who he is. He's always being a dork in front of the cheer squad. He plays air guitar whenever he makes a play. He's a goober but he's kinda cute."
Sasha licked her lips to hide a smirk. "Well, who knows? What about the ladies?"
"I just matched with you!" Alexa stated with a laugh.
"I'm flattered but currently not looking for anything," Sasha felt her own phone buzz. She looked at the screen, seeing a 'did you leave?' text from Roman. She checked to see if Alexa had noticed, then shot her friend back a teasing but still appropriate 'why? do you miss me already?' with a winky face emoji.
Alexa swiped until she ran out of free turns. She cleaned out her DM's, deleting old messages from boys that were months old at this point. It did make her laugh to see how desperate some of these boys were, but she wasn't sure if it was something she wanted to go through with. Maybe she could text AJ and see what she thought about the whole Tinder thing.
A new DM came up for Alexa.
Sasha: Damn, shawty, you damn fine!
Alexa threw her ZBZ sister a dirty look, which made Sasha nearly fall out of her chair with laughter. Alexa wrote back a middle finger emoji, then promptly unmatched with Sasha and stuck her tongue out at her. Sasha offered a hug, which Alexa accepted, then both young ladies headed back into the house.
Dinner at the Ryder's was officially served. Zack stood at the head of the table, grinning out at the gathering of some of his good friends. There was Toni and Seth, who Zack played football with; He just buried the hatchet with the former, forgiving him for an issue that didn't need to spoil his entire evening. There was Alexa, who was good friends with Bayley and brought along Nikki, a ZBZ pledge that had been ready with the jokes all day. Roman and Braun were also teammates of Zack, who he knew he could rely on when he needed help. Shinsuke and Asuka were becoming well acquainted with everyone. Sarah and Sasha exchanged tips about fashion and skinning deer. Dana also stopped by earlier too, but she was on her way before dinner was ready.
And then there was Zack's wife - the reason everyone was gathered here today. She beamed a smile across the table, staring lovingly at her husband. Zack still didn't know what made him so lucky to achieve many life goals in such a short time - being a husband, father, and best friend to his wife. But he knew it was the best thing going for him right now, and he appreciated, most importantly, Bayley felt the same.
Zack cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention to him. "I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for coming. It means a lot to myself and Bayley that you guys decided to join us. Like, seriously, it's freaking awesome."
Braun chimed in. "It was either this or Subway."
The group joined together for a laugh. Zack bowed his head and led a prayer over the meal. He cut into the succulent bird, creating several sized cuts of meat for everyone and the feast officially began. Silverware clattered with each dish being passed around. Nobody ate until everyone had more than enough for themselves. Fitting twelve people around the table looked to be a tough task, but it actually benefitted everyone by making the entire food passing process a lot smoother.
Everyone took turns saying what they were thankful for. Braun and Sarah both mentioned each other and their successful hunting season, Seth said football and his grades, Toni also said football and shot Seth a half-serious glare when she named him, Alexa said ZBZ and her friends, Nikki also mentioned ZBZ and the friends she was making at the sorority, Roman said football, Sasha said her Roku which earned her a small cheer from the others, Asuka went on a rant in Japanese, but Shinsuke just said "turkey" amidst a chuckle from the table.
"Bayls?" Zack asked his wife.
Bayley rubbed her tummy. "I think mine's pretty obvious: my family."
Zack smiled proudly. "Me too. My babies are healthy, my wife is ready to pop. The Bears still suck..."
"They won today so blow me," Seth shot back with a laugh.
Roman excused himself to get another beer. He took everyone's beverage requests before walking into the kitchen. He moved quick to collect the beers and soda, working especially hard not to steal a slice of any of the pies cooling in the fridge.
"Maybe Bayley won't notice if I sneak a slice," Roman told himself with a chuckle, the cheesecake especially making him risk temptation.
Roman heard someone enter the room. Thinking he'd been caught reaching for dessert, he stood straight up in attempt to seem perfectly natural. Sasha was instead the one to enter the room, staring at Roman with a furrowed brow and a smirk.
"Why did you just jump?" Banks questioned, looking the Samoan hulk up and down.
Roman nodded at the dessert display. "I was thinking about stealing a slice of the cheesecake. Figured Bayley wouldn't notice if I pretended not to know what happened."
Sasha laughed once, then shook her head. "Good luck getting it passed her. I put new dye in this morning and no one noticed except her."
"I noticed too. I was just going to find a way to bring it up when I asked you to hang out later," Roman handed Sasha the bottle of soda she requested. He caught her pleasantly surprised look and smirked, even offering a quick wink.
"You were going to use some cheesy bullshit to ask me to hang out?" Sasha examined.
"Well, a few guys wanted to meet up at BPO for a few drinks and I thought maybe you wanted to tag a long?"
Sasha felt a twinge of disappointment sit in her chest. "Oh. Yeah, that sounds like it could be cool."
Roman shrugged. "Figured we could sneak off and play some pool when no one's looking."
Sasha tried to hide her enthusiasm but a smile broke through. She playfully punched Roman on the shoulder, smiling in his face when he mimed pain and rubbed his arm.
To say dinner at the Flair household started on a good note would be an understatement. Conrad returned with the supplies his wife requested. The commotion woke Ric up, who excitedly greeted everyone with hugs like he was seeing them all for the first time in ages. The biggest shock, to Charlotte and Becky at least, was when it was their turn for hugs and Ric happily exclaimed "my baby girl and her lovely girlfriend!" before bringing them both in for a hug.
Nora set the table and Ric carved the turkey. After a quick prayer to bless the meal, the family dug in. Aside from the light chatter and occasional joke, everyone mostly kept to themselves while they ate. Charlotte still made the ocassionaly glance across the table over her wine glass or rubbed her foot up her lover's leg, but otherwise it was a purely civil and proper meal between people who cared deeply for one another.
"So, dessert?" Ric asked out loud with a chuckle. "I think we can all agree the best part about Thanksgivin' is the pie."
The group collectively agreed with Ric. Nora, who had been nearly silent through the whole meal, wordlessly stood and entered the kitchen. Ric senesed something was wrong with his wife. He excused himself and went into the kitchen.
Charlotte looked across the table at Becky. Lynch titled her head, cocking an eyebrow. Charlotte checked to make sure Conrad and Megan were preoccupied with their conversation, then looked back across the table at her girlfriend and slowly, gradually licked her lips. Becky tilted her head to her other shoulder as if to say "oh really?" Charlotte silently giggled and held an index finger against her lips.
The sudden crash of glass made everyone at the table jump. Charlotte was the first to run into the kitchen, finding Nora comforting Ric who was huddled over the sink.
"What happened?" Charlotte asked, looking over her father's shoulder. Her stomach did a somersault when she saw the sink basin's bottom stained with blood and broken glass.
"Your father had a little accident," Nora calmly told. "Everything's ok. Just stay calm."
Charlotte fetched a dish towel and wrapped it around her dad's hand. "Daddy, I need you to keep this on your hand, ok?"
"Oh, it'll be fine," Ric said as casually as a person who didn't have a gash in his hand. "Just grab me a cigar and I'll be good as new."
Charlotte sighed heavily. "Dad... ok, but you're getting stitches."
Charlotte guided her father through the house. She buckled him into the front seat of Conrad's car, then softly pecked him on the cheek. Conrad and Megan took off with Nora and Ric, leaving Charlotte and Becky behind.
Charlotte sighed again, partially because of the flashing lights from paparazzi outside the gate, but also because of the grim fact that her dad wasn't getting any better.
"My dad hasn't smoked since I was six," Charlotte told her girlfriend, trying to keep a brave front. "He was also talking about Reid yesterday."
Becky didn't know what to say. Instead of trying to find the words, she slid her arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. Charlotte, letting a few tears fall, leaned her head against her girlfriend's shoulder.